View source for Étienne François de Choiseul, Duke of Choiseul

{{Short description|French general, diplomat and statesman (1719–1785)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Étienne François de Choiseul
| death_place         = [[Paris]], [[Isle-de-France]], Kingdom of France
| monarch = [[Louis XV]]
| office = [[Chief Minister of France|First Minister of State]]
| term = 3 December 1758 – 24 December 1770
| predecessor = [[André-Hercule de Fleury]] (1743)
| successor = [[René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou]]
| monarch4            = Louis XV
| predecessor4        = [[Louis Charles César Le Tellier]]
| successor4          = César Gabriel de Choiseul
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1719|6|28|df=y}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1785|5|8|1719|6|28|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Nancy, France|Nancy]], [[Duchy of Lorraine]]
| residence           = [[Château de Chanteloup]], [[Touraine]]
| office4             = [[List of ambassadors of France to Austria|Ambassador of the Kingdom of France to the Archduchy of Austria]]
| signature           = Signatur Étienne-François de Choiseul.PNG
| allegiance          = {{flag|Kingdom of France}}
| serviceyears        = 1740 – 1770
| rank                = [[Général|Lieutenant General]]
| battles             = [[Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739)|Russo-Turkish War]]<br>[[War of the Austrian Succession]]<br>[[Seven Years' War]]
| branch              = {{flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[Royal French Army]]
| term4               = 1757 – 1758
| monarch3            = Louis XV
| honorific_suffix    = Marquis of Stainville, Duke of Choiseul
| predecessor1         = [[François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis]]
| honorific_prefix    =[[Royal and noble styles#Royal and noble styles in France|The Most High and Most Potent Lord]]
| image               = Louis-Michel Van Loo, 'Portrait of the Duke of Choiseul' – Grateau 2015, after p 62.jpg
| caption             = Étienne François de Choiseul. Painting by [[Louis-Michel van Loo]].
| office1              = [[Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France)#Minister for Foreign Affairs (1718–1791)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]]
| monarch1             = Louis XV
| term1                = 3 December 1758 – 13 October 1761
| successor1           = [[César Gabriel de Choiseul]]
| successor3          = Louis Phélypeaux
| term2               = 10 April 1766 – 24 December 1770
| successor2          = [[Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Saint-Florentin|Louis Phélypeaux]]
| predecessor2        = César Gabriel de Choiseul
| monarch2            = Louis XV
| office3             = [[Secretary of State for War (France)|Minister of War]]
| term3               = 27 January 1761 – 24 December 1770
| predecessor3        = [[Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, duc de Belle-Isle|Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet]]
| awards              = [[File:Ordre du Saint-Esprit Chevalier ribbon.svg|25px]] [[List of the Knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit|Order of the Holy Spirit]]<br>[[File:Order of the Golden Fleece ribbon bar.svg|25px]] [[List of Knights of the Golden Fleece#18th Century|Order of the Golden Fleece]]
}}
'''Étienne François, [[marquis]] de Stainville, duc de Choiseul''', [[Order of the Holy Spirit|KOHS]], [[Order of the Golden Fleece|OGF]] (28 June 1719{{snd}}8 May 1785) was a French [[military officer]], [[diplomat]] and [[wikt:statesman|statesman]]. From 1758 to 1761 and from 1766 to 1770, he was [[Foreign Minister of France]] and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period. He is closely associated with [[France in the Seven Years' War|France's defeat in the Seven Years' War]] and subsequent successful efforts to rebuild French prestige.
