Aladàr von Boroviczény: Graf von Brühl. Der Medici, Richelieu und Rothschild seiner Zeit. (1930)

[selenak]

The "Rothschild" in the title made me a bit wary because invoking the Rothschilds was such a popular antisemitic slander (these days, it's more George Soros who gets drafted for the same type of insinuation), but whatever else this book is, it's not antisemitic. In fact, even when the 7 Years War Fritzian war crimes complete with coin clipping are invoked, the author doesn't, as opposed to, say, Poniatowski in his memoirs, connects this with some antijudaistic slurs. Which doesn't mean the author doesn't have other axes to grind, because boy, does he ever. (More in a second.) But as this book is a passionate Brühl defense, "Rothschild" was - like Medici and Richelieu - meant as a compliment, signifying rich patron of the arts (in addition to master politician etc.).

Now, about those axes. Here's my experience reading the preface (as is my wont, and how we've discovered many an interesting thing, including Henri de Catt, RPF writer.)




AvB: WWI and the catastrophe of 1918 have caused many a historical study being written by many people. Same here. See, as a result of WWI France is dominant in Europe again by smashing Austria-Hungary, as was their cunning plan for centuries.

Self: Are you....?

AvB: MT. the great Empress, prevented this back in the day by first defeating France in battle and then taming her French opponents via diplomacy. MT's cause was Germany's cause!

Fritz fan reader before me in old German handwriting via pencil: NO!

AvB: The great Empress could have saved Germany for all time from French machinations, if Germany had united behind her as she fought the Erbfeind. You know who prevented this, thereby setting Germany on a course the result of which we've seen in WWI? Fritz!

Self: That's one way of putting it that I haven't seen. I mean, I'm familiar with the Fritz->Wilhelm II->Hitler theory, but you're writing in 1930, so Hitler isn't part of your agument yet, and even with this theory I'm familiar with, the argument isn't that an MT victory could have prevented this.

AvB: One man, a genius statesman and the coolest guy of his era, did his best to help in this noble cause and worked for a future where Austria and Saxony, side by side, would have created a wonderful future, and got smeared and slandered by Fritz in his demonic hate for his troubles: Brühl! Readers, I was familiar with his image, so imagine my surprise when I went to the archives and found nothing to support it. You know what Brühl's true guilt in Fritz' eyes was? That Saxony didn't help him destroying the HRE!

Fritzian fanboy reader before me in old fashioned German handwriting: RUBBISH!

AvB: Look, I'm an Hungarian, so I don't have any loyalties to any of the current political factions of today's Germany. But as an Hungarian, I'm closer to MT's pov than to that of bloody Fritz, and Brühl, too, was (mostly) on MT's side. We will understand him better, if we look at events from his pov.

Fritz fanboy reader before me: underlines "Hungarian" and "closer to MT's standpoint than that of bloody Fritz" but this time without a comment.

Self: OMG. You are a 20th century Hungarian Habsburg loyalist! I mean, I knew you guys existed even after WWI, but I haven't come across one of you before! The closest I read of was Joseph Roth addressing Otto von Habsburg as "my Emperor" in the 1930s, and Roth was from Galicia. Truly, AvB, you are a novelty in my readings.



After this introduction, it won't surprise you who the villain of this biography is. It's passionately defensive of Brühl, as mentioned, and blames most though not all of his bad reputation of Fritzian slanders which because of the Fritz cult and Prussian dominance in Germany later were adopted wholesale by historians, even though Austrian hstorians like Arneth exposed much of the most blatant propaganda. Arneth is quoted frequently, but AvB also did a lot of original work by using the Dresden archives, and he's good with the footnotes. This doesn't mean he's above manipulative presentation. For example, he goes from describing Saxon-Russian negotiations via Suhm (there's a lot of what Suhm did when not writing letters to Fritz, i.e. his actual job as envoy, which by itself I think will make Mildred glad I read this book) in the late 1730s back to Manteuffel bribing gentlemen from Fritz' social circle and the prostitute, which took place in 1733/34 before he had his in. Now, AvB does actually name the dates, but by mixing the two separate narratives and presenting them in reverse order, he creates the impression of a connection of actions because his main narrative has Brühl identifying Fritz early on as a threat to Saxony and doing everything he can to secure Saxony via alliances and spying from the inevitable demon rising.

