Frédéric II de Prusse, ''Frédéric le Grand'' (German: Friedrich II; English: Frederick II; 24 January 1712 – 17 August 1786) ruled the Kingdom of Prussia from 1740 until 1786, the most profuse reign of any Hohenzollern King, at 46 years. He assumed the throne of the Iron Kingdom after the death of his father. He was the heir to the revered, yet scurrilous, robust, and mentally unstable Soldatenkönig Frédéric-Guillaume I at 28 years of age. As the perpetual patriarch of the House of Hohenzollern, Frédéric's 13-living sibling have aided him in the consolidation of all the reigning dynasties of Europe. During his reign, Frédéric achieved the unification of Hohenzollern blood with Europe's monarchies. He distantly achieved his father's desires, when he espoused his beloved wife, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern. The latter mentioned was the Protestant cousin to Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresia.
Illustriously beloved in name, humble in presence, strict in nature, but graceful sight - Frédéric was one of the most prominent figures of The Enlightenment. He betrothed himself to his Iron Kingdom as the "first servant of the state" - A strong adherent of autocracy and absolute monarchism, there wasn't a single corner in Prussia that did not have Frederician Influence. During his reign, he became known by his people, and evidently all of Europe as Frédéric the Great (Friedrich der Große) and was nicknamed Der Alte Fritz ("The Old Fritz") by the Prussian people and eventually the all of Germany.
Frédéric was courteous, considerate, and good-natured, and he displayed great faithfulness to his friends and family with an undoubted presentation of humbleness. His concept of reigning was undoubtedly humble and staunchly strict, however, he was always conscious of his duty to the well-being of his subjects and the German people.
The Frederician youth was more interested in music, philosophy and enlightenment than the art of war. Such would change in his later adolescence. Nonetheless, upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked Austria, and the Holy Roman Empire, claiming the Duchy of Silesia during the Silesian Wars, as well as adding the Electorate of Saxony to his realm. These swift and shocking attacks revolutionised warfare and thus winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia. Frédéric's reign saw Prussia become the first Absolute Monarchy to give Freedom of the Press, and Freedom of Speech. When he took the throne, Frédéric commissioned Professor Jean Henri Samuel Formey to found a French newspaper for politics and literature in Berlin. First Minister Heinrich von Podewils was ordered to lift the censorship for the non-political part of the newspapers. Political statements, however, were still subject to censorship.
Frédéric's reign modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and streamlined the civil service. One of his prominent changes was the pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation. He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men not of noble stock to become judges and senior bureaucrats. Frédéric also encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Prussia. He notably increased his father's interior work to integrate Huguenots as Prussian citizens, whilst also facilitating the growth of Prussia's Jewish community. Frédéric authorised the construction of some 18 Synagogues in Berlin alone.
Frédéric patronised the arts and enlightenment to a major extent. He praised the likes of Voltaire, Kant, Rousseau and Diderot at the infamous roundtable meetings of his summer palace of Sanssouci. As well as permitting complete freedom of the press and literature, he was an adherent of the emerging enlightenment movement. Frédéric transformed the Prussian realm for the next two centuries; he stored grain in bad times and sold it in good, he established Prussia'to be Europe's fourth-largest military power (A standing army of 200,000 strong), but in drill and principal it was the best. He sought neither expansive overseas colonies or overly-ambitious naval affairs. He preferred to have Europe's greatest army than it's most pathetic navy. An economic reformist, a saviour of the poor, pious and fair; this ''Great'' lived to the name as the father of his Vaterland. He blew melodies on his flute indifferently to the manner of which he drew a sabre on the battlefield. There wasn't a city in Prussia or a liberated country in Germany that refused to pay homage to this 18th-century athenic spartan of cesarian presence.
Early Life
Birth
It was a chilly winters morning on such a jubilant occasion. Frédéric I of Prussia (grandfather to Frédéric) was in his late reign, and the court was gathered in the Berliner Stadtschloß for the birthing ceremony. Frédéric II was born on the 24th of January 1712 to Kronprinz Frédéric-Guillaume I and his consort, Sophie Dorothea von Hannover. He was born to the sound of cannon and bells, an easy baby, requiring only three and a half hours of labour. He was the 4th and penultimate child who was born alive to the Prince and Princesse, who had suffered two infant deaths, prior to the delivery of the young Frédéric. The birth itself was held in great expectation and hope, with the King, Crowned Prince, and the majority of the senior court present in the bedchamber.
When at noon the Grand Chambellan and the Royal Herald appeared on the balcony of the Stadtschloß to ceremonially announce that Crown Princess Sophia Dorothea safely delivered a prince. Artillerymen and Guardsmen shivering on Berlin’s high walls thrust glowing sticks of punk to primed touchholes igniting cannons and musket; young bell pullers in the city churches and cathedrals quickly sweated through winter woollens in a futile bid of bell against guns. All of Prussia was in rejoice.
Baptism
Baptism of Prince Frédéric II of Prussia in the Royal Chapel of the Berlin Castle in 1712.'''Engraving by an unknown artist c. 1712.
Several days following his birth, the infant Prince was baptized at Court. The ceremony, which was carried out in the Schlosskapelle of the Berlin Castle, presided over by the Grand Almoner, Bishop Benjamin Ursinus von Baer, who 11 years earlier co-presided over the coronation of Frédéric I as King of Prussia with Bishop Bernhard von Sanden der Ältere. The newborn was christened Frédéric, a name that, as his grandfather King Frédéric I wrote to a friend, “has always brought good fortune to my House.” The infant Prince was baptized with only one name, Frédéric, and was not given any other names.
The birth of Frédéric was welcomed by his grandfather, Frédéric I, with more than usual pleasure, as his two previous grandsons had both died in infancy. The ceremony adhered to all common practices of the court at the time and had the beautiful princely child was carried on his way by his affectionate and lavish grandfather, who was draped in his ornate stately robes for the occasion, followed by those who would be named his godmother's and godfathers.
With the death of his father in 1713, Frédéric-Guillaume became King in Prussia as Frédéric-Guillaume I, thus making young Frédéric the Kronprinz. The new king wished for his sons and daughters to be educated not as royalty, but as simple folk. He had been educated by a Frenchwoman, Marthe de Roucoulle who later became Madame de Montbaile, and he wished that she educate his children.
Early Childhood & Education
The newly-born Prince Frédéric of Prussia is visited by his grandfather, Frédéric I of Prussia in the Kron-Prinz's apartments of the Berliner Stadtschloss
During his infancy, Frédéric spent the first six years of his life with his eldest sister, Madame Royale, Princesse Wilhelmine. Throughout their lives, Fritz (as he was dubbed by his family) and Wilhelmine held a closely bonded relationship. The two lived in the care of the only French-speaking Grande Gouvernante Marthe de Roucoulle, a French-born Huguenot who had already been a veteran from her tenure as governess to the Soldatenkönig in his infancy. This appointment was due to Roucoulle's high position and her effective caring and the close bond she had shared with all her charges.
Upon reaching the age of four, the Prince was introduced to his suite of Enfants d'Honneur. This suite, of which included the Kurprinz of Hanover, Frédéric Ludwig von Hannover who, at the time was also Prince of Wales and the heir to the British throne, who amongst others, would grow to be Frédéric's closest confidants in his childhood. Frédéric-Guillaume I, popularly dubbed as the ''Soldatenkönig'' (Soldier-King), had created a large and powerful army led by his famous "Potsdam Giants", carefully managed his treasury finances and developed a strong, centralized government. However, the King also possessed a violent temper (in part due to porphyritic illness) and ruled Brandenburg-Prussia with absolute authority. As Frédéric grew, his preference for music, literature and French culture clashed with his father's militarism, resulting in Frédéric-Guillaume frequently beating and humiliating him. In contrast, Frédéric's mother Sophia was polite, charismatic and learned. Her father, George Louis of Brunswick-Lüneburg, succeeded to the British throne as George I in 1714.
Frédéric was brought up by Huguenot governesses and preceptors and learned French, German and Latin simultaneously. In 1716, Fritz was introduced to his precepteur Jacques Égide Duhan de Jandun, a Huguenot refugee and Prussian officer, who had attracted the attention of the King during the Siege of Stralsund in 1715 by his special bravery. Duhan would have the privilege to have taught Frédéric until 1727. In spite of his father's desire that his education be entirely religious and pragmatic, the young Frédéric, with the help of his tutor, Duhan, procured for himself a three thousand volume secret library of Poetry, Greek and Roman classics, and French philosophy to supplement his official lessons.
Marthe de Roucoulle, Grande Gouvernante des Enfantes Royale de Prusse Portrait by Antoine Pesne c. 1735
Duhan developed a close personal bond with his pupil, notably extending the timetable strictly edited by the king, to spend more time with Frédéric. In secrecy, Duhan taught the prince Latin and French Literature and finally helped with the acquisition of the secret library. The Latin lessons were also secretly arranged, and when Frédéric-Guillaume caught them, he punished teacher and student alike-- with blows and kicks. Following the scandal, Duhan was imprisoned in the Tour de Memel prison on the Baltic coast.
Frédéric, while imprisoned at Küstrin, arranged through the Austrian ambassador General Graf von Seckendorff to have Austria pay a secret pension to Duhan. Afterwards, Frédéric received a strict, authoritarian and religious education according to the detailed specifications of Frédéric-Guillaume I, who pedantically prescribed the daily routine of the Crown Prince: From rising at 4:45 in the morning, to "having breakfast in seven minutes time" to washing his hands at 5 o'clock. Then he should go to the King, then he should "ride out, divert himself in the air and not in the chamber," where he could then do "what he wants, if only it is not against God." The King wrote down precise instructions for his heir's governors and preceptors: "On Sunday he is to rise at seven. As soon as he has his slippers on he shall kneel at the bed and say a short prayer to God loud enough for all present to hear. After which, the Lord's Prayer. Then speedily and with all despatch he shall dress and wash himself, be queued and powdered; and getting dressed as well as breakfast - tea, which is to be taken while the valet is making his queue and powdering him - shall be finished and done in a quarter of an hour, that is, by a quarter past seven."
Although Frédéric-Guillaume I I was raised a Calvinist, he feared he was not of the elect. To avoid the possibility of Frédéric being motivated by the same concerns, the king ordered that his heir not be taught about predestination. Nevertheless, although Frédéric was largely irreligious, he to some extent appeared to adopt this tenet of Calvinism. Some scholars have speculated that he did this to spite his father.
