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Frederick the Great, discussion post 5: or: Yuletide requests are out!
All Yuletide requests are out!
Yuletide related:
-it is sad that I can't watch opera quickly enough these days to have offered any of them, these requests are delightful!
-That is... sure a lot of prompts for MCS/Jingyan. But happily some that are not :D (I like MCS/Jingyan! But there are So Many Other characters!)
Frederician-specific:
-I am so excited someone requested Fritz/Voltaire, please someone write it!!
-I also really want someone to write that request for Poniatowski, although that is... definitely a niche request, even for this niche fandom. But he has memoirs?? apparently they are translated from Polish into French
-But while we are waiting/writing/etc., check out this crack commentfic where Heinrich and Franz Stefan are drinking together while Maria Theresia and Frederick the Great have their secret summit, which turns into a plot to marry the future Emperor Joseph to Fritz...
Master link to Frederick the Great posts and associated online links
Yuletide related:
-it is sad that I can't watch opera quickly enough these days to have offered any of them, these requests are delightful!
-That is... sure a lot of prompts for MCS/Jingyan. But happily some that are not :D (I like MCS/Jingyan! But there are So Many Other characters!)
Frederician-specific:
-I am so excited someone requested Fritz/Voltaire, please someone write it!!
-I also really want someone to write that request for Poniatowski, although that is... definitely a niche request, even for this niche fandom. But he has memoirs?? apparently they are translated from Polish into French
-But while we are waiting/writing/etc., check out this crack commentfic where Heinrich and Franz Stefan are drinking together while Maria Theresia and Frederick the Great have their secret summit, which turns into a plot to marry the future Emperor Joseph to Fritz...
Master link to Frederick the Great posts and associated online links
Chronicle of a a failed foreign policy venture
Firstly, like all his life, he's a (French) patriot, and when MT's Dad dies and Fritz pounces on Silesia, he's all for France joining the free for all (the plan then being to carry the war right to Vienna and end the House of Habsburg once and for all, with its lands being carved up not just between European powers but other German nobility, and Karl Albrecht of Wittelsbach subsequently ruling over a much smaller rearranged HRE. This to our young duke is a cause of joy, I mean, the centuries long Bourbons vs Habsburgs has gone through its latest iteration when MT's Dad was kicked out of Northern Spain and the Bourbon rule over Spain solidified. There is also zero expectation that the Austrians will put up a successful fight; as far as young de Croy is concerned, the "House of Habsburg has ended" with MT's father. She's a woman, yo, and the Lorraine guy is clearly not up to scratch.
Otoh, young de Croy is not at all blind and deaf when attending Karl Albrecht's coronation as Emperor in Frankfurt and thus describes the mood of the German population at the grand ceremony:
The proclamation especially detailed that the Empire had been orphaned after the death of Charles VI, and that the elector's college had according to law and without a dissenting voice voted the Prince Elector of Bavaria as King of the Romans - for obvious reasons, no one mentioned "King of Bohemia" - and that he was supposed to be recognized as such now by everyone. Then the archdeacon shouted a "Vivat Rex", and all attending (mostly Frenchmen) replied with the same call. One could hear the saluts shot from the city walls.
I have to add, though, that there wasn't a single exclamation of joy to be heard in the entire city. Instead, one felt a melancholic mood: nearly all of Germany seems to be angry about this choice. This has reasons. The Germans feel that it was solely the work of France, and partly enforced by our armies standing in Bohemia and Westphalia. They talk of an Emperor cut from French clothing, a puppet of the Cardinal Fleury and the Marechal de Belle-Isle. They also know that this Emperor, even if he was in the possession of Upper Austria and Bohemia, can't offer more than 18.000 men as an army and thus will never be able to stand up to France to which he ows his imperial throne. That thus, it is France deciding over the fate of the Empire, especially since it has split the princes of said Empire into almost equal factions. Moreover, the prince electorate of Bavaria and his house are now forced to incredible expenses which they only could raise by draining their countries dry, with Bavaria already having been in a miserable state. Thus, this day was great for France, the Cardinal and the Marshal, since the Empire recognized the ruler we have given it. For this succes, France has promised to each willing prince the territory he wants at the expense of the House of Habsburg, which will be destroyed. This might burden the Empire for years to come, and the people have been used to the rule of this House, being slaves to habit.
As for the new Emperor and his wife: The Emperor is not beautiful. He appears to be good-natured, though, and shy. The Empress is an ugly woman, very fat, red-faced, has big eyes, but she, too, appears good natured and very shy.
