Warning: Fritz is not going to show at his best in this discussion. I'll have to say something nice about him in another comment.
The brothers, Friedrich and Heinrich: - 14 years apart in age - Both Francophiles - Both educated and patrons of the arts - Both proficient generals - Both extremely gay
In recent historiography, there's been increasing emphasis on how Heinrich, living all these years in Friedrich's shadow, might actually have been the better tactician. He waited to engage until he was sure he would win the battle, and then proceeded to win it. Fritz was more prone to winning when he should have lost and losing when he should have won. As discussed above, Fritz got them into the Seven Years' War and then won it through sheer bloody-minded determination and a bunch of non-tactical skills; everyone is agreed Heinrich would have done neither. (I sometimes wonder if Heinrich having absolute power would have changed his tolerance for risk at all, but that's very academic. Heinrich as we know him would have done neither.)
Surprisingly, Fritz had some nice things to say about Heinrich's tactical acumen. He didn't have many nice things to say to Heinrich, though. Or his other brother. Or his other, other brother. Hohenzollerns, man. Heinrich resented the hell out of the way all three of them were treated and said so at every opportunity.
He never had anything nice to say about Fritz. Henry wished his oldest brother had never been born and spent Fritz's entire later life waiting eagerly for Fritz to drop dead, then being glad when he did. Because it meant he got to build a memorial for everyone he credited with winning the war that Fritz had started and then mishandled beginning to end, "about whom he says nothing in his fucking memoirs," beginning with dear older brother Augustus Wilhelm.
Now, homosexuality. Heinrich had a serious sex drive and was not shy about having affairs and one-night stands all over the place. Fritz resented this about as much as FW had resented Fritz's love life in his turn. It was not pretty. In addition to general verbal snark and emotional abuse, Fritz engaged in some real abuses of power.
Most notably: "Remember when Dad held me in prison until Wilhelmine and I agreed to get married to people we didn't want to marry? Yeah, now I'm king and it's your turn. Marry or else. No, I know you're homosexual and you're not going to sleep with her. That's fine, I only see my wife for dinner once a year. This is a power trip for me, not some unrealistic expectation that you're going to produce heirs or anything.
"Unlike our other brother Augustus Wilhelm, whom you love but I think is a terrible general, meaning I will humiliate him in front of everyone (hi, Dad, hope you're watching, wherever you are), and dismiss him from service by telling him to go forth and multiply, because that's all he's good for. You're a decent general, so once he dies, please don't grieve him so much it gets in the way of you helping me win my three-front war. Got it? Thanks, kisses, bye."
Way to carry on all those family traditions, Fritz.
Funny story: Friedrich and Heinrich both were lusting after the same hot young piece of male ass once. My secondary sources differ on who got the guy in the end, but both quote Fritz as telling his brother (paraphrased), "Eh, he may have a pretty face, but the body is nothing to write home about, plus he's got an STD." (I still have this theory that Fritz liked looking more than he liked fucking, and we're all pretty clear on the fact that Heinrich liked fucking a great deal.)
Fritz's general attitude toward marriage was that his siblings had to marry who he said, because politics, but none of his friends were allowed to get married. If they did, he'd stop inviting them to parties, because, sheesh, don't you know no one in their right mind would get married by choice??? That's like a personal betrayal of me and my women don't exist, my dogs bark when they see a woman because they don't know what that is homosocial court.
On a related note, my *favorite* Fritz fic so far is a modern AU where he gets an actual therapist (because they exist) instead of treating his family as his involuntarily conscripted therapists, and it's a lovely fic that makes me cry (because Katte) and part of a huge Hamilton/18th century/19th century historical RPF modern AU series which I am greatly enjoying.
Our Insane Family: The Next Generation
The brothers, Friedrich and Heinrich:
- 14 years apart in age
- Both Francophiles
- Both educated and patrons of the arts
- Both proficient generals
- Both extremely gay
In recent historiography, there's been increasing emphasis on how Heinrich, living all these years in Friedrich's shadow, might actually have been the better tactician. He waited to engage until he was sure he would win the battle, and then proceeded to win it. Fritz was more prone to winning when he should have lost and losing when he should have won. As discussed above, Fritz got them into the Seven Years' War and then won it through sheer bloody-minded determination and a bunch of non-tactical skills; everyone is agreed Heinrich would have done neither. (I sometimes wonder if Heinrich having absolute power would have changed his tolerance for risk at all, but that's very academic. Heinrich as we know him would have done neither.)
Surprisingly, Fritz had some nice things to say about Heinrich's tactical acumen. He didn't have many nice things to say to Heinrich, though. Or his other brother. Or his other, other brother. Hohenzollerns, man. Heinrich resented the hell out of the way all three of them were treated and said so at every opportunity.
He never had anything nice to say about Fritz. Henry wished his oldest brother had never been born and spent Fritz's entire later life waiting eagerly for Fritz to drop dead, then being glad when he did. Because it meant he got to build a memorial for everyone he credited with winning the war that Fritz had started and then mishandled beginning to end, "about whom he says nothing in his fucking memoirs," beginning with dear older brother Augustus Wilhelm.
Now, homosexuality. Heinrich had a serious sex drive and was not shy about having affairs and one-night stands all over the place. Fritz resented this about as much as FW had resented Fritz's love life in his turn. It was not pretty. In addition to general verbal snark and emotional abuse, Fritz engaged in some real abuses of power.
Most notably: "Remember when Dad held me in prison until Wilhelmine and I agreed to get married to people we didn't want to marry? Yeah, now I'm king and it's your turn. Marry or else. No, I know you're homosexual and you're not going to sleep with her. That's fine, I only see my wife for dinner once a year. This is a power trip for me, not some unrealistic expectation that you're going to produce heirs or anything.
"Unlike our other brother Augustus Wilhelm, whom you love but I think is a terrible general, meaning I will humiliate him in front of everyone (hi, Dad, hope you're watching, wherever you are), and dismiss him from service by telling him to go forth and multiply, because that's all he's good for. You're a decent general, so once he dies, please don't grieve him so much it gets in the way of you helping me win my three-front war. Got it? Thanks, kisses, bye."
Way to carry on all those family traditions, Fritz.
Funny story: Friedrich and Heinrich both were lusting after the same hot young piece of male ass once. My secondary sources differ on who got the guy in the end, but both quote Fritz as telling his brother (paraphrased), "Eh, he may have a pretty face, but the body is nothing to write home about, plus he's got an STD." (I still have this theory that Fritz liked looking more than he liked fucking, and we're all pretty clear on the fact that Heinrich liked fucking a great deal.)
Fritz's general attitude toward marriage was that his siblings had to marry who he said, because politics, but none of his friends were allowed to get married. If they did, he'd stop inviting them to parties, because, sheesh, don't you know no one in their right mind would get married by choice??? That's like a personal betrayal of me and my
women don't exist, my dogs bark when they see a woman because they don't know what that ishomosocial court.On a related note, my *favorite* Fritz fic so far is a modern AU where he gets an actual therapist (because they exist) instead of treating his family as his involuntarily conscripted therapists, and it's a lovely fic that makes me cry (because Katte) and part of a huge Hamilton/18th century/19th century historical RPF modern AU series which I am greatly enjoying.