Frankie Goes to the Hofburg, or Napoléon II, Regent of Austria?

[Kellan Sullivan]

Note: this is more crack than anything else, but it just strikes me as something that could happen and would be downright hilarious

Soundtrack: Giovanni Paisiello: Cantata Comica 'Il Maestro ed'i sui due Scolari'

*exterior* *Vienna*
*cut to Emperor Franz's office*
Secretary: the duke of Reichstadt to see your Majesty as requested.
Franz: show him in.
*few moments later and Frankie enters*
Frankie: *ducks his head in a bow* *clicks his heels* *then walks forward to kiss his grandfather's hand* your Majesty.
Franz: you are all set to return to Venice?
Frankie: almost, your Majesty. We're just waiting for the last few items of Maria Carolina [of Tuscany]'s trousseau to be delivered. There was some mix-up and she wanted the blue one and Adele wanted the pink one and we got two pink ones or *indifferent* some inconsequential thing like that. I wanted to say something, but Amélie told me that I should stay out of it.
Franz: *chuckles* and you? *motions for his grandson to be seated*
Frankie: I don't have any particular preference whether she's wearing blue or pink, she's not going to be wearing it long if I'm around.
Franz: *smiles at his grandson* I meant when will you get married?
Frankie: do you want Europe to have a collective heart attack, Grandpapa?
Franz: you should marry.
Frankie: of course sir. Any specific candidate in mind? Or would-
Franz: what about Amalie? Would be kinder to her than keeping her on a line. She's not important for most people to object to.
Frankie: and she doesn't want to get married. I've already asked her.
Franz: to marry you?
Frankie: *nods* she told me once was quite enough, thank you. She likes the freedom it gives her. As a widow she can manage her own affairs and do her own thing. The minute she remarries, her late husband's estate goes back to his parents since they had no children.
Franz: and you enjoy the notoriety?
Frankie: *smirks* and if I do? *settles back into chair* problem with me marrying Amalie is what becomes of Karoline and Therese. Their mother will...cause problems. Why didn't I marry her if I'm going to marry a nobody?
Franz: why didn't you?
Frankie: Fanny [Elssler] is too...worried about her career to marry. Case in point, she writes to the girls even less regularly than my mother visited to me. And I'm not looking forward to sitting in the carriage all the way back to Venice with Lina and Rezi with a face as long as a yard of pump water when I tell them that they're coming back to Venice with me because instead of coming home like she promised, their mama has decided to accept an offer to dance in the United States among the Iroquois[1].
Franz: at least they've got you.
Frankie: I learned from the best, grandpapa.
Franz: *smiles indulgently* I thought you'd like to know that the new duke of Nassau has turned down the offer of Hermine.
Frankie: *sighs* hello, square one, lovely to see you again.
Franz: you don't sound disappointed.
Frankie: I'm furious. I just have a high intelligence and a low boiling point *smiles*
Franz: *sarcastically* and so modest too.
Frankie: naturally.
Franz: I do have a job for you. Since you've been...not to put too fine a point on it...nagging me for more responsibility...and because you seem to be doing a good job in Venice...I've decided to name you to a ministry.
Frankie: war, the navy or foreign affairs?
Franz: I know that is where your heart is set, Frankie. But war I'd have Europe beating down my door before the end of your first day in office. That's assuming you'd be allowed to get into the office in the first place. Foreign affairs...well, while I wouldn't be sorry to see Metternich go...I'm afraid he will break his fingernails clutching at the doorposts to prevent being carried out. If I appoint you to the navy, Karl [of Teschen] and Bavaria will be on my case about it. Never mind that Karl has never set foot on a boat in his life.
Frankie: and Kolowrat's at finances and the interior-
Franz: this would be a new ministry. You'd answer to me, not some...underling. And it would put you on par with Metternich.
Frankie: police would be good. I could be your Fouché *grins*
Franz: it's the Ministerium des öffentlichen Unterrichts.
Frankie: *blank look*
Franz: ministry of education.
Frankie: I know what it is. I'm just wondering why it gets a ministry? [2]
Franz: the French have a ministry for it.
Frankie: that's not a reason.
Franz: the reason is that my grandmother, the Empress Maria Theresia, and my uncle, Emperor Joseph, began a job in reforming the education system. Unfortunately, Joseph died, and then the Revolution happened. Not much has been done in the last 50 years, I'm afraid. At the moment, you are probably the person in the family who has the most...knowledge and experience to differentiate between good ideas and bad ideas. You've travelled. Seen what they have going in France, Italy, England, Switzerland, Germany-
Frankie: this sounds like a comic opera: no, wait, i know this one. It's one of Grétry's: Denis de Siracuse [3].
Franz: I am serious, Frankie.
Frankie: what do I know about what to teach children?
Franz: you've been setting the curriculum for the girls as I understand it. Even if Amélie is left in charge of running the day to day.
Frankie: I'd have to stay in Vienna then.
Franz: you can run it from Venice. In fact, Lombardy and Dalmatia are two places that definitely need attention. And Rainier [4] is a fool. If it had been up to him, his girls would've been taught nothing but netting purses and dancing. Which is why I'm recommending you for the post. You've taken children in at all ages and, however superficially, given them something of a polish. Whatever education you gave them was a Hell of a lot better than what they were getting in most cases.
Frankie: you're not going to let me refuse this, are you, Grandpapa?
Franz: *makes a "what do you think" face*
Frankie: *groans* Fine. I'll use the road to Venice to come up with a plan. *stands up*
Franz: good man.
Frankie: since this is a ministerial position...does that mean I get a ministerial salary as well?
Franz: how does half of what your mother gets from Reichstadt sound?
Frankie: *grins* better than the half I'm not getting *kisses his grandfather's hand* *bows* *leaves, whistling the tune for the Kaiserhymne[5]*
Franz: *settles back in his chair* *looks at portrait of his uncle Joseph hanging on the wall* try to stop this, Klemens [Metternich]