==Biography==
===Rise===
The eldest son of [[François Joseph de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville]] (1700–1770),{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}} Étienne François was born in [[Nancy, France|Nancy]] in the [[Duchy of Lorraine]] where his father was one of the leading advisors to the [[Duke of Lorraine]] who ruled an independent [[French-speaking]] state with close cultural and political links with France.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} At birth, he bore the title of '''''comte de Stainville'''''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}} In 1737, [[Francis Stephen of Lorraine]] (the future [[Holy Roman Emperor]] Francis I) was pressured into giving up Lorraine and becoming ruler of [[Tuscany]] in Italy. Realising that continued loyalty to the House of Lorraine would limit his opportunities, Étienne François transferred his allegiance to France.<ref name="Soltau">Soltau (1909), p.6.</ref>
After gaining experience during the [[Austro-Turkish War (1737-1739)|Austro-Turkish War]],<ref name="Soltau"/> the comte de Stainville entered the French army, and during the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] served in [[Bohemia]] (1741) and in [[Italy]] (1744), where he distinguished himself at the [[Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo|Battle of Coni]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}} He was also present at the [[Battle of Dettingen]] in Germany and carried news of the French defeat there to Paris.<ref>Soltau (1909), p.7.</ref> He had been appalled by what he had witnessed of the French forces at Dettingen, particularly what he later described as their "indifference and ignorance", and his experiences motivated his later reforms of the French military.<ref>Blaufarb (2002), p.25.</ref>
From 1745 to 1748, he was with the army in the [[Low Countries]] and was present at the sieges of [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]], [[Charleroi]] and [[Siege of Maastricht (1748)|Maastricht]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}}  He attained the rank of [[lieutenant-general]] and, in 1750, married [[Louise-Honorine, Duchesse de Choiseul|Louise Honorine Crozat]], daughter of [[Louis François Crozat, marquis du Châtel]] (died 1750), who brought her husband her share of the large fortune of her grandfather [[Antoine Crozat]] as well as his brother [[Pierre Crozat|Pierre]]'s grand [[Hôtel de Crozat]] on the rue de Richelieu, and proved a most devoted wife.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}}{{sfn|Pons|1996|p=151}}
[[Image:François Boucher 019.jpg|thumb|200px|Choiseul rose to power in part through the [[patronage]] of [[Madame de Pompadour]].]]
Choiseul gained the favour of [[Madame de Pompadour]] by procuring for her letters that [[Louis XV of France|King Louis XV]] had written to his cousin's wife, Charlotte-Rosalie de Romanet, comtesse de Choiseul-Baupré, with whom the king had formerly had an intrigue;{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}} and after a short time as [[bailli]] of the [[Vosges Mountains|Vosges]], he was given the appointment of ambassador to [[Rome]] in 1753, where he was entrusted with the negotiations concerning the disturbances called forth by the [[papal bull]] ''[[Unigenitus]]''. He acquitted himself skillfully in this task, and, in 1757, his patroness obtained his transfer to [[Vienna]], where he was instructed to cement [[Franco-Austrian Alliance|the new alliance]] between France and [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]]. He was one of the principal authors of the [[Second Treaty of Versailles]], signed in May 1757, which pledged the two states to a combined war in Germany against [[Prussia]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}}
===Chief Minister===
<!--secondary to portrait[[Image:PlainsOfAbraham2007.jpg|thumb|The early years of Choiseul's leadership were marked by French losses in the Seven Years' War.]]-->
====Seven Years' War====
{{further|France in the Seven Years' War}}
His success in Vienna opened the way to a larger career in 1758, when he supplanted [[Cardinal de Bernis]] as [[Foreign Minister of France|minister for foreign affairs]] and so largely had the direction of French foreign and military policy during the [[Seven Years' War]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}} In 1759, he planned an ambitious [[French Invasion of Britain (1759)|invasion of Britain]] which was halted by French naval defeats at the [[Battle of Lagos]] and the [[Battle of Quiberon Bay]]. His other major plan to achieve victory in 1759 was an attack on [[Hanover]], which was thwarted by the French defeat at the [[Battle of Minden]]. Between 1759 and 1762, further French moves into Germany were unsuccessful, including the [[Battle of Vellinghausen]].{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}<!--for all since the last citation-->
[[File:Étienne-François de Choiseul.JPG|thumb|Duke of Choiseul, depicted wearing armor and the [[Order of the Holy Spirit]] (blue) and the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]] (red, Spain n°756), second half of 18th century]]
