Good question… not sure of it work but a form al announcement would likely be necessary but it can be done together to the announce of the union of Modena to the other lands
Frankie Goes to the Hofburg, or Napoléon II, Regent of Austria?
The section starting on the third page breaks it down well why the name of the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom became what it became.
On that note, what about "Commonwealth of Italian States"?
On that note, what about "Commonwealth of Italian States"?
Would not work at all for something who Vienna want rule as unitary Kingdom… and whatever Venice think is less important now who also Turin and Genoa are inside the Kingdom making both necessary a change of the Kingdom and impossible to keep all the most important cities on the same level
stupid question, but one inspired by a convo with friend at the gym this morning. Apparently, the first "gyms" (as we would recognize) were opened around the 1840s- in Paris- with "fitness classes" and "free weights". In England, books on fitness began to be published in 1837.
would it be completely ASB for the "fitness trend" to have a royal endorsement? Perhaps via Frankie's school (he's already allowing them to play cricket and have swimming lessons) or position as "minister of education". If Frankie goes on the Aristotleian principle "physical exercise helped to promote discipline, perseverance, and self-control, which were essential for success in life" for education, I could see it. Alternately, Henri de Chambord. Not saying he's gonna start hitting the gym or even have a room at the royal palace fitted with weights to gather dust, but if he were to "delegate" some minor royal (like say, the duc d'Orléans*) to go attend a lecture on the benefits of exercise or the opening of a gym (because seriously, you need to find something for them to do, but nothing too important).
*given that the duc d'Orléans and his brother, the duc de Chartres, have OTL Napoléon III as their governor/tutor, I could see this. Especially since Napoléon III was one of Hippolyte Triat's clients/patrons OTL
would it be completely ASB for the "fitness trend" to have a royal endorsement? Perhaps via Frankie's school (he's already allowing them to play cricket and have swimming lessons) or position as "minister of education". If Frankie goes on the Aristotleian principle "physical exercise helped to promote discipline, perseverance, and self-control, which were essential for success in life" for education, I could see it. Alternately, Henri de Chambord. Not saying he's gonna start hitting the gym or even have a room at the royal palace fitted with weights to gather dust, but if he were to "delegate" some minor royal (like say, the duc d'Orléans*) to go attend a lecture on the benefits of exercise or the opening of a gym (because seriously, you need to find something for them to do, but nothing too important).
*given that the duc d'Orléans and his brother, the duc de Chartres, have OTL Napoléon III as their governor/tutor, I could see this. Especially since Napoléon III was one of Hippolyte Triat's clients/patrons OTL
OTL Napoleon III was a pupil/client of the Gymnase Triat founded in 1846 by Hippolyte Triat. Aristocrats frequented it too so it's quite possible Frankie or even Henri would patronise something like that.
dealt with off-screen at the Frankie-chaired Congress of Trieste, but referenced in Chapters:
Cry Havoc! And Let Slip The Dogs of War
Daddy's Home
Little Lion Man
Three French Hens, Two Turtledoves and a Cuckoo in a Pear Tree
Wedding Dance
A Flourish of Trumpets
The Price of Peace?
Soundtrack: Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring "Variations on Simple Gifts" [1]
*exterior* *Milan* *the city is en fête as Frankie, Amalie, his children and Robert Elslerr [2] arrive in town, driving into a massive plaza under the Arco della Pace [3]* *cut to them attending a dinner at the Palazzo Belgioioso [4] and presented to the viceroy, Francesco V of Modena, his wife, Théodelinde de Beauharnais, and their children [5]* *oddly enough, at this dinner, both Marquis Pepoli [6] and his brother-in-law, the Prince of Sigmaringen [7], the Vasas and the Weimars[8]*
*cut to Frankie having breakfast at the Palazzo Buonaparte [9]* *he puts down a copy of the New York Tribune that says "Peace At Last...?"*
*cut to Frankie walking through the Parco Sempione with a woman of about the same age*
Frankie: *in fluent- if accented- English* I was very taken with your article in the Tribune, Fraulein Fuller...or are you Madame la Marquise d'Ossoli now that you and the Marquis are married?
Margaret Fuller, Marquise d'Ossoli: Gian' Angelo is not interested in his title, your Imperial Highness.
Frankie: *disbelievingly* neither were any of my father's generals. And now look at their sons and grandsons, strutting around as though they are to the manor born.
Fuller: one could say the same of you, sir
Frankie: hardly.
Fuller: I am the Rudolf of my race, was your father's quote.
Frankie: *smiles indulgently* my father was an idiot. The Bonapartes had been noblemen in Corsica for at least two hundred years before my father was even thought of. And somewhere in the Papal States before they moved to Corsica. We might not have been dukes, but at least country gentry... A far better comparison- had my father not been the fool he was- to make would've been to your Washington-
Fuller: because Washington came from nothing, sir?
Frankie: Washington also came from the gentry. His ancestor married the duke of Buckingham's sister. They supported King Charles, and were forced to emigrate to America under Cromwell. A far more fitting comparison. Although with the difference that Washington supported a king who lost his head, my father didn't. Called King Louis [XVI] a "great bumbling idiot" in 1789 and "our most benevolent uncle" by 1810.
Fuller: and your loyalty is not changeable?
Frankie: is there reason to suspect that it isn't?
Fuller: my editors at the Tribune [10] have asked me to enquire if the birth of your nephew means you will withdraw your support for the Habsburgs.
Frankie: *blankly* I have a nephew?
Fuller: your brother in Hungary, sir. His wife has given birth to a little boy *checks notepad* Louis.
Frankie: oh...that brother- I thought you were talking about Count Walewski's boy.- why should that make any more difference than that the queen of England has a new daughter [11]?
Fuller: he is your family-
Frankie: by little more than an unfortunate accident, I assure you. -or, if one is Wilhelm, I suppose it should be a "fortunate accident".
Fuller: you would not side with him then, if the Hungarians offered him a crown?
Frankie: *faintly amused* just because Steve's out of town they think they can do whatever they like? *seriously* have I sided with Präsident Murat?
Fuller: there is some suspicion in Washington that you were simply waiting for the opportune moment.
Frankie: the opportune moment will be when Berlin will realize he has no skills- neither political, nor military, nor legal-
Fuller: is this for or off the record.
Frankie: makes no difference to me. What's Murat going to do? Prosecute me for expressing an opinion he doesn't like in a newspaper of a country that guarantees freedom of speech? A country he has praised so highly the Berliner's elected him? *chuckles* publish it. See what he does.
