Finished this a couple of days ago and the ending didn't get any easier from knowing it was coming. :( On the contrary, spending all the years of their correspondence with them beforehand just made it worse. (Fritz, shut up already, you've made your point!) Sigh.
That said, I feel like it wasn't as unpredictable as I thought! The letters aren't always easy to judge on their own - and AW's 1756 ones to Mina that Volz included show that he talked about things very differently to her than he did to Fritz, long before the big implosion - but there were a couple of conflicts even during the earlier years; not just the Heinrich one in 1749, but also two with AW himself in 1750 and 1755, both about matters concerning Fritz's handling of AW's regiments, i.e. Fritz going over his head and AW taking it very personally (mentions of honour and feeling useless included). Even Fritz' accusation of only listening to flattery/the wrong people shows up way earlier and when AW wants him to name names, Fritz only answers with "I see you want to involve me in a drawn-out argument, not happening, I'm done". My impression in general was that AW was rather insecure with Fritz (there's quite a lot of impersonal OTT praise for Fritz as king), that they talked at cross-purposes (and cross-expectations) at times, focusing on things very differently, and that Fritz' impatience did not help. And while Fritz' recurring "stop over-interpreting everything I say!" is his "who, me?" perspective, I do think - admittedly just from reading the correspondence, and as chosen by Volz - that he might have had a tiny point there. So you can kind of see some roots for 1757 if you know it's coming (but Fritz's explosion is still a shock).
One early and harmless illustration of disconnect that immediately stuck out to me was in September 1747: Fritz writes to AW from Sanssouci, in response to a letter in which AW said he'd be sad if he ended up like Moses and only got to see the beautiful vineyard and his brother from afar: I won't invite you to come here, nor will I send you fruit that you haven't picked yourself. You are old enough to do both and I told you often enough that nothing could delight me more than to see you. But I won't invite you. You will come when you want and go when you like. Brothers shouldn't be on flattery terms with each other ["nicht auf dem Komplimentierfuße stehen"]. I embrace you a thousand times.
It's on this fine line between sweet/playful and impatient/admonishing and where the relationship goes from there is quite open at that point, but turns into tragedy ten years later.
Staying on the positive side, I didn't know that AW got a Biche letter as well! In May 1749, right before the whole Heinrich kerfuffle, and a year after Wilhelmine's. Biche asks him to be godfather to her pups (their father is called Mylord by the way) and AW accepts in a letter to Fritz. Aw.
Amusing: November 1746, there are rumours that G2 might be dying. Says Fritz: If that's true, there will be a battle between him and our father at Pluto's. AW's answer: I'm sure one can talk to each other in the hereafter and I'm sure our father will treat him drastically and won't skimp on the most exquisite insults.
(Not many FW mentions otherwise, but, notably, AW implicitely invokes him in 1749, when trying to help Heinrich. I totally get his intention, but I feel like "you've been such a good and gracious king so far, don't become like dad now" might not have been the best course to take, and "you know how it felt" might seem like a sensible argument, but, well. Not with Fritz.)
Finally, while Fritz needling AW re: procreation and delivering heirs was another instance of "shut uuuup, Fritz", I was rather amused by a "the Stoics are tyrants, Epicurism all the way" letter from 1748. Unfortunately, Volz doesn't include the AW letter that prompted it (and Preuss has neither of them), but the context was Fritz taking the waters and everything that went with it, so I guess AW must have said something about Fritz' abstinence or something. Fritz then feels compelled to write a whole letter on natural drives and not suppressing them - he himself totally doesn't! - and I'm still wondering to what extent he's talking about sex here, when he lists hunger, sleep, and pleasure ("when our life and nature have accumulated surplus energy") as the three drives.
there were a couple of conflicts even during the earlier years; not just the Heinrich one in 1749, but also two with AW himself in 1750 and 1755, both about matters concerning Fritz's handling of AW's regiments, i.e. Fritz going over his head and AW taking it very personally (mentions of honour and feeling useless included).
Ziebura does include those in her AW biography, and provides earlier context; the sense of being useless (and the idea of being regarded as useless by Fritz, specifically) starts between Silesian Wars, she says, when otoh AW is made Prince of Prussia (and hence officially designated as heir), but so far out of the loop for anything military and political that he has no idea Fritz will start the second Silesian War a week before it happens, as opposed to his correspondent Ferdinand of Braunschweig (EC's military gifted brother), who does. And then kid brother Heinrich, still a teenager, gets his Marschbefehl before AW does. Why Fritz didn't order both of them to join the army at the same time is Fritz' mystery. BTW, on the positive side, Ziebura says Fritz continued his campaign to get AW reading and to encourage him to self educate well into his kingship through their correspondence, and that AW responds positively as can be seen not just via letters but in his library including not just all the books Fritz reccommended but a lot more. Ziebura also analyses the memoranda AW wrote after the second Silesian War with "What I'd do were I in charge of Prussia" ideas. All of which seems to me coming down to: like Fritz, AW was the son of a workoholic who'd preached to all his kids that idleness was one of the worst sins ever and a man wasn't a man if he wasn't a) working, and b) also a respected soldier. And while FW was paranoia itself, he did put Crown Prince Fritz to work in terms other than military drill ones (the whole Küstrin "reeducation" procedure did include a crash course in economics, after all, and the duty to participate in Küstrin civilian administration. This was the basis of comparison AW had for how a sovereign treats a crown prince at his age. Whereas from Fritz, he gets mainly "go forth and multiply" instructions, gets absolutely no intel on the war(s) going on (and since Fritz was an active campaigner, Fritz could have died; the prospect of suddenly becoming King with zero knowledge of what's going on must have been terrifying); and then, when it's peacetime again and he does get regimental (drilling) duties, Fritz is micromanaging there, too. It would be hard not to wonder "does Fritz think I'm stupid and incapable?" under those circumstances.
(Whereas Fritz probably thought he was doing young AW a favor when not shoving responsibilities on him and letting him enjoy his youth a bit longer, plus his paranoia was even greater than FW's.)
Biche letter: I had come across it, I think in one of the Volz anthologies but I'm not sure, and agree, it's adorable, too. Also, tsk, Biche, cheating on Folichon with Mylord.
Amusing: November 1746, there are rumours that G2 might be dying. Says Fritz: If that's true, there will be a battle between him and our father at Pluto's. AW's answer: I'm sure one can talk to each other in the hereafter and I'm sure our father will treat him drastically and won't skimp on the most exquisite insults.
LOL. Good to know FW's sons feel the same popcorn glee about the FW/G2 feud as we do. (Mind you, we later borns can conclude G2 and FW were exactly as bad as each other and thus part of the fun is rooting for neither, whereas I expect Fritz and AW would not have been rooting for Uncle George.)
It's on this fine line between sweet/playful and impatient/admonishing and where the relationship goes from there is quite open at that point, but turns into tragedy ten years later.
I think part of the inherent tragedy is also that Fritz, as sovereign, has taken over the father role for his siblings in addition to the older brother role. Because mutual fraternal ribbing is possible and enjoyable in their society, but you can't tease Dad The King back (unless you're Charlotte), not in their family, at least.
Even Fritz' accusation of only listening to flattery/the wrong people shows up way earlier and when AW wants him to name names, Fritz only answers with "I see you want to involve me in a drawn-out argument, not happening, I'm done".
Now this is fascinating, and I can't make up my mind on various possibilities, such as:
1.) Fritz is simply evoking a trope. Which "you're listening to flattery/the wrong people" really really is for their day. It's the standard criticism of princes, both in and out of power. Of course, Fritz - who levels this charge at quite a number of princes, from Louis XV to the Hannover relations - prided himself on being immune to this, which is very much NOT what fond but critical observers like later Mitchell think (see his remarks on Fritz & the two Roman named guys, Lentulus & Quintus Icilius, for example). (And of course all the way back to the Crown Prince days, FW used this very trope against Fritz when accusing him of only listening to flatterers while disliking all his father's friends, etc. Always trust Fritz to reproduce his father's insults towards someone else.) Meaning: the reason why Fritz doesn't counter with specific names is that he can't think of any, he just used the trope.
2.) Fritz means Heinrich and wants to avoid another Heinrich argument. Argument for this: not just hindsight but contemporary sources like Tyrconnel, the French envoy after Valory, name Heinrich as the biggest influence on AW in the early 1750s. Argument against this: Fritz had no problem writing "Heinrich is your idol" and accusing AW of believing him over Fritz in the big 1749 argument. So why being coy this time around if Heinrich was whom he meant?
