Austrian Empire - Tumblr Posts

The best relationship-dynamic between two people incoming! 👃❤️👃

It’s not universal, of course, but it works with the majority of my favourite historical duos…

I was once reading a Japanese biography written about Metternich.

In that book, there was also a little bit about Schwarzenberg, who was Metternich's "confidant".

I will try to find out more about this relationship………🤔

I believe the worst thing about these two (as with many other historical characters who are fairly local figures in one way or another) is that there is almost no literature even in English. Like, at all.

Fortunately, that’s not the case with Metternich, since he is too big of a mess on a scale of world history, while Schwarzenberg… Well, he is a real deal only for the German-Czech-Austrian world. Thus, the most part of available sources, where he is mentioned, is in German. Or French. And Czech, obviously! 🇨🇿

There is also one Russian biography of Metternich which is absolutely superb and seems to be my favourite (not biased here in any way, for sure~) where their partnership plays a fare role in Klemens’ life narrative. However, that’s practically the only form in which Schwarzenberg exists out there among all those thorough researches on the Napoleonic affairs.

And even then there are no specific works focusing on their common efforts! Everything has to be done ourselves. As usual. 😤💔

I was once reading a Japanese biography written about Metternich.

In that book, there was also a little bit about Schwarzenberg, who was Metternich's "confidant".

I will try to find out more about this relationship………🤔

If the spirit of true political partnership doesn’t looks similar to this, I don’t know what else would describe it even more perfectly.👇

I kept that wonderful photo of an exceedingly friendly phone casing for ages, since I knew from the first sight whom it would belong to in a modern!AU of some sort. And now I have a photo of another object (thanks, the almighty Internet) which is like a perfect match to the other! 💜💖

Yep, enormous stress and overwork of the years 1813-1815 is creeping on Metternich - slowly but surely, meanwhile Schwarzenberg has a very straight-forward message behind his amiable and obliging appearances that can be clearly seen between the lines after all he had to deal with at the same period of time…

It is definitely going to lead to a redraw of some sort, thus stay tuned~ ✨

Presumed portraits of Prince Paul Anton Ill Esterházy and his wife the Princess Maria Theresa Esterházy born von Thurn und Taxis, circa 1800-1810s

Firmin Massot, Swiss

Sexy and undressed VS Undressed and depressed 🇦🇹🇨🇿

Sometimes I forget that I’m dealing with the grown-men in their 40s most of the time… Felt a need to improve my perception of them a little bit with the help of particular busts.

*for God’s sake, Schwarzenberg looks like a huge unhappy Saint Bernard, I just can’t get over it 😩💔*

A dysfunctional austrian family

Hi! I recently saw my drawing of Klemens, Schwarzenberg and L'Aiglon on Twitter, and I thought it's been a while since that, so I saw myself forced to do an update :D

(the drawing itself)

(reference)

Archduke Karl of Austria-Teschen and his children, by Johann Ender, 1832. From left to right: Archduke Wilhelm, Archduke Karl Ferdinand, Archduchess Maria Theresa (future Queen of the Two Sicilies), Archduke Karl, Archduke Albrecht, Archduchess Maria Karolina, and Archduke Friedrich Ferdinand. In the left corner there is a bust of Princess Henriette of Naussau-Weilburg, the children's late mother.

Oh my, oh my, what can I say, when it comes to Klemens’ lovely correspondence…

First and foremost, Metternich wrote so much in his lifetime that it’s nearly impossible to estimate the scales of his soaring thought (how far was he carried away in the process - that’s another great question for a lifetime)! As much of his literary heritage has been published, as much is already gone or still hidden from the public eye in the dens of various archives and private collections. Thanks to the efforts of his son, Richard, and other publishers, we can, at least, enjoy a few selections of his private correspondence. However, it was only a tip of an iceberg, for sure. 😅

Since I’m not that interested in Klemens’ perception of Napoleon and his politics, I can’t add much (although you can’t escape this topic, if you start learning about him - Metternich’s whole life was haunted by the presence of the great man ™️ and he couldn’t get rid of it, especially in the 1850s, when to the upcoming generation [or simply more successful politicians of his own age, ehem] he was mostly valuable because of his claims about understanding Napoleon’s “true nature”) …

Perhaps, an acknowledgment of some sort suffices: even though Klemens wasn’t good at foreseeing political trends - the future itself, he definitely possessed an instinct for people. He was a man of his time after all, cultivated, deeply sensitive and receptive, who craved to understand human nature thoroughly both from physiological and psychological points of view. His judgements may seem overly pretentious in some cases but he got to the bottom of things rather well, in my opinion.