[1] more Frankie just indicating how civilized he regards the Americans as being. There's probably an increased disdain because this reminds him a lot of his own mother.
[2] Austria only got a ministry of education in 1848, but Franz is right in that in the nearly sixty years between Joseph II's death and Leo von Thun being appointed minister for education, the Austrian education system grew increasingly outdated and archaic. The rules that Maria Theresia had made about compulsory preparatory education were not enforced (particularly in areas like Italy, Galicia and Croatia), and there was little done in keeping the education "current"
[3] Dionysus, Tyrant of Syracuse. The plot of the opera (more like a singspiel) that came out during the revolution. Dionysius, the dethroned tyrant of Syracuse in the fourth century B.C. As a refugee in Cointh, he starts a preparatory school under an assumed name. But he keeps his crown up his sleeve, and when no one is looking, takes it out, contemplates it 'amoureusement' and addresses it in a long air that "contains the only decent music in the opera". He canes the children for alphabetical errors and is accused by an officious cobbler of degrading the human species - and republicans, at that. A woman recognizes him by comparing his large nose and thick eyebrows with his face on a coin, whereupon the children rise in revolt, abetted by the neighbours, and hound him out of the town. His place as headmaster is taken by a statue of liberty and the opera ends with the inevitable Marseillaise and Carmagnole.
[4] Archduke Rainier, Franz's baby brother and the official viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia
[5]

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[Dragonboy]

Yes! Frankie at last will have a seat in the goverment!

 

[HortenseMancini]

Will be interesting to see how Frankie does as minister of education. And dammit Habsburgs, do you never learn…

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

And dammit Habsburgs, do you never learn…

?

 

[Lascaris]

Soundtrack: Antonio Casimir Cartellieri: Symphony no. 3 in C Major - Finale: Allegro

[3] OTL the only backer that Othon could get was his dad (which meant that by the end of his reign, Greece owed nearly two million florins to Bavaria, which, conveniently, thanks to his deposition was never paid until 1881). These loans were the only thing keeping the state from bankruptcy. Nor was it just vanity projects: Othon was an ambitious investor, but many of his investments only bore fruit after he was deposed and so got accredited to the Glucksburgs rather than him having some vision. While the Great Powers invested over £60 million into Greece, only 3/4 of that was ever paid out. And £12 million of the 3/4 paid had to be paid to the Ottomans as compensation. It was only in 1840 that Greece was actually able to balance the books for the first time and start repaying the interest. Not unironically, the lack of funds caused by repayment wasn't popular with either the lenders or the Greeks. The first saw it as marking the end of their influence, the latter saw it as though Greece was paying tribute. This dissatisfaction was exploited by the foreign powers who under Palmerston used the British navy to blockade Greece's ports several times to force Othon to "get with the program" and the revolution of 1843 to force him to grant a constitution was another of Pam's brilliant schemes

60 million franks, ie 2.4 million pounds not 60 million pounds. Of which well over a third was eaten up by the pay of Bavarian mercenary troops.

