Frederick the Great Dies in Prison?

In 1730, the young Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia attempted to flee his native land for Great Britain with the help of a couple of junior army officers he was close to. One of these officers had a crisis of conscience, and Frederick was captured, imprisoned, and forced to watch one of his closest friends be executed, suffering two days of delusions before recovering OTL. What would have happened had something just snapped and he just died? What would become of Prussia?
 
In 1730, the young Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia attempted to flee his native land for Great Britain with the help of a couple of junior army officers he was close to. One of these officers had a crisis of conscience, and Frederick was captured, imprisoned, and forced to watch one of his closest friends be executed, suffering two days of delusions before recovering OTL. What would have happened had something just snapped and he just died? What would become of Prussia?

The King of Prussia is going to have some 'splainin' to do to, well, everybody.

No one will believe, based on the King's actions, that he didn't have Frederick executed. Shades of Ivan the Terrible.
 
A great scandal.
A guilt-haunted father.
A distant kingdom on the edge of europe.
Conspiracy, love (even if omosexual), guilt and death.

A GREAT inspiration for Goethe, Verdi and Mozart.
All the operas of the next 100 years will be set in Prussia
 
A great scandal.
A guilt-haunted father.
A distant kingdom on the edge of europe.
Conspiracy, love (even if omosexual), guilt and death.

A GREAT inspiration for Goethe, Verdi and Mozart.
All the operas of the next 100 years will be set in Prussia

Yeah, it would probably spawn some great dramatic works.

But would Prussia gain any standing in Europe without Frederick?
 
Yeah, it would probably spawn some great dramatic works.

But would Prussia gain any standing in Europe without Frederick?

Nope, it will remain a second rate kingdom.
And again, operas are always set in the far away little kingdom of I-do-not-know-it-stein
 
uhm.
With Fritz out of the way, AugustWhilelm becomes heir to the throne.
He is younger, and we could probably postulate Whilelm dying earlier out of guilt, sadness and alchol.
Thus I would say that Sophia Dorothea has a much greater influence on the young AugustWhilelm boy-king, and she will probably do her utmost to align Prussia to England.
The double-marriage project attempted OTL (Fritz-English Princess Wilhelmina-PrinceofWales) could be proposed ITTL substituting Fritz with AugustWhilelm.
London would probably rebuf it, but Sophia Dorothea being more prone to compromise that her husband, she would probably settle for some lesser english princess.
Thus I'd say we would have Prussia drifting away from the Emperor sphere of influence and towards England.
Austrian succession war is going to happen anyway when Charles VI die, but without Prussia, maria Theresa wins no problem (and keeps Silesia).
Does 7-years war involve it? probably not.
in any case AugustWhilelm at this point die of brain tumor and the (will-be-)Fat King sits on the throne (another boy-king: prussia yill become the laughing stock of europe).
Prussia is, however, somewhat involved in the first poland partition (just the corridor to link OstPreussen to brandenbourg).
In any case, germany is firmly Vienna-centered.
And Napoleon's effect is going to be BIG, much more than OTL
 
Last edited:
uhm.
With Fritz out of the way, AugustWhilelm becomes heir to the throne.
He is younger, and we could probably postulate Whilelm dying earlier out of guilt, sadness and alchol.
Thus I would say that Sophia Dorothea has a much greater influence on the young AugustWhilelm boy-king, and she will probably do her utmost to align Prussia to England.
The double-marriage project attempted OTL (Fritz-English Princess Wilhelmina-PrinceofWales) could be proposed ITTL substituting Fritz with AugustWhilelm.
London would probably rebuf it, but Sophia Dorothea being more prone to compromise that her husband, she would probably settle for some lesser english princess.
Thus I'd say we would have Prussia drifting away from the Emperor sphere of influence and towards England.
Austrian succession war is going to happen anyway when Charles VI die, but without Prussia, maria Theresa wins no problem (and keeps Silesia).
Does 7-years war involve it? probably not.
in any case AugustWhilelm at this point die of brain tumor and the (will-be-)Fat King sits on the throne (another boy-king: prussia yill become the laughing stock of europe).
Prussia is, however, somewhat involved in the first poland partition (just the corridor to link OstPreussen to brandenbourg).
In any case, germany is firmly Vienna-centered.
And Napoleon's effect is going to be BIG, much more than OTL

Yes, and? What happens next? With Nappy? Chop Chop!
 
Hey give me some rest, I've just built some 70 years from scratch! :D
Frankly, before going on to Bonaparte, I'd like to check if the pre-Napoleonic assumptions are reasonable: AH Crucible of Critics is a good testing ground.
And again this is not my timeline, Nor Anybody has died apponting me as the new God of History.
Yet.
 
Last edited:
Top