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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
More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
The AW biography: confirms Wilhelm or Guillaume was the name he actually used, with his younger brothers calling him Guille, does its source notes and tells its tragic story well, with the author unabashedly biased for her subject but trying to check it as in the question how far or little Fritz' behavior towards AW - when he basically wooed this younger brother with letters, even once wrote him a poem of praise - during the ten years between 1730 and 1740 was utterly calculating or not. It is, she admits, almost impossible not to read it with hindsight, but it's entirely possible Fritz was just as much motivated by affective needs - missing Wilhelmine and wanting to have an ally among the remaining in Berln siblings again - and survival technique (an ally who can report on their father's moods and within limits affect them); Zuibura does devote a powerful chapter on just how much Fritz was abused to demonstrate where he came from. Maybe he also was sincere in offering his older brother guidance re: education, not least because AW did need it; FW, who'd been delighted this second son prefered the toy soldiers to the books, had allowed his teacher to give him a great leash when it came to history, geography, writing etc, with the result that AW was on a level with the younger Heinrich (who was more like Fritz and Wilhelmine as a passionate learner). The poem of praise is also a gentle instruction on why books are cool and teen AW should read more of them on his own.
Young AW responded eagerly (and on that occasion btw tried to write a poem of his own to his older brother back). Unfortunately, all of this meant he really had no idea and post 1740 Fritz caught him entirely unawares. (BTW, the turnaround didn't happen immediately after ascension; for example, Fritz took AW with him and Algarotti when making that trip across the French border via Bayreuth, which is why we know - from AW's letters - one detail Fritz left out in his description to Voltaire about said trip, i.e. after his incognito was blown by a Prussian deserter, the lot of them ignominously spent the rest of the night under arrest (passport forgery!) until the local commandant cleared things up and send them back. (Young AW still thought this was a jolly adventure, though, and that his older brother was the coolest at this point.)
As Ziebura details, the reason why FW prefered this kid was a chicken/egg thing going beyond "that one thinks soldiers are cool" - because young Wilhelm was a loved child, he wasn't afraid of his father and very affectionate towards him, because he never had to hide what he thought, he was honest (whereas FW was convinced Fritz and Wilhelmine were lying to him all the time, which of course they did because they were terrified), because he was the golden child, he was generous and kind towards all his siblings and eager to help them whenever they asked, which in turn made him popular with the rest of the family as well. And Heinrich, who shared rooms with AW from the time he was four, really loved him above and beyond, same intensity as the Fritz/Wilhelmine relationship. You can see where all this is going.
Starting with the first Silesian War, Wilhelm has a wake up call in that him being the new crown prince does not mean Fritz is going to share foreign policy or any other plans with him - not then, not ever. And once Fritz is back, the bossing around starts in earnest. While AW does have the (het) sex life with mistresses Fritz scorns in princes anyway, he's by no means without the thing FW successfully drummed into all his children - the sense of duty and serving as the main purpose of a Prussian royal. He writes lengthy memoranda about improvements he'd make if he was King, for example. (Trivia: these, btw, include giving the Queen a larger budget than the Queen Mother - Fritz did the reverse - though AW was at best indifferent to his wife as well. But he did think the reigning Queen deserved to have the bigger household. Given an early anecdote is how SD threatened to have little AW whipped by rod if he didn't ask his father for a deserter's life - one of the long fellows who'd run away - , which he then successfully did, I'd venture Wilhelm might also have been less of a fan of his mother.) He also indulged in a one year long strategy game with Heinrich between the Silesian Wars and the 7 Years War. They correctly assumed yet another war would happen, though along with Fritz and most others, they did NOT see the Austria/France alliance coming, so their imaginary war was between a Prussia allied to France and an Austria allied to England. Also tellingly, Heinrich roleplayed Fritz while AW took the role of Field Marshal Gessler in this scenario. ("Le Marechal Gessler" was also much later a pseudonym Heinrich chose for a few Fritz critiques.) They did correctly predict - or Heinrich-playing-Fritz did - that he'd kick things off by invading Saxony.
Ziebura is definitely of the "Fritz was scapegoating AW for mistakes that were partially his" school when it came to the big disaster, and attaches in full an assessment of von Schmettau about Wilhelm's decision to withdraw. She also quotes at length from Amalie's report on AW's death lengthy and painful death. Amalie was present through most of it, and said report, in great detail, tearstained and with ink blots, is adressed to Fritz. It doesn't include a direct accusation, but Ziebura thinks the very fact she writes this detailed has a "this is your fault, now at least learn what it was like" subtext.
Heinrich, of course, did not need subtext. He also unequivaably did not blame a medical reason for AW's demise. He was fine with main text, writing to brother Ferdinand (the three youngest brothers were called "the divine trio" in Berlin, I learned) on June 20th: "Since eight days, I know of the fate of our unhappy brother, and since this time, I am suffering. I am trying to have patience, but I shall never forgeet my beloved broother, or the terrible reason for his death." And in the next letterer, he's even more explicit: "Our misfortune is terrible, but I admire your attitude. You are completely right in ascribing our beloved brother's deaath to grief. (..) This misfortune hails from the one who makes his entire country miserable annd drowns Europe in blood."
(Now tell us how you really feel about your older brother, Heinrich.)
