Friedrich II von Preu?en, der Gro?e, January 24, 1712 - August 17, 1786), known as Frederick the Great in history. King of Prussia (reigned from May 31, 1740 to August 17, 1786). During the reign, Prussia's military developed on a large scale, its territory expanded, and culture and art were sponsored, allowing Prussia to gain hegemony in Germany. Frederick II was one of the greatest generals in European history, and he made great achievements in politics, economics, philosophy, law, and even music.

Youth

As a young man, Frederick II was given a strict, tough and military education by his father, "Soldier King" Frederick William I. grow up. In 1730 he attempted passage to England with his friend Hans Hermann von Carter. But it ended in failure. They were imprisoned in what is now the German-Polish border town of Küstrin (German: Küstrin), where Carter was executed. Whether Frederick saw or only heard the execution is still debated. Frederick also had close friendships with Peter Karl Christoph von Keith and Hans Karl von Winterfeldt.

His father was repeatedly pressured by pro-Austrian forces (Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow, Jacob Paul von Gundling, etc.). Under their influence, Frederick reluctantly married Elisabeth Christina. Married Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern. Elizabeth was a distant relative of the Habsburg family. The couple did not give birth to a child. Frederick largely lived apart from her, appearing together only on festive occasions. But Frederick agreed before his father died, vowing not to be unfaithful to Elizabeth. The four years in Rheinsberg (1736–1740) may have been the happiest days of the two together, but whether this was true or just a show for his suspicious father has not yet been determined. Conclusion.

Whether Frederick II was homosexual by contemporary standards is still debated. But there is no doubt that he is relatively distant from women. He hopes to see in women the vitality he sees in men. A posthumous autopsy found no venereal diseases or deformities. Because his doctor Johann Georg Zimmermann revealed that Frederick had been infected with a sexually transmitted disease before his wedding. The rare women who were favored by Frederick were the so-called "female landowners" Caroline and Catherine the Great. He also wrote poems to them and maintained correspondence with them.

King

Diplomacy and War

Frederick II ascended the throne in 1740 at the age of 28. When Frederick II, who was inspired by French Enlightenment philosophy, succeeded to the throne, people at the time believed that he would be an enlightened king who was good at thinking, and might even be weak. Indeed, as soon as he came to power, he disbanded his father's Giant Grenadier Regiment (leaving a squadron as a ceremonial guard) and ordered a ban on corporal punishment of soldiers in the army (this order was later revoked during the war). However, Frederick had an excellent army and a sufficient treasury inherited from his grandfather and father, and he was no stranger to war. During the War of Polish Succession, he went to train with Prince Eugen, the number one general in Europe at the time. It's hard to say what skills Frederick could really learn from Prince Eugen in that short period of time, but Eugen did once praise Frederick's calm attitude on the battlefield, and the young Frederick was quite impressed. The elderly Prince Eugen was not impressed. The most important thing is that soon after Frederick ascended the throne, a good opportunity for Prussia's expansion appeared - the War of Austrian Succession.

In 1740, Austria had just ended its war with Turkey in 1739, and the loopholes created were exploited by Prussia. Through this war, he won a piece of Silesia of great economic value for Prussia, which was fragmented and lacking natural resources, and at the same time earned Prussia a border that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. In this war, Frederick II and Field Marshal Count Kurt Christopher of Schwerin won Silesia for Prussia.

He successfully defended the region during the Second Silesian War. In this war, Prussia did not participate in the whole process. It only fought two stages, one and the other. All of them were aimed at annexing the Austrian province of Silesia. For Prussia, it was called the First Silesian War and the Second Silesian War. war, so these two wars were actually part of the Austrian Succession War. At the same time, in this war, Frederick personally led the army for the first time and demonstrated his military talents in several battles.

Although the Austrian Succession War did not officially end until 1748, Frederick's Kingdom of Prussia withdrew from the war in 1745 and stood aside. From this time to the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1756, Frederick won a ten-year peace-building period. Silesia is the center of the textile industry and one of the richest provinces in Germany. Its annual tax revenue accounts for 1/4 of the entire Prussian annual revenue. During these ten years, Frederick not only reorganized the army and developed the economy, but also prepared for the subsequent Seven Years' War.

In the 1750s, Prussia's diplomatic situation became increasingly severe. First of all, Frederick made good friends with Britain and concluded the Treaty of Whitehall, which guaranteed that the British King's territory in Hanover in Germany would not be violated, and would use force to "deal with any country that violated the territorial integrity of Germany." This greatly angered those who competed with Britain. France's overseas colonies. The Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria never forgot to endure hardships. Her Prime Minister, Prince Kaunitz, successfully united the Russian Tsarina Elizabeth Petrovna and the French King Louis XV, and gradually gave her a Prussia had a diplomatic noose tied around its neck and was actively preparing to regain Silesia. Seeing that the situation was getting serious, Frederick decided that instead of waiting for war to come, he would launch a preemptive strike against Austria. Thus began the Seven Years' War. During the Seven Years' War his troops broke into the Kingdom of Saxony. After that, Prussia fought against three neighboring powers at the same time, namely Austria, France and Russia (these three countries formed an alliance under the initiative of Austrian Foreign Minister Konigs). At that time, the ratio of the armies of Prussia and the Alliance was 1:3, and the ratio of the population was as high as 1:20. After seven years of war and facing the edge of national subjugation several times, Frederick finally saved Silesia. He also gained an immortal reputation in military history, winning the title of "The Great" and establishing the personal honor of "Military Genius" . Prussia also became one of the five giants in Europe (the remaining four countries are Austria, France, Britain and Russia). Under the witness of Voltaire, Mirabau and others, he created the most modern country at that time in an era when heroes were competing for hegemony.

Under his initiative (1772), Poland was partitioned for the first time. At that time Austria and Russia, newly allied with Prussia in 1764, were on the verge of armed conflict. For his own benefit, Frederick II used Polish land to satisfy the two countries' desire for land. Prussia annexed the so-called Poland-Prussia by force, which was West Prussia. From then on he called himself Frederick II, King of Prussia (K?nig von Preu?en), instead of calling himself King in Prussia (K?nig in Preu?en) like his two predecessors. In Frederick's later years, he launched the War of Bavarian Succession, which resulted in the failure of Austrian Emperor Joseph II's attempt to exchange Belgium for most of Bavaria. This Austrian plan led to the formation of the Prussian Monarchial Union (1785).

Internal Affairs and Reform

In terms of internal affairs, he promoted agricultural reform (potatoes), military reform, educational reform, legal reform, implemented drainage projects in Dr?mling and Oderbruch, and abolished It also eliminated torture and established a clean and efficient civil service system. His famous saying is "I am the first public servant of this country." He made a lot of contributions to the development of law. In addition, the people of Prussia at that time could seek help from the king by writing letters or asking for an audience. Frederick II tried his best to avoid the abuses of feudalism under his maxim that "the king is the first public servant of the state." In this regard, he was very distrustful of his officials, and he deeply felt that the concept of hierarchy would cause trouble.

“I am not happy that the poor people who are facing lawsuits in Berlin are in such a difficult situation. And they are often arrested, such as Jacob Treher from East Prussia. As soon as he had to stay in Berlin due to a lawsuit, the police arrested him. Later I asked the police to release him. I want to tell you clearly that in my eyes, a poor peasant and the most prominent duke or the most wealthy. There is no distinction between nobles and nobles of money.

Everyone is equal before the law! " (Letter from Frederick II to the Minister of Justice in 1777)

Adhering to the principle of "equality for all", this was a characteristic of his reign. At the same time, he treated immigrants and small religious believers (Hu The tolerance and openness of the Qunots (Catholics) was also one of the characteristics of his internal affairs. In the Fridericianum (Forum Fridericianum) in Berlin, a Protestant church and a Catholic church stood side by side, which was unique in the 18th century. The scenery. Frederick later said: "Jeder soll nach seiner Fa?on selig werden" (meaning: everyone can go to heaven even if they do things differently). But the discrimination against the Jews, Frederick. However, II inherited the policies of his predecessors word for word - the revised general privilege policy in 1750 (Revidiertes General-Privileg 1750) and the Jewish Porcelain Regulations in 1763 (Judenporzellanverordnung 1763). Prussia was the first in Europe to enjoy limited privileges. A monarchy with a free press. Homosexuals were not persecuted under this king.

He hoped to abolish serfdom but failed due to strong opposition from the Prussian landowners. But it could be implemented gradually on the ground. Frederick II established small towns and villages in the newly opened areas to allow free farmers to settle in. When the serf contracts needed to be extended for state reasons, these helpers, farmhands and maids. They would be asked about their employer's status and treatment, and farmhands from employers with poor management might be transferred to employers with good management records.

