Frederick II of Prussia (1712 - 1786), known as Frederick the Great, was King of Prussia from 1740 until his death. [1] Through the seizure of Silesia and his survival of the Seven Years' War he raised Prussia from a middling German territory to a European great power, while at home he reorganised the administration, law and army. [2] A patron of the Enlightenment, a writer in French and an accomplished flautist and composer, he described himself as the first servant of the state.
Early life
Frederick was born in Berlin on 24 January 1712, the son of King Frederick William I, the austere "soldier king", and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. [1] His father imposed a harsh military education and clashed violently with the boy's interest in French literature, philosophy and music.
At eighteen Frederick attempted to flee to Britain with his friend Hans Hermann von Katte. Both were arrested; Katte was executed in Frederick's presence on the king's orders, and Frederick was imprisoned at Küstrin and set to work in the provincial administration. [2] He subsequently married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern at his father's insistence and settled at Rheinsberg, where he read widely and corresponded with Voltaire.
Wars and expansion
Frederick succeeded to the throne in May 1740 and within months invaded the Habsburg province of Silesia, exploiting the accession of the young Maria Theresa. [3] The First and Second Silesian Wars, fought within the wider War of the Austrian Succession, confirmed Prussian possession of the wealthy province.
The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) pitted Prussia, supported by Britain, against a coalition of Austria, France, Russia and Sweden. Frederick won celebrated victories at Rossbach and Leuthen in 1757 but also suffered severe defeats, and by 1761 Prussia was near collapse. [1] Russia's withdrawal after the death of Empress Elizabeth in 1762 allowed him to end the conflict with his territory intact, establishing his reputation as one of the foremost commanders of the age.
In 1772 he took part in the First Partition of Poland, acquiring Royal Prussia and linking Brandenburg to East Prussia. [3] The wars carried an enormous cost in soldiers' and civilians' lives and in devastation across central Europe.
Government and reform
Frederick centralised the Prussian bureaucracy and worked as an unusually hands-on administrator, reviewing reports and issuing directives personally. [2] He abolished judicial torture early in his reign, supported the codification of Prussian law, promoted religious toleration for Catholics and other minorities within his largely Protestant state, and encouraged immigration to repopulate war-damaged provinces.
He drained marshland in the Oderbruch, promoted the potato and expanded state industry, while leaving Junker privilege and peasant serfdom largely untouched. [1]
Culture and personal life
Frederick wrote poetry, history and political philosophy in French, including the Anti-Machiavel, and composed more than a hundred sonatas and several concertos for the flute. [3] He built the rococo palace of Sanssouci at Potsdam and hosted Voltaire at his court for three years. His marriage was childless and effectively estranged.
Death and legacy
Frederick died at Sanssouci on 17 August 1786 and was succeeded by his nephew Frederick William II. [1] He left Prussia with a large treasury, a formidable army and roughly double the territory he had inherited.
His reputation has been contested: admired as an enlightened absolutist and military innovator, he was also later appropriated by German nationalist and Nazi propaganda, a use historians treat as a distortion of his eighteenth-century career. [2] His remains were reinterred at Sanssouci in 1991 in accordance with his own wishes.