3.) Fritz means their dear departed father and is unable to say so because he KNOWS it would make him sound jealous. Because it was FW who declared, and not just once, that of all his children, AW was the one in whose future success and greatness he was confident.
4.) Fritz actually literally means what he says, people from AW's circle of friends. The problem here is the same as when Henri de Catt later reports him fuming against unnamed evil flatterers turning AW against him - why not call a spade a spade and say who? Also, if we go by those friends who were actually around AW till (nearly, since he self isolated in his last weeks) the end, other than family members and servants, these would be basically Isaac de Forcade (later appointed by Fritz as Hofmarschall to future FW2 after Borcke was fired, so hardly a suspect for anti-Fritzian sentiments to him) and Lehndorff (definitely someone prone to talk very complimentary to and about AW, but never encouraging him to feud with the King).
What do you think?
I was rather amused by a "the Stoics are tyrants, Epicurism all the way" letter from 1748. Unfortunately, Volz doesn't include the AW letter that prompted it (and Preuss has neither of them), but the context was Fritz taking the waters and everything that went with it, so I guess AW must have said something about Fritz' abstinence or something. Fritz then feels compelled to write a whole letter on natural drives and not suppressing them - he himself totally doesn't! - and I'm still wondering to what extent he's talking about sex here, when he lists hunger, sleep, and pleasure ("when our life and nature have accumulated surplus energy") as the three drives.
Ha. I'm having trouble not to read "pleasure" as sex in this context, either. BTW, two years later, AW discusses Epicure with Maupertuis in letters and unsuprisingly is pro Epicure, too. Maupertuis specifically points out that there are pleasures other than sex and argues that the enjoyment when listening to beautiful music, or reading books, or having interesting conversations may not be as strong as the one you have during sex with a lover, but on the plus side it doesn't weaken the body or distract the soul from duty, so these pleasures are preferable, Monseigneur. As to whether AW in 1750 instinctively defining pleasure as sexual pleasure until this is pointed out to him by Maupertuis supports or argues against Fritz using the term in the same sense - I could see it either way.
I think part of the inherent tragedy is also that Fritz, as sovereign, has taken over the father role for his siblings in addition to the older brother role. Because mutual fraternal ribbing is possible and enjoyable in their society, but you can't tease Dad The King back (unless you're Charlotte), not in their family, at least.
Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense to me. (Sibling ribbing in my family: OK. Parental ribbing: never. I was super shocked when I met D's parents and not only did they tease him, he teased them right back! WHAT)
Even Fritz' accusation of only listening to flattery/the wrong people shows up way earlier and when AW wants him to name names, Fritz only answers with "I see you want to involve me in a drawn-out argument, not happening, I'm done".
Now this is fascinating, and I can't make up my mind on various possibilities, such as:
My thought on this is mostly (1), with some (3) mixed in subconsciously. I think, as you say, he would have been more than happy to name Heinrich and/or his circle of friends if that's what he meant :)
starts between Silesian Wars, she says, when otoh AW is made Prince of Prussia (and hence officially designated as heir), but so far out of the loop for anything military and political that he has no idea Fritz will start the second Silesian War a week before it happens
Interesting. I was wondering when exactly this started, because you only see the occasional flare-up in the letters, not a clear point of change. But now that you've said it ... I initially read AW's "when can I go to war? now? how about now?" letters in 1744/45 as very similar to how Fritz wrote to FW in 1735, at the exact same age (except that he was hoping to get away from his father, whereas AW wants to join Fritz), but looking at them again, I see that "I feel useless" shows up already. Also "ambition, preached to us from childhood on", which is rather telling, and "I'd be inconsolable if you thought me useful only for having children", which is rather sad.
Fritz' first reply in 1744 is "you should trust me, it's not the first time you do me injustice this way [!], but since it's not winter, come join me if you want" and then in 1745, he says that there isn't anything going on yet and nothing to do, so wait a while, and also, there are infectious diseases going around and he doesn't want to risk AW's "precious life" unnecessarily, what with him being the heir and all. (And by the way, AW to Mina in 1757: "As you know, the thing I always feared the most was to have one of my brothers with me; at least it doesn't seem like there's going to be a battle.")
Ziebura says Fritz continued his campaign to get AW reading and to encourage him to self educate well into his kingship through their correspondence, and that AW responds positively
Yeah, there a quite a few letters to that effect and they do occasionally talk about what AW read and even send each other books. Fritz also mentions AW's position as his heir a lot, not just when it comes to procreation - it comes up in the context of studying and accompanying him on trips and getting a look at how things worked as well. Case in point, February 1750, AW reports that he's visited the mint because there's been a coinage reform and Fritz answers: I see you are submerged in finance. It's very well that you educate yourself and learn about everything that's happening. You would delight me if you concerned yourself with it even more, because a prince of our house who will one day reign, should not be new to these things. He has to know about everything, to be able to deal with everything himself. Everything you learn now will shorten your way later. Whatever I get done, there'll be much good to do after my death, and if you know the state affairs and their inner relations, you can earn much glory. [etc, being useful and hard-working is good, etc]
So, just from the letters, I didn't get the impression that he deliberately kept AW away from everything, but letters and actions can of course differ and Fritz' paranoia was still a thing. And of course, studying is different from actually being in the loop and getting to act and I can see how Fritz might not have gone for the latter. Still, I'm wondering if some of this was another case of mismatched expectations.
Ziebura also analyses the memoranda AW wrote after the second Silesian War with "What I'd do were I in charge of Prussia" ideas.
Huh. Any great ideas?
Whereas Fritz probably thought he was doing young AW a favor when not shoving responsibilities on him and letting him enjoy his youth a bit longer
Possibly. There are a couple "you are young, enjoy it" lines (as opposed Fritz himself, old and decrepit :P - although, to be fair, the 1747 stroke reverberated for a while).
(By the way, does Ziebura mention a kerfuffle (somebody being indiscreet with information?) happening in late 1742, early 1743? The two letters dealing with this are quite cryptic and Volz says he couldn't determine what they were about.)
I think part of the inherent tragedy is also that Fritz, as sovereign, has taken over the father role for his siblings in addition to the older brother role. Because mutual fraternal ribbing is possible and enjoyable in their society, but you can't tease Dad The King back
Yeah, that makes sense. And I think Fritz was torn here as well - demanding freedom to act as souvereign and trying to educate his brothers for example (not to mention his "I know no family in military matters"), but also wanting an easy and fraternal relationship with them, and AW in particular, which he didn't get. I believe that he saw what AW and Heinrich (and even Ferdinand) had with each other and was somewhat envious there - yes, he did have a similiarly close relationship with Wilhelmine, but she was far away and she wasn't a brother - and he might have felt like AW chose Heinrich over him as the person to be close to.
The possibilities for Fritz not naming names: Volz believes it's #2, i.e. he's talking about Heinrich, and I agree that it's most likely in this case, because it's only a couple months after the Heinrich argument, Fritz already alluded to said argument to explain why he thinks AW is still a bit resentful, and he might be thinking that AW should have gotten the hint as to who he was talking about, so he isn't going to spell it out again and provoke yet another argument. And he did end the earlier one with "you took Heinrich's side, so I'm not going to say anything else" as well, similarly shutting things down.
FWIW, he never mentions any other friends of AW's, as far as I recall, so if he did have someone else in mind, I haven't got the first idea who. Also, if Volz didn't cut it, King Fritz - unlike Crown Prince Fritz - does not talk negatively about FW. AW is the only one who does, once, during the Heinrich argument, when he goes for the compare-and-contrast.
As for the trope, that is a possibility of course, but I still think it's mostly Heinrich he's talking about.
Also, on that topic, AW is actually the first to invoke it (at least in writing), again during the Heinrich argument, where, unsurprisingly, "maybe some scheming people biased you against Heinrich, please remember how this happened to you with FW" does not have the desired results.
I expect Fritz and AW would not have been rooting for Uncle George.
I expect so as well, not least because Fritz for one listed "G2 treated FW with contempt" as one of his reasons for starting the First Silesian War in his History of My Time. He even expands on that and says that Uncle George called FW "Brother Corporal" and a "King of Country Roads and the Empire's Arch-Sand-Distributor". I'm really wondering where he got that from.