This said, the 1730s section was the most interesting one to me, because the 7 Years Wars stuff - i.e. Fritz the war criminal bleeding Saxony dry and then in his propaganda blaming Brühl's supposed corruption as having Saxony ruined already - was already familiar to me via Hahn and Poniatowski. (AvB presents a great many numbers from the archives supporting his claim that it was the 70 Million Fritz extorted out of Saxony that ruined the country while Brühl had left it in good shape as of 1756. ) Whereas most of the 1730s stuff was new and had not shown up in previous books, at least not that I recall. There's lots from the Suhm/Brühl correspondence, and also Manteuffel/Brühl (this was a bit more familiar, though the perspective certainly is new), and also Lynar/Brühl.

Before I get into details, I also have to share this general attitude, because it comes up repeatedly:

AvB: Not content with bashing my guy Brühl, Fritz was awful about the Poles in his memoirs.

Self: True enough.

AVB: I will say that I agree on one point with him...

Self: Now I'm curious.

AvB: ...the Polish Elective Monarchy system sucked and was ruinous to the country, and so was the Veto. But it's not like the Poles were bad as Fritz claims, they were like big children, who didn't understand what was good for them. Now my guy Brühl in working towards making the Saxony/Poland union permanent, one solidly ruled monarchy, could have prevented all the future Polisih tragedies! He would have been your saviour, Poles! No partitioned Poland under Saxon rule! And no bloody Prussian dominance in Germany with a Saxon/Poland superstate = > no Hohenzollern Emperors => no WWI.

Self: Good lord.

Okay, on to details.



Defensive AvB says the slanders already start at claiming Brühl was an upstart from lower nobility, when his noble descend and family were solid. Also, despite him being the youngest brother, none of his older brothers begrudged him turning into the family head by virtue of his success. They were supportive of and affectionate towards him in letters not just to him but among themselves.

Zeithain as the first time young Heinrich Brühl starts to get noticed outside of August the Strong's inner circle: AvB says he must have witnessed the scenes between FW and Fritz as everyone did, and that FW gave him the Black Eagle order, but does not speculate whether this impacted the future Fritzian attitude towards Brühl and/or Saxony. What he does note is that Brühl, who was responsible for this part of the Zeithain preparations, was responsible for the first use of Meissen porcelain as part of a diplomatic event, i.e. Meissen porcelain table wear was used big time on all the meals. (Given how much Meissen porceillain Fritz stole appropriated during the 7 Years War, I dare say that part at least amidst all the FW caused misery must have left an impression. Zeithain will turn up much later in the book in a most surprising fashion, stay tuned.

Immediate aftermath of August the Strong's death:

AvB: Here Fritzian slander, subsequently taken as gospel, has spread the tale that my guy Brühl hastened back from Warsaw to Dresden, slimed himself into future A3's good graces by giving him the news of his father's death, fooled future A3's buddy Sulkowski into sharing power with him and subsequently ruled as a duo with Sulkowski until he could get rid of Sulkowksi to remain sole fave. Fritz claims he did this because Sulkoswki wanted to turn against Austria and Brühl provided Austria with the poof, thereby getting cash from them and engineering Sulkowski's downfall. Well, I say bollocks to that! Firstly, here's a letter from Kurprinz future A3 TO Brühl, co-written with Sulkowski, asking for his friendship, when August the Strong was still alive. I.e. Brühl didn't need to ingratiate hmself with future A3, future A3, evidently on Sulkowki's advice, approached him first. Secondly, sure, we could write off all the friendly letters between Sulkowski and Brühl as mutual expediency and political hypocrisy, but the thing is, these letters go on AFTER Sulkowski's downfall, when Sulkowski went from Hero to Zero in terms of having influence at court. Also, when Sulkowski's wife died, Brühl took Sulkowski's kids into his household and helped out and furthered the careers of the older ones, and here's Sulkowski's letter thanking him for this! As for Sulkowski planning to go anti Austria and being brought down for this, as Fritz claims, fact is MT gave him honors after his downfall. Why would she bother if he'd been planning to turn against her country?

Brühl's marriage:

AvB: A love match, not something he did to solidify his position because he was a Protestant and she was a Catholic. Look at the touching love letters years after the marriage where he call sher his Maruschl! Incidentally, no matter what the sensational novel which the tv show "Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria" is based on claims, of her first names Maria Anna Franziska she used Maria Anna or Marianne, not Franziska. Hence "Maruschl".