Fuller: *makes note*
Frankie: I would like it if you could tell me more about the peace, Madame la Marquise. -between Mexico and the United States.
Fuller: President Clay decided to sign the treaty before the upcoming election- so that he could leave office on somewhat of a high note- [12]
Frankie: he will not seek re-election?
Fuller: in his last speech, he announced that he feels that, once the peace treaty is signed, he has accomplished all he wished while in office.
Frankie: so what is in this peace treaty then?
Fuller: Mexico has agreed to recognize the United States' acquisition of Texas, fixing the border at the Rio Nuces-Pecos Rivers. The Rio Grande and territories west of the Rockies are to remain sovereign Mexican territory. The Mexicans have even offered a strip of land- from El Paso- which is to be returned to Mexico- to the nortern most point of the Gulf of California, and three marine leagues inland-
Frankie: and what is in this strip of territory?
Fuller: if your Imperial Highness will recall, your Texas Company built a railway from Corpus Christi to San Antonio. There were plans to further extend it from San Antonio to El Paso but the war intervened and I'm unsure how far construction had been accomplished before it broke out.
Frankie: *nods*
Fuller: so the strip of land the Mexicans have offered would allow a connection between El Paso and the Gulf of California.
Frankie: why would D. Iturbide wish for a foreign railway line to bisect his country?
Fuller: he wishes the United States to see it as both a sign of his sincerity and his offer of friendship, as well as to allow them to have access to the Pacific.
Frankie: and how do the Americans perceive this?
Fuller: while President Clay wishes to accept, the Senate has turned the offer down. They would rather pay the indemnity-
Frankie: and how much is the indemnity?
Fuller: fifteen million dollars if they accept the strip of land, fifty million if they do not. With Mexico on the hook for half of the amount-
Frankie: a king motivated by ego will always rather cede a province to his enemies, one motivated by patriotism will rather pay an indemnity, Madame [13]
Fuller: that is exactly what they wish to exploit in refusing the Mexican offer, sir.
*cut to Frankie sitting in his study* *in front of him is a map of the American-Mexico border* *Léopold wanders in* *squints at the map from the other side of the desk*
Léopold: what're you doing?
Frankie: *beckons his son around* this is a map that Oncle Max drew when he was in Mexico a few years ago. *takes his son's finger and puts it on "El Paso"* *then takes a pair of calipers and "walks them" from El Pasoto the "northern most point of the Gulf of California"* *we see him counting under his breath* remember the number four-ninety.
Léopold: *nods*
Frankie: *walks the calipers from the Colorado river back to a place marked "El Bracito"* *again he counts* what's forty-nine times three
Léopold: one-hundred and forty seven.
Frankie: if I offered you one-hundred-and-forty-seven square miles of land or fifty thalers, which would you rather take?
Léopold: *suspiciously* what's in the land.
Frankie: for argument's sake...nothing. You can do whatever you want with it.
Léopold: the land. I can put up a farm and make five hundred thalers [14].
Frankie: and what if the farm fails?
Léopold: I still have the land that I can sell.
Frankie: exactly *his tone is like "even a kid gets it"*
*cut to Palazzo Belgioioso* *Frankie is playing the cello to accompany Amalie singing*
Amalie: 'tis a gift to be simple...'tis a gift to be free, 'tis a gift to come down where we ought to be. And when we find ourselves in a place just right...'twill be in the valley of love and delight.
Therese: *singing* when true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shall not be ashamed
Both: to turn and turn, will be our delight till by turning, turning we come round right... [15]
[1] while Copland (or his father) isn't even born yet (much less emigrated to the US), the song "Simple Gifts" dates from 1848
[2] Fanny Elslerr's son by the prince of Salerno. Given we've already seen what Fanny idea of motherhood in Chapter: Folded Letters. From what I can find, the Prince of Salerno never seems to have been “interested” in his son OTL so the boy was likely just “dumped” at Frankie’s school at the first available opportunity. Using the excuse that his half-sisters (Karoline/Therese) were there already, then when Schmückler and Maria Cristina, Dowager Queen of Spain’s kids joined, it was a convenient “reason” for why he stayed there.
[3] aka Porta Sempione
[4] after all, Frankie is not visiting as a head of state (ergo, no reason to receive him at the official residence, the Palazzo Ducale), but he's also not arriving incognito.
While incognito sounds great and all, it is a diplomatic nightmare. For neither Francesco or his wife (Frankie's step-niece) to call on him while he's in town looks like a snub. However, for them to call on a "private individual" (which is what incognito is) is demeaning. So, a neutral ground (the Palazzo Belgioioso) needs to be found.
[5] Francesco V and Théodelinde have several children:
[7] Karl Anton of Sigmaringen, liberal prime minister of Prussia, son of Antoinette Murat and father of the OTL queen of Portugal, king of Romania, comtesse de Flandres and candidate for the Spanish throne. His wife, Josephine of Baden, is half-Beauharnais, and the sister-in-law of Gustaf Vasa and William of Weimar.
[9] formerly in the ownership of Caroline Bonaparte, who became something of the family real-estate mogul, owning Frohsdorf, two palazzi in Florence (one on the Piazza Ognissanti, the other on Piazza Santissima Annunziata), a hôtel particulier in Paris (on what is now the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt paid for by Louis Philippe's government in exchange for her informing on her relatives) and in Milan on the Via Palestro (where the Palazzo Bernasconi now stands- or, since I can't find out when it was built, perhaps the current palazzo). Either way, I could definitely see Frankie staying there as a middle finger to Achille Murat
[10] Margaret Fuller was the first official female “foreign correspondent”, namely for the New York Tribune in 1846. OTL, she covered the 1848 Revolutions in Italy for her editors in New York. Her relationship with Italian marquis d'Ossoli is unclear whether they ever did officially tie the knot or not (especially since she was also having an affair with Mazzini). I was considering that Frankie is godfather to her only child, Angelino d'Ossoli (b. September 1848), but not sure if that would be plausible? Or she'd even want that?
[11]
[13] Quoting Prince von Hardenburg at the Congress of Chatillon when the marquis de Caulaincourt announced that Napoléon would not cede a single village to the allies.
