The legacy of Prince Clemens von Metternich (1773–1859), the Austrian foreign minister from 1809 and also chancellor from 1821 until 1848, has been a hotly debated issue among historians for decades.

Many figures in history have spawned an “ism” or an “era.” Clemens von Metternich is one of the few who have had a whole “system” named for them. For more than 30 years after the end of the Napoleonic ...

This essay was originally written by David North and published in the Bulletin on March 13, 1972. North was at the time a member of the editorial staff of the Bulletin, the weekly newspaper of the ...