Alexander I Of Russia - Tumblr Posts
So… I guess I will post my drawings from time to time. That’s for beginning.
Have not posted anything for a long time so here it is. An old one drawing.
Victor Pavlovich Kochubey, member of Alexander I Backroom Committee, minister of the Interior, chancellor of Russian Empire.
So thanks to @microcosme11 who showed a lot of interest in the incredible painting “Battle of Leipzig” by Johann Peter Kraft I’ve decided to consecrate a series of posts to the main participants of the event depicted on the canvas!
It’s simply going to be a bunch of my guesses about who is who over there. 👀
Unfortunately I’m going to illustrate my ideas with such an amount of pictures that it’s simply a necessity to divide this post into several parts…
Well, as an old Russian saying goes, “Don’t feed me bread, just let my speak a lot about 19-century men in fancy uniforms”!
Ahem.
So here comes part 1!
First of all, let’s start with the most important participants - three allied monarchs themselves. Here they are: Alexander I of Russia, Franz II of Austria and Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. 👑
…Aaaaand I was lucky enough to find some old photos I took in the State Hermitage Museum during my last trip to Saint-Petersburg!
I guess Saint-Petersburg is at some point the second home for each and every lover of the Russian Empire. Even nowadays the city itself represents the living remains of that illustrious period in Russian history. :)
As for the paintings those epic depictions of allied monarchs are located in the Military Gallery of the Winter palace. The portrait of Franz II is also one of Kraft’s works which was presented by Kaiser himself to Alexander I when the latter decided to organise the Military Gallery (which is also dedicated to the victory of Leipzig, what a coincidence) in the 1820s while the portraits of Alexander and Friedrich were made by the German painter Franz Krüger who had been working for the Russian Imperial court for a long period of time.
All three of them look truly magnificent but it’s a little bit hard to find the right angle for a photo because they hang pretty high and are gigantic. 😅
Okay, back to the “Battle of Leipzig”~
Since monarchs were usually followed by an escort of their loyal courtiers, the exact same thing goes for the Kraft’s painting. This time for the major part it consists of different military men. I believe most of them come from the general headquarters.
There are three major figures accordingly behind Alexander, Franz and Friedrich - three chiefs-of-staff of the allied forces.
The first man in the crowd is (I’m still not entirely sure about him but it would be still logical to some extent) August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, quartermaster-general of the Silesian army and Blücher’s right-hand man.
The second one is probably (like I don’t know where his aiguillettes are but the resemblance is quite obvious) Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky, chief-of-staff in the Russian army.
He became one of the Alexander’s closest friends since he was introduced to him by his father Pavel I, the emperor of Russia, when Alexander was still a grand-duke (or how we call him in Russian - цесаревич / tsesarevich ✨).
By the way, Volkonsky and his colleague Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, a general who also went through all Napoleonic wars, were the only commanders in the Russian army who received the Grand Cross of the British Order of the Bath after all the struggles.
And here is Vorontsov as a small postcriptum. :)
Mikhail was the eldest son of Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, a Russian diplomat who served as an ambassador in the United Kingdom for almost thirty years! That was the main reason why he knew English language as well as his mother tongue, Russian.
In the nearest troublesome future he and Wellington actually became very good friends as well! 🇷🇺🇬🇧
To be continued 🔜
That was literally the first historical ship I enjoyed when I got into the Napoleonic wars shenanigans five years ago… :,)
Frederick William III.: Napoleon really hates us, doesn’t he.
Alexander I.: Maybe he’s homophobic?
Frederick: We’re not dating, Alex.
Alexander: We’re not?
Literally everyone: You’re not?
Letter from Frederick William III. to Alexander I. - Potsdam, October 24th 1805
“General Köckritz will have the honor to deliver this letter to you. He will arrive a few hours earlier than me to see you again, but in this very moment, how much I envy him! I refrain from telling you what impression, Sire, the news of your arrival has made on me; I reserve the expression of all the feelings that I owe you for the happy moments that I am going to spend with you. My joy responds to the tender and constant attachment to you in which, in all the ages of my life, I will always be.”