Biche - I totally forgot to mention that her Austria adventure gets a shout-out! AW writes that Fritz might have to admonish their Mecklenburg neighbours for their behaviour re: recruits, Fritz answers that vague admonishments won't do much, he needs dates and facts, like so: But if you say: "Your partisan Nadasdy stole my English wippet called Biche on September 30th, 1745, while my servant Klaus was taking care of her", Nadasdy has to deny he has her, or give her back. :D (AW's reply has ellipses, so I sadly have no idea if he commented on this choice of example, but I for one was delighted that this is what came to mind. Wait, when did Biche die? ... December 1751, and this is April 1752. Aw.)
I'm having trouble not to read "pleasure" as sex in this context, either.
Quite. And I think he'd see reading and music as culture, not nature.
whether AW in 1750 instinctively defining pleasure as sexual pleasure until this is pointed out to him by Maupertuis supports or argues against Fritz using the term in the same sense - I could see it either way
Yeah. Either way, AW is quite happy to be living under Fritz' rule for a change, see his take on the Austrian court a couple months later: Suppers aren't fashionable and games take up the time for conversation. One has to live as chaste as a hermit to be well regarded at court. This has to be a sad and depressing life. Epicurus's pupils are treated there like the Jews in Spain; the only thing that's missing is the stake, but the inquisition is already there. I thank God, dear brother, that he gave you different views. You make your subjects happy - you enjoy the delights of life and you allow us to do the same!
Volz then quite predictably edits Fritz' reply, boo.
. And of course, studying is different from actually being in the loop and getting to act and I can see how Fritz might not have gone for the latter. Still, I'm wondering if some of this was another case of mismatched expectations.
Probably. In essence, AW hoped to be a post-Mondale Vice President, while Fritz was fine with him being a pre-Mondale style Vice President (i.e. not doing anything but cutting ribbons - and in Prussia's case, drilling regiments - in terms of active politics). Given that Fritz also treated FW2 this way, with the result that FW2 was entirely dependent on his advisors when starting his reign. To be fair, this is hardly a Fritz or Hohenzollern- only phenomenon, this inability of a man of power to actually delegate some power to his likely successor so that the sucessor can train. Men (and women) of power were more likely to squash any potential successors than not (see also: Bismarck creating a system that depended on him, or someone like him, keeping the balances, while simultanously not allow any able future potential chancellors to rise, with the result that we got Willy taking over). It's much harder to think of powerful people able to confront their mortality in time to look out and train successors, with the one example of such a great exception I can think of being Richelieu, whose instinct and ambition and hunger for power were certainly not lesser than Fritz' (and Bismarck's, etc.), but who was thoughtful enough to spot young Giulio Mazarini as someone with potential, bring him to France, train him, with the result that when he died, he could ask Louis XIII to appoint Mazarin as PM in his place, thus ensuring a smooth transition of power.
(Fritz to Heinrich, in the 1780s: Richelieu was THE WORST! Stop calling him a great man!)
(By the way, does Ziebura mention a kerfuffle (somebody being indiscreet with information?) happening in late 1742, early 1743?
No. I just checked, and late 1742 is covered by AW getting appointed as Commander of the Spandau-stationed regiment Derschau at the end of November and getting gifted Oranienburg in December.
Huh. Any great ideas?
AW adresses four major subsections: 1. Von der Verwaltung des Staates und der Finanzen . 2. Von der Religion . 3. Über den Hof. 4. Von dem Theater und den Vergnügungen .
The first one includes a reordering of the departments of the general directory responsible for state administration, which consists of four at this point; AW thinks it should be five, with newly acquired Silesia getting an extra one. (Fritz just gave it special status, so it wasn't administred by the general directory.) The ministers of the indidividual departments should be given more responsibility (delegate, Fritz! Delegate! will be a theme of Heinrich's later reform suggestions as well), and while they clearly should be punished severely if they enrich themselves at their province's expense, AW thinks the general salary for the civil servants should be raised to prevent temptation, as it's currently quite miserly. also, ministers in general should be like Louis XIV's minister Colbert, travelling through the provinces and reporting to the King in great detail all the time.
AW also wants to limit the King's authority over trade. Instead, there should be a separate ministry and department for trade, consisting of a "Collegium" with two representatives chosen by the merchants' guilds from each of big Prussian cities plus one chosen representative for the Jews living in Prussia (!) who should each have a seat and a vote, and should supervise the taxing of foreign goods when imported, and prohibit the exploitaton of monopolies.
Finally, AW thinks that if the King insists on leading his armies himself, then he should appoint a prince of the royal family as regent to govern in his absence in war time. HINT. HINT.
The subsection "Religion" is also interesting because it shows that AW in the mid 1740s is still influenced by Dad in this regard more than by Fritz, in that he thinks that since the King is head and protector of the Protestant faith in Prussia, he should attend church services regularly and present a good example to the faithful. Also, while Catholics should be allowed to live in Prussia, they do need special supervision because that faith just is Up To No Good.
Subsection "Court", otoh, shows AW unlike Fritz thinks the Queen Regnant (i.e. EC, or in AW's case Louise) should be given a greater budget than the Queen Mother and given preference to her in general, not the other way around. Since AW was not in love with his wife, this is all the more interesting. (It's also one of the very few hints he might have had a bit of a critical opinion of SD at times. Otherwise, like the rest of his brothers, he goes out of his way to make her happy, see also her visit to Oranienburg, the description of which by Pöllnitz Fontane quotes in his "Wanderungen".) AW also thoughtfully allows for the existence of a Maitresse en titre but thinks she, too, should in no way be treated in preference ot the Queen (let alone be given a greater budget.) Also younger sibs Amalie and Heinrich should be given a greater budget each, Fritz. Oh, and no exclusively male court events (like, say, at Sanssouci. Or for that matter the Tobacco Parliament, Dad.) Female courtiers are essential to keep the tone and company refined intead of barack-like.) (BTW, note that Heinrich, despite loathing marriage no less than Fritz and being just as gay, agrees. His little court at Rheinsberg will always include women as well, not just the wives of his boyfriends, either.)
And I think Fritz was torn here as well - demanding freedom to act as souvereign and trying to educate his brothers for example (not to mention his "I know no family in military matters"), but also wanting an easy and fraternal relationship with them, and AW in particular, which he didn't get. I believe that he saw what AW and Heinrich (and even Ferdinand) had with each other and was somewhat envious there - yes, he did have a similiarly close relationship with Wilhelmine, but she was far away and she wasn't a brother - and he might have felt like AW chose Heinrich over him as the person to be close to.
Agreed. (And when I read that teenage Heinrich gets his marching orders before AW does in the Silesian War my own suspicion was that Fritz was trying to play a little divide and rule there, which didn't work if that's what he intended, i.e. instead of resenting Heinrich for being called to join earlier, AW just saw it as judgment on himself.) I think when Fritz started to approach AW in the 1730s, it was from a variety of motives - Grumbkow had explicitly told him the King would like it if he made some efforts with his brothers instead of being just close to Wilhelmine, whom he on the contrary needed some boundaries with; he needed an ally at court and AW was already the family go to person if one wanted something from Dad; having a good relationship with AW might prevent AW being used as a rival successor; but also, he had lived with a close sibling relationship all his life, and he was lonely without one. But the odds were working against him there. I mean, from the quotes I've seen of the 1730s young AW letters, he thought Fritz was the coolest and was happy to help him out. But they didn't see each other that often, and Heinrich was the one AW was actually living with (ditto little Ferdinand, of course), and as Fritz himself would later write re: himself and Wihelmine in those 1758 letters to Heinrich, there's no bond like that of siblings who were raised together. Once Fritz was actually King, the power differential worked as an additional impediment to having a normal fraternal relationship.
In a way, Fritz concluding that AW chooses Heinrich over him and resenting this also echoes FW's idea that his oldest should be closest to him and massive disappointment and resentment when the kid is closer to Mom and Wilhelmine (and, well, everyone showing him affection instead of yelling) instead - I mean, it's hard to see in either case how else it could have gone (unless the prince in question would have been an opportunist craving closeness only to the most powerful person around) given the circumstances, on some level they must have known that, and yet.
, not least because Fritz for one listed "G2 treated FW with contempt" as one of his reasons for starting the First Silesian War in his History of My Time. He even expands on that and says that Uncle George called FW "Brother Corporal" and a "King of Country Roads and the Empire's Arch-Sand-Distributor". I'm really wondering where he got that from.