 

[isabella]

Great developments here… I am curious to see what Frankie will do as Minister of education (who for him is a very good place from which start to do serious things in the Empire).

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Soundtrack: Carlos Baguer - Overture to "El hijo Pródigo"[1]

*exterior* *various views of Barcelona[2]* *in an open carriage ride Carlos de Montemolin and D. Isabel II* *they are escorted by the royal guard* *in the carriage behind follows Juan de Montizon and the Infanta Luisa* *in the carriage after that is the frowning D. Carlos and his youngest son, Infante Fernando*
*interior* *the Royal Palace of Barcelona [3]* *Salon del Tron[3]* *we see D. Isabel sitting beside Carlos de Montemolin on a pair of identical thrones [4] on a dais* *Carlos - as regent - is reading a speech to a crowded hall full of delegates* *some are smiling in triumph* *some are smirking* *some are looking worriedly from the regent to D. Carlos* *D. Carlos isn't just frowning anymore, he's outright scowling now*
*cut to the harbour the next day* *a group of Spanish delegates is shown welcoming the newly-arrived Archduchesses Maria Carolina and Maria Adelaide* *both accompanied by their fathers and in Adelaide's case, her brother*
*cut to a view of the (double) wedding ceremony in Barcelona Cathedral* *Maria Carolina to Juan de Montizon* *Maria Adelaide to Fernando* *while Fernando doesn't look very impressed with this whole set up* *D. Carlos is actually not scowling or frowning, but smiling in triumph at this*
*cut to the crowded streets of Barcelona as the royal couples drive from the cathedral to the palace* *we see the crowds cheering and essentially going hog wild at the sight of a royal wedding* *we pan to the right of the cheering crowds and see there's a few days old newspaper lying on an alley corner* *the headline reads: [translation] King Grants Spain Constitution! Viva la Constitución!*

