When William learned that Joseph II wanted to meet with him, he was a little stunned, for Joseph II, William's impression was that he was more than successful and not enterprising, why do you say that, mainly Joseph II's behavior makes people feel that this is a king of achievement rather than an enterprising king....
Perhaps Joseph II's series of reforms in Austria were enough to give an enlightened and progressive influence, emancipating serfs, developing capital, refurbishing armaments, etc., but his actions were not very much in line with Habsburg conditions.
The territory of the Habsburgs spread throughout the Holy Roman Empire, but this did not mean that the interests of the territories were the same, on the contrary, the vastness of the territory meant that there were great cultural differences among the people living in the Habsburg territories.
The improvement of Joseph II's reforms in Austria was obvious, but in the Austrian Netherlands and Hungary, Joseph II's reforms were opposed by most of the nobility and the populace, and even the officials he sent were noncommittal about the emperor's reforms.
But Joseph II did not listen to the different voices, on the contrary, the emperor believed that the reform should be carried out from top to bottom, and the whole country should be one!
In this way, it is not surprising that the differences between regions doomed the emperor's policies to be recognized in one region but rejected in another.
Speaking of which, it is not difficult to find that both Joseph II and William have a common characteristic, that is, both are eager to complete the transformation of the country through their own efforts.
But unlike William, Joseph II did not have as much prestige in the Habsburg realm as William....
The undefeated battle of the Bavarian throne was lost.
The defeat in the Austro-Prussian War made the emperor not as tall as he thought he would be among the people of the empire.
William was different, although the rebellion of the Marquis of Morakot in East Prussia made William anxious, but after all, the war was won.
Moreover, the victory in the Austro-Prussian War and the enormous benefits obtained from the two partitions of Poland made Wilhelm's prestige in Prussia seem to have reached a commanding height.
And William's reforms did not carry out a "one-size-fits-all" change like Joseph II, taking the abolition of serfdom as an example, William also implemented it throughout the country after a pilot in Brandenburg, and for those emancipated serfs, the livelihood after emancipation was important, and in this regard, Wilhelm's microcredit business through the Prussian National Bank is suspected to be a lifesaver.
But Joseph II did not have the idea of a national bank.
After the emancipation of the Austrian serfs, Joseph II only allowed the serfs to receive some land at a relatively low price, and zhèngfu would also provide some minor subsidies.
But this policy was of no great use to those serfs at all.
Although Joseph II forced the nobles to accept a lower price for the land purchased by the serfs, the subsidy provided by the zhèngfu was still a drop in the bucket for the purchase of land by the serfs, and importantly, the nobles did not agree with this policy.
It is undeniable that commerce is very developed now.
With the development of the world's maritime trade.
Those who received benefits from trade were several times or even dozens of times the income from the land.
But in the eyes of the conservative aristocracy, the land is still their life, and the nobility without land cannot be called an aristocrat at all.
And in the face of such a situation, Joseph II did not use forceful means like William, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
William used inducements and deterrence against the nobles at home, and through the Prussian National Bank, he drew most of the nobles into his own interest groups, and for those nobles who did not respect the royal family and disobeyed them.
William's hands were never soft, so far.
Under William's carrot and stick policy, the aristocracy that dared to oppose William was almost extinct, at least on the surface.
Joseph II also wanted to learn from Wilhelm's methods, but the defeat in foreign wars and the peculiarities of the Habsburg territory and the power of the conservative aristocracy at home made the emperor feel constrained.
Perhaps, this time Joseph II suddenly wanted to meet William, and there was no lack of wanting to ask William for some advice, right?
And importantly, Wilhelm remembered that the Habsburg emperor would die in February 1790, in other words, Joseph II had only half a year left in his life, and although there was a precedent for Catherine II, Wilhelm did not know if the emperor would die next year, as history has done.
Joseph II, who was forty-eight years old, had two failed marriages, the first of which was on October 6, 1760, with the eldest daughter of Isabella, Duke of Parma, of the Bourbons, but in November 1763, when he gave birth to the emperor's second daughter, he went to see God with the newborn emperor's second daughter due to difficult childbirth.