At a guess, FW himself? BTW, FW, no slouch in the insult department, as far as I know returned the favor by referring to G2 as his brother the Petit-Maitre. It's interesting that Hervey, who devotes several paragraphs in his memoirs to G2's loathing for FW, does not include any of these specific insults, though. Their almost duel in 1729 gets blamed on both of them being as bad as each other instead, and on a later occasion, to wit, Philipsburg, we get this gem:
The King's love for armies, his contempt for civil affairs, and the great capacity he thought he possessed for military exploits, inclined him still with greater violence to be meddling, and warped him yet more to the side of war. He used almost daily and hourly, during the beginning of this summer, to be telling Sir Robert Walpole with what eagerness he glowed to pull the laurels from the brows of the French generals, to bind his own temples ; that it was with the sword alone he desired to keep the balance of Europe, that war and action were his sole pleasures ; that age was coming fast upon him ; and that, if he lost the opportunity of this bustle, no other occasion possibly might offer in which he should be able to distinguish himself, or gather those glories which were now ready at his hand. He could not bear, he said, the thought of growing old in peace, and rusting in the cabinet, whilst other princes were busied in war and shining in the field; but what provoked him most of all, he confessed, was to reflect that, whilst he was only busied in treaties, letters, and despatches, his booby brother, the brutal and cowardly King of Prussia, should pass his time in camps, and in the midst of armies, neither desirous of the glory nor fit for the employment; whilst he, who coveted the one and was trained for the other, was, for cold prudential reasons, debarred the pleasure of indulging his inclination, and deprived of the advantage of showing his abilities.
So what Hervey recalls G2 calling FW is a coward, cruel and an idiot, which is both worse and different than "Brother Corporal" and the sandbox of the realm slight Fritz lists, which I find interesting. Now of course it's possible G2 used the milder insults in public (and thus they got reported to FW and after him Fritz via spies) while using the worse insults to interactions with Sir Robert Walpole, his PM, and thus Team Prussia never found out about them. (Walpole telling his ally Hervey but not others.) But it's also possible Fritz himself chose to be discreet in the Histoire.
Biche - I totally forgot to mention that her Austria adventure gets a shout-out!
Awww. You know, "The Adventures of Biche" would actually make a good topic for a children's book, and I'm surprised no one has written one yet, especially in the Fritz adoring 19th and early 20th century. (Or mabe they did, and we just don't know it yet.) This quote is also great because it tells us which servant was in charge of her during the Soor raid.
Of course, now I also can't help recalling that Fritz' (and Heinrich's) laundry was stolen on that occasion as well, hence AW writing to Ferdinand that "the King and Heinrich are wearing my shirts". :)
I feel like this particular bit wasn't Fritz' problem exactly.
No. I just checked, and late 1742 is covered by AW getting appointed as Commander of the Spandau-stationed regiment Derschau at the end of November and getting gifted Oranienburg in December.
Okay. Hm. Fritz at the end of January '43: I wish I could be useful to you. [Now there's a turn-around, that's usually AW's line.] I'm not as vengeful as you think and know to distinguish indiscretion from malice. The only consequence is that one has to beware of people who can't keep their mouth shut and only tell them things everybody already knows. But let's not talk about the past anymore. And then the next letter from May: It was natural that given my honest love for you, I suffered some displeasure this winter, which came from a direction I least expected. But I assure you, everything is forgotten, and you shall never notice any resentment from me towards you as long as you live. Feel free to come here whenever you want. Which kind of sounds to me like someone in AW's circle (I hope not AW himself) might have talked about things they shouldn't have? AW's letters seem to be lost, since Volz doesn't know more either, but I wanted to put it out there in case anyone comes across something in the future. Mysteries in letters are intriguing. (And frustrating.)
AW thinks that if the King insists on leading his armies himself, then he should appoint a prince of the royal family as regent to govern in his absence in war time. HINT. HINT.
Heee.
Also, interesting, because he was so determined to join Fritz in the previous war and not particularly impressed with the "I want to protect you as the heir, so stay in Berlin" argument, but this suggests that he'd be fine with staying at home and not earning military honours as long as he feels like he gets to do something else that's useful. I know you said before that he became rather disenchanted with the whole idea of going to war and this fits right in. (Also fits my impression from his 1756/57 Mina letters that he was very torn - maybe without being quite aware of it - because he really seemed to hate war and like he wanted to be anywhere else, but also felt like he desperately needed to gain honour and usefulness as a commander.)
"Religion" is also interesting because it shows that AW in the mid 1740s is still influenced by Dad in this regard more than by Fritz
Yeah, also an impression I got, even with Volz' explicitely editing the topic (but largely on the Fritz side I suspect). There are repeated mentions of AW attending religious events, especially around Lent/Easter, and one time where Fritz point blank tells him that AW can do what he wants, but he, Fritz, is NOT going to attend anything, thank you, because he doesn't believe and doesn't want to be a hypocrite.
You know, "The Adventures of Biche" would actually make a good topic for a children's book,
True. I like that idea!
recalling that Fritz' (and Heinrich's) laundry was stolen on that occasion as well
One reason why I want to know if AW commented on Fritz' choice of example at all. (But as we've established, he hardly would have teased him about it, which is too bad.)
These are indeed intriguing quotes, and I'm tempted to say if an expert like Volz didn't find an explanation, we won't, either, but! Considering no one before us seems to have picked up on Fritz lying to Katte about being pressed to marry an Archduchess, this does not need to be true.
Which kind of sounds to me like someone in AW's circle (I hope not AW himself) might have talked about things they shouldn't have?
Yes, that's what it sounds like to me, too. Now for some speculation about possible subjects. I don't think it can be anything political or military, since AW hadn't been told anything in this regard to begin with, and so his circle couldn't have learned something from him (deliberately or accidentally), either. What was he as of the end of 1742 in a position to know that found its way back to Fritz in the winter causing "some displeasure" but seems to have been sincerely forgiven, given that Fritz does not bring it up in later years as an example of AW wronging him?
Possibilities:
1) The aborted France/Straßburg trip. AW, who had been a member of the party, could have talked to people about it, and given that we've seen he either somewhat exaggarates or was under a mistaken impression about the (not) arrest when writing down the trip for his newborn son in 1744, he might have included this in a story told to his friends, too, who in turn talked about it to someone else. Fritz didn't exactly keep that trip secret, he described it to Voltaire and others in letters, after all, but he might not wanted it to be told in the AW version by people not belonging to his own circle? (Would also provide yet another reason why AW gets edited out years later when Fritz mentions the trip to others.
2) Anything to do with their family horror show of the FW years, possibly something that didn't sound too bad for AW but was to Fritz?
3) Considered by me but regretfully abandoned, because AW wasn't with the army in the summer of 1741 and thus would not have known: the Handsome Hussar Georgii/Frederdorf Temporarily Out of The Tent affair.
4) Possibly something to do with Fritz and EC. it's the date more than anything that makes me wonder, because 1742 is AW's first year of marriage to EC's sister. Yes, the marriage itself is a political arrangement and he'll get more distant, not closer to his wife in time, but in the first year, and before Mina or Sophie von Pannewitz (later Voss) are an issue, and with the "male heirs NOW!" pressure, he must have spent considerable time with his new wife. So maybe they talked about their siblings, and AW said something along the line that he doesn't think (as opposed to what EC still believed) this then new separation was just because of the war but that Fritz really means it to be permanent, or, well, anything, and Louise told this to EC, who was the unexpected corner from which Fritz heard it in the winter?
Also, interesting, because he was so determined to join Fritz in the previous war and not particularly impressed with the "I want to protect you as the heir, so stay in Berlin" argument, but this suggests that he'd be fine with staying at home and not earning military honours as long as he feels like he gets to do something else that's useful. I know you said before that he became rather disenchanted with the whole idea of going to war and this fits right in.
And let's not forget, the second Silesian War included the experience (for Fritz, AW and Heinrich at the same time) of nearly dying and seeing Heinrich's page getting his head torn off by a shot that could have easily killed the rest of them as well. There's a big difference between playing soldier because Dad and your entire society has raised you to believe this was the highest purpose for a man and experiencing a war this way. I think AW after the second Silesian War must have lived through an increasing disconnected with the values he was raised with, and even the slightly different ones of Fritz' Prussia (but not different in this key regard), and the increasing realisation that he didn't enjoy war and heroics. Plus there was the inescapable problem that distinguishing yourself militarily was the only option for a prince in Prussia to achieve anything. There wasn't an alternative career available.
This is fascinating, thank you! It's so interesting to me that you see all the roots of these conflicts showing up much earlier.