*cut to Frohsdorf* *Madame Royal, Angoulême and Karl of Teschen are watching Henri playing tennis [5] with Albrecht of Teschen* *Caroline de Berri is seated at the neighbouring table with the Prince and Princess of Salerno and their daughter* *their daughter seems to be following Henri intently*
Madame Royal: bah! The war is over, the Spanish are at peace, the king and queen are popular *distastefully* why on earth did Carlos have to go undo all of that by bringing in a damned constitution
Angoulême: because it was part of the trade agreement with the British-
Madame Royal: so Madrid now marches to London's tune? Didn't the British fight a war to prevent Paris calling that tune
Karl: Carlos allowing this after the British have renewed the trade agreement is a good way of ensuring England chooses Madrid over Paris *puts newspaper down and there's a political cartoon of Britannia standing in the middle of a see-saw* *on the ground on her left sits France* *while Spain - and the side Britannia is inclining towards - is on the raised side*
Madame Royal: so Spain is to be a British bootlicker, My father signed a constitution, so did my uncle...so did the Queen Dowager...do we think that this scrap of paper will save Carlos from being cast out in like fashion. Assuming they don't execute him.
Angoulême: yes, Marie. Because this isn't a scrap of paper the king was forced to sign. Which means that he can set the terms, not the people demanding he sign it.
Madame Royal: Queen Isabel is a child, who is to say she will agree to abide by it? Or anyone else for that matter.
Henri&Albrecht: *return hot, sweaty, laughing from the "court"*
Angoulême: as I understand it, Carlos has the young queen's education well in hand. And since he rode into power suspending the former constitution on the grounds of it being signed under duress by the Queen Dowager, he could not continue to rule credibly with it suspended indefinitely.
*a servant pours drinks for both of them*
Madame Royal: Bonaparte managed it.
Angoulême: he had the army to back him up. In Spain, the army is also the liberals. They've already blocked his attempts to naturalize Paul and Louis Bonaparte, and several of the carbonari that assisted him taking the throne as "Spanish" on the grounds that it would be only for the king to insert his supporters into the parliament.
Karl: *sips lemonade* *scoffs* A Bonaparte supporting the rightful head of state. What a novel idea.
Albrecht: it's what Frankie is doing, Pappa
Karl: and your uncle is an idiot to listen to him. Minister of Education? Nothing wrong with the Austrian education system-
Albrecht: *rolls eyes like this is an argument they've had before*
Karl: -certainly nothing I would trust a Bonaparte to fix.
Henri: I think the constitution is a good idea.
*crickets*
Henri: *clarifying* how King Carlos is giving it to the people from above before they can demand it from below. If they demand it, they'll want to set the terms. He'll have no choice but to either agree to the terms or be deposed, like Grampère was. It's more relevant than them producing the 1812 constitution, and takes into account the workers and industry...but also is less radical than the one they forced Tante Christine to sign in 1837.
Madame Royal: *looks at him like "who are you and what have you done with Riton?"*
Henri: *sits down* selecting the deputy by lottery [i.e. sortition] means that there are no crusaders. No political parties who can be presided over by the same leaders for years, who stay in power only because they can rally the support to the party, and thus enabling the party to issue demands to the king. It was actually one of Oncle Toinon [6; Angoulême]'s ideas *looks admiringly at his uncle*.
Madame Royal&Karl: *both look at Angoulême suspiciously*
Angoulême: it was logical. With elections of deputies, and these deputies fighting to be elected, there's this constant slamming of the opposition candidate in the press about fitness to lead. Inevitably, it means that once they are elected, they continue with this modus opperandi. To the point of criticizing the king's actions in order to vindicate their own actions-the king is then required to react - otherwise he looks weak - but he cannot react without calling his leadership skills into question. It's why I also recommended to Carlos that he should put a ban in place of politicians owning newspapers. Better that there are political newspapers than politician's newspapers. It's what my father should've done.
Madame Royal: you had a hand in this?
Angoulême: Carlos wrote to Henri. I slipped in a line or two. The larger portion of it was Henri's idea.
Karl: *to Henri* so how does this selection improve on that system
Henri: simple. People chosen in the lottery will not be politicians, possibly not even politically minded. Imagine the honour you would have of being a cartwright from Rodez or a farmer from Giverny and being selected to go represent your town to the king. Firstly they will make the decisions for the good of the kingdom, not because they need to honour promises made to be elected and have paid no bribes to be chosen, so they will be less open to corruption than a career politician. These people, knowing that they are only in power for three years, would be less likely to build up anything more than alliances of convenience with other political figures who have the same concerns. True, power corrupts, but these alliances of convenience are far less likely to stand constant changes to the line-up than a formal political party. This means that the parliament is far less likely to ossify into cavaliers on one side of the aisle and puritans on the other. Lastly, since these people are representative of the people at large - how many of the deputies for Giverny or Rodez in the Chamber of Deputies do you think have ever visited Giverny? Much less Rodez? - the people know that their interests, not the interests of a political party or let's be honest, of the industrialists and mine-owners, are being represented. The king is thus far more informed of what is going on in his kingdom by speaking to the Givernais or Rodanois than he would be listening to a minister who has never been there. And the people - in general - can carry on with their day-to-day lives safe in the knowledge that they do not need to trouble themselves about - if you're from Giverny, what is going on in Rodez, or vice versa - unless if they happen to be selected themselves.
Madame Royal: *takes Henri's hands in her own* Henri, listen to an old woman who has seen much I wish I could forget, government like this will not work. You are angering the first two estates to cater to the whims of the mob.
Henri: the first two estates will still have their roles to play, Tante. There is a Chamber of Peers. They are to serve as the memory. They have the power to draft laws proposed by the third estate - who, not being career politicians, will have no power beyond to debate on the matters of the kingdom - while the approval of such laws remains with the king. The common man in the street cannot complain that he has no right of representation, the nobles cannot complain they are excluded...indeed, the only ones who are likely to complain about it are the arch-conservatives and the arch-liberals.
Karl: and how do you plan on keeping the career politicians out? They will still be sliding their feet under the table, no doubt? Trying to gain influence in the parliament.
Henri: of course they will *sips lemonade* those who wish to serve and are regarded as "capable" can be appointed to serve in the king's cabinet as ministers. Ministers are directly appointed by the king and membership of the parliament is not a requirement. Those ministers who are in parliament will be required to resign their seats in whichever house they sit, due to the fact that they cannot hold the monarch's trust and the people's concurrently. The lower positions within the ministry remain the king's prerogative, although he must choose from a list of at least three candidates presented to him by the relevant college. Same goes for the seventeen judges for the Spanish Supreme Court, nine will be named by the king, eight will be chosen by the upper house. These judges are to be men learned in the law rather than simply politicians. And the king's role is to remain the *quoting* "the key of all Political Organization as the Nation’s Supreme Chief, and its First Representative. The King shall use it to maintain the Independence, Balance and Harmony between the other the Political Powers".
Karl, Madame Royal, the Prince/Princess of Salerno: *all look surprised*
Henri: after all, they are always crying for the people to rule. Well then...by God, all [7] of them shall rule.