Adolescence - Heir to the Gilded Silver Throne
Clash of the Crowns
In 1728, aged 16, Frédéric secretly began writing to the illustrious flautist Johann Joachim Quantz. Quantz was a colleague of Handel and Scarlatti, and one of the most prominent flautists of his time. At the time in 1728, Quantz was the Flautist of the Electoral Saxon and Royal Polish Court in Dresden. By chance, a state visit by the Prussian Court allowed Frédéric and Quantz to meet, arranging their first lesson. This lesson was discovered by the King and immediately banned. Following this, Fritz continued flute lessons with Johann Joachim Quantz, but in secret, which further intensified the conflicts between his tyrannical father, who was only fixated on the military and the economic, and the enlightened prince. Brutal corporal and spiritual punishments by Frédéric-Guillaume I belonged at that time to the regimen of the Royal Family.
The Katte Affair - An unwanted heir of homosexuality
A year later, in 1729, Prince Frédéric encountered the heroicness of 18-year-old Hans Hermann von Katte, a Lieutenant of the Gens d'Armes Cuirassiers. This purple-born prince of illustrious heritage sought the friendship of a young, artistic, and afternoon'ified Officer.
Hans Hermann von Katte as an officer of the Cuirassier Regiment ''Gens d'Armes'' Oil painting by Georg Lisiewski c. 1730
The exact means of their acquaintance is unknown. What is known is that they both shared a love of flute-playing, poetry and literature. Katte became the friend and confidant of Frédéric, who admired the former for his worldliness. Utilizing lettres-secret to his mother, Frédéric had made it so Katte joined him in his tutoring of mathematics and statesmanship. Prussia's own Casanova - Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz described their relation as.. ''Deux jeunes oiseaux chantant la même chanson d'amour et partageant le même nid.'' (Two youthful birds, singing the same love song, and sharing the same nest.)
During the spring of 1730, Augustus II ''The Strong'', King of Poland, had invited Frédéric-Guillaume I and the Prussian Army to take part in field exercises and a tattoo parade at Camp Ziethen, near Schloss Promnitz in Saxony. Tribunes were built between Moritz and Promnitz so that the spectators could comfortably watch a mock naval battle and grandiose fireworks display. August the Strong himself, standing at a window of the banqueting hall of the Promnitzer castle, enjoyed on June 24, the huge five-hour illuminations display on the Elbe River. Several months earlier, 200 carpenters had begun to construct with 18,000 logs and as many planks on the Riesaer side of the river, 80 meters high and 200 cubits wide, in front of the specially built Promnitz Castle, which was covered and painted with 6,000 cubits of linen, to represent a fairy's manor. The illumination was done by 400 carpenters. In addition to the fairy palace, were among some other 60 cannons for mock battles, 48 Mortars for flare throwing, 80 Rocket tripods and 24 Large fire wheels. At the same time, a fleet of ships illuminated the top of their masts and sailed by fire-breathing whales and dolphins.
It was during this immense occasion, that Prince Frédéric had several abrasive arguments with his father. After a heated argument, the Prince approached Katte with a plan of intent to flee to France and eventually to England, in order to escape the brutality and abuse of his father. Katte tried to convince Frédéric not to do so but eventually supported him. The attempt was made on August 5th, 1730. Early in the morning, Fritz and Katte, together with a group of their inner-circle, most notably Peter Karl Christoph von Keith made their dashing escape to (unsuccessfully) to flee to their planned lodgings at Steinsfurt. In the meanwhile, Katte, who kept connections occupied in Potsdam, was unmasked by a compromising letter as a connoisseur of the plot and was soon arrested.
The execution of Hans Hermann Katte in front of the cell window of the Crown Prince Frédéric at Küstrin.Copperplate engraving by Abraham Wolfgang Küfner c, 1730
King Frédéric-Guillaume I threatened to have both of them executed for desertion. The pair were brought before a court-martial at Schloss Köpenick in Berlin. Initially, Katte was sentenced to lifelong imprisonment (with regard to the Crown Prince, the court declared itself not responsible). Later, though, Frédéric-Guillaume hardened the conviction and had signed a death sentence for Katte, and ordered execution by decapitation. Frédéric's sister, Wilhelmine, was also charged with conspiracy, and both were kept strictly isolated for more than a year. The future of Frédéric's life was uncertain, as he and Katte were interred at Küstrin Fortress. On the morning of November 6th, 1730, the guards had awoken the Prince and Katte. Katte was escorted outside, followed by a detail of soldiers and a priest. Frédéric was forcibly taken by the guards and had his head forced out the window -- to watch Katte's execution.
The Soldatenkönig, who initially wanted to execute Frédéric for treason, spared him on the one hand of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau's intercession. Another consideration, on the other hand, was also for geopolitical considerations, after both Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and Prince Eugene of Savoy had written in representation for the Crown Prince's defence. Frédéric was, however, sentenced to imprisonment in Küstrin. His royal status, pensions, and privileges were revoked.
A year following the execution of his lover, Frédéric wrote a letter to his father, to petition his pardoning. Initially, this letter was looked over by the King, at which Queen Sophie immediately retaliated against with the help of Eugene of Savoy. Tensions eased slightly when Frédéric-Guillaume visited Küstrin a year later. Frédéric's arrest was diminished, and he was pardoned. However, he was released on November 18th, 1731, solely on the constriction that he remained in Küstrin to complete his education on statecraft and bureaucracy. Notably, Frédéric was also charged with command of the I. Leibgarde Battalion, which would be stationed in the vicinity of Rheinsberg and Neurreupin. Frédéric was allowed to visit Berlin on the occasion of his sister Wilhelmine's marriage to Margrave Frédéric of Bayreuth on 20 November 1731. The Crown Prince returned to Berlin after finally being released from his tutelage at Küstrin on 26 February 1732.
Engagement
Following his release from Küstrin, Queen Sophie Dorothea began consolidating options for the marriage of her beloved son and heir. After weeks of scrupulous portrait judgments, intelligence reports and political embassies, the Soldatenkönig and his consort reviewed candidates for the marriage of Crowned Prince Frédéric. 1732 was a busy year at Court. Both Frédéric and Wilhelmine were of age to begin the protocols of marriage. A possible bride had to be sought out for Frédéric. Considerably, it had to be someone who wasn't a political intriguer and from some land that didn't have disdain for the Kingdom. For Madame Royale, foreign Princes were considered but then dropped to prevent foreign nations from gaining a foothold in the Realm.
Portrait of the Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, aged 15.Painting by Antoine Pesne c. 1730
Amid royal betrothals, came the unwanted presence of political rivalries. Sophie Dorothea wanted to have her children married to her English relatives from Hanover, whilst Frédéric-Guillaume I asserted that they marry German nobles, possibly even the children of the Habsburg Emperor Charles VI. Desperate to assert her desires, the Queen attempted to arrange a dual marriage of Frédéric to Princess Amelia of Great Britain and Wilhelmine to the Hanoverian Kurprinz Frédéric, Prince of Walls. Both were the children of Sophia Dorothea's brother, King George II of Great Britain. Fearing an alliance between Prussia and Great Britain, Field Marshal von Seckendorff, the Austrian ambassador in Berlin had bribed a hefty sum and dowry to the Prussian Minister of War at the time, Field Marshal von Grumbkow, and the Prussian ambassador in London, Benjamin Reichenbach.
Unable to tame the interests of the Soldatenkönig, there was an inevitable choice that Frédéric and Wilhelmine would be married to German nobles. Following weeks of candidacy, the choice determined that Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, Ducal Princess of Brunswick, shall betroth the Crown Prince.
Handover
In March of 1732, arrangements were being made for the Duchesse de Brunswick, Élisabeth, to make her way to Berlin and begin the elaborate ceremony for her wedding. On the 10th of March, a proxy wedding was held in the Schlosskapelle of the Stadtschloß. A private, though ornate ceremony was held, as Princesse Wilhelmine stood in for her future sister-in-law. Madame Royale's betrothal took place a year prior, when she married Frédéric von Brandenburg-Bayreuth and became Margravine-Consort of Bayreuth.
Schloß Salzdahlum, the baroque pleasure palace and summer residence of the Duke's of Brunswick would be where the act of union would be performed in a proxy ceremony. The occasion was one of mixed feelings, as Frédéric was unconditionally married without fully knowing who his bride was. Fritz was not entirely welcoming of the marriage as she was unsure of the Duchess, but was pleased to be married overall. It was at Salzdahlum, that Élisabeth Christine spent her last night on Brunswick soil as Ducal Princess. The following morning would make her the de-facto Kronprinzessin of Prussia.
The following day was an extraordinarily important one. In a manner of disciplined Spartan rhetoric, Soldatenkönig Frédéric-Guillaume I mounted on a fine silver Schlobitten stallion, rode into Braunschweig at the head of the Prussian procession. The Prussian King's parade consisted of a contingent of 40,000 Soldiers, Guardsmen and Cavalry, with a train consisting of 100 carriages, carrying well over 300 Nobles and Officials. The morning began with the thunder of Prussian cannons, to salute the day. Drums tamboured, whilst fifes shrilled - the Prussians had come to collect their bride.
The following year, the court of Berlin would be expecting the Kronprinzessin instead at Magdeburg, where the meeting of Frédéric and Élisabeth Christine was destined to assuredly take place.
Marriage
Stately Affairs with a Youthful Air
Within a year, the Crowned Prince would return to the Prussian-Brunswick frontier, only this time he would be accepting his bride in the elaborate occasion of a Handover ceremony. Queen Sophie Dorothea insisted on her husband that they retain some pomp from the reign of Frédéric I, in light of a new future for Prussia.
On the Brunswicker side, the Duchess arrived with almost 140 officials, 60 carriages, and an extensive retinue of servants, 5,000 troops, and a crowd of peasants. The Prussian cortège, on the other hand, overshadowed the procession it brought the previous year. Kronprinz Frédéric was attended to by a vast line of almost 250 carriages carrying nobility of varying ranks, not forgetting two Queens (Sophie Dorothea and the Dowager of Frédéric I), and 75,000 troops in all along the travel route. The two great cortèges descended upon the banks of the Elbe River outside Magdeburg on a warm summer morning.
Sandfurth Insel (Île Sandfurth) was the location at which Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern would be handed over to Prussia, becoming Élisabeth de Prusse. On the previous night, the Prussian army was encamped on the Western banks of the Elbe. Filled with excitement and anxiousness, Frédéric turned to his group of confidants (just as he did with Katte). Only this time, things were different. Frédéric had managed to sneak out after dark from the Prussian camp with several of his court favourites, including his flute tutor Johann Joachim Quantz. The group of seven lads had trekked to the banks of the river, where the previous day they had hidden a rowboat. The night was an important one - The Brunswick court was holding a ball in honour of the Handover of their duchess. It was noted by Quantz how nervous Fritz was upon reaching the shore upon their arrival, as the Prince had whispered to him: "Do you believe she'll love me? I believe I shall love her." Indeed Élisabeth de Prusse as she would come to be known would adore her new husband.
Royal Encounter
The following morning from the daring adventure, both courts descended upon the island. Bidding farewell to her companions, the Duchess proceeded into the tent. Once the allegorical ceremony of undressing and dressing was over, Elisabeth Christine was introduced to both the Soldatenkönig and Sophie Dorothea. Following protocols once the documents had been signed, Elisabeth and Frédéric made the ceremonial salutation. After exchanging a formal hug, the pair boarded a fine state coach as the Prussian court adjourned to Magdeburg for a celebratory luncheon. The next day, the great procession departed for Berlin.
Arrival in Berlin
Upon the return to Berlin itself, the couple was prepared for their wedding day, another elaborate ceremony The night spent in Berlin after returning from Magdeburg would be the dawn of a new era for Elisabeth. After being escorted by the Chamberlain, she was introduced to her rooms. Ironically, Elisabeth's rooms faced the towering Berlin Cathedral just across the street on the Île Royale.
Copperplate engraving of the wedding ceremony.
The morning of the wedding was a busy one. Royal Heralds climbed atop the roofs of the great buildings of Berlin stretching from the Brandenburg Gate to the Zeughaus Armory and the Stadtschloß. Great crowds had gathered all across the Mitte-district of the city. The long ceremony was presided over once more by the ageing Bishop von Baer. The ceremony was a lavish one, with crowds along Unter Den Linden between the Brandenburg Gate to the Cathedral. Following the ceremony, a great roar of bells tolled across Berlin and the Prussian countryside, with countless Hussar riders sent to each town and village to keep the chimes scheduled. The court departed the cathedral, for nearby Schloß Charlottenburg, the traditional Court Residence. An embellished gilt carriage of state, draped in flowers and crowned by black-white ostrich feathers and drawn by 12 white horses transported the royal couple. The wide avenues were lined with various tapestries, covering the fronts of old and stately houses, and hoards of Berliners thronged the windows, balconies, and streets around the Crowned Prince and his bride. The infamous Potsdam Giants of the Grenadier Guards lined the route, while the Garde du Corps Cuirassiers escorted the great parade.
Frédéric and Elisabeth arrived at Charlottenburg to much acclaim by the populous, with cries of "Long live the Kronprinz!" and "Vivat! Our Kronprinzessin!" Frédéric-Guillaume I and the Queen headed the parade, followed by Fritz and 'Lisabeth and the senior courtiers. Frédéric expressed a kind and generous countenance, leaning out of his carriage window and waving graciously to the crowds who clambered at the carriage and adorned the young couple in flowers. The crowds were in such large numbers that a troop of Hussars had to briefly intervene in order to clear a path. At the Schloß Charlottenburg, Frédéric-Guillaume I held a formal reception in honour of the young couple. Fritz was eager to look after to his wife during what must have been a confusing time, an example of his compassionate nature.
The reception was a lengthy one, which was then followed by the bedding ceremony. The young Prince and his wife, now the Kronprinzessin, were led in a long procession to the bedchamber. Here, both were undressed and presented into nightwear. They were then put to bed, and blessed before being left to perform their duties... duties of which would never occur. It would later be argued by Historians of the fact of Frédéric's sexuality, as the couple never bore any children, possibly the result of an illness contracted during his relationship with Katte.
Prince of the Army with a State
War of the Polish Succession
Manuel of Braganza, Count of Ourém, the Prussian candidate for the Polish crown.
The War of the Polish Succession (1733-35) was one of the major European conflicts of the 18th century. Poland-Lithuania's crown was at an auction with the death of the infamous king Augustus the Strong (German: August der Starke;) who left the throne vacant as his son's succession was not secure. Augustus failed in an attempt to settle the Polish crown on his son, Augustus III, leading to a contest for the throne when he died in 1733. In the secret 1732 Treaty of Löwenwolde, Russia, Austria and Prussia, agreed to oppose the election of either Stanislaus or Augustus III and to support Manuel of Portugal instead. Augustus II died on February 1, 1733. Throughout the spring and summer of 1733, France began building up forces along its northern and eastern frontiers, while the emperor massed troops on Polish borders, reducing garrisons in the Duchy of Milan for the purpose. While the ageing Prince Eugene of Savoy had recommended to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI a more warlike posture against potential actions by France in the Rhine valley and northern Italy, only minimal steps were taken to improve imperial defences on the Rhine.
Unable to sue for a logical peace, the Sejm Diet of Poland collapsed into anarchy shortly after the death of Augustus the Strong. On August 11, 30,000 Russian troops under Field Marshal Count Peter Lascy entered Poland in a bid to influence the sejm's decision. On September 4, France openly declared its support for Leszczyński, who was elected king by a sejm of 12,000 delegates on September 12. On October 10, France declared war on Austria and Saxony. Louis XV was later joined by his uncle, King Philip V of Spain, who hoped to secure territories in Italy for his sons by his second marriage to Elizabeth Farnese. Soon, all of Europe ignited into the flames of war, as the French marched for the claims of Stanisław Leszczyński, while Russia and Austria marched for the reign of Frédéric Augustus.
Stanisław Leszczyński, previous King of Poland from 1704-1709, the French candidate for the Polish throne.
Frédéric August II von Sachsen, Prince-Elector of Saxony, serving as the Austrian and Russian candidate for the Polish throne.
In Berlin, Frédéric-Guillaume and Sophie Dorothea had agreed for young Frédéric to participate in the war effort and gain his first military education. The infamous, elderly, and illustrious Eugene of Savoy had opted to take Fritz as his Aide, and bring him on the campaign against the French. Several weeks after Prussia entered the war, Warsaw soon fell to the Russians, which forced Leszczyński to flee to Danzig. This move culminated in Danzig coming under Russian attack as the forces of Field Marshal Lacy laid siege. Following a strenuous and deadly siege, Danzig capitulated in June 1734, and Leszczyński was forced to flee once more, this time first toKönigsberg and eventually to France, where he took refuge at Versailles.
The war was an irritable affair, causing confusion for all sides. The French had poured all their resources into a front against Austria and Prussia in the Rhein, whilst pro-Leszczyński forces skirmished in the western parts of East-Prussia against the forces loyal to Augustus and the Russians. In the meanwhile, Frédéric and Eugene directed the Imperial forces against the French in the Rhine, following the French entry of the war in October. In the early winter months, the French invaded Lorraine and Trier, then besieging the fortress of Kehl. Unable to fully consolidate the capture of the fortress, Eugene's forces soon arrived to relieve the nearby city of Strasbourg from French siege. The war soon turned, however, as Frédéric lead a Prussian contingent, with the aide of Eugene of Savoy, with a raid on Augustus' native Dresden in the middle of 1735. The siege of Dresden prompted Augustus to agree to the demise of his claims to the Polish throne, as he was put under house arrest by Frédéric's forces. The Swedes and Russians had occupied Warsaw, and the war was all but over.
As 1735 progressed with the Austrians being in no real position to continue the fight, and the French concerned by the possible arrival of Prussian and Russian reinforcements on the Rhine (which did eventually occur), negotiations continued through the summer of 1735. A prefatory peace was finally concluded in October 1735 and ratified in the Treaty of Vienna in November of 1738. Stanisław Leszczyński was officially, once again, confirmed as King of Poland, whilst Frédéric Augustus was compensated with retaining the Saxon crown. France was stipended with the ownership of Lorraine, and Austria gained Parma.
Petit Cour de Rheinsberg
The war was the last significant event of the Soldatenkönig's reign. Weakened by gout, and looking to reconcile with his son, who fought with valour during the war, Frédéric-Guillaume I granted Frédéric the estate of Rheinsberg, north of Berlin. The Estate was purchased in March of 1734 by the Soldatenkönig for a sum of 74,000 Thalers. The estate was slightly dilapidated and required some work to satisfy the young Kronprinz and his bride. The task of Rheinsberg's architecture was delegated to a friend and soldier of Frédéric's circle - Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. von Knobelsdorff was an accredited architect and would be a prominent figure in Frédéric's early life in the years between the court of Rheinsberg and his early reign as King. The single-storey building was expanded to include an upper floor and the east wing was extended by 25 meters. In addition to these great extensions, two towers were constructed to complete the facades. The old castle was enveloped in a simplistic Baroque facade, thus beginning Frédéric's architectural style, known as Friderician Baroque.
Crowned Prince Frédéric and Crowned Princess Elisabeth of Brunswick on a boat with their court at Rheinsberg.
Situated on a moat, supplied by water from the Greinericksee Lake, the small baroque Château was the ornament of the town of Rheinsberg. The vast property was adorned by fine gardens styled à la française. It was here at Rheinsberg, that Frédéric spent, as he quoted the ''..happiest moments in all my life, with Madame.'' A modest pension of 35,000 Thalers per annum from his mother permitted Frédéric to maintain a small court at Rheinsberg with Elisabeth. Together the pair assembled a court of musicians, philosophers and some of Europe's greatest minds, such as Voltaire and Rousseau. In Rheinsberg, Frédéric assembled a small number of musicians, actors and other artists. He spent his time reading, watching dramatic plays, composing and playing music with his chamber orchestra. In history, the court at Rheinsberg was regarded this time as one of the happiest of his life. His mother, Queen Sophie Dorothea would be a frequent visitor, often becoming the star of court society and informing Frédéric of the latest from Berlin. It was at Rheinsberg that Frédéric would also found Prussia's first masonic lodge - the Boyard Order. He would appoint his close friend, Freiherr Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué as the Grand Master. Fouqué was the second son of a Huguenot nobleman who had emigrated from France as a result of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Fouqué had come to befriend the Crown Prince on a visit when the prince was interred at Küstrin.
Inheritance of the Iron Kingdom
In the late 1730s, it would become apparent that the Prussian Throne would soon be sat upon by Frédéric. This youthful prince of 28 years would come to have one of Europe's finest crowns to inherit. Prussia's throne was suffering from neither bankruptcy or corrupted bureaucracy or a succession crisis. Rather, this Iron Kingdom was blooming like a young eagle chick, that was about to spread its wings and soar to the skies for the very first time. Soar, this eagle, did, indeed.
Europe c. 1740, displaying the Kingdom of Prussia at Frédéric's inheritance.
Frédéric had at his disposal the typical tools for exercising power in modern times, as a modern, enlightened, and absolute monarch. A hallmark of Frédéric's possessions that he would inherit is that the Hohenzollern territories brought together by marriage, inheritance and war, which differed structurally from one another, were brought together and held by the dynasty itself. In the western stretches of Prussia along the Franco-Dutch frontier sat the Duchies of Cleves-Jülich-Mark, rich in their natural metal and woodland resources. Landlocked Brandenburg was the capital of the Realm, but despite this, Brandenburg was wealthy in forests that included mulberry trees for silks and fabrics. South of his realm, lay Prussian-governed Switzerland, centred on the Principality of Neuchâtel. On the far Eastern stretches of Prussia lay the native homeland, East-Prussia, with it's ancient and fortified capital, Königsberg, the seat of Prussia itself. In the Holy Roman Empire, the Hohenzollerns ruled several enclaves, such as the Principality of Hohenzollern, in which the seat of the dynasty itself - Hohenzollern Castle stood atop Hohenzollern Mountain in Württemberg.
This specific process of dynastic state formation and unification was primarily driven by Frédéric's ambitious father. A Prussian population estimated at 2.24 million might not be enough to confer great power status, but it turned out that a standing army of 80,000 men could be. Moreover, the Prussian infantry trained by the Soldatenkönig was, at the time of Frédéric's accession, arguably unrivalled in discipline and firepower. The ratio of One soldier for every 28 Citizens was far higher than the One-to-350 in Great Britain, another aggressively expansionist power of this period.
Prussia's treasury was filled with an abundant sum of 35 million Thalers, thanks to Frédéric-Guillaume's thriftiness and his extensive reforms. Canal expansion between the Oder and Elbe strengthened trade in bulk goods such as grain, salt and wax, wood, saltpetre and potash. These waterways made Berlin the hub of industrial production, trade and commerce. It was due to this boom in commerce whereby Frédéric was able to build on traditional funding mechanisms. In addition to civilian linen and silk productions, armaments trades such as the Spandau rifle factory thrived.
Reign as King of Prussia
Death of Frédéric-Guillaume I
Near the end of his life, Frédéric-Guillaume I had become extremely fat with a weight of 123 kg. He was a short man with a large head on a short neck and his belly had increased to a width of 225 cm. Dropsy made his body swell even more and he was forced to use a wheelchair. As a diversion from this melancholic state, the aged monarch liked to paint and he used to sign his paintings with "In tormentis pinxit" (painted in pain). During his final illness, Fritz suggested summoning an eminent doctor, but the Soldatenkönig retorted that his own physician could kill him without assistance. Frédéric-Guillaume I was constantly tortured by horrible pains, dropsy and gout. In March of 1740, he suffered from a "constant burning sensation and cruel pains in the intestines". In May of that year, he gave precise instructions for his funeral. He wished for a simple ceremony, with neither great pomp or bother on the public.
Early on the morning of May 31st at Court within the Stadtschloß of Berlin, the King awoke in a frenzy. Frédéric-Guillaume had himself hastily wheeled into the Queen's apartment into her bedchamber and said to her: "Get up! I am going to die today." Leaving his consort half-confused and half-shocked, he was wheeled back to his own room and ordered the horses to be brought out of the Écurie in front of his window. Hours passed while the illustrious King's health gradually got worse and he eventually died later in the afternoon. The event of the King's death was a great shock to the Court, who, despite their mixed emotions, were deeply moved by the passing of the Soldatenkönig.
It was on the 31st of May in 1740, that the grim reaper had brought what Frédéric called his ''Egyptian servitude'' to an end. It was on this day that Frédéric William had died of a Porphyritic bout. Frédéric was now king, as Frédéric II of Prussia and could do as he pleased, free from his father's parsimonious grip. In the lavish throne room, the court had gathered in mourning, as the groans of the dying King were heard throughout the great castle. As the King's last rites were given, a French Huguenot friend of the-then Crowned Prince, Marquis d'Alembert confided to his now Sovereign: "Les philosophes et les hommes de lettres de tous les pays vous ont longtemps regardé, Sire, comme leur chef et leur modèle." (The philosophers and the men of letters in every land have long looked upon you, Sire, as their leader and model.) Such devotion, however, had to be tempered by political realities. The funeral of the Soldatenkönig was Prussian in nature and ceremony. Following the embalming and autopsy, the King's body was dressed in the uniform of his beloved Potsdam Giants and laid in state for several days in the Berlin Cathedral. Following this, draped in a flag, with black velvet, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage, normally used to draw the train of a mighty cannon. The procession departed for Potsdam, where the King would be interred in the church he built - the Garrison Church. Once his funeral had taken place, the coronation of Frédéric II was immediately on the mind of the Prussian populace.
Coronation
Two weeks had passed since the funeral of the late King. June 20th of 1740 would mark the occasion of the enthronement of Frédéric II as King of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg, and Sovereign of all his Realm. The Court Jewellers were appointed to resurrect the great regalia from the vaults of the Berliner Stadtschloß and restore them to pristine glory for the coronation. As if it were a call to homage, the court was moved suite, as the coronation arrangements were made to be held at Königsberg Castle once more in East-Prussia.
Enthronement ceremony of Frédéric II at the Berliner Schloss c. May 31st 1740
The coronation outfit of Frédéric II was prepared; A fine silk suit of deep Prussian blue velvet with ornate golden patterns and designs; Heavy ermine and gold thread used to weave Prussian Eagles and Crowns; White stockings, with golden lace ribbons of the finest quality were sent as a gift from the aspirational Ottoman Sultan Mehmed I. Amongst his costume were fine leather shoes with diamond-studded Eagle buckles, adorned to his torso was the full dress of the Order of the Black Eagle. Aside from this, was the heavy use of diamonds, sapphires, and pearls.
The Court was moved from Berlin to Königsberg for the coronation, with Frédéric taking up the central apartments, while Elisabeth took her rooms, once those of the Electress of Brandenburg. Frédéric would be attended by his newly appointed Grand Maître de Prusse, along with several chosen Gentlemen of the Bedchamber. They would dress him in the ornate coronation regalia before his procession. In her rooms, Queen Elisabeth was dressed in her regalia, to meet her spouse. An elaborate gilt state coach, adorned with golden sculptures and painted with scenes allegorically heralding Prussia, was drawn by a team of 12 white stallions, each sumptuously equipped in an exquisite livery. When the time finally arrived, Frédéric would travel in this elaborate gilt carriage, but this time, his mother riding behind her own carriage. Escorted by Garde du Corps cuirassiers and other guard troops, the long procession was followed by the Hohenzollern kinsmen, the Princes of the Blood, the Foreign Princes, and the various Nobility.
The ceremony was carried out in the Prussian tradition of two Archbishops, one Calvinist, and one Lutheran. Amongst a great entourage of clerics, the ceremony was elaborate and reminiscent of the times of Frédéric I and the early court. Celebrations for the Prussian coronation lasted several weeks, with a series of ballets and operas, hunts, dances, and games being carried out both within the court and across the Realm. The day itself had much fanfare, as reportedly over a quarter-of-a-million onlookers had gathered not just from the Prussian populace, but also foreign nations. It was the beginning of a new era in Prussia. The Frederician Period thus had its debut.
Early Acts
Reformation of the State
The Friderician Monarch was greatly interested in enlightening his subjects. Frédéric II considered himself as a despot of enlightened absolutism. In following his dedication to his people and the throne, he declared himself as the "first servant of the state". He pushed for far-reaching social reforms, abolished torture and pushed for the expansion of the education system. By the close of his reign, Prussia not only had Europe's strongest military and abundant economy, but it was also home to Europe's first public education system. Frédéric modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation. He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men not of noble stock to become judges and senior bureaucrats. Frédéric also encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Prussia, although he enacted oppressive measures against Polish Catholic subjects in West Prussia. Frédéric II helped transform Prussia from a European backwater to an economically strong and politically reformed state. He protected his industries with high tariffs and minimal restrictions on domestic trade. He reformed the judicial system, allowed freedom of speech, the press and literature. He abolished most uses of judicial torture, except the flogging of soldiers, as punishment for desertion. The death penalty could be carried out only with a warrant signed by the King himself; Frédéric only signed a handful of these warrants per year, and then only for murder. He made it possible for men not of noble stock to become judges and senior bureaucrats.
Corpus Iuris Fridericianum
The Friderician Monarch was greatly interested in enlightening his subjects. His first task was to reform the Prussian judiciary, and he did such by abolishing the barbaric use of torture and codifying the legal system. Frédéric saw torture as a cruel and uncertain means of discovering the truth and throughout his life believed that "twenty guilty men should be acquitted rather than one innocent cretin". Effectively all uses of torture were abolished, except for those criminals who committed crimine laesae maiestatis (lèse majesté) or treason. From the beginning of his reign, Frédéric consolidated in his judiciary reforms, by issuing the Corpus Iuris Fridericianum. This great civil law code would later be the foundation for the Napoleonic Code, due to it's effectiveness. Despite being issued, the code itself wasn't fully ratified until after the King's death, in 1794. The Corpus was the genius of Frédéric's tuition to have Europe's most honest courts, without having to go to great lengths. He was aided in it's composition by three consecutive justice ministers, each of which contributed greatly to the code's development.
Immigration & Religious Freedoms
Prussia itself was unique for being the centre of Protestantism in Europe, amongst its other virtues. Whilst the state observed Protestantism, it was believed by Frédéric II that his subjects were in their rignt to worship whichever faith they chose, including the Jewish. The tolerance and openness towards immigrants and religious minorities such as Huguenots, Jews and Catholics, which was not entirely unselfish for Prussia in economic terms, was not a reform, but was practiced even before his reign. It was only two days after his coronation, that on June 22nd, when Frédéric II was asked of his policies on religious freedoms, that he replied with one of his most famous quotes: ''Toutes les religions doivent être tolérées ... car ... chaque homme doit aller au paradis à sa façon.'' (All religions must be tolerated... for... every man must get to heaven his own way.)
Commerce, Trade and Mercantilism
Frédéric II was intent on making Prussia one of Europe's greatest powerhouses for trade. Berlin was the centre of Prussia's own unique silk road, as all commerce of his Realm converged upon Berlin at somepoint in it's commercial lifespan. In 1742 a royal edict was passed, which ordered the planting of mulberry trees for silkworm breeding for Prussia's increasing will to become independent of foreign silk markets and trade wars.