One early and harmless illustration of disconnect that immediately stuck out to me was in September 1747: Fritz writes to AW from Sanssouci, in response to a letter in which AW said he'd be sad if he ended up like Moses and only got to see the beautiful vineyard and his brother from afar: I won't invite you to come here, nor will I send you fruit that you haven't picked yourself. You are old enough to do both and I told you often enough that nothing could delight me more than to see you. But I won't invite you. You will come when you want and go when you like. Brothers shouldn't be on flattery terms with each other ["nicht auf dem Komplimentierfuße stehen"]. I embrace you a thousand times.
It's on this fine line between sweet/playful and impatient/admonishing and where the relationship goes from there is quite open at that point, but turns into tragedy ten years later.
*nods* It could so easily have gone another way... but it didn't.
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Fritz/AW Correspondence
On the contrary, spending all the years of their correspondence with them beforehand just made it worse. (Fritz, shut up already, you've made your point!) Sigh.
That said, I feel like it wasn't as unpredictable as I thought! The letters aren't always easy to judge on their own - and AW's 1756 ones to Mina that Volz included show that he talked about things very differently to her than he did to Fritz, long before the big implosion - but there were a couple of conflicts even during the earlier years; not just the Heinrich one in 1749, but also two with AW himself in 1750 and 1755, both about matters concerning Fritz's handling of AW's regiments, i.e. Fritz going over his head and AW taking it very personally (mentions of honour and feeling useless included). Even Fritz' accusation of only listening to flattery/the wrong people shows up way earlier and when AW wants him to name names, Fritz only answers with "I see you want to involve me in a drawn-out argument, not happening, I'm done".
My impression in general was that AW was rather insecure with Fritz (there's quite a lot of impersonal OTT praise for Fritz as king), that they talked at cross-purposes (and cross-expectations) at times, focusing on things very differently, and that Fritz' impatience did not help. And while Fritz' recurring "stop over-interpreting everything I say!" is his "who, me?" perspective, I do think - admittedly just from reading the correspondence, and as chosen by Volz - that he might have had a tiny point there. So you can kind of see some roots for 1757 if you know it's coming (but Fritz's explosion is still a shock).
One early and harmless illustration of disconnect that immediately stuck out to me was in September 1747: Fritz writes to AW from Sanssouci, in response to a letter in which AW said he'd be sad if he ended up like Moses and only got to see the beautiful vineyard and his brother from afar: I won't invite you to come here, nor will I send you fruit that you haven't picked yourself. You are old enough to do both and I told you often enough that nothing could delight me more than to see you. But I won't invite you. You will come when you want and go when you like. Brothers shouldn't be on flattery terms with each other ["nicht auf dem Komplimentierfuße stehen"]. I embrace you a thousand times.
It's on this fine line between sweet/playful and impatient/admonishing and where the relationship goes from there is quite open at that point, but turns into tragedy ten years later.
Staying on the positive side, I didn't know that AW got a Biche letter as well! In May 1749, right before the whole Heinrich kerfuffle, and a year after Wilhelmine's. Biche asks him to be godfather to her pups (their father is called Mylord by the way) and AW accepts in a letter to Fritz. Aw.
Amusing: November 1746, there are rumours that G2 might be dying. Says Fritz: If that's true, there will be a battle between him and our father at Pluto's. AW's answer: I'm sure one can talk to each other in the hereafter and I'm sure our father will treat him drastically and won't skimp on the most exquisite insults.
(Not many FW mentions otherwise, but, notably, AW implicitely invokes him in 1749, when trying to help Heinrich. I totally get his intention, but I feel like "you've been such a good and gracious king so far, don't become like dad now" might not have been the best course to take, and "you know how it felt" might seem like a sensible argument, but, well. Not with Fritz.)
Finally, while Fritz needling AW re: procreation and delivering heirs was another instance of "shut uuuup, Fritz", I was rather amused by a "the Stoics are tyrants, Epicurism all the way" letter from 1748. Unfortunately, Volz doesn't include the AW letter that prompted it (and Preuss has neither of them), but the context was Fritz taking the waters and everything that went with it, so I guess AW must have said something about Fritz' abstinence or something. Fritz then feels compelled to write a whole letter on natural drives and not suppressing them - he himself totally doesn't! - and I'm still wondering to what extent he's talking about sex here, when he lists hunger, sleep, and pleasure ("when our life and nature have accumulated surplus energy") as the three drives.
Re: Fritz/AW Correspondence
Ziebura does include those in her AW biography, and provides earlier context; the sense of being useless (and the idea of being regarded as useless by Fritz, specifically) starts between Silesian Wars, she says, when otoh AW is made Prince of Prussia (and hence officially designated as heir), but so far out of the loop for anything military and political that he has no idea Fritz will start the second Silesian War a week before it happens, as opposed to his correspondent Ferdinand of Braunschweig (EC's military gifted brother), who does. And then kid brother Heinrich, still a teenager, gets his Marschbefehl before AW does. Why Fritz didn't order both of them to join the army at the same time is Fritz' mystery. BTW, on the positive side, Ziebura says Fritz continued his campaign to get AW reading and to encourage him to self educate well into his kingship through their correspondence, and that AW responds positively as can be seen not just via letters but in his library including not just all the books Fritz reccommended but a lot more. Ziebura also analyses the memoranda AW wrote after the second Silesian War with "What I'd do were I in charge of Prussia" ideas. All of which seems to me coming down to: like Fritz, AW was the son of a workoholic who'd preached to all his kids that idleness was one of the worst sins ever and a man wasn't a man if he wasn't a) working, and b) also a respected soldier. And while FW was paranoia itself, he did put Crown Prince Fritz to work in terms other than military drill ones (the whole Küstrin "reeducation" procedure did include a crash course in economics, after all, and the duty to participate in Küstrin civilian administration. This was the basis of comparison AW had for how a sovereign treats a crown prince at his age. Whereas from Fritz, he gets mainly "go forth and multiply" instructions, gets absolutely no intel on the war(s) going on (and since Fritz was an active campaigner, Fritz could have died; the prospect of suddenly becoming King with zero knowledge of what's going on must have been terrifying); and then, when it's peacetime again and he does get regimental (drilling) duties, Fritz is micromanaging there, too. It would be hard not to wonder "does Fritz think I'm stupid and incapable?" under those circumstances.
(Whereas Fritz probably thought he was doing young AW a favor when not shoving responsibilities on him and letting him enjoy his youth a bit longer, plus his paranoia was even greater than FW's.)
Biche letter: I had come across it, I think in one of the Volz anthologies but I'm not sure, and agree, it's adorable, too. Also, tsk, Biche, cheating on Folichon with Mylord.
Amusing: November 1746, there are rumours that G2 might be dying. Says Fritz: If that's true, there will be a battle between him and our father at Pluto's. AW's answer: I'm sure one can talk to each other in the hereafter and I'm sure our father will treat him drastically and won't skimp on the most exquisite insults.
LOL. Good to know FW's sons feel the same popcorn glee about the FW/G2 feud as we do. (Mind you, we later borns can conclude G2 and FW were exactly as bad as each other and thus part of the fun is rooting for neither, whereas I expect Fritz and AW would not have been rooting for Uncle George.)
It's on this fine line between sweet/playful and impatient/admonishing and where the relationship goes from there is quite open at that point, but turns into tragedy ten years later.
I think part of the inherent tragedy is also that Fritz, as sovereign, has taken over the father role for his siblings in addition to the older brother role. Because mutual fraternal ribbing is possible and enjoyable in their society, but you can't tease Dad The King back (unless you're Charlotte), not in their family, at least.
Even Fritz' accusation of only listening to flattery/the wrong people shows up way earlier and when AW wants him to name names, Fritz only answers with "I see you want to involve me in a drawn-out argument, not happening, I'm done".
Now this is fascinating, and I can't make up my mind on various possibilities, such as:
1.) Fritz is simply evoking a trope. Which "you're listening to flattery/the wrong people" really really is for their day. It's the standard criticism of princes, both in and out of power. Of course, Fritz - who levels this charge at quite a number of princes, from Louis XV to the Hannover relations - prided himself on being immune to this, which is very much NOT what fond but critical observers like later Mitchell think (see his remarks on Fritz & the two Roman named guys, Lentulus & Quintus Icilius, for example). (And of course all the way back to the Crown Prince days, FW used this very trope against Fritz when accusing him of only listening to flatterers while disliking all his father's friends, etc. Always trust Fritz to reproduce his father's insults towards someone else.) Meaning: the reason why Fritz doesn't counter with specific names is that he can't think of any, he just used the trope.
