So I had a look at Dr. Johnson’s Fritz essay, and it’s easy to see why Nicolai eviscerates it, but I found several points of interest to us. Firstly, according to the editor and continuator, Harrison, Johnson published this originally in 1756. However, it only covers the years until the end of the Second Silesian War. Now, presumably the reason for the article was the Diplomatic Revolution, Fritz now being England’s ally and the outbreak of the war. However, what it does tell us is a British attitude to Fritz before Fritzmania struck, for which the editor Harrison frequently takes Dr. Johnson to task. Because Johnson is not impressed by Fritz’ claims to Silesia and has a lot of MT praise for the first two Silesian Wars, our editor constantly footnotes to say that events have shown MT to be an ungrateful bitch allying against the country protecting her (England) on that occasion to whom she owes her survival (errr....), and Fritz was entirely in the right re: Silesia, and if he ditched his French allies, well, they had it coming, etc., etc.
As for the Crown Prince years, good lord. Yes, dreadfully ill informed for hte most part, but it’s telling about what made it into the international papers, since Dr. Johnson did not have access to any other source than that. Though he clearly had read Voltaire’s anymous 1752 pamphlet, because one of the few correct things in this essay is his insistence that Fritz married EC solely at his father’s insistence, and that he strongly suspects the marriage is without any sex whatsoever. (BTW, how's that for humiliation: having your marital sex life, or lack of same, discussed by the international press?) Other factoids making into Johnson’s article, if in distorted form:
- Doris Ritter (!) being whipped publically at FW’s orders (Johnson has Fritz having to be present for this) - FW overriding the tribunal sentence on Katte in order to order the death penalty
Otoh, most things FW (other than his thing for tall fellows) really bear not much resemblence to fact. Most of all that Johnson says FW always was busy without any result of that business showing itself anywhere and that he never did anything for his subjects. Now FW was a terrible human being, but there’s a reason why he’s neck to neck with his son for the “Best Prussian monarch” title and post WWII sometimes winning. Taking a broke and poor kingdom and making it a wealthy one, schools, hospitals, land reforms, and of course the complete changeover of the mentality for better and worse, you name it, he did it. Johnson leaves you with the impression that he gained the money by taxing his poor subjects and never did anything with it but bath in it like Scrooge McDuck. As to why he didn’t notice the sheer amount of what FW accomplished in Prussia when no less a person than Fritz pointed it out in his History of the House of Brandenburg: I do suspect Johnson really didn’t read much more than the Voltairian 1752 pamphlet plus some newspaper reports at the time of the Silesian Wars in terms of research because the article was a hash job written under time pressure when the 7 Years War broke out and some publisher wanted Johnson to tell the English public about their new ally.
As to where the “Karl Friedrich” name came from - beats me.
Johnsonia
As for the Crown Prince years, good lord. Yes, dreadfully ill informed for hte most part, but it’s telling about what made it into the international papers, since Dr. Johnson did not have access to any other source than that. Though he clearly had read Voltaire’s anymous 1752 pamphlet, because one of the few correct things in this essay is his insistence that Fritz married EC solely at his father’s insistence, and that he strongly suspects the marriage is without any sex whatsoever. (BTW, how's that for humiliation: having your marital sex life, or lack of same, discussed by the international press?) Other factoids making into Johnson’s article, if in distorted form:
- Doris Ritter (!) being whipped publically at FW’s orders (Johnson has Fritz having to be present for this)
- FW overriding the tribunal sentence on Katte in order to order the death penalty
Otoh, most things FW (other than his thing for tall fellows) really bear not much resemblence to fact. Most of all that Johnson says FW always was busy without any result of that business showing itself anywhere and that he never did anything for his subjects. Now FW was a terrible human being, but there’s a reason why he’s neck to neck with his son for the “Best Prussian monarch” title and post WWII sometimes winning. Taking a broke and poor kingdom and making it a wealthy one, schools, hospitals, land reforms, and of course the complete changeover of the mentality for better and worse, you name it, he did it. Johnson leaves you with the impression that he gained the money by taxing his poor subjects and never did anything with it but bath in it like Scrooge McDuck. As to why he didn’t notice the sheer amount of what FW accomplished in Prussia when no less a person than Fritz pointed it out in his History of the House of Brandenburg: I do suspect Johnson really didn’t read much more than the Voltairian 1752 pamphlet plus some newspaper reports at the time of the Silesian Wars in terms of research because the article was a hash job written under time pressure when the 7 Years War broke out and some publisher wanted Johnson to tell the English public about their new ally.
As to where the “Karl Friedrich” name came from - beats me.