Frederick the Great

Frederick II was king of Prussia from 1740 to1786, and remains one of the most famous German rulers of all time. His military successes and domestic reforms that made Prussia one of the leading European nations.

Friedrick was born in Berlin on 24 January 1712, the eldest son of king Friedrick Wilhelm I and Sophia Dorothea, the daughter of King George I of England. His early years were spent in military training under a rigid system of education as described by his father, against which he rebelled fiercely but in vain. But encouraged by his mother, and influenced by his governess Madame de Roucoulle and his first tutor Duhan, a French refugee, Friedrick acquired an excellent knowledge of French and a taste for literature and music. He even received secret lessons in Latin.

In 1732 Frederick was made colonel in command of the regiment at Neuruppin. The following year, 1733, Frederick dutifully married Princess Elizabeth, daughter of duke Ferdinand Albrecht II of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel - Bevern. Artistically gifted Frederick II devoted his leisure to the study of music, painting and French literature, for which he had a keen and lasting admiration. He was greatly skilled on the flute, having achieved an almost professional level. He was a correspondent of Voltaire's, and he studied philosophy.

On 31 May 1740, Frederick became the King of Prussia. He maintained the forms of government established by his father, but rule in a more enlightened spirit. This is to mean he tolerated every form of religious opinion, abolished the use of torture and maintained an impartial administration of justice. But at the same time he began to make extensive military preparations. In the very year of his ascension, Friedrick attacked Maria Theresa, ruler of the Habsburg dominions and gained Silesia. He fought to keep Silesia in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, where he achieved impressive victories over the French at Rossbach (1757) and the Austrians at Leuthen (1757). He obtained the territory of West Prussia in the first partition of Poland in 1772. He opposed the emperor Joseph II, the son of Maria Theresa and co-regent with her from 1765, in the War of Bavarian Succession (1778-1779). Using an antiquated claim to Silesia for an excuse, Frederick invaded the province, defeated the Austrians at Mollwitz (1741) and Chotusitz (1742), and forced Maria Theresa to give him Upper and Lower Silesia by the Treaty of Breslau (1742).

As was common in the 18th century, Friedrick habitually wrote and spoke French. In fact, Frederick actually despised German as the language of boors. Frederick was essentially a just and absolute ruler, but he did not rule by his own personal whims. He always kept Prussia's welfare in mind and expected his people to possess the same devotion. While king, Frederick established universal religious tolerance, granted freedom of the press and the administration of justice under his rule was pure. Prussian judges were educated and the courts gained a reputation as the most honest in Europe.

One of Frederick's greatest accomplishments was that he enforced general education five days a week because 90% of the people could not read and write. A common story that stands to this day involves one Wednesday morning Frederick was visiting a village market. He came across a boy playing and asked why the boy was not in school. The boy replied, "the old fritz wants to be a king but doesn't know to this time that we don't have school on Wednesdays!" Although they found it funny that the king didn't know his own laws, they did respect him greatly for looking out for them.