2.) Fritz means Heinrich and wants to avoid another Heinrich argument. Argument for this: not just hindsight but contemporary sources like Tyrconnel, the French envoy after Valory, name Heinrich as the biggest influence on AW in the early 1750s. Argument against this: Fritz had no problem writing "Heinrich is your idol" and accusing AW of believing him over Fritz in the big 1749 argument. So why being coy this time around if Heinrich was whom he meant?
3.) Fritz means their dear departed father and is unable to say so because he KNOWS it would make him sound jealous. Because it was FW who declared, and not just once, that of all his children, AW was the one in whose future success and greatness he was confident.
4.) Fritz actually literally means what he says, people from AW's circle of friends. The problem here is the same as when Henri de Catt later reports him fuming against unnamed evil flatterers turning AW against him - why not call a spade a spade and say who? Also, if we go by those friends who were actually around AW till (nearly, since he self isolated in his last weeks) the end, other than family members and servants, these would be basically Isaac de Forcade (later appointed by Fritz as Hofmarschall to future FW2 after Borcke was fired, so hardly a suspect for anti-Fritzian sentiments to him) and Lehndorff (definitely someone prone to talk very complimentary to and about AW, but never encouraging him to feud with the King).
What do you think?
I was rather amused by a "the Stoics are tyrants, Epicurism all the way" letter from 1748. Unfortunately, Volz doesn't include the AW letter that prompted it (and Preuss has neither of them), but the context was Fritz taking the waters and everything that went with it, so I guess AW must have said something about Fritz' abstinence or something. Fritz then feels compelled to write a whole letter on natural drives and not suppressing them - he himself totally doesn't! - and I'm still wondering to what extent he's talking about sex here, when he lists hunger, sleep, and pleasure ("when our life and nature have accumulated surplus energy") as the three drives.
Ha. I'm having trouble not to read "pleasure" as sex in this context, either. BTW, two years later, AW discusses Epicure with Maupertuis in letters and unsuprisingly is pro Epicure, too. Maupertuis specifically points out that there are pleasures other than sex and argues that the enjoyment when listening to beautiful music, or reading books, or having interesting conversations may not be as strong as the one you have during sex with a lover, but on the plus side it doesn't weaken the body or distract the soul from duty, so these pleasures are preferable, Monseigneur. As to whether AW in 1750 instinctively defining pleasure as sexual pleasure until this is pointed out to him by Maupertuis supports or argues against Fritz using the term in the same sense - I could see it either way.
Re: Fritz/AW Correspondence
Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense to me. (Sibling ribbing in my family: OK. Parental ribbing: never. I was super shocked when I met D's parents and not only did they tease him, he teased them right back! WHAT)
Even Fritz' accusation of only listening to flattery/the wrong people shows up way earlier and when AW wants him to name names, Fritz only answers with "I see you want to involve me in a drawn-out argument, not happening, I'm done".
Now this is fascinating, and I can't make up my mind on various possibilities, such as:
My thought on this is mostly (1), with some (3) mixed in subconsciously. I think, as you say, he would have been more than happy to name Heinrich and/or his circle of friends if that's what he meant :)
Re: Fritz/AW Correspondence
Interesting. I was wondering when exactly this started, because you only see the occasional flare-up in the letters, not a clear point of change. But now that you've said it ... I initially read AW's "when can I go to war? now? how about now?" letters in 1744/45 as very similar to how Fritz wrote to FW in 1735, at the exact same age (except that he was hoping to get away from his father, whereas AW wants to join Fritz), but looking at them again, I see that "I feel useless" shows up already. Also "ambition, preached to us from childhood on", which is rather telling, and "I'd be inconsolable if you thought me useful only for having children", which is rather sad.
Fritz' first reply in 1744 is "you should trust me, it's not the first time you do me injustice this way [!], but since it's not winter, come join me if you want" and then in 1745, he says that there isn't anything going on yet and nothing to do, so wait a while, and also, there are infectious diseases going around and he doesn't want to risk AW's "precious life" unnecessarily, what with him being the heir and all. (And by the way, AW to Mina in 1757: "As you know, the thing I always feared the most was to have one of my brothers with me; at least it doesn't seem like there's going to be a battle.")
Ziebura says Fritz continued his campaign to get AW reading and to encourage him to self educate well into his kingship through their correspondence, and that AW responds positively
Yeah, there a quite a few letters to that effect and they do occasionally talk about what AW read and even send each other books. Fritz also mentions AW's position as his heir a lot, not just when it comes to procreation - it comes up in the context of studying and accompanying him on trips and getting a look at how things worked as well. Case in point, February 1750, AW reports that he's visited the mint because there's been a coinage reform and Fritz answers: I see you are submerged in finance. It's very well that you educate yourself and learn about everything that's happening. You would delight me if you concerned yourself with it even more, because a prince of our house who will one day reign, should not be new to these things. He has to know about everything, to be able to deal with everything himself. Everything you learn now will shorten your way later. Whatever I get done, there'll be much good to do after my death, and if you know the state affairs and their inner relations, you can earn much glory. [etc, being useful and hard-working is good, etc]
So, just from the letters, I didn't get the impression that he deliberately kept AW away from everything, but letters and actions can of course differ and Fritz' paranoia was still a thing. And of course, studying is different from actually being in the loop and getting to act and I can see how Fritz might not have gone for the latter. Still, I'm wondering if some of this was another case of mismatched expectations.
Ziebura also analyses the memoranda AW wrote after the second Silesian War with "What I'd do were I in charge of Prussia" ideas.
Huh. Any great ideas?
Whereas Fritz probably thought he was doing young AW a favor when not shoving responsibilities on him and letting him enjoy his youth a bit longer
Possibly. There are a couple "you are young, enjoy it" lines (as opposed Fritz himself, old and decrepit :P - although, to be fair, the 1747 stroke reverberated for a while).
(By the way, does Ziebura mention a kerfuffle (somebody being indiscreet with information?) happening in late 1742, early 1743? The two letters dealing with this are quite cryptic and Volz says he couldn't determine what they were about.)
I think part of the inherent tragedy is also that Fritz, as sovereign, has taken over the father role for his siblings in addition to the older brother role. Because mutual fraternal ribbing is possible and enjoyable in their society, but you can't tease Dad The King back
Yeah, that makes sense. And I think Fritz was torn here as well - demanding freedom to act as souvereign and trying to educate his brothers for example (not to mention his "I know no family in military matters"), but also wanting an easy and fraternal relationship with them, and AW in particular, which he didn't get. I believe that he saw what AW and Heinrich (and even Ferdinand) had with each other and was somewhat envious there - yes, he did have a similiarly close relationship with Wilhelmine, but she was far away and she wasn't a brother - and he might have felt like AW chose Heinrich over him as the person to be close to.
The possibilities for Fritz not naming names: Volz believes it's #2, i.e. he's talking about Heinrich, and I agree that it's most likely in this case, because it's only a couple months after the Heinrich argument, Fritz already alluded to said argument to explain why he thinks AW is still a bit resentful, and he might be thinking that AW should have gotten the hint as to who he was talking about, so he isn't going to spell it out again and provoke yet another argument. And he did end the earlier one with "you took Heinrich's side, so I'm not going to say anything else" as well, similarly shutting things down.
FWIW, he never mentions any other friends of AW's, as far as I recall, so if he did have someone else in mind, I haven't got the first idea who. Also, if Volz didn't cut it, King Fritz - unlike Crown Prince Fritz - does not talk negatively about FW. AW is the only one who does, once, during the Heinrich argument, when he goes for the compare-and-contrast.
As for the trope, that is a possibility of course, but I still think it's mostly Heinrich he's talking about.
Also, on that topic, AW is actually the first to invoke it (at least in writing), again during the Heinrich argument, where, unsurprisingly, "maybe some scheming people biased you against Heinrich, please remember how this happened to you with FW" does not have the desired results.
I expect Fritz and AW would not have been rooting for Uncle George.
I expect so as well, not least because Fritz for one listed "G2 treated FW with contempt" as one of his reasons for starting the First Silesian War in his History of My Time. He even expands on that and says that Uncle George called FW "Brother Corporal" and a "King of Country Roads and the Empire's Arch-Sand-Distributor". I'm really wondering where he got that from.
Biche - I totally forgot to mention that her Austria adventure gets a shout-out! AW writes that Fritz might have to admonish their Mecklenburg neighbours for their behaviour re: recruits, Fritz answers that vague admonishments won't do much, he needs dates and facts, like so: But if you say: "Your partisan Nadasdy stole my English wippet called Biche on September 30th, 1745, while my servant Klaus was taking care of her", Nadasdy has to deny he has her, or give her back. :D (AW's reply has ellipses, so I sadly have no idea if he commented on this choice of example, but I for one was delighted that this is what came to mind. Wait, when did Biche die? ... December 1751, and this is April 1752. Aw.)
