He was the legitimate son of Johann Thugut, an army paymaster, who married Eva Maria Mösbauer, daughter of a miller near Vienna.

In 1769 he was appointed chargé d'affaires, and in that capacity secured a grant of money and a promise of the territory of Little Wallachia from the Turks during the negotiations connected with the First Partition of Poland.

[1] In 1771 he was appointed internuncio at Constantinople and was actively engaged, under the direction of Prince Kaunitz, in all the diplomacy of Austria in Turkey and Poland until he secured the cession of the Bukovina on 7 May 1775.

He therefore agreed to receive a pension of 13,000 livres, a brevet of lieutenant-colonel, and a promise of a safe refuge in case of necessity from the king of France, Louis XV.

The only excuses to be made for him are that such hidden arrangements were not uncommon before and in his time, and that as a matter of fact he never did render France any real service, or betray his masters at Vienna.

In 1790 he was sent by the Emperor Joseph II to Bucharest, nominally as commissioner with the hospodar of Wallachia, but in reality in order that he might open negotiations for peace with the Turks.

[1] The emperor, dissatisfied with the ministers who had not prevented this misfortune, dismissed them, and after some delay Thugut was named "director of the foreign affairs of Austria" on 25 March 1793.

When Prince Kaunitz died in the following year Thugut was appointed to "discharge the duties of the office of house, court, and state chancellor."

His promotion to the foremost place in the Austrian administration met with much opposition, and is known to have been largely due to the empress Maria Theresa of Naples.

The nobles, who regarded themselves with good cause as the supporters of the Crown, and who expected to be consulted, resented his indifference and secrecy as the arrogance of an upstart.

From him, too, he had learnt that the first duty of an Austrian minister was to be an increaser of the empire, even at the expense of allies, and that excuses for annexation were to be made when they could not be found.

But while prepared to defend Europe from French aggression, it was with the implied intention that Austria should be rewarded for her exertions by increases of territory, and should be made the absolute mistress of Germany.

[1] The correspondence of Joseph de Maistre shows how bitterly the continental allies of Austria resented her selfishness, and how firmly they were persuaded that she was fighting for her own hand.

Yet his methods were so extreme, and his attitude so provocative as to justify the judgment passed on him by Kaunitz namely, that he required the control of a strong hand if good results were to be obtained from his ability.

He found no support, except from the British government, which considered him, as a sure ally and had great influence at Vienna as paymaster of subsidies.