Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys (pronounced [edwaːʁ dʁuɛ̃ də‿lɥis]; 19 November 1805 – 1 March 1881) was a French diplomat. Born in Paris, he was educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. The scion of a wealthy and noble house, he excelled in rhetoric. He quickly became interested in politics and diplomacy.
Biography
He was ambassador to the Netherlands and Spain, and distinguished himself by his opposition to Guizot. Drouyn de Lhuys served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1848 to 1849 in the first government of Odilon Barrot. In Barrot's second government, he was replaced by Alexis de Tocqueville, and was appointed ambassador to Great Britain. He returned briefly as foreign minister for a few days in January 1851, and then returned permanently in the summer of 1852, becoming the first foreign minister of the Second Empire. He resigned his post in 1855, during the Crimean War, when the peace preliminaries he had agreed to in consultation with the British and Austrians at Vienna were rejected by Napoleon III.
Drouyn de Lhuys returned to power 7 years later, in 1862, when foreign minister Édouard Thouvenel resigned over differences with Napoleon on Italian affairs. Drouyn was thus foreign minister in the lead-up to the Austro-Prussian War. He commented that, "the Emperor has immense desires and limited abilities. He wants to do extraordinary things but is only capable of extravagances." In the aftermath of that war, which was disastrous to French interests in Europe, Drouyn resigned and withdrew into private life.
Honours
Two Sicilies: Knight of the Illustrious Royal Order of Saint Januarius, 1852
Grand Duchy of Hesse: Grand Cross of the Grand Ducal Hessian Order of Ludwig, 11 February 1853
Spain: Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Order of Charles III, 27 January 1854
Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (civil division), 23 July 1854
Grand Duchy of Tuscany: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Joseph
Austria: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen, 1855
Mexican Empire: Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Guadalupe, 1864
Sweden-Norway: Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim, 27 March 1865
Monaco: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles, 24 December 1865
References
- Roger Price (2001). The French Second Empire: An Anatomy of Political Power. Cambridge University Press. p. 407. ISBN 9781139430975.
- Napoli (Stato) (1857). Almanacco reale del Regno delle Due Sicilie: per l'anno ... Stamp. Reale. p. 401.
- "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen", Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein (in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1879, p. 22 – via archive.org
- "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III", Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish), 1868, p. 168
- "Liste des Membres de Ordre de Leopold". Almanach royal officiel de Belgique. Librairie polytechnique De Decq. 1855. p. 36.
- Almanacco Toscano per l'anno 1855. Stamperia Granducale. 1855. p. 272.
- "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- "Seccion IV: Ordenes del Imperio", Almanaque imperial para el año 1866 (in Spanish), Mexico City: Imp. de J.M. Lara, 1866, p. 244, archived from the original on 28 October 2020, retrieved 13 September 2020
- Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1881, p. 377 – via runeberg.org
- Sovereign Ordonnance of 24 December 1865
- Obituary. Edouard Drouyn-de-Lhuys. The New York Times, 3 March 1881. Accessed 7 October 2008
- The Illustrated London News, May 19, 1855.
Further reading
- Schnerb, Robert. "Napoleon III and the Second French Empire." Journal of Modern History 8.3 (1936): 338–355. online
- Schulz, Matthias. "A Balancing Act: Domestic Pressures and International Systemic Constraints in the Foreign Policies of the Great Powers, 1848–1851." German History 21.3 (2003): 319–346.
- Spencer, Warren Frank. Edouard Drouyn de Lhuys and the Foreign Policy of the Second Empire (PhD dissertation University of Pennsylvania, 1955).
See also
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byJules Bastide | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1848–1849 |
Succeeded byAlexis de Tocqueville |
| Preceded byVicomte de La Hitte | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1851 |
Succeeded byBaron Brénier |
| Preceded byMarquis de Turgot | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1852–1855 |
Succeeded byComte Walewski |
| Preceded byÉdouard Thouvenel | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1862–1866 |
Succeeded byMarquis de La Valette |
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
| First cabinet of Odilon Barrot (20 December 1848 to 2 June 1849) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Under the Presidency of Louis Napoleon | ||
| President of the Council, Minister of Justice | Odilon Barrot |   Odilon Barrot President of the Council |
| Interior | ||
| Foreign Affairs: | Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys | |
| Finance | Hippolyte Passy | |
| Agriculture and Commerce | ||
| Public Works | ||
| War | Joseph Marcellin Rulhières | |
| Navy and Colonies | Victor Destutt de Tracy | |
| Public Education and Religious Worship | Frédéric Alfred Pierre, comte de Falloux | |
| Cabinet of Alphonse Henri d'Hautpoul (30 October 1849 – 24 January 1851) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Under the Presidency of Louis Napoleon | ||
| Justice | | |
| Foreign Affairs | ||
| War | ||
| Navy and Colonies | ||
| Interior | ||
| Public Works | ||
| Agriculture and Commerce | ||
| Education and Religious Affairs | Félix Esquirou de Parieu | |
| Finance |
| |
| First and Second Cabinets of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (3 December 1851 – 2 December 1852) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minister of State |  | |
| Justice | ||
| Foreign Affairs | ||
| Interior and Beaux-Arts | ||
| Police | Charlemagne de Maupas (1852) | |
| Defense | Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud | |
| Navy and Colonies | Théodore Ducos | |
| Public Education and Religious Affairs | Hippolyte Fortoul | |
| Public Works | ||
| Agriculture and Commerce | ||
| Third cabinet of Napoleon III (2 December 1852 - 17 July 1869) | ||
|---|---|---|
| President of the Council of State | .svg) | |
| Justice | ||
| Foreign Affairs | ||
| Interior | ||
| Police | ||
| Finance | ||
| Defense | ||
| Marine, Colonies and Algeria | ||
| Education and Cults | ||
| Public works | ||
| Agriculture and Commerce | ||
| Beaux-Arts | ||
| Emperor's Household | ||
| Ministers of State | ||
| Ministers without portfolio | ||
| Preceded by Second cabinet of Louis Napoleon • Followed by Fourth cabinet of Napoleon III | ||
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