They were also soon out of a home, since on the day of Karl Albrecht's coronation, Austrian troops marched into Linz and were on their way to Munich. The Duke, a man after Fritz' own heart in this regard, keeps to referring to MT as "The Queen of Hungary" through all three Silesian Wars and the 7 Years War, though, and doesn't call her "the Empress" until the MA marriage to the Dauphin is arranged.
Now, when I earlier said the Duke basically disapproves of mistresses, I should have specified: low-born mistresses. He's okay with the noble type. But he's still won over by middle class Jeanne Poisson, laer the Marquise de Pompadeur, and lower class Dubarry. When Madame de Pompadour dies, he has this to say:
She will be greatly missed, for she was goodnatured and helped nearly all who have asked for her help. Thus one of the longest rules I have experienced in my life time ends. It started when she was twenty, in early 1745, and thus lasted nearly twenty years!
I suppose there were hardly any appointments and pardons that did not succeed through her. She only caused the dismissal of the three or four ministers who had tried to get rid of her first. She never did evil, or only if she was forced to, but in her time all kind of misery has happened in France, and so much money was spent in vain! Her death has been the most momentous event to happen in France for a long time. On the one hand, we now have to wait who will succeed in winning the unlimited trust of the King, for he needs someone to help him decide on appointments and pardons. And the entire court system could be toppled by this person. On the other hand, it was Madame de Pompadour who had brought our alliance with Austria into being and kept us loyal to it. Thus, it is now possible that we will have a renewed feud with the Queen of Hungary and have a new war instead of the peace we so direly need.
Not to worry, Duke; MT has no intention of feuding with France again. Note that while the Duke has praise for his King, too - "though nearing 60, he's still the most beautiful man at court", the Duke writes loyally - he's not deluded about his King's ability to rule on his lonesome. The Duke, otoh, decides together with his son to buy shares of the East India Company. Feud with England or not, that's clearly where the money lies. Not in France, alas.
Re: Chronicle of a a failed foreign policy venture
Or, maybe I'll just ask, tell me about how Mme de Pompadour brought their alliance with Austria into being?? :)
She's a woman, yo
(it is your fault that my brain immediately capitalized WOMAN)
Re: Chronicle of a a failed foreign policy venture
Or, maybe I'll just ask, tell me about how Mme de Pompadour brought their alliance with Austria into being??
I'm currently on the road again and thus separated from most of my books, but things to bear in mind before I proceed with what I recall:
- just how unthinkable a France/Austria alliance was at the time, due to all those centuries of enmity. Not for nothing would poor Marie Antoinette be nicknamed "L'Autriechienne", the Austrian (also a pun on "l'autrie chienne", the other dog), as a derogatory term. We're talking long established loathing and nobody but nobody assuming this would ever change, not least because France was the first to jump on the "let's attack MT" train after Fritz started it with invading Silesia
- Fritz' tendency to go Frank Miller on any prominent woman other than a very few, usually related to him, and call them whores. Mme de Pompadour (as well as the Czarina Elizabeth) were of course the most prominent examples.
- Fritz having left the French in the lurch once he got what he wanted (Silesia), this resulting in the Austrians winning against the French
Kaunitz, MT's (and later Joseph's) PM, at this point new in the business: I have this secret master plan to make Fritz a margrave again.
MT: I'm listening.
Kaunitz: It involves allying ourselves with the French and the Russians.
MT: Still listening, but will the French? Last I heard, Louis (XV) and his cabinet still call me "The Queen of Hungary" and hate our guts.
Kaunitz: .... well, how about we approach the King's mistress for help? She's a smart woman and not too fond of being constantly called a whore. I mean, I know you're really opposed to extramarital sex yourself, your highness, but Louis is the biggest practicioner of them all, and we're talking to him anyway. Remember the end goal!
MT: Still listening.
Austrian Ambassador: So, my sovereign wonders whether you could possibly influence the King to sign up in an anti-Fritz-league?
Pompadour: This country sure needs a new policy. We've been stuck in a rut since Louis XIV. Sign me on. But make it a strictly defense pact at first, that'll make it easier to sell it to Louis. To become a fighting alliance only if Fritz attacks first.
MT in Vienna: eh, he's bound to, being him. Okay, convey my thanks to the Marquise.
Elizabeth in Russia: *joins up as well, on the same condition*
Fritz: *hears about MT, Elizabeth and Pompadour ganging up on him* I'm the modern Orpheus, persecuted by a gang of women who want to tear me apart. Okay, time to pre-emptively invade Saxony.