[14] while Frankie and Léopold's argument is probably simplistic, the first town in the area that Agustin offered the US (aside from El Paso) dates from 1851. And before this sounds completely ASB that the US would turn this down, this is exactly what they did with the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, where they turned down the offer of an area the size of Vermont (9750 square miles) to save 5 million bucks (the area they turned down included the entire Mexicali valley and is worth 135 million dollars today, plus a further 42 million generated by trade and businesses requiring the Colorado River).
Why did they refuse the offer? The extra expense had nothing to do with it. Rather, they did not want to have to create more slave states to balance out.
[15]
*exterior* *Milan* *the city is en fête as Frankie, Amalie, his children and Robert Elslerr [2] arrive in town, driving into a massive plaza under the Arco della Pace [3]* *cut to them attending a dinner at the Palazzo Belgioioso [4] and presented to the viceroy, Francesco V of Modena, his wife, Théodelinde de Beauharnais, and their children [5]* *oddly enough, at this dinner, both Marquis Pepoli [6] and his brother-in-law, the Prince of Sigmaringen [7], the Vasas and the Weimars[8]*
*cut to Frankie having breakfast at the Palazzo Buonaparte [9]* *he puts down a copy of the New York Tribune that says "Peace At Last...?"*
*cut to Frankie walking through the Parco Sempione with a woman of about the same age*
Frankie: *in fluent- if accented- English* I was very taken with your article in the Tribune, Fraulein Fuller...or are you Madame la Marquise d'Ossoli now that you and the Marquis are married?
Margaret Fuller, Marquise d'Ossoli: Gian' Angelo is not interested in his title, your Imperial Highness.
Frankie: *disbelievingly* neither were any of my father's generals. And now look at their sons and grandsons, strutting around as though they are to the manor born.
Fuller: one could say the same of you, sir
Frankie: hardly.
Fuller: I am the Rudolf of my race, was your father's quote.
Frankie: *smiles indulgently* my father was an idiot. The Bonapartes had been noblemen in Corsica for at least two hundred years before my father was even thought of. And somewhere in the Papal States before they moved to Corsica. We might not have been dukes, but at least country gentry... A far better comparison- had my father not been the fool he was- to make would've been to your Washington-
Fuller: because Washington came from nothing, sir?
Frankie: Washington also came from the gentry. His ancestor married the duke of Buckingham's sister. They supported King Charles, and were forced to emigrate to America under Cromwell. A far more fitting comparison. Although with the difference that Washington supported a king who lost his head, my father didn't. Called King Louis [XVI] a "great bumbling idiot" in 1789 and "our most benevolent uncle" by 1810.
Fuller: and your loyalty is not changeable?
Frankie: is there reason to suspect that it isn't?
Fuller: my editors at the Tribune [10] have asked me to enquire if the birth of your nephew means you will withdraw your support for the Habsburgs.
Frankie: *blankly* I have a nephew?
Fuller: your brother in Hungary, sir. His wife has given birth to a little boy *checks notepad* Louis.
Frankie: oh...that brother- I thought you were talking about Count Walewski's boy.- why should that make any more difference than that the queen of England has a new daughter [11]?
Fuller: he is your family-
Frankie: by little more than an unfortunate accident, I assure you. -or, if one is Wilhelm, I suppose it should be a "fortunate accident".
Fuller: you would not side with him then, if the Hungarians offered him a crown?
Frankie: *faintly amused* just because Steve's out of town they think they can do whatever they like? *seriously* have I sided with Präsident Murat?
Fuller: there is some suspicion in Washington that you were simply waiting for the opportune moment.
Frankie: the opportune moment will be when Berlin will realize he has no skills- neither political, nor military, nor legal-
Fuller: is this for or off the record.
Frankie: makes no difference to me. What's Murat going to do? Prosecute me for expressing an opinion he doesn't like in a newspaper of a country that guarantees freedom of speech? A country he has praised so highly the Berliner's elected him? *chuckles* publish it. See what he does.
Fuller: *makes note*
Frankie: I would like it if you could tell me more about the peace, Madame la Marquise. -between Mexico and the United States.
Fuller: President Clay decided to sign the treaty before the upcoming election- so that he could leave office on somewhat of a high note- [12]
Frankie: he will not seek re-election?
Fuller: in his last speech, he announced that he feels that, once the peace treaty is signed, he has accomplished all he wished while in office.
Frankie: so what is in this peace treaty then?
Fuller: Mexico has agreed to recognize the United States' acquisition of Texas, fixing the border at the Rio Nuces-Pecos Rivers. The Rio Grande and territories west of the Rockies are to remain sovereign Mexican territory. The Mexicans have even offered a strip of land- from El Paso- which is to be returned to Mexico- to the nortern most point of the Gulf of California, and three marine leagues inland-
Frankie: and what is in this strip of territory?
Fuller: if your Imperial Highness will recall, your Texas Company built a railway from Corpus Christi to San Antonio. There were plans to further extend it from San Antonio to El Paso but the war intervened and I'm unsure how far construction had been accomplished before it broke out.
Frankie: *nods*
Fuller: so the strip of land the Mexicans have offered would allow a connection between El Paso and the Gulf of California.
Frankie: why would D. Iturbide wish for a foreign railway line to bisect his country?
Fuller: he wishes the United States to see it as both a sign of his sincerity and his offer of friendship, as well as to allow them to have access to the Pacific.
Frankie: and how do the Americans perceive this?
Fuller: while President Clay wishes to accept, the Senate has turned the offer down. They would rather pay the indemnity-
Frankie: and how much is the indemnity?
Fuller: fifteen million dollars if they accept the strip of land, fifty million if they do not. With Mexico on the hook for half of the amount-
Frankie: a king motivated by ego will always rather cede a province to his enemies, one motivated by patriotism will rather pay an indemnity, Madame [13]
Fuller: that is exactly what they wish to exploit in refusing the Mexican offer, sir.
*cut to Frankie sitting in his study* *in front of him is a map of the American-Mexico border* *Léopold wanders in* *squints at the map from the other side of the desk*
Léopold: what're you doing?
Frankie: *beckons his son around* this is a map that Oncle Max drew when he was in Mexico a few years ago. *takes his son's finger and puts it on "El Paso"* *then takes a pair of calipers and "walks them" from El Pasoto the "northern most point of the Gulf of California"* *we see him counting under his breath* remember the number four-ninety.
Léopold: *nods*
Frankie: *walks the calipers from the Colorado river back to a place marked "El Bracito"* *again he counts* what's forty-nine times three
Léopold: one-hundred and forty seven.
