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cahnLast post, we had (among other things) Danish kings and their favorites; Louis XIV and Philippe d'Orléans; reviews of a very shippy book about Katte, a bad Jacobite novel, and a great book about clothing; a fic about Émilie du Châtelet and Voltaire; and a review of a set of entertaining Youtube history videos about Frederick the Great.
Charles Hanbury-Williams: Russia (The Life III)
Date: 2023-03-19 11:07 am (UTC)He announced that England was willing to subscribe to a Declaration, which it was suggested should be made by the Czarina if Austria and England would join with her in it, promising to defend the King of Poland, in case he should be set on by Prussia. No such obligation in effect existed, as far as England was concerned, unless Augustus was directly attacked for making the treaty in question - almost an impossibility under the circumstances; and Dickesn was taken to task accordingly.
This meant Guy Dickens lost cred with Elizaveta, though, and was major reason why he had to be replaced as envoy. When H-W heads off to Russia, he thinks he will there accomplish his political masterpiece; a treaty between England and Russia to totally confine Prussia and tame Russa, and ensure the Austrians don't get too haughty. Speaking of haughty women, here's H-W offering advice to his daughter Fanny on how to be a proper wife:
Remenber a nother rule, an unerring one, which I have often in discourse given you, and hwich is, that no m arried woman ought to pretend to make a figure or shine but through her husband. His rising must drwa you up after him; your imagining to make a separate figure may hurt him, and will infallibly sink you. Tis from facts that I could mention that I learnt this rule, facts that I could tell you; and depend upon it the maxim is right. I have known wives who thought it clever to be able to set their husbands right when they thought them in the wrong, and this in a room full of company; and who, when they have got the better in an argument, imagined that they had gained a victory. But believe me, Fanny, such gains are losses. The really sensible woman will take the contrary part and assist her husband to her utmost, even when he has the worst of the argument; such a conduct gains confindence and affection. And that you may ever continue in Lord Essex' confidence as well as effection shall be my constant prayer, wish and endeavour.
By the rules of their society, he's not wrong, though I find it hilarious that the young woman whose Suhm he's going to become is just about the least person who can ever be described as shining through her husband.
Now, the Catherine/Charles Hanbury-Williams correspondence is preserved because while he returned every one of her letters to her after reading it with the reply mail so she could destroy it (if these letters had been intercepted, she'd been in so much trouble with Elizaveta and Peter!), he had it copied, as he did all his outgoing letters. (A sound believer in diplomatic immunity, Sir Charles.) When I say he becomes Catherine's Suhm, I speak advisedly. The affection in the letters, the "you're so great/You're so wondeful" is similar, he helps her out with money, and of course Catherine does need an older confidant. (She had a good relationship with her father as opposed to Fritz, but her father is dead, her relationship with her mother was terrible, and with the Czarina it's always a tightrope balance. And she's just delivered Paul, whom Elizaveta took immediately.) Now, given H-W's track record, the question has apparantly arisen as to why he doesn't go for an affair instead of the affectionate mentor relationship and instead introduces her to Poniatowski. Our author(s) defend him against the charge of having lobbied to have Poniatowski (a non-Brit, non-Hannoverian) appointed as his latest secretary and thus bringing him to Russia just when he realizes the relationship between Catherine and Saltykov (her first lover) is over for good, and say he'd never pimp, it was from the affection of his heart and also Poniatowski needed something to do. Now I don't doubt H-W cared for both Catherine and Poniatowski, but I also think since he was still compos mentis, he was very aware what it would do both to his personal relationship with Catherine and to his grand England/Russia treaty project if he infected her with syphilis as he'd done his wife.
so, here's H-W's reporting to Holdernesse on Catherine (and her husband): I often have conversation with the Grand-Duchess for two hours together, as my rank places me at supper always next to her Imperial HIghness, and almost from the beginning of my being here she has treated me with confidence, and sent me word by the Great Chancellor that he would do so. Since her coming into the country, she has by every method in her power endeavoured to gain the affection of the nation. She applied herself with diligence to learn the language, and speaks it at present (as the Russians tell me) in the greatest perfection. She has also succeeded in her other aims, for she is esteemed and beloved here to a high degree. Her person is very advantageous, and her manner very captivating. She has a great knowledge of this Empire and makes it her only study. She has parts and sense; and the Great Chancellor tells me nobody has more steadiness and resolution. (...)