Me:
Okay… But… Like…
That’s the type of content I will treasure till my dying days. Because my love for Napoleonic wars and all the historical RPF ships from this era is practically immortal at this point of my life and finding such quality content always feels like finding a treasure! Such tenderness, such bittersweetness…
Thank you so much for sharing this touching piece about Alexander and Friedrich’s lives together. That’s a canon right here! 😭🤲❤️
Hope there is much more to come!
“Night before battle”
Short historical shipping fic.
Pairing: Alexander I. X Frederick William III. (implied Queen Louise X Alexander I. X Frederick William III.)
Word count: 1839
Rating: SFW
Setting: Tsar Alexander I. and king Frederick William III. sharing an emotional moment the night before the battle of Leipzig.
Читать дальше
A sudden thought came recently to my mind: why haven’t I ever spoken about my favourite portrayal of one mischievous Austrian statesman on the big screen? I’ve actually seen several interpretations of Metternich in different types of media but only one won me over completely after some time of contemplation. 🎥
Thus, let us turn to a movie called “Der Kongreß tanzt” (“The Congress Dances”)! 💃
This intriguing product of German cinematography was originally filmed in 1931. The movie focuses on - who could have guessed! - on the events of the Congress of Vienna (mostly imaginary but still). It stared many leading German actors and comedians of the time and was promoted as a response to the success of the American cinema in Europe.
Here’s how Wikipedia’s article expands on the whole drama:
“Der Kongress tanzt” is a particularly well achieved move in Ufa's attempt to challenge US supremacy in the European film arena, taking advantage of the introduction of sound. As such, the studio released the movie in three different language versions (MLV): in German, in French as Le congrès s'amuse, and English as Congress Dances. Lilian Harvey played in all three versions, as she spoke all languages; Henri Garat replaced Willy Fritsch for the French and English versions.
Ufa spared no efforts: the cast reads like a who's who of German film, from the top billers of the day to heavy-weight comedians - even the supporting cast is made out of stars. The sets were lavish and top talent made up the entire technical cast.
Despite the ambition and the auspicious beginning, Ufa's challenge to US supremacy never materialized, both due to the strength of the Hollywood majors and to the constraints Germany's creative film and performers would suffer from 1933 onwards.
As you can see, the destiny of this movie is quite an upsetting one… But there is one review mentioned in the article which strikes me right to the heart. 💔
"This truffle of cinema unfolds its flavours like a heavenly feast for the anonymous millions it is dedicated to." Lichtbild-Bühne
That truly is the state of this film in the eyes of the public. It won’t be interesting for the major part of the audience, even if the audience enjoys cinema of the old times, simply because this movie is about history at it’s finest! Of course, the original creators did their best in an attempt to adapt the plot to the taste of general public, removed a lot of notable historical characters who would seem excess for the storytelling and oversimplified the relationships between certain political figures but it still requires some level of immersion in the historical context…
That’s why for those who are invested in the period of Napoleonic wars this movie may be a treasure. Or a complete disaster, perhaps! :)
I’m obliged to feature the “disaster” part here because of those oversimplifications I mentioned earlier, immense problems with costumes (especially uniforms and women’s clothes) and appearances (as usual) of certain historical characters (for example, the man in the posters above is… emperor Alexander I, even though his moustache makes him look much more like Prussian king Frederick Wilhelm III; the resemblance is almost shocking!). Also, the plot focuses mostly on an idle love affair between emperor Alexander with the charming lady next to him and many other possible plot lines were left behind for the sake of it…
Still one of the best parts of this movie remains the same, in my humble opinion: it is an incredibly talented and dashing German actor Conrad Veidt playing the one and only - chancellor Metternich! 🇦🇹
I guess, the only thing I can say about this cast in particular is that Veidt was… just… someone extraordinary. 👁👄👁
Hence, I’m simply going to recommend you this movie wholeheartedly (if you haven’t watched it already, of course), as you’ll be able to savour it’s lively comedy, lovely music and wonderful acting of the Pleiad of old German cinema stars!
