Post by Raz on Jun 30, 2017 12:05:24 GMT
An alternative history of Prussia as written by A Humble Pear.
History of Prussia Part 1: a whole new series begins! This is a long one - find the second half of this story in the replies to this comment! “It is not right that I should be asked to consider war. We already failed to contain him once. Now he is stronger, more ambitious. If we fight again, we stand to lose everything. We will be swallowed up, torn apart. Don’t you argue. We did it to Poland. We did it to the Holy Roman Empire. Others will do it to us.” “Fred, you cannot expect your people to simply do nothing.” “The time is not right. The situation is still too unclear.” “You would let this man, the very symbol of anarchical revolution, have free reign of Europe! You would let some Corsican upstart humiliate a king, a king of Prussia no less, into silence!” “Well technically he’s an emperor now.” King Frederick William III looked up from his cup of wine to see a scowl plastered over the face of his wife across the dinner table “Oh come on Louise. Don’t look at me like that.” “There is a sizeable movement at court, one that I know you are not unaware of, that wants your father’s abandoned war reignited. It would be a good sign to your fellow monarchs that you have not turned your back on them.” “It would be a gamble.” “Well, yes, but…” “A bigger gamble than you think. I know these men you speak of, and I know what drives them.” “Principle.” “Pride. They seem to think we still have Frederick’s armies, but they forget how they diminished during my father’s reign. The truth is that we do not have the military power to make such an audacious gambit.” “And what good will waiting do for our odds?” Frederick William sighed and filled his cup. Holding it out to Louise, he looked her in the eyes “This is our armies. In fact, that’s too much--” he took a drink “this is our armies. We’re at peace, we have all our strength, maybe we can gamble.” Louise looked unimpressed. “Now, let’s say we join this war against monsieur Bonaparte. The very best we can hope for is victory, right?” In lieu of a response, Frederick poured some of the wine onto the table “We take casualties. But we win. Then we march all the way to Paris, winning victory after splendid victory, and put the Bourbons back on the throne.” he continued, spilling small amounts as he spoke. He held up the cup again. “And now Vienna looks across the way and thinks ‘my my my, what an empty cup those Prussians have. I hear Silesia is very nice this time of year.’” Frederick smiled as Louise rolled her eyes emphatically “The point is, we wouldn’t have the strength to pose as a power in whatever struggle comes next. Now let’s assume we lose.” Frederick poured the rest of the cup on to the table, and watched as the drops spattered on the table cloth, staining the white fabric. He shook the cup for good measure, and let it roll lazily across the table “We’ll be eaten alive. We’ll lose Poland for sure, and we’ll be powerless to stop whatever other demands are made of us. We’re not strong right now, but if we lose your gamble we will be rulers of nothing but the dirt. I won’t do it Louise; I will not risk that.” Prussia had long been in a precarious position. A relatively new European power, Prussia was surrounded by the long-established great powers that had dominated the continent for centuries. To the south, Prussia’s oldest rival Austria posed an ever-present threat. Even now that the countries were united against the French menace, Austria had not forgotten the loss of Silesia, that had been one of their most prosperous provinces until Frederick the Great had taken it for Prussia in a startlingly swift and effective invasion. As long as a greater threat existed, Prussia could rest easy. But that could all change in a fortnight, and neither country would forget it. To the east loomed the gargantuan Russian Empire. Despite holding sway over the largest nation on earth, the Russian Tsars were always looking to prove their legitimacy as European monarchs. This ambition made European conquest an appealing goal for Russia, as their ravenous absorption of Poland had made clear. If they chose to, Russia could amass tremendous power, more than enough to sweep Prussia aside in their current state. To the north, the battered nation of Sweden nursed its wounds. Its place on the Baltic sea had been shattered under Russian aggression, and now a much weaker nation looked to re-establish the prestige they had enjoyed in years past. Their traditional friendly relationship with France made their joining with Napoleon and subsequent invasion a worrying possibility, one that would likely go unopposed by Austria or Russia. The western France completed the encirclement of Prussia. The chaos that had swept the Bourbon country had initially been welcomed by Prussia, who saw the weakening of one of Austria’s strongest allies as a fantastic opportunity. But when Austria offered a much more attractive deal, in which Prussia would join them in war against France, Frederick William had aligned his country against the revolutionaries. Prussia hadn’t played the biggest part in the failed attempt to stop France, but to the now-emperor Napoleon Bonaparte any opposition to France’s expansion was treated with equal hostility. If he decided that Prussia was a hindrance, he would doubtlessly throw himself into a war with the same enthusiasm he had already displayed in Italy and Egypt. As for Prussia itself, the country that had once prided themselves on its military prowess under Frederick the Great had fallen substantially since the great monarch’s passing. Frederick William II and his son had been uninterested in military expansion, allowing their armies to lapse and fall behind its neighbours. If Prussia could be counted among the Great Powers of Europe, it was the least of them, and the trying times in which Frederick William III found himself were very much unsuited to the family man of Prussia. His advocates would call him the nurturing father of his nation, but his critics held him as weak-willed, and not nearly tough enough to follow in the footsteps of Frederick the Great. In the early weeks of 1805, following the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of France, Frederick William entered into a series of diplomatic negotiations to strengthen their position. In a display of the double-dealing that Prussia had become known for in recent years, Prussia secured trade deals and alliances with Russia and Austria, while also making trade deals with the enemy of both nations, the Ottoman Empire, and considering an early land grab against Saxony, an affront against the Holy Roman Empire which Austria’s emperor still claimed to rule. He also secured an alliance with Britain, after which the offers of trade sent to France were dismissed immediately.
