page_title: Étienne François, duc de Choiseul
section_title: Seven Years' War
hierarchical_section_title: Étienne François, duc de Choiseul / Biography / Chief Minister / Seven Years' War
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of Étienne François de Choiseul (1719-1785)
context_page_description: Étienne François, Marquis de Stainville, Duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. From 1758 and 1761 and from 1766 and 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's defeat in the Seven Years' War and subsequent efforts to rebuild French prestige.
context_section_description: His success in Vienna opened the way to a larger career in 1758, when he supplanted Cardinal de Bernis as minister for foreign affairs and so largely had the direction of French foreign and military policy during the Seven Years' War. In 1759, he planned an ambitious 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.
  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, he sought to retrieve the disastrous results of the alliance with Austria by an alliance with the Spanish House of Bourbon, but his action came too late. His vigorous policy in other departments of state was not, however, fruitless.
  Coming to power during the demoralization after the defeats of Rossbach and Krefeld, by boldness and energy he reformed and strengthened both army and navy, and, although too late to prevent the loss of Canada and 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 banishment of the Jesuits and the temporary abolition of the order by Pope Clement XIV.
caption: 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
exif: {}