Franz Ii Of Austria - Tumblr Posts

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 🔜

So, the thing I love the most about Napoleonic era is that there are soooo many ways of exploring the matter! Basically you can start with any country, affected by the impulse coming from the Revolutionary France, and slowly progress forward, expanding knowledge on national specifics and different “reactions” to the current state of events.

Some people were completely against it, some finally gained much-needed freedom for the development of their own governmental systems, some got essential resources which helped those brave men and women who fought for their own lives and independence of their homelands.

It’s always breathtaking as well when you can trace the links between intellectuals from all across Europe, despite their political preferences or any other kinds of opinion on various aspects of society (because if we start evaluating them from the modern point of view, many of those ideas would seem rather unjust and even infuriating 😅) , as they indicate the same deep connections which people can establish nowadays with the help of social networks and Internet in general.

And even when it comes to those - er - rather unpleasant “ways of thinking”, with which you personally cannot associate, sometimes you acknowledge them nonetheless and even start enjoying to some extent the history of those sophisticated systems which developed over centuries and eventually met their logical end. Not so long ago I’ve experienced this kind of attraction to the Austrian (and German at some point cause, you know, Holy Roman Empire) piece of a metaphorical Napoleonic pie and now I’m slowly falling into the pit of Habsburg’s monarchy shenanigans.

You know, it’s truly… fascinating.

As a Russian who studied history of his home country for his whole life - history and literature classes in school, the whole course on Russian history in university (yep, I’m just a tiny bit of a “historian” myself - undergraduate who dropped out due to overall burnout and urgent necessity to concentrate on his own creative work and all-time favourite historical epoch but who wants to continue his journey eventually) I spot some extraordinary similarities between the struggles experienced by Russian and Austrian Empires - in the 19th century especially.

So it’s some kind of “I feel you, man” experience, I guess. 😂 🇷🇺🤝🇦🇹

Even though my appreciation of Austrian history is very strong, I usually tend to reduce everything to the Napoleonic wars concentrate (or maybe I should finally start calling it “the first half of the 19th century”thanks to historical figures like Metternich - speak of a devil - as these politicians/military men/etc. lived such incredibly long and busy lives that it’s impossible to limit yourself to Napoleonic era only).

And here is one incredible piece on the imaginary “altar” that pretty much reflects my current value system. ✨

As you can see, it’s a miraculous lithograph “made with a feather” ( mit der Feder gemacht ) in 1816 by Adalbert Joseph Kurka.

(Actually, there is a small touch of Photoshop magic: Schwarzenberg was looking the opposite direction in the original picture and I thought it was much more fitting for him to exchange glances with Metternich as they went through all of the troubles successfully! What a relief it was for them, I bet…)

In my opinion, it’s pretty much safe to say that this piece of art probably symbolises the final triumph over Napoleonic France, considering it’s production date. While the Imperial court was minding the state affairs in the Northern Italy which had returned to Habsburg’s monarchy once again, some skilled craftsman depicted the current “balance of power” in the Empire in an artistic form.

So we have a ruling emperor with his beloved eldest son who was only twenty-three years old at the moment… 👑

…And two loyal servants of the imperial crown - a statesman and a military man - whose continuous common efforts finally led to the much-needed years of stability and peace (at least in theory)! 🎉

Picturesque calligraphic inscriptions under their portraits read that

Clemens Wenzel Lothar Prince von Metternich-Winneburg-Ochsenhausen [is] His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty’s Chamberlain, Privy Councillor, State Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs

and that

Carl Prince zu Schwarzenberg [is] His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty’s Chamberlain, Privy Councillor, Field-marshal and President of Hofkriegsrath [Court Military Council]

Magnificent sight, isn’t it? :)

Soon I will make a post about how exactly my personal acquaintance with Herr Schwarzenberg had started (that was originally the reason for why it all escalated so quickly a year and a half later).

Stay tuned! 🪄

So, I wasn’t much active lately but still have some things to share, even though they are not as serious as they could be. X)

Memes - to be exact!