*fade to black*

[1] the Prodigal Son
[2] aside from Barcelona's Cathedral, most of the main "landmarks" that one associates with Barcelona seem to date from only the second half of the 19th century, so I apologize to @Kurt_Steiner and others for not listing the sights
[3] modern Palau del Parlament da Catalunya (nowadays the throne room is the main parliamentary chamber). I know it only became a royal palace in the 1880s but wasn't sure where the king stayed in Barcelona before that
[4] this was the main stumbling block to Carlos and Isabel's marriage in 1845. He insisted on being acknowledged as "co-monarch" (à la Fernando and Isabel la Catolica) while they would only consent to him being prince consort
[5] apparently Henri was rather fond of the game OTL. Historical irony jokes for a conversation by Madame Royal about a constitution taking place at a tennis game (Tennis Court Oath)
[6] Toinon is the ancien regime French diminutive for "Antoine", like Riton for Henri
[7] it's not so much that Spain is implementing a constitution dictated by Frenchmen as what Henri is expounding the ideas that he and his uncle have been bouncing off on another, and distilling those for Carlos. Carlos has obviously had to adapt them for the Spanish situation, but Henri's "idea" is actually giving the people a say in government without giving them the teeth to bite. That's not to say it will work (particularly in the Spanish situation) or even that it's practical, but Henri and Angoulême - probably the Carlists too - would have a horror of "popular rule". Using sortition rather than election ensures that while there is popular rule, the lower house is populated by non-politicians (again, not saying there won't be corruption). But it also ensures that one can hardly call the king - who remains in the driver's seat - an absolutist when he is allowing such (seemingly) liberal representation. Which brings us back to Chesterton's comment about how the "The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't." While this sounds radical, these are actually not that far removed from Henri's own ideas OTL. Henri that was mocked as "so conservative" by the French in 1871 was cheered by English workers for being "so liberal". The king's powers are expanded at the expense of the bourgeoisie (essentially an update to the idea of the king on the side of the commons against the nobility) rather than the "little guy".

@The_Most_Happy @isabella @VVD0D95 @Jan Olbracht @Ramontxo @HortenseMancini @Anarch King of Dipsodes @Dragonboy @kaiidth @SavoyTruffle @Wendell @nathanael1234 @Fehérvári @Guatemalan Nat-Synd @nandalf @Drex @Awkwardvulture @Diego @Ivan Lupo

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

60 million franks, ie 2.4 million pounds not 60 million pounds. Of which well over a third was eaten up by the pay of Bavarian mercenary troops.

my bad, I went back and checked where I saw the figure and it's an "f" for franc that I mistook for a £.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Great developments here… I am curious to see what Frankie will do as Minister of education (who for him is a very good place from which start to do serious things in the Empire).

well, to be honest, I have absolutely no idea what he could do with education (aside from updating the curriculum). Since most of the issue with it at the time was that primary instruction was in German, and I can't see him allowing something like schoolbooks in Croatian or Hungarian without encouraging nationalism

@Fehérvári

 

[Dragonboy]

Ah. The Carlists are now the Masters of spain! What a beaitiful aight!

