author
Graf Ottokar Theobald Otto Maria Czernin von und zu Chudenitz
1872–1932
A key diplomat of the last Habsburg years, he tried to steer Austria-Hungary toward peace even as World War I pushed the empire toward collapse. His life sits at the center of the tense final chapter of a fading monarchy.
1 Audiobook
In the World War
by Graf Ottokar Theobald Otto Maria Czernin von und zu Chudenitz
About the author
Born in Bohemia in 1872 into an old noble family, he studied law and entered diplomatic service before moving into high politics. He became a trusted adviser to Archduke Franz Ferdinand and later served in the upper house of the Austro-Hungarian parliament.
He is best known as Austria-Hungary’s foreign minister from 1916 to 1918, during the most desperate years of World War I. Contemporary reference sources and major biographies agree that he worked to find a negotiated peace, but his efforts were constrained by the empire’s military situation, its alliances, and its conflicting war aims.
After leaving office in 1918, he remained a notable public figure and later wrote memoirs reflecting on the war and the collapse of the Habsburg world. He died in Vienna in 1932.