In addition, I translated some passages from the Metternich’s biography I love with all my heart, since the author gives a much more comprehensive opinion on the subject there. I do not proclaim those notions as an ultimate truth but I still find his train of thought intriguing. 👀

Intensive personal interactions with Napoleon were for Klemens much more important than official negotiations. Not a single love affair, not a single political event, perhaps, with the exception of the French Revolution, influenced him as much and deeply as these many hours of conversations, often face-to-face, with the most grandiose personality of the era. In Klemens’ dispatches to Franz there are mentions of three- and four-hour-long conversations. He had reason to assert that hardly any of the non-Frenchmen had communicated with Napoleon as long and as directly as he had. "Conversations with him," wrote Metternich later in his portrayal of Napoleon, "have always been full of charm which I find difficult to explain. He outlined the most essential things for him in the subject, discarding unnecessary details, developing his thought clearly and precisely, always finding or coming up with the most appropriate words. These conversations have always been extremely fascinating".

…It is easier to understand Metternich's interest in Napoleon than the French emperor's interest in the Austrian minister. Undoubtedly, Metternich was a brilliant conversationalist – witty, well-informed in politics, with a decent knowledge of natural sciences. But that's not the main point. An explanation can be found in Balzac, who subtly noticed an important trait in Napoleon's character: "Victories over the aristocracy often flattered the emperor's self-esteem no less than the battles won”.

Communication with Metternich, his enticement was for Napoleon one of the forms of self-affirmation in the monarchical-aristocratic world. And it should be noted that he managed to achieve success, although it can be compared with one of his passing victories and not with Austerlitz. The theme "Metternich and Napoleon" is no less interesting psychologically than politically.

Metternich about Napoleon, 1808

An interesting evaluation of the general situation in France, from autumn 1808, given by Austrian ambassador Metternich to his Minister of Foreign Affairs in Vienna, taken from the second volume of “Mémoires, documents et écrits divers”. For context: Metternich had in an earlier missive suggested it might be a good idea to have closer relations with Talleyrand. A suggestion that – hardly surprising – seems to have met with lots of suspicion in Vienna. Metternich tries to prove that, for once, Talleyrand is not to be seen as an enemy to the Austrian cause, that he, to the contrary, tries to stabilize a foreign policy that is about to spiral out of control.

Metternich to Stadion. Paris, 24 September 1808

[…] There are two parties in France, as opposed to each other as the interests of Europe are to the particular ideas of the Emperor.

At the head of one is the Emperor and all the military. The first only wants to extend his influence by means of force, and it is from a degree of nepotism of which there is perhaps no example, a feeling at least as strong in him as egoism; it is, moreover, from the bellicose tendency which a long habit has given to his mind, and from the fiery spirit of his character, to which we owe all the upheavals which, contrary to all reason, and to all sound and settled political calculation, he attempts and unfortunately executes only too much every year.

In short: The guy is unable to discipline himself, and unlike at other courts, there currently is no system in place to keep him in check by other means.

Napoleon sees in France only himself; in Europe and in the whole world, only his family. It is enough to observe him, against all prudence, isolating himself from all the members of his family in order to place them far from him on thrones acquired at the price of so much blood and sacrifice, to see him overthrow weak princes, entirely subject to his will, even to his whims, in order to give these crowns to brothers or relatives over whom he exercises infinitely less influence, - a truth proven daily, to his great chagrin, - not to be able to doubt that his very ambition is subject to his inclination for nepotism.

As interesting and probably correct this assessment by Metternich is (the problems Napoleon had before he took over Portugal and Spain are miniscule compared to those he had after that coup), I could imagine there may be an ulterior motive behind Metternich’s dire warning of nepotism. After all, the Austrian emperor, too, had plenty of brothers, and so had empress Maria Ludovica, most of which were no friends of Metternich.