And here is one of my favourites among all I’ve ever made. 🤌

Now it’s reflection time! 🤔

So, the relationships between Metternich and kaiser Franz were one of a kind, for sure.

They were friends of youth, since Klemens was introduced to him on his father’s - emperor Leopold’s - coronation in 1790 when Franz was only an archduke.

They remained pretty close through all the upcoming years (Metternich’s marriage in 1795 and his entry into the close circles of Vienna’s noble society gave him much more freedom in contacting with his august maître (even though ever since he married Eleonora, pretty much everybody in Vienna were already set against that pitiful parvenu from Rhein)) and Metternich’s influence on Franz reached it’s peak after the disastrous campaign of 1809 and the peace of Vienna, when Stadion - the main representative of the war party - was finally removed from his position in the Foreign Office.

The chancellor’s seat was empty and who could occupy it if not the able Austrian ambassador to France who came back recently from the heart of the European diplomacy - from Paris. Who knew (or simply pretended (or even imagined that he knew)) Napoleon’s character and his plans for the future. ✨

Thus, Metternich finally took what he wanted and got almost limitless access to the emperor. And from now on hatred towards him of the most powerful houses in the Empire and the members of the Imperial family was growing stronger each and every day…

When it comes to Franz and Klemens relationships, I personally perceive them as fairly complicated ones. It all seems rather obvious but the thought that Franz’s own principles (those of never changing but everlasting Habsburg’s monarchy), perhaps, influenced Metternich himself and slowly turned him into that petty reactionary whom he became in the last years of his life still gives me chills.

Don’t get me wrong, Klemens was initially predisposed towards that political course he chose later in his life, it’s clear…

Buuuut there was definitely something more, in my opinion. 🤫

Spent such a good day in one of the most famous and huge Russian libraries digging for some golden nuggets in terms of books on the Napoleonic era and Austrian affairs.

Feeling unbelievably calm and relieved. Haven’t experienced that in a long time. ❤️

And here is a meme as usual! The temptation was too strong. X)

(Oops, simple spelling mistakes but I’m too lazy to go and fix them…)

The Imperial Family Around the Duc de Reichstadt in a Gazebo by Leopold Fertbauer, 1926.

From left to right: Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, Empress of Austria; Francis I, Emperor of Austria; Napoleon II of France, Duke of Reichstadt; Princess Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria; Marie-Louise of Austria, Duchess of Parma; Ferdinand I of Austria; and Archduke Franz Karl of Austria.

link

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

Grandpa’s gift

There is an incredibly fascinating artistic detail that haunts me after some person posted their astute observations on the Internet and I would love to share it with you!

So, we have this illustration from a book “Life of Napoleon Bonaparte” by William Milligan Sloane (1896). Here we can see Napoleon visiting his son in a timeframe close to spring of 1813, when it became obvious that his larger political allies proved to be good for nothing and were probably going to leave him soon. Napoleon is shown deep in his thoughts holding a hand of his beloved son and looking at something far beyond our reach…

Or is he?

Speculations can be made that he actually has his attention on the toy soldiers present in a foreground of the picture.

While a cannon can be more than rightfully considered Napoleon’s own symbol, these toy soldiers do not represent any French troops. It’s possible to discern their tall hats but those are not bear hats of the Old guard, for sure.

They probably are the hats of Imperial (Austrian) grenadiers from the period of the Revolutionary wars. You can even notice red lining and cuffs being parts of their snowy-white coats.

Even if it was somewhat of a tradition to gift toy soldiers representing military units of relatively “old times”, an air of symbolism may also surround such a choice of troops. You know, that symbolism straight from those times when Imperial forces hadn’t yet suffered critical blows from the renewed French army and thought of themselves as fighters for truth and Habsburg’s justice.

So yeah. What a meaningful gift from a caring grandfather to his grandson it could be~ 🤭

(I’m also able to imagine how prince Schwarzenberg himself could have delivered this exact gift to Marie Louise, when he came to Paris as a diplomat once more and it literally gives me goose bumps. I love such small but significant imaginary plots with all my heart. ❤️)