From the Times of the Seven Years' War

At the center of the last work is the fate of Chancellor de Simonnys, a hunter of happiness at the royal courts of the German Empire. Written vividly and engagingly, in the best traditions of the genre, the novels convey the everyday life, manners, and color of the “gallant Saxony” of the 18th century.
Half of the eighteenth century was a time when Germany was the object of dreams for Italians and Swiss; they couldn’t sit still at home. Seduced by examples of their compatriots, they left their homeland and went to Germany, where at princely and royal courts they sought happiness and careers. There were also many careerists who, leaving home with only a little pouch filled with bold hopes, selling their soul and conscience abroad to reach the desired goal, returned home already titled—or didn’t return at all to their native country, instead writing for their poor relatives and leading them down the same road to a foreign feast.
Especially many such foreigners were found at the Berlin and Saxon courts… The rulers of that time, in the interests of domestic policy, preferred to surround themselves with people who would do anything—more than with their own countrymen, that is with local nobility, which was far more arrogant and took part in intrigues while generally being less obedient. To reduce the power of the latter, August the Strong surrounded himself with Italians and newcomers from various states, having in them obedient executors of his will. This policy was also in fashion at the Berlin court.
With foreigners, no one was shy; being far from home, they were defenseless. When they entered service, they had to obey their superiors—and that’s why they became good servants. Otherwise, if they didn’t obey, they were expelled without any discussions to Königstein or Spandau, and no one dared intercede for them. However, such punishment happened to foreigners less often than to compatriots. Ready to rush into the fire and into the water just to get ahead, some newcomer quickly rose, and whole colonies of such upstarts filled German residences.