AS to the Great-Duke, he is weak and violent; but his confidence in the Great-Duchess is so great, that sometimes he tells people that though he doesn ot understand things himself, yet his wife understands everything.
Catherine about meeting H-W in her memoirs: Our conversation was gay and agreeable. He had wit, was aquainted by many people, and knew Europe well, so to converse with him was no difficult matter. I learnt afterwards that he enjoyedh imself that evening as much as I did, and that he spoke of me with high praise.
Indeed he did. His bosses back in England want to know how the charming Grand Duchess talks of Fritz, since Fritz is partly responsible for her being future Czarina and her husband is such a fan. Will she, too, be a Prussian tool?
She has of late declared herself openly to me with respect to the King of Prussia. She is not only convinced that he is the formidable and natural enemy of Russia, but I find she hates him personally. She told me lately, in speaking of the Prince of Prussia, that he had not His Prussian Majesty's understanding, and, as to his head, it could not be so bad as his brother's, because the King of Prussia's was certainly the worst in the world. (Report from October 2, 1755)
Could it be Catherine tells H-W (still seething about Fritz himself) what he wants to hear? Perish the thought. (I mean, I totally believe she thought Prussia/Russia were competitors and to be wary of her husband's idol, and that AW would be a way easier monarch to deal with, but I doubt she had actual animosity towards the man she only met once and then it was a good meeting.)
H-W as you may have noticed doesn't think much of future Peter III, and our authors, with Catherine's and Poniatowski's memoirs as their sole foreign sources on H-W's time in Russia, don't, either. But even if he had a better opinion, I doubt this would have restrained him for helping out with the Catherine/Poniatowski affair which promptly unfolds. (Forwarding letters, arranging chances to meet, since Poniatowski lives with him.)
Of course, while H-W' negotiates away on the England/Russia treaty, London simultanously negotiates with Fritz for an England/Prussia treaty. Which H-W isn't told about for eons, though he perceives something might be in the air. Our authors think the treaty happened mainly because G2 was defensive of Hannover again (as Prussia promises to help if Hannover is attacked by French troops, which is ironic, as a big clause of the England/Russia treaty is the promise that Russia would help if Hannover is attacked by Prussian troops.) H-W even agrees that the Austrians as allies are more trouble than they're worth with all their haughtiness and lack of gratitude. But he knows that Elizaveta, who means this treaty to be ANTI Fritz, will not be happy to find herself indirectly in an alliance with him. No kidding. Basically, H-W's diplomatic masterpiece proves to be dead upon arrival, and it breaks his heart, and this, his biographers want you to know, is the main reason for his mental and physical decline which starts showing just about this time. That, and all the stress. Nothing else, you hear!! (They partly quote, partly paraphrase Poniatowski's description of H-W freaking out on him in a completely unprecedented way from the memoirs.) Poniatowski, btw, doesn't say "syphilis", either, he speaks of "infirmities", but he's writing about his adored mentor in his memoirs. Since Sir Charles takes to his bed more and more as the 7 Years War has started, this is when we get more and more letters and also an incident which I didn't mention in my Poniatowski write up, as H-W's young friends now are concerned for him:
The intimacy of the Grand-Duchess with Poniatowski assisted her to keep up frequent communications with Sir charles, especially during his illness. Stanislas speaks of having begun to prove of real service to him, both in his work and in his leisure hours. He quotes an instance how one evening he was dining with the Ambassador, who was plunged into the depth of gloom at the news of the recent reverse of the British army in Minorca, the catastrophe for which Admiral Byng paid so dearly with his life. At the end of the meal, a packet was handed him from his father, enclosing Voltaire's La Pucelle, a work which the poet, for various reasons, had kept back from the world up to that time. Sir Charles's delight at this unexpected treat was intense. HIs troubles were forgotten: he became that evening the Sir Charles of by-gone days.
La Pucelle: Seriously, everyone BUT Fritz gets their hands on that work.
Poniatowski, alas, can't stay in Russia for much longer due (see P write up), and by the time he can come back, now as Envoy in his own right (for Saxony), H-W is in such a bad condition that he's about to be recalled for good. In the meantime, he has to put up with the political changed situation, and it's worth noting that all the suggestions as to whom to bribe at Elilzeveta's court so she will be pro Prussian which show up in Mitchell's reports and in Fritz' letters from 1756/1757 do come from him. But there is no portrait kissing mentioned. Definitely Not Having STD H-W consoles himself with writing to Catherine (whom he addresses in the male form for greater security, hence "Monsieur"):
What do you wish for, Monsieur, in answer to your letter? Do you wish for protestations, assurances, and even oaths, or do you prefer a frank, sincere, straightfoward answer, the advice of a humble, faithful and dsiinterested friend - in short, a continuation of my past conduct towards you?