Freedom of the Press, Literature, and Speech
When Frédéric II took the throne, he instructed his Huguenot friend, confidant and cleric, Professor Jean Henri Samuel Formey to found a French newspaper for politics and literature in Berlin. He ordered his chief minister Graf Heinrich von Podewils to lift the censorship for the non-political part of the newspapers. However, political statements were still subject to censorship. Prussia was thus the first absolute monarchy in Europe in which (although limited) freedom of the press was introduced. During his reign, Frédéric II had passed an edict, acclaiming that all citizens could contact the king by letter or even in person, regardless of who they were. Prussia was growing out of feudalism, and transitioning into an enlightened realm of an educated populace. Frédéric was particularly suspicious of his own officials, to whom he assumed a pronounced lack of class to the detriment of the poorer classes.
The Pragmatic Crisis: Death of Emperor Charles VI
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor in his late reign c. 1739 painting by Johann Gottfried Auerbach.
The Pragmatic Sanction (Latin: Sanctio Pragmatica) was an edict issued by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1685-1740), on 19 April 1713 to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions could be inherited by his eldest daughter. These possessions, of their vastness, included the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Netherlands, were to be inherited by a daughter. Most notably his eldest daughter, Maria Theresia.
Charles VI was indeed ultimately succeeded by his own elder daughter, Archduchess Maria Theresia (born 1717). However, despite the promulgation of the Pragmatic Sanction, her accession in 1740 resulted in the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession. The sanction had been signed by the major powers of Europe, including Prussia. However, when he came to the throne, Frédéric II rejected the sanction, as he was opposed to the idea that a woman, especially one such as Maria Theresia, was capable of ruling the Holy Roman Empire.
Although her father had tried everything to gain recognition for the Pragmatic Sanction in Europe, Maria Theresia's inheritance of the Empire was questioned. The Bavarian Wittelsbach's established their inheritance claim from a Will of Ferdinand I von Wittelsbach in 1543. The Saxon Wettin's registered claims to Bohemia. For Prussia and Frédéric, they declared claims over the wealthy province of Silesia, relying on old traditions to legitimize his claims to Silesia. But above all, Frédéric II saw the uncertain situation in Austria as favourable to add Silesia to his realm. Even France saw an opportunity for war.
War of the Austrian Succession: 1740 - 1748
Preparations for War
Consolidating on Austria's weakened state, Frédéric II saddled his horse for the first time, as King of Prussia. Frédéric sought an amicable alliance with Louis XV of France against their natural Habsburg enemies, with the signing of a mutual alliance pact in July of 1740. Louis agreed France would attack Austria from the west, while Prussia did so from the east.
Thanks to the exploits and genius of his father, and his long-time friend, Field Marshal Prince Leopold I. von Anhalt-Dessau, nicknamed by history as Der Alte Dessauer (The Old Dessauer), Prussia's army was the strongest in Europe. It had avoided recent combat, making it something of an unknown factor, while its standing army of 80,000 was disproportionately large, at around 4% of its 2.2 million population. Austria had an army twice the size of Prussia, at 160,000, but it's forces were ill-supplied, spread thin, and they only acted as a weak sieve against foreign invasion. To add to these qualitative advantages, Frederick ensured a two-front war through his treaty with France.
First Silesian War: Campaigns of 1740-1742
In the actions of Julius Caesar, Frédéric II referred to his desires for crossing the Rubicon in a letter to his minister Podewils on the 1st of November: ''I am giving you a problem to solve, Monsieur. When one is in a favourable situation, should one make use of it, or not? I am ready with my troops and everything else; if I don't take advantage of it, I shall have my hands an asset I don't understand [Silesia] how to use it; If I do take advantage of it, it will be said that I know how to make the superiority I enjoy over my neighbours work for me.'' This letter was the result of a conference between Frédéric II, Field Marshal Graf von Schwerin, and the Prussian War Commissariat held at Rheinsberg three days prior. Podewils urged caution. He proposed negotiations with Austria. In return for Silesia, Austria could obtain Prussia's military support, a vote for Maria Theresia's husband, Franz II Stephan, as Holy Roman Emperor, and a bid of 2 million Thalers. Frédéric would have none of it. In all the trials and tribulations of the next eight years of war, Frédéric had always kept an eye, sometimes two, on his neighbouring German princes, especially Saxony. Soon Prussia would be joined by Bavaria, Saxony, and France in a crusade against the heathen Habsburgs.
The decades of preparatory work by his father and the Alte Dessauer would finally come into fruition. Other European armies took months to mobilise--the Russians could take a year or more--but Frédéric was able to field his army in just a matter of weeks. On the 26th of October, he learned of the emperor's death; on the 7th of November, he ordered his regiments to be made ready; on the 2nd of December, Frédéric returned to Berlin from Rheinsberg; on the 8th of December the Prussian infantry marched off from Berlin in a great parade. Frédéric himself departed his capital on the 13th of December; three days later, at the head of the 1st Corps, this Prussian caesar crossed the Rubicon into Silesia. Austria had only fielded a garrison of 3,000 troops in Silesia, which resulted in the conquest being more-like an occupation. Spread thin and unwilling to combat the Prussians, the Austrians retreated to all but the three fortresses of Glogau, Glatz, and Neisse.
On New Years' Eve of 1740/1741, Frédéric wrote to Podewils: ''You are the cleverest charlatan in the world and I am the luckiest child of fortune, our names will never be forgotten by posterity.'' A week later, the monarch had set off to demonstrate to the other courts of Europe that, far from being chimerical, his project would be brought to a triumphant conclusion most gloriously that the world had ever seen. By the beginning of January 1741, Frédéric had reached the Silesian capital, Breslau, and occupied it unopposed and greeted with a hero's welcoming; by January 17th he could claim in a letter to his friend and confidante Graf Francesco Algarotti that the entirety of Silesia was in Prussian hands. Accordingly, with the invasion Prussian of Silesia, the French began to cross the Rhine later that year, on 15 August and joined the Bavarian Elector's forces on the Danube and advanced towards Vienna. A French corps moved via Amberg and Pilsen. The Elector marched on Budweis, and the Saxons (who had now joined the allies against Austria) invaded Bohemia by the Elbe valley. Soon, the great city of Prague came under an Allied siege by Prussia, France, Saxony, and Bavaria. With fewer Austrian troops in Silesia Frédéric now had an easier time. The remaining fortresses in Silesia were taken by the Prussians. Before he left Silesia, Austrian General Graf Neipperg had made a curious agreement with Frédéric II, the so-called Klein–Schnellendorf Agreement (Signed on the 9th of October 1741). By this agreement, the fortress at Neisse was surrendered after a mock siege, and the Prussians agreed to let the Austrians leave unmolested releasing Neipperg's army for service elsewhere.
Treaty of Berlin: Armistice of 1742
In late March of 1742, an Austrian force under General Laudon attempted to relieve the siege of Neisse, but the main Prussian force under Frédéric engaged and defeated it in the Battle of Mollwitz on 10 April, securing Prussian control of the region. The ensuing battle created an opportunity for all of Europe to capitalise on Austria's weakness. Seeing Austria's defeat at Mollwitz, other powers were emboldened to attack the beleaguered archduchy, widening the conflict into what would become the War of the Austrian Succession. As Bavaria, Saxony, France, Naples and Spain attacked Austria on multiple fronts during the succeeding months, Frédéric began secret peace negotiations with Empress Maria Theresia, with the help of his mother, who conferred with her nephew, King George II, who enabled the British to urge and mediate between Austria and Prussia. The First Silesian War was over.
Second Silesian War: Campaigns of 1743-1745
Frédéric II victoriously enters Breslau, the capital in Silesia, following the end of the First Silesian War.
Peace with Prussia allowed the Austrians and their British–Hanoverian allies to reverse the gains made by the French and Bavarians in 1741. By mid-1743 Austria recovered control of Bohemia, drove the French back across the Rhine, and occupied Bavaria. In September 1743 Britain, Austria and Savoy concluded a new alliance under the Treaty of Worms, which led Frédéric to suspect that Maria Theresia meant to retake Silesia as soon as the war elsewhere was concluded. Consequently, on the 7th of August 1744, Prussia declared its intervention in the ongoing conflict on behalf of Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria, and Frédéric led his army across the frontier into Bohemia on 15th August, beginning the Second Silesian War.
Having made peace with Bavaria in late April, Austria prepared for a large-scale invasion of Silesia, moving the army of Prince Charles of Lorraine into Moravia, while a Saxon army organised near Leipzig. Meanwhile, Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau (Der Alte Dessauer) was put in command of a smaller force in Brandenburg to prevent a Saxon invasion. At the end of May, the Austro–Saxon force converged through the Great Silesian Mountains and camped around the Silesian village of Hohenfriedberg, where Frédéric staged a surprise attack on the morning of June 4th. The ensuing Battle of Hohenfriedberg ended in a decisive Prussian victory, sending Prince Charles's army retreating in disarray back into the mountains. Hohenfriedberg would be one of the greatest landmark victories of Frédéric's reign as a military commander.
All hopes of Austria regaining were lost, as the shattered army of Lorraine fled into the mountains. The Prussians pursued the retreating Austro–Saxon army into Bohemia, harassing its rear as far as Königgrätz, where the two forces combatted at the first Battle of Königgrätz on June 12th, 1745, a great Prussian victory that would later be repeated in 1866. In 1745, three of the greatest battles of the war occurred: Hohenfriedberg, Kesselsdorf and Fontenoy. All of which was a Prussian and French victory. Meanwhile, another Prussian army under the Alte Dessauer advanced into western Saxony, attacking and destroying the main Saxon army in the Battle of Kesselsdorf on 15th December, after which the Prussians occupied Dresden.
Treaty of Dresden: Prussia's piecemeal with Austria
After linking up his army with Leopold's, Frédéric occupied the Saxon capital of Dresden, forcing the Saxon Elector Frédéric August to capitulate. Once again, Frederick's stunning victories on the battlefield compelled his enemies to sue for peace. Under the terms of the Treaty of Dresden, signed on 25th December 1745, Austria was forced to adhere to the terms of the Treaty of Breslau ceding Silesia to Prussia.
In Dresden, the belligerents quickly negotiated a peace treaty, under which Maria Theresia recognised Prussian sovereignty in Silesia and Glatz, while Frédéric acknowledged Franz Stephan as Holy Roman Emperor and committed to neutrality for the remainder of the War of the Austrian Succession. For its part in the Austrian alliance, Saxony was compelled to pay one million rixdollars in reparations to Prussia. Despite its debt, Saxon elector Frédéric August II offered to Frédéric to cede Saxony as a satellite state to Prussia, pledging an allegiance. This deal was more than satisfactory, as Prussia would walk away from Austria with Silesia, Saxony, and the Glatz as his treasure.
