Richelieu, Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis de Chinon, duke de

(1766-1822)

   political figure

   Born in Paris, Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis de Chinon, duke of Frosnac (as he was first called) was the grandson of louis-françois-armand de vignerot du plessis, duke de richelieu. During the revolution of 1789, he emigrated (1790) and served in the Russian army against the Turks. Thanks to the support of Czar Alexander I, he obtained the governorship of the province of Odessa (1803-14). Returning to France during the restoration, he replaced talleyrand as minister of foreign affairs and as prime minister and signed the second Treaty of Paris (November 1815). Under pressure from the Ultras (extreme royalists), he legalized the white terror, the bloody reaction of royalists and religious fanatics against the revolutionaries. After gaining the favor of the powers of the Holy Alliance, an 1815 pact among Russia, Prussia, and the Austrian Empire, he gained the removal of Allied forces from French territory and was invited to participate in the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818. Replaced in that year by the liberal ministry of the duke decazes, Richelieu returned to power after the assassination of the duke of berry (1820) and, in the face of liberal opposition, tried to adopt moderately reactionary measures. His policy was judged as insufficient by the Ultras, however, in particular the count of vil-lèle, and too authoritarian by the liberals. This dual opposition brought about the resignation of his cabinet in 1821.