To sum it all up, I’ll leave few more screenshots of Metternich and his entourage for you to enjoy. 🤲💗
P.S.
Also, like… those cuffs… Oh (boy) prince…
Das Ende~ 🎥
Good morning/day/evening/night to you, dear readers, and
Welcome to my TED-talk!
An enormous TED-talk about field-marshal Schwarzenberg, his military talents, the star-illness of tsar Alexander and Metternich and many other issues.
It all started with frustration about how emperor Alexander I wanted to reclaim the glory of the Sixth coalition “commander” and ended up with gigantic self-discourse based on my current knowledge of Napoleonic era, Austrian affairs at the time and incredible figure of field-marshal Schwarzenberg whom I adore with all my heart.
So, here is the main inflammation point.
"Alexander laughs at the armaments of Austria and said in front of Wolzogen and several other Russian generals: 'We'll see if I or Schwarzenberg was the greatest leader during the past campaigns.'"
"Wolzogen, who visited me yesterday, confirmed that Alexander would not be upset at all if he had an opportunity to demonstrate his talents as a military commander. According to his personal opinion - and then he fully echoed the words of his emperor - without the opportune intervention of Alexander, who had made adjustments to the imperfect disposition chosen by prince Schwarzenberg, the battle of Leipzig would have ended badly. Schwarzenberg, according to tsar, was made not to lead armies, but to conduct ministerial campaigns and other things alike."
…And now I’m ready to start (committing a mass murder) speaking out. 🇦🇹✨
***
As a person striving for the golden means in terms of historical objectivity, I’m obliged to make a remark - the question of Schwarzenberg's military merits is really not an unambiguous one. The prince himself revered the military path as his true vocation,
[Schwarzenberg to his wife, Maria Anna von Hohenfeld]
"How annoying I am to you, my Nani - I'm sorry, but you understand that we are allowed to perk up when it comes to the matters of the craft that we’ve been doing for a long time."
…although he served more out of a sense of duty, for his family and his fatherland, because of his high position in a society and not for the sake of "vain military tinsel" that many wanted to achieve through services in the army (it should be noted: this man had absolutely everything in his life by default, everything that other people, less wealthy and noble, dreamed of and for the sake of which they tore each other's throats, climbing the career ladder on their own).
[Schwarzenberg to Marianna]
"You are familiar with my principles, my Nani, you know that it is not at all a vain military tinsel that keeps me in my place; no one knows better than you that I am, perhaps, the only person in the army who serves solely out of conviction that it’s a duty that my position imposes on me. Our happiness depends entirely on the preservation of the social order (I immensely respect those rich aristocrats from the past, who were at least aware of what exactly their personal "happiness" depended on); unfortunately, my reputation in military circles, attached to that of a decent man, already sets me apart too much, which is why my desertion in reality will affect not so much the whole picture, but the effect it will produce in a society."
Anyway, questions of military nature ignited him much more than diplomatic and court routine, for sure. The latter... bored him usually.
[Schwarzenberg to Marianna]
"Foreigners are received here very courteously, I cannot but praise them for politeness with which they shower me, but such a lifestyle repels me in particular. To rack my head all day in order not to say something completely inappropriate, to constantly turn to the right, then to the left, to pirouette like a dancer, bowing to everyone who is present - this fatigue, this boredom make me sweat a lot day after day."
What’s immensely interesting, Schwarzenberg possessed the mind of a thorough and meticulous observer at the same time: despite boredom and regular ailments, he perfectly grasped all the trends looming on the political horizon. I believe these prudence and insight were the main reason why Metternich valued Schwarzenberg so much and therefore turned to him for cooperation on a common basis (not to mention the fact that both gentlemen considered themselves entitled to actively interfere in the political life of the country that was their native (after all, Klemens is a man of the Holy Roman Empire and therefore subsequently considered himself "his own" in Austria, although the Viennese court refused him this honor with enviable regularity)).
