18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 36

[cahn]

Starting a couple of comments earlier than usual to mention there are a couple of new salon fics! These probably both need canon knowledge.

felis ficlets on siblings!

Siblings (541 words) by felisnocturna
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great, Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758), Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Summary:

Three Fills for the 2022 Three Sentence Ficathon.

Chapter One: Protective Action / Babysitting at Rheinsberg (Frederick/Fredersdorf, William+Henry+Ferdinand)
Chapter Two: Here Be Lions (Wilhelmine)

Unsent Letters fic by me:

Letters for a Dead King (1981 words) by raspberryhunter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 18th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great & Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen (1726-1802)
Characters: Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Love/Hate, Talking To Dead People, Canonical Character Death, Dysfunctional Family
Summary:

Just because one's king and brother is dead doesn't mean one has to stop writing to him.

Comments

Fritz in Austria AU

[mildred_of_midgard]

Fritz dazzling much of Europe in real life and winning lots of fans (also shocking people he thought he'd be a Hippie, of course) depended on the coup of the first two Silesian Wars. In a scenario where he's married to MT, he doesn't have to do that. So how does he establish himself as A Magnificent Bastard (tm)?

Let me home in on this detail and remind everyone that the HRE was at war with the Turks from 1737-1739, and Austria lost Belgrade in 1739. FS took some heat from Austrian nobles for not making a good showing in this war.

Two possibilities:
a. Fritz, not being FS, makes a name for himself in 1739, before he even comes to power.

b. Fritz, being stuck with the Austrian army and treasury in their 1730s state, also loses Belgrade.

I suspect the second one is more likely. (Much of Fritz's historical success was due to making good use of the tools he had.) So does he go all TERRIER once he comes to power and can reform the army? He might!

This means we've got at *least* three possible ways for the 1740s Fritz fandom to develop in this AU:

1. The War of the Austrian Succession, as you note
2. Campaign Take Back Belgrade
3. Campaign "What do you mean I renounced Prussia, renouncing inheritances isn't a thing, especially when it's done under duress, see also Philip 'the Frog' V"

The third one could go either way, it might be the one that gets him the Peter III treatment. :P But assuming Fritz manages to go for 1 first, because Europe doesn't give him a choice, and 2 second, because he's a terrier and he's already emotionally invested, he might get some Austrian noble fans. Then maybe, having taken several years to fight most of Europe and then the Turks, he tries claiming his Prussian inheritance in 1758 (assuming AW would have died anyway), and then Regent Heinrich vs. Fritz and also MT vs. Fritz is ON?

...Okay, I want this now. :P