Count Gyula Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka (Hungarian: [ˈɒndraːʃi ˈɟulɒ], 8 March 1823 – 18 February 1890) was a Hungarian statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Hungary (1867–1871) and subsequently as Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (1871–1879). Andrássy was a conservative; his foreign policies looked to expanding the Empire into Southeast Europe, preferably with British and German support, and without alienating Turkey. He saw Russia as the main adversary, because of its own expansionist policies toward Slavic and Orthodox areas. He distrusted Slavic nationalist movements as a threat to his multi-ethnic empire.
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Biography
The son of Count Károly Andrássy and Etelka Szapáry, he was born in Oláhpatak (present-day Vlachovo, Rožňava District, Slovakia), Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire. His date and place of birth, however, are somewhat disputed. According to registry of Košice, Andrássy was baptised in the city then known as Kassa on 3 March 1823. The son of a liberal father who belonged to the political opposition, at a time when opposing the government was very dangerous, Andrássy at a very early age threw himself into the political struggles of the day, adopting at the outset the patriotic side.
Career
Count István Széchenyi was the first adequately to appreciate his capacity. In 1845 Andrássy was appointed as president of the society for the regulation of the waters of the Upper Tisza River.
In 1846, he attracted attention by publishing highly critical articles of the government in Lajos Kossuth's paper, the Pesti Hírlap. He was elected as one of the Radical candidates to the Diet of 1848.
When the Croats under Josip Jelačić attempted to have Međimurje, which was then part of Hungary, returned to Croatia, Andrássy entered military service. He was commander of the gentry of his county, and served with distinction at the battles of Pákozd and Schwechat, as Artúr Görgei's adjutant (1848).
Toward the end of the war, Andrássy was sent to Constantinople by the revolutionary government. He was seeking to obtain the neutrality of the Ottoman Empire, if not their support, during the struggle with Croatia.
After the catastrophe of Világos, where the Hungarians were defeated, Andrássy emigrated to London and then to Paris. On 21 September 1851, he was condemned in absentia to death and was hanged in effigy by the Austrian government for his share in the Hungarian revolt.
In exile for ten years, he studied politics in what was then the centre of European diplomacy. He discerned the weakness of the second French empire beneath its imposing exterior.
Andrássy returned to Hungary in 1858, but his position was still difficult. He had never petitioned for an amnesty, and had steadily rejected all the overtures both of the Austrian government and of the Magyar Conservatives (who would have accepted something short of full autonomy for the kingdom). He enthusiastically supported Ferenc Deák's party.
On 21 December 1865, he was chosen vice-president of the Diet. In March 1866, he was elected as president of the sub-committee appointed by the parliamentary commission to draw up the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 between Austria and Hungary. He originated the idea of the "Delegations" of powers.
The "Andrássy Note"
The recovered influence of Austria was evident in the negotiations which followed the outbreak of an uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875.
The three courts of Vienna, Berlin and St Petersburg reached an understanding as to their attitude in the Eastern question, and their views were embodied in the dispatch, known as the "Andrássy Note", sent on 30 December 1875 by Andrássy to Count Beust, the Austrian ambassador to the Court of St James's.
In it he pointed out that the efforts of the powers to localize the revolt seemed in danger of failure, that the rebels were still holding their own, and that the Ottoman promises of reform, embodied in various firmans, were no more than vague statements of principle which had never had, and were probably not intended to have, any local application. In order to avert the risk of a general conflagration, therefore, he urged that the time had come for concerted action of the powers for the purpose of pressing the Porte to fulfil its promises.
A sketch of the more essential reforms followed: the recognition rather than the toleration of the Christian religion; the abolition of the system of farming the taxes; and, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the religious was complicated by an agrarian question, the conversion of the Christian peasants into free proprietors, to rescue them from their double subjection to the Muslim Ottoman landowners.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina elected provincial councils were to be established, life-term judges appointed and individual liberties guaranteed.
Finally, a mixed commission of Muslims and Christians was to be empowered to watch over the carrying out of these reforms.
The fact that the sultan would be responsible to Europe for the realization of his promises would serve to allay the natural suspicions of the insurgents. To this plan both Britain and France gave a general assent, and the Andrássy Note was adopted as the basis of negotiations.
When unrest in the Balkans escalated into the Great Eastern Crisis and war became inevitable between Russia and the Porte, Andrássy arranged with the Russian court that, in case Russia prevailed, the status quo should not be changed to the detriment of the Austrian monarchy. When, however, the Treaty of San Stefano threatened a Russian hegemony in the Near East, Andrássy concurred with the German and British courts that the final adjustment of matters must be submitted to a European congress.
Later life
After his retirement, Andrássy continued to take an active part in public affairs both in the Delegations and in the Upper House. In 1885 he warmly supported the project for the reform of the House of Magnates, but on the other hand he jealously defended the inviolability of the Composition of 1867, and on 5 March 1889 in his place in the Upper House spoke against any particularist tampering with the common army. In the last years of his life he regained his popularity, and his death on 18 February 1890, aged 66, was mourned as a national calamity. There is a plaque dedicated to him in the town of Volosko where he died (between Rijeka and Opatija in present-day Croatia). It is located just above the restaurant Amfora.
He was the first Magyar statesman who, for centuries, had occupied a European position. It has been said that he united in himself the Magyar magnate with the modern gentleman. His motto was: "It is hard to promise, but it is easy to perform."
Family
Andrássy married countess Katinka Kendeffy in Paris in 1856. They had two sons, Tivadar (born 10 July 1857) and Gyula (born 30 June 1860), and one daughter, Ilona (b. 1858).
Both sons gained distinction in Hungarian politics. Tivadar was elected vice-president of the Lower House of the Hungarian parliament in 1890. Gyula also had a successful political career.
Count Gyula Andrássy's granddaughter, Klára, married the Hungarian nobleman and industrialist Prince Károly Odescalchi.
Many rumors suggest that Count Andrássy had a long lasting romance with Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, also known as Sisi, the wife of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria-Hungary. Some rumored that Sisi's fourth child, Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, had been fathered by Andrassy. There is no evidence for this, and these rumors have all been proven to be false. The rumor may have evolved due to the devotion of both Sisi and Count Andrássy towards Hungary, its culture and national customs (she was fluent in Hungarian, and both regarded Hungarian poetry highly), and the amount of time they spent together in mutual pursuit of their dreams for Hungary. Additionally, as Marie Valerie grew up, her physical resemblance to her father Franz Josef became very marked.
Count Andrássy had four granddaughters, Klára above, Borbála, married Marquis Pallavicini, Katalin married Count Mihály Károlyi and Ilona war widow of Prince Pál Esterházy, remarried Count József Cziráky.
Honours
He received the following orders and decorations: