Georg Heinrich Von Görtz
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Georg Heinrich von Görtz, Baron of Schlitz (1668 – 19 February 1719), diplomat in Swedish service, was born in
Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...
and educated at
Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...
.


Early life

Born into an old and prominent German noble family from
Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...
, he was the eldest of four sons of Philipp Friedrich von Schlitz gen. von Görtz (1641-1695) by his first wife, Juliane von Minnigerode (1652-1687). From his father's second marriage to Sophia Philippine von Ilten (1669-1732), he had three more half siblings.


Career

He entered the
Holstein-Gottorp Holstein-Gottorp () is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, also known as Ducal Holstein, that were ruled by the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, a side ...
service, and after the death of the duchess Hedwig Sophia,
Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...
's sister, became very influential during the minority of her son Duke Charles Frederick. His earlier policy aimed at strengthening Holstein-Gottorp at the expense of
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. With this object, during Charles XII's stay at Altranstädt (1706–1707), he tried to divert the king's attention to the Holstein question, and six years later, when the Swedish commander,
Magnus Stenbock Count Magnus Stenbock (22 May 1665 – 23 February 1717) was a Swedish field marshal (''Fältmarskalk'') and Privy Council of Sweden, Royal Councillor. A commander of the Caroleans, Carolean Army during the Great Northern War, he was a promin ...
, crossed the
Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...
, Görtz rendered him as much assistance as was compatible with not openly breaking with Denmark, even going so far as to surrender the fortress of Tönning to the Swedes. Görtz next attempted to undermine the grand alliance against
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
by negotiating with
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
and
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
for the purpose of isolating Denmark, or even of turning the arms of the allies against her, a task by no means impossible in view of the strained relations between Denmark and the
tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
. The plan foundered, however, on the refusal of Charles XII to save the rest of his German domains by ceding
Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...
to Prussia. Another simultaneous plan of procuring the Swedish crown for Duke Charles Frederick also came to nought. Görtz first suggested the marriage between the duke of Holstein and the tsarevna Anne of Russia, and negotiations were begun in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
with that object. Görtz was also prominently involved in negotiating the terms of Stenbock's surrender in the
Siege of Tönning During the Great Northern War, the fortress of Tönning () in the territory of Holstein-Gottorp, an ally of the Swedish Empire, was besieged twice. Denmark–Norway was forced to lift the first siege in 1700, but a combined force of the anti-Swe ...
, 1713.


Charles XII

On the arrival of
Charles XII Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...
from
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
at
Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...
in 1714, Görtz was the first to visit him, and emerged from his presence chief minister or "grand-vizier" as the Swedes preferred to call the bold and crafty satrap, whose absolute devotion to the Swedish king took no account of the intense wretchedness of the Swedish nation. Görtz, himself a man of uncommon audacity, seems to have been fascinated by the heroic element in Charles's nature and was determined, if possible, to save him from his difficulties. He owed his extraordinary influence to the fact that he was the only one of Charles's advisers who believed, or pretended to believe, that Sweden was still far from exhaustion, or at any rate had a sufficient reserve of power to give support to an energetic diplomacy - Charles's own opinion, in fact.


Swedish plenipotentiary

Görtz’s position, however, was highly peculiar. Ostensibly, he was only the Holstein minister at Charles's court, in reality he was everything in Sweden except a Swedish subject - finance minister, plenipotentiary to foreign powers, factotum, and responsible to the king alone, though he had not a line of instructions. He was just the man for the time and his approach was revolutionary. His chief financial action was to debase the currency by issuing copper tokens, intended to be redeemable in better times; but it was no fault of his that Charles XII flung upon the market too great an amount of this money for Görtz to deal with. By the end of 1718 it seemed as if Görtz’s system could not go on much longer, and the hatred of the Swedes towards him was so intense and universal that they blamed him for Charles XII's tyranny as well as for his own. Görtz hoped, however, to conclude peace with at least some of Sweden’s numerous enemies before the crash came and then, by means of fresh combinations, to restore Sweden to her rank as a great power.


Downfall

It is often said that in pursuit of his "system" Görtz displayed a genius for diplomacy which would have done honour to a
Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ( ; 15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich () or Prince Metternich, was a Germans, German statesman and diplomat in the service of the Austrian ...
or a Talleyrand. He desired peace with Russia first of all, and at the Congress of Åland even obtained relatively favourable terms, only to have them rejected by his stubbornly optimistic master. Simultaneously, Görtz was negotiating with Cardinal Alberoni and with the Whigs in England; but all his combinations collapsed with the sudden death of Charles XII. The whole fury of the Swedish nation instantly fell upon Görtz. After a trial before a special commission, in which he was not permitted to have any legal assistance or the use of writing materials, he was condemned to decapitation and promptly executed. Though some historians argue that Görtz deserved his fate for "unnecessarily making himself the tool of an unheard-of despotism," his death is considered by other historians to be a judicial murder, and some historians even regard him as a political martyr.


Personal life

In 1705, he was married to Christine Magdalene von
Reventlow The Reventlow family is a Holstein and Mecklenburg Danish nobility, Dano-German noble family, which belongs to the :De:Equites Originarii, Equites Originarii Schleswig-Holstein. Alternate spellings include Revetlo, Reventlo, Reventlau, Reventlou, ...
(1682-1713), widow of Kai von Rantzau (1650-1704), daughter of Detlev von Reventlow-Reedtz (1654-1701) and his wife, Dorothea von Ahlefeldt (1648-1720). They had two daughters: *Georgine von Schlitz gen. von Görtz (1708-1787) ⚭ Johann Friedrich von Bardenfleth (d. 1736) ⚭ Friedrich von Eyben (d. 1787) *Juliana von Schlitz gen. von Görtz (1713-1750) ⚭ Hieronymus Wigand von Laffert (1686-1765)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gortz, Georg Heinrich von 1668 births 1719 deaths People from the Duchy of Holstein Diplomats for Sweden University of Jena alumni People executed by Sweden by decapitation 18th-century executions by Sweden Executed German people Executed people from Schleswig-Holstein