During the reign of Frederick II, Hundreds of schools were built in Prussia. The quality of teachers in rural schools was mixed and low. These schools could only produce some officers with poor reading and writing skills. Ertai wrote letters and met in Potsdam. He himself wrote a large number of French works and was a very influential writer in Europe in 1740. Very famous. In the book, he used a critical and progressive perspective to analyze Machiavelli's political views on the country. It was confirmed that this rumor was false

Death

On August 17, 1786, Frederick II died peacefully on his sofa in Sanssouci Palace. , died at the age of 74. He had no children and was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II. His wish was to be buried next to his pet dog on the terrace of Sanssouci Palace. His successor, his nephew, buried him in the crypt of the Gleeson Church in Potsdam. In 1944, his coffin was moved to the Elisabeth Church in Marburg until 1952 at the initiative of Louis Ferdinand. Moved to Hohenzollern Castle. But it was not until August 17, 1991, after the reunification of Germany, that the king arrived at the place he wanted to rest under the tomb that had been built during his lifetime. His words "Quand je suis là, je suis sans souci" (Only when I get there will I be free from worries). This free-thinking Franciscan found no peace in the church. He wants his dog to be closer to him.

People built a bust of him in Walhalla to commemorate him. Many monuments were erected after his death, the most famous of which is the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great on Unter den Linden in Berlin. The statue survived World War II and was rebuilt during the Democratic period.

Military Genius

Even ignoring his actions as a politician and his contribution to legislation, his military performance alone is enough to make him occupy a prominent place in history. One seat. In the works of Western military historians, Frederick's status among famous generals in the past may be second only to the four great men of Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, and Napoleon.

In the War of Austrian Succession, Frederick shined for the first time. The Battle of Sol was the first time that Frederick tried to put into practice the diagonal tactics he had thought and designed.

After the war, Frederick wrote his most important military theoretical work, Principles of War (translated as Military Instructions, German: Die General Principia vom Kriege). This book embodies Frederick's summary and thinking of his early war experience. It is not only a practical war theory, but also close to reality. It was the best practical guide to war at that time. Frederick actually wrote this book in French and later translated it into German. It was only distributed to Prussian generals and officers and was not allowed to be circulated outside. However, he did not translate Chapter 12 of the original French version into German, because this chapter was about Frederick's own experience in controlling his subordinates, and of course he did not want his subordinates to see it. Later, in February 1760 during the Seven Years' War, Austria obtained this book from a captured Prussian major general, and it became popular in the world. In 1762, the book was passed to London, where it was publicly printed and published.

During the Seven Years' War, Frederick the Great became stronger after encountering setbacks. With astonishing perseverance and tenacity, he used the power of a small Prussian country to fight against the three major powers of France, Russia, and Austria. The level of madness was astonishing. Comparable to King Charles XII of Sweden or Hitler. The Battle of Rosbach was one of the perfect performances of Frederick's diagonal formation. Today it was selected by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as a classic battle of that era and is reproduced in a large model in its military museum display. Military historians also regard this battle and the Battle of Leuthen as the pinnacle of Frederick the Great's military art, just like Napoleon's Battle of Austerlitz. With these two battles alone, Frederick completely established his status as one of the greatest generals in ancient and modern times, and an eternal military myth of Prussia was born. Later Napoleon said of Frederick the Great: "The more critical the moment, the more great he becomes. This is the highest praise we can say for him."

In the annual autumn exercise in Silesia in 1785, the British brother Prince Frederick (Duke of York), the famous General Cornwallis in the American Revolutionary War, Lafayette The Margraves came to visit and pay tribute to Frederick. The drill methods of the Prussian army commanded by Frederick at that time became a model for all European military circles to imitate. The old king could not help but snicker on the training ground, "I have a hero in the world."

At the tactical level, Frederick can be said to be the first tactician in modern Europe, no less than Napoleon. Especially at the battle level: At that time, Europe did not have the sub-discipline of battle science between strategy and tactics, and Frederick was the founder of grand tactics. The "grand tactics" in German people was the battle science in modern military science. . European military science entered the modern era starting from Gustavus. After the exploration and attempts of famous generals such as Dureny, Marlborough, Eugen, and Sachs, it came to the hands of Frederick, not only in practice, but also in theory. Give a summary. The combat principles he established, such as "protect your flanks and rear, detour the enemy's flanks and rear", "the target of our attention should be the enemy's army", etc., directly guided Napoleon. It can be said that Frederick was Napoleon's first teacher in terms of campaign command.

Trivia

Frederick II played the flute at Sanssouci Palace. He was interested in all arts. He drafted and designed the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam himself and hired the architect K. Built in Noblesdorf. He collected many famous paintings, played the flute well (flute teacher Johann Joachim Quantz) and composed music. He met the composer Johann Sebastian Bach at Sanssouci Palace in 1747.

In addition to his native German, Frederick II could also speak French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. He could understand Latin, ancient Greek and Greek, and Hebrew. In his later years, he also studied Slavic and Basque.

Genealogy

┌——> Frederick William (1620–1688)

│ Prince of Brandenburg

│

┌——> Frederick I (1657–1713)

│ King of Prussia

│ │

│ └——> Louis Henriette von Olanion (1627–1667),

│ ...

│

│ King of Prussia

│ │

│ │ ┌——> Ernst Augustus (1629–1698),

│ │ │ Hanoverian princes, please see below

│ │ │

p>

│ └——> Sophie Charlotte of Hanover (1668–1705)

│ │

│ └——> Palatinate Palace of Sophie (1630–1714)

│ See below

│ ...

│

Frederick II (1712–1786), Frederick the Great

King of Prussia

│

│ ┌——> Ernst August Stuart (1629–1698),

│ │ Hanoverian princes, please see above

│ │

│ ┌——> George I (1660 year–1727)

│ │ King of Great Britain and Princes of Hanover

│ │ │

│ │ └——> Sue of the Palatinate Palace Philip (1630–1714)

│ │ See above

│ │

└——> Sophie Theresia of Hanover (1687 –1757)

...

│

│ ┌——> George William (1624–1705)

│ │ The Dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in Kalundborg and Lüneburg

│ │

└——> The Dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg Sophie Theresa (1666–1726), Princess of Ardennes

...

│

└——> Elionora ·Eleonore d'Olbreuse (1639–1722)

...

Frederick II (1712-1786), King of Prussia (Reigned 1740-1786)

The Prussian spirit is a very awe-inspiring term, but this spirit is based on its militaristic system. The entire country is a large military camp, and the entire national institution is a military machine, fully supporting a huge army that represents the national honor. The "Prussian spirit" reached its peak in the era of Frederick II, and this king also remained in history as the "God of War".

Frederick II was undoubtedly a lucky man, and the capital left to him by his ancestors was abundant. The Hohenzollern family developed from a city-state in the Swiss mountains to the rulers of the vast lands of North Germany, with titles ranging from count to elector to king. More importantly, he was left with a powerful and efficient army. But in his boyhood, Frederick was a man who loved freedom, liked literature and art, resented autocracy and obedience, and was full of rebellious character. He happened to have a father who was a rigid and stubborn "soldier king", so a common battle between control and anti-control began between father and son. However, when this battle happened in the Wang family, it became even more cruel. The young Frederick was often beaten with sticks and verbally stimulated by his father. When he was 18 years old, in order to resist the marriage arranged by his father, he planned to escape with several companions. As a result, he was imprisoned and made to watch the bloody scene of his companions being beheaded.

The days in prison allowed him to survive the restlessness of adolescence. He began to become deep and rational, and the tradition of the Hohenzollern family began to appear in him. In the days that followed, he found a strong interest in politics and military affairs, participated in the practice of the Polish Succession War, and initially established a set of military theories. In 1740, he inherited the throne and also inherited a well-trained army of more than 80,000 people, and continued to expand this army to more than 200,000 people, becoming the practice of his theory that "the basic law of government is expansion." territory” tool.

Frederick was not only an outstanding military commander, but also a wise military theorist. He created the famous theory of "inclined battle formation", the main point of which is to retract one wing of one's own combat team and strengthen the other wing preparing to attack, so that it can form a local advantage and attack the enemy's flank. It is suitable for By attacking more with less, we can achieve victory at a decisive point before the enemy's large forces enter the war. He also established many famous combat principles, such as "protect your flanks and rear, detour the enemy's flanks and rear", and take the annihilation of the enemy's effective forces as the main goal.

Frederick encountered a great opportunity for practice in his first year on the throne. In 1740, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria succeeded her father. Since female succession was unprecedented in Germany, Frederick used this as an excuse to form an alliance with France, Bavaria, and Saxony and launch a war against Austria. Austria was supported by Britain. , known in history as the "War of the Austrian Succession." Frederick was not interested in the Austrian throne. What he wanted was Silesia, a developed industrial base where Germans were concentrated. The war went very smoothly, and the Prussian army soon occupied the entire Silesia, and defeated the Austrian army in the Battle of Morwitz and the Battle of Hortussis. Frederick cleverly took advantage of Austria's conflicts with France and Bavaria and won successive victories. Finally, he ceded the entire Silesia through the Treaty of Dresden and became the biggest beneficiary of this war.

But the stubborn Maria Theresa refused to give up and was determined to recapture Silesia. She used diplomatic means to win over France, Russia, and Sweden to her side, while Frederick formed an alliance with Britain. The war broke out again in 1756, and the war became even more fierce. Britain and France mainly fought overseas, while on the European continent, Prussia alone competed with Austria, France, Russia and other countries. Frederick's diplomatic missteps led to him being outnumbered, but he achieved a series of classic military achievements. The Battle of Rosbach in 1757 was a masterpiece of annihilating the enemy in mobile warfare, and the Battle of Leuthen was a perfect practice of "slanting into the battle formation" and a "masterpiece of motivation and determination." But despite this, in the face of the advancing armies of major enemy countries that were far greater than their own, Prussia's national power was almost exhausted, and Berlin was in danger. Frederick once carried potent poisons and was ready to commit suicide at any time. Fortunately, the change of Russian regime gave him Taking a breather, they finally ended the "Seven Years' War" honorably and saved Silesia.

In terms of territorial expansion, Frederick also used force as the backing and collaborated with Russia and Austria to carve up Poland for the first time in 1772, acquiring a large area of ??land along the Baltic Sea and connecting East Prussia with the country's headquarters. together.

The reason why Frederick is admired by future generations is mainly because of his military reputation, but he was also a master in politics. He gave his rule the most popular label in Europe at the time, "enlightened despotism." In fact, he was more despotic than enlightened. He reorganized the "Highest Administration of Finance, Military and Royal Domains" to make power more concentrated in the hands of the king himself.

He required his ministers to be efficient and honest, but he did not allow them to think independently. "The king is the only mind, and the bureaucracy is just his hands and feet." He asked each minister to focus on the area he was responsible for, and only he could grasp the overall situation. . Of course, the premise of all this is that the king himself is very diligent and never tires of reviewing official documents and letters from morning to night. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as "hardworking".

Of course, as an emperor who was influenced by the Enlightenment ideas of the 18th century, Frederick's "enlightenment" was not just a whitewash. He led judicial reforms that were at the leading level in Europe at the time. He published a unified draft constitution for the first time in Prussia, which expressed the spirit of the rule of law and the spirit of judicial independence in which the king completely gave up interference in the judiciary. He upheld the Roman law that "the affairs of everyone should be governed by In the spirit of "everyone decides", the people were ordered to discuss the legal provisions extensively and solicit opinions extensively. The "enlightened" annotations of statesmen and philosophers in the 18th century, such as religious tolerance, encouragement of scientific culture, and relaxation of censorship of books and newspapers, are all reflected in the Constitution. Frederick called himself "a philosopher of nature" and had close contacts with Voltaire, who was the leader of the Enlightenment. However, they eventually parted ways due to different opinions. In Frederick's thoughts in his later years, "tyranny" "The ingredients are still getting heavier and heavier.

Frederick was committed to improving the conditions of farmers, building water conservancy, and promoting mercantilism. During his more than 40 years in office, despite being devastated by war, Prussia's economy still achieved rapid development, with the population increasing from 2.2 million to 5.43 million, annual tax revenue nearly quadrupling, and treasury reserves increasing from 8 million talers to 5,000. Vantale. What he left to his successors was a strong and prosperous Prussia. He was therefore revered as "Frederick the Great" by later generations.

Frederick the Great was a recognized military strategist, politician and self-proclaimed philosopher. He was also a graceful writer, leaving behind "Principles of War", "Political Model", and "Military Model" , "Formation Methods and Tactics Outline" and many other works. He loved literature and art throughout his life and was good at playing the flute.

Frederick the Great’s military practice and theory were inherited from Gustavus II, Dureny, Eugen, etc., and inspired by Napoleon, Moltke, etc., and he was an important figure in the history of European military development. . He changed the political structure of Europe. Later, Prussia was able to accumulate the power to unify Germany. The era of Frederick the Great was a key. But some people believe that the Prussian of Frederick's era can already trace the shadow of later Nazi Germany. Frederick the Great was a very complex figure, and it seems difficult to summarize in one article. This article mainly focuses on his impact on history, and it may be more appropriate to rank him at 41st, after Suleiman the Magnificent and before Gustav II.