Frederick the Great - 24th January
Gentlemen;
Every year I remark to my wife that she shares a birthday with Frederick the Great; although not the same year :D .
Every year she is equally uninspired by this information.
She is not averse to History as such and were it William Blake or Virginia Wolfe or Bjorn/Benny from Abba she would instantly understand the import.
What can I say this year (tomorrow - Jan 24th) to attempt to impart the significance of this date? :?
Please advise.
GJ
Unfortunately, I agree with your wife. He was a horrible little man with some quite disturbing character defects, although to be fair they were not terribly unusual in his era.
However, I do sympathise slightly, my partner can't understand why I need more more Austrian/Kries Cuirassiers and Infantry to cut down or shoot those horrible little Prussians even faster.
Maybe you should buy her a Biography of Marie Teresa, a much more sympathetic character from the female point of veiw, to give her some understanding of what you are talking about.
It's called the strategy of the indirect approach!
What about a fun day out, take her shopping in "olde worlde nantwiche" and act surprised along the lines of...
"Well I never dearest, how fortuitous tis the Holly Holy Day".
The sealed knot re-enactment of the battle of nantwich , down by the river 2pm, near welsh row. March to the sound of the guns, and luckily saturday 24.1.09 this year !
Chatwins for the olde pie shoppe :D
http://www.visitcheshire.com/site/events/holly-holy-day-the-battle-of-nantwich-p27361
Thank you Chris; I tried telling her that FtG was "a horrible little man with some quite disturbing character defects" and as this fitted so well with pictures of the old fellow, I think she may now have grasped what he was about... however; I suspect there may be a slight Austrian bias in your interpretation... ?
Simon: Too late to take advantage of your pointer this year but I should be able to remember when it is next year - being so close to FtG's birthday...
GJ
'Slight', i would put it slightly stronger than that.
I am reading Duffy's new volume on the Seven years war at present, which is written from the Austrian point of view. (By Force of Arms)
The more I read, the more I come to the conclusion, that Federicks reputation is based more on the mistakes of the Austrians than his own genius. Every Time they beat him, they let him recover.