Ludwig Alexander Georg Graf von Hoyos, Freiherr zu Stichsenstein[a] (13 May 1876 – 20 October 1937) was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat who played a major role during the July Crisis while serving as chef de cabinet of the Foreign Minister at the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Following an expedition to China with his uncle, who served as British chargé d'affaires in Tokyo, in 1900 Hoyos started his diplomatic career as a provisional attaché at the Austro-Hungarian legation in Peking.

[4] Hoyos quickly became an influential adviser to Berchtold and the leader of a group of young diplomats at the Ballhausplatz, referred to as the 'Young Rebels', who favoured a more aggressive foreign policy as the only means to stop the decline of the Dual Monarchy and avoid its disintegration.

As chef de cabinet, Hoyos was at the centre of decision-making at Ballhausplatz, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.

Together with Count Forgách, who served as Second Section Chief and was another prominent member of the Young Rebels, he quickly became one of the most vocal pro-war diplomats during the ensuing July Crisis.

[9] The following day, a Sunday morning Hoyos arrived in Berlin with the memorandum and the Emperor's letter to secure Szogyeny's support.

[11] Upon his return to Vienna on 7 July, Hoyos reported back to the Ballplatz with Bethmann Hollweg's oral promise of support.

[12] He acted as secretary during the meeting of the Common Ministerial Council the same day as well as on 19 July, when agreement was found on the last details about the note to Serbia.

One can, for example, find little if any records of the issue being discussed in the minutes that Hoyos wrote from the two meetings of the Common Imperial Ministerial Council in July.

[citation needed] After the war had begun, Hoyos was relegated to a minor role, but he remained as chef de cabinet until January 1917, when he was demoted to serve in Norway as minister at the newly opened legation at Christiania (now Oslo).