Restoration of Peace
Schloß Sanssouci
Sanssouci was the most personal of Frédéric's residences as King of Prussia. He first laid eyes upon the sight as Kronprinz in the late 1730s, when his father had cultivated the land for a public park in Potsdam. He returned to this site, as King, in late 1744 with his friend and architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. During the winter between 1744-1745, Frédéric returned to Potsdam, to begin plans for his new Lustschloss (pleasure palace.)
Schloss Sanssouci
The hill on which Frédéric created his terrace vineyard palace was to become the focal point of his demesne, crowned by the new, but small, palace—"mein Weinberghäuschen" ("my little vineyard house"), as he called it. With its extensive views of the countryside amid nature, Frédéric wanted to reside there sans souci ("without a care") and to follow his personal and artistic interests. Hence, the palace was intended for the use of the King and his private guests—his sketch indicated the balanced suites "Pour les etrangers" and "Pour le Roy"— only during the summer months, from the end of April to the beginning of October. The harmony between art and nature is also reflected in the location and design of Sanssouci Palace at the height of the vineyard, as the palace resembled an Italian villa, enthroned on a terrace.
On April 14th, 1745, the cornerstone was laid by Frédéric II in a brief and formal ceremony. After only two years of construction, the inauguration of the vineyard palace took place on May 1st, 1747, although not all rooms had been completed. Except in times of war, Frédéric II lived there from late April to early October. The enlightened monarch would hold court at Sanssouci for over 40 summers during his reign. He lived and died, Sans-Souci.
Foreign Acquisitions
The War of the Austrian Succession had brought about many rewards for Prussia. Now not only did the immensely rich province of Silesia now belong under the realm of the Iron Kingdom but there, too, were acquisitions to be made just east of the borders of Brandenburg. After two centuries of political decline, the Principality of East Frisia's line of hereditary Princes had died-out in 1744 as the last Cirkensian prince died without any heirs. On March 14th, 1744, Frédéric II had signed the treaty of the Emder Convention, of which annexed the county to Prussian rule. Not only did Prussia gain the principality of East-Frisia, she also gained it's neighbouring Duchy of Oldenburg when the Dukes joined the convention, seeking better terms for independence from their Dutch overlords.
Friendships and Family
From a young age, Fritz often aligned with his siblings and mother in a coalition against their father's brutality. Throughout his life, Frédéric II held his eldest sister - Wilhelmine (Madame Première) and the Queen-Dowager in the highest of regards. In Wilhelmine, he found great confidence, and companionship - something that would remain until their parting of her tragic death which abruptly paused the 1758 campaign during the Seven Years' War. The two siblings last saw each other in June of 1758 in Wilhelmine's court at Bayreuth. Madame Première's death came about the same day that Frédéric II would suffer an ambush lead by the Austrians at the Battle of Hochkirche, the eve of October 14th, 1758. Whilst it was a pyrrhic victory for Austria, Frédéric would immediately return to Berlin for the funerary arrangements.
Frédéric II and his brothers. Left to right: Frédéric, Augustus Ferdinand, Augustus Wilhelm and Heinrich.
Throughout his life, Frédéric II maintained a lukewarm relationship with his brothers. However, he often retained a compassionate approach to how he governed them. Most notably was his younger brother, Augustus Wilhelm, who, according to gossip - died of ''body and soul'' (a suspected suicide, or death from melancholia) after Frédéric's heartless reprimands for his misconduct in the Prussian withdrawal from the Battle of Kolin, in which both Austria and Prussia suffered considerable losses. Frédéric's greatest critic, but on the token of being one of his greatest generals was Monsieur le Prince (Heinrich von Preußen). Throughout his life, Monsieur le Prince remained in the shadow of his older brother, whose military strategy and foreign policy he criticized several times; notably in 1753, in a memorandum under the pseudonym Maréchal Gessler. Monsieur served as an excellent bureaucrat, diplomat, and tactician. Although outliving his brother until his death in 1802, the two brothers had a bitter-sweet relationship, often filled with innumerable disagreements.
The English Minister to Prussia, Sir Andrew Mitchell, observed Monsieur: ''He is inconspicuous in person and without any external grace. Naturally cold and of silent nature, he can nevertheless occasionally make a winning impression through the liveliness of his conversation." Despite these differences, Frédéric II and Heinrich would reconcile many times, as the King would shower his brother in gifts and estates, such as bequeathing him Rheinsberg in 1744, after the court moved to Sanssouci. In Berlin during the late 1740s, the Palais de Henri de Prusse was erected, which served as the residence of Heinrich and Wilhelmine. In November of 1800, Louis Bonaparte (the youngest brother of the infamous Napoléon) visited him in Rheinsberg. Monsieur le Prince would die at Rheinsberg in 1802 and would be buried in a mausoleum in the gardens. Frédéric's love for his siblings was indifferent, but warm when he warranted an occasion for it.
Throughout his reign, Frédéric II maintained a court of philosophical figures, many of whom would make great contributions to history. Voltaire maintained favour with the Frederician patronage for over 50 years and correspondences of over 1,400 letters. He disagreed with the views of Rousseau but was quick to offer the great Swissman refuge at Sanssouci when Louis XV had exiled him from French soil. Frédéric managed to captivate every great French and English philosopher of the Enlightenment, from Voltaire and Rousseau to John Locke and Denis Diderot. Even in wake of his death, the infamous Comte de Mirabeau would tour the Frederician realm, and publish the notion that ''The prudence of the Frederician Regime was a police state, a choked bureaucracy chained to servitude, and a judiciary that invaded all forms of privacy and enforced Europe's most honest court systems.'' Even great men like Mirabeau would flay the parsons of Europe, with the influence of Frédéric II's enlightenment.
The Queen-Consort
The relationship of Frédéric II and Élisabeth-Christine has been a characteristically vast development, throughout their marriage. In their early marriage, both Prince and Princess had a mutual friendship but with minimal emotional context to speak of. Frédéric II had been insecure about a sexual disease he had contracted, making him believe that he suffered from impotence (an illness which sparked great controversy over his record for having homosexual relationships). During the Rheinsberg Epoque, Frédéric was polite and courteous with his wife, but after he ascended the throne, he had made a point of poignantly involving Elisabeth Christine in the management of state affairs. Gradually, as their marriage progressed, the Monarch and Consort soon grew closer.
Élisabeth-Christine de Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, Antoine Pesne, 1738.
It was noted by Frédéric's retinue on the eve prior to their wedding in 1733, that Frédéric had turned to ask a confidant, whispering to him: "Do you believe she will love me? I believe Madame shall!" Indeed Elisabeth Christine did cherish her husband as was described by her Ladies in Waiting. Elisabeth Christine was not without her good points, for she had quite a pretty face, blond hair, a good complexion, shapely breasts and a slender figure. She was noted in particularity for eyes that ''sparkled like sapphires in candlelight'' as quoted by Countess Sophie von Voss, the Queen's confidant and Dame d'Atour. Elisabeth Christine was well-intentioned, good-natured, polite and most. In short, it was, to say the least, that the pair were charmed.
Throughout his life, Frédéric II's homosexuality had come into light numerous times, both in fashion and scandal. Despite this, it is quoted by Frédéric II that the primary reason he agreed to his marriage to Elisabeth Christine, was based on the fact that "She is pretty and cannot complain that I don't love her at all, in short - I really don't know why we don't have children." As the ruling Queen, Elisabeth Christine ranked above her mother-in-law only in terms of protocol, but the Queen-Mother Sophie Dorothea remained the dominant female member of the royal family until her death in 1757. Frédéric attached great importance to maintaining rank and etiquette, so on the other hand in great processions, he would have his coach followed by Elisabeth's and then his Mother's. Frédéric was concerned about the well-being of his wife, as an order to his personal physician reveals: “I recommend you to visit the Queen without delay and to connect with the other two doctors in Berlin. Remember that she is the most invaluable and necessary person for the state, for the poor and for me ”.
Sexual life in the royal circle, was undoubtedly, quite ''inspired.'' Frédéric II's sexual orientations did not prevent him from wanting to engage with his consort in any means of affection. Although vulgar, the Marquis d'Alembert's recounts of the royal relations would be as followed: ''There was never a dull moment, especially at Rheinsberg. There wasn't a time where one couldn't hear the constant knocking of the royal bed frame against the walls of the state bedchamber. Their Royal Highness's were almost constantly fucking, day-in-to-day-out.'' Throughout his relationship with the Queen, Frédéric showed great interest and affection. However, in his later life, the great Monarch would be hardened through his campaigns and battles. Throughout their lengthy marriage, the King found himself in constant companionship. Although they never endeavoured to have children, their friendship was more than enough to satisfy.
The Queen-Mother
Throughout his life and reign, Frédéric II was often noted for the earnest affection and love given to his mother. Beneath his martial carapace, there were elements of tenderness which he rarely exposed to public view. He wept abundantly over the death of his mother and repaid with sincere affection the devotion of his sister, Princesse Wilhelmine.
Sophie-Dorothée de Hanovre, Antoine Pesne, 1736.
Sophie Dorothea von Hanover was the second child and only daughter of George I of Great Britain. The child of an unhappy marriage, her mother was soon exiled from the Hanoverian Court. Whilst educated and well-read, Sophie was detested by her elder brother, the future George II. Sophie Dorothea was described as tall, with a beautiful slender figure, graceful and dignified with big blue eyes. Though not regarded as strictly beautiful, she was seen as quite attractive at the time of her marriage and described as charming in her manners, making a good impression in Berlin. As Queen, Sophie Dorothea was admired for her gracious manners and nicknamed "Olympia" for her regal bearing, but scarred by smallpox. he was known as extremely haughty, proud, and ambitious, but Frédéric-Guillaume I greatly disliked her interference in politics, as he believed that women should be kept only for breeding, and kept submissive as they would otherwise dominate their husbands. In her Monbijou Castle, which she had resided within since 1712, she often met with Fritz, who loved her and over whom she had great influence. In Monbijou was also a secret library, here Frédéric chatted animatedly with his mother about philosophy and could do the things that aroused his father's displeasure.
Frédéric adored his mother greatly. Upon the death of the Soldatenkönig in 1740, he decreed that his mother wouldn't be known as Queen-Dowager, but as Queen-Mother. When Sophie Dorothea addressed him as "Your Majesty" after the funeral of his father, he interrupted her and told her: "Always call me your son, that title is dearer to me than the royal dignity." Frédéric was known for his devotion to her and expressed his gratitude for her having raised him and never blamed her for his traumatic childhood, which he instead blamed on his father, and never allowed anyone to criticize her.