Surprise factoid: the one person Fritz was able to write a non-infuriating condolence letter to was AW's neglected wife. Also, his promise in said letter to be a father to her kids does not inspire Ziebura to a sarcastic comment re: FW2 but lets her point out AW's daughter Wilhelmine did say about Fritz in her memoirs "He was for me a second father, and his affectionate behavior towards me never changed".
On to the "Fritz and Heinrich" double portrait/essay/book: that one contains among many other things excerpts from their correspondance, including from Heinrich's reply to Fritz' infamous condolence letter: In the terrible shock the death of my brother has caused, it would have been impossible fo rme to write to you about a subject which to me is incredibly painful if it hadn't pleased you to write the letter adressed to me. The feelings which move me right now are more powerful than reason. I keep seeing the image of the brother whom I loved so tenderly, his last hours, his death. Of all the sad changes and misfortunes life can offer and from which I have not been always spared, this is the most cruel and most terrible that could have struck.
Fritz writes back, trying again. Heinrich is not moved. I have sighed enough about the misunderstanding between you and my brother. Now you keep reawakening the memory and encrease my pain. Only the respect I owe you and my pain keep me silent, and I am not allowed to reply.
Just in case this isn't enough of an 18th century style "Fuck you, Fritz" (with the obelisk awaiting), von Krockow also quotes the letter about Heinrich's visit to Wilhelmine, which I had only seen paraphrased as "he saw she was dying, and so he didn't tell her about AW" in the Wilhelmine biography. In the actual text excerpt, well....
My Bayreuth sister has been close to death. She cannot write to you. I am afraid that she will not recover from this illness. She doesn't know about my brother's death yet, for one is justly concerned here that telling her about this news would destroy even the glimmer of hope for her survival.
In other words: Fritz, you know, the sibling YOU love? You've killed her along with the one I loved best as well. Think about that while you're in the field. Think long and hard.
(Heinrich: has learned the Fritzian lesson of how to deliver words that truly hurt and go to the heart with frightening efficiency.)
(And it occured to me that the nightmare Fritz told Henri de Catt about, of Wilhelmine (of all the people) accusing him not to love their father enough, might actually be a classic case of transference even more than I thought, with FW standing in for AW as well.)
Von Krockow is with Mildred that the Fritz/Heinrich relationship is basically an eerie RP of FW/Fritz, and also in this that if FW, long after his death, was the figure Fritz still wanted love and pride from as well along with wanting to be his opposite, Fritz was that very figure for Heinrich. He seems to have been absolutely indifferent towards their father, there's no remark, either good or bad, on the record. The one he hated passionately and knocked himself out to work for and kept writing at least once a week to while he was still alive and kept obsessing about after his death was Fritz.
Von Krockow is good about both brothers, and laudably isn't coy re: their sexual orientation; though it's not his main subject, he devotes a chapter to Fritz/Fredersdorff on the one hand and Heinrich/his various boyfriends on the other, from which I learned Heinrich in his old age finally managed to score one who wasn't yet another charismatic money waster but kind and devoted, a French emigré officer, Antoine Count La Roche-Aymon. Von Krockow quotes Fontane (from his Rheinsberg chapter - that travel book, I tell you!): "Beautiful, graceful, amiable, an old school chevalier in the best sense of the world, he soon moved into a position of trust, and then into a relationship of the heart with the prince, of the type the later had not been able to enjoy since Tauentzien." (A previous boyfriend.) "The Count appeared as a present from heaven to him, the evening of his life had arrived, but behold, the setting sun gave him once more a beam of warming light."
In his last will, revised a few months before his death, Heinrich had mentioned him as follows: "I express my urgent gratitude towards the Count La Roche-Aymon for the tender devotion he has shown towards me during all the time I was happy enough to have him near me."
Von Krockow's resumé that life, in the end, had been kind to Heinrich. (His chapter on the brothers' love lives does not, alas, include the hot page Marwitz episode, so I'm still in the dark about that guy's first name or just how he was related to Wilhelmine's treacherous lady-in-waiting.)
More trivia: Mildred, contemporaries did testify that Heinrich as an adult did pretend not to speak German, but they always say "pretend", i.e. no one believed this was actually true. As opposed to his brothers, he managed to visit Paris twice (once when Louis XVI had to stand sponsor for the big credit needed to pay Heinrich's boyfriend's debts), and the people he met were charmed (and found him less opinionated than Joseph and less of an irritaging chatterbox than Gustav, the two most recent royal visitors) and testified he spoke an elegant French - but with a distinct "Germanic" accent. (Not surprising, since all the Prussian royals were taught French by Huguenot emigré descendants who had themselves been born in various German principalitis.) (Fritz seems to have had something of an accent, too, at least if Voltaire is anything to go by, who mentions he had to point out that "opinion" isn't pronounced with a g at the end, and "tete" does not rhyme with "trompette".)
There is a lengthy description of Heinrich in his old age at Rheinsberg by a Count Henckel von Donnersmark (of whom the director of "The Lives of Others" is descended, btw) which is over three pages, so I can't quote it in a comment, but it does mention that when the hour got very late, Heinrich's "no, I don't speak German,not me" slipped, especially when the 7 Years War got discussed, and a favored phrase was "Das will ich Ihnen noch sagen" ("one more thing I want to tell you"). Like Fritz, he had the local theatre play only French plays, all the time, though less exclusively Voltaire focused. And he did look like a figure from an older world in the end, with his Ancien Regime fashion and wig (Heinrich lived into the 19th century, after all), an excentric gentlemen with impeccable manners till the very end.
