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Frederick The Great Essay

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Throughout history, only a small number of people have accomplished so much that they are known as “The Great”, and Frederick II of Prussia was one such person. Frederick was a capable king, and one of the first monarchs to be “enlightened”. As king of Prussia, Frederick led an era of great change in his nation. Under his rule, “The Enlightenment” spread, and Prussia became a major military power in Europe. During the time of Frederick, a movement focused on using reason, called “The Enlightenment”, swept through Europe. As an enlightened monarch, Frederick helped to usher this change of thinking. This reason was implemented in a few of Frederick’s policies, most notably in how he put the state above his personal desires. Frederick attempted …show more content…

At the time of his ascension, his father had left a standing army of 83,000, but by the time Frederick died, that number had risen to 190,000. Only a small portion of these were Prussians, however, as Frederick hired mercenaries so the peasants could continue to work and pay taxes to support the army. This focus on military allowed Prussia to gain territory and power, but did not help improve the life of the average citizen by any means. However, Frederick put the state above all else, and needed such a powerful army to ward off his main rivals, Austria and Russia. His “warding off” generally involved preemptive invasions whenever he felt threatened, so much of the first twenty years of his reign were spent at war. From these wars, he gained some territory, but the most important gains of land were Silesia, and the land gained from the partition of Poland. Despite the dominance of his army, Frederick made many enemies, and was almost defeated in the Seven Years’ War. Besides his previous feuds with Russia and Austria, he also angered France when he attempted to make an alliance with Britain. Surrounded on all sides, he only survived when he signed a peace treaty with the new czar of Russia, and the previous one had died. Thanks to Frederick, Prussia gained a large amount of land and power, but he almost lost it all due to some of his decisions, and life for the general populace was not

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