Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz was born on February 2, 1711, in Vienna, the son of Count Maximilian Ulrich von Kaunitz and Marie Ernestine of East Frisia and Rietberg. His family belonged to the high nobility of the Habsburg monarchy and possessed traditions of diplomatic and governmental service. Because he was a younger son, he was initially considered for an ecclesiastical career, but his talents and family connections instead led him toward state service.

Kaunitz studied at universities in Leipzig and Leiden and traveled widely through Europe. He acquired fluency in French, knowledge of law and political theory, and a polished cosmopolitan manner. His education encouraged an analytical approach to diplomacy: alliances were instruments of state interest rather than permanent friendships based on tradition.

He entered Habsburg diplomatic service and represented Maria Theresa at Turin and other courts. During the War of the Austrian Succession, he participated in negotiations and observed how Britain’s priorities did not always coincide with Austria’s overriding objective of recovering Silesia. He later helped negotiate the peace settlement at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, which left Frederick II in possession of the province.

From 1750 to 1753 Kaunitz served as ambassador in Paris. He concluded that Austria’s traditional rivalry with Bourbon France should be abandoned because Prussia had become the more immediate threat. Appointed state chancellor in 1753, he reorganized diplomatic policy around that judgment. Kaunitz cultivated Russian cooperation and pursued a French alliance despite resistance in both Vienna and Versailles. His early education, travels, and wartime diplomacy prepared him to engineer the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, which fundamentally realigned Europe before the Seven Years’ War.