Friedrich Ferdinand, count von Beust summary

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Friedrich Ferdinand, count von Beust, (born Jan. 13, 1809, Dresden, Saxony—died Oct. 24, 1886, Schloss Altenberg, near Vienna, Austria-Hungary), German statesman. A career diplomat in Saxony from 1830, he served as its foreign minister (1849–53) and its interior minister (1853–66). Often opposed to Otto von Bismarck, Beust was forced to resign in 1866. Saxony’s ally, the Habsburg emperor Francis Joseph, then appointed him Austrian minister for foreign affairs (1866) and imperial chancellor (1867–71). As chancellor, Beust negotiated the Compromise of 1867 and helped restore the Habsburgs’ international position. He later served as ambassador to England (1871–78) and France (1878–82).

prime minister Summary

Prime minister, the head of government in a country with a parliamentary or semipresidential political system. In such systems, the prime minister—literally the “first,” or most important, minister—must be able to command a continuous majority in the legislature (usually the lower house in a

Austria-Hungary Summary

Austria-Hungary, the Habsburg empire from the constitutional Compromise (Ausgleich) of 1867 between Austria and Hungary until the empire’s collapse in 1918. A brief treatment of the history of Austria-Hungary follows. For full treatment, see Austria: Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918. The empire of

Saxony Summary

Saxony, any of several major territories in German history. It has been applied: (1) before 1180 ce, to an extensive far-north German region including Holstein but lying mainly west and southwest of the estuary and lower course of the Elbe River; (2) between 1180 and 1423, to two much smaller and

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not