Prior to his appointment as Chancellor, he had served in a number of other positions, including as minister-president of Bavaria (1866–1870), German Ambassador to Paris (1873–1880), Foreign Secretary (1880) and Imperial Lieutenant of Alsace-Lorraine (1885–1894).

For a while he thought of obtaining a commission in the British army through the influence of his aunt, Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, half-sister to Queen Victoria.

[2] Chlodwig's application to be excused the preliminary steps, which involved several years' work in subordinate positions in the Prussian civil service, was refused by King Frederick William IV.

[2] These early years were invaluable - not only did it provide him experience of practical affairs, it also afforded him an insight into the strength and weakness of the Prussian system.

The Prussian principle of propagating enlightenment with a stick did not appeal to him; he recognized the confusion and want of clear ideas in the highest circles, the tendency to make agreement with the views of the government the test of loyalty to the state; and he noted in his journal (25 June 1844) four years before the revolution of 1848, "a slight cause and we shall have a rising."

He had little hope of a practical realization of a united Germany, and inclined towards the tripartite divisions under Austria, Prussia and Bavaria (the so-called "Trias-Lösung").

He carried out the reorganization of the Bavarian army on the Prussian model, brought about the military union of the southern states, and took a leading share in the creation of the customs parliament (Zollparlament), of which on 28 April 1868 he was elected a vice-president.

In common with his brothers, the Duke of Ratibor and Cardinal Prince Gustav Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, he believed that the policy of Pope Pius IX of setting the Church in opposition to the modern state would prove ruinous to both, and that the definition of the dogma of papal infallibility would irrevocably commit the Church to the pronouncements of the Syllabus of Errors (1864).

[2] This view he embodied into a circular note to the Roman Catholic powers (9 April 1869), drawn up by Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger, inviting them to exercise the right of sending ambassadors to the council and to combine to prevent the definition of the dogma.

The combination was too strong for him; a bill which he brought in for curbing the influence of the Church over education was defeated, the elections of 1869 went against him, and in spite of the continued support of the king he was forced to resign (7 March 1870).

[2] Though out of office, his personal influence continued to be very great both at Munich and Berlin, in no small part due to the favorable terms of the treaty of the North German Confederation with Bavaria, which embodied his views, and with its acceptance by the Bavarian parliament.

[2] Like his brother the Duke of Ratibor, Chlodwig was from the first a strenuous supporter of Bismarck's anti-papal policy (the Kulturkampf), the main lines of which (prohibition of the Society of Jesus, etc.)

[2] In 1872 Bismarck proposed appointing Chlodwig's younger brother, Cardinal Prince Gustav Adolf von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, as Prussian envoy to the Holy See, but Pope Pius IX refused to receive him in this capacity.

In 1873, Bismarck chose Chlodwig to succeed Count Harry von Arnim as German ambassador in Paris, where he remained for seven years.

In this capacity, he had to carry out the coercive measures[citation needed] introduced by Bismarck in 1887 and 1888, though he largely disapproved of them; his conciliatory disposition, however, did much to reconcile the Alsace-Lorrainers to German rule.

[2] Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst remained at Strasbourg until October 1894, when, at the urgent request of the Emperor William II, he consented, in spite of his advanced years, to accept the chancellorship as Caprivi's successor.

The rapprochement with Russia and the deterioration of relations with Great Britain (Kruger telegram in 1896, Samoan crisis in 1899) ran past him, same as the response to the Boxer Rebellion.

On 16 February 1847 at Rödelheim Chlodwig married Princess Marie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (Saint Petersburg, 16 February 1829 – Berlin, 11 December 1897), daughter of Ludwig Adolf Friedrich, 2nd Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (the son of Russian field marshal Ludwig Adolf Peter, 1st Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg-Ludwigsburg) and his first wife Princess Caroline (Stephanie) Radziwill.