During Sisi’s first three visits to England, Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust was Austria-Hungary’s ambassador in London. He had taken the post after his dismissal as Franz Josef’s Chancellor.
The Emperor had appointed him shortly after Austria’s defeat in the war with Prussia and had hired him to plot revenge against the Prussians. Until then he had been Prime Minister of Saxony, Austria’s reliable ally. Beust had been appointed in Saxony in 1849 and had called in Prussian troops to suppress uprisings. He also set up an alliance of smaller German states and developed the Saxon economy.
Franz Josef made him foreign minister in 1867 and Chancellor the following year. Beust restored constitutional government and negotiated the Compromise that set up the dual monarchy, making Franz Josef Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Like the Emperor Beust wanted revenge on the Prussians but his policies failed. A planned triple Alliance with France and Italy did not succeed and although Austria was not dragged into the Franco-Prussia War, the idea of getting revenge on Prussia was dead. Franz Josef dismissed Beust and brought in Andrassy as foreign minister.
Attribution of picture [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
