The West, for whatever reason, has consigned the brilliant Count Ioannis Kapodistrias to total obscurity, yet he was considerd the most brilliant statesman of the age by his contemporries. (In the same way english speaking high school students have no idea that that Byzantium ever existed, another puzzle ....)
The West, for whatever reason, has consigned the brilliant Count Ioannis Kapodistrias to total obscurity, yet he was considerd the most brilliant statesman of the age by his contemporries. (In the same way english speaking high school students have no idea that that Byzantium ever existed, another puzzle ....)
He was from Corfu and entered the Russian diplomatic service of Tsar Alexander ! in 1809. At the Congress of Vienna, 1815, as junior Russian minister, he counterbalanced the paramount influence of the Austrian Prince Metternich - the battle was really between these two - K. for sovereign Westphalian states and M. for empire. It was Kapodistrias that fought for French state unity under a Bourbon monarch (not Talleyrand) when the other powers wanted to break France into pieces. He also obtained new international guarantees for the constitution [which he had written earlier] and neutrality of Switzerland through an agreement among the Powers. After these brilliant diplomatic successes, Alexander I appointed Kapodistrias joint Foreign Minister of Russia (with Karl Robert Nesselrode).
The West, for whatever reason, has consigned the brilliant Count Ioannis Kapodistrias to total obscurity, yet he was considerd the most brilliant statesman of the age by his contemporries. (In the same way english speaking high school students have no idea that that Byzantium ever existed, another puzzle ....)
He was from Corfu and entered the Russian diplomatic service of Tsar Alexander ! in 1809. At the Congress of Vienna, 1815, as junior Russian minister, he counterbalanced the paramount influence of the Austrian Prince Metternich - the battle was really between these two - K. for sovereign Westphalian states and M. for empire. It was Kapodistrias that fought for French state unity under a Bourbon monarch (not Talleyrand) when the other powers wanted to break France into pieces. He also obtained new international guarantees for the constitution [which he had written earlier] and neutrality of Switzerland through an agreement among the Powers. After these brilliant diplomatic successes, Alexander I appointed Kapodistrias joint Foreign Minister of Russia (with Karl Robert Nesselrode).
Forgot to add, France repaid Kapodistrias for saving it by assassinating him 7 years later. No good deed goes unpunished.
Fascinating! With you permission, I'd like to copy this to refer to it and study.