He was then made a [[peer of France]] and created ''duc de Choiseul''. Although from 1761 to 1766, his cousin [[César Gabriel de Choiseul]], ''duc de Praslin'', was minister for foreign affairs, Choiseul continued to control the policy of France until 1770 and held most of the other important offices of state at the time. As author of the [[Pacte de Famille#Later Franco-Spanish Pacts|Pacte de Famille]], he sought to retrieve the disastrous results of the alliance with Austria by an alliance with the Spanish [[House of Bourbon#Bourbons of Spain and Italy|House of Bourbon]], but his action came too late. His vigorous policy in other departments of state was not, however, fruitless.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}}
Coming to power during the demoralization after the defeats of [[Battle of Rossbach|Rossbach]] and [[Battle of Krefeld|Krefeld]], by boldness and energy he reformed and strengthened both army and navy, and, although too late to prevent the loss of [[New France|Canada]] and [[French India|India]], he developed [[French colonies]] in the [[Antilles]] and [[San Domingo]]. His management of home affairs in general satisfied the ''[[philosophes]]''. He allowed the ''[[Encyclopédie]]'' to be published and brought about the [[Suppression of the Jesuits|banishment of the Jesuits]] and the temporary abolition of the order by [[Pope Clement XIV]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}}
====Rebuilding French power====
In the years following the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris of 1763]], Choiseul attempted to rebuild the French military. Alarmed by the [[Great Britain in the Seven Years' War|British victory in the Seven Years' War]] and the upset in the [[Balance of power (international relations)|European balance of power]] that followed, he tried to secure continued Spanish support for a future war of revenge against Britain and drew up a number of plans for an invasion of Britain. In an effort to compensate for French territorial losses, he added [[Corsica]] and [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]] to the crown of France. He directed the [[French conquest of Corsica]]. He also oversaw a failed scheme to settle [[French Guiana|Guiana]].<ref>Dull (2005), p.246.</ref> By the late 1760s Choiseul was concerned by the growing strength of Russia around the [[Baltic Sea]] fearing that Britain was behind it. He believed they were planning a "northern league" against France. To counter this he hoped to depose or severely weaken the power of [[Catherine the Great]] by encouraging the [[Ottoman Empire]] to attack Russia.<ref>Murphy (1982), p.151.</ref>
However, Choiseul's fall was caused by his action against the [[Jesuits]] and by his support of their opponent [[La Chalotais]], and of the provincial ''parlements''. After the death of Madame de Pompadour in 1764, his enemies, incorporating the King's new mistress, [[Madame du Barry]], in their plots, and the chancellor [[René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou|Maupeou]], were too strong for him.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}} He had supported his sister [[Béatrix de Choiseul-Stainville]], in her attempt to succeed Madame de Pompadour as the king's mistress, which placed him in opposition to Madame du Barry.<ref>Williams, Hugh Noel, Madame Dubarry, Beijer, Stockholm, 1905 {{page needed | date=April 2023}}</ref> In an attempt to boost the Austrian alliance, Choiseul was an advocate of the marriage between the [[Dauphin of France|Dauphin]], the future [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]], and the archduchess [[Marie Antoinette]], a daughter of the [[Maria Theresa|Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa]] and the [[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Francis I]]. Choiseul considered the marriage a personal triumph and believed it would cement his position of power.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}
In 1770, a [[Falklands Crisis (1770)|dispute between Britain and Spain]] over the [[Falkland Islands]] threatened to flare into open warfare. As part of his long-term strategy to overturn what he perceived as British hegemony, Choiseul strongly supported Spain and mobilised the French military in preparation for war. Louis XV, who sought peace after the wars that had dominated much of his reign, was angry when he discovered that.<ref>Black (1999), p.116.</ref> At the height of the Falkland Crisis in 1770, Choiseul was dismissed and ordered to retire to his country estate, the [[Château de Chanteloup]]. The crisis was then settled peacefully by Britain and Spain.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}
===Retirement===
[[Image:Jacques Wilbaut (French) - Presumed Portrait of the Duc de Choiseul and Two Companions - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Duc de Choiseul, Madame de Brionne and [[Jean-Jacques Barthélemy|Abbé Barthélemy]] (1775)]]