The Emperor's second marriage was on January 23, 1765, with the Elector of Bavaria, Karl Brown, who had suffered from smallpox.
Albrecht's youngest daughter, Mary.
Josepha married, but unfortunately the wife died in 1767, and Josepha did not have any children born to Emperor Weiwei.
Joseph II was devastated by two failed marriages, and since then, the emperor has never crossed paths with a single woman, and the emperor has devoted all his energies to handling state affairs and raising his eldest daughter, Maria.
Theresia.
Elizabeth side.
But sometimes, it doesn't go alone!
In 1770, Joseph II's daughter Maria.
Theresia.
Elizabeth died of illness, and the emperor was devastated, but with the encouragement of his mother, Queen Theresa, Joseph II survived.
Later, after losing his wife and children, Joseph II devoted all his efforts to state affairs.
This is a emperor full of tragedy!
"Your Majesty, although I don't understand why Joseph II invited you to meet you, I don't think it's necessary for us to accede to his request."
At this moment, in the palace, Locks looked at William with a serious expression and said, and when he heard Locks's words, William only smiled slightly.
"My Excellency, Prime Minister, although I don't know what our Emperor wants to do, but I do want to see this Emperor in my heart, Russia in the east and France in the west are in turmoil, as the two great powers of Central Europe, I think it is necessary for us to consult with the Austrians on some matters!"
"Well, my majesty, as you wish!"
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Hearing William call Joseph II our Emperor His Majesty, Locks was a little crying and laughing, everyone knew that although Joseph II was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Joseph II did not have much say in the princes in the empire, especially for several electors.
However, seeing that William also agreed to a meeting with Joseph II, Locks stopped persuading.
In fact, in his heart, Locks also hoped that William would be able to meet Joseph II, and this kind of meeting would be beneficial to both countries.
Seeing that Locks agreed, William's mind was turning, and the last time he was with Joseph II was several years ago.
However, William and Joseph II were both leaders of their respective countries, and the place of the meeting was very open to be discussed, and after several heated discussions between the diplomats of the two countries, the meeting place of William and Joseph II was tentatively set in Frankfurt.
As the seat of the Holy Roman Diet, Frankfurt did not have an absolute advantage in Frankfurt, and from 1562 onwards, Frankfurt replaced Aachen as the site of the Emperor's coronation.
This also gave Frankfurt a sacred significance, and it is suspected that the location would have added a lot to the meeting between the king and the emperor.
However, the two countries were in dispute over the timing, and as a representative of Joseph II, the Austrian side naturally hoped that the meeting would be as good as possible, but in the Prussian side, it was better to wait for a while.
Although Austria did not have an absolute advantage in Frankfurt, as the coronation place of successive Holy Roman Emperors and the seat of the Holy Roman Diet, Austria's power in Frankfurt was naturally incomparable to that of the Prussians.
In this way, for the sake of William's safety, Prussia felt that it was necessary to send personnel to Frankfurt to make arrangements, otherwise, they would not be able to afford it in case of any accidents.
In the end, it was Wilhelm himself who decided to set the meeting with Joseph II for mid-October, and now it was already September, a little more than a month, enough for Prussia to send personnel to Frankfurt, and Wilhelm had a lot of work to deal with.
In the face of William's request, although the Austrian envoy still wanted to fight for it, but seeing the tough attitude of the Prussian people, the envoy still gave up.
When the messenger brought the news back to Vienna, Joseph II was satisfied with this result, and in his opinion, in the face of his own presumptuous request, William was able to agree so readily, which made Joseph II relieved and moved by William's arrogance.
Even if William did not agree to this trip, Joseph II is understandable, because Joseph II wanted the purpose of the trip to be private rather than state-like, and to know that as a leader of a country, the itinerary can be said to be the most important, and it is often necessary to determine that the meeting will take place less than half a year in advance.
To be continued. ） ps: Thank you for your great support, I will set off for the exam in the city tomorrow, and it is inconvenient for people who live in the county below to take the exam, so I'm sorry for everyone, five thousand words these days, I hope to understand!