Personally, I think there may be another motive behind Napoleon’s behaviour than nepotism. As Metternich states himself, Napoleon often struggled to keep his relatives in check. So, when he removed them from Paris and put them on thrones far away, did he do that only in order to do them a favour, or also in order to strengthen his own position in France by removing anyone who might become a figurehead of opposition at home? He removed, one by one:

Eugène (son of the empress, closest thing to a son Napoleon had in the eyes of the public during the Consulate)

Joseph (most respected and most influential of his brothers, according to the constitution his immediate heir)

Louis (father to the boy whom most people saw as Napoleon’s likely future heir)

Jérome (last remaining of his brothers)

Murat (last remaining and highest-ranking family member still in Paris, most respected in the army among all the relatives)

While Lucien of course famously had exiled himself even before the empire. - From what I have read about other courts, it was not unusual to see people flock around other influential figures than the monarch, especially around a possible heir, forming different parties in more or less overt opposition to each other and to certain policies. While it made a court a hotbet for intrigues, it also made it possible for different views and attitudes to coexist there, and to confront the monarch with them. I often feel like Napoleon was keen on removing his relatives from court simply because it removed a source of possible opposition.

Metternich continues:

The military seek only bruises and wounds, especially since he who escapes death is sure of immense rewards.

This must have made for interesting battlefield conversations: Excuse me, sir, before I kill you off, could be so kind as to wound me a little? Nothing too serious, if you please, but with lots of blood. I finally want that damned cross, you know.

There is only one state in France which opens the way to everything, to fortune, to titles, to the constant protection of the Sovereign: it is the military state; one would say that France is populated solely by soldiers and by citizens created to serve it by the sweat of their brow.

The other party is composed of the great mass of the nation, an inert and immovable mass, like the remains of an extinct volcano. At the head of this mass are the most eminent persons of the civil state, and principally M. de Talleyrand, the Minister of Police, and all those who have fortunes to keep, who see no stability in institutions based on ruins, and which, rather than leaning on a durable state of affairs, the anxious genius of the Emperor surrounds only with new ruins.

I’m not sure if Metternich is right in drawing such a clear line between these two parties, to me the distinction seems much more blurry. Plenty of high-ranking officers had married into the circles “who have fortunes to keep”, after all. And there are lots of reports about unrest in the army already from the Polish campaign in 1807. The alleged “Philadelphes” conspiracy is mentioned a lot in German sources for the campaign of 1809, for what those are worth.

This party has existed since 1805; the war of 1806 and 1807 strengthened its means; the bad success of the enterprise against Spain in 1808 made the leaders of the party and their arguments popular; what previous successes had not been able to mitigate had to be strengthened by reverses caused by the most disastrous and immoral of calculations.

This last expression probably refers to the coup in Spain and Napoleon forcing the Bourbons to abdicate so he could put Joseph on the Spanish throne. Which, in my opinion, was not only immoral but mostly clumsy and stupid.

It is in the nature of things that two parties directly opposed can only gain strength at the expense of each other. The reverses in Spain, the destruction of several army corps, the reflux into the interior of troops sustained and fed up to now at the expense of foreigners; the drying up of a host of pecuniary resources, the upheaval given to France by the passage of so many columns which cross it in all directions, all these facts, combined with a hundred other considerations, have weakened the party of universal destruction and strengthened, consequently, the party of interior consolidation, which is only composed of elements equally protective of us.

That’s mostly interesting to me because it alludes to the pecuniary problems Napoleon faced around that very time (or actually always during periods of peace): His army simply was way, WAY too big and a constant drain on France’s finances, even counting the enormous war recompensations the defeated enemies usually had to pay. The Bourbons on returning to France will in the end have to solve that problem that Napoleon merely dragged out as long as he could. But he was very aware of it and tried to find reasons to keep as many troops outside of France as possible, where they had to be provided for and paid by the host country.

I’m not sure if Metternich is necessarily right in everything but he was a diplomat by trade and likely to correctly evaluate his sources. Overall, it’s an interesting assessment of France’s true situation around the time of the congress of Erfurt, and before Napoleon’s Spanish campaign.

Tumblr Text Posts: Napoleonic Wars Version

Klemens von Metternich

Can’t pass on such an amazing topic for discussion and leave it without any commentary from my part!

Even though I pretty much stopped posting about Austrian affairs in the Napoleonic era, I’m still fascinated by the subject and would love to see some piece of media focusing on Imperial strifes and struggles during the exact same time period. And since nobody wants to do anything, I’d love to do it myself! If I only had such an opportunity. 🇦🇹✨

Like… those events made such an impact on a scale of European and world history. Yet it seems, that despite vast historical research being carried out on the Habsburg’s monarchy general public tends to know literally nothing about fundamentals. The fall of the Holy Roman Empire was not something that occurs every now and then. And people who lived through this whole mess were not just some boring imperialists, reactionaries and conservatives. 🤡

(Frankly speaking, many of them were all of those things at once… Still I whole-heartedly believe that they can be unbelievably captivating and deserve to be explored too!)

