Metternich: the first European. Desmond Seward. 1991.

In 1992 Western Europe takes a gigantic step toward unity. Yet at the same time the peoples of Central Europe are re-emerging  and a new age of nationalism looms large. In the last century, a great Central European statesman, Clemens von Metternich - who destroyed Napoleon and directed Habsburg Austria’s policy for nearly forty years - tried to build his own form of European unity in order to create lasting peace.

For a third of a century, from 1815 until 1848, the Austrian Empire was the strongest power in Europe; not only the Habsburg domains, but Germany and Italy were both ruled from Vienna. And Metternich, through the sheer brilliance of his diplomacy and unswerving concentration on preserving the balance of power, was instrumental in maintainingAustria’s domination over the continent. Among his greatest achievements were his bringing the Austrian Empire safely through the Napoleonic maelstrom; his legendary diplomatic brinksmanship at the Congress of Vienna, which successfully saved Europe from another continental war for a hundred years; and his role in the creation of the European Alliance, an organisation that prefigured the League of Nations and NATO.