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Maybe he also was sincere in offering his older brother guidance re: education
I absolutely think he was. Partly control issues, sure, but I wasn't kidding when I said in some other comment that Fritz was giving AW what he'd wished he had. This is not terribly unlike SD trying to get Wilhelmine the marriage she would have wanted for herself.
for example, Fritz took AW with him and Algarotti when making that trip across the French border
I had either not known or forgotten AW was included! I can *totally* see him coming out of it with the impression as Fritz as the coolest older brother ever.
SD threatened to have little AW whipped by rod if he didn't ask his father for a deserter's life - one of the long fellows
Oh my god. I'd known the second half of this story, but not the first. Was she nice to any of the kids except Fritz? And was that only because FW treated Fritz the worst of all the kids? OMG, this family.
they did NOT see the Austria/France alliance coming
They can be forgiven!
That's so cool about the roleplay, I had no idea. Did they predict a Prussian victory? And did they predict a Prussian victory *after* the Diplomatic Revolution happened?
AW's daughter Wilhelmine did say about Fritz in her memoirs "He was for me a second father, and his affectionate behavior towards me never changed".
Does AW's son Heinrich get a mention? Fritz was supposed to have been very close to him as well, and devastated when he died of smallpox at age 19. (I included him in my list of emotional isolation; did not know or had forgotten about Wilhelmine.)
Think about that while you're in the field. Think long and hard.
Ooof. And then the way Fritz reacts when Wilhelmine dies. :-(
Von Krockow is with Mildred that the Fritz/Heinrich relationship is basically an eerie RP of FW/Fritz
Yeah, I think it's too pat an explanation to be *only* that, but Heinrich is the one that's most like Fritz, and...it's eerie.
The one he hated passionately and knocked himself out to work for and kept writing at least once a week to while he was still alive and kept obsessing about after his death was Fritz.
I hadn't thought of it in these terms, but yes, you're absolutely right. It's FW/Fritz from the other side as well.
Our Insane Family: The First Generation Reprised.
Heinrich in his old age finally managed to score one who wasn't yet another charismatic money waster but kind and devoted
Aww, good. That's what we were hoping.
But why does no one include the Marwitz episode?! I've seen two different versions on how it played out, I don't trust either one, and I want to know what happened!
contemporaries did testify that Heinrich as an adult did pretend not to speak German
I forgot to mention, I looked up my source, and it said he "claimed" not to speak German. And my immediate reaction was, "Oh, well, that's completely different." Fritz would have claimed not to speak German if he could have gotten away with it. :P
Fritz seems to have had something of an accent, too, at least if Voltaire is anything to go by
Oh, from everything I've read, Fritz totally spoke French with a German accent, his poetry neither scanned (because he pronounced words with the "wrong" number of syllables) nor rhymed as a result, he knew it, and that was one reason he was so desperate to get Voltaire, and on reason he always referred to himself as being handicapped in literary matters by being a German.
This is all extremely great, thank you so much, and omg, word to the wise: try not to be born a Hohenzollern, or to marry one.
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
What I also learned from these latest bunch of biographies: brother Ferdinand was actually permitted to marry for love. Whom did he fall in love with and marry? Wait for it - his niece, daughter of his and Fritz' sister Sophie. At which point you throw up your hands and wonder, leaving the close cross generational blood relationship and moral implications of same aside, why on earth a Hohenzollern would marry another Hohenzollern. (Seriously, guys, this is not how you want to compete with the Habsburgs.)
SD and non-Fritz kids: don't know. I mean, they're all "Woe, the best of mothers is dead" when she dies, but that's par the course for the era. Also the German wiki entry for Ulrike (though not the English one) says SD said about her that Ulrike was the sole daughter "whom I could never deny anything to."
The source Ziebura quotes re: the "little Wilhelm asks for mercy" story is Freilnghausen, who was a preacher from Halle whom FW had preach in Wusterhausen, his country mansion, and who noted down the following:
"The prince had been told by his mother the previous day how and for what he should plead, but Wilhelm was afraid his father would be angry. Seckendorff and Grumbkow, too, had talked to him and told him they would ease his path to the King, by saying something like "I believe your son carries something within his heart, Sire..." But only when the mother threatened him with the rod if he didn't say anything, he asked (SD's chief lady in waiting) von Kameken what "hanging" meant, if people got hurt by it, and of one died from it - and then he went to his father."
Whereupon this scene happened.
The prince began by kissing his father's hands and to stroke his cheeks. Rex asked: "You want something, don't you?" Wilhelm: "Yes, Papa." Rex: "What is it?" Wilhelm: "Please don't hang the long fellow who ran away." The King smiled but did not yet give a positive answer. The Queen signalled that the intercession found her favour. Grumpkow and Seckendorff, too, aided the little Prince. Whereupon Rex started to kiss the Prince and hold him in his arms. Now the Queen signalled (Freilinghausen) silently, he, too, was supposed to say something. (Freilinghausen) admonished mercy and said that one had to be harsh if murder had been committed, but in this case surely mercy sould take preference over the letter of the law. The King agreed, and so did the generals present.