I'm having trouble not to read "pleasure" as sex in this context, either.
Quite. And I think he'd see reading and music as culture, not nature.
whether AW in 1750 instinctively defining pleasure as sexual pleasure until this is pointed out to him by Maupertuis supports or argues against Fritz using the term in the same sense - I could see it either way
Yeah. Either way, AW is quite happy to be living under Fritz' rule for a change, see his take on the Austrian court a couple months later: Suppers aren't fashionable and games take up the time for conversation. One has to live as chaste as a hermit to be well regarded at court. This has to be a sad and depressing life. Epicurus's pupils are treated there like the Jews in Spain; the only thing that's missing is the stake, but the inquisition is already there. I thank God, dear brother, that he gave you different views. You make your subjects happy - you enjoy the delights of life and you allow us to do the same!
Volz then quite predictably edits Fritz' reply, boo.
Re: Fritz/AW Correspondence
Probably. In essence, AW hoped to be a post-Mondale Vice President, while Fritz was fine with him being a pre-Mondale style Vice President (i.e. not doing anything but cutting ribbons - and in Prussia's case, drilling regiments - in terms of active politics). Given that Fritz also treated FW2 this way, with the result that FW2 was entirely dependent on his advisors when starting his reign. To be fair, this is hardly a Fritz or Hohenzollern- only phenomenon, this inability of a man of power to actually delegate some power to his likely successor so that the sucessor can train. Men (and women) of power were more likely to squash any potential successors than not (see also: Bismarck creating a system that depended on him, or someone like him, keeping the balances, while simultanously not allow any able future potential chancellors to rise, with the result that we got Willy taking over). It's much harder to think of powerful people able to confront their mortality in time to look out and train successors, with the one example of such a great exception I can think of being Richelieu, whose instinct and ambition and hunger for power were certainly not lesser than Fritz' (and Bismarck's, etc.), but who was thoughtful enough to spot young Giulio Mazarini as someone with potential, bring him to France, train him, with the result that when he died, he could ask Louis XIII to appoint Mazarin as PM in his place, thus ensuring a smooth transition of power.
(Fritz to Heinrich, in the 1780s: Richelieu was THE WORST! Stop calling him a great man!)
(By the way, does Ziebura mention a kerfuffle (somebody being indiscreet with information?) happening in late 1742, early 1743?
No. I just checked, and late 1742 is covered by AW getting appointed as Commander of the Spandau-stationed regiment Derschau at the end of November and getting gifted Oranienburg in December.
Huh. Any great ideas?
AW adresses four major subsections: 1. Von der Verwaltung des Staates und der Finanzen .
2. Von der Religion .
3. Über den Hof.
4. Von dem Theater und den Vergnügungen .
The first one includes a reordering of the departments of the general directory responsible for state administration, which consists of four at this point; AW thinks it should be five, with newly acquired Silesia getting an extra one. (Fritz just gave it special status, so it wasn't administred by the general directory.) The ministers of the indidividual departments should be given more responsibility (delegate, Fritz! Delegate! will be a theme of Heinrich's later reform suggestions as well), and while they clearly should be punished severely if they enrich themselves at their province's expense, AW thinks the general salary for the civil servants should be raised to prevent temptation, as it's currently quite miserly. also, ministers in general should be like Louis XIV's minister Colbert, travelling through the provinces and reporting to the King in great detail all the time.
AW also wants to limit the King's authority over trade. Instead, there should be a separate ministry and department for trade, consisting of a "Collegium" with two representatives chosen by the merchants' guilds from each of big Prussian cities plus one chosen representative for the Jews living in Prussia (!) who should each have a seat and a vote, and should supervise the taxing of foreign goods when imported, and prohibit the exploitaton of monopolies.
Finally, AW thinks that if the King insists on leading his armies himself, then he should appoint a prince of the royal family as regent to govern in his absence in war time. HINT. HINT.
The subsection "Religion" is also interesting because it shows that AW in the mid 1740s is still influenced by Dad in this regard more than by Fritz, in that he thinks that since the King is head and protector of the Protestant faith in Prussia, he should attend church services regularly and present a good example to the faithful. Also, while Catholics should be allowed to live in Prussia, they do need special supervision because that faith just is Up To No Good.
Subsection "Court", otoh, shows AW unlike Fritz thinks the Queen Regnant (i.e. EC, or in AW's case Louise) should be given a greater budget than the Queen Mother and given preference to her in general, not the other way around. Since AW was not in love with his wife, this is all the more interesting. (It's also one of the very few hints he might have had a bit of a critical opinion of SD at times. Otherwise, like the rest of his brothers, he goes out of his way to make her happy, see also her visit to Oranienburg, the description of which by Pöllnitz Fontane quotes in his "Wanderungen".) AW also thoughtfully allows for the existence of a Maitresse en titre but thinks she, too, should in no way be treated in preference ot the Queen (let alone be given a greater budget.) Also younger sibs Amalie and Heinrich should be given a greater budget each, Fritz. Oh, and no exclusively male court events (like, say, at Sanssouci. Or for that matter the Tobacco Parliament, Dad.) Female courtiers are essential to keep the tone and company refined intead of barack-like.) (BTW, note that Heinrich, despite loathing marriage no less than Fritz and being just as gay, agrees. His little court at Rheinsberg will always include women as well, not just the wives of his boyfriends, either.)
And I think Fritz was torn here as well - demanding freedom to act as souvereign and trying to educate his brothers for example (not to mention his "I know no family in military matters"), but also wanting an easy and fraternal relationship with them, and AW in particular, which he didn't get. I believe that he saw what AW and Heinrich (and even Ferdinand) had with each other and was somewhat envious there - yes, he did have a similiarly close relationship with Wilhelmine, but she was far away and she wasn't a brother - and he might have felt like AW chose Heinrich over him as the person to be close to.
Agreed. (And when I read that teenage Heinrich gets his marching orders before AW does in the Silesian War my own suspicion was that Fritz was trying to play a little divide and rule there, which didn't work if that's what he intended, i.e. instead of resenting Heinrich for being called to join earlier, AW just saw it as judgment on himself.) I think when Fritz started to approach AW in the 1730s, it was from a variety of motives - Grumbkow had explicitly told him the King would like it if he made some efforts with his brothers instead of being just close to Wilhelmine, whom he on the contrary needed some boundaries with; he needed an ally at court and AW was already the family go to person if one wanted something from Dad; having a good relationship with AW might prevent AW being used as a rival successor; but also, he had lived with a close sibling relationship all his life, and he was lonely without one. But the odds were working against him there. I mean, from the quotes I've seen of the 1730s young AW letters, he thought Fritz was the coolest and was happy to help him out. But they didn't see each other that often, and Heinrich was the one AW was actually living with (ditto little Ferdinand, of course), and as Fritz himself would later write re: himself and Wihelmine in those 1758 letters to Heinrich, there's no bond like that of siblings who were raised together. Once Fritz was actually King, the power differential worked as an additional impediment to having a normal fraternal relationship.
In a way, Fritz concluding that AW chooses Heinrich over him and resenting this also echoes FW's idea that his oldest should be closest to him and massive disappointment and resentment when the kid is closer to Mom and Wilhelmine (and, well, everyone showing him affection instead of yelling) instead - I mean, it's hard to see in either case how else it could have gone (unless the prince in question would have been an opportunist craving closeness only to the most powerful person around) given the circumstances, on some level they must have known that, and yet.
, not least because Fritz for one listed "G2 treated FW with contempt" as one of his reasons for starting the First Silesian War in his History of My Time. He even expands on that and says that Uncle George called FW "Brother Corporal" and a "King of Country Roads and the Empire's Arch-Sand-Distributor". I'm really wondering where he got that from.
