I just ran across Rottembourg's instructions from Versailles before his first mission to Berlin, 1714. Louis' goal is to get Prussia to stop allying with Austria and Hanover and switch to the French side.
To procure success, Rottembourg might offer to Grumbkow, if he found fit opportunity, a pension of 15,000 livres, and annual "gratifications" to Ilgen and Printz of 12,000, but this must be done very cautiously.
Printz is this guy, who, among other things, was the envoy to Russia responsible for getting the new Prussian kingdom recognized by Russia just a few months after F1's crowning. (Remember that the French don't recognize it until about 1714.)
Unfortunately, Rottembourg's mission was unsuccessful: FW ended up in an alliance with Russia against Sweden.
Do we know how much Seckendorff offered Grumbkow a few years later? I'm wondering if the French were just not paying enough, or if Grumbkow was less receptive to Rottembourg. Of course, I don't even know whether Rottembourg found an opportunity to offer any of his authorized bribes, so we can't draw hard conclusions.
Also, apparently during this negotiation, Rottembourg became part of a conspiracy ("complot") with the British (not yet Whitworth, though), Swedish, and Holstein ministers in Berlin to try to win FW over, but to no avail.
I'm currently extracting information from a book and a dissertation on the British involvement in the Great Northern War (1709-1721), which will get me one step closer to being able to being able to explain the Northern War.
(I really need better sources on the Swedish perspective, though. I have a book, but it's only the military history, and it's super technical.)
Rottembourg's bribery attempts
I just ran across Rottembourg's instructions from Versailles before his first mission to Berlin, 1714. Louis' goal is to get Prussia to stop allying with Austria and Hanover and switch to the French side.
To procure success, Rottembourg might offer to Grumbkow, if he found fit opportunity, a pension of 15,000 livres, and annual "gratifications" to Ilgen and Printz of 12,000, but this must be done very cautiously.
Printz is this guy, who, among other things, was the envoy to Russia responsible for getting the new Prussian kingdom recognized by Russia just a few months after F1's crowning. (Remember that the French don't recognize it until about 1714.)
Unfortunately, Rottembourg's mission was unsuccessful: FW ended up in an alliance with Russia against Sweden.
Do we know how much Seckendorff offered Grumbkow a few years later? I'm wondering if the French were just not paying enough, or if Grumbkow was less receptive to Rottembourg. Of course, I don't even know whether Rottembourg found an opportunity to offer any of his authorized bribes, so we can't draw hard conclusions.
Also, apparently during this negotiation, Rottembourg became part of a conspiracy ("complot") with the British (not yet Whitworth, though), Swedish, and Holstein ministers in Berlin to try to win FW over, but to no avail.
I'm currently extracting information from a book and a dissertation on the British involvement in the Great Northern War (1709-1721), which will get me one step closer to being able to being able to explain the Northern War.
(I really need better sources on the Swedish perspective, though. I have a book, but it's only the military history, and it's super technical.)