My devotion to you, Monsieur, has no limits, save that of a higher duty. That is how the faithful Minister should speak. The private individual may speak differnetly; my services, my life, as a private individual are yours to command. These are preliminaries; an dI do not like such things.
From another letter:
One world form you is my most sacred law. When I think of you, my duty to my Master grows less. I am ready to carry out all the orders you can give me, provided they are not dangerous to you; for in that case I shall disobey with a firmness equal to the obdedience with which I would carry out all others.
And here's one which is both moving and intriguing, because it envisions a time when Catheirne is Czarina but does NOT mention Peter being Czar:
This is my castle in the air, which I built some time ago, and with which I very often amuse myself. When you are settled on the throne, if I am not there, I shall come at once. I hope that you will ask my Master for me as English Minister at your court. I should prefer to come with the rank of Ambassador in my pocket, but do not desire to produce it, because that would oblige me to keep u a station and ceremony which would weary me. I pride myself that I shall then live a great deal with you as a faihtful servant and a humble friend. I should like the right to come and go and to profit by your leisure hours: for I shall always love Catherine better than the Empress. I should ask you for the blue ribbon, in order to wear some portiojn of your livery and I should ask for your portrait, which I would carry all my life and would entail on my family, that so great an honour may continue to the last of my name. That is my ambition; do you condemn it?
It's not all emotional talk, though. In a letter trying to convince Catherine to use what influence she has to keep Elizaveta from joining MT irrevocably, he writes:
Let us examine for a moment the consequences of the war which you are about to cmmence, even if it should be successful. If the King of Prussia is conquered, and the iunion betwen France and Austria will become closer, and once the House of Brandenburg is beaten down, there will no longer by any power on the continent which will be capable of resisting that union, and which will not be forced to bow down to their will. Russia being no longer of any use to htem, will be set aside, and will have nothing forther to say in the affairs of Europe. I am afraid, too, of another result, the universal establishment of the Catholic religion, and am afraid of it with good reason. What I tell you is not a day-dream, it is a scheme, which is already prepared.
This is an impressive use of realpolitik and propaganda showing he still was able to use his faciliities (at least mostly) at this time. I mean, Austria and France going on re-Catholizing crusade together is utter nonsense, of course, but Fritz used that same claim very effectively at the same time to style himself as the Protestant hero, and both he and H-W neatly avoid mentioning very Prrostestant Sweden fighting at the side of Team Habsburg and Team Bourbon. But Catherine of course didn't have any influence (yet) on Russia's policies.
Re: Charles Hanbury-Williams: Russia (The Life III)
Date: 2023-03-25 03:59 pm (UTC)Ha! Truer words were never spoken.
(A sound believer in diplomatic immunity, Sir Charles.)
Whereas Suhm did not trust diplomatic immunity around FW, not even a little bit. August the Strong had to scold him into going back to Prussia after he ran away.
I also think since he was still compos mentis, he was very aware what it would do both to his personal relationship with Catherine and to his grand England/Russia treaty project if he infected her with syphilis as he'd done his wife.
Oof, yeah. That could have changed history!
Could it be Catherine tells H-W (still seething about Fritz himself) what he wants to hear? Perish the thought...but I doubt she had actual animosity towards the man she only met once and then it was a good meeting.)
Yeah, I was surprised by that! Isn't that story of their meeting from her memoirs anyway? Which would indicate she retained a positive impression of it years later.
But he knows that Elizaveta, who means this treaty to be ANTI Fritz, will not be happy to find herself indirectly in an alliance with him. No kidding.
WHOOPS.
Basically, H-W's diplomatic masterpiece proves to be dead upon arrival, and it breaks his heart, and this, his biographers want you to know, is the main reason for his mental and physical decline which starts showing just about this time. That, and all the stress. Nothing else, you hear!!
It was surprisingly hard to write history in the Roaring Twenties...
La Pucelle: Seriously, everyone BUT Fritz gets their hands on that work.
Ha!
The Catherine and H-W letters were really interesting! This book is definitely worthy of an 8(+?) part write-up!
