cahn: (Default)
cahn ([personal profile] cahn) wrote2020-01-13 09:09 am
Entry tags:

Frederick the Great discussion post 9

...I leave you guys alone for one weekend and it's time for a new Fritz post, lol!

I'm gonna reply to the previous post comments but I guess new letter-reading, etc. should go in this one :)

Frederick the Great links
mildred_of_midgard: (Default)

Re: Rheinsberg, the community

[personal profile] mildred_of_midgard 2020-01-17 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
1 Jun 1740 [I know this isn't right but I can't easily find the date reference] Friedrich is crowned King Friedrich II in Prussia

That's because he was never crowned! He went for cheap homage ceremonies, appeared in public, waved at people, gave out some medals with his image on them, went home. FW had done the same. The last coronation in Prussia was the first King (in) Prussia, Grandpa F1, who was a big spender.

Coronations are expensive and decadent and (of concern to Fritz) not for enlightened, non-superstitious monarchs!

Okay, so you want fewer items but more detail per item than I was going to go for. I suppose that makes sense if it's meant as an introductory resource and not just a reference for the initiated.

I may also do a longer chronology with less detail per entry as a reference work for the initiated (who may also be plotting fic, haha).

Blanning is also a lighter read than a lot of the other biographers, in that it took me less time to read 600 pages by him than to read 300 pages by other biographers. So it's a good intro to the topic for that reason as well. It's also ten bucks.

I will go back to Wilhelmine but I've sort of slewed over to the AW letters for now :P :)

There's a lot to read! I've started like ten things that I haven't finished. (I have a Trello list for them, lol.) Plus I'm about to finish rereading MacDonogh, and then I want to reread Blanning, with all this new knowledge under my belt.
iberiandoctor: (Default)

Re: Rheinsberg, the community

[personal profile] iberiandoctor 2020-01-18 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Coming over lateish to echo my support for cahn’s suggested chronology format. Year by year, and the various highlights in each year, with no more than a line or two describing said highlight. Major events in bold. (And then people could come back and insert links or footnotes to said events if they wanted to.) As we all know, chronos are invaluable for the casual reader wanting to deep dive, academics, and fic XD

Relatedly, is there a good, non-overly aggrandising book or resource as to Fritz’s military strategy? I’m only familiar with the standard myth of the war genius general, mostly from Berlin visits and familiarity with the post-Fritz Napoleonic wars, albeit from the non-Prussian side of things (thanks, Mis fandom!). I see you’ve recommended Blanning to cahn, which probably means I should wait for her to be done with it and make free with her summarised views :)

(I’m also interested in resources on the Prussian military uniform, but that’s probably just my thing for uniforms.)
mildred_of_midgard: (Default)

Re: Rheinsberg, the community

[personal profile] mildred_of_midgard 2020-01-18 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
I have some Fritz-related military history books on my wishlist for when I'm in a better position, health-wise, to read them, but atm, no, I have nothing better than Blanning to recommend as at least an alternative to the standard myths. And I haven't done enough of a deep dive to know how much I agree with Blanning, although I definitely think he's right to challenge the myth. (Heinrich: challenging the myth since the Seven Years' War (at least).)

I similarly have Frederick the Great: The Uniforms of the Prussian Army under Frederick the Great 1740 to 1786 on my list of books to ILL on some future date, since I can't find it cheaply enough to buy. Or at least couldn't last time I looked.
selenak: (Flint by Violateraindrop)

Prussian military uniforms

[personal profile] selenak 2020-01-18 07:19 am (UTC)(link)
...changed a couple of times, so for example those worn during the 1870/71 French/Prussian-German war were not identical with the earlier versions. Hell, not even the uniforms during the wars against Napoleon in 1815 were! However, googling gave me sketches of the correct Frederician army uniforms for you:


Cavalry

http://www.historischer-bilderdienst.de/images/u007-002_92.jpg


Infantry

http://www.historischer-bilderdienst.de/images/u007-147_92.jpg

Special tasks not covered by the above:

http://www.historischer-bilderdienst.de/images/u007-292_92.jpg
mildred_of_midgard: (Default)

Re: Rheinsberg, the community

[personal profile] mildred_of_midgard 2020-01-18 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
The entire entry for 1730: "Four-year-old Heinrich joins AW's household."
mildred_of_midgard: (Default)

Re: Rheinsberg, the community

[personal profile] mildred_of_midgard 2020-01-18 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
:D :D :D :D :D :D