 

[VVD0D95]

based and Henry pilled.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

before I go on, would it be weird to have a retcon that allowed Marie of Württemberg (elder child of Ekaterina Pavlovna and Wilhelm of Württemberg) to be born a boy instead? I don't see this changing things in the grand fabric of Europe on a grand scale that it would make the current situation be unlikely. Ferdinand d'Orléans could've asked for the hand of Sophie just as easily as he did for Marie, and a proposal that Marie d'Orléans marry this son likely didn't gain any more traction for the same reason that the Ferdinand d'Orléans match didn't

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

I asked the above because I'm really struggling to find a match for Marie of Württemberg. By 1840, she's already 24yo and pretty damn close to spinsterhood (if not there already)

 

[HortenseMancini]

?

I thought Franz was suggesting that Frankie marry hermine, though now that I think of it he was probably just hinting that Frankie needs to renew a search for a husband for her. And granted, Frankie and hermine aren’t nearly that bad compared to some other matches (like Franz and Maria Theresa of Naples)

 

[Fehérvári]

well, to be honest, I have absolutely no idea what he could do with education (aside from updating the curriculum). Since most of the issue with it at the time was that primary instruction was in German, and I can't see him allowing something like schoolbooks in Croatian or Hungarian without encouraging nationalism

@Fehérvári

In Hungary (including Croatia), the language of elementary education was the native language. Gymnasiums taught in Latin until 1844, but a decree of the governorate changed that to Hungarian from 1845 (I don't know wether it actually affected Croatia in practice or not). In the same time, universities and similar institutions also partially changed their language from Latin to Hungarian, but some faculties remained being taught in Latin.

Here are some of the more important figures of Hungarian education from the era:

József Eötvös - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Therese Brunsvik - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Blanka Teleki - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Ramontxo]

So I suspect that the Foral Rights of Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Araba and Nafarroa are respected in this new constitution?

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Soundtrack: Charles Simon Catel - Les Bayadères - Finale II: Loin de nous cette folle gloire [1]

