London's motive was political rather than charitable: the king and his ministers hoped that, upon his own accession, Frederick would be grateful and that this gratitude would be apparent in an improvement in Anglo-Prussian relations, which had been distant and at times acrimonious during the 1730s. The expectation of British ministers was clearly that these 'loans' would not be redeemed, although they were expected to yield a diplomatic dividend. To their surprise, and to the consternation of Britain's representative in Berlin, Guy Dickens, they were repaid in full and apparently in cash less than a fortnight after Frederick's accession.
Ohhhh wow! This is why I'm not a politician. Or a king :P
it was normal for monarchs to carry on secret correspondence with their diplomats--we all know about Le Secret du Roi, Louis XV's secret diplomacy that sometimes worked at cross-purposes to his official diplomacy--but apparently the difference with Fritz was both the scale at which it operated, and the fact that he rubbed your face in it. You'd see a messenger going by on a horse and be like, "Well, there goes another message to/from Fritz directly. Wonder what it says." :D
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Re: Fritz as foreign minister
Date: 2023-06-29 05:26 am (UTC)Ohhhh wow! This is why I'm not a politician. Or a king :P
it was normal for monarchs to carry on secret correspondence with their diplomats--we all know about Le Secret du Roi, Louis XV's secret diplomacy that sometimes worked at cross-purposes to his official diplomacy--but apparently the difference with Fritz was both the scale at which it operated, and the fact that he rubbed your face in it. You'd see a messenger going by on a horse and be like, "Well, there goes another message to/from Fritz directly. Wonder what it says." :D
HAHAHAHA. Gosh, Fritz.