Frederick the Great free essay sample

Period Final Copy Frederick the Great In Europe, the eighteenth century was a period of intellectual, social, and political development. It was not the time of absolute rulers anymore but it is becoming a time of Enlightened Despots, monarchs who rules with principles of enlightenment rather than absolute monarchy. Frederick the Great was the first Enlightened Despot of Prussia, along with the other rising Enlightened Despot of the time, Maria Theresa . Frederick the Great was one of the most influential kings in European history through his role in modernizing the culture of Prussia, in winning the War of Austrian Succession and in making domestic reforms that helped the people under Prussian rule. Frederick the Great’s childhood was spent in rigorous military training and education and constant abuse from his father. Frederick the Great was born January 24, 1712 in Berlin, Prussia. The abuse Frederick suffered from by the hands of his father was both physical and emotional. Frederick the Great loved music and literature which caused for his father to be disappointed that his son did not like war, as he did. Throughout his entire childhood his father, Frederick William I would do retched things to him such as hit and spit on him when he did not approve of what his son had done. When Frederick was a teenager he decided to escape his torment by his father with his friend Katte. When Frederick’s father discovered his plan he thought it was a conspiracy on his life and put Frederick on house arrest and forced him to watch the execution of his best friend, Katte, as a punishment for attempting to leave Prussia. He told himself that when it was his turn on the throne that he would not be a ruler like his father. Although he faced many appalling things he his childhood they all lead to him being a strong king and ingenious military mind. Frederick the Great made Prussia a more modernized country by adopting certain characteristics from the French culture. He made reforms to the Prussian government which ultimately strengthened it he said that â€Å" a well conducted government must have an underlying concept so well integrated that it could be likened to a system of philosophy. All actions taken must be well reasoned, and all financial, political and military matters must flow towards one goal, which is the strengthening and the furthering of its power†. Frederick created a modern bureaucracy. A modern Bureaucracy is a group of specifically non-elected officials within a government or other institution that implements the rules, laws, ideas, and functions of their institution. Frederick exemplifies that by having himself as the head of the nation and state and only having certain merit officials making the government decisions. In addition Frederick expanded on education with use of more literature and philosophy and he reformed his court. Although his court and government resembled a barrack and they were ran with military precision. Even though he felt strongly against it serfdom due to his not wanting to affect the nobles and ultimately the economy of Prussia. Frederick as well encouraged religious tolerance and partitioned Poland even though he was a strong Calvinist. Frederick was a patron of the arts a philosophy, but most specifically partitioned Voltaire. The socially modernizing of Prussia was one of his main accomplishments. Frederick the Great was known as great military leader. His army was a strong and disciplined one. He was the military commander in the War of Austrian Succession. The war began because Frederick did not like the fact that a woman was the leader of Austria. Aware of Austria’s economic and military weakness he decided that it was time to expand his rule and the territory of Prussia southward into Silesia. Silesia was quite advanced in industry, rich in agriculture and mineral wealth, and it was Protestant. Frederick wanted to be known as a powerful monarch and wanted to show that a woman was not fit to rule a country. Frederick II was also Protestant and having another city under his control would only make his country stronger as he aspires to do. During the War of Austrian Succession Prussia was allied with Bavaria, Spain, and France against Austria, Great Britain, Netherlands, and Russia. When the war was over, Prussia was victorious and gained control of Silesia. Maria Theresa, the Queen of Austria was infuriated that Silesia had been taken from her. Maria Theresa wanted Silesia back because she thought that the land was rightfully hers and she believed that it should be Catholic; this lead to the Seven Years War. This time Frederick was not the aggressor. He did not want the war, but he believed that in order to defend himself he should make the first move. Prussia and France invaded Austria and Bohemia but the forces fell apart because of the lack of unity of purpose and the capability of the military. Due to the failure of the invasion Austria temporarily neutralized Prussia. Frederick the Great also became involved in the War of the Bavarian Succession from 1778-1789. The War of Bavarian Succession was an opposition caused by Frederick the Great’s blockade of Joseph II of Austria to obtain Bavaria. After losing Silesia to the Prussia in the 1740s, the Austrian emperor  Joseph II   and his chancellor Wenzel Anton, Prince von Kaunitz, wished to take Bavaria in order to restore Austria’s position in Germany. When the Bavarian electoral line of the Wittelsbachs stopped because of death of Maximilian Joseph in , 1777, a treaty was signed by his successor,  Charles Theodore, the  Elector Palatine, surrendering Lower Bavaria and the kingship of Mindelheim to Austria. However,  Frederick the Great   declared war on July 3, 1778, supporting the claims made by Charles, Duke of Zweibrucken. on Bavaria. Austria’s ally France refused to assist in the war, and Frederick with Saxony as his ally entered Bohemia, where he was pitted against by an imperial army led by the Emperor. There was little fighting, because each force was concerned with cutting its opponent’s communications and denying it supplies like potatoes. That is why the war is most commonly referred to as the â€Å"potato war† (Kartoffelkrieg). Frederick the Great issued many domestic reforms that modernized Prussia and built it up from the inside out. He continued the work of his father and grandfather to consolidate power by giving the princes a palace in the government bureaucracy. He established religious toleration he even built a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Berlin. Frederick granted individuals protection from the law by speeding up the legal process; abolished torture of prisoners claiming that torturing before execution was â€Å"†¦a horrible and very useless cruelty. However, he wholeheartedly believed in whipping soldiers, as a measure to prevent desertion, and made sentences of death legal only with his personal permission, as in cases of treason and murder. He also equalized the status of people under Prussia’s law. To ensure the correct judgments were made, all of Prussian judges were educated and the courts gained a reputation as the most honest in Europe. These are the reforms that modernized Pru ssia and are some of Frederick the Great’s accomplishments. Frederick’s accomplishments as king other than modernizing Prussia were expanding its territory. He did this through war, mainly the War of Austrian Succession he was also involved in the Seven Years War, and the War of Bavarian Succession. He also established Prussia as a major power in Europe. His developed his government as a modern bureaucracy He introduced law reforms that ended torturing prisoners and equalized the status of everyone under Prussia’s law and he highly opposed serfdom but realized their importance to the economy of a nation. He granted religious freedom, he was a patron of the arts and of philosophy and he was also a partition of Poland. Frederick was known for having fair and highly educated judges and the courts gained an outstanding reputation of being the most honest courts in all of Europe. Some of his failures were, not succeeding to get Pomerania from Sweden and his foreign policy theme was constantly changing. Frederick the Great was an influential king in European history through his role in modernizing the culture of Prussia, in winning the War of Austrian Succession and gaining Austrian territory and in making domestic reforms that helped the people under Prussian rule in the end modernized Prussia . Works Cited: Chris Butler. â€Å"The Rise of the Modern State in Enlightenment Europe† [emailprotected] com 2007. Web. 12. Dec. 2012 http://www. flowofhistory. com/units/west/15/FC101 David W. Koeller. â€Å"Frederick II (The Great) of Prussia Political Testament† 2005. Web. 12 Dec. 2012 http://www. thenagain. info/Classes/Sources/Frederick%20the%20Great. htmll Frederick II. Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encyclop? dia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. , 2012. Web. 14Nov. 2012 â€Å"Frederick II, the Great†. American Military University. 2008. Web. 4 Nov. 2012 http://enlightenment-revolution. org/index. php/Frederick_II,_the_Great Gaines, James R.. 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