At a guess, FW himself? BTW, FW, no slouch in the insult department, as far as I know returned the favor by referring to G2 as his brother the Petit-Maitre. It's interesting that Hervey, who devotes several paragraphs in his memoirs to G2's loathing for FW, does not include any of these specific insults, though. Their almost duel in 1729 gets blamed on both of them being as bad as each other instead, and on a later occasion, to wit, Philipsburg, we get this gem:
The King's love for armies, his contempt for civil affairs, and the great capacity he thought he possessed for military exploits, inclined him still with greater violence to be meddling, and warped him yet more to the side of war. He used almost daily and hourly, during the beginning of this summer, to be telling Sir Robert Walpole with what eagerness he glowed to pull the laurels from the brows of the French generals, to bind his own temples ; that it was with the sword alone he desired to keep the balance of Europe, that war and action were his sole pleasures ; that age was coming fast upon him ; and that, if he lost the opportunity of this bustle, no other occasion possibly might offer in which he should be able to distinguish himself, or gather those glories which were now ready at his hand. He could not bear, he said, the thought of growing old in peace, and rusting in the cabinet, whilst other princes were busied in war and shining in the field; but what provoked him most of all, he confessed, was to reflect that, whilst he was only busied in treaties, letters, and despatches, his booby brother, the brutal and cowardly King of Prussia, should pass his time in camps, and in the midst of armies, neither desirous of the glory nor fit for the employment; whilst he, who coveted the one and was trained for the other, was, for cold prudential reasons, debarred the pleasure of indulging his inclination, and deprived of the advantage of showing his abilities.
So what Hervey recalls G2 calling FW is a coward, cruel and an idiot, which is both worse and different than "Brother Corporal" and the sandbox of the realm slight Fritz lists, which I find interesting. Now of course it's possible G2 used the milder insults in public (and thus they got reported to FW and after him Fritz via spies) while using the worse insults to interactions with Sir Robert Walpole, his PM, and thus Team Prussia never found out about them. (Walpole telling his ally Hervey but not others.) But it's also possible Fritz himself chose to be discreet in the Histoire.
Biche - I totally forgot to mention that her Austria adventure gets a shout-out!
Awww. You know, "The Adventures of Biche" would actually make a good topic for a children's book, and I'm surprised no one has written one yet, especially in the Fritz adoring 19th and early 20th century. (Or mabe they did, and we just don't know it yet.) This quote is also great because it tells us which servant was in charge of her during the Soor raid.
Of course, now I also can't help recalling that Fritz' (and Heinrich's) laundry was stolen on that occasion as well, hence AW writing to Ferdinand that "the King and Heinrich are wearing my shirts". :)
Re: Fritz/AW Correspondence
I feel like this particular bit wasn't Fritz' problem exactly.
No. I just checked, and late 1742 is covered by AW getting appointed as Commander of the Spandau-stationed regiment Derschau at the end of November and getting gifted Oranienburg in December.
Okay. Hm. Fritz at the end of January '43: I wish I could be useful to you. [Now there's a turn-around, that's usually AW's line.] I'm not as vengeful as you think and know to distinguish indiscretion from malice. The only consequence is that one has to beware of people who can't keep their mouth shut and only tell them things everybody already knows. But let's not talk about the past anymore. And then the next letter from May: It was natural that given my honest love for you, I suffered some displeasure this winter, which came from a direction I least expected. But I assure you, everything is forgotten, and you shall never notice any resentment from me towards you as long as you live. Feel free to come here whenever you want.
Which kind of sounds to me like someone in AW's circle (I hope not AW himself) might have talked about things they shouldn't have? AW's letters seem to be lost, since Volz doesn't know more either, but I wanted to put it out there in case anyone comes across something in the future. Mysteries in letters are intriguing. (And frustrating.)
AW thinks that if the King insists on leading his armies himself, then he should appoint a prince of the royal family as regent to govern in his absence in war time. HINT. HINT.
Heee.
Also, interesting, because he was so determined to join Fritz in the previous war and not particularly impressed with the "I want to protect you as the heir, so stay in Berlin" argument, but this suggests that he'd be fine with staying at home and not earning military honours as long as he feels like he gets to do something else that's useful. I know you said before that he became rather disenchanted with the whole idea of going to war and this fits right in. (Also fits my impression from his 1756/57 Mina letters that he was very torn - maybe without being quite aware of it - because he really seemed to hate war and like he wanted to be anywhere else, but also felt like he desperately needed to gain honour and usefulness as a commander.)
"Religion" is also interesting because it shows that AW in the mid 1740s is still influenced by Dad in this regard more than by Fritz
Yeah, also an impression I got, even with Volz' explicitely editing the topic (but largely on the Fritz side I suspect). There are repeated mentions of AW attending religious events, especially around Lent/Easter, and one time where Fritz point blank tells him that AW can do what he wants, but he, Fritz, is NOT going to attend anything, thank you, because he doesn't believe and doesn't want to be a hypocrite.
You know, "The Adventures of Biche" would actually make a good topic for a children's book,
True. I like that idea!
recalling that Fritz' (and Heinrich's) laundry was stolen on that occasion as well
One reason why I want to know if AW commented on Fritz' choice of example at all. (But as we've established, he hardly would have teased him about it, which is too bad.)
Re: Fritz/AW Correspondence
Which kind of sounds to me like someone in AW's circle (I hope not AW himself) might have talked about things they shouldn't have?
Yes, that's what it sounds like to me, too. Now for some speculation about possible subjects. I don't think it can be anything political or military, since AW hadn't been told anything in this regard to begin with, and so his circle couldn't have learned something from him (deliberately or accidentally), either. What was he as of the end of 1742 in a position to know that found its way back to Fritz in the winter causing "some displeasure" but seems to have been sincerely forgiven, given that Fritz does not bring it up in later years as an example of AW wronging him?
Possibilities:
1) The aborted France/Straßburg trip. AW, who had been a member of the party, could have talked to people about it, and given that we've seen he either somewhat exaggarates or was under a mistaken impression about the (not) arrest when writing down the trip for his newborn son in 1744, he might have included this in a story told to his friends, too, who in turn talked about it to someone else. Fritz didn't exactly keep that trip secret, he described it to Voltaire and others in letters, after all, but he might not wanted it to be told in the AW version by people not belonging to his own circle? (Would also provide yet another reason why AW gets edited out years later when Fritz mentions the trip to others.
2) Anything to do with their family horror show of the FW years, possibly something that didn't sound too bad for AW but was to Fritz?
3) Considered by me but regretfully abandoned, because AW wasn't with the army in the summer of 1741 and thus would not have known: the Handsome Hussar Georgii/Frederdorf Temporarily Out of The Tent affair.
4) Possibly something to do with Fritz and EC. it's the date more than anything that makes me wonder, because 1742 is AW's first year of marriage to EC's sister. Yes, the marriage itself is a political arrangement and he'll get more distant, not closer to his wife in time, but in the first year, and before Mina or Sophie von Pannewitz (later Voss) are an issue, and with the "male heirs NOW!" pressure, he must have spent considerable time with his new wife. So maybe they talked about their siblings, and AW said something along the line that he doesn't think (as opposed to what EC still believed) this then new separation was just because of the war but that Fritz really means it to be permanent, or, well, anything, and Louise told this to EC, who was the unexpected corner from which Fritz heard it in the winter?
Also, interesting, because he was so determined to join Fritz in the previous war and not particularly impressed with the "I want to protect you as the heir, so stay in Berlin" argument, but this suggests that he'd be fine with staying at home and not earning military honours as long as he feels like he gets to do something else that's useful. I know you said before that he became rather disenchanted with the whole idea of going to war and this fits right in.
And let's not forget, the second Silesian War included the experience (for Fritz, AW and Heinrich at the same time) of nearly dying and seeing Heinrich's page getting his head torn off by a shot that could have easily killed the rest of them as well. There's a big difference between playing soldier because Dad and your entire society has raised you to believe this was the highest purpose for a man and experiencing a war this way. I think AW after the second Silesian War must have lived through an increasing disconnected with the values he was raised with, and even the slightly different ones of Fritz' Prussia (but not different in this key regard), and the increasing realisation that he didn't enjoy war and heroics. Plus there was the inescapable problem that distinguishing yourself militarily was the only option for a prince in Prussia to achieve anything. There wasn't an alternative career available.
Re: Fritz/AW Correspondence
One early and harmless illustration of disconnect that immediately stuck out to me was in September 1747: Fritz writes to AW from Sanssouci, in response to a letter in which AW said he'd be sad if he ended up like Moses and only got to see the beautiful vineyard and his brother from afar: I won't invite you to come here, nor will I send you fruit that you haven't picked yourself. You are old enough to do both and I told you often enough that nothing could delight me more than to see you. But I won't invite you. You will come when you want and go when you like. Brothers shouldn't be on flattery terms with each other ["nicht auf dem Komplimentierfuße stehen"]. I embrace you a thousand times.
It's on this fine line between sweet/playful and impatient/admonishing and where the relationship goes from there is quite open at that point, but turns into tragedy ten years later.
*nods* It could so easily have gone another way... but it didn't.