In the sense of forming Fritz into a successor he was satisfied with, he did, though, eventually.
He got some of what he wanted. He never did get the full capitulation, and toward the end of his life, he kept going back and forth on whether Fritz was going to do well or fuck everything up. And as we've discussed, it's an open question how he would have felt about those wars of aggression.
that FW lost in that what he wanted as a young man and father when it all started - to have a "bürgerliche Familie" with a loving wife and children
Oh, yeah, he was definitely miserable. But Fritz also lost in what *he wanted* for a very long time (and to a certain extent, forever, because trauma), so defining FW as the *only* loser here just requires an astonishing amount of special pleading.
I suppose random subject who actually did screamed at "But you're supposed to love me, not fear me!" also provoked FW?
Well, yeah! They were insulting him by cowering in front of him! Naturally that would provoke you into yelling at them and walloping them with your cane. If they had just loved him like they were supposed to, he would have been the most chill and benevolent monarch ever.
Doris Ritter provoked him into every one of those floggings?
Of course! Also, remember, FW executing Katte and flogging Doris and pardoning Fritz is the only one in the kingdom with a conscience! Who always goes by the law, and never his emotions. And also going by the law is the most important thing, as we learned from the period leading up to 1945 in Germany and 1865 in the US and various other examples I could enumerate. The law is all!
*Throws up hands* Historians wanting to be edgy, I swear.
I only wish it were more edgy. And I'm not just talking about Fritz here, but this take I keep running into of "but you provoked him/her/them!"
With you on the vicious cycle, of course, and that it's not the children's job to break out of it or to not start it in the first place.
Btw, speaking of Hahn, I notice he talks about Fritz's self-conscious correspondence that can't be trusted. Is he with Luh on Fritz never loving anyone except maybe Fredersdorf?
Re: Peter-Michael Hahn
He got some of what he wanted. He never did get the full capitulation, and toward the end of his life, he kept going back and forth on whether Fritz was going to do well or fuck everything up. And as we've discussed, it's an open question how he would have felt about those wars of aggression.
that FW lost in that what he wanted as a young man and father when it all started - to have a "bürgerliche Familie" with a loving wife and children
Oh, yeah, he was definitely miserable. But Fritz also lost in what *he wanted* for a very long time (and to a certain extent, forever, because trauma), so defining FW as the *only* loser here just requires an astonishing amount of special pleading.
I suppose random subject who actually did screamed at "But you're supposed to love me, not fear me!" also provoked FW?
Well, yeah! They were insulting him by cowering in front of him! Naturally that would provoke you into yelling at them and walloping them with your cane. If they had just loved him like they were supposed to, he would have been the most chill and benevolent monarch ever.
Doris Ritter provoked him into every one of those floggings?
Of course! Also, remember, FW executing Katte and flogging Doris and pardoning Fritz is the only one in the kingdom with a conscience! Who always goes by the law, and never his emotions. And also going by the law is the most important thing, as we learned from the period leading up to 1945 in Germany and 1865 in the US and various other examples I could enumerate. The law is all!
*Throws up hands* Historians wanting to be edgy, I swear.
I only wish it were more edgy. And I'm not just talking about Fritz here, but this take I keep running into of "but you provoked him/her/them!"
With you on the vicious cycle, of course, and that it's not the children's job to break out of it or to not start it in the first place.
Btw, speaking of Hahn, I notice he talks about Fritz's self-conscious correspondence that can't be trusted. Is he with Luh on Fritz never loving anyone except maybe Fredersdorf?