*exterior* *Brussels* *specifically a wedding party emerging from the church of Nôtre Dame de Sablon*
*gardens of the Palais Royal in Brussels*
Leopold of Belgium: well, Baron, what do you think of this wedding.
Baron Christian von Stockmar: I think your Majesty would do well to embrace it. There is hardly any good reason to risk falling out with Austria and with Sweden and Bavaria over such an inconsequential trifle.
Leopold: so I'm to have to defer to that little Bonaparte brat-
Stockmar: not so little, your Majesty he is a man with four children. More importantly, he has the ear of the emperor and several important figures in Europe, who, at least if they do not always listen to him, certainly pay attention when he speaks. I would congratulate the Merodes on the duc de Navarre's [2] marriage to Mademoiselle de Merode [3]. True, the match is a little scandalous, but if I may remind your Majesty of a time when your father-in-law the Prince Regent deemed your match to his only daughter similarly unsuitable.
Leopold: and now I am king of the Belgians and where is he?
Stockmar: quite, your Majesty. Nonetheless, I fear that unnecessarily courting ill-will with Austria in the person of the duke of Reichstadt would be unwise given how your Majesty hopes to pair your nephew, August, with the Archduchess Hermine. A slight to his nephew could be reciprocated by a slight to yours.
Leopold: Baron, Austria is finished. The Habsburg dominance of Europe is like a Viennese pastry: from the outside it looks spectacular, but inside it is nothing but air. The future in Germany lies with Prussia-
Stockmar: this would be the same Prussia who has only just begun her first railway? The same Prussia who has a succession even weaker than Austria?
Leopold: Prussia's heir might have no children, but at least he is not a fool like that damned Ferdinand.
Stockmar: of course, your Majesty. And no doubt the refusal of the offer of Prince Metternich to mediate in the Anglo-Sicilian Crisis [4] will be another nail in the Habsburg coffin. After all, Britain can hardly be pleased at their monopoly on Sicilian sulphur is being threatened by your father-in-law.
Leopold: it was hardly a diplomatic victory when they likewise rejected the offer of a French mediator. And the Graf Perponcher [5] is hardly a diplomatic giant like Metternich. Still, the choice of a Prussian mediator instead of an Austrian one is a clear indication of the future.
Stockmar: it is true that no one in Europe wishes to go to war over sulphur your Majesty, and I suspect the marriage talks of the Danish Crown Prince Frederick with Russia has meant that the French want to distance themselves from the unfortunate agreement they made during the embargo.
Leopold: hardly an embargo, Baron, when the countries shutting their doors are the same countries whose trade depends as much on France as they do on England. I would call it more like a group of lemmings running over a cliff.
Stockmar: be that as it may, your Majesty, had such an embargo continued, you and your niece may have found yourselves blackballed within Europe for continuing to trade with France.
Leopold:happily it didn't.
Stockmar: that is very true your Majesty, although I would warn you that the time may arrive that you may be forced to decide between your father-in-law and the comte de Chambord.
Leopold: *scoffs* are you talking about that group of men on the Boulevard Henri IV who stoned the king's carriage? Or how he attended the opening of the new Opéra Comique and there were several baskets of rotten fruit thrown at him by people shouting "Dechéance!" and "À bas la monarchie"?
Stockmar: I am talking about how on the French king's visit to Nancy there were cries of "Vive le Roi Henri" when one of his guards tried to get a soldier there to agree to shout "Vive le Dauphin"
Leopold: that is Nancy. A group of provincials who have never decided whether they wish to be French or German. Half of their nobility are resident at the Austrian court: Bombelles, Ficquelmont-
Stockmar: if that is what the French king is assuring you, sire, then I should be wary. It would be the same as if your Majesty were to visit Limburg and they were to shout "Vive Roi Guillaume". While it maybe some undecided provincials who say it, I fear that the French king's actions for having several persons arrested for saying such things...combined with his recent execution of Monsieur Blanqui-
Leopold: Blanqui was a socialist. He wanted to install a revolutionary government, same as those chartists in England.
Stockmar: be that as it may, I'm sure King Charles also thought he was doing the right thing by impounding the presses of Monsieur Thiers' "Le National" in July 1830. And look how he ended up.
Leopold: I have said nothing of this to the queen. She is still recovering from *smiles* little Catherine's[6] birth. She doesn't need to hear such news of her father.
Stockmar: of course, sir. I wouldn't dream of it.
Leopold: as to my nephew's marriage, I've been speaking with the king of Württemberg, and it seems that he is not...averse to his daughter being paired with either Ferdinand or August. It will be a good way for me to try to remedy my other nephew's *looks pointedly at Albert running around the garden with Leopold de Brabant, with Charles de Flandres on his shoulders*...disappointing behaviour. If it hadn't been such short notice, I would have swapped he and his brother's engagement. At least Ernst I know would be able to...represent the Coburgs in England, and remind my niece that she is not Queen Elizabeth and she cannot treat ambassadors with the contempt she does.
Stockmar: your Majesty does not trust her?
Leopold: Baron, I have spent twenty years cautiously teaching her, tutoring her, training her to be the perfect queen for England. *looks at Albert again* I have wasted almost as much time endeavouring to craft the perfect consort for England. Now, I am forced to watch as that Bonaparte brat has slid his feet under a Coburg table and upset everything I have worked towards? In her last letter, after I'd tried to make a suggestion on the crisis in Sicily, she told me that she finds discussing politics with me most improper since I am neither her ministers nor her husband, and *quotes* we would not want to give the impression of letting a foreign monarch - whether in Brussels or Paris- dictate the policy of England. And so she goes on at her gait like a wild horse- just like Charlotte did. She needs to be curbed, stood up to, made to see sense. I had hoped my nephew would be able to do this, but instead he seems as stuffed with fantasies as his cousin, Ferdinand. Who do you suppose is to blame for this, Baron? For my niece's disregard of her family and for filling my nephew's head with such nonsense that he forgets who he owes his position to? *spits* Bonaparte. No one else.
Stockmar: your Majesty does not perhaps think that it would be a good idea, then, to keep him onside. Include him in the family.
Leopold: he's far too exotic a bird for even the Coburg aviary, Baron [7].
Stockmar: no doubt, sire, but in politics, when one cannot tear down your opponent by yourself, it is sometimes best to puff him up and let others tear him down on your behalf.
Leopold: *looks as though he's considering this*