Documentaries are always appreciated, however I’d kill for a fully-fledged series about Kaiser Franz, his mind-blowing family and his court because oh man, what a court it was. Also, we desperately need a proper series about the Congress of Vienna! At least 4 seasons of drama, political intrigues and scandalous love affairs. It could be a show of a century! 😩🤌

My bad: I’ve started talking about series - not films - from the beginning, since, in my opinion, themes that I’ve mentioned require series and only series. There are so many things to explore, no film would be able to depict even a hundredth of what is needed to be shown.

Nevertheless, if we get back to the “film” topic, I’ll definitely ask for a decent biopic about Metternich without caricature exaggeration of his evilness and narrow-mindedness. 👏 Metternich 👏 has 👏 rights 👏 too 👏! That eccentric man was broken beyond repair by life-circumstances and it’s unbelievably tragic to witness, what a person could become because of their predisposition and bias.

At last, just to make this whole rant even worse…

Schwarzenberg.

Like, anything focusing him to let people know about someone who confronted Napoleon (much more complexly and excitingly, from my point of view, sorry not sorry) aside tsar Alexander and Wellington.

Das Ende der Geschichte. 😑

Your Ideal Napoleonic Era Movie

If someone gave you like Insane James Cameron Avatar money to make a Napoleonic film and every perfect actor, choreographer, screenwriter, and other logistics you needed was available to you, what you would do?

I'm just curious. I was discussing with a friend about how it was physically impossible to do the entirety of Naps' career in one movie in a satisfactory manner due to the absolute length of his military career.

But I had nothing cognizant to suggest for a movie about Napoleon.

The only thing I want is having the Napster sitting on his secretary's lap for no reason ever provided.

The guy was like a cat with ADHD from what I figure.

Maybe I just want guys chilling in an explicitly not 20th-21st century "we gotta No Homo everything" way.

And obviously, if I had more money on my hands than I knew what to do with for a Napoleonic film, I would hire the prettiest man for a Louis-Francois Lejeune biopic. xD

Re-upload in hope that somebody is going to notice and appreciate someone’s hard work.

A comics illustrating specific passage from Metternich’s dual biography with Wilhelmina, Duchess of Sagan.

Metternich's picture is now on public sale at Artaria in the Kohlmarkt, between portraits of Schwarzenberg and of Wellington. Her father is quite a hero, Marie [the eldest child of Klemens and his first wife Eleonore] writes, adding, "Everybody is buying it, and a huge crowd of people are always standing in front of this window." It is not a terribly good likeness; there is a leer in the right eye and Metternich when he sees it declares, "Next time I have my portrait made, it will be without any eyes at all."

Silk empire style dress with embroidered roses

circa 1800, Napoleonic era

Austrian

Source: The Met

Oh well, it seems I don’t have any more strength for anything related to social networks aside from occasional check-ups every now and then.

I still draw things but uploading them also takes weeks and months, so it slowly becomes a vicious circle…

So, without any further explanations comes a tarot card featuring Metternich I finished more recently, since every online Tarot-calculator seems to agree with the majority of people - contemporaries, historians and Heaven itself - on the matter of his demon-hood. 😈

(It has a renown reference at it’s basis, so there’s a deeper meaning of some sort…)

And it’s accompanied by a small postscript with an Austrian historian Viktor Bibl who wrote one of the most critical works about Klemens and his deeds.

Have I read it personally? Or at least have started familiarising myself with it?

Of course not!

My German is too poor for such epic ventures, and I constantly struggle with reading in general but the ginormous e-library and wishful thinking are always there, ehem.

The Imperial and Royal Austrian Family, 1836. From left to right: Archduke Franz Karl, Archduke Maximilian (future Emperor of Mexico), Archduke Karl Ludwig, Archduchess Sophie (née Princess of Bavaria), Archduchess Maria Anna, Archduke Franz Josef (future Emperor of Austria), Archduke Karl, Empress Caroline Auguste (née Princess of Bavaria), Archduke Ludwig, Empress Maria Anna (née Princess of Savoy), Emperor Ferdinand I, Archduke Johann, Archduke Josef Anton, Archduke Rainer. In the back there is a portrait of the late Emperor Franz I.