Now obviously, saving a human life - especially of a poor guy who just was kidnapped for his body length - is a good thing, but it's still a bit chilling to read all the adults present using this kid. Now this was toddler Wilhelm; child and een Wilhelm, when brother Fritz sends him loving big brother letters from Neuruppin and Rheinsberg and asks him "to tell me bluntly whether or not the King has talked about me; even with a clear conscience I find myself somewhat concerned in this matter", is also delivering as requested:
As you want to know all what the King has been saying about you, so I allow myself to write to you that he has said this noon that he's building a lot of beautiful houses in Berlin; for he knew very well that after his death, my dear brother would have comedies and parties, mistresses and balls; that it would be a pleasure to my brother to waste all the money he had been saved with such hardships; but by now he did not care anymore. Secondly, he said he didn't like fops despite having one in the family. He knew very well which one, but that one was too old to be improved.
You will be surprised, dear brother, that I find the time to write, but I am not in good grace myself right now, and thus have not been taken along on the hunt. I have not done anything wrong! It is only that I did not know the name of a village. But it is alright, as long as he doesn't punish me harder, the way he does a hundred others. Now I am afraid I am boring you, and thus I conclude with the assurance that I will never forget the good advice of a brother whose affection I hope to deserve in the future.
Ziebura quotes a German (rhymed) translation of the praise-and-instruction poem Fritz wrote to AW, which ends with, after wishing glorious deeds (and more voluntarily read books) to young Wilhelm:
"While I am happy to observe
your victories, your joy, your nerve,
and shall content myself with philosophy
Your education as my only trophy"
(English rhymed translation of German rhymed translation by yours truly. It's not Schlegel and doesn't properly scan, but then neither is the Fritzian original.)
To which Whilhelm replies:
"For the epistle which you've sent
And all the praise that you did spent,
Receive much thanks! To me you wish much wisdom
With which, dear brother, you've always endowed been.
To all of us it would be good to heed,
to follow where your mind us wants to lead.
Then I'd be saved from clumsy ignorance,
through you, most noble brother - what a chance!
You are in everything a perfect man,
in body and in mind: salute I can!"
The tragic irony is that AW did learn more, improved his French, geography, maths etc to please his brother. Flash forward to 1749, Fritz has a big argument with Heinrich (which precedes him forcing Heinrich to marry)warming up his FW roleplay, AW tries his old role as family mediator, and:
F: You believe blindly anything (Heinrich) says. (...) Heinrich is your idol, your blind friendship doesn't let you recognize his mistakes. I love him as a brother but would regret it if he doesn't improve in the various aspects I told him. I am not acting out of a whim or to boast. Only his sloppy behaviour is at fault.
AW: I am sad to learn of the unfortunate idea you have of your brothers. The picture of Heinrich you paint, I don't recognize. You ascribe a character to him which I haven't notice, and you consider me so clueless that you believe I am dazzled and fooled by him.
(Can we say "Projecting into Heinrich much, Fritz?")
The roleplay: they finished it before the Diplomatic Revolution. But yes, Prussia wins. Heinrich-as-Fritz first defeats Hannover - the brothers assume that the English Parliament wouldn't be willing to okay British troops to save Hannover, since they felt their royals were too much involved with Hannover anyway - and then fights the Austrians to a standstill.
It does have all the signs of a modern RPG, for, to quote from the biography:
While Heinrich, playing the King, laid out the political-strategic plan and also wrote diplomatic notes, dispatches from ambassadors and memoranda, it was Gessler's, that it is Wilhelm's job to work out the practical side of the enterprise. He sent the King his dispositions for the occupation and defense of Hildesheim, made sketches of the Hildesheim, Misburg and Hannover fortresses indicating siege and weopon positions. He also organized supply lines and the disposition of the field ambulance units. He drew large maps for the battle plans.
How do we know all this? Because our two princes had the whole thing assembled and privately printed once they were done. It's not known whether Fritz ever got a copy.
AW's son Heinrich: nope, Ziebura says nothing about him other that he exists, though yes, I know he's supposed to have been Fritz' favourite nephew. Re: Wilhelmine the younger, I checked out wiki, and while English wiki is longer, German wiki has more about her relationship with Fritz. She married William V. of Orange, which makes her the ancestresss of the current Dutch royals. (BTW, this Hohenzollern connection is also why Willy was offered asylum/retirement in the Netherlands after WWI.) German wiki has this to say: She conducted a lengthy political correspondance with her uncle Frederick the Great, whose favourite niece she was supposed to be. Armed with his advice, she tried to win political influence on the rule of the Netherlands.
Fritz! Encouraging a woman to overrule her man on the throne when it suits you! I'm shocked, simply shocked. Whoever made you believe that would work?
Mysterious Marwitz episode: it's most frustrating. We will find out one day, I hope.:)
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
HOMG.
The roleplay: they finished it before the Diplomatic Revolution. But yes, Prussia wins.
But after the Diplomatic Revolution, when it ceased to be a hypothetical RPG and started to be life-or-death, did they have opinions about whether Fritz/Prussia could pull off a victory against these odds?
All I remember is Heinrich gloating after Kolin, which doesn't bode well for commitment to the cause...
Fritz! Encouraging a woman to overrule her man on the throne when it suits you!
Look, principles are not important when you're king. Only the state is important. If only Montezuma had known this, the Spanish conquest might have gone very differently. :P
I checked out Wikipedia just to see if niece Wilhelmine survived Fritz, and thank goodness she did. Both because we have enough people dying young in this century, and also because he survived enough people he cared about.
