The Downfall of Three Dynasties: Source Report

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The Downfall of Three Dynasties came recommended as the place to go for more information on Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia’s flirtation with Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine. He arrived at court with his sister, Marie, who was engaged to Olga’s brother (the future Alexander II). Olga apparently toyed with Alexander’s affections, and me being nosy about that kind of thing, I had to know what really happened.

Book Data

Other Editions

• Originally published in 1934: Unter Zaren und gekrönten Frauen
• More German editions periodically; last in 1953; see Worldcat link above for complete listing

Buy Links

• ABE Books ($15+)
• Amazon Marketplace: at time of writing, there’s one copy for under $15 available. When I drafted this post weeks earlier, there were only 2 overpriced copies ($150+) available; YMMV. (Affiliate link)

Why This Book?

MY RESEARCH PURPOSE: More information on Grand Duchess Olga’s flirtation with Alexander. I also wanted to know: does Corti mention another of her flirtations, with an officer named Bariatinsky? I swear, I’m like Gossip Girl for the 19th century. If you have a secret, I will hunt you down and ferret it out. XOXO.

People mentioned (not exhaustive and in no particular order)

• Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine (primary)
• Princess Marie (his sister)
• Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, later Queen of Württemberg (sisters Maria and Adini – mentions)
• Tsar Nicholas I & Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna (mentions)
• Countess Julia Hauke & her kids w/Alexander:
  • Marie (mentions), Louis (mentions), Sandro (tons), Liko (mentions)
• Emperor Franz Josef & Empress Elisabeth (mentions)
• Archduke Joseph (Palatine of Hungary) & son Archduke Stephen
• Tsar Alexander II
• Princess Catherine Dolgorouky
• Tsar Alexander III & Empress Maria Feodorovna (mentions)
• King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia
• Kaiser Wilhelm I (King of Prussia) & Empress Augusta (mentions)
• Queen Victoria, Princess Beatrice
• Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine (later Grand Duke) & Princess Alice
• Chancellor Otto von Bismarck
• Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm (Fritz) & Empress Victoria (Vicky)
• King Max of Bavaria (mentions)
• Napoleon III & Empress Eugenie (mentions)
• Archduke Maximilian and Archduchess Charlotte (mentions)
• King Victor Emmanuel of Italy (mentions)
• Kaiser Wilhelm II

Events Mentioned (not exhaustive and in no particular order)

• Russian battles in the Caucasus (vs. Shamil)
• Crimean War
• Revolutions of 1848
• Unification of Italy
• Austro-Prussian War (1866) & unification of Germany
• Franco-Prussian War (1870)
• Sandro’s tenure as Prince of Bulgaria
• Fascinating evolution of the alliances that led to WWI

Summary

This book is a focused history of late 19^th century Europe from the perspective of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine. Corti based it on Alexander’s private diaries, along with his letters to and from his sister, Marie (Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna of Russia). The book covers his life beginning with his trip to Russia in 1840 and ending with his death in 1888.

Notes

So where did Corti get these letters and diaries? At the time he published the book (1934), they had been inherited by Alexander’s only daughter, Princess Marie of Erbach-Schönberg, and were in the possession of her family. Alexander had copied snippets from other people’s letters and telegrams into his diaries, giving Corti even more to work with. The author supplemented this with original research in German and Austrian archives, and other published sources of royal letters and diaries. It veers from anecdotes and personal history to long stretches of dry political stuff. Even the dry parts are interesting, though, because it’s more of a personal history than a political one. The political angle is always centered on how these actions affected Alexander.

Reliability

Moderate to high. It’s as good as the information Alexander had, which was usually pretty good. Tsars and emperors used him as an informal go-between since he had close ties to so many people in so many courts. If Alexander’s info isn’t good (or he’s exaggerating) and Corti knows it, he tells you in a note.

Impressions

Remarkably detailed about the many alliances between powers that ultimately led to WWI. In a nutshell, Austria and Russia had a fragile, tangled relationship that was never going to work out. Basically, Russia helped Austria put down a Hungarian revolt in 1848, and Austria never helped Russia do anything for, oh, the rest of life. The resentment burned like acid reflux in Tsar Alexander II’s chest for the rest of his life. His troubled relationship with Franz Josef is a recurring theme in the narrative. The book is also very negative toward Tsar Alexander III, based on his treatment of Sandro (Alexander’s son).