[Here is one of Metternich’s letters]
"The best way I can summarize all of the above is with the saying which I find in the last letter addressed to me by Prince Schwarzenberg: "The fall of a great man is heavyweight!“ This expression is so apt that all the calculations of Austria and the poor middlemen should be aimed at ensuring that we are not crushed."
[And here is a fragment of my favourite Metternich’s biography in Russian]
“On December 20, 1812, Schwarzenberg's auxiliary corps was advancing towards Warsaw to prevent the Prussians from invading deep into the territory of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Schwarzenberg's position can be judged by his own words: "The more both colossi [meaning Russia and France] mutually weaken each other, the better." With a soldier's straight-forwardness, he expressed what was now on Metternich's mind.”
However, Metternich remained a professional diplomat who did not combine this path with the military one, unlike many other employees of the imperial diplomatic corps - same Schwarzenberg, Bubna, Neyperg, etc. In fact, as Marshal Marmont later wrote, Klemens was never able to understand the "true essence" of the war, even if he had personally followed more than one major battle.
[Here is that brilliant characteristic Marmont gave him]
"Like many people, he [Metternich] had a great predilection to believe in what he wanted. Similarly, he had an exceptional claim to the honor of being born with a military genius, and - surprisingly - this is exactly what prince Metternich, who had been living during wartime for so long among the most outstanding generals of his era and had been following many armies, did not understand at all, when it came to the moral side of the war. A person, gifted with the qualities he possessed, had to unravel it immediately, as soon as he found himself on the battlefield, and had to be amazed at the mysteries that accompany it." (In other words, Klemens suffered from the same star-illness that struck poor emperor Alexander: it's hard to be a diplomat during the time of constant wars and not start wanting to snatch a piece of military glory to yourself. It’s very, very hard).
Prince Karl, on the contrary, perfectly delved into all the subtleties of war - his discretion in making decisions on which the lives of hundreds of thousands soldiers depended was worth a lot.
For Schwarzenberg, war was a "craft": he certainly knew how to kill (frenzied passion for hunting on the verge of obsession is a proof to that - it’s, of course, their house’s specialty (and a major trend for many aristocratic families at the time), but without personal inclination it wouldn’t last for long).
[Emperor Napoleon in one of his letters]
"... that if I invited Prince Schwarzenberg to hunt as a correction, it is primarily because of the wedding circumstances, and also because he is greatly amused by it as a military man."
And if we speak about prince's combat talents directly, we have to state that he, unfortunately, could not fully reveal himself as a supreme commander. The campaigns of 1813-1814 did not allow him to fully develop, even though during his military career Schwarzenberg managed to prove himself as a fairly capable field commander who won local victories with the help of those limited military forces he had at hand (Neervinden, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, Ulm, Austerlitz, Wagram).
That is, he held himself with dignity in one-on-one battles. In terms of supreme command the same Archduke Karl probably surpassed him, it’s true. He just had much more experience in that field. And who, if not the emperor with the archdukes have to rule the armies! *sounds of sarcasm*
One way or another, we wouldn’t know the true military potential of Schwarzenberg, because, I repeat, in the wars of 1813-1814 (including 1812, although the auxiliary corps meant almost nothing at the time; and then prince Karl covered the retreat of the Grand Army brilliantly, as he was ordered, until Vienna recalled him in February 1813) the Austrians had a lot at stake. Therefore, Schwarzenberg behaved himself as carefully as he could, giving way to any diplomatic endeavours, which Metternich, for his part, conducted purely in the interests of the empire.
[Schwarzenberg to Metternich]
"Don't leave me, my dear friend. You promised me in Frankfurt, while I was actively implementing military operations, to launch peace negotiations; I kept my promise, but alas, how far behind you are!"