Frankie: if I offered you one-hundred-and-forty-seven square miles of land or fifty thalers, which would you rather take?
Léopold: *suspiciously* what's in the land.
Frankie: for argument's sake...nothing. You can do whatever you want with it.
Léopold: the land. I can put up a farm and make five hundred thalers [14].
Frankie: and what if the farm fails?
Léopold: I still have the land that I can sell.
Frankie: exactly *his tone is like "even a kid gets it"*
*cut to Palazzo Belgioioso* *Frankie is playing the cello to accompany Amalie singing*
Amalie: 'tis a gift to be simple...'tis a gift to be free, 'tis a gift to come down where we ought to be. And when we find ourselves in a place just right...'twill be in the valley of love and delight.
Therese: *singing* when true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shall not be ashamed
Both: to turn and turn, will be our delight till by turning, turning we come round right... [15]
[1] while Copland (or his father) isn't even born yet (much less emigrated to the US), the song "Simple Gifts" dates from 1848
[2] Fanny Elslerr's son by the prince of Salerno. Given we've already seen what Fanny idea of motherhood in Chapter: Folded Letters. From what I can find, the Prince of Salerno never seems to have been “interested” in his son OTL so the boy was likely just “dumped” at Frankie’s school at the first available opportunity. Using the excuse that his half-sisters (Karoline/Therese) were there already, then when Schmückler and Maria Cristina, Dowager Queen of Spain’s kids joined, it was a convenient “reason” for why he stayed there.
[3] aka Porta Sempione
[4] after all, Frankie is not visiting as a head of state (ergo, no reason to receive him at the official residence, the Palazzo Ducale), but he's also not arriving incognito.
While incognito sounds great and all, it is a diplomatic nightmare. For neither Francesco or his wife (Frankie's step-niece) to call on him while he's in town looks like a snub. However, for them to call on a "private individual" (which is what incognito is) is demeaning. So, a neutral ground (the Palazzo Belgioioso) needs to be found.
[5] Francesco V and Théodelinde have several children:
[6] Bolognese born grandson of Caroline Bonaparte and Murat, OTL became ambassador to Saint Petersburg, his wife was Friederike of Sigmaringen
[7] Karl Anton of Sigmaringen, liberal prime minister of Prussia, son of Antoinette Murat and father of the OTL queen of Portugal, king of Romania, comtesse de Flandres and candidate for the Spanish throne. His wife, Josephine of Baden, is half-Beauharnais, and the sister-in-law of Gustaf Vasa and William of Weimar.
[9] formerly in the ownership of Caroline Bonaparte, who became something of the family real-estate mogul, owning Frohsdorf, two palazzi in Florence (one on the Piazza Ognissanti, the other on Piazza Santissima Annunziata), a hôtel particulier in Paris (on what is now the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt paid for by Louis Philippe's government in exchange for her informing on her relatives) and in Milan on the Via Palestro (where the Palazzo Bernasconi now stands- or, since I can't find out when it was built, perhaps the current palazzo). Either way, I could definitely see Frankie staying there as a middle finger to Achille Murat
[10] Margaret Fuller was the first official female “foreign correspondent”, namely for the New York Tribune in 1846. OTL, she covered the 1848 Revolutions in Italy for her editors in New York. Her relationship with Italian marquis d'Ossoli is unclear whether they ever did officially tie the knot or not (especially since she was also having an affair with Mazzini). I was considering that Frankie is godfather to her only child, Angelino d'Ossoli (b. September 1848), but not sure if that would be plausible? Or she'd even want that?
[11]
[12] Clay wanting to go out of office on a peace treaty- which even though it seems to merely confirm a status quo- is to rob his successors of being able to claim the prize of either continuing the war or being able to say "they" ended the war. Him being in favour of the "cheaper" option that also gives them a viable Pacific Route for a railroad and a port, is also so that he can say "but I wanted the port/expansion, it was Congress who didn't". It shields him from the criticism of both getting the US involved in a pointless war and "wasting money" (the thirty five million dollars difference is likely a big enough drop in the bucket to result in that accusation).
[13] Quoting Prince von Hardenburg at the Congress of Chatillon when the marquis de Caulaincourt announced that Napoléon would not cede a single village to the allies.
[14] while Frankie and Léopold's argument is probably simplistic, the first town in the area that Agustin offered the US (aside from El Paso) dates from 1851. And before this sounds completely ASB that the US would turn this down, this is exactly what they did with the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, where they turned down the offer of an area the size of Vermont (9750 square miles) to save 5 million bucks (the area they turned down included the entire Mexicali valley and is worth 135 million dollars today, plus a further 42 million generated by trade and businesses requiring the Colorado River).
Why did they refuse the offer? The extra expense had nothing to do with it. Rather, they did not want to have to create more slave states to balance out.
[15]
@Kellan Sullivan, AMAZING WORK!
Great to hear there's peace between the US and Mexico! can't wait to visit iturbide as he builds his empire
Great to hear there's peace between the US and Mexico! can't wait to visit iturbide as he builds his empire
not sure whether the rest of the Mexicans will be glad to hear his offer of land to the US- particularly land that would cut Mexico in two and make it very difficult to get to Baja California. However, he has managed to get the Mexicans "breathing" room in order that they can hold their new elections without US interference and the US can have theirs without the war cloud hanging over theirs
This is very confusing. Is Mexico offering to forego $35M of the indemnity if the US accepts a cession of land from Mexico? Why would Mexico pay the US to annex their territory?
Also, El Paso is 250 km west of the Pecos, which is the agreed border. And finally, while the head of the Gulf of California is nominally on the Pacific, a port there would be almost useless.
To whom is the indemnity due?
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I'll admit, I was sort of attempting to combine some of the Gadsden Purchases details with the OTL Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. OTL the Gadsden Purchase was agreed to by Americans (Gadsden, Pierce, Bartlett) with pretty spotty geographical knowledge of the region (it included the southern shore of Lake Guzman, which was actually too far south to be included).
