Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 47

[cahn]

We haven't had a new post since before December 25, so obligatory Yuletide link to this hilarious story of Frederick the Great babysitting his bratty little brother, with bonus Fritz/Fredersdorf!

Comments

Re: 1764-1772 Foreign policy: Rousseau

[mildred_of_midgard]

Wow. Do we know what Wielhorski's reaction was?

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't know that we do. I've presented this as a dialogue for readability, much the same way as I often make countries talk to each other and you often make biographers debate with each other, but only as a literary device. There is no record of any conversations between them, we're not even sure if any took place, and I *believe* all we have is Wielhorski's treatise that he presented to Rousseau, and the treatise Rousseau wrote in response.

Much of this essay is trying to reconstruct from the sparse evidence questions like how Rousseau came onto Wielhorski's radar, why on earth he would agree to his project at his time of life, what other works Wielhorski may have presented Rousseau with and that Rousseau might be writing on conversation with, etc. I would have to reread to be sure, but I don't know that we have any record of Wielhorski's reaction to Rousseau's plan, especially as it quickly became obsolete with Russia's victory in the Russo-Turkish War and the way the First Polish Partition actually played out.