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cahnAnd, I mean, it doesn't have to be just 18th century characters, either!
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1730 Decision-making Characters: Chauvelin
Date: 2022-01-01 05:43 pm (UTC)Personally
Chauvelin: I'm Fleury's second-in-command in 1730. Everyone, even my enemies (and unlike Fleury, I have a lot), agrees I'm intelligent and hard-working. My specialty is public law. In 1727, I got the job of foreign minister, along with a lot of other important positions, at the relatively young age of 42, without any diplomatic or administrative experience, because Fleury wanted someone to work closely with.
I play bad cop to his good cop. It works especially well with British ambassadors! Any time Fleury does anything they don't like, he blames me. Since I'm personally abrasive and outspoken about my political opinions, and he's very soft-spoken and plays his cards close to his chest, they believe him!
This will lead not just British ambassadors but also future historians to believe that I had way more power and influence than I probably did. But eventually, historians will come to the conclusion that Fleury made the policy while I implemented it, and that we just did a really, really good good-cop bad-cop act that fooled everyone for centuries. Hey, Fleury called me his "autre moi-même"!
Politically
Chauvelin: Go Spain! Down with Austria! If I had my way, we'd grind Austria into the dust with the heel of our boot. I even wrote a memorandum on how to do it.
One, barrier states around Austria. Sweden and Poland in the north and east, Turkey in the south-east, and in Germany, subsidize the Electors of Bavaria and Saxony and the Elector Palatine. Two, drive the Austrians out of the Italian peninsula and set up a confederation of client states there. Isabella Farnese will love it! Victor Amadeus of Savoy (and later his son) will too!
Did I mention Spain? We need a Bourbon alliance against the Habsburgs. Why are we allied with England?
Fleury: Because we still need them. I can't let them go until I've got a better option.
Chauvelin: If I piss off their ministers enough, can we get out of his alliance and go for my pet project in Spain?
Fleury: Possibly! But let's wait until they sign the Pragmatic Sanction, and accuse them of agreeing to a secret article to force the Pragmatic Sanction on us! Then the bizarre Anglo-French alliance will end in 1731. But ever since I appointed you, outspoken anti-Austria, pro-Spain guy, my second-in-command, the writing has been on the wall. (Except to the British ambassadors who thought I had no say in your appointment. I'm still snickering behind my hand over that one.)
Chauvelin: Okay!
Chauvelin: Meanwhile, though. Even as second-in-command and appointed successor, my ambitions are outstripping my position. I really just want Fleury's job. I will conduct secret correspondence with a number of the ambassadors who report to me in other countries. One of which is a certain Count Rottembourg.
Unfortunately, Fleury catches on to all this conspiring, and I get dismissed and exiled in disgrace in 1737. I make a bid for his job in 1743 after Fleury dies, but it fails. I die a private citizen and an object lesson in hubris.
To this day (2022), my papers have never been found, despite Fleury ordering a search for them after my fall. This makes it hard to tell what I was thinking, which gives the writer of fiction a lot of leeway.
Re: 1730 Decision-making Characters: Chauvelin
Date: 2022-01-02 09:34 am (UTC)Possibly useful reminder: this is just when former Saxon envoy to France, Hoym, grabs power in Saxony in the void left after Fleming's death and becomes the dominant voice, which means Manteuffel, who actually has the State Department and is anti France and pro Austria, becomes marginalized. However, Le Diable is no one's fool and in 1730 after having all his papers brought to his estate Sorgen, Frey retires, becoming a PRIVATE citizen who moves to Berlin this same year, corresponding with young up and coming Brühl, and will very much enjoy the downfall of Hoym from afar. Hoym, who immediately after taking over the foreign office as well has it searched for dirt on Manteuffel, is most annoyed there are no papers to be found, zilch, nada.
This is vaguely connected to Suhm in that one of the last things Manteuffel did before realizing he lost his power struggle with Hoym and better prepare his exit was rooting for a GB/Prussia clash in the summer of 1729, being ticked off when Suhm offered to reconcile the two instead, and travelling to Berlin to make things clear only to fall sick en route in September, and once he's recovered, the crisis is over for good. Otoh, Stratemann when noting Suhm has been recalled also notes rumors about him being in disgrace. Basically, near the end of 1729 and in the first half of 1730 both Manteuffel and Suhm face the fact they're currently without a career in Saxony and move to Berlin. Also, in 1730 at Zeithain according to the interrogation protocols, Fritz tried to get Hoym's support (and repeatedly urged Katte to talk to Hoym on his behalf), but didn't succeed.
Now, I think it's a pretty save bet that Hoym was, figuratively speaking, in bed with Chauvelin and funded by him. Which could mean that his firm "no" to the idea of supporting an escaping Prussian Crown Prince reflects Chauvelin's attitude, which could be your obstacle to overcome in the story.
Re: 1730 Decision-making Characters: Chauvelin
Date: 2022-01-02 04:22 pm (UTC)Dulcineawayward prince that he's worried about.Which could mean that his firm "no" to the idea of supporting an escaping Prussian Crown Prince reflects Chauvelin's attitude, which could be your obstacle to overcome in the story.
Could be! Lavisse says that if you read the archives closely, the oft-quoted "We'd love to see you in Paris" note from the French gov't to Fritz from 1729 or 1730 (I forget) meant "IF your dad gives you permission to travel," not the asylum offer it's usually taken as. So I've been assuming that Fleury and Chauvelin are not immediately happy to see him in France (and Rottembourg may even lie about Fritz being at his estate while he tries to figure out what to do).
Re: 1730 Decision-making Characters: Chauvelin
Date: 2022-01-03 06:15 am (UTC)(also, this part is sort of unintentionally hilarious to me because the only Chauvelin I know about is the one from Scarlet Pimpernel)
Re: 1730 Decision-making Characters: Chauvelin
Date: 2022-01-03 11:55 pm (UTC)This was my reaction word for word! I was so onboard with their partnership, and so disappointed they had a falling out. And yes to Charles XII and Görtz, problematic faves!
I do not know The Scarlet Pimpernel and am not familiar with that Chauvelin.