As to the border, even with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo fixing it, it remained "nebulous" as to where it actually was that for nearly a century after the Gadsden Purchase, the land they refused was described as being only 2500 Sq miles. Then let's not get into the added confusion about how far a marine league was (nowadays its set at 5.8km,but back then it depended on who was doing the measuring)
One of the demands of the Treaty is that the US recognize Mexican sovereignty over California, while acknowledging US rule over Texas. Giving them that empty strip of land/possible port is an attempt to say "see, we're being reasonable". As pointed out, I doubt the Mexicans will be pleased to know whoever negotiated is giving away land, but a strip of empty land to build a railroad to the Pacific (that the US wanted) is a sop to get them to agree to giving up California (Gold Rush hasn't started yet, so the Americans don't know how valuable the land they're trading away is*)
*they nicknamed Alaska Seward's Folly for years because to them it was little more than an icebox. And I doubt Seward had any better concept of Alaska than most Congress have of California (see Gadsden Purchase). Agustin might not have much of a better knowledge of the area, but fortunately, Max de Beauharnais was there a few years ago on behalf of the "Texas Company" so he at least has a more accurate picture than the American Disturnell Map (which was used for both Guadalupe Hidalgo, Gadsden and Bartlett-Garcia Conte). The Disturnell Map showed a bias to the Americans in landmarks and geography by placing it nearer the American side than they were (hence the confusion).
On the whole though, Fuller likely has a very faint grasp of the situation. She's sitting 4000 miles away from New York, likely double that to wherever the negotiations took place. And her geography might be just as spotty. Frankie is perhaps the first person she's met that is remotely interested in the nuts and bolts of the treaty rather than the politics. Hence her garbled message
Péchés de Vieillesse
Soundtrack: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Die Zauberflöte - O Isis und Osiris, Schenket der Weisheit Geist
*Oostende, Belgium* *Archduke Stephan and his wife, Viktoria of Kohary, step onto the quay with Louise d'Orléans, Queen Regent of the Belgians and the 13yo Léopold II* *the camera pans to show all the people- clearly mostly working class- who are turned out to receive him are wearing Belgian tricoleur cockades and mourning ribbons*
Léopold II: *looks a bit...shell-shocked*
Louise d'Orléans: *lifts her mourning veil to address them*
Stephan: *a few paces behind* *prods Léopold forward with the end of his walking stick*
Léopold II: *we see the boy swallow* *he takes his mother's hand like "stop" and "I'll do this"*
Louise: *looks conflicted* *but allows the veil to fall down again as her son takes a few steps forward*
*we see Léopold II addressing them* *while we can't hear what he's saying, we do see the reaction it provokes among the crowd though*
*cut to the royal carriages passing through town* *practically crushed under the press of townsfolk who want to get close* *we see Léopold regularly reaching out of the window to shake hands with whoever is nearest*
Crowd: *singing as some of the younger townsfolk run alongside the coaches leaving town* Zij zullen hem niet temmen, zolang een Vlaming leeft, zolang de Leeuw kan klauwen, zolang hij tanden heeft! [1]
*cut to Venice* *Frankie is in a gondola with a now decidedly ancient-looking Marmont [2]*
Frankie: you look tired, August.
Marmont: *through eyes half closed* that was your father's way of saying "you look like shit", sir.
Frankie: *sarcastic* my father had that sort of tact?
Marmont: no. But the jealousy of what you've achieved- and walked away from- by thirty-seven- would've killed him as well. *gondola stops at the landing next to Frankie's old home, the Palazzo Correr*
Frankie: my father was far too much of an egotist to commit suicide *climbs lightly out of boat* *then helps Marmont out* but that thought will keep me warm all through the winter *grins*
Marmont: but to your question of my age- *walks into the palazzo* *leaning on Frankie* *to anyone else, it looks like a grandfather and his grown grandson*
Frankie: I never asked about your age. I commented that you looked tired.
Marmont: it is the same thing, sire
Frankie: as you wish.
Marmont: Soult is the only other one of your father's marshals still living-
Frankie: *snorts* his belief that he could still win an election to be France's président at his age- mon Dieu, the only thing he would be eligible for is pope!
Marmont: he's a mason-
Frankie: Talleyrand was a bishop. And I honestly think Soult is trying to outdo the prince with how many governments he could serve. *walks into library and notes some items on display* what's all this?
Marmont: ephemera I took the liberty of purchasing on your Majesty's behalf *comes to stand next to Frankie*
Frankie: *squints at a cast* what's this? A Hand of Justice?
Marmont: a cast of your father's right hand, sir. Doctor Antommarchi made it. When he died, he left it to his brother in Cuba, and well...the brother died and his heirs were attempting to sell it. The Queen of Westphalia bought it at auction.
Frankie: *holds it up to his own right hand* *frowns* *humming O Richard, O Mon Roi [3]* *as he sets it down* *peruses through a few other things* *the sword of Austerlitz* *the famous grey greatcoat* *he even grins as he puts on the hat and strikes a suitably Napoléonic pose*
Marmont: *laughs*
Frankie: *squints at another item* let me guess...a bit of my father's horse reins or stirrups? *puts hat aside*
Marmont: no sir
Frankie: part of his boots?
Marmont: a part of him you would be too young to remember, sire.
Frankie: his dried out scalp before he went bald *laughs*
Marmont: his...appendage, sir
Frankie: *makes grossed out face* you bought it?
Marmont: it came with the arm.
Frankie: *struggling not to burst out laughing* I'm sure that that happened more than once. *squints* it's so... -well, it explains a lot. *attempting to keep a straight face* How was it attached to the arm?
Marmont: apparently, Antommarchi cut it off during your father's autopsy [4]
Frankie: *picks up death mask of his father* well, Majesty...are you stripped now?
*cut to them leaving the library*
Marmont: have you spoken to the new Regent about my replacement, sir?
Frankie: I have. Although I suspect that his recent approval of the union of Modena and Lombardy means that the decision will fall to the viceroy and his finance minister, Cattaneo [5].
Marmont: you agree with such a union?
Frankie: Baron Kübeck proposed such a thing in 1814 already. Metternich and Gentz overruled him. He also proposed that it be called the "Kingdom of Italy", and they overruled that as well [6]
Marmont: and now Metternich is back in government.
Frankie: so is Soult in Paris- but the landscape is not as it was when they were last there. Schwarzenberg and Kolowrat is in Vienna, Lažansky [7] and Palacký [8] in Prague. And Franzi is no Onkel Goodinand that Metternich can drive over whenever he feels like it. *looks at several busts and plaques arranged awkwardly on the stairs* what's all this? *reads plaques* Pisani, Zeno *picks a bust up* Bernardino Zendrini [9] *another* Bragadin
Marmont: they were commissioned for the Congress of Sciences last year [10]. Although they were considered...too martial.
