Frederick the Great, discussion post 5: or: Yuletide requests are out!

[cahn]

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

Comments

Sweden: the Dallas of Rokoko Scandinavia

[selenak]

AHAHAHAHA Well, you tried, Fritz...

Or, how a more sober writer puts it:

The Swedish envoy in Berlin, Carl Rudenschöld, inspected them and recommended that the proposal be made to Ulrika. Frederick the Great himself preferred Amalia for the Swedish marriage: he described Amalia for the Swedish representatives as goodhearted and more suitable for Sweden, while Ulrika was arrogant, temperamental and a plotting intriguer. It has been suggested that Fredrick's judgment was given because he believed that Amalia would be easier to control as a Prussian agent in Sweden than the strong willed and dominant Ulrika. After having consulted Adolf Frederick, however, the Swedes chose Ulrika, and her brother gave his consent on 1 March 1744. She was given tuition about Sweden, was advised not to get involved in politics, and converted to Lutheranism 28 June.

All I can say on this occasion is: Swedes, you had it coming. But I do want to know whether Fritz was being sincere or was using reverse psychology on that occasion.

I had no idea that 18thC Sweden was such a hotbed of sensational gossip!

And you being a Verdi fan, no less. Also, there's always Axel von Fersen who is almost ridiculously perfect as a tragic romantic hero, and other than his childhood bff Gustav certainly was the most sensationally gossipped about Swede of his age. Zweig's MA biography will introduce you to details, but for now, have some tidbits:

Young Axel on the Grand Tour, meeting Voltaire: I was struck by the beauty of his eyes and the vivacity of his expression. It was, I confess, curiosity rather than admiration which led me to seek his acquaintance (...) He was not only extremely clever, but also very lucky; and one of the reasons of his success was that he was disliked, admired and befriended by different great people in such a way that his fame could not fail to spread.

(How's that for a diss, Fritz?)

Then our young, good-looking count gets to Paris. And meets a young masked lady at the opera. Sparks fly, but upon learning she is, in fact, the (married) Dauphine of France, young Axel hastily resumes his Grand Tour, then goes back to Sweden, serving childhood bff Gustav for the next few years. Then he goes to France once more, meets the by then Queen again, and sparks fly enough for people to notice and gossip. Since our hero, unlike most nobles, actually is aware that being gossipped about is starting to be a bad thing about the young Queen of France, he hastily withdraws again, this time to the American Revolution, no less, where he fights for the revolutionaries (whom France is allied with, remember). He duly distinguishes himself and goes back to Sweden, which is when Gustav makes a trip through central Europe, including France, and takes him along.

By this point, the necklace affair has happpened and ruined MA's reputation with the French population, as it turns out, for good. (No matter that in this case, all historians agree she was entirely innocent.) In the aftermath, von Fersen decides to stay with her. And remains through the early Revolution. He organized the ill fated escape attempt to Varennes and almost every other escape attempt thereafter, and tried his best to get first brother Leopold, then nephew Franz to do something for MA, he did manage to get Gustav on board with the "rescue the French Royals" train but then, well, masque ball. Axel von Fersen like a rl Scarlet Pimpernell managed to get into Revolutionary France again and again, but he could not save MA. He then returned to Sweden, heartbroken and full of guilt about having failed.

Fast forward to Gustav IV. Adolf being deposed by his uncle Charles; von Fersen leads the pro-Gustavian party in Sweden and gets blamed by public rumor for the death of Charles' only son (who when reviewing troops fell from his horse and died of apoplexy). When Axel von Fersen, in his capacity of peer of the realm, took part in the crown prince's funeral, he was, literally, torn apart by the mob. I kid you not. Quoth wiki: First curses then copper coins and various missiles were hurled at the carriage till its windows were broken; then savage threats and showers of stones become continuous, and, at last in the Riddarhustorget, at the instant when the escort was turning to the right, a tremendous crowd barred the way of Fersen's carriage ... the [guards] remained passive while the rabble unharnessed the horses, and dragged Fersen out of the coach.

Von Fersen, with a violent effort, flung back one of the assailants who grasped him and shook himself free of the others who were pressing round. There was a momentary lull, and the curses shrank from shouts to mutterings. Von Fersen's face bled where a stone had cut it, his decorations glittering in the sun. The guards, who were supposed to protect him, gazed at him with a sort of curious expectancy.

It was at this moment when Beaumont arrived on the scene with General Silfversparre and a small detachment of troops. This intervention further enraged the large crowd. Von Fersen, realizing that the authorities planned to do nothing, turned and dashed into the first door he could find. The crowd converged on this spot, and a few ran into the house in pursuit of him.

Before long, one man appeared at the window "and with a triumphant shout" hurled down von Fersen's cloak and sword, which were seized by the angry crowd. Von Fersen was dragged back out into the square. His gloves were pulled off and thrown in his face, and his coat torn off and trampled upon. Silfversparre, attempting to save von Fersen, offered to arrest him and have him tried in court for the Crown Prince's murder. At this moment, the mounted escort turned and rode away. The mob "had been almost quiet, but now raised yells of delight and triumph, and fell upon von Fersen".

Von Fersen's contemporary, Baron Gustaf Armfelt, stated afterward:

One is almost tempted to say that the government wanted to give the people a victim to play with, just as when one throws something to an irritated wild beast to distract its attention. The more I consider it all, the more I am certain that the mob had the least to do with it ... But in God's name what were the troops about? How could such a thing happen in broad daylight during a procession, when troops and a military escort were actually present?

Axel von Fersen died that day in Stockholm as Sweden's highest-ranking official next to the King; his death sent shock waves throughout the country. The cause of death was determined to be "crushing of the ribcage" when the Swedish-Finn Otto Johan Tandefelt jumped with both feet on Fersen's chest.

He had never married. His sister buried him with this enscription on his tomb:

To an unforgettable brother, the courage in his last moments on 20 June 1810, bears testimony to his virtues and clean conscience.

Re: Sweden: the Dallas of Rokoko Scandinavia

[cahn]

And you being a Verdi fan, no less.

How was I supposed to know that Verdi was actually following history?? :) (no, seriously, whenever you or mildred is like "so this thing happened in real life that's actually in the libretto" I'm like, "really??")

and one of the reasons of his success was that he was disliked, admired and befriended by different great people in such a way that his fame could not fail to spread.

hahahahahaha!

Axel von Fersen! :(((((((((( geeeesh.