Self: Having read an article on the Bruhls' marriage from only a decade or so ago which also quotes from their letters, I agree it was a very affectionate and solid marriage, and not the hate union from the novel/tv show, but that doesn't preclude it also having been a political match to start with.

Mistresses: AvB doesn't mention any, just says that pre marriage (but not after), Brühl lived like other noblemen at this court. Hanbury-Willliams claims otherwise, but Hanbury-Williams, like any potential or actual mistresses, is not mentioned in this biography at all. Incidentally, this discretion goes both ways - you won't find any insinuations about Fritz' sex life or any STD's, either. (Other than the mention of the woman Manteuffel bribed, who is called "a certain young lady", not, as in the Manteuffel political biography published years before this Brühl biography, a prostitute.) There are no sex stories about anyone.


1730s diplomacy: Okay, onto the good stuff. Saxony, like Prussia, had claims on Jülich and Berg. This did not make FW a happy camper, and won't make Fritz one, either, and despite FW and August the Strong being drinking buddies, there was mutual distrust through the decade, only strengthened when France tried to make Stanislas Lescynski King of Poland (again) while of course the Saxons tried to ensure future A3 would become future A3 once August the Strong inevitably kicked the bucket. At one point, there was a Prussian offer to lend Saxony a million Taler and support the election of August(us) as Russia and Austria had promised IF Saxony would drop any claims on Jülich and Berg and support Prussia's claims instead.

Brühl: No can do. Luckily, we have an in with the Czarina right now and thus don't need to accomodate the Prussians. Still we ought to mollify FW somewhat. Any ideas, Manteuffel?

Manteuffel: Send Tall Guys.

Brühl: Sends two Tall Guys along with the "no dropped claims on Jülich & Berg" letter.

AvB: FW took them, but was still seething.

Openly, Berlin sided with the protegé of France (Stanislaus Lescinsky, father-in-law of Louis XV) in Danzig, and Friedrich Wilhelm openly toasted Stanislaus at his table round. But just as hostile, only even more openly hurtful, was the attitude of Crown Prince Friedrich. Often he bet with the Saxon envoy Manteuffel that the Elector would not remain King of Poland. In a converastion with Manteuffel, he prophecied the defeat of August, as French and Swedish troops as support counting up to 10 - 21 000 men would be on their way in order to push the election of Stanislaus through by force, who because of Prussia's neutrality would be able to land on Prussian soil. Manteuffell, a practised diplomat, replied that such a solution would be more than welcome to Saxony and Russia, since this way the arena of war would be shifted to much more suitable terrain and one would at last meet troops one could fight as enemies. At the first sign of a landing the united Saxon and Russian army would be able to march against the French, since because of Prussia's neutrality Prussia could not possibly object to letting the Saxons march through Prussian territory. Friedrich was struck by this very logical reply, and returned indiginant that Prussia was no playground for foreign armies. At last, he stated that as opposed to his original plan of war, the French and the Swedes should land in Stralsund which belonged to the Swedes. Manteuffel replied calmly that he assumed the Swedes were getting sick of owning Stralsund by now. But certainly there were more than enough potential admirers eager to talke Stralsund of their hands as they did Stettin and all of Pommerania.

(I.e. the Prussians, cahn.) (Footnote for this conversation goes to the Dresden archive, I assume to a report from Manteuffel to Brühl.)

(mildred_of_midgard: This made me laugh extra considering I've seen one historian describe the Second Silesian War along the lines of "Saxony had decided that it was after all a state and not a highway..." (cahn, meaning they weren't just going to stand by and watch Fritz march endlessly through on his way to invading other parts of the HRE.))