Frankie: you mean there is the unfortunate part that Vittore Pisani and Carlo Zeno defeated the Genovesi? Bragadin lost Cyprus and was flayed alive like Saint Bartholomew by the Turks?
Marmont: *makes "if you say so" face*
Frankie: for now, let them be displayed in the Doge's Palazzo with the others *tone is like "for now"* and then, when we have the 10th Congress in Rome next year, send them on. Remind the Romans that their legions were not everything.
Marmont: yes sir.
*a teenage woman enters* *bobs a curtsey to Frankie*
Young Woman: your Serene Highness, the Princess Eduard apologizes that in her state, she is unable to receive you, but she asks that you accept her apologies?
Frankie: how goes Françoise's pregnancy, Carola [i.e. Vasa]?
Carola: she is well...she told me to tell you that she has the oddest craving for parrot soup
Frankie: *bursts out laughing* [11]
Carola & Marmont: *look at one another as though this is a joke they don't get*
Carola: she's deputized me to show you around the school.
Frankie: *nods*
Carola: she also tells you that your visit saved her on sending a messenger with these. *hands him a letter*
Frankie: what is it?
Carola: from the Pasha of Egypt, sir.
Frankie: what does Muhammed Ali want with me?
Carola: Pasha Muhammed died three weeks ago, sir. It's his son Abraham that's pasha of Egypt now [12].
Frankie: *reads the letter* should I know who Soliman Pasha is?
Marmont: the Colonel Sève...he was attaché to maréchal de Grouchy-
Frankie: *grins* and here you wish me to believe you're growing old and fat so I can relieve you of your post.
Marmont: what does he want?
Frankie: *scans through letter* it would seem that- it is at his encouragement that he would like the pasha's sons to finish their education in Venice [13]. Acquire a proper European polish, as it were. *snorts in disbelief* I've gone from being described as a Turkish harem to now being the finishing school for the prince of Egypt
[1] they will not be able to tame him, as long as a Fleming lives, as long as the Lion [of Flanders/Léo] can claw, as long as he has teeth.
[2] this could be simply due to Frankie himself being older than the last time we saw he and Marmont together (in 1844). Or because Marmont's had a far more "active" last decade or so- running after Frankie (and his kids)- trying to wipe away the stain of his betrayal.
[3] this was a standby of the French royalists in the Revolution. Ironically by the same composer who wrote the Grande Armée's march, La Victoire est a Nous - who wasn't even a Frenchman! André Grétry was a Liègois (Belgian)
[4] this is the OTL story. Whether it was intentional or accidental is open to question. Per some witnesses- Antommachi did it deliberately as revenge for Napoléon having insulted him as impotent. To Frankie's "guesses", it was described as resembling a "shrivelled up piece of buckskin shoelace". Nowadays, the penis (only 1-2 inches long) is in the private possession of the Latimer family.
[5] Italian economist, best known for his role as as president of the provisional government of Milan during the Cinque Giornate in 1848. However, Cattaneo was no radical liberal, and, until the 1848, argued that the Habsburg Empire should should transform into a federation of autonomous states linked by loyalty to the ruling house (Armani, 1997; Thom, 1999 & 2000). That Cattaneo gains a seat
[6] both OTL. Not sure where the duke of Modena would've gone in 1814, though. Maybe to inherit Savoy-Sardinia instead of the Carignano branch? @LordKalvan @isabella @Nuraghe
[7] Prince Prokop Lažansky who "presided over the commision appointed to oversee this task shared a desire to impose policies of centralisation and uniformity wherever and whenever local conditions permitted"
[8] František Palacký, a Czech moderate liberal. In 1848, he actually pointed out that "the Austrian monarchy was necessary to defend the host of smaller nations of which it consisted from both German and Russian aggression: even bringing the component nationalities of the monarchy together as a confederation of small republics would be no more than an open invitation to the tsar to expand at their expense".
[9] hydraulic engineer in the service of the Venetian Republic
[10] the Congress of Sciences was held in Venice in 1847
[11] in one of the first chapters, Anchors Aweigh, when a young Françoise [Francisca of Brasil] arrives in Livorno and meets Frankie, she vomits all over his shoes from seasickness. When he asks her if she's alright, she asks for parrot soup. TTL, she's married to Prince Eduard of Weimar since Chapter Où Peut-On Être Mieux Qu'au Sein de sa Famille
[12] Muhammed Ali has died in November 1848- the man was suffering from increased senility since 1846, so it was probably a mercy- while Ibrahim's health is somewhat...better
[13] OTL the boys were sent to school in France. But given Soliman Pasha's words "I have only ever loved three men in my life: my father, Napoléon and Muhammed Ali", I could definitely see him opting for a Bonaparte school
*Oostende, Belgium* *Archduke Stephan and his wife, Viktoria of Kohary, step onto the quay with Louise d'Orléans, Queen Regent of the Belgians and the 13yo Léopold II* *the camera pans to show all the people- clearly mostly working class- who are turned out to receive him are wearing Belgian tricoleur cockades and mourning ribbons*
Léopold II: *looks a bit...shell-shocked*
Louise d'Orléans: *lifts her mourning veil to address them*
Stephan: *a few paces behind* *prods Léopold forward with the end of his walking stick*
Léopold II: *we see the boy swallow* *he takes his mother's hand like "stop" and "I'll do this"*
Louise: *looks conflicted* *but allows the veil to fall down again as her son takes a few steps forward*
*we see Léopold II addressing them* *while we can't hear what he's saying, we do see the reaction it provokes among the crowd though*
*cut to the royal carriages passing through town* *practically crushed under the press of townsfolk who want to get close* *we see Léopold regularly reaching out of the window to shake hands with whoever is nearest*
Crowd: *singing as some of the younger townsfolk run alongside the coaches leaving town* Zij zullen hem niet temmen, zolang een Vlaming leeft, zolang de Leeuw kan klauwen, zolang hij tanden heeft! [1]
*cut to Venice* *Frankie is in a gondola with a now decidedly ancient-looking Marmont [2]*
Frankie: you look tired, August.
Marmont: *through eyes half closed* that was your father's way of saying "you look like shit", sir.
Frankie: *sarcastic* my father had that sort of tact?
