Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/771

OF PRUSSIA.] FREDERICK 735 by bis father, but burdened his country with heavy taxes. He was not, however, an unpopular sovereign, and by mak ing Prussia a kingdom he undoubtedly advanced it several stages towards its future greatness. He founded the uni versity of Halle and the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and was fond of protecting enlightened men who suffered per secution. He was three times married, his second wife, Sophie Charlotte, sister of George I. of England, being well known as the friend of Leibnitz and as one of the most cultivated princesses of the age. See Puffendorf, DC rcbm gcstis Fridcrici III. (Berlin, 1734) ; W. Hahn, Friedrich, dcr crste Kbnig von Preusscn (3d ed., Berlin, 1876) ; Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Pnissia. FREDERICK WILLIAM I. (1688-1770), king of Prussia, son of Frederick I. by his second marriage, was born in 1688, He spent a considerable time in early youth at the court of his grandfather, the elector of Hanover. On his return to Berlin he was placed under General von Dohna, who trained him to the energetic and regular habits that ever afterwards characterized him. He was soon imbued with a passion for military life, and this was deepened by acquaintance with the duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, whom he visited during the siege of Tournay. In nearly every respect he was the opposite of his father, having frugal, simple tastes, a passionate temper, and a determined will. He intensely disliked the French, and highly disapproved the imitation of their manners by Frederick I. and his courtiers. When he mounted the throne, his first act was to dismiss from the palace every unneces sary official, and to regulate the royal household on prin ciples of the strictest parsimony. In 1715 he was forced, in alliance with Russia, Saxony, and Denmark, into a war with Charles XII. of Sweden, in consequence of which, in return for two million thalers paid to Sweden, he obtained the islands of Wollin and Usedom, Stettin, and part of Swedish Pomerania. This was his only war. All through his reign he strenuously insisted on his right to Jiilich arid Berg in the event of the Pfalz-Neuburg line dying out (which it seemed certain to do), and his anxiety respecting these duchies gives the key to most of his foreign policy. For some time he inclined to an understanding with Eng land and Hanover; but in 1726 he formed an alliance with Austria, and in the Polish war of succession (1733-35) aided her with 10,000 men. Ultimately, however, he per ceived that the emperor was not acting honourably by him, and withdrew from the alliance, occupying himself solely with the internal affairs of his kingdom. He despised many things which the modern world holds in high esteem, and was often coarse, violent, and fond of hideous practical jokes. Nevertheless Prussia profited immensely by his reign. He saw the necessity of rigid economy not only in his private life but in the whole administration of the state ; and the consequence was that he paid off the debts in curred by his father, and left to his successor an overflow ing treasury. He did nothing for the higher learning, and even banished the philosopher Wolf at 48 hours notice, "on pain of the halter," for teaching, as he believed, fatalist doctrines ; but he established many village schools, and he encouraged industry by every means in hia power, particu larly agriculture. Under him the nation flourished, and although it stood in awe of his vehement spirit, it respected him for his firmness, his honesty of purpose, and his love of justice. He was devoted to his army, the number of which he raised from 48,000 to 83,500 ; and there was not in existence a more thoroughly drilled or better appointed force. The Potsdam guard, made up of giants collected from all parts of Europe, sometimes kidnapped, was a sort of toy with which he amused himself. The reviewing of his troops was his chief pleasure ; but he was also fond of meeting his friends in the evening in what he called his " tobacco college," where he and they, amid clouds of tobacco smoke, discussed affairs of state. He died on the 31st May 1740, leaving behind him his widow, Sophie Dorothea of Hanover, and a numerous family. See Morgenstern, Ucbcr Friedrich W ilhclm I. (Brunswick, 1793); J. C. Droysen, Friedrich Wilh-elm /., Konig von Prcussen (2 vols., Leipsic, 1869); Carlyle, Ilistory of Friedrich II. of Prussia. FREDERICK II. (1712-1786), king of Prussia, born on the 24th January 1712, was the son of Frederick William I., and is usually known as Frederick the Great. He was brought up with extreme rigour, his father devising a scheme of education which was intended to make him a hardy soldier, and prescribing for him every detail of his conduct. So great was Frederick William s horror of every thing which did not seem to him practical, that he strictly excluded Latin from the list of his son s studies. Frederick, however, had free and generous impulses which could not be restrained by the sternest system. Encouraged by his mother, and under the influence of his governess Madame de Roucoulle, and of his first tutor Duhan, a French refugee, he acquired an excellent knowledge of French and a taste for literature and music. He even received secret lessons in Latin, which his father had invested with all the charms of forbidden fruit. As he grew up he became extremely dissatisfied with the dull and monotonous life he was com pelled to lead ; and his discontent was heartily shared by his sister, Wilhelmina, a bright and intelligent young princess for whom Frederick had a warm affection. Fre derick William, seeing the divergence of his son s tastes from his own, gradually conceived for him an intense dislike, which often found expression in violent outbursts of anger. So harsh was his treatment that Frederick frequently thought of running away and taking refuge at the court of his uncle, George II. of England ; and he at last resolved to do so during a journey which he made with the king to South Germany in 1730, when he was eighteen years of age. He was helped by his two friends, Lieutenant Katte and Lieutenant Keith ; but by the imprudence of the former the secret was found out. Frederick was placed under arrest, and the king abused him so cruelly on board a yacht at Frankfort that some courtiers had to interfere, and to separate them. Warned by Frederick, Keith escaped; but Katte delayed his flight too long, and a court martial decided that he should be punished with two years fortress arrest. The king changed this sentence into one of death, and the young soldier was executed outside the fortress of Ciistrin, in which Frederick was kept a close prisoner. On the way to the place of execution Katte had to pass the crown prince s window. " Pardonnez moi, mon cher Katte," cried Frederick, who was broken-hearted at the fate he had brought upon his friend. " La mort est douce pour un si aimable prince," replied Katte. The same court martial which had judged him decided that, as a lieutenant-colonel attempting to desert, the crown prince had incurred the legal penalty of death. For some time the king actually thought of giving effect to the sentence ; and he at last re lented only in consequence of grave expostulations from the emperor and the kings of Sweden and Poland. For about fifteen months Frederick now lived in the town of Ciistrin, having an establishment of his own, but serving as the youngest councillor at the Government board there. He took great care not to offend his father, and was partially restored to favour. In 1732 he was made colonel commandant of a regiment in Ruppin, and in the following year he married, in obedience to the king s orders, the Princess Elizabeth Christina, daughter of the duke of Brunswick-Bevern. The palace of Rheinsberg in the neigh bourhood of Ruppin was built for him, and there he lived until he succeeded to the throne. These years were perhaps the happiest of his life. He discharged his duties with so