History of Prussia Part 1: a whole new series begins! This is a long one - find the second half of this story in the replies to this comment! “It is not right that I should be asked to consider war. We already failed to contain him once. Now he is stronger, more ambitious. If we fight again, we stand to lose everything. We will be swallowed up, torn apart. Don’t you argue. We did it to Poland. We did it to the Holy Roman Empire. Others will do it to us.” “Fred, you cannot expect your people to simply do nothing.” “The time is not right. The situation is still too unclear.” “You would let this man, the very symbol of anarchical revolution, have free reign of Europe! You would let some Corsican upstart humiliate a king, a king of Prussia no less, into silence!” “Well technically he’s an emperor now.” King Frederick William III looked up from his cup of wine to see a scowl plastered over the face of his wife across the dinner table “Oh come on Louise. Don’t look at me like that.” “There is a sizeable movement at court, one that I know you are not unaware of, that wants your father’s abandoned war reignited. It would be a good sign to your fellow monarchs that you have not turned your back on them.” “It would be a gamble.” “Well, yes, but…” “A bigger gamble than you think. I know these men you speak of, and I know what drives them.” “Principle.” “Pride. They seem to think we still have Frederick’s armies, but they forget how they diminished during my father’s reign. The truth is that we do not have the military power to make such an audacious gambit.” “And what good will waiting do for our odds?” Frederick William sighed and filled his cup. Holding it out to Louise, he looked her in the eyes “This is our armies. In fact, that’s too much--” he took a drink “this is our armies. We’re at peace, we have all our strength, maybe we can gamble.” Louise looked unimpressed. “Now, let’s say we join this war against monsieur Bonaparte. The very best we can hope for is victory, right?” In lieu of a response, Frederick poured some of the wine onto the table “We take casualties. But we win. Then we march all the way to Paris, winning victory after splendid victory, and put the Bourbons back on the throne.” he continued, spilling small amounts as he spoke. He held up the cup again. “And now Vienna looks across the way and thinks ‘my my my, what an empty cup those Prussians have. I hear Silesia is very nice this time of year.’” Frederick smiled as Louise rolled her eyes emphatically “The point is, we wouldn’t have the strength to pose as a power in whatever struggle comes next. Now let’s assume we lose.” Frederick poured the rest of the cup on to the table, and watched as the drops spattered on the table cloth, staining the white fabric. He shook the cup for good measure, and let it roll lazily across the table “We’ll be eaten alive. We’ll lose Poland for sure, and we’ll be powerless to stop whatever other demands are made of us. We’re not strong right now, but if we lose your gamble we will be rulers of nothing but the dirt. I won’t do it Louise; I will not risk that.” Prussia had long been in a precarious position. A relatively new European power, Prussia was surrounded by the long-established great powers that had dominated the continent for centuries. To the south, Prussia’s oldest rival Austria posed an ever-present threat. Even now that the countries were united against the French menace, Austria had not forgotten the loss of Silesia, that had been one of their most prosperous provinces until Frederick the Great had taken it for Prussia in a startlingly swift and effective invasion. As long as a greater threat existed, Prussia could rest easy. But that could all change in a fortnight, and neither country would forget it. To the east loomed the gargantuan Russian Empire. Despite holding sway over the largest nation on earth, the Russian Tsars were always looking to prove their legitimacy as European monarchs. This ambition made European conquest an appealing goal for Russia, as their ravenous absorption of Poland had made clear. If they chose to, Russia could amass tremendous power, more than enough to sweep Prussia aside in their current state. To the north, the battered nation of Sweden nursed its wounds. Its place on the Baltic sea had been shattered under Russian aggression, and now a much weaker nation looked to re-establish the prestige they had enjoyed in years past. Their traditional friendly relationship with France made their joining with Napoleon and subsequent invasion a worrying possibility, one that would likely go unopposed by Austria or Russia. The western France completed the encirclement of Prussia. The chaos that had swept the Bourbon country had initially been welcomed by Prussia, who saw the weakening of one of Austria’s strongest allies as a fantastic opportunity. But when Austria offered a much more attractive deal, in which Prussia would join them in war against France, Frederick William had aligned his country against the revolutionaries. Prussia hadn’t played the biggest part in the failed attempt to stop France, but to the now-emperor Napoleon Bonaparte any opposition to France’s expansion was treated with equal hostility. If he decided that Prussia was a hindrance, he would doubtlessly throw himself into a war with the same enthusiasm he had already displayed in Italy and Egypt. As for Prussia itself, the country that had once prided themselves on its military prowess under Frederick the Great had fallen substantially since the great monarch’s passing. Frederick William II and his son had been uninterested in military expansion, allowing their armies to lapse and fall behind its neighbours. If Prussia could be counted among the Great Powers of Europe, it was the least of them, and the trying times in which Frederick William III found himself were very much unsuited to the family man of Prussia. His advocates would call him the nurturing father of his nation, but his critics held him as weak-willed, and not nearly tough enough to follow in the footsteps of Frederick the Great. In the early weeks of 1805, following the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of France, Frederick William entered into a series of diplomatic negotiations to strengthen their position. In a display of the double-dealing that Prussia had become known for in recent years, Prussia secured trade deals and alliances with Russia and Austria, while also making trade deals with the enemy of both nations, the Ottoman Empire, and considering an early land grab against Saxony, an affront against the Holy Roman Empire which Austria’s emperor still claimed to rule. He also secured an alliance with Britain, after which the offers of trade sent to France were dismissed immediately.