Suhm: AvB has a high opinion of Suhm as an envoy and tihinks it was a great touch on Brühl's part to choose him as envoy in Russia to promote what was partly an anti Prussian policy precisely because Suhm was known to be a friend of Fritz and thus paranoid and jealous Prussia would not believe this to be the case. Be that as it may, based on the reports Suhm was a pro and did his best for Saxony, as his job, and did not secretly forward information of the ongoing negotiatons to Fritz. Undoubtedly if he had lived and had come to Fritz in 1740, he'd have devoted himself just as much to Fritz' interests, but while he was envoy for Saxony, his dedication to Saxon interests could not be faulted. The need for a new Saxon envoy in St. Petersburg arose when Ostermann, the official PM, complained about Lynar's relationship with Anna Leopoldovna. (At this point, Anna Ivanova is still alive, Anna Leopoldovna's engagement to EC's brother Anton Ulrich has just been arranged.) Lynar got offered the ambassadorship to London instead which he rejected, miffed about his withdrawal, so Brühl kept him around for short term missions until his services were needed in St. Peterburg again (i.e. when Anna Leopoldovna became Regent). So Suhm got the job. Other than soothing feathers riled by the Anna Leopoldovna/Lynar affair, the most delicate task concerned Anna Ivanova's favourite Biron, who wanted to become Duke of Curland (which technically belonged to Poland, which meant that while the Dukes were elected by the Kurland magnates, in reality the elections weren't very free but went as the ruler of Poland wanted), and whom rumor suspected of intending to make himself Czar.

Suhm received detailed instructions which were worked out and personally signed by Brühl. (Footnote to the Dresden archive.) Suhm was supposed to contact Count Biron directly after his arrival at St. Petersburg and to ask for an audience witht the Czarina to be arranged at the later's pleasure. AT the audience, he was supposed to transmit the wishes of the Elector to the Czarina that the close relationsihps of his Court iwth the Russian one should become even more affectionate in the future and to demonstrate the strong concern with which the Saxon-Polish court was following events of the Russian-Turkish war. The Princess of Mecklenburg - i.e. Anna Leopoldovna - and Count Ostermann were also supposed to receive Suhm's greatest attention. Suhm was to tell the Russian cabinet at the earliest opportunity "how little France was serious to conclude the long term peace business, as they aim to push the end further and further through low pretenses" and how France was just waiting for Russia to fail in the Russia-Turkish war. Suhm was ato make nice with Biron, and as to Anna Leopoldovna, Suhm was not to meddle with the impeding Anna Leopoldovna/Anton Ulrich marriage, BUT if for reasons that had nothing to do with Suhm or Saxony the marriage failed to materialize, Suhm was to discreetly suggest future A3's oldest son as an alternate match. Also, none of this under any circumstances should be noticed by the Prussian envoy in Russia, Baron Marderfeld, or Prussia in general. Brühl is relying on Suhm's discretion.

AvB: One big reason why Brühl wanted to encourage a Russia/Turkey peace which would untie Russian resources was because he wanted Russia as backup against a Prussia that looked increasingly threatening.

Now, Brühl wanted more than nice words and vague promises from Biron in return for the later becoming Duke of Kurland, to wit, he wanted Biron's support for the change of Poland from an elective monarchy to an inheritable monarchy united for good with Saxony, and on November 3rd 1737, Suhm reported that Biron himself had brought the idea up. However, there was an additional task, because by now, Anton Ulrich of Braunschweig, EC's brother, had arrived at the Russian Court, and Biron's son Peter was promotiing himself as an alternate match for Anna Leopoldovna, since now that his father was a Duke, he was now her match in nobility. (Anna Leopoldovna being the daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg.) Simultanously, the Prussians were also trying to woo Biron and were offering Ulrike (we're still in the 1730s, remember, so Ulrike isn't yet married) as a match for Biron's son. Biron rejected this idea by claiming his son was still too young to marry. Meanwile, Suhm suggested yet another match, Biron's son and the second oldest available Saxon Princess (daughter of future A3), which Bühl rejected.

AvB: But note that while he rejects Suhm's suggestion, he still thanks Suhm for making it and invites discussion as to what Suhm thinks Biron will or won't do re: Poland/Saxony union. Bühl isn't going "my way or the high way" , he wants opinions and initiative from his diplomatic staff, even critique, which Suhm delivers and for which Brühl thanks him. I don't have to tell you how unlike a certain someone this is, do I? Brühl: your dream boss.