Re: Charles Hanbury-Williams: Russia (The Life III)
Date: 2023-03-26 02:16 pm (UTC)Honestly, I think both that she told H-W what he wanted to hear - I mean, he wasn't exactly discreet about hating on Fritz when arriving in Russia -, and he probably blew it up even larger in his reports home. Because let's face it, Berlin hadn't exactly been his finest hour as an envoy. And then he goes and alienates MT, too. So being able to say "see, not only does the "young court", i.e. de facto the Grand Duchess like me, but they completly agree with my view on Fritz, so won't have to worry about her and her husband teaming up with him!" must have been important to him. (Remember, when he arrives in Russia he has no idea that an England/Prussia treaty is in the works, and "ally with us AGAINST Fritz" is his major selling point of the Russia/England treaty to Elizaveta.
Re: Charles Hanbury-Williams: Russia (The Life III)
Date: 2023-04-02 08:59 pm (UTC)LOLOLOL! I couldn't see when I first read this bit why you led with it, but... wow, yes.
Now I don't doubt H-W cared for both Catherine and Poniatowski, but I also think since he was still compos mentis, he was very aware what it would do both to his personal relationship with Catherine and to his grand England/Russia treaty project if he infected her with syphilis as he'd done his wife.
...ohhhhh crap. RIGHT. OMG. (And I guess that's hard to say if you are avoiding the fact he had syphilis in the first place...)
...So what happens if H-W infects Catherine with syphilis?? (To Catherine and Russia, I mean. I don't care that much about H-W's relationship with her, and I suppose it's pretty self-evident what would happen to that.)
Could it be Catherine tells H-W (still seething about Fritz himself) what he wants to hear? Perish the thought. (I mean, I totally believe she thought Prussia/Russia were competitors and to be wary of her husband's idol, and that AW would be a way easier monarch to deal with, but I doubt she had actual animosity towards the man she only met once and then it was a good meeting.)
ahahaha, that makes so much sense.
Poniatowski, btw, doesn't say "syphilis", either, he speaks of "infirmities", but he's writing about his adored mentor in his memoirs.
Yeah, that makes a lot more sense to me :P
La Pucelle: Seriously, everyone BUT Fritz gets their hands on that work.
Okay, I laughed :D
Re: Charles Hanbury-Williams: Russia (The Life III)
Date: 2023-04-03 06:12 am (UTC)Catherine's marriage gets annulled and she gets put into an Orthodox nunnery by Elizaveta. (Babies with uncertain parentage are one thing, syphilis another, and Catherine has already produced a son when H-W comes to Russia, so technically they don't need her anymore, though of course resting the succession on the shoulders of a single child is always a big risk. However, since Peter the not yet III is around and alive, Elizaveta would probably have remarried him post haste so he can produce more babies. If he could. I don't think he had any illegitimate kids, or did he? Which given the question mark over Paul's parentage makes it questionable as to whether he might not have been sterile, since he definitely had sex with other women. And no more sex with Catherine at this point, so at least his aunt doesn't have to worry about him getting infected as well. (Thish is also why Catherine can't explain this away by blaming Peter.)
H-W is lucky if he gets out of Russia alive. There is of course no Russia/England treaty, and Elizaveta will demand incredibly favourite conditions to herself before she as much as talks to another envoy again, because hey, why not use this opportunity to the full? H-W, if he did make it out of Russia alive, is received by a monumentally pissed off government. Not being a member of the armed forces, he can't be shot like poor Admiral Byng, but undoubtedly unpleasant things are in store. Plus the third stage of his syphilis kicks in, which makes the unpleasant things academic since he ge gets locked up as a raving lunatic anyway.
H-W: Platonic mentorship it is!
Peter the only shortly III: I, on the other hand, like this AU.
The Danes: We don't.
Poland: We'd be all for it except we don't trust a Fritz fan like Peter not to say yes to partitioning us with even more parts going to Prussia anyway.
Orlov brothers and Russian army: You don't seriously believe we'd have put up with Peter if Catherine had been a locked up nun, do you? Not if he still gave our bloodily won territory to Fritz and made us find for stupid Holstein. We'd still have engineered a coup, reinstalled Ivan as Czar - remember Ivan? still alive at this point! as are his siblings and Dad in the back of beyond! -, appointed one of us as Regent, and then who knows what would have happened. But don't worry, Danes, it would not have been war with you. Or any kind of longer reign for Peter III.