A message from His Majesty, the King of Swedes, Wends, and Goths, Gustav III of the House of Holstein-Gottorp.

My Dearest, Frederick William II,

I write to you, not from a dire time, but in a time of celebration. Our mutual enemy has been pushed back from Gothenburg and our other mutual enemy has been stalled at the Eastern Border. It is at this time that I can confidently write to you, from the fortress in Gothenburg.

My Dearest King Frederick William II, I wish you a most fantastic 1789 and may this be the year that both of our nations reach majesty. In the past, you and I have never had conflicts and, indeed, it was past monarchs of both our fine kingdoms that had ever gone to arms. Yet in this day and age, in the year of our Lord, 1789, we find ourselves on the same side of a malicious foe.

Russia is a monster and a threat to both of our sovereignties. I know that you are no stranger to the Russians and that I myself share kinship with the deposed Russian monarch. At present, it is Catherine who rules the Tsardom and she is waging an aggressive war against my ally, the Ottoman Turks. I too am engaged with war with her. However, her territorial ambitions see no limit and I fear that she may turn her sights on you next, perhaps to aid her ally, the foul Joseph II in Austria.

Denmark-Norway too, of the House of the ever so insignificant Oldenburg wish to see my sovereign reign cut short. I know that the Danes are oppressing fine Prussian stock in Holstein, the origin of my family, and that they will answer to Russia’s beck and call like a castrated pup.

The Danish control the way to the Western Seas for both of our nations O Dearest King Frederick William II, and at any moment they could blockade both of our fine states by closing the Sound Tolls. It is thus that I come to you in a time of majesty for I have won a resounding victory against our mutual foes at Gothenburg, not without the diplomatic assistance of His Majesty George III and yourself. I wish to propose a formal alliance between our two Kingdoms, so that we may stand against the Russian encroachment from the East. We do not obligate you to come to war against Russia with us under the terms of this alliance, lest you felt the desire to.

In the future, however, we will gladly defend Prussia as we would defend Sveriges, and any Swede will give his life before the Prussian crown just as he would before my crown. To solidify this alliance, I propose a formal betrothal between my son and heir, Gustav IV Adolf (born 1778) and your daughter, the princess Christine Frederike Auguste (born 1780).

Do consider this offer Dearest King Frederick William II, and envision a day when you can rely on the call of your Swedish brethren to take up arms in your name, and see that golden protestant cross flying above Swedish warships defending Prussia’s coasts.

Sincerely, yours under God,

His majesty, King of Swedes, Wends, and Goths, Gustav III