(Footnote: Dresden Archive, Brühl to Suhm, Moritzburg, 9. Aug. 1738)

This is Suhm's description of Anna Ivanova's bedroom as given to Brühl in his envoy report (Prince Karl is Biron's youngest son): "Next to her bed, the small bed of Prince Karl stands, next to this a large couch on which the faihtful Citrine sleeps, a large and pretty girl, very white, who is the favourite. Moroever, the room is shared by approximately twenty women who sleep on bedrolls lying on the floor and of which some are always awake, stnading around the Empress' bed and telling her fairy tales to make her fall asleep." Suhm added that on this occasion, all the rumors about the latest events in town were reported, and if the women didn't know anything true to report, they were inventing stories. Of course, intrigues were made and slanders promoted this way. The custom to let women talk the whole night in the bedroom was supposedly widely spread in all of Russia, and it was a matter of fashion for a lady to lie in bed theentire day and to let herself be served with food and drink there while she was constantly told stories.

On September 15th, Suhm reports a very successful conversation with Biron to Brühl, but so delicate in nature that he does not want to put it in writing but wants Brühl to send his brother the Legationsrat (presumably Nicholas) to him so he can give the verbal report to his brother who in turn will give it to Brühl. Because the report was verbal, we don't know what it said, but because of the earlier context, AvB concludes that Biron must have made some firm promises regarding Russian support for Brühl's big Saxony/Poland 4eva! project.

Suhm's next report concerins the ongoing soap opera that is Anna Leopoldovna's love life. (Minus any mention of Julia Mengden in this biography. On February 22nd 1739, Suhm reports that Anna L. has said she'd rather die than marry Anton Ullrich.

Brühl: Seeing as we need Biron, do promote Peter Biron/Anna Leopoldovna.

Suhm: I've just heard Team Vienna and Emperor Charles are very unhappy at the idea of Peter Biron/Anna Leopoldvna - I mean, Anton Ulrich is the Empresses' nephew. However, since they don't want to piss off the mighty favourite, they've suggested marrying Peter Biron with yet another Brunswick girl who'll get 200 000 Taler dowry from Vienna.

Anna Leopoldovna: I'm not marrying the Braunschweig guy because he's not my mental equal. ("Nicht geistig ebenbürtig")

Anna Ivanova: Biron, Darling, is this your influence? I want that match.

Biron: I'm totally innocent!

Peter Biron: Anna, beloved playmate of my childhood, I'm absolutely delighted you rejected the dumb Braunschweig prince for bieng so dumb. Marry me instead!

Anna Leopoldovna: YOU? An icky upstart's son?!? *goes to Anna Ivanova* I've changed my mind. I'm marrying Anton Ulrich.

At least that's how Suhm reports the tale to Brühl. Since he's explicitly asked to make suggestions, he also after years in Russia adds a warning, in his report from December 18th 1739. He says that the war against the Turks showed Russia's growing military prowess, that they have a taste now for being a superpower, and he predicts that:

'The Russians will lust after Poland one day, and will invade it. Now this is not yet to be feared for a s long as the other courts of Europe exist, but in Russia, one has always to fear a revolution, for if the Russians withdraw within their gigantic Empire, no foreign power, however great, can pursue them into the the unending steppe.

Smart man, Suhm.

Suhm continues: The only salvation of Poland would be the changing of the constitution in the interest of the Saxon policy and the removal of the Liberum Veto. Only if the country becomes an inheritance of his House, the King on his part would have an interest in completing the country's defense by organizing a proper army and by building fortresses. The current liberty of Poland is a tragic liberty. Given the current constitution, the constitution cannot be changed in a legal way, and thus it has to happen in a different way.

Suhm furtherly thinks that England plans another war with France, and in this coming war, Saxony should team up with the Emperor (/MT's Dad). England would back up Austria/the HRE and Saxony, and would provide subsidies, which would pay for an army for Poland consisting for about 25 000 men which would not cost the Poles anything and which they would thus permit. Having thus equipped a small but disciplined and well trained army in Poland, one could get the Russian court to greenlight the declaration of the Polish Crown to be now tied to Saxony in perpetuum. Russia would keep Prussia in line, and as long as Prussia was kept in line by Russian might, one would not have to fear a division of Poland. Then the King could occupy the rest of the (Polish) country with his own regular regiments, which in turn would guarentee the Polish magnates accepting the changed constitution. Especially, if the King promised to any Polish farmers joining his army he'll free them from serfdom.

Brühl loves this plan. So does AvB, who is bitter that it wasn't to be, since before this genius plan can be accomplished, FW dies, Anna Ivanova dies, MT's Dad dies, Suhm dies, and then Fritz the Evil strikes.



