Radowitz

Radowitz, JOSEPH VON, Prussian statesman, born February 6, 1797, at Blankenburg, was the son of a nobleman of Hungarian descent, and in 1813 entered the Westphalian army as an officer. After the peace in 1815 he taught in the military school of Cassel; but in 1823 he entered the Prussian service, and in 1830 became chief of the general staff of artillery. By his marriage he became connected with the Prussian aristocracy, and soon became the leader of the anti-revolutionary party. In 1836 Radowitz was sent as Prussian military commissioner to the German Diet at Frankfurt, and held diplomatic posts at Carlsruhe, Darmstadt, and Nassau. He was the confidant and adviser of King Frederick-William IV. in his endeavours to bring about a reform of the German Diet. After the revolution of 1848 the endeavours of Prussia to give a constitution to Germany, by means of the alliance of the three kings, was principally his work. He wrote several works, mainly political, and died 25th December 1853. See Lives by Frensdorff (1850) and Fischer (1874); and Hayward's Biog. and Crit. Essays (1st series, 1858).