|
| |
Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles-Maurice de (1754-1838) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
A French politician, diplomat and foreign minister. Brilliant, practical, unscrupulous, and a man capable of immense personal charm, Talleyrand was born into the high aristocracy but developed a liberal and reformist outlook. He was a politician of great influence within France from the earliest days of the revolution in 1789 until his death. He was also a minister of foreign affairs with a remarkable capacity for surviving under different regimes, and one of the most dextrous negotiators of his age. Talleyrand managed the conduct of French diplomacy under the Directory (1797-99) and Napoleon (1799-1808), as well as under the restored Bourbon king, Louis XVIII (1814-15). Having brilliantly secured the re-entry of France into the circle of great powers at the Congress of Vienna and played a pivotal role in rebuilding the European equilibrium, Talleyrand ended his diplomatic career as ambassador to London (1830-34), by which time he was in his early eighties. Opportunists, among others, have condemned him for opportunism, though it is difficult to see how this squares with the risks he took in opposing Napoleon, especially after his dismissal in 1808. See also Metternich. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Bookmark this page:
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
<< former term |
|
next term >> |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