But before AvB describes Silesia 1, he goes back in time to early 1730s to Manteuffel and Fritz. Now if you don't pay attention to a casual mention of the date, you'd think all the Manteuffel bribes happen simultanously to the Suhm negotiations for Saxon/Poland 4eva!/a Russia backed Saxon coup, as opposed to already having happened years earlier. Neither Voltaire nor Wolff nor La Chetardie get a mention, instead, as I said, if you don't pay attention to the one casual date dropping, you'd think Manteuffel does this because Brühl wants to ensure Fritz is in the dark about the goings on in Russia:

Manteuffel did not spare time or effort in order to inform himself about the situation at court in view of the coming change of power during the King's lethal illness.

(I.e. FW's 1734 sickness, but as this chapter comes AFTER the Suhm chapter, it's easy to think AvB is talking about FW's 1739/1740 really lethal illness.)

Through bribed Prussian officers he learned that Friedrich, the Crown Prince, was having relations with certain female circles of loose morals. Particlarly one lady in Ruppin seems to have been in Friedrich's favour at that time. Manteuffel then ordered one of his young friends - whom he equipped with the necessary finances - to start a relationship with this lady and let Friedrich's letters be opened and copied. This way, Manteuffel managed to find out that Friedrich planned on immediately after his accession to the throne supporting the Polish anti King Stanislaus Lescynski with a corps of his troops, which amounted to an open attack.
Yet another important information arrived at this time, which was confirmed by the Imperial Envoy Count Wratislaw: Crown Prince Friedrich had taken up his old secret relationship with the former Saxon minister Count Heinrich Karl Hoym and promised him an important role after his accession to the throne. Hoym thus was arrested on Brühl's orders at his estate on Dec. 18th 1735 and transferred to Königstein.
Hoym had been Saxon-Polish envoy in Paris in the years 1720 - 1729 and had been promoted to Cabinet Minister upo9n the death of Count Christoph Heinrich Watzdorf on September 3rd 1729. On March 23rd 1731, August the Strong had dismissed him in disgrace and banished to his estates. Now he got accused on 18 different matters, mainly because of disobedience towards the King, the illegal opening of letters, and corruption. Furtherly he got accused of having been informed of the desertion plans of Crown Prince Friedrich at the camp in Zeithain by a primary source, and having kept this information secret, and furtherly, that he betrayed the manufacturing secrets of Meissen porceillain to France.

....You don't say, AvB. The Hoym quote led to a detailed discussion, source downtracking and some results, which you can read about here.
.

As I said, AvB is good with the footnotes, and here's where he sources these two sensational claims:

1) (Fritz planning to support Stanislaus Lescynski when becoming King): Dresden, Loc.456, Vol.23. Partly printed, partly paraphrased content in Beyrich, a.a.O, .S. 117 and footnote 2 same page.

2) (Fritz and Hoym, Hoym's fall): See about this Beyrich, a.a.O. S. 117 ff. and "Vie de Charles Henry Comte de Hoym, Ambassadeur de Saxe-POlogne en France, et celèbre amateur de livres, 1694 - 1736, par le Baron Jeromes Pichon, publié par la Ste des Bibliophiles Francais, Paris 1880, Tome 1, Chap. III, page 71 - 141.

WELL.

Thoughts, Mildred? The one thing I find hardest to swallow is supporting Stanislas L. with troops. I mean, of course it's in Fritzian interests to prevent Poland becoming eternally united with Saxony, but he was so eager to make his name and win fame that I don't see him starting his rule by handing over soliders so someone else, as opposed to leading them into battle himself. Especially since Stanislaus Lesccynski had already been beaten once and I don't see young Fritz tying himself to a loser.



Anyway. AvB moves us forward in time again to 1740 and the series of deaths changing European policies. (BTW, in his version, Suhm doesn't go to Fritz for Fritz' sake, Suhm had to be replaced because once Anna Leopoldovna is Regent, obviously her lover Lynar is the guy with the greater sway and thus needs to be Saxon envoy again.) Now, because Saxony WON'T ally itself with MT in Silesia 1, Habsburg loyalist AvB has some explaining to do. Here it goes:

AvB: So, my guy Brühl could not know that MT would be the fierce woman fighting Fritz tooth and nails she'd turn out to be. For all he knew at the start, she was a total pushover. Especially since Fritz the liar was presenting her as such; he was telling everyone, especially the Saxons, that he was negotiating with the Duke of Lorraine and as good as had the Duke's and thus also MT's okay for getting a part of Silesia. Now if MT had handed over part of Silesia to Fritz as Fritz kept claiming she did until he couldn't keep up the lie anymore, she'd have already broken the Pragmatic Sanction, and thus Brühl/Saxony would no longer be tied to it.

