The New International Encyclopædia/Bach, Alexander, Baron

BACH, Alexander, Baron (1813-93). An Austrian statesman. He was born at Loosdorf, in Lower Austria, where his father held a judicial office. At the age of 24 he was made a doctor of laws, and then entered the Imperial service, where he remained for nine years. Although he favored a departure from the absolute system of Metternich, Bach was not prepared to go so far as the Revolutionists of 1848 wished. Popular opposition, in fact, drove him into the conservative ranks. In 1848, and again from 1849 to 1859, he was in the ministry, at first in the department of justice, and later in that of the interior. He stood for a strong and absolute central government, and opposed all measures that savored of liberalism and concession to other nationalities than the German. He however carried out some salutary measures, such as the emancipation of the peasants from their feudal obligations. From 1859 to 1867 he was ambassador at Rome. Consult Springer, Geschichte Oesterreichs seit dem Wiener Frieden (Leipzig, 1863-65).