how did Prokesch become bffs with napoleon ii? :3
Hellooo!!! đ
the answer to this question will be very long and convoluted because the beginning of their friendship was very unusual, even by the standards of the time.
So first of all a little bit of background knowledge about Prokesch's life is necessary: he was born in 1795 to a bourgeois family in Graz, was orphaned at a young age, and then in 1813 at the age of 18 he joined the army to participate in the last two years of the Napoleonic wars. During this military service, he developed an appreciation for Napoleon's military strategy even though he was fighting against him, and he also ended up becoming friends with Prince Schwarzenberg. After the war Prokesch put his literary talents to use and wrote an article for the Austrian Military Journal in 1818, The Battles of Ligny, Quatrebras, and Waterloo, defending Napoleon's military tactics. After Prince Schwarzenberg died in 1820, Prokesch wrote a book about him. Napoleon II read both of these works during the 1820s, when he collected over 1,000 books relating to his father and military history. He became a big fan of Prokesch because of their shared interest in military history and favourable view of Napoleon, however there was no opportunity for him to meet his new idol because Prokesch spent the 1820s in Greece, Turkey and Egypt as a soldier and diplomat.
Finally in June 1830 Prokesch returned to Austria and instantly went to his hometown of Graz. Coincidentally, emperor Francis was also visiting Graz at the same time, and had taken Napoleon II with him. Prokesch was invited to a banquet with the imperial family to entertain them with his stories about his adventures in âthe orientâ, and since the empress was very excited to hear these stories, Prokeschâs seat at the dinner table was opposite that of the empress. Naturally the empress was sitting next to the emperor, and Napoleon II had been placed opposite the emperor, and so it ended up that Prokesch and Napoleon II were sitting right next to each other. Napoleon II was rather shy and didnât speak much throughout the banquet, but he kept staring at Prokesch with his big blue eyes⊠After dinner, they enthusiastically shook hands and Napoleon II said âI have known you for a long timeâ.
The next day, Prokesch received a letter from Napoleon IIâs tutor Dietrichstein summoning him to a meeting with Napoleon II. When Prokesch arrived, Napoleon II said: âI have known you and loved you for a long time. You represented my father's honor at a time when everyone was vying to see him through. I read your account of the Battle of Waterloo and, in order to absorb every line, translated it twice into other languages, French and Italian.â
They had a very long conversation, discussing Prokeschâs written works, and eventually Napoleon II âlamented his lonelinessâ and said âStay with me! Make me the sacrifice of your future, stay with me! We, we will understand each other!â
Over the course of the imperial familyâs stay in Graz, they continued to meet with each other and soon became close friends. On one occasion, Napoleon II called Prokesch âhis Posaâ, referring to the close friendship between Don Carlos and Rodrigo Marquis of Posa in the popular Schiller play Don Carlos, and Prokesch, being the responsible older man, told Napoleon II that he was perhaps being a little overenthusiastic given that they had only known each other for a few days, but nonetheless agreed to be âhis Posaâ. They were also drawn together by their mutual interest in ancient history - Napoleon IIâs favourite historical figure from antiquity was Hannibal Barca, and he was delighted to find that Prokesch shared his favourable opinion of Hannibal. As a gift, Prokesch gave Napoleon II an Ancient Greek gold coin of Alexander the Great which he had brought back from his travels in Greece, which Napoleon II âplaced in his bosom like a token of loveâ.
By the time that the imperial family left Graz, they were best friends, and when they reunited in Vienna a few months later they resumed their close friendship. Prokesch reflected in his memoirs: âHow childlike he reached out his hand to me, how pleading for friendship! I was the first person to whom he had fully confided. Had I reciprocated this devotion with half-heartedness or cowardice, I would have broken his heart forever.â đ
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