ABSTRACT
Julius Andrassy was an out-and-out Hungarian he entered the common Austro-Hungarian service not out of a hyphenated patriotism, but because he believed that he could be useful to the Hungarian half of the Dual Monarchy. The Habsburg Monarchy in which Andrassy took office as minister for foreign affairs on 13 November 1871 was apparently in a healthier state than at any time since 1866. Liberalism remained the doctrine of the day and Austria-Hungary's network of commercial treaties was extended in 18703 to include Sweden, some of the South American states. The position of Monarchy in Europe too had improved markedly since the Franco-Prussian war. Beust's policy of cultivating Austro-Hungarian influence in the Balkan states, even at the risk of offending Turkey, had been swung violently into reverse. Yet ironically enough, so far as relations between the three courts were concerned, it was only Austro-Russian relations that showed any noticeable improvement as a result of the three emperors' meeting in Berlin.