Marmont: no. But the jealousy of what you've achieved- and walked away from- by thirty-seven- would've killed him as well. *gondola stops at the landing next to Frankie's old home, the Palazzo Correr*
Frankie: my father was far too much of an egotist to commit suicide *climbs lightly out of boat* *then helps Marmont out* but that thought will keep me warm all through the winter *grins*
Marmont: but to your question of my age- *walks into the palazzo* *leaning on Frankie* *to anyone else, it looks like a grandfather and his grown grandson*
Frankie: I never asked about your age. I commented that you looked tired.
Marmont: it is the same thing, sire
Frankie: as you wish.
Marmont: Soult is the only other one of your father's marshals still living-
Frankie: *snorts* his belief that he could still win an election to be France's président at his age- mon Dieu, the only thing he would be eligible for is pope!
Marmont: he's a mason-
Frankie: Talleyrand was a bishop. And I honestly think Soult is trying to outdo the prince with how many governments he could serve. *walks into library and notes some items on display* what's all this?
Marmont: ephemera I took the liberty of purchasing on your Majesty's behalf *comes to stand next to Frankie*
Frankie: *squints at a cast* what's this? A Hand of Justice?
Marmont: a cast of your father's right hand, sir. Doctor Antommarchi made it. When he died, he left it to his brother in Cuba, and well...the brother died and his heirs were attempting to sell it. The Queen of Westphalia bought it at auction.
Frankie: *holds it up to his own right hand* *frowns* *humming O Richard, O Mon Roi [3]* *as he sets it down* *peruses through a few other things* *the sword of Austerlitz* *the famous grey greatcoat* *he even grins as he puts on the hat and strikes a suitably Napoléonic pose*
Marmont: *laughs*
Frankie: *squints at another item* let me guess...a bit of my father's horse reins or stirrups? *puts hat aside*
Marmont: no sir
Frankie: part of his boots?
Marmont: a part of him you would be too young to remember, sire.
Frankie: his dried out scalp before he went bald *laughs*
Marmont: his...appendage, sir
Frankie: *makes grossed out face* you bought it?
Marmont: it came with the arm.
Frankie: *struggling not to burst out laughing* I'm sure that that happened more than once. *squints* it's so... -well, it explains a lot. *attempting to keep a straight face* How was it attached to the arm?
Marmont: apparently, Antommarchi cut it off during your father's autopsy [4]
Frankie: *picks up death mask of his father* well, Majesty...are you stripped now?
*cut to them leaving the library*
Marmont: have you spoken to the new Regent about my replacement, sir?
Frankie: I have. Although I suspect that his recent approval of the union of Modena and Lombardy means that the decision will fall to the viceroy and his finance minister, Cattaneo [5].
Marmont: you agree with such a union?
Frankie: Baron Kübeck proposed such a thing in 1814 already. Metternich and Gentz overruled him. He also proposed that it be called the "Kingdom of Italy", and they overruled that as well [6]
Marmont: and now Metternich is back in government.
Frankie: so is Soult in Paris- but the landscape is not as it was when they were last there. Schwarzenberg and Kolowrat is in Vienna, Lažansky [7] and Palacký [8] in Prague. And Franzi is no Onkel Goodinand that Metternich can drive over whenever he feels like it. *looks at several busts and plaques arranged awkwardly on the stairs* what's all this? *reads plaques* Pisani, Zeno *picks a bust up* Bernardino Zendrini [9] *another* Bragadin
Marmont: they were commissioned for the Congress of Sciences last year [10]. Although they were considered...too martial.
Frankie: you mean there is the unfortunate part that Vittore Pisani and Carlo Zeno defeated the Genovesi? Bragadin lost Cyprus and was flayed alive like Saint Bartholomew by the Turks?
Marmont: *makes "if you say so" face*
Frankie: for now, let them be displayed in the Doge's Palazzo with the others *tone is like "for now"* and then, when we have the 10th Congress in Rome next year, send them on. Remind the Romans that their legions were not everything.
Marmont: yes sir.
*a teenage woman enters* *bobs a curtsey to Frankie*
Young Woman: your Serene Highness, the Princess Eduard apologizes that in her state, she is unable to receive you, but she asks that you accept her apologies?
Frankie: how goes Françoise's pregnancy, Carola [i.e. Vasa]?
Carola: she is well...she told me to tell you that she has the oddest craving for parrot soup
Frankie: *bursts out laughing* [11]
Carola & Marmont: *look at one another as though this is a joke they don't get*
Carola: she's deputized me to show you around the school.
Frankie: *nods*
Carola: she also tells you that your visit saved her on sending a messenger with these. *hands him a letter*
Frankie: what is it?
Carola: from the Pasha of Egypt, sir.
Frankie: what does Muhammed Ali want with me?
Carola: Pasha Muhammed died three weeks ago, sir. It's his son Abraham that's pasha of Egypt now [12].
Frankie: *reads the letter* should I know who Soliman Pasha is?
Marmont: the Colonel Sève...he was attaché to maréchal de Grouchy-
Frankie: *grins* and here you wish me to believe you're growing old and fat so I can relieve you of your post.
Marmont: what does he want?
Frankie: *scans through letter* it would seem that- it is at his encouragement that he would like the pasha's sons to finish their education in Venice [13]. Acquire a proper European polish, as it were. *snorts in disbelief* I've gone from being described as a Turkish harem to now being the finishing school for the prince of Egypt
[1] they will not be able to tame him, as long as a Fleming lives, as long as the Lion [of Flanders/Léo] can claw, as long as he has teeth.
[2] this could be simply due to Frankie himself being older than the last time we saw he and Marmont together (in 1844). Or because Marmont's had a far more "active" last decade or so- running after Frankie (and his kids)- trying to wipe away the stain of his betrayal.
[3] this was a standby of the French royalists in the Revolution. Ironically by the same composer who wrote the Grande Armée's march, La Victoire est a Nous - who wasn't even a Frenchman! André Grétry was a Liègois (Belgian)
[4] this is the OTL story. Whether it was intentional or accidental is open to question. Per some witnesses- Antommachi did it deliberately as revenge for Napoléon having insulted him as impotent. To Frankie's "guesses", it was described as resembling a "shrivelled up piece of buckskin shoelace". Nowadays, the penis (only 1-2 inches long) is in the private possession of the Latimer family.
