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CHOISEUL, ETIENNE FRANCOIS, Duc de (1719-1785), French statesman, was
the eldest son of Francois Joseph de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville
(1700-1770), and bore in early life the title of comte de Stainville.
Born on the 28th of June 1719, he entered the army, and during the War
of the Austrian Succession served in Bohemia in 1741 and in Italy, where
he distinguished himself at the battle of Coni, in 1744. From 1745 until
1748 he was with the army in the Low Countries, being present at the
sieges of Mons, Charleroi and Maestricht. He attained the rank of
lieutenant-general, and in 1750 married Louise Honorine, daughter of
Louis Francois Crozat, marquis du Chatel (d. 1750), who brought her
husband a large fortune and proved a most devoted wife.

Choiseul gained the favour of Madame de Pompadour by procuring for her
some letters which Louis XV. had written to his cousin Madame de
Choiseul, with whom the king had formerly had an intrigue; and after a
short time as _bailli_ of the Vosges he was given the appointment of
ambassador to Rome in 1753, where he was entrusted with the negotiations
concerning the disturbances called forth by the bull _Unigenitus_. He
acquitted himself skilfully in this task, and in 1757 his patroness
obtained his transfer to Vienna, where he was instructed to cement the
new alliance between France and Austria. His success at Vienna opened
the way to a larger career, when in 1758 he supplanted Antoine Louis
Rouille (1689-1761) as minister for foreign affairs and so had the
direction of French foreign policy during the Seven Years' War. At this
time he was made a peer of France and created duc de Choiseul. Although
from 1761 until 1766 his cousin Cesar, duc de Choiseul-Praslin
(1712-1785), was minister for foreign affairs, yet Choiseul continued to
control the policy of France until 1770, and during this period held
most of the other important offices of state. As the author of the
"Family Compact" he sought to retrieve by an alliance with the Bourbon
house of Spain the disastrous results of the alliance with Austria; but
his action came too late. His vigorous policy in other departments of
state was not, however, fruitless. Coming to power in the midst of the
demoralization consequent upon the defeats of Rossbach and Crefeld, 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