So what would Fritz hate more? Being rescued by Heinrich or being rescued by Voltaire?
Oh, man. Probably Voltaire, although Heinrich is going to get the rough side of his tongue too. I feel like "getting captured because you fought in the front lines/ventured past enemy lines on your reconnaissance/displayed more personal courage than sense" is a possibility Fritz has entertained before. He's got a narrative for it, and it's a politico-military narrative with a heavy dose of Stoicism.
But getting put on trial--again! let's not forget the first trial!--in front of all Europe and getting rescued by the guy he hero-worships as an intellectual and has been sparring with and trying to impress and trying to get the upper hand over (impress the French Voltaire, mock Voltaire, beat Voltaire)--is just so outside anything that he has a narrative for that he's going to be totally at the mercy of his emotions.
Now as to how Fritz behaves in captivity, that's an interesting question. We have a lot of his *discourse* on captivity, which is related to but not identical to how he would behave. Captivity itself is humiliating but not necessary shameful, not if you got it by displaying courage and determination and refusing to yield. See also, his reaction to Fouqué's defeat and capture at Landeshut ("Fouqué behaved like a Roman") vs. Finck laying down his arms at Maxen (he scapegoats Finck so badly even Eichel supposedly disapproves).
Is it different when one of your generals is captured and when you are? Of course. Fritz is going to be super defensive about getting captured. Which means, 1) it's someone else's fault, not his, and 2) he's a Roman, a total Roman, a PERFECT ULTIMATE ROMAN.
Looking at Fritz's discourse, it seems that defeat--in the war--is the thing that he's most willing to consider committing suicide over. If Prussia is partitioned by his many enemies, Fritz at least says he doesn't want to survive that. If Fritz is captured and the war is still on with a good general (Heinrich) at the head of the army, Fritz might take that in stride as much as he takes anything in stride. (I.e. like a terrier, not like a master of chill.)
Fritz not actually committing suicide when captured: extremely likely in my view. Stoic or not, his survival instincts are first-rate. We've seen him capitulate and live to fight another day, at Küstrin. And his control instincts are just as strong; he might respect Heinrich's competence as a second-in-command, but he does *not* want him calling the shots. I think he'd stick around just to get back in command. (He might insist to everyone that the state doesn't need him and will survive him just fine, but while there's breath in his body, I think he fights to get control back.)
And would it be plausible that he starts an argument when the secret prisoner exchange is on, which is why it doesn't work out
I find that plausible, especially since Fritz needs to 1) defend getting captured as not something he did wrong, and 2) make it clear that someone else is at fault here.
I wish I could find the source, and I will keep an eye out because I feel like it's a letter and not just a novel, I mean biography, but I have a memory of Fritz saying something like, "If I'm captured, you're not to make any concessions to get me back; the welfare of the state comes first." And even if that's not a real quote, you could get the gist of it out of other things he said.
So if they come to rescue him, on the one hand he badly wants back in power, but on the other, he needs to be in control of the current situation. So if they say they want to trade him for Joseph, Fritz can go, "Trade Joseph for Silesia, you idiots!" Which would allow him to feel like he's calling the shots even while in prison, justify his capture, and present a picture of himself as all noble and Roman and such. And he still believes that as long as there's breath in his body, he can get out of here and back into power (he's survived capture and humiliation before, and he wrote to Wilhelmine from capture, chi ha tempo, ha vita), and if they hang onto Silesia, it justifies his entire reign.
It would be a very complex picture of a guy who has survival instincts, control issues, the personality of a terrier, the willingness to sacrifice his own life and freedom for his goals, the ability to hit rock bottom and keep going, the ability to reconcile Stoic philosophy with his innate refusal to die, and the ability to make you want to strangle him while you're trying to save his life.
Re: Lucchessini, Catt and Fredersdorf, oh, my
Oh, man. Probably Voltaire, although Heinrich is going to get the rough side of his tongue too. I feel like "getting captured because you fought in the front lines/ventured past enemy lines on your reconnaissance/displayed more personal courage than sense" is a possibility Fritz has entertained before. He's got a narrative for it, and it's a politico-military narrative with a heavy dose of Stoicism.
But getting put on trial--again! let's not forget the first trial!--in front of all Europe and getting rescued by the guy he hero-worships as an intellectual and has been sparring with and trying to impress and trying to get the upper hand over (impress
the FrenchVoltaire, mock Voltaire, beat Voltaire)--is just so outside anything that he has a narrative for that he's going to be totally at the mercy of his emotions.Now as to how Fritz behaves in captivity, that's an interesting question. We have a lot of his *discourse* on captivity, which is related to but not identical to how he would behave. Captivity itself is humiliating but not necessary shameful, not if you got it by displaying courage and determination and refusing to yield. See also, his reaction to Fouqué's defeat and capture at Landeshut ("Fouqué behaved like a Roman") vs. Finck laying down his arms at Maxen (he scapegoats Finck so badly even Eichel supposedly disapproves).
Is it different when one of your generals is captured and when you are? Of course. Fritz is going to be super defensive about getting captured. Which means, 1) it's someone else's fault, not his, and 2) he's a Roman, a total Roman, a PERFECT ULTIMATE ROMAN.
Looking at Fritz's discourse, it seems that defeat--in the war--is the thing that he's most willing to consider committing suicide over. If Prussia is partitioned by his many enemies, Fritz at least says he doesn't want to survive that. If Fritz is captured and the war is still on with a good general (Heinrich) at the head of the army, Fritz might take that in stride as much as he takes anything in stride. (I.e. like a terrier, not like a master of chill.)
Fritz not actually committing suicide when captured: extremely likely in my view. Stoic or not, his survival instincts are first-rate. We've seen him capitulate and live to fight another day, at Küstrin. And his control instincts are just as strong; he might respect Heinrich's competence as a second-in-command, but he does *not* want him calling the shots. I think he'd stick around just to get back in command. (He might insist to everyone that the state doesn't need him and will survive him just fine, but while there's breath in his body, I think he fights to get control back.)
And would it be plausible that he starts an argument when the secret prisoner exchange is on, which is why it doesn't work out
I find that plausible, especially since Fritz needs to 1) defend getting captured as not something he did wrong, and 2) make it clear that someone else is at fault here.
I wish I could find the source, and I will keep an eye out because I feel like it's a letter and not just a novel, I mean biography, but I have a memory of Fritz saying something like, "If I'm captured, you're not to make any concessions to get me back; the welfare of the state comes first." And even if that's not a real quote, you could get the gist of it out of other things he said.
So if they come to rescue him, on the one hand he badly wants back in power, but on the other, he needs to be in control of the current situation. So if they say they want to trade him for Joseph, Fritz can go, "Trade Joseph for Silesia, you idiots!" Which would allow him to feel like he's calling the shots even while in prison, justify his capture, and present a picture of himself as all noble and Roman and such. And he still believes that as long as there's breath in his body, he can get out of here and back into power (he's survived capture and humiliation before, and he wrote to Wilhelmine from capture, chi ha tempo, ha vita), and if they hang onto Silesia, it justifies his entire reign.
It would be a very complex picture of a guy who has survival instincts, control issues, the personality of a terrier, the willingness to sacrifice his own life and freedom for his goals, the ability to hit rock bottom and keep going, the ability to reconcile Stoic philosophy with his innate refusal to die, and the ability to make you want to strangle him while you're trying to save his life.