The intrigues against him had, however, increased his popularity, which was already great, and, during his retirement, which lasted until 1774, he lived in the greatest affluence and was visited by many eminent figures.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}} He was succeeded as Chief Minister by [[Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon]] whose foreign policy was similar to that of Choiseul. D'Aiguillon favoured a more [[absolute monarchy]] than Choiseul did, and was strongly connected to the faction grouped around Madame Du Barry.<ref>Lever (2000), p.38.</ref> Choiseul enjoyed widespread popularity and many people came to bid him farewell, as a gesture of support, as he prepared to leave Paris for his Chanteloup estate.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}   In 1771, he participated in the unsuccessful attempt to arrange a secret marriage between the king and [[Albertine-Elisabeth Pater]] in order to depose Madame du Barry.<ref>Fleury, Maurice & comte, Louis XV intime et les petites maîtresses., Paris, 1909 {{page needed | date=April 2023}}</ref>
Greatly to Choiseul's disappointment, [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] did not restore him to his former position although the king allowed him to come back to Paris in 1774. Choiseul died in his private residence, the ''Hôtel Delaunay'', in Paris, on 8 May 1785 and was buried in Chanteloup. He left a huge accumulation of debts, which was scrupulously discharged by his widow.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}} Choiseul's widow, a woman "in whom industrious malice could not find an imperfection",{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=262}} lived in retirement until her death, on 3 December 1801.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=262}}
==Assessment==
Choiseul possessed both ability and diligence, and though lacking in tenacity, he showed foresight and liberality in his direction of affairs.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} In appearance he was a short, ill-featured man, with a ruddy countenance and a sturdy frame. His ''Mémoires'' were written during his exile in Chanteloup, and are merely detached notes upon different questions.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=261}}
English writer [[Horace Walpole]], in his ''Memoirs'', gives a vivid description of the duke's character, accuses him of having caused the [[Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)]], as a revenge on Tsarina [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II]] and says of his foreign policy: "he would project and determine the ruin of a country, but could not meditate a little mischief or a narrow benefit.... He dissipated the nation's wealth and his own; but did not repair the latter by plunder of the former". In reference to Choiseul's private life, Walpole asserts that "gallantry without delicacy was his constant pursuit".{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=261, 262}}
==Art collection==
Choiseul was interested in music, theatre, and art. He created one of the most important collections of paintings in France and was a generous patron of many French artists. The items in his collection are known with some accuracy because of two important visual records: first, a [[snuffbox]], often referred to as the 'Choiseul box', with five miniature paintings (1770–1771) by [[Louis-Nicolas van Blarenberghe]], depicting the interior of his Paris residence, the [[Hôtel de Choiseul]] on the [[Rue de Richelieu]]; and second, a 1771 catalog of his collection with engravings created by [[Pierre-François Basan]].<ref>Anonymous 1996; Watson 1966; Basan 1771. {{page needed | date=April 2023}}</ref>
Choiseul's collection of paintings mainly consisted of [[Dutch art|Dutch]], [[Flemish painting|Flemish]], and [[18th-century French art|French]] pictures, and included eight works by [[Rembrandt]] (for example, the ''Finding of Moses'', [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]), [[Jacob van Ruisdael]]'s ''Shore at Egmond aan Zee'' ([[National Gallery, London]]), [[Gerard ter Borch]]'s ''Woman Playing a Theorbo to Two Men'' (National Gallery, London), [[Philips Wouwerman]]'s ''Stag Hunt'' ([[Hermitage Museum]], St. Petersburg), [[Claude Lorrain]]'s ''Mercury and Io'' ([[National Gallery, Dublin]]), [[Louis Le Nain]]'s ''Forge'' ([[Louvre]], Paris), [[Jean-Baptiste Greuze]]'s ''Girl with a Dog'' ([[Upton House, Warwickshire]]) and ''Sacrifice to Love'' ([[Wallace Collection]], London), [[Joseph Vernet]]'s ''Rock Arch'' ([[Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nîmes]]), [[Hubert Robert]]'s ''Egyptian Palace by the Sea'' (Musée des Beaux-Arts, [[Dunkirk]]) and [[Joseph-Marie Vien]]'s ''Greek Girl at the Bath'' ([[Museo de Arte, Ponce]]).<ref name=DoA>Anonymous 1996.</ref>
Choiseul also owned a large number of engraved views of France (including works by [[Claude Chastillon]], [[Israel Silvestre]], [[Albert Flamen]], and [[Reinier Nooms]]) and one of the most famous pieces of [[French furniture]] of the 18th century, a desk later owned by [[Talleyrand]], [[Franz von Wolff-Metternich]], and [[Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild]], that has been attributed to the ''ébéniste'' [[Antoine Gaudreau]] and the bronze-chaser [[Jacques Caffieri]].<ref name=DoA/>
==Commemoration and popular culture==
[[Choiseul Island]], the largest island of the [[Solomon Islands]] is named after him.
