Frederick the Great

Frederick II (1712–1786) was King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786[1], known as a brilliant military campaigner who, in a series of diplomatic stratagems and wars, greatly enlarged Prussia's territories and made Prussia the foremost military power in Europe[1]. He ruled as an enlightened despot and instituted numerous economic, civil, and social reforms[1].

Early Life and Accession

Frederick II was born on January 24, 1712, in Berlin, Prussia[4][1]. Frederick was born into the House of Hohenzollern to Frederick William I of Prussia and Princess Sophia-Dorothea — the sister of George II of Great Britain[3]. Born into a strict and anti-intellectual environment, he had a tumultuous relationship with his father, King Frederick William I, which shaped his character and aspirations[5].

Frederick William was anti-intellectual and cared only for his army, but Prince Frederick, under the influence of his tutor Duhan de Jandun, developed a passionate love for French language and culture[5]. Relations between father and son became extremely hostile, and the king often beat his son and berated him in public[5]. At one point, Frederick attempted to flee Prussia. He was caught, arrested, and imprisoned for a short time by his father[2]. Frederick was forced to watch the execution of his friend Katte at Kostrzyn nad Odr_, who was beheaded on November 6, 1730[8].

The Accession of Frederick the Great refers to the transition of power in Prussia when Crown Prince Frederick was proclaimed King Frederick II on May 31, 1740, following the death of his father, Frederick William I[6]. Fortunately, his loathsome father left Frederick with a strong army and ample funds[3].

Military Campaigns and the Silesian Wars

Frederick ascended the throne upon the death of his father in 1740, and abandoned peaceful pursuits to make his place in the geopolitical intrigue of 18th-century Europe[3]. In 1740 he stunned Europe by launching a surprise invasion of the wealthy region of Silesia, which then belonged to Habsburg Austria[10].

Resurrecting an old Brandenburg testamentary claim to Silesia, Frederick II the Great of Prussia invaded the Austrian province in December 1740 and, after several months of warding off Austrian counterattacks, was left in virtual control of Silesia by the Truce of Klein Schnellendorf (Oct. 9, 1741)[22]. After further warfare from December 1741 to June 1742, the empress Maria Theresa of Austria decided to make peace with Frederick, ceding in the Treaty of Breslau (June 11, 1742) all of Silesia except the districts of Troppau, Teschen, and Jägerndorf[22].

In 1756, Austria, backed by France and Russia, tried to regain control of Silesia. Frederick struck preemptively, invading Saxony, and with his ally Great Britain started the Seven Years War[3]. In 1760, Austro-Russian forces occupied Berlin, and Frederick, reduced to despair, considered suicide[3]. However, the death of Empress Elizabeth of Russia placed advocate Peter III on the throne and Russia withdrew from the war. Although Frederick did not gain territory, the ensuing treaty allowed him to retain Silesia and made him popular throughout the many German-speaking territories[3].

Military Innovations and Tactics

Frederick made considerable use of a military concept known as "interior lines," where a central force can rapidly mobilize against a series of enemies around the periphery who cannot coordinate their attacks and bring overwhelming numbers against the central opponent[2]. Frederick II capitalized on the weaknesses of rival powers, such as Austria and France, utilizing innovative tactics like rapid movement and calculated surprise attacks to achieve notable victories, including the Battle of Rossbach and the Battle of Leuthen. Frederick's approach diverged from the prevailing defensive strategies of the time, emphasizing offensive maneuvers and the importance of seizing the initiative in warfare[20].

Although battles such as Leuthen, fought on 5 December 1757 and described as "…eighteenth century linear tactics at their best" sealed Frederick's reputation as a battlefield commander, his defeats such as the Battle of Kunersdorf, fought on 12 August 1759, were often as crushing as his victories[2]. Napoleon Bonaparte considered the Prussian king as the greatest tactical genius of all time[24].

Having suffered several reverses in his first campaigns with ranks inherited from his father, Frederick initiated a total restructuring of the army. He took complete control, imposing his newly designed concepts of warfare and tactics on every department and personally overseeing every aspect of the army's existence[19].

Enlightened Despotism and Domestic Reforms

He also emerged quickly as a leading exponent of the ideas of enlightened government, which were then becoming influential throughout much of Europe; indeed, his example did much to spread and strengthen those ideas[1]. Notably, his insistence on the primacy of state over personal or dynastic interests and his religious toleration widely affected the dominant intellectual currents of the age[1].

His initial actions as king included distributing food to the needy and abolishing legal torture, positioning himself as a benevolent ruler focused on justice and reform[6]. Frederick gave his state a modern bureaucracy, reformed the judicial system, and made it possible for men not of noble stock to become judges and senior bureaucrats. He also allowed freedom of speech, the press, and literature, and abolished most uses of judicial torture[14].

Religious Tolerance

A deist, Frederick prided himself on religious tolerance. When the Jesuits were expelled from Catholic states, he invited them to seek refuge in predominantly Lutheran Prussia[12]. Frederick, fluent in French as well as German, also introduced legislation that allowed freedom of the press and while he was a religious skeptic, he brought greater religious tolerance for both Roman Catholics and Jews – although he was not always consistent in his toleration – where what became Prussia had been a Lutheran state for centuries[11].

To encourage immigration, he repeatedly emphasized that nationality and religion were of no concern to him. This policy allowed Prussia's population to recover very quickly from the considerable losses it suffered during Frederick's wars[14].

Economic and Administrative Reforms

Frederick organized a system of indirect taxation, which provided the state with more revenue than direct taxation. He also followed Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky's recommendations in the field of toll levies and import restrictions and protected Prussian industries with high tariffs and minimal restrictions on domestic trade[14].

Frederick laid the basic foundations of what would eventually became a Prussian primary education system. In 1763, he issued a decree for the first Prussian general school law based on the principles developed by Johann Julius Hecker[14]. He called it "peopling Prussia." About a thousand new villages were founded in his reign that attracted 300,000 immigrants from outside Prussia[14].

Cultural Patronage and Intellectual Life

An enlightened absolute monarch, he favoured French language and art and built a French Rococo palace, Sanssouci, near Berlin[1]. Frederick shared a noteworthy correspondence with the French philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778), an Enlightenment pioneer, marking a relationship that spanned decades. Through their letters, the two men exchanged ideas on governance, philosophy, and the Enlightenment[11].

Additionally to reforming efforts, Frederick was a patron of music as well as a gifted musician who played the transverse flute. He composed more than 100 sonatas for the flute as well as four symphonies. His court musicians included C. P. E. Bach, Johann Joachim Quantz, Carl Heinrich Graun and Franz Benda[14]. A meeting with Johann Sebastian Bach in 1747 in Potsdam led to Bach's writing The Musical Offering[14].

Legacy and Historical Significance

Frederick, the third king of Prussia, ranks among the two or three dominant figures in the history of modern Germany. Under his leadership Prussia became one of the great states of Europe. Its territories were greatly increased and its military strength displayed to striking effect[1]. Prussia became one of the preeminent powers in Europe[3].

He also laid the foundation for the eventual unification of the German princely states, which would enable Germany to emerge as a major world power at the start of the twentieth century[8]. After the Seven Years' War, the Prussian military acquired a formidable reputation across Europe. Esteemed for their efficiency and success in battle, Frederick's army became a model emulated by other European powers, most notably Russia and France[24].

The American cause during the American War of Independence benefitted greatly from examining the lessons of Frederick the Great. In fact, it also directly benefitted from one of Frederick's former officers[2], Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, who trained Continental Army forces.

He died in 1786[7][3] at his beloved palace of Sanssouci, having transformed Prussia from a minor German state into one of Europe's great powers through military genius, administrative reform, and enlightened governance.