Via Österreich Nationalbibliothek

It’s that wonderful time of the year…

When many prominent subjects of emperor Franz celebrate their 200-and-something birthdays! 🇦🇹 ✨

Today is a special day, since it’s the birthday of field-marshal Schwarzenberg, a military man, diplomate and movingly loving husband and father who definitely deserved much more than he got during his lifetime.

We’ve known for two years now, and it was one of the best Napoleonic acquaintances I’ve ever made, for sure. :)

Even though I’m currently off Tumblr for the most part, I can’t miss such a favourable opportunity, since someone unbelievably important for the European history (even not if in a positive way) has been a part of its legacy for 250 years now. 🇦🇹

Happy birthday to that cunning Austrian minister over there - refined aristocrat, perfect gentleman and a hopeless romantic deep in his heart (even though he denied it himself and was denied by many of such merit). 🥂

He may be criticised or even judged severely for many of his deeds, yet he remains an exceptionally fascinating person to be studied.

Even more so, since he would have enjoyed it himself quite a bit. ;)

Even though Metternich’s birthday has passed, I would still love to make some remarks on the piece of artwork I dedicated to him this year.

The first one being that yes, all the people featured there are real historical characters who meant something to him at the most spectacular point of his life. There are field-marshal Schwarzenberg, Wilhelmine von Sagan, his two unfortunate daughters - Maria and Clementine, Friedrich von Gentz and, of course, Monsieur de Talleyrand-Périgord - le Diable boiteux himself. 🥀

And the second one is a close-up of a jewellery that Wilhelmine of Sagan is holding in her hand, since I put a lot of effort into that bracelet despite its insignificance on a scale of the entire work. The design was created without any visual references, though based on a spectacular description from that one book - “Vienna, 1814” - aptly mentioned by @joachimnapoleon in her reblog. :) 💠

I will allow myself to quote the whole passage here, since it’s fascinating in many ways. (However, it’s a translation from English to Russian and then back to English, so I apologise in advance for any inaccuracies in the transmission of original text by David King)

It is probable that on New Year's Eve Metternich was especially lonely and dreary. He tried for the third time to beg the Duchess for a date. "I would hate to spend the first day of the new year, 1815, without seeing you," wrote the prince.

Before the champagne glasses rang, a package from a Viennese jeweler's store was delivered to the Palma Palace. Opening a small satin box, the Duchess found in it a gold bracelet of amazingly fine workmanship, decorated with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and amethysts. In the days of Romanticism each stone had its own symbolism. A diamond and a ruby spoke of love and fidelity; the other two marked birthdays: an amethyst for the Duchess of Sagan, an emerald for Prince Metternich. The messenger brought the package, as ordered by the Prince, "by the stroke of midnight."

Metternich attached a letter to the gift explaining the symbolic meaning of the letter G engraved on each stone: "I would be happy to put this bracelet on your lovely hand myself and say: "Gottgebe Gnade, Gluck, Gedeihen" ("May the Lord send you his blessing, give you prosperity and happiness")."

What Metternich himself did on New Year's Eve is unknown. The poet-songwriter La Garde-Chambona claims that he saw him at the New Year's ball at Count Zichy's, and this is quite possible, although one cannot ignore the young lyricist's tendency to somewhat free handling of dates. It is more likely that the prince, having put down the goose quill and sent the parcel around eleven in the evening, spent the night alone in the office of the state chancellery.

Oh, I wanted to read this book one day, naturally, but it seems I’m good without it for now! 😂

I’ve still got plenty of other sources and materials to go through (besides, right now I’m more focused on reading classical literature, since I haven’t had an urge this strong in a long time), so yeeeeah.

However, it would be fun to make full-length reviews on some history books in the future, if I’m able to!

Especially books of that kind. ;)

My newest read. @count-lero, are you familiar with this one?

Pride Month is inevitably coming to an end and it’s a real shame that I was unable to make any artistic input during this wonderful time of the year. 🏳️‍🌈

The only thing I can contribute at last is this drawing which is three months old already but I always struggle with sharing historical ship-content on this account, as it seems inappropriate in a way. 'Cause you know: all the fascinating/gorgeous/serious/funny historical stuff and then that…

It doesn’t really stop me from loving various Napoleonic rare-pairs with all my heart nonetheless. 😔🤲❤️

Disclaimer: Most of historical characters featured on such arts were undoubtedly straight, had wives, kids, mistresses, etc. But ship-dynamic is very real - as always. ✨