The Seven Years' War: A European Saga; 1756 - 1763
How to Start a War: The Diplomatic Revolution
Europe in 1756 had known eight years of peace. However, the War of the Austrian Succession had settled nothing. The war had left Austria insecure in Bohemia and Italy, Prussia insecure in Silesia, Britain insecure in Hanover, and France insecure in India, America, and on the Rhine. The 1748 Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle was nothing more than a temporary ceasefire on the monstrous European geopolitical battlefield. Europe was taken by storm when Frédéric II unleashed his new army in 1740 and his uncle, George II had terrorised France with the new British navy; an army capable of sallying forth into new ambitions; a navy that only needed time to capture the colonies of France, Holland, and Spain. In England, the spirit of nationalism was fed by the profits and prospects of commerce, in Prussia by a successful war, in France by a cultural superiority that was beginning to face a martial decline.
Maria Theresia of Habsburg, the infamous Empress-Feign of Austria, was out for vengeance against Frédéric for the loss of her precious Silesia. In vengeance, she sent agents across Europe to win friends for Austria, and stir up hostility against Prussia. Maria Theresia noted Russia's gaining strength enabled by Peter the Great, and now she sought the friendship of this Great's daughter - Elizabeth Petrovna - who was now a prime target for Frédéric and his sarcastic remarks. In the West, Maria Theresia sought the friendship of the years of Louis XV; Madame de Pompadour had been the rave of the Court of Versailles as she notoriously rose to the office of Maitresse-en-Titre. Together, in unity, the Three Whores' of Europe as Frédéric II described them, begrudged him for taking Silesia, holding the Glatz, and threatening the safety of Europe's old, imperial traditions.
In London, William Pitt (the British Prime Minister) argued that it was wiser for Protestant Prussia to replace Catholic France or Catholic Austria as the dominant power on the Continent. A political revolution had tossed the balances of power: The 1756 Treaty of Westminster brought up a new Anglo-Prussian alliance against the new Traité de Versailles of which France, Austria, and Russia were united against Frederick and all of Prussia.
The Friderician Outlaw: Outbreak of War
Frédéric had to accept this diplomatic revolution, for a safeguard was needed for the planned attack on Austria. Austrian flirtations with France would spark a Russian involvement, and only time could tell how long Prussia would survive unless he struck first. Frédéric knew that his youthful conquest of Silesia left him subject to revanche should Maria Theresia discover new alliances and resources. Prussia's own resources were limited. The Prussian Realm was fragmented in disjecta membra: East-Prussia was separated from Prussia proper by Poland; Westphalia and East Frisia were distanced by a blockade of tiny Principalities and Duchies that were Pro-Habsburg (for now), and it was a mere waiting game.
Almost as important as his two-hundred-thousand-manned army of Atlas' whose strong shoulders carried his state, and his ingenious generals, was the Prussian network of spies sprinkled amongst the enemy ranks. Prussian agents confirmed Vienna's paranoid and weak defences; Dresden was insecure and undefended, and Warsaw was filled with secret correspondences which revealed the plans of the Three Whores.
The Electorate of Saxony, weakened by years of corruption and debt, needed a safeguard. In 1755, Saxony enlisted to Maria Theresia's alliance. All was well, until, her diplomatic dealings with the other allied powers were betrayed to the Berlin Cabinet by Frédéric-Guillaume I Menzel, a Saxon Cabinet member in June of 1756. Menzel's intelligence not only made Saxony vulnerable, it caused anarchy. In the cover of the night of June 15th, Menzel narrowly escaped Dresden in a carriage that thundered towards Berlin. He brought with him a priceless stockpile of Saxon and Austrian intelligence. On June 19, Frédéric returned to Berlin from a military review in Potsdam. A courier from the British ambassador in St. Petersburg informed him that, on his way, he had seen Russian troops on the move in the areas of Narva, Riga and Mittau and that Russia had concluded an alliance with Austria against Prussia. The same day, the Prussian Army was organised in three corps: the Army of the Mark, the Army of Silesia and the Army of Prussia. Officers were recalled from furlough and granted leaves were cancelled; horses were bought from neighbouring countries; and artillery distributed among the various armies. Still the same day, the Austrian War Council sent instructions to the generals who would take command in Bohemia and Moravia.
Invasion of Saxony: Raise High the Flags!
After months of preparations, the ripening for invasion came due on August 26th, 1756. All Prussian troops carried a three-day supply of bread with them while their bread-wagons carried a further six days supply. Supernumeraries of the Prussian cavalry were still lacking horses that they would acquire in Saxony. On August 20th, Frédéric wrote to Frédéric August II, Elector of Saxony - in the offer was Bohemia should Saxony cede itself to Prussia and join in the crusade against Austria. The Elector declined, and six days later, his demise was sealed.
On the morning of August 26th, 1756, Frédéric gave orders to the Prussian Army to march into Saxony. It would advance in 3 columns, each about 130 kilometres from one another:
- The right column under Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, about 15,000 men (22 Battalions, 34 Squadrons)
- The centre column under Frédéric II (25 Battalions, 17 Squadrons, Supply train and the Royal Artillery)
- The left column under the Duke Karl of Brunswick-Bevern (17 Battalions, 50 Squadrons)
Early on the morning of August 28th, 1756, the Lord Mayor of Leipzig and his 500-man garrison surrendered to the King's army. The following day, the Ducal brothers of Brunswick reached the outskirts of Dresden; the end was near for Saxony. The centre Prussian column, under Frédéric, assisted by Marshal Keith, moved upstream along the Elbe River, subdivided into four sub-columns. At the head of each sub-column were some small mobile bridges to cross the smaller watercourses. The Prussians met with no opposition during their advance. It was only at Wilsdruff that Frédéric learned about the withdrawal of the Saxon Army towards Pirna. The Prussians fortified the town of Torgau with guns found in various depots of the Electorate. Several thousand citizens and peasantry were forced to work at these fortifications.
By September 2nd, 1756, in the face of the Prussian invasion, the Saxon Army (only some 21,000 strong) had finally made its retreat to the County of Pirna, fortifying themselves outside the eponymous town. The next day, on September 3rd, the Leftenant-Commander of the Fortress-town of Stolpen capitulated to Frédéric and his army. Only a few miles distance from safety, the surrender of the last stronghold between Dresden and Frédéric prompted the chaotic dispersion of the Saxon Court. In spite of the odds, Elector Frédéric Augustus fled Dresden in a carriage with two of his sons, followed by several officials. Electress Maria Josepha remained behind in the Residenzschloss with the Kurprinz Frédéric Christian. The Electress and her entourage would become the centre of Saxon negotiations with Prussia during the following years.
The Fall of Dresden
Maria Josepha von Österreich had been the Electress-Consort of Saxony since 1733. A strong, witty, and intelligent woman, she took the Prussian invasion of her lands as spite against her husband, who had increasingly begun to neglect her. A politically involved woman, the Electress saw her political influence on her husband fading, as he increasingly listened only to the advice of her opponent, the Saxon Chief Minister, Count Heinrich von Brühl. On the morning of September 8th, Prussian Major General Frédéric-Guillaume, Comte de Wylich-Lottum entered Dresden with a regiment of Fusiliers and a battalion of Grenadiers to secure the city. The few Saxon officers who remained for the Electress' protection were taken prisoner, and Count Wylich stormed the Electoral Palace with his men. In a last-ditch effort, Electress Maria Josepha hid any confidential papers in a secret compartment of her rooms. Frédéric II, who was aware of these compartments, ordered Wylich to have the Electress surrender them peacefully or else a cannon would be dragged into the palace and have her rooms bombarded.
Frédéric II, hailed as a hero, enters Dresden on September 9th, 1756, after the Electress of Saxony capitulates.
On September 9th, 1756, at the head of his brigade of Guards, Frédéric II rode into Dresden on his favourite Frisian stallion, Appolo. The Saxon Army was too small to resist the finest army in Europe; it withdrew to the Citadel of Pirna. Upon Frédéric's arrival, he had his agents open the Saxon archives and bring the originals of the documents he had received. The aged Electress was barred from the archives and made captive with her remaining children and courtiers. She and the remaining Saxon courtiers were placed under house arrest in the Residenzschloss. Maria Josepha busied herself with matters of foreign communication, sending messengers and endless letters, urging her foreign relations and allies for support; all to no avail as the Prussians intercepted every letter. Tired of the antics, Frédéric II ordered the Electress's removal from Dresden and had her transported to Berlin where she was imprisoned at the Spandau Citadel.
Onto Silesia: The fall of Saxony and the Check of Bohemia
Frédéric II and his corps remained in Dresden for the remainder of September, plotting his next venture. Shocked and outraged at the succession of devastating blows, Empress Maria Theresia did not hesitate in her attempts to thwart her Lutheran enemy. The Empress-Queen of Austria sent an army from her crownland of Bohemia to dislodge the Prussians; Frédéric met it and smashed it on Friday, October 1st, 1756, at Lobositz, on the road between Dresden and Prague. The first battle of the war was a glorious Prussian victory. Following this, a mere two weeks later, the remaining Saxon forces surrendered after the success of the Siege of Purna on October 15th, 1756. The end of Saxony as an independent state had begun, as the 14,000-man Saxon Army was incorporated into Prussia's already 225,000-man strong war machine. The Electorate of Saxony ceased to exist as Frédéric declared it a conquered nation, applying its revenues to his own needs.
Following the collapse of Saxony, Frédéric ordered the captured Saxon documents to be published. Maria Theresia called them a forgery, and pleaded that all ''God-fearing Christians should embark upon our campaign against this Prussian cretin.'' This, however, failed. Numerous minor Protestant principalities and states in the Holy Roman Empire feared a fate similar to Saxony, whilst others hailed Frédéric as a hero and liberator. Total war had broken out, and so had political rivalries.
From Prague to Roßbach: 1757
On January 10th, 1757, Frédéric II wrote to his ministers in Berlin, informing them of secret instructions, in-case of an emergency: ''If I am killed, affairs must continue without the slightest alteration... If I have the bad luck to be captured, I forbid the smallest consideration for my person or the slightest attention to anything I may write in captivity.'' Fortunately, no such orders would ever come into fruition. Following his grand victory in Saxony, Frédéric II consolidated with his Generals and wrote to his brothers-in-law, Dukes Karl I. von Braunschweig-Bevern and Ferdinand von Braunschweig, along with Count Schwerin to meet his Corps on the hills overlooking Prague. All in the meanwhile, the Court of Versailles looked on in horror, as Prussia stood unopposed in its anti-Habsburg crusade.