[[Choiseul Sound]], a major inlet on [[East Falkland]] is named after him.
Choiseul appears in the 1934 film ''[[Madame Du Barry (1934 film)|Madame du Barry]]'' where he is played by [[Henry O'Neill]].
Choiseul appears in the 2006 film ''[[Marie Antoinette (2006 film)|Marie Antoinette]]'', directed by [[Sophia Coppola]], where he is played by [[Jean-Christophe Bouvet]].
==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
* Anonymous (1996). [http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000017351 "Choiseul(-Stainville), Étienne-François, Duc de"], vol. 7, pp.&nbsp;193–195, in ''[[The Dictionary of Art]]'' (34 vols.), edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. {{ISBN|9781884446009}}. Also at [[Oxford Art Online]], subscription required.
* {{cite book | last=Basan | first=Pierre-François | year=1771 | title=Recueil d'estampes gravées d'après les tableaux du Cabinet de Monseigneur le duc de Choiseul | place=Paris | url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6429350f?rk=257512 | publisher=Pierre-François Basan}}
* {{cite book | last=Black | first=Jeremy  | title=From Louis XIV to Napoleon: The Fate of a Great Power | publisher=Routledge | year=1999 | place=London | isbn=978-1857289343}}
* {{cite book | last=Blaufarb | first=Rafe | title=The French Army, 1750–1820: Careers, Talent, Merit | publisher=Manchester University Press | year=2002 | place=Manchester | isbn=978-0719062629}}
* {{cite book | last=Dull | first=Jonathan R. | title=The French Navy and the Seven Years' War | publisher=University of Nebraska | year=2005 | isbn=978-0803260245 | place=Lincoln}}
* {{cite book | last=Murphy | first=Orville T. | title=Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes: French Diplomacy in the Age of Revolution, 1719–1787 | publisher=State University of New York Press | year=1982 | isbn=978-0873954822 | place=Albany}}
* {{cite book | last=Lever | first=Evelyne | title=Marie Antionette: The Last Queen of France | place=New York | publisher=St. Martin's Griffin | year=2000 | isbn=978-0274864997}}
* {{cite book | last=Pons | first=Bruno | title=Waddesdon Manor : architecture and panelling | publisher=Published for the Waddesdon Trust by Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd | publication-place=London | date=1996 | isbn=0-85667-437-0 | oclc=40492856}}
* {{cite book | last=Soltau | first=Roger H. | title=The Duke de Choiseul | year=1909 | place=Oxford | publisher=B.H. Blackwell | url=https://archive.org/details/dukedechoiseul00solt/mode/2up}}
* Watson, F. J. B. (1966). "Choiseul Boxes", pp.&nbsp;141–158, reprint from ''Eighteenth Century Gold Boxes of Europe'', edited by A. Kenneth Snowman. Boston Book and Art Shop. {{ISBN|9780571068005}}.
'''Attribution:'''
{{EB1911 |wstitle=Choiseul, Étienne François |volume=6 |pages=261–262}}
==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Étienne François de Choiseul}}
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{{Succession box | title=[[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]]|
before= [[François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis]] | years=1758–1761| after=[[César Gabriel de Choiseul|César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin]]}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Minister of Defence (France)|Secretary of State for War]]|
before= [[Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet de Belle-Isle]] | years=1761–1770| after=[[Louis François, marquis de Monteynard]]}}
{{Succession box | title=[[List of Naval Ministers of France|Secretary of State for the Navy]]|
before= [[Nicolas René Berryer]] | years=1761–1766| after=[[César Gabriel de Choiseul|César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin]]}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs]]|
before= [[César Gabriel de Choiseul|César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin]] | years=1766–1770| after=[[Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Saint-Florentin|Louis Phélypeaux, duc de La Vrillière]]}}
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{{Foreign Ministers of France}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Choiseul, Etienne Francois, Duc De}}
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[[Category:Dukes of Choiseul]]
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