*fade to black*


[1] far from us this mad glory. The libretto of Les Bayadères is based on Voltaire's L'Education d'un Prince, make of it what you will
[2] Max de Beauharnais' title
[3] Louise de Merode, OTL Princesse della Cisterna
[4] The crisis still occurs, albeit for different reasons. While dear old Pam ain't at the foreign office under Wellington (likely Lord Aberdeen), given the state of relations with France, I cannot see Britain reacting well to news of thawing Franco-Sicilian relations at the same time as France is backing Muhammed Ali and Othon of Greece looks like he's not going to be quite so complacent
[5] Dutch general in Prussian service, also the former commanding officer of Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, brother-in-law of Queen Adelaide, father-in-law of Marie of Baden, and uncle of Princesses Wilhelm and Karl of Prussia as well as the Dowager Duchesse de Chartres. Course Perponcher is a better choice than Thiers or Metternich (both offered OTL) . Lot more back channel connections.
[6] since his second son was named for Princess Charlotte, his TTL daughter is named for Catherine Pavlovna (the woman who played matchmaker between he and Charlotte in 1816, probably also as a shameless suckup to Nikolai of Russia) as Catherine Pauline Ferdinande (for the duc de Chartres or the kings of Lombardy or Sicily) . As to the smile, it's his first daughter. And OTL he was likewise very attached to Carlota as well
[7] Leopold's OTL description of a marriage between his great-niece, Adelheid of Hohenlohe, and Napoléon III

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[Dragonboy]

Interesting. Oh Leo, you cannot begin to comprehend what you will come up agaisnt.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

I thought Franz was suggesting that Frankie marry hermine, though now that I think of it he was probably just hinting that Frankie needs to renew a search for a husband for her. And granted, Frankie and hermine aren’t nearly that bad compared to some other matches (like Franz and Maria Theresa of Naples)

I was actually considering - that if I'd be allowed to let Marie of Württemberg be born a boy - that Hermine maybe ends up as Crown Princess of Württemberg. After all, her stepmom is a Württemberg, Franz's first wife was a Württemberg, Marie's dad was originally supposed to marry Franz's sister. And Marie's uncle Nikolai, was willing to consider matches between Olga Nikolaïevna and either Hermine's twin, Stephan, or Albrecht of Teschen, at points in the 1840s. So the Crown Prince of Württemberg as a "Russian proxy" paired with Hermine doesn't sound that crazy.

In Hungary (including Croatia), the language of elementary education was the native language. Gymnasiums taught in Latin until 1844, but a decree of the governorate changed that to Hungarian from 1845 (I don't know wether it actually affected Croatia in practice or not). In the same time, universities and similar institutions also partially changed their language from Latin to Hungarian, but some faculties remained being taught in Latin.

Here are some of the more important figures of Hungarian education from the era:

József Eötvös - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Therese Brunsvik - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Blanka Teleki - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Therese was Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved" wasn't she? Still, her ideas for kindergartens catching on with Frankie's support would be cool

So I suspect that the Foral Rights of Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Araba and Nafarroa are respected in this new constitution?

I'm not sure. That's sort of why I had Henri expound on what he suggested not necessarily what Carlos put in. Since he or his dad may have made promises on campaign that now that they're in office they don't particularly feel like keeping. Could be the reason for his dad's grimace in the first two parts of the scene: that he made promises but his son isn't keeping them. If the new constitution is taking the 1812 constitution as a model though (updating it in places) then those privileges are likely to be suppressed. After all, in 1839 they promised to respect the Charters but then suppressed "the most characteristic institutions" regardless.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Interesting. Oh Leo, you cannot begin to comprehend what you will come up agaisnt.

I'd like to say even Metternich will have the good sense not to contest Franz's appointment of Frankie to the ministry of education. Mean, sooner or later it's gotta sink in that you keep attacking him, you're just costing yourself the emperor's good will