Dear Readers,
I wanted to attach a link for a podcast, The Life and Times of Frederick the Great, where I was recently interviewed by the host, Alec Avdakov. Joining Alec was a lot of fun, and we had a wide ranging discussion on the Prussian Army in the era of the Silesian Wars.
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Thanks for Reading,
Alex
Interesting talk.
ReplyDeleteMy only problem is with Frederick William as a supporter of the Holy Roman Empire and the institutions of the empire. He continued the policy of his predecessors to prevent the Upper Saxon circle from function. He only took part in the War of the Polish Succession for money following his contract and even then decided to send the units so slowly as possible and the commanders of the imperial army didn't trusted the Prussian troops. It's obvious that they did not fought in the only larger engagement in Germany ... OK, he at least payed his "Mutung" which Frederick II did not. But that's not much.
Honestly, I think this is a fair criticism. I think I kind of took it as assumed/for granted that territorial princes would use their Landeshoheit to disrupt the empire, and in that way, FWI is not radically different than the Wettins or Wittelsbachs. I do think there is a difference between that and actively trying to militarily divide the empire, which is what FII is trying to do. Good criticism, if I get the chance to go back on I'll clarify.
DeleteThank you for your answer. I have to admit that it's very long ago that I learned about the Prussian policy. I'm not sure but suppose that I read in one of Stolberg-Rillinger's books about the aspect of "Mutung". That aspect made it clear that the HRR in the 18th century from a legally point of view was looking very different as a large part of Italy still was part of the Holy Roman Empire. This maybe explains the importance of the change in Italy during the first half of the century had some impact on the German powers too.
DeleteThe policy of the "Landeshoheit" is very important. Even Württemberg tried to get the right of the right of "Non appelando". Even more important then independent foreign policy was the right to have the legal power over the own subjects.