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
As for AW, it's worth noting that as opposed to his youthful reaction to Fritz invading Silesia, which was basically "You're the coolest, Big Brother! But why didn't you tell me anything! Can I come, too! Wow, just wow!", he in the 1750s had a far darker view of war in general. In 1753, he wrote to the French Ambassador from Spandau:
"I'm getting up at four and am shooting at sparrows until seven. If one looks at this from a philosophical point of view, it sounds ridiculous, but if one considers that it's practice for the annihilation of human life, one wonders: where in this is our humanity? By now, it has become such a well practiced habit in the world to murder each other that the passing of time allows a crime which can't be justified through anything. The defense of our fatherland, the support of our allies can force us to see this with different eyes. That's why we go through the motions here. Add to this a pinch of vanity, and you are getting the picture."
(The French ambassador in question was that same Marquis de Valori who once quipped about Fritz: "Il n'est guère possible d'avoir plus d'esprit, et il est très possible d' en faire un meilleur usage.")
So basically, the dccumented reactions from both him and Heinrich in 1756 as to what this implied for Prussia can be summed up with "Shit, shit, can't we at least persuade the French to like us again, argh, must join the war effort to save the country!"
Von Krockow also quotes this bitter assessment from Heinrich in 1760 (i.e. at a point where AW is already dead but Heinrich himself, even in Fritz' estimation, has emerged as the major military talent of this war)where he writes to Ferdinand: "You are kind enough to ascribe the saving of the state to me; but even if I had all the abilities you are ascribing to me, they wouldn't be of any use, since I can't go against the will of the one who is dragging us all with him. He who commands under the King loses honor and reputation. (...) 'The State', my dear brother, is a name that gets used to throw sand into the eyes of the public; a villain who claims every success for himself and whom one serves like a human sacrifice."
To be fair,
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Going back in time a couple thousand years, to the wars among Alexander's successors, this reminds me of the time Demetrius wanted his father the king, Antigonus, to tell him when he planned to march, and Antigonus quipped, "Why? Are you afraid you alone of all the army will not hear the trumpet?"
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
aaaaaaah WHY
Now obviously, saving a human life - especially of a poor guy who just was kidnapped for his body length - is a good thing, but it's still a bit chilling to read all the adults present using this kid.
Argh, yes.
Awwww your translations! I feel like they really get across the character of the different poems and poets -- Fritz's being workable but not quite scanning and Wilhelm's being just, well, cute and sweet and clearly done by a kid <3
Fritz! Encouraging a woman to overrule her man on the throne when it suits you! I'm shocked, simply shocked. Whoever made you believe that would work?
*the ghost of MT is not saying anything at all, but is looking super smug just about now*
Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
„Prinz Heinrich, damals gemeinhin – zum Unterschiede von seinem berühmten Oheim in Rheinsberg – der junge Prinz Heinrich genannt, war der Sohn des 1758 zu Oranienburg verstorbenen Prinzen August Wilhelm von Preußen. Er war also Neffe Friedrichs des Großen wie zugleich jüngerer Bruder des späteren Königs Friedrich Wilhelms II. Friedrich der Große bezeigte ihm von dem Augenblick an, wo die Kriegsaffairen hinter ihm lagen, ein ganz besonderes Wohlwollen. Dies war ebensosehr in den allgemeinen Verhältnissen wie in den Eigenschaften des jungen Prinzen begründet. Dieser erschien von ungewöhnlicher Beanlagung, war klug, voll noblen Denkens und hohen Strebens, dabei gütig und von reinem Wandel; was indessen den König in all seinen Beziehungen zu diesem Prinzen eine ganz ungewöhnliche Herzlichkeit zeigen ließ, war wohl der Umstand, daß er sich dem verstorbenen Vater des Prinzen gegenüber, dem er viel Herzeleid gemacht hatte, bis zu einem gewissen Grade verschuldet fühlte, eine Schuld, die er abtragen wollte und an den ältern Bruder (den späteren König Friedrich Wilhelm II.), der ihm aus verschiedenen Gründen nicht recht zusagte, nicht abtragen konnte.“
„Prinz Heinrich hatte 1762 den lebhaften Wunsch geäußert, dem Könige bei Wiederbeginn der Kriegsoperationen sich anschließen zu dürfen. Friedrich lehnte jedoch ab, da der junge Prinz erst vierzehn Jahr alt war. Erst nach erfolgtem Friedensschluß wurde er von Magdeburg, wo er garnisonierte, nach Potsdam gezogen und trat als Hauptmann in das Bataillon Garde. Er gehörte nunmehr einige Jahre lang zu den regelmäßigen Mittagsgästen des Königs und begleitete diesen auf seinen Inspektionsreisen durch die Provinzen. 1767 im April übersiedelte der Prinz nach Kyritz, um nunmehr die Führung des hier stehenden Kürassierregiments oder auch nur eines Teils desselben zu übernehmen. Dies Kürassierregiment waren die berühmten »gelben Reiter«, deren Chef der Prinz bereits seit 1758 war.“
„Der Übernahme des Kommandos folgte, wenige Wochen später, jene Katastrophe, die ich, nach den Aufzeichnungen des Protzener Kirchenbuches, vorstehend mitgeteilt habe.“
„Rittmeister von Wödtke brachte die Trauerkunde dem Könige. Dieser war in seltenem Grade bewegt. Einer der höheren Offiziere sprach dem Könige Trost zu und bat ihn, sich zu beruhigen. »Er hat recht«, antwortete Friedrich, »aber Er fühlt nicht den Schmerz, der mir durch diesen Verlust verursacht wird.« – »Ja, Ew. Majestät, ich fühle ihn; er war einer der hoffnungsvollsten Prinzen.« Der König schüttelte den Kopf und sagte: »Er hat den Schmerz auf der Zunge, ich hab ihn hier.« Und dabei legte er die Hand aufs Herz. Eine ähnlich tiefe Teilnahme verraten seine Briefe. An seinen Bruder Heinrich in Rheinsberg schrieb er: »Ich liebte dieses Kind wie mein eigenes«, und an Tauentzien meldete er in der Nachschrift zu einer dienstlichen Ordre: »Mein lieber Hendrich ist tot.«“
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
"Prinz Heinrich hatte 1762 den lebhaften Wunsch geäußert, dem Könige bei Wiederbeginn der Kriegsoperationen sich anschließen zu dürfen. Friedrich lehnte jedoch ab, da der junge Prinz erst vierzehn Jahr alt war."