7 Years War: begins
Fritz: *wins early victories*
Louis: Darling, was that really a good idea? I mean, I can't stand the man, either, but the Austrians are our traditional enemies and the Prussians our traditional allies, so...
Pompadour: Look, if there's one thing the last decade or two have shown, it's that the current King of Prussia is the worst ally ever. Whereas MT might have no sense of fashion and no appreciation for Voltaire, but she's loyal. She's never screwed over a single one of her allies and supporters.
France: *stays in*
Fritz: *starts losing battles*
Wilhelmine: I'm really worried about your life, bro. Of course you're still the greatest military genius over, but you're not immune to bullets, and you're in the field a lot. Do you think you could maybe try for a separate peace with France? I could play unofficial ambassador via the mail, because people still write to me, and vice versa.
Fritz: Not that I'm afraid of anything, but you're in a bad state of health, and thus, solely to indulge you... maybe? Theoretically.
Wilhelmine: Obviously, the person to ask, DIPLOMATICALLY, is the Marquise de Pompadour, if that's cool with you?
Fritz: Eh. Why not. Tell her I'm willing to pay up to XXXXX Francs (sorry, I can't remember the exact sum from the letter), that should cover it.
Pompadour: Dear mutual friend, tell the Margravine to tell her brother this is one whore he'll never be able to afford. If he wants peace, he can send an official emissary to his majesty the king. And the Empress.
Fritz: Women! *writes a satirical pamphlet/forgery consisting of a supposed letter from MT to the Marquise which a lot of contemporaries take for the genuine article, with MT calling Pompadour "dearest sister"; this was meant to, and did cause indignation about MT being a hypocrite and traitor to royal dignity for negotiating with a whore*
Re: Chronicle of a a failed foreign policy venture
literally was trained to become a royal mistress one day by her ambitious mother (despite not being of noble blood, which until then was a strict condition)
I gotta wonder how that even works. "This has never been possible before... but on the off chance that it is... you're going to do it, daughter!" No wait, on second thought, I've known a bunch of tiger moms, it just goes to show that some things transcend the ages, and one of them is over-ambitious moms who sometimes actually succeed.
When she married, she did warn her husband what she had in mind, but promised she would be loyal otherwise. (He became the father of her only daughter.)
That is suuuuper interesting.
In her most famous portrait, she's depicting holding a copy of the dictionary by Diderot and D'Alembert, which is a statement because that book was forbidden by censorship at the time.
So by the time I got to the end of htis paragraph, and before I even got to Austria, I was wondering if there is a decent biography of her I can look at. The first one that comes up at Amazon is by Nancy Mitford, which I'm discarding from consideration, of course. Do you happen to know any? I also came across the memoirs of one of her maids, which I've downloaded.
Pompadour: This country sure needs a new policy. We've been stuck in a rut since Louis XIV. Sign me on. But make it a strictly defense pact at first, that'll make it easier to sell it to Louis. To become a fighting alliance only if Fritz attacks first.
MT in Vienna: eh, he's bound to, being him. Okay, convey my thanks to the Marquise.
HEE.
Fritz: *hears about MT, Elizabeth and Pompadour ganging up on him* I'm the modern Orpheus, persecuted by a gang of women who want to tear me apart. Okay, time to pre-emptively invade Saxony.
As usual, all together: oh Fritz.
Pompadour: Dear mutual friend, tell the Margravine to tell her brother this is one whore he'll never be able to afford.
OMG she is awesome!
Re: Chronicle of a a failed foreign policy venture
But here are some nice things to look at, from the Doctor Who episode starring her. Basic background info for non-Whovians - the Doctor is an alien time traveller, but in this particular case, the way he keeps running into Reinette (btw that was an actual nickname, the episode didn't make that up, and that her mother nicknamed her "little Queen" already tells you all about her mother) isn't by his usual means of (time) transportation but via a portal in a mysterious space ship he and his friends are stranded on, full of automatons that want something from Reinette and keep showing up at different points in her life via said portal. Our hero follows and thus runs into her as well, first as a child, then as an adult.
first time the Doctor meets an adult Reinette, played by Sophia Myles who manages to radiate intelligence and mischief beautifully.
Rokoko era mindmeld, as the Doctor tries to figure out what the hell the automatons want from Reinette
Versailles under attack, and Reinette shows why she's the first woman of France
Doctor Who
(also I have to watch Doctor Who, don't I :P )
Re: Doctor Who