Seconded. The habit of adding appendices which reproduce unpublished sources mentioned in the main text - I'd like it back please!
le Diable clearly is the best intelligence asset among the envoys
Seems that way. Fritz certainly knew to get rid of him a month before invading Silesia.
detail with Fredersdorf having written the passport and Fritz signing it
I can easily see Manteuffel getting that from his source(s). Also, since one of the two passports survived in the state archive, somebody must have kept it as a souvenir in the first place, and I can't imagine that AW didn't tell tales about his adventure when he came back, even outside of writing memoirs for his kid (and imaginary fanfiction letters :)).
Me neither. BTW, Wiegand's Manteuffel-gained account of AW not saying anything but limiting himself to eating in the dinner with Algarotti, Wartensleben and Broglie is I think directly related to what Bielfeld hints at here:
Prince Wilhelm is one of the finest figures I have ever seen; he is tall, and in every respect perfectly well proportioned. His hair is brown; he has huge sprightly blue eyes, and all his features are extremely pleasing. Though he does not express himself well (...), his education appears to have been much neglected; and he has a timid and embarrassed air, which is very far from making a striking impression at the first interview.
To wit, that AW's now (that he's the new heir presumptative) when meeting new people is conscious of his lack of education Fritz kept pointing out before both in letters to him and to other people. This is something some of the early envoys also remark on (not to mention the probably Voltaire authored pamphlet exaggarating it to "he didn't learn to read or write until Fritz became King") and contrast with his older brother. Now the interesting thing is that no one else before or after describes AW as shy or tongue bound. Certainly not as a child when interacting with Dad whom everyone else is afraid of, and definitely not by the time Lehndorff gets to know him. And he was working on catching up with his education and using the cultural opportunities he now had (see also the fact he corresponded with Maupertuis). Now, AW's education had been neglected - Ziebura quite plausible speculates that the teachers, with the vivid example of how Duhan fared, probably rather erred on the side of not teaching anything to the King's second son, with the result that AW's on the same level as the four years younger Heinrich in his lessons - but I think the sudden consciousness of this as a flaw must have been amplified by Fritz being now in charge and conversational topics suddenly not being the latest hunt or God's will or beer drinking anymore but Voltaire's latest work.
...on the other hand, Wilhelmine certainly didn't see him as tongue-tied or shy when she met him on that same trip for the first time as an adult but was very positively impressed according to her memoirs. (And pointedly switches the "my brother" designation to AW while Fritz is now "The King".)
Manteuffel, the Kim Philby of Envoys: Seems that way. Fritz certainly knew to get rid of him a month before invading Silesia.
Good point. Though it begs the question: would Manteuffel have bothered betraying him to MT? Because he might have decided to bet on Fritz in any case, and certainly no one thought MT had much of a shot once France, Saxony, Bavaria and Spain followed suit. Not to mention MT was out of cash, and Manteuffel might not have considered her as a rightful ruler anyway (because woman, and also cousin Karl Albrecht was the one voted Emperor). More likely Manteuffel would have signaled to Brühl that now was the time to team up with the Prussians in order to enlarge the chance of August III. getting voted Emperor. (Though that was off the table as soon as France decided to back Karl Albrecht, and maybe Manteuffel saw that coming, too.)
I think the sudden consciousness of this as a flaw must have been amplified by Fritz being now in charge and conversational topics suddenly not being the latest hunt or God's will or beer drinking anymore but Voltaire's latest work.
This makes perfect sense. Combine that with your king being someone who values a quick wit and likes to indulge his taste for mockery, and I could see keeping your mouth firmly shut in his presence.
Perhaps Wilhelmine got some one-on-one time with AW in which he was more relaxed than he was in front of Fritz?
but I think the sudden consciousness of this as a flaw must have been amplified by Fritz being now in charge and conversational topics suddenly not being the latest hunt or God's will or beer drinking anymore but Voltaire's latest work.
That makes a lot of sense. And it also makes sense that AW could catch up to a great extent although he'd never be on Heinrich's level
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timeasmymeasure
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 12:08 pm (UTC)Seconded. The habit of adding appendices which reproduce unpublished sources mentioned in the main text - I'd like it back please!
le Diable clearly is the best intelligence asset among the envoys
Seems that way. Fritz certainly knew to get rid of him a month before invading Silesia.
detail with Fredersdorf having written the passport and Fritz signing it
I can easily see Manteuffel getting that from his source(s). Also, since one of the two passports survived in the state archive, somebody must have kept it as a souvenir in the first place, and I can't imagine that AW didn't tell tales about his adventure when he came back, even outside of writing memoirs for his kid (and imaginary fanfiction letters :)).
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-16 02:23 pm (UTC)Prince Wilhelm is one of the finest figures I have ever seen; he is tall, and in every respect perfectly well proportioned. His hair is brown; he has huge sprightly blue eyes, and all his features are extremely pleasing. Though he does not express himself well (...), his education appears to have been much neglected; and he has a timid and embarrassed air, which is very far from making a striking impression at the first interview.
To wit, that AW's now (that he's the new heir presumptative) when meeting new people is conscious of his lack of education Fritz kept pointing out before both in letters to him and to other people. This is something some of the early envoys also remark on (not to mention the probably Voltaire authored pamphlet exaggarating it to "he didn't learn to read or write until Fritz became King") and contrast with his older brother. Now the interesting thing is that no one else before or after describes AW as shy or tongue bound. Certainly not as a child when interacting with Dad whom everyone else is afraid of, and definitely not by the time Lehndorff gets to know him. And he was working on catching up with his education and using the cultural opportunities he now had (see also the fact he corresponded with Maupertuis). Now, AW's education had been neglected - Ziebura quite plausible speculates that the teachers, with the vivid example of how Duhan fared, probably rather erred on the side of not teaching anything to the King's second son, with the result that AW's on the same level as the four years younger Heinrich in his lessons - but I think the sudden consciousness of this as a flaw must have been amplified by Fritz being now in charge and conversational topics suddenly not being the latest hunt or God's will or beer drinking anymore but Voltaire's latest work.
...on the other hand, Wilhelmine certainly didn't see him as tongue-tied or shy when she met him on that same trip for the first time as an adult but was very positively impressed according to her memoirs. (And pointedly switches the "my brother" designation to AW while Fritz is now "The King".)
Manteuffel, the Kim Philby of Envoys: Seems that way. Fritz certainly knew to get rid of him a month before invading Silesia.
Good point. Though it begs the question: would Manteuffel have bothered betraying him to MT? Because he might have decided to bet on Fritz in any case, and certainly no one thought MT had much of a shot once France, Saxony, Bavaria and Spain followed suit. Not to mention MT was out of cash, and Manteuffel might not have considered her as a rightful ruler anyway (because woman, and also cousin Karl Albrecht was the one voted Emperor). More likely Manteuffel would have signaled to Brühl that now was the time to team up with the Prussians in order to enlarge the chance of August III. getting voted Emperor. (Though that was off the table as soon as France decided to back Karl Albrecht, and maybe Manteuffel saw that coming, too.)
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 01:46 pm (UTC)This makes perfect sense. Combine that with your king being someone who values a quick wit and likes to indulge his taste for mockery, and I could see keeping your mouth firmly shut in his presence.
Perhaps Wilhelmine got some one-on-one time with AW in which he was more relaxed than he was in front of Fritz?
Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 05:51 pm (UTC)That makes a lot of sense. And it also makes sense that AW could catch up to a great extent
although he'd never be on Heinrich's levelRe: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-20 05:53 pm (UTC)Re: The Strassbourg Trip
Date: 2021-02-21 12:40 am (UTC)