In looking at the Henricus Major 1745/1746 correspondence, I find that Fritz also declined to let *him* go to war, age approximately 19.
So, um, asking for a friend...how close were Ulrike and AW? I ask because I went looking for that postscript, couldn't find it (probably because it's domestic rather than foreign and thus doesn't qualify as political correspondence), but ran across a letter to Ulrike in Sweden (who counts as political even when the subject is a death in the family?), telling her about the death of their mutual nephew.
And this--I'm not even going to call it a condolence letter, it's a "woe is me" letter--contains the following Fritzian gem about young late Henricus Minor: "C'était l'image de son père, il en possédait toutes les bonnes qualités, sans en avoir les défauts."
Which is to be translated:
Fritz: It's going on ten years and I'm still writing defensive death announcement letters about how I'm totally not responsible for AW's death!
Heinrich the Elder: Just you wait until it's been thirty years and I'm erecting an obelisk in his memory on the day of your funeral, bitch.
Oh, Fritz. Family therapy and hugs for everyone. No weapons, lots of music (though perhaps hold off on the fraternal rap battles).
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
In looking at the Henricus Major 1745/1746 correspondence, I find that Fritz also declined to let *him* go to war, age approximately 19.
I think that might be a misunderstanding? Because von Krockow in his double biography/portrait says Heinrich already distinguished himself in the Second Silesian War at the conquest of Prague (16 September 1744), battle of Hohenfriedberg (4th June 1745), and in the battle of Soor (September 30th 1745, the very day Franz Stephan got crowned as Emperor in Frankfurt), where Heinrich alredy commanded an infantry brigade in the rank of "Generalmajor". However, once the war was over, in 1746, he wanted to go on a Grand Tour through Europe instead of still doing military (peacetime) duty and comamnding the garnison in Spandau. (Which was his unwanted post-Silesia job that he neglected so he'd be allowed to go; that was what the argument with AW quoted earlier about Heinrich's character was about.) Fritz seems to have responded with "You're younger me, of course you don't get to go on the Grand Tour!" Heinrich then tries to sell the Grand Tour as a military educational tour, he's totally just going to check out every army and fortress in Europe to further become a better soldier.
To this, Krockow quotes the following Fritz letter: Dear Brother! Indeed I had not expected to receive a letter from you. However, since you've managed to sulk for six months and live in the same house with me without looking at me or talking to me, nothing surprises me anymore. However, I wasn't prepared for the project you are suggesting. I'm not opposed to you educating yourself. But given the little interest you're currently showing in patriotic military service doesn't seem promising to me regarding your future career in the field. Moreover, the habits in foreign armies are so different from ours that I don't see what you could possibly learn.
(Heinrich: probably tries to decide whether fratricide is a valid method for making AW king)
how close were Ulrike and AW?
Good grief. He was her favourite brother. Now he seems to have been everyone's favourite brother, other than Wilhelmine's, and he certainly had become her second favourite before the end, but Ulrike was just two years older than AW, so he was the brother she'd grown up with most, and when she married - but I need to paint a larger picture here.
U: About time! I've been cast as Rokoko Alexis Carrington Colby here, with no mention of what I had to put up with, and I'm not talking about Gustav threatening to send me home to Prussia if I didn't publically declare his little bastard wasn't a bastard. Pray do me justice now!
So: Sweden was actually a parliamentary monarchy at that time, meaning the role of Swedish royalty was mainly to represent, whereas true power was in the hand of parliament, with both nobles and middle class representatives.
Swedish parliament: Prussia under its new king seems to be something we need to keep an eye on. On the other hand, we've got our eternal feud with the Russians, so... how about marrying our crown prince to one of your sisters, new Prussian King?
Fritz: You can have Amalie or Ulrike. I'd take Amalie, she's nicer.
Swedish Parliament: That clearly means Amalie would be his biddable spy. We're taking Ulrike. She seems to have a will of her own.
U: Dear beloved brother Wilhelm, my new husband is alright, but would you believe bloody Fritz hasn't seen it fit to pay me my dowry yet? Dad left 30 O00 Taler to me in his last will. That's my money. Please make him forward my money!
AW: Fritz says he's fighting the second Silesian War and has no money to spare. I'll keep trying, but in the meantime, if your husband is fine and is about to become King, surely there are no financial worries?
U: Ha. You know who runs the show here? Nobles and peasants in parliament. They're deciding the budget for our household, not the King. And they keep cutting it down, because for some reason, they think I'm arrogant. I'm thinking I need to buy me some noble support. Now, is Fritz more willing to give me my money? Over here, we hear he's building himself a new palace!
