FREDERICK II,

born Jan. 24, 1712, Berlin died Aug. 17, 1786, Potsdam, near Berlin byname Frederick The Great, German Friedrich Der Grosse king of Prussia (174086), a brilliant military campaigner who, in a series of diplomatic strategems and wars against Austria and other powers, greatly enlarged Prussia's territories and made Prussia the foremost military power in Europe. An enlightened absolute monarch, he favoured French language and art and built a French Rococo palace, Sans Souci, near Berlin. A brief account of the life and works of Frederick II follows; for a full biography, see Frederick the Great. Subjected to a Spartan regimen from infancy, Frederick tried to escape to England in 1730; when the attempt failed he submitted in terror to his father, who placed him on probation in the civil administration. Frederick acceded to the throne on his father's death (1740). As king he liberalized laws regarding censorship, religion, and torture and reinvigorated Prussian society and its institutions. Although he governed as an absolute ruler, Frederick's domestic policies reflected his view that the state exists for the welfare of the individual. He conquered Silesia (174045), undermining the Habsburg hold on the imperial throne in Vienna. The Seven Years' War (175663) confirmed his hold on Silesia and marked the beginning of Prussia's leadership of the German states. In 1785 he founded the League of Princes to defend these states against imperial incursions. born Dec. 26, 1194, Jesi, Ancona, Papal States died Dec. 13, 1250, Castel Fiorentino, Apulia, Kingdom of Sicily king of Sicily (11971250), duke of Swabia (as Frederick VI, 122835), German king (121250), and Holy Roman emperor (122050). A Hohenstaufen and grandson of Frederick I Barbarossa, he pursued his dynasty's imperial policies against the papacy and the Italian city states; and he also joined in the Sixth Crusade (122829), conquering several areas of the Holy Land and crowning himself king of Jerusalem (reigning 122943). born Jan. 24, 1712, Berlin died Aug. 17, 1786, Potsdam, near Berlin Frederick II, painting in the Castello di Miramare, Trieste, Italy. byname Frederick the Great, German Friedrich der Grosse king of Prussia (174086), a brilliant military campaigner who, in a series of diplomatic stratagems and wars against Austria and other powers, greatly enlarged Prussia's territories and made Prussia the foremost military power in Europe. An enlightened absolute monarch, he favoured French language and art and built a French Rococo palace, San Souci, near Berlin. Frederick, the third king of Prussia, ranks among the two or three dominant figures in the history of modern Germany. Under his leadership Prussia became one of the great states of Europe. Its territories were greatly increased and its military strength displayed to striking effect. From early in his reign Frederick achieved a high reputation as a military commander, and the Prussian army rapidly became a model admired and imitated in many other states. He also emerged quickly as a leading exponent of the ideas of enlightened government, which were then becoming influential throughout much of Europe; indeed, his example did much to spread and strengthen those ideas. Notably, his insistence on the primacy of state over personal or dynastic interests and his religious toleration widely affected the dominant intellectual currents of the age. Even more than his younger contemporaries, Catherine II the Great of Russia and Joseph II in the Habsburg territories, it was Frederick who, during the mid-18th century, established in the minds of educated Europeans a notion of what enlightened despotism should be. His actual achievements, however, were sometimes less than they appeared on the surface; indeed, his inevitable reliance on the landowning officer (Junker) class set severe limits in several respects to what he could even attempt. Nevertheless, his reign saw a revolutionary change in the importance and prestige of Prussia, which was to have profound implications for much of the subsequent history of Europe. Additional reading E.A. Winkelmann, Kaiser Friedrich II, 2 vol. (188997), a biography to the year 1233; E. Kantorowicz, Kaiser Friedrich der Zweite, 2 vol. (192731), still the most basic work; H.M. Schaller, Kaiser Friedrich II (1964); Thomas Curtis Van Cleve, The Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, immutator mundi (1972). G. Wolf (ed.), Stupor Mundi: Zur Geschichte Friedrichs II von Hohenstaufen (1966), a collection of the most important research papers following Kantorowicz's work. Additional reading Frederick's voluminous writings are collected in Oeuvres de Frdric le Grand, 31 vol. in 33, ed. by J.D.E. Preuss (184657), while selections from his correspondence, Politische Correspondenz Friedrichs des Grossen, 47 vol. (18791939), offer a mine of information on his foreign policy. Writings on his wars were assembled by the Prussian General Staff in Die Kriege Friedrichs des Grossen, 19 vol. in 18 (18901914). Among the biographies, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, 6 vol. (185865, reissued in 8 vol., 1974), is famous and comprehensive but disappointing in its hero worship. J.D.E. Preuss, Friedrich der Grosse: Eine Lebensgeschichte, 5 vol. (183234, reprinted in 9 vol., 1981), is an excellent work of official historiography of its time. Reinhold Koser, Geschichte Friedrichs des Grossen, 4 vol. (191214), available in many later editions, remains a standard large-scale treatment, complete on war and diplomacy. Arnold Berney, Friedrich der Grosse: Entwicklungsgeschichte eines Staatsmannes (1934), takes the story only to 1756; G.P. Gooch, Frederick the Great, the Ruler, the Writer, the Man (1947, reissued 1990), offers essays on different aspects of the subject; D.B. Horn, Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia (1964), is a short introduction; and Peter Paret (ed.), Frederick the Great: A Profile (1972), collects useful extracts from German periodicals and books. A perceptive general discussion is presented in Gerhard Ritter, Frederick the Great: A Historical Profile (1968, reprinted 1974; originally published in German, 1954). Rudolf Augstein, Preussens Friedrich und die Deutschen (1968, reprinted 1986), is extremely hostile but stimulating.Frederick's early years are described in the old but still useful Ernest Lavisse, The Youth of Frederick the Great (1892, reissued 1972; originally published in French, 1891). Hubert C. Johnson, Frederick the Great and His Officials (1975); and Walther Hubatsch, Frederick the Great of Prussia: Absolutism and Administration, trans. from German (1975), study his regime in Prussia. Other special studies include W.O. Henderson, Studies in the Economic Policy of Frederick the Great (1963); Christopher Duffy, The Army of Frederick the Great (1974); Herbert Butterfield, The Reconstruction of an Historical Episode: The History of the Enquiry into the Origins of the Seven Years' War (1951), a summary of the historical controversy over the attack on Saxony in 1756; Herbert H. Kaplan, The First Partition of Poland (1962, reissued 1972), analyzing Frederick's share in the dismemberment of the Polish republic; and two works focusing on the conflict over Bavaria: Harold Temperley, Frederick the Great and Kaiser Joseph: An Episode of War and Diplomacy in the Eighteenth Century, 2nd ed. (1968); and Paul P. Bernard, Joseph II and Bavaria: Two Eighteenth Century Attempts at German Unification (1965). Matthew Smith Anderson