[5] Italian economist, best known for his role as as president of the provisional government of Milan during the Cinque Giornate in 1848. However, Cattaneo was no radical liberal, and, until the 1848, argued that the Habsburg Empire should should transform into a federation of autonomous states linked by loyalty to the ruling house (Armani, 1997; Thom, 1999 & 2000). That Cattaneo gains a seat
[6] both OTL. Not sure where the duke of Modena would've gone in 1814, though. Maybe to inherit Savoy-Sardinia instead of the Carignano branch? @LordKalvan @isabella @Nuraghe
[7] Prince Prokop Lažansky who "presided over the commision appointed to oversee this task shared a desire to impose policies of centralisation and uniformity wherever and whenever local conditions permitted"
[8] František Palacký, a Czech moderate liberal. In 1848, he actually pointed out that "the Austrian monarchy was necessary to defend the host of smaller nations of which it consisted from both German and Russian aggression: even bringing the component nationalities of the monarchy together as a confederation of small republics would be no more than an open invitation to the tsar to expand at their expense".
[9] hydraulic engineer in the service of the Venetian Republic
[10] the Congress of Sciences was held in Venice in 1847
[11] in one of the first chapters, Anchors Aweigh, when a young Françoise [Francisca of Brasil] arrives in Livorno and meets Frankie, she vomits all over his shoes from seasickness. When he asks her if she's alright, she asks for parrot soup. TTL, she's married to Prince Eduard of Weimar since Chapter Où Peut-On Être Mieux Qu'au Sein de sa Famille
[12] Muhammed Ali has died in November 1848- the man was suffering from increased senility since 1846, so it was probably a mercy- while Ibrahim's health is somewhat...better
[13] OTL the boys were sent to school in France. But given Soliman Pasha's words "I have only ever loved three men in my life: my father, Napoléon and Muhammed Ali", I could definitely see him opting for a Bonaparte school
thank you. I will admit, it went in a different direction than I had originally planned for what would be the last post for 1848. However, those busts/statues of those figures Frankie asks about were ordered for the 1847 Congress/Fair, but either never created or cancelled in favour of "less warlike ones". There was also a messy court case regarding the figures, since someone claimed the congress had stolen his idea and...ugh.
But in re-reading my bio on the Belgian Coburgs, it seems they shot themselves in the foot. Leopold I never behaved as anything more than a foreigner in a foreign land up to his dying breath (his not even wanting to be buried in Belgium- first spot was with Charlotte at Windsor, second was in Coburg). Léopold II, while both he and his brother weretaught Flemish, there's no record that either ever spoke it in public.
Now...the argument can be made that King Charles of England speaks Welsh and he's never spoken it except in his swearing in ceremony, but Wales is not one half of a synthetic country constantly trying to tear itself in two, so that seemed like an easy win for Léopold.
The other thing is that Léopold II absolutely hated both the limits imposed upon him by the Constitution and most politicians (same as his dad, before we go down a "just shows how bad Léopold was" rabbithole), he chafed at it. But neither he nor his father ever made any attempt to win over the crown's most natural allies- the commons- is something that puzzled both his wife (Henriëtte of Austria) and his nephew, Prince Baudouin. About how neither Leopold seemed to regard the workers/peasantry's flirtation with socialism* with anything more than disinterest.
And by the time Léopold II died and Albert I took over, it was too late. The language divide was there, the socialism was there, then along came both World Wars and just made it worse.
They were also never interested in woo'ing most of the upper aristocracy (Merode, Croy, Ligne, etc etc), preferring to keep to the rich bourgeoisie and the petty nobility, causing Maximilian of Austria's famous observation that the "court of Brussels is where the nobility rubs shoulders with their tailors". Again, this seems to have been driven by Leopold I's distrust of them (he regarded them as too Austrian or too French) rather than any sort of concern for wanting to seem egalitarian.
In short, Léopold II was a king who disliked the restrictions he was under, found them annoying, but he seemingly didn't dislike them enough to try to bother cultivating allies (Flemish conservative Catholics, the old aristocracy like the Merode, Croy, Ligne, Beauffort etc) against them. And yes, both the mob and the old aristocracy can bite you in the ass, but, per this bio, one thing Léopold II wanted more than anything else, was a coronation, to be more than a "paper royal highness" at the will and whim of the people. As crown prince, he apparently compared his role of king as being no different to being a clerk in another man's shop, his job was to sell the products, and do as he was told (this complaint dates from before his son died, so it's not as though it's some sort of "listlessness" caused by that loss). But it's hard to take his complaint seriously when he didn't seem to be willing to do anything to change it.
This - as the author notes - is the true tragedy of the Belgian Coburgs, their inability to make themselves likeable. He notes that Albert I was pretty much the only one who succeeded in doing this. And with Albert, he adds, it was more an accident (a thank God that's over, after Léopold II) than he himself attempted to be likeable.
Hopefully, Albert and Henri (and now Stephan)'s influence will mitigate some of the worst of Léopold's "aloofness".
*one would think that, how after Napoléon III's brumaire and how the socialists won almost the whole of France south of the Loire (and a good deal of the lower classes in the north and Lorraine) the so-called "Wise Old Man/Nestor of Europe" would've been alarmed at this.
Same, plus he has the brownie points of his father's end to garther sympahy and endear himself to the allies he failed to otl
superlative chapter, very interesting the part about Leopold II taking the reins and for the first time in his life he makes a speech in public, good debut as monarch, the whole part in Venice, however it literally makes you die laughing, especially Frankie who looks with a mixture of amusement, curiosity, disgust and memories of a distant past, at the paternal objects that Marmont has brought together in the palace (the key moments were him dressing in his coat and hat, I felt like humming the Marseillaise and Fratelli d'Italia at that moment, then the part about her reproductive organ was surreal, even more so when in the notes it said that it really happened) Francisca who has a craving for parrot soup, is truly beastly ( 1 ) it seems that the 10th Congress could be very lively in Rome 😇, to conclude the part where a letter arrives from distant Egypt asking for permission for Ali's children to attend Frankie's school, it takes on interesting implications ( knowing that Austria was historically the only firm ally of Constantinople, this fact can lead to unpleasant and delicate discussions with the Ottoman Empire, now I'm imagining Sultan Abdülmecid I pushing to obtain a similar permit for his possible children or at least his grandson ( Otl Abdul Hamid II )
1 ) doesn't she know Darwin in person ?, given that in his trip around the world before cataloging the species, he killed them to... taste them... he loved nature so much 😜😉😅, imagine him with a whip and a rifle in shoulder around the jungle to injure every existing animal species...., well, his story is so absurd that it deserves a separate thing