AW: Sorry, couldn't write for a while, had to write to Heinrich and Wilhelmine instead. There's some family drama going on. I, um, let's just say you can try for yourself with Fritz regarding the money, but if you like, I'd totally take up credit with the banks to lend you some.
U: You're sweet, and yes, let's. Now, nobles of Sweden: I know you're for some weird reason into this parliament system, but what makes you think that if you keep treating burghers as if they actually had the same rights as you in government, they won't end up treating you like they do us already? All representation, no power? Think long and hard.
*new party in Sweden with nobles sympathetic to the Queen, or so she thinks* developes.
*some years later*
U: Dearest darling brother Wilhelm, you won't believe what just happened. Parliament insisted on examining my oldest kid Gustav, age 10, for his education. And now they've decided to fire his teacher and take over the education of all my kids, appointing teachers of their own. Could you PLEASE tell Fritz I need money
to overthrow parliament?AW: That's truly rotten. I'm horrified. And worried for you. Don't you have anyone to speak for you in parliament? Am, as ever, willing to lend you some of my own money.
U: Don't talk to me of parliament, some ingrates I financed in the past have just turned their back on me. If I send you the crown jewels as well as my own personal jewelry, could you sell it for me? I'm thinking I need money to raise an army. This is clearly a Charles I and Crowmell situation. I'm not losing my head to the bloody peasants.
(She did use those historical examples.)
AW: Charles I and Cromwell, seriously? "Dearest sister, I should hope that your cause is more just than that of Charles, and that you are far from the tyrannical frame of mind of Cromwell, who under the name of protector became one of the worst tyrants England ever had." (Literal quote.) Look, it sucks, but you did marry into a freedom-loving nation, and honestly - (Literal non paraphrased quote follows again): "If I was a Swedish senator, I would give the King the power to do good, but I would also use the laws to limit his authority to stop him from committing injustices. I would wish he'd be the first servant of the state, the most useful man of the kingdom, and if he worked the hardest, then he would be rewarded accordingly." This is not at all a hint for your husband to be more like Fritz and work harder. But I am sorry for that bit with your kids' teachers, and I promise I'll pawn your jewels for you. Not the crown jewels, though. I just think this is a bad idea.
U: *sends jewels, which get duly pawned by Wilhelm for her, except it turns out some of the jewelry consists of fakes, and the jeweller goes public with this*
Sweden: Scandal! What is the Queen up to pawning her jewelry in Prussia? Could she want to raise an army against parliament? And aren't those our jewels anyway?
U: No, they're mine, given to me at the time of my marriage. Unlike my bloody dowry, Fritz! I hate you all. Except you, Wilhelm. You're a bit naive, but you've been my only sympathetic ear in all of this.
Seven Years War: *breaks out*
U: Dear Wilhelm, please tell Fritz that parliament decided to join the alliance against him, and that it would never have happened if only he'd given me the money to overthrow them and reintroduce absolute monarchy in Sweden, so it is all HIS FAULT.
(Some years later, son Gustav actually does manage a state coup reintroducing absolute monarchy in Sweden. It's the one time he truly makes his mother happy. But alas, there's a scandal on the way....
ETA: Ulrike's "where's my money and my support?" thing of course also provides context for Ulrike's needlings in Wilhelmine's direction. From her pov: Wilhelmine's house burns down? Fritz provides money and art. Wilhelmine wants to travel to France and Italy, the very thing Fritz didn't allow his brothers and which is also expensive? Wilhelmine gets to do it, with Fritzian support. Wilhelmine pisses off Fritz by meeting with his arch nemesis? She gets forgiven. Meanwhile, Ulrike is nominally a queen and thus should be the most important sister, but has to pawn her jewelry, and then it even turns out either her father or her brother had given her fake jewelry back in the day.
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Good grief. He was her favourite brother.
I facepalmed so hard, you have no idea. Fritz fails ring theory again!
then it even turns out either her father or her brother had given her fake jewelry back in the day.
Oh no. The Hohenzollerns keep getting wackier
and more in need of therapists!Thank you for the Ulrike/AW summary!
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Swedish Parliament: That clearly means Amalie would be his biddable spy. We're taking Ulrike. She seems to have a will of her own.
AHAHAHAHA Well, you tried, Fritz...
AW: Charles I and Cromwell, seriously? "Dearest sister, I should hope that your cause is more just than that of Charles, and that you are far from the tyrannical frame of mind of Cromwell, who under the name of protector became one of the worst tyrants England ever had." (Literal quote.) Look, it sucks, but you did marry into a freedom-loving nation, and honestly - (Literal non paraphrased quote follows again): "If I was a Swedish senator, I would give the King the power to do good, but I would also use the laws to limit his authority to stop him from committing injustices. I would wish he'd be the first servant of the state, the most useful man of the kingdom, and if he worked the hardest, then he would be rewarded accordingly." This is not at all a hint for your husband to be more like Fritz and work harder. But I am sorry for that bit with your kids' teachers, and I promise I'll pawn your jewels for you. Not the crown jewels, though. I just think this is a bad idea.
You know, I can see why AW was everyone's favorite. I think AW is my favorite too. <3
ETA: Ulrike's "where's my money and my support?" thing of course also provides context for Ulrike's needlings in Wilhelmine's direction.
