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Person1712 – 1786

Frederick the Great

Also called: Frederick II of Prussia, Friedrich der Große, Old Fritz

King of Prussia (r. 1740–1786) who seized Silesia and made Prussia a great power — an enlightened despot who called the ruler “the first servant of the state”

As a youth he loved music and French literature, clashing with his stern father, the “Soldier King”. At eighteen he tried to flee to England with his friend Katte; caught, he was made to watch Katte’s execution. As king he wrote the Anti-Machiavel, composed in French and wrote flute concertos himself. He survived several near-collapses in the Seven Years’ War and was hailed as “the Great”. He died childless at Sanssouci.

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4 related events

  1. 1
    1740 – 1786Rise of Prussia and Frederick the Greatmonarch

    Frederick II of Prussia, who came to the throne in 1740, seized Silesia and made Prussia a great power; calling the ruler “the first servant of the state”, he was an enlightened despot who reformed from above.

  2. 2
    1740 – 1748War of the Austrian Successioncommander

    When Maria Theresa inherited the Habsburg lands in 1740, Prussia invaded Silesia and France, Bavaria and others joined in; the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) confirmed her inheritance, but Silesia went to Prussia.

  3. 3
    1756 – 1763Seven Years’ Warcommander

    In 1756–1763 Austria, seeking to regain Silesia, allied with France and Russia against Prussia, while Britain and France fought for colonies in North America and India; Britain defeated France and won colonial supremacy.

  4. 4
    1772 – 1795Partitions of Polandmonarch

    In three partitions in 1772, 1793 and 1795, Russia, Prussia and Austria divided up the lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; Poland disappeared from the map until 1918.

People who appear alongside

  • Maria Theresa1717 – 1780

    Habsburg heiress who ruled Austria, Hungary and Bohemia (1740–1780), fighting the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years’ War while reforming her realm

  • Voltaire1694 – 1778

    French Enlightenment writer who praised English liberty and fiercely attacked the intolerance and superstition of the Church

  • Catherine the Great1729 – 1796

    Empress of Russia (r. 1762–1796), German-born, who took the throne in a palace coup, professed enlightened despotism and expanded Russia to the Black Sea and through the partitions of Poland

Themes this person appears in

  • Islamic Empires and the Atlantic World1500 – 1800

    Three centuries in which the Ottomans of Suleiman I, the Mughals of Akbar and the Safavids of Abbas I flourished and then faltered, while across the Atlantic the slave trade and colonies transformed the Americas, leading to American independence

  • Reformation and Absolutism1517 – 1796

    From Luther’s Ninety-five Theses to Catherine the Great — the wars of religion of a divided Christendom ended at Westphalia, and absolute monarchs armed with divine right, standing armies, bureaucracies and mercantilism, followed by the enlightened despots of eastern Europe, contended for the balance of power among sovereign states