Self: Come on. That's a very narrow time window.

AvB: Yeah, and when it turned out MT wanted to keep Silesia, and was not prepared to hand it over to Fritz, Brühl with the help of England and Russia, both of whom exerted pressure on MT, negotated for an Austria/Saxony treaty. Which he did masterfully, from a Saxon pov. On April 11th, negotions were finished. Saxony was promised to get 12 Million Taler from Austria to be paid within 18 years. If Austria won against Prussia, Saxony would get Prussian's property in the Lausitz and the Duchy Krossen. If the war went against Austria, Saxony would still get paid via getting the taxes from the Bohemian border areas, and would also get some border territory from the Lausitz so Saxony would have a direct land corridor connecting it to Poland. The current Saxon possessions were guarenteed to be respected, there was a trade treaty with conditions favourable to Saxony, and the Duke of Tuscany (FS) promised to make Saxony into a Kingdom. Furthermore, if MT and FS had no living son, a Saxon prince would inherit. All Saxony had to do in return for all of this was vote for the Duke of Lorraine as Emperor and in provide Saxon troops after "the other alies", especially Russia, had already engaged Prussia."

Self: Wow. Those are great conditions for Saxony, true, but are you telling me MT actually accepted this? This is as bad an extortion as what Fritz tried, almost.

AvB: Alas MT did not sign this treaty. She took a look at the conditions and said hell no, despite the English envoy telling her she could not afford not to sign and needed Saxony as her ally. I myself think she should have signed. An MT/Saxony/Poland/Russia/England alliance would have crushed Fritz and France in Silesia 1, and history would have developed so much better! But I guess MT was still inexperienced at this point. So anyway, Brühl had no choice but to ally with France instead. He even managed to marry off A3's daughter to Louis XV's son to seal the deal. This pissed Fritz off! Have a quote, reader:

Fritz to Marshal Belle Isle: I have abandoned my claims to Jülich and Berg, have carried the entire burden of this war for a year alone, have declared myself for the King of France from the start, and have supported his intentions at every opportunity to the best of my abilities, and you hand over a much larger piece of the ruins of the House of Austria to the King of Poland than to me, to him who showed you all kinds of hostility and all kinds of evil will...

(Footnote: Political Correspondence, I, 337)

AvB: And this, dear readers, was when Fritz knew Brühl was the mastermind he needed to destroy if he was to succeed in his megalomania!

Brühl and MT do make a treaty two years later, to much more MT-favourable conditions, though Saxony still gets Erfurt out of it. AvBy says that Fritz claimis in Histoire de Mon Temps that the Saxony/Austria treaty of 1743 was an offensive one, thus necesitating his invasion, when it was a defensive one, and Fritz, lying as per usual, presented a falsified version in said book. This was already pointed out by Arneth who presented the original treaty. Of course, Fritz also justified his start of Silesia 2 with invading Bohemia to support the Emperor as a loyal HRE Elector should (reminder, cahn, the Emperor is Karl Albrecht of Wittelsbach, supported by the French, whom MT kicked out of his dukedom of Bavaria and of course did not recognize as Emperor at this point).

AvB: Friedrich II forgot intentionally that he himself in Article 1 of the Breslau Peace Treaty, which he invoked right now, had pledged himself not to send any military aid to Emperor Karl VII.

Nothing new otherewise about Silesia 2, except that AvB can't understand why a smart energetic woman like MT kept handing over military assignments to her no good brother-in-law instead of kicking him out of the army the first time he lost a battle, since he is convinced Fritz owes his military glory to a great deal to Charles of Lorraine being bad at fighting.

Fallout between Fritz and Elizaveta, according to AvB:

In this moment (1745) Friedrich asked "in the slimiest expressions" for the Czarina to negotiate peace. But he soon encured her dislike through his own fault. In order to not encour the distrust of his Bourbon allies, he wanted the Czarina to provide a declaration that he hadnt been the one to ask for a peace negotiation. This undiplomatic tactlessness irritated the Czarina so much that she completely withdrew from any peace mediation.



