biography
| name: |
Holstein, Friedrich von
|
| |
known as The Grey Eminence
|
pronunciation:
[holshtiyn]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1837–1909)
|
| biography:
| German diplomat and lawyer, born in Schwedt an der Oder, NE Germany, into an important Prussian military and land-owning family. He was Votragender Rat to the foreign office in Berlin (1876–1906) and a close colleague of Bismarck, whom he secretly opposed from 1885, undermining his policy of closer relations with Russia. Renowned as a ‘grey eminence’ of German foreign affairs, he lost the chance of a closer union with Great Britain through his policy of a ‘free hand’ for Germany and his aggressive stance towards France during 1898–1900. |
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