Huh, that makes sense, I guess! BUT STILL.
D: What are you laughing about?
Me: I had no idea that 18thC Sweden was such a hotbed of sensational gossip!
Sweden: the Dallas of Rokoko Scandinavia
Re: Sweden: the Dallas of Rokoko Scandinavia
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Wait, so he actually said, non-paraphrased literal quote, "first servant of the state"? Yeah, that's not subtle at aaaallll.
Also, way to have constitutional monarchical principles that are flexible enough to accommodate Dad and Older Bro, AW. A+ mental gymnastics.
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
what about a flute-bustin' Prussian
Re: what about a flute-bustin' Prussian
Re: Heinrich the Younger, AW's son
I CAN'T EVEN. Especially with
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Hohenzollern family group dynamics are THE WORST. :((((((((
Heinrich and AW :((((( Just your saying Heinrich... really loved him above and beyond, same intensity as the Fritz/Wilhelmine relationship. ...yeah, when you said that I was like, now I do know where this is going :(
Amalie was present through most of it, and said report, in great detail, tearstained and with ink blots, is adressed to Fritz. It doesn't include a direct accusation, but Ziebura thinks the very fact she writes this detailed has a "this is your fault, now at least learn what it was like" subtext.
Heinrich, of course, did not need subtext.
They just all need lots and lots of hugs and therapy :(
Fritz, you know, the sibling YOU love? You've killed her along with the one I loved best as well. Think about that while you're in the field. Think long and hard.
Oh. Ouch. OUCH.
"The Count appeared as a present from heaven to him, the evening of his life had arrived, but behold, the setting sun gave him once more a beam of warming light."
Aww, that is sweet! And I love the picture of old!Heinrich as an eccentric gentleman with impeccable manners <3 Also, lol for Heinrich's German.
(uh, my French pronounciation is worse than my reading comprehension -- do they not rhyme because of the difference between "te" and "tte," and/or is there some slight difference in the vowel? I suck so badly at vowels!)
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
And yes, no kidding about family therapy and hugs. And no one has access to any weapons. Music, otoh, is not just permitted but encouraged.
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
This, this, and this!
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
Re: More Book Reports: AW bio, Fritz and Heinrich double portrait/lengthy essay
French pronunciation
Short answer: they rhyme today but didn't necessarily rhyme in Voltaire's day.
Long answer...well, bear in mind that I had only one semester on the history of the French language--
Originally, back in Cicero's day in Latin, "t" and "tt" would have been pronounced differently, but by about the year 1000 they were pronounced the same in French. So Voltaire would not have heard any difference between the consonants. It's the vowels he would have cared about.
Now, the word "tête" comes from Latin "testa". Some time in the Middle Ages, "s" before a following consonant got turned to "h", pronounced "tehta".
Then the "h" stopped being pronounced, but to make up for the lost consonant, the preceding vowel went from a short vowel to a long vowel. This was represented by putting a circumflex over the vowel. So "tête" had a long vowel, and "trompette" a short vowel, for several hundred years, and the modern spelling difference reflects this historical difference.
Around Voltaire's time, French speakers stopped pronouncing vowel length differences. Like most sound changes, this took multiple generations and caught on gradually. There was a period when some people were pronouncing them the same, and some people were pronouncing them differently.
My guess (this is an educated guess) is that in ordinary, casual speech in France, and in German-speaking regions, the two words rhymed, but someone known for speaking the "best", i.e. conservative, French, like Voltaire, would still observe a difference, especially because they were spelled differently, and because the poets of preceding generations Voltaire and Fritz were emulating were not rhyming them.
Today, they rhyme in most dialects, including in Paris, and I know this not because I can pronounce French vowels*, but because I asked a friend who grew up just outside Paris to confirm Wikipedia.
* I barely even pronounce English vowels: people make fun of what vowels I rhyme and don't rhyme all the time. :P Case in point, I pronounce "sell" and "sail" the same. I have most but not all the mergers on this page.
Re: French pronunciation
Re: French pronunciation
Your measly three years of French in a German (I assume) school probably far surpass my measlier two years of French in a not only American, but academically poor even by American standards, high school. That plus my one semester of French historical linguistics in college is about it for me and French.
My German background is even weirder: one semester of proper German in college, one semester on German syntax from a linguistic perspective (so a lot of diagramming sentences and reading up on different theories that account for where verbs go), one semester on reading academic German in grad school, two semesters of Middle High German, and a few semesters of even more remotely removed long dead Germanic languages: Old English, Old Norse/Icelandic, Gothic. ;) All of these give me a slight edge in reading German over an English speaker who had only that one semester of German 101, but leave me with a total German reading proficiency that is actually worse than my two years of high school French. Largely due to English having a far greater overlap in vocabulary with French, notwithstanding that it's a Germanic language.
I will never cease to complain that my graduate program:
- required nominal reading proficiency in French and German,
- failed to provide us with resources to acquire academic reading proficiency without taking years and years of irrelevant "When is the train coming?" undergraduate courses on spoken French/German that no one actually had time for,
- held the bar so low we could pass without actually being able to read French or German, thus giving us no incentive to prioritize reading proficiency over all the other things we were trying to cram into our years there.
And then we'd get random lectures like, "You know, you should also learn to read academic Russian," and we'd blink and stare at our advisors like..."I don't disagree. In principle."
Re: French pronunciation
Re: French pronunciation
Re: French pronunciation
Re: French pronunciation