Count Richard Belcredi
Richard Earl of Belcredi ( born February 12, 1823 in Ingrowitz, Moravia, † December 2, 1902 in Gmunden, Upper Austria ) was an Austrian leaders and officials from the originally Lombard noble family Belcredi.
Biography
Belcredi came from a family of landowners in the Crown Land Moravia. His older brother Egbert (1816-1894), who advocated the the Lands of the Bohemian Crown from the Vienna government autonomy, managed the Familienfideikommiss and was active politically, especially in and Moravia.
Richard Belcredi studied in Prague and Vienna Law, was established in 1854 to kk District captain in Znojmo, Moravia, appointed, elected in 1861 in the Silesian Parliament and of the latter into the Imperial Parliament. In 1862 he became chief of the Austro- Silesian Provincial Government, in 1864 finally Privy Council and kk Governor of Bohemia in Prague.
The "Three Count Ministry "
After Emperor Franz Joseph in 1865 by the Liberals to Prime Minister Anton Schmerling because of the ongoing turbulence (see History of Austria) had disappointed separated, he turned in the person of Richard Graf Belcredi a declared conservatives and appointed him Minister of State and the Prime Minister.
The management of the government was regarded by him as a personal sacrifice and accepted only from the sense of duty of a faithful officer out. So he wrote to his wife:
" The Emperor is obsessed with me and said that he was in alone with me honest man see in this sad time of peril to which it could be absolutely deserted. I should appreciate his position and does not reject his only hope. "
Belcredi presented his program on 15 June 1865 and was the Emperor on 27 July 1865 Minister of State ( the line across the political management of all not to the Hungarian crown associated kingdoms and countries) and appointed as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
The new Prime Minister, his cabinet is also referred to as the "Three Count Ministry " ( although he actually belonged to five counts, namely Belcredi itself, Alexander Mensdorff -Pouilly as foreign minister Johann Larisch of Moennich ( 1821-1884 ) as Minister of Finance, Count Haller as a temporary manager the Transylvanian Chancellery and Moritz Esterhazy as Minister without Portfolio ), recognized the Hungarian question as the "real crux of the Austrian Empire problem " and gave their solution the highest priority. For him the suspension of negotiations in February patent seemed appropriate since this was in any case not accepted and implemented in the Hungarian lands ( the Cabinet was by historians therefore also referred to as " Sistierungsministerium "). By Sistierungspatent of 20 September 1865, the " Basic Law on the Central Organization " had become with the 1861, the Imperial Parliament to Parliament repealed.
Compromise with Hungary
1866 had to Austria after the Peace of Prague (see Austro-Prussian War) emerge from the German Confederation, which was to take in the negotiations with Hungary no longer on the German question into consideration. The former foreign minister, Count Mensdorff, and Belcredi among the exponents of the conservative clerical and Federalists opposed the proposed settlement with Hungary, there has been helped by this the German liberals in the western half of the empire to power. For the negotiations Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust was appointed as the new Foreign Minister.
Belcredi spoke out against further restrictions on the common affairs of the monarchy and tried to impose a federalist, on balance targeting with the Slavic peoples solution of the nationality question. Belcredi appeared to many, therefore, as "too little German ." He wanted the imperial Austria in its five historic areas (1st German - Austria, Bohemia - Moravia - Silesia 2, 3 Hungary, Poland 4 - Ruthenia, 5 Illyria, ie the South Slav territories) divided each with its own parliament. A federally occupied Imperial Council should be responsible for the collective skills total in Austria. This plan failed but in the fierce resistance of the Hungarians, who wanted to achieve a two-tier compensation. At the end of his era as Prime Minister was therefore of dualism, to prevent which he had set out.
Between Belcredi and Beust no basis for discussion was actually present, such as when reading the Ministers Protocol of 1 February 1867 significantly. There Beust said, it was impossible to satisfy the desires of all. Therefore it is the task of the government, " to rely on those who have the most vitality [ ... ], namely the German and the Hungarian element ". Belcredi saw the decision so as to please and filed on the same day in his resignation. On 7 February 1867, his removal from office and the appointment of Beust's prime minister. The von Beust ausverhandelte with the representatives of Hungary's version of the compensation was the without Hungarian members reconvened Imperial Parliament quasi presented as dictation but it took the opportunity and sat in return for his consent ( Delegation law of 21 December 1867) a new constitution, the December Constitution 1867 by.
Looking back, who scored von Beust compensation was in the short term " pragmatic" solution to its effects, however, were fatal, because with him began the ever-deepening distance of the Slavic nations to the monarchy, in 1918 lasted until the disintegration of Austria. Contrast Belcredi was the understanding within the monarchy at heart. How he "national agitation " fought against the, it can be seen from a statement in a cabinet meeting, where he advocated the teaching of German and Czech in the Czech elementary and middle schools, because "national extreme directions can be cured only by practical experience be ".
After retiring from politics Belcredi 1881-1895, was appointed by the Emperor, President of the kk Administrative Court and was also appointed a member of the Austrian manor for life by the monarch in 1881.