Diplomacy
In 1726, at the instance of Eugene of Savoy, Seckendorff became the imperial ambassador at the Prussian court in Berlin. He gained the trust of King Frederick William I of Prussia; king and diplomat had fought alongside one another in the War of the Spanish Succession. Seckendorff also bribed the minister of state, the influential Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow, with an Austrian pension. In order to avoid a potential marriage between Crown Prince Frederick and a princess of the House of Hanover that would have allied Prussia and Great Britain, Seckendorff manipulated Frederick William and his son so that the crown prince instead married Elizabeth Christina of Brunswick-Bevern, a marriage more favorable to Austria.
Seckendorff's diplomatic skill also led to recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction by the courts of numerous German principalities, Denmark, and the Dutch Republic.
Read more about this topic: Friedrich Heinrich Von Seckendorff
Famous quotes containing the word diplomacy:
“The policy of dollar diplomacy is one that appeals alike to idealistic humanitarian sentiments, to dictates of sound policy, and strategy, and to legitimate commercial aims.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“The diplomacy of the present administration has sought to respond to the modern idea of commercial intercourse. This policy has been characterized as substituting dollars for bullets.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)