And, as it turns out, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna probably did toy with Alexander’s affections, and he got sent to war because of it. She “made a complete conquest” of him, with a flirtation that survived his being out of Russia for months (31). But then her mom told her that people were gossiping about them, and forbid the couple to go out ice skating together. From that point on, she was hot and cold, and it confused the living hell out of Alexander. Finally, she flat-out asked if he’d considered going to fight in the Caucasus—a dismissal if there ever was one. Devastated, he finally accepted that fact that he wasn’t going to get to marry Olga. Both Alexander and her other flame, Prince Bariatinsky, were sent to war while the tsar figured out who he could get to marry his problematic daughter.

Compare Alexander’s version in this book to Olga’s memoir, which tells the other side of her story. I’m touched by her sensitivity and strange combination of naivete and intuitive emotional intelligence. But never once does she mention Alexander. Was it self-editing brought on by guilt? Or did Alexander make a mountain out of a molehill? You make the call.

Most Unexpected Tidbit

Freaking Carmen Sylva (Queen of Romania; born Princess Elisabeth of Wied) threw her great-niece, Hilda of Nassau, under the bus when Alexander’s son Sandro was looking for a bride in the early 1880s. There’s a really mean-spirited quote, which Corti attributes as being about another possible bride, Helen of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. But in the months leading up to Sandro’s visit to Romania, Helen and her mom had both already rejected Sandro. Given that Helen was already pretty much out of the running, it makes me think this quote is really about Hilda. Here’s the quote:

What do you think? Is Corti’s little [elen] insert wrong? Let’s start by clarifying that Hilda had one brother, while Helen had two, both of whom were alive at the time. Unless one of Helen’s “stupid” brothers had already been referenced in the conversation (and we’re not being told), this quote strikes me as being about Hilda. I really want to know why Corti is so sure “H.” is Helen, not Hilda. Also, Hilda was a whopping 18 years old at the time. How much sense could she be expected to have shown? I was a friggin’ idiot at 18, personally.

Second Most Unexpected Tidbit

We think emperors have absolute power. They don’t. Often, they don’t even make the real decisions that move a country. Nicholas I, Alexander II, and Franz Josef may have been absolute monarchs, but behind the scenes, statesmen pulled their strings like marionettes. This is a big part of the reason why Austria and Russia, so friendly in the post-Napoleon era, drifted apart in the second half of the 19^th century, to disastrous results.

It started when Russia bailed Austria’s ass out of the fire, helping suppress revolts in 1848. Austria then refused to lift a finger to help anytime Russia asked for it afterward. In fact, Austria corresponded with Russia’s enemies during the Crimean War, and floated the idea of joining on the side of the Turks (they feared what would happen if Russia won the war). Prince Alexander knew this was more than just hurt feelings on the part of the emperors. He wrote about ministers Gortchakoff and Buol: “I have, I am sorry to say, been forced to see that the blind hatred of the servants makes every advance on the part of their masters fruitless” (102). In retaliation, Russia looked the other way when Sardinia rose in revolt against Austria. The political abyss only grew wider from there.

They tried to close the gap when Bismarck’s power play set Prussia against Austria in 1866, but Bismarck’s trap had been laid (and a couple key Austrian advisors let it happen, since they hated Prussia with a passion). So many advisors and councilors in Austria feared and hated Russia that Three Emperors Alliance was doomed. This is a simplification, but we can’t ignore it as one of the causes of World War I.

Another interesting tidbit: Empress Elisabeth always seemed to be around when Alexander came to visit Franz Josef, which was so not the impression I got after reading a couple biographies of her. My impression was that she avoided court like the plague, preferring Hungary or Greece or England. Somehow, though, Alexander always managed to catch her at home. He never mentioned her looking bored or angry—just beautiful. I believe “perfectly delicious” were his exact words (76).

Desk Flip Rage Moment

In 1883, Princess Victoria of Prussia (daughter of the short-lived Emperor Frederick III and Princess Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland) fell head over heels in love with Alexander’s son, Sandro. The feeling was apparently mutual; they became secretly engaged. Sandro told his dad a year later. The Russian and German sovereigns freaked the hell out and spent the next five years doing their damnedest to keep Sandro and Victoria apart.

The enmity and perseverance of these haters astonished me. Why the hell did people try so hard to keep Victoria and Sandro apart? Yes, she was the daughter of a kaiser, and he was the son of a morganatic marriage, but come on…once his brother Liko married Queen Victoria’s daughter Beatrice, no one could bitch about the Battenbergs not being good enough. Precedent isn’t just for the legal system.

Then, when the haters won and Sandro finally gave up, the Hohenzollerns kept forcing him to say FOR REAL, YOU GUYS, I DO NOT WANT TO MARRY HER in multiple statements, written and oral. It’s like they wanted to punish Victoria for liking him, and Sandro for thinking he ever had a shot. And by “they,” I mean Wilhelm.

Poor Victoria – I don’t think she ever got over it. Take a look at Sandro, then take a look at the dude she eventually married. I rest my case.

What You Won’t Find

A lot of detail about Alexander’s morganatic marriage to Countess Julia Hauke, his sister’s lady-in-waiting. He mentions liking Julia, how he eventually began liking her more than the other women he was flirting with (sorry, Sophie Shuvaloff). But once they’re married, she’s rarely mentioned. In a note, Corti tells us that the only part of the diary with pages torn out and handwritten corrections concerns the time of his courtship/affair with Julia. The corrections appear to be in both Julia’s and his daughter Marie’s handwriting. If there was anything they didn’t want us to know, well, they succeeded.

Questions Raised

• Corti/Alexander says Olga (then Queen of Württemberg) was very accepting of her brother Alexander II’s second wife, Princess Dolgorouky. Was she really? In her memoir, she denied with all her might that her father ever slept with Barbara Nelidova because of the insult that would have been to her mother. And here her brother was, insulting his long-suffering wife’s memory by marrying his mistress mere months after her death. And did I mention that the dead wife had been teenage Olga’s best friend? Did marriage to Karl strip away Olga’s rose-colored glasses? Or did it matter less because it was her brother, not her sainted parents?
• Corti hints that Olga’s marriage and life in Württemberg was disastrous. I need more details, stat. I’ve seen the rumor that Karl was gay, or bisexual at best, but there’s got to be more to it than that. I’ve also seen it stated (in either de Grunewald’s bio of Nicholas I or B. Stern’s Die Romanows) that Karl beat her regularly. Not that these things aren’t truly terrible, but is Corti hinting at anything else? Did something disastrous but unrelated to her marriage also happen?
• It’s not clear how much Alexander was at fault for poor strategy and decision-making during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. He was hamstrung by the patchwork nature of the Federal armies, but there wasn’t an in-depth discussion of his role as leader. Corti skirted the issue, if you ask me. Your subject is put in command of a major power’s army during a war, and you as the author don’t have much to say about it? Did Corti refuse to linger on a subject that makes Alexander out to be a slacker? Or is it impossible to cover the topic without casting blame on someone, and Corti was too polite to do that? Or does no one care but me? I’m willing to accept this possibility.
• Why did Elisabeth of Wied think so poorly of Hilda? Yes, I’m still harping on the Helen/Hilda issue covered above. Of course, Elisabeth didn’t care much for daughter-in-law Missy (Princess Marie of Edinburgh), either. Maybe her judgment is suspect. But then again, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna really took to Elisabeth in her older years, and Elena was one smart cookie. Was Hilda too shy to make a good impression on the artistic, flamboyant Elisabeth? If you ask me, she did Hilda a favor by pushing Sandro away. Even if they could have been personally compatible, Bulgaria was a disaster. Baden was a much better fit for gentle Hilda. Interestingly, in Hannah Pakula’s biography of the Empress Frederick, she quotes a letter from Sandro that says Hilda’s father would never have let her go to a place like Bulgaria, anyway – so either Elisabeth’s judgment on Hilda didn’t sway him, or he used Hilda’s dad as an excuse instead of flat-out saying he’d been warned against pursuing Hilda.

Read The Downfall of Three Dynasties If…

You want the inside scoop on royal alliances in the late 19^th century, often in the participants’ own words. I never thought I’d be interested in that, per se – alliance building is so political, and I’m more interested in the personal than the political. However, Corti does a great job of making the political the personal. After reading this book, it’s easy to understand how the alliances shook down the way they did. If you’re a student of World War I, you need this book as a foundation.

The End

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