Peace time: This is where we get Brühl, patron of the arts. Dresden and Saxony in general are the most beautiful, most exquisite, Florence at the Elbe and the cradle of German culture, and Fritz is a wannabe in his plumb imitations of Saxon beauty that are the three Sanssouci palaces. That's yet another reason why he destroyed so much in Saxony later: so he wouldn't be shown up anymore. But mostly because he hated Brühl so much. Oh, and as for corruption: the Prussians tried to bribe 500 porcellain workers to move to Prussia, and all 500 declined. Because they were loyal and Brühl paid them better. So there, and fyi, Prussian porcellain remained inferior even after the war when Fritz made the KP manufactury a state business. Oh, and Berlin was a provincial town while Dresden was a world residence; Versailles accepted Brühl as an equal partner at negotions, which they never saw Fritz at. And for the record: Prussia eventually took leadership of the German Empire by force of arms, but only after the entire rest of Germany created German culture throughout the centuries. In case you didn't notice yet, readers: Prussia sucks! Hohenzollerns are awful! Nothing good ever came from them!


Unsurprisingly, AvB gives Brühl complete cedit for the Diplomatic Revolution. (Kaunitz who?) He quotes a letter from Brühl to Maurice de Saxe (French Marshal, illegitimate son of August the Strong) from 8th Nov. 1746, i.e. shortly after the end of Silesia 2, where Brühl predicts the following:

Regarding the King of Prussia: he doesn't have to fear anything as long as he keeps the peace. But France nearly needs to have its eyes opened about this man. Smart as he is, he flatters France at every opportunity, but the memory of how he twice made a separate peace under English direction, without giving a fig for his ally's interests, should justify the concern that the King of Prussia could easily play anotiher trick on them. Such a trick would, depending on France's exhaustion, demand many more bloody sacrifices as all the previous ones, if Friedrich allies with the Maritime Powers. (I.e. England and Holland.) This would embarass France while the King of Prussia would get the best guarantee for Silesia and possibly other advantages this way.



Like I said, when the Seven Years War comes, threre's nothing I haven't read elsewhere already about the fate of Saxony, except for AvB's denial that the Saxony/Austria treaty in this case was an offensive one; here, too, he said Prussian propaganda presented the world with a forgery in order to justify Fritz:

Count Herzberg had to falsify the Saxon files in his infamous "Memoire rasionné" in order to prove to the world that Friedirch II had executed all the horrors he did unleash in Saxony as a matter of just self defense. Count Herzberg himself later disclaimed this "Memoire raisonné", but the King of Prussia used this notorious falsified document as a basis for his "HIstory of the Seven Years War". More than a century this document served as a historical source until through Count Vitzhum the forgery was uncovered.

Given that Fritz had all of Brühl's possessions in Saxony destroyed, you might wonder what Brühl lived from in exile during the war:

Friedrich II did everything he possibly could to destroy Brühl as a minister and a human being, and he would have succeeded in destroying the fruit of labour of an entire life (...) if August III. had not given his minister and favourite the income of the Zipser Starostei. But despite htis high minded generosity of the King, Brühl had to fight with financial difficulties. HIs grown up sons wewre used to a carefree life and were using up huge sums. (.l..) The state of Brühl's mind after all that had happened is barely imaginable. The catastrophe had occured. HIs life's work was destroyed, his fortune ruined, his collection of art broken up. HIs lord, whom he had wanted to make into the most powerful of German princes, had been robbed of his home country and was now a King without power in Poland. Brühl had done all he reasonably could have done to avert this catastrophe happening. If he can be accused of one fault, than it is that the minister lived in the delusion that Friedrich II was subjected to the same moral laws as athe rest of European civilisation. Europe had judged Friedrich in 1756, and the HRE had banned him. Europe, the court to which Brühl had applied, came to his aid. But death tore a hole into the wall of the defenders. The Czarina Elizabeth died. And Friedrich's crime remained unpunished.

AvB: And then my woobie's beloved wife dies as well. And then his King dies. And then he dies. And Fritz, the bastard, is allowed to slander his reputation for centuries to come. But NO MORE! I submit my defense to you, dear readers. JUSTICE FOR BRÜHL.