Thus, no such full-scale… massacre was taking place as in the campaigns of the Third and Fourth (and even the Fifth) Coalitions, where all sorts of marshals and generals were shining exceptionally bright and Schwarzenberg, at his turn, could prove himself at the higher commanding post.
Despite this uncertainty, I believe that Schwarzenberg certainly possessed greater military talents and experience in combat operations than AlexanderI. In the coalition ranks tsar was assigned with a powerful consolidating function. Actually, that’s why it was decided in the first place to choose an Austrian commander-in-chief for the Allied army - simply to glue everyone to each other. However, this same Austrian commander not only ruled the armies, receiving thousands of unnecessary tips and reprimands from all sides, but also reconciled everyone much more effectively than tsar, whom the glory of great generals of his time hit strongly in the head…
But it’s a completely different story, isn’t it, historians of my fatherland and some other historiographers?)))
The same Metternich, with his usual exorbitant self-esteem, eventually began to attribute the triumph over Napoleon exclusively to himself, to his own clever political moves. Alas, there was no place under the sun for his colleague whose incredible perseverance made this triumph even possible in the first place.
Three days of mourning after field-marshal’s death look truly indecent against all the efforts made by Prince Schwarzenberg, who absolutely ruined his own health in the name of the greater good and in the last years of his life lost all hope for a long happy old age surrounded by his beloved wife Marianna, their three sons Friedrich, Karl and Edmund, numerous relatives and friends (most of whom passed away quickly as well).
In my humble opinion, the willpower and dedication of this one-of-a-kind man should be admired to the depth of our human souls and serve as an example to us all. An example of what a long, persistent, thankless diligence in a field that does not bring you much enthusiasm where, after all the hard work you’ve done, you are denied even minor merits and recognition can lead to.
Dixi. 🏛
Love that incredible painting very much, even though certain things in depiction of uniforms, for example, seem a little bit of! It’s overall grandeur and attention to details are superb anyway. ✨
It also turns out that this canvas was originally created by Russian artist! I was able to find several references to his work in our segment of the Internet. The artist’s name is Sergey Troshin. :)
However, it was rather obvious in the first place because of how closely resembles Troshin’s portrayal of famous Russian generals - Alexei Petrovich Yermoloff and Michail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (who was at the time supreme commander of all Russian contingent in the allied army; tsar Alexander also rewarded him with the field marshal’s baton due to the successful Siege of Paris) - their original portraits made by George Dawe for the Military gallery of the Winter Palace in Saint-Petersburg.
Besides, I’d love to add a few more pictures with the same theme - the Entrance of the Allied forces into Paris on the 31st of March 1814.
Alexander is as glorious as ever, meanwhile king Friedrich Wilhelm III and prince Schwarzenberg are just 😑😑
And here is one more interesting depiction, as not tsar Alexander but field-marshal Schwarzenberg in all his glory suddenly becomes the centre of attention! 🇦🇹
Allied army entering Paris in 1814, Tsar Alexander, King of Prussia and Austrian Field Marshal Schwarzenberg at the head (by unknown)
link1
link2
Bun gata mi-am revenit hiiii
Omg napoleon si tarul alexandru ca dame nu pot sa cred theo ce nespalat esti😰😰😰😰😰
Also my bad for the horrific quality did them on my chromebook and when i sent them on my exquisite android the quality dropped fast as hell im gonna kms
Eu va dau frame urile voi le animati
also yes it's related to the red flags animation and yes these guys are napoleon and alexander i again how smart am i frate deci jurati-va ca ati mai vazut asa cv
Amandoi ne-am intins dupa tragaci 🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣💯💯💯🔥🔥🔥
Indeed
Do you think he looks like a hamster?
Do you recognize this man?
Alexander the 1st of russia?
Indeed
Do you think he looks like a hamster?
Do you recognize this man?
Alexander the 1st of russia?
Wait... If Tsar Alexander I had a death mask then what about the theory of him being Feodor Kuzmich?
Angel Alexander propaganda