After the capitulation of Saxony and the fall of Dresden, Count Kurt Christoph von Schwerin had marched the Silesian Army into eastern Bohemia, threatening Prague. Schwerin, stationed in Silesia, was then at the head of 27,000 men, who, in a matter of days, smashed the Austrians at the first Battle of Königgrätz (September 15th, 1756). The remainder of 1756 was spent in Winter Quarters. Towards the end of April of 1757, taking the Austrians by surprise, Frédéric II had proceeded to the invasion of Bohemia. The three corps of his army made rapid progress and soon reached Prague. Following the first great battle of the Seven Years' War, Prague fell after several months of siege in June of 1757.
In the meantime, Versailles was alive with wars' alarms. Saxony was demolished at Dresden, Austria was defeated at Lobositz and Prague - and now all of Moravia was under threat. The only ripe opportunity for Madame de Pompadour was to raise an army, cross the Rhein and take Hanover. Following the victory in Prague, Frédéric retired victorious to Dresden, where he remained encamped for three weeks. It was in the study of Princely-Electoral apartment, that on July 2nd, 1757, Frédéric II received word that his mother, Sophia Dorothea, had died. The iron-willed King of Prussia broke down, wept, and secluded himself for a day. Frédéric II wrote, in grief, to his favourite and eldest sister, Wilhelmine, the Margravine of Bayreuth- his beloved Madame Première: ''...Since you, my dear sister, insist upon undertaking the great work of peace, I beg you to be good enough to send M. de Mirabeau to.. offer the favourite Cotillon IV (Madame de Pompadour) as much as 500,000 Crowns for peace... I leave it all to you.. whom I adore, and, who, although more accomplished than I, is another myself.'' Little was fruitful of this approach. Wilhelmine tried another way to reach the bedchamber of Louis XV: she wrote to Voltaire, then living in Switzerland, and begged him to use his influence. Voltaire transmitted Wilhelmine's proposal to Cardinal de Tencin, a strong and immensely popular courtier who lead the Anti-Austrian party at Versailles and was widely Pro-Prussian.
Tencin's attempts were thwarted by Pompadour, and evidently, an Army of the Dauphine was raised, crossed the Rhein into the Palatinate, and smashed the army of George II's son, the Duke of Cumberland at Hastenbeck. The notorious victor of the 1745 Battle of Culloden, the same man who crushed the Jacobites of the Old Pretender, had been turned into a weak lamb, prayed upon by French wolves. If this bad news wasn't already bad, Frédéric II received word that a wild brigade of Croatian hussars and Russian Cossacks were on a hell-bent pillaging and raiding spree towards Berlin. His beloved Sanssouci was in the crosshairs, and his family in Berlin were in danger.
Gathering a relief force, Frédéric II mounted his steed and force-marched his men towards Berlin. This heroic relief ceased when, whilst riding, received word that there were neither Croats to raid or Cossacks to pillage- but there was a Franco-Austrian force under marshals Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise and Joseph, Prinz von Saxe-Hildburghausen threatening his sister, Anna Amalia's Abbey of Quedlinburg. Bent on saving his sister, the weary King turned his troops around and marched thirty miles west of Leipzig, encamping in the vicinity of Roßbach.
On the morning of October 31st, traditionally All-Saints-Eve, early in the morning, marshals Soubise (of France) and Hildburghausen (of Austria) reached the heights near Aspach (approx. 3 km west of Trügleben) and sent their hussars forward. Frédéric II, anticipating this, sent a small hussar force to harass them. At around 8 o'clock, Soubise and Hildburghausen arrived near Gotha at the head of their vanguard. Their light troops forced the Prussian hussars to retire towards a detachment of dragoons. Captain Seydlitz of a Dragoon regiment (not related to the general) quickly evacuated Gotha at 9:00 a.m. From the Franco-Imperial force, only hussars went beyond Gotha but they soon halted and established outposts. The rest of this force took position between the road to Eisenach and the Krahnberg. Soubise found the gates open and entered into Gotha with 18 battalions and 4 cannons. Austrian Grenzer light troops occupied the gardens to the east of the town. Seydlitz thought himself sufficiently strong to attack the enemy. He artistically spread his force into single files on the prominent points of vision, deploying all his cavalry two ranks deep to deceive the enemy on his real strength (approx. 600 men of Szekely Hussars, 600 men of Katte Dragoons and 690 men of Meinicke Dragoons). A few coys dismounted and took position between sqns to give the impression that his force also included infantry.
Seydlitz also sent a dragoon, acting as a deserter, and a few peasants to Gotha where they declared that Frédéric II was advancing on Gotha with his entire army. His hussars soon engaged the outposts and alarm spread to the town. In the meanwhile, Soubise and Hildburghausen did not plan to remain in Gotha with their entire force (their infantry had left their knapsack, accoutrements and equipment at Eisenach) but intended to leave some troops as a garrison in the town. The two Prince's and their staff were having breakfast at Schloss Gotha when they received news of the advance of Prussian troops. They could even see the Prussians from the castle deployed on the heights of Siebleben. Without any moment to prepare, both Prince's immediately ran for the stables, mounting the only two horses they could find, making a hasty escape.
Prussian Hussars loot and rummage through the captured baggage of the Prince de Soubise, following the Raid on Gotha.
Seydlitz's Szekely Hussars broke open the Erfurter Gate and the Sieblebener Gate, entered into the town, attacked the castle and drove out the four French grenadier companies who were garrisoned in it. The Prussians captured 51 soldiers and 6 officers, killed 30 and seized the entire Franco-Austrian baggage, supply, and equipment trains. In this action, the Prussians lost 2 men killed; 2 officers and 10 men wounded. The Franco-Austrians lost 30 men and their total losses were estimated at 200, including both Prince's entire baggage of personal effects as well as many valets, hairdressers and other servants who were taken, prisoner. Several days later, reunited with the main force, Soubise advised heavily against Hildburghausen's plot for vengeance; the majority of the soldiers in their Reichsarmee were Protestant, and they resisted in wanting to fight Frédéric II. The German marshal pressed on, disregarding his French lapdog's cries; Frédéric II, watching this unfold from the window of a mill in Roßbach, gave the signal for battle. In the span of two hours, the Prussian artillery had smashed the French infantry's attempts at taking the hill; Frédéric's hussars thundered down and dismantled the fleeing Franco-Imperials, and the day was victorious. With Prussian losses of only 550, the Franco-Imperials fled in disorder, leaving some 8,000 dead. Later that evening, Frédéric II invited the captured French officers to dine with him at his table. With French grace and wit, he excused the limited affair: ''Mais, messieurs, je ne vous attendais pas sitot, en si grand nombre!'' (But, Gentlemen, I did not expect you so soon, and in so great number!).
From Leuthen to Roßbach: 1757
All of Europe marvelled at the ingenious victory of Roßbach by Frédéric II. Even France confessed its admiration, for Prussia had only recently been their ally in the War of the Austrian Succession. The philosophes applauded Frédéric's victories and claimed him as their champion at home. Frédéric responded to the gallant emotions of the French by declaring: ''I am not accustomed to regarding the French as enemies.''
Though there was little time to rejoice. Antoine de Vignerot du Plessis, 4th Duc de Richelieu, 3x Great-Grand-Nephew of the infamous Cardinal de Richelieu of Louis XIII's reign, was leading a new Armée du Rhin to rob Hanover from his uncle's hands. Elsewhere, in Silesia, Breslau fell on the same day to Prince Charles Alexandre de Lorraine and his co-conspirator, the revered Austrian marshal Leopold Joseph, Reichsgraf von Daun. Frédéric appealed to his men to help him recapture Silesia. In the severest twelve wintry days, Frédéric II marched 170 miles, reuniting with the defeated garrisons from Breslau and Schweidnitz, encamping themselves near the village of Leuthen.
Personality and Appearance
Personality
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Appearance
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Ancestry
| Johann Sigismund, Markgraf von Brandenburg | ||||||||||||
| Georg Wilhelm, Kurfürst von Brandenburg | ||||||||||||
| Anna von Preußen | ||||||||||||
| Friedrich I von Preußen | ||||||||||||
| Friedrich IV, Kurfürst von der Pfalz | ||||||||||||
| Elisabeth Charlotte von der Pfalz | ||||||||||||
| Elisabeth von Hessen | ||||||||||||
| Friedrich Wilhelm I von Preußen | ||||||||||||
| Wilhelm von Nassau-Dillenburg | ||||||||||||
| Friedrich Heinrich, Fürst von Oranien | ||||||||||||
| Louise de Coligny | ||||||||||||
| Sophie Charlotte von Hannover | ||||||||||||
| Johann Albrecht, Graf zu Solms-Braunfels | ||||||||||||
| Amalie zu Solms-Braunfels | ||||||||||||
| Agnes zu Sayn-Wittgenstein | ||||||||||||
| Friedrich II von Preußen | ||||||||||||
| Georg von Braunschweig und Lüneburg-Calenberg | ||||||||||||
| Ernst August, Kurfürst von Hannover | ||||||||||||
| Anna Eleonore von Hessen-Darmstadt | ||||||||||||
| Georg I von Großbritannien | ||||||||||||
| Friedrich V, Kurfürst von der Pfalz | ||||||||||||
| Sophie von der Pfalz | ||||||||||||
| Elisabeth Stuart | ||||||||||||
| Sophie Dorothea von Hannover | ||||||||||||
| Georg von Braunschweig und Lüneburg-Calenberg | ||||||||||||
| Georg Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Lüneburg | ||||||||||||
| Anna Eleonore von Hessen-Darmstadt | ||||||||||||
| Sophie Dorothea von Braunschweig-Lüneburg | ||||||||||||
| Alexandre II Desmier, Marquis d'Olbreuse | ||||||||||||
| Éléonore Desmier d’Olbreuse | ||||||||||||
| Jacquette Poussard de Vandré | ||||||||||||
Honours, Titles and Styles
Titles and Styles
- 24th January 1712 – 31st May 1740 – His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Prussia
- 31st May 1740 – 19th February 1772 – His Majesty The King of Prussia (Unrecognised by the HRE)
- 19th February 1772 – 17th August 1786– His Majesty The King of Prussia (Recognised by the HRE)
Full Title
At the time of his succession, his title in full was;
WIP - Researching
Honours
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Order of the Black Eagle
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Order of the Red Eagle
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the House Order of Hohenzollern
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Order of Pour le Mérite
- Grand Master and Sovereign of the Boyard Order
- Grand Cross Knight Companion of the Most Noblest Order of the Garter (Great Britain)
- Grand Cross Knight Companion of the Imperial Order of St. Andrew (Russia)
- Grand Cross Knight Companion of the Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
- Knight and Commander of the Orders of His Majesty the King (Sweden)
- Grand Cross Knight Companion of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan)