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Frederick II (Friedrich II von Preu? Well, what do you want to eat? E,1712 65438+1October 24-65438+August 0786 17), known as frederick the great in history. King of Prussia (reigned in May 365438+0,65438+August 0786,65438 +07). During his reign, Prussia achieved great military development, territorial expansion and cultural and artistic sponsorship, which enabled Prussia to gain hegemony in Germany. Frederick II is one of the greatest stars in European history. He has made great achievements in politics, economy, philosophy, law and even music.

youth

When he was young, Frederick II grew up under the strict, strict and military education of his father, Frederick William I, a soldier king. 1730, he tried to travel to England with his friend Hans Herman von Carter. But it ended in failure. They were imprisoned in Küstrin, a small town on the border between Germany and Poland, where Carter was executed. Whether Frederick witnessed the execution with his own eyes or just heard it with his own ears is still controversial. Frederick was also closely related to Peter Karl Christopher von Keith and Hans Karl von Winterfield.

His father was constantly under pressure from pro-Olympic forces (Friedrich Wilhelm von groome Boko, Jacob Paul von Gunderling, etc. ), and under his influence, Frederick reluctantly married Elizabeth Christina von Brunswick-Bevan. Elizabeth is a distant relative of the Habsburg family. The two did not give birth to a son. Frederick is basically separated from her and only appears together during festivals. But before his father died, Frederick promised that he would never betray Elizabeth. Four years in Rheinisburg (1736–1740) may be the happiest time for the two of them together, but whether this is true or just a play by his suspicious father is still inconclusive.

It is still controversial whether Frederick II has homosexual tendencies according to contemporary standards. But there is no doubt that he is alienated from women. He wants to see the vitality he sees in men in women. The autopsy carried out behind him did not show that he had a sexually transmitted disease or deformity. Because his doctor Johann Georg Zimmermann revealed that Frederick was infected with sexually transmitted diseases before the wedding. The rare women favored by Frederick are the so-called "landlady" Caroline and Catherine the Great. He also wrote poems for them and kept in touch with them.

king

Diplomacy and war

Frederick II ascended the throne on 1740 at the age of 28. Influenced by the French enlightenment philosophy, Frederick II succeeded to the throne, which was considered by people at that time to be an enlightened king who was good at thinking and might even be poor in writing. Indeed, as soon as he took office, he dissolved his father's huge grenadier regiment (leaving a squadron as a guard of honor) and ordered the army to ban corporal punishment of soldiers (this order was later revoked in the war). But Frederick had an excellent army and sufficient treasury left by his father and his father, and he was not a novice in the war. During the Polish war of succession to the throne, he went to prinz eugen, then the first European general, as a military intern. It's hard to say that Frederick could really learn some skills from prinz eugen in such a short time, but Eugen did praise Frederick's calm attitude on the battlefield, and young Frederick had no impression of old prinz eugen. Most importantly, shortly after Frederick ascended the throne, there appeared a good opportunity for Prussia to expand-the Austrian war of succession to the throne.

It was not until 1740 that Austria ended its war against Turkey in 1739, and the resulting flaw was just exploited by Prussia. Through this war, he won a Silesia region with great economic value for Prussia, which was divided and lacked natural resources, and won a border line for Prussia that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. In this war, Frederick II and Kurt Christopher, Earl of Marshal Schwelien, won Silesia for Prussia. He successfully defended this area in the Second Silesia War. Prussia did not participate in the whole war, but only fought two paragraphs, all of which were aimed at annexing Silesia province of Austria. For Prussia, it is called the first Silesia War and the second Silesia War, so these two wars are actually part of the Austrian succession war. At the same time, in this war, Frederick personally led the army for the first time and showed his military talent in several battles.

Although Austria's war of succession to the throne did not officially end until 1748, Frederick's Prussian kingdom withdrew from the war from 1745 and stood by. From then on to 1756, when the Seven-Year War broke out, Frederick won the ten-year peace-building period. Silesia is the center of textile industry and one of the richest provinces in Germany. The annual tax revenue accounts for 1/4 of Prussia's annual income. In this decade, Frederick not only reorganized the army and developed the economy, but also prepared for the next seven years' war.

During the period of 1750, Prussia's diplomatic situation became more and more severe. First of all, Frederick made friends with Britain, concluded the Whitehall Treaty, guaranteed the inviolability of the British king's territory in Hanover, Germany, and used force to "deal with any country that violated the territorial integrity of Germany", which greatly angered France, which was competing with Britain for overseas colonies at that time. Austrian Grand Duchess maria theresia never forgets humility. His Prime Minister, Prince Kaunitz, successfully joined forces with Russian Tsar Elizabeth Petrovsky and French King Louis XV, gradually putting the diplomatic noose around Prussia's neck and actively preparing to recover Silesia. Seeing the situation getting worse, Frederick decided that instead of waiting for the war to come, it would be better to launch a preemptive strike against Austria. The Seven Years' War began. During the Seven Years' War, his army entered the kingdom of Saxony. After that, Prussia fought against three neighboring countries at the same time, namely Austria, France and Russia (the three countries formed an alliance at the initiative of Austrian Foreign Minister Koenigs). At that time, the ratio of Prussia and the alliance was 1:3, and the population ratio reached 1:20. After seven years of war, facing the brink of national subjugation several times, Frederick finally saved Silesia. It also won an immortal reputation in military history, won the title of "Great Emperor" and established the personal honor of "Military Genius". Prussia has also become one of the five giants in Europe (the other four countries are Austria, France, Britain and Russia). Under the witness of Voltaire and Milla Bao, he founded the most modern country at that time in the hegemonic era.

At his initiative (1772), Poland was carved up for the first time. At that time, Austria and Russia, which had just formed an alliance with Prussia in 1764, were on the verge of armed conflict. Frederick II used the land of Poland to satisfy the desire of the two countries for land for his own benefit. Prussia annexed the so-called Poland-Prussia, that is, West Prussia by force. From then on, he called himself Frederick II of Prussia (K? Nigel von prue? En), rather than claiming to be the king of Prussia (k? Nigger in Preu? In his later years, Friedrich launched the war of succession to the Bavarian throne, which failed the Austrian emperor Joseph II's attempt to exchange Belgium for most of Bavarian territory. This Austrian plan led to the formation of the Prussian Monarchy Union (1785).

Internal affairs and reform

In internal affairs, he carried out agricultural reform (potato), military reform, education reform and legal reform. Mling and Oderbruch implemented drainage works, abolished torture and established a clean and efficient civil service system. His famous saying is "I am the first public servant of this country." He contributed a lot to the development of law. In addition, the people of Prussia at that time could ask the king for help by writing or asking for an audience. Under the principle of "the king is the first public servant of the country", Frederick II tried his best to avoid the disadvantages of the feudal system. He is very distrustful of his own officials and deeply feels that hierarchy will bring trouble.

"I am very unhappy. The poor people prosecuted in Berlin are in such a dilemma. And they will be arrested at any time. For example, Jacob Trecci from East Prussia was arrested by the police because he wanted to stay in Berlin because of a lawsuit. Later, I asked the police to release him. I want to tell you clearly that in my eyes, a poor farmer is no different from a most prominent duke or a richest aristocrat. Everyone is equal before the law! " (Letter from Frederick II 1777 to the Minister of Justice)

Pursuing the principle of "everyone is equal" is the characteristic of his administration. At the same time, he is tolerant and open to immigrants and small religious believers (Huguenots and Catholics), which is also one of the characteristics of his internal affairs. In Fridericianum Square in Berlin, a Protestant church and a Catholic church stand side by side, which is a unique sight in18th century. Frederick later said, "Jeder soll nach seiner Fa? On selig werden "(meaning: everyone can go to heaven even if they do things in different ways). However, in terms of discrimination against Jews, Frederick II inherited his predecessor's policies word for word-revising the general privilege policy (revisiting the general privilege 1750) and the Jewish porcelain regulations (Judenporzellanverdnung1763). Prussia is the first monarchy in Europe that enjoys limited press freedom. Under the rule of this king, homosexuals will not be persecuted.

He hoped to abolish serfdom completely, but failed under the strong opposition of Prussian landlords. However, it can be gradually implemented in the king's territory. Frederick II established towns and villages in the newly opened areas, allowing farmers with free status to stay. When the serf contract needs to be extended for national reasons, the employers of these helpers, farm labourers and maids will be asked about their situation and treatment. If employers are not well managed, their farm workers can be transferred to employers with proper management records.

During the reign of Frederick II, hundreds of schools were built in Prussia. The quality of teachers in rural schools is uneven and low. These schools can only produce some officers with poor literacy.

Frederick II wrote to Voltaire and met him in Potsdam. He wrote a lot of works in French himself and was an influential writer in the18th century. He wrote "Anti-Machiavelli" on 1740, which is very famous in Europe. In the book, he analyzed Machiavelli's view of national politics from the perspective of criticism and progress. The widely circulated legend of the miller in Worry-Free Palace is regarded as a contest between Frederick II and the law. But it turns out that this anecdote is false.

stop

1August 786 17, Frederick II died peacefully on his couch in the Worry-Free Palace at the age of 74. He had no children and was inherited by his nephew Friedrich Wilhelm Ⅱ. Just three years before the French Revolution. His wish was to be buried on the terrace of Worry-Free Palace with his dog, but his successor, who is also his nephew, buried him in the underground chamber of the Potsdam Gleason Church. His coffin was moved to Elizabeth Church in Marburg. It was not until 1952 that it was moved to Hornsoren Castle at the initiative of Louis Ferdinand. However, it was not until 17 that Germany was unified in August (199 1) that the king went where he wanted to go and settled down under the tomb he built before his death. His words were "Quand je suis là, je suis sans souci" (I can't rest assured when I go). This free-thinking aid member found no peace in the church. He wants his dog to be closer to him.

People made a bust of him in Varhala as a souvenir. After his death, many monuments were erected, the most famous of which was the statue of frederick the great riding a horse in Lower Linden Street in Berlin. This statue survived the Second World War and was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty.

Military genius

Even ignoring his actions as a politician and his contribution to legislation, his military performance alone is enough to make him occupy a place in history. In the works of western military historians, Frederick may be second only to Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal and Napoleon in the position of famous soldiers in past dynasties.

Frederick made his first appearance in the Austrian war of succession to the throne. The Battle of Sol was Frederick's first attempt to put the diagonal tactics he thought and designed into practice. After the war, Frederick wrote his most important work on military theory, Principles of War (translated into military fatwa, German: Die General Principia vom Kriege). This book reflects Frederick's summary and reflection on his early war experience. It is not only an upward war theory, but also close to reality, which is the best guide to war practice at that time. Frederick actually wrote this book in French, which was later translated into German. Only distributed to Prussian generals, not allowed to circulate. But he didn't translate the original French chapter 12 into German, because Frederick himself wrote this chapter, and he certainly didn't want his subordinates to see it. Later, in the Seven Years' War,1February 760, Austria got this book from a captured Prussian Major General, and it was only then that this book was circulated in the world. 1762, this book spread to London, where it was publicly printed and published.

During the seven-year war, frederick the great suffered more and more setbacks. With amazing perseverance and tenacity, it single-handedly fought against France, Russia and Austria, and its madness was comparable to that of Swedish King Carl XII or Hitler. The Battle of Rosbach is one of the perfect manifestations of Frederick's diagonal. Today, it was selected as a classic battle of that era by the United States Military Academy at West Point, and reappeared as a large model in its military museum exhibition. Military historians also regard this battle and the Battle of Leuten as the pinnacle of frederick the great's military art, just like Napoleon's Battle of Austerlitz. Only by these two battles, Frederick completely established himself as one of the greatest generals in ancient and modern times, and an eternal military myth of Prussia was born. Later, Napoleon said of frederick the great: "The more critical he is, the greater he becomes. This is the highest praise we can give him. " .

During the annual autumn exercise in Silesia from 65438 to 0785, Prince Frederick (Duke of York), the famous General Cornwallis in the American Revolutionary War and the Marquis of lafayette all visited and paid tribute to Frederick. At that time, the Prussian army under Frederick became a model for the whole European military community to follow. The old king couldn't help laughing at the training ground. "Heroes from all over the world come to my hub."

On the tactical level, Frederick can be said to be the first tactician in modern Europe, not inferior to Napoleon. Especially at the battle level: at that time, there was no war branch of strategy and tactics in Europe, and Frederick was the founder of big tactics. The "grand tactics" of the German population is the science of war in modern military science. European military science started from Gustav and moved towards modernization. Du Lunni, Mabel, Eugen, saxophone and other famous artists explored and tried, and they reached Frederick's hands, which not only summarized in practice but also in theory. The operational principles he established, such as "protect your flank and rear, bypass the enemy's flank and rear" and "the target we should pay attention to should be the enemy's army", directly guided Napoleon. It can be said that Frederick was Napoleon's first combat command teacher.

trivial matter

Frederick II plays the flute in the Worry-Free Palace. He is interested in all arts. He drafted and designed the Worry-Free Palace in Potsdam and hired architect Knobbstoff to build it. He has many famous paintings, plays a good flute (flute teacher johann joachim quantz) and composes music. His Meeting with the Composer johann sebastian bach in Worry-Free Palace 1747.

In addition to his native German, Frederick II can also speak French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. He can understand Latin, ancient Greek, Greek and Hebrew. In his later years, he also studied Slavic and Basque.

blood relationship

┌——>； Friedrich William (1620–1688)

Brandenburg vassal

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┌——>； Frederik 1 (1657–1713)

Prussian king

│ │

│└——>； Louis Henriette von Oranian (1627–1667),

│ ...

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┌——>； Frederick William I (1688–1740), soldier king.

King of Prussia

│ │

││┌——>； Ernst Augustus (1629–1698),

│ │ │ Hanover governors please see below.

│ │ │

│└——>； Sophie Charlotte of Hanover (1668–1705)

│ │

│└——>； Sophie is at Falc Palace (1630–1714).

Please see below.

│ ...

│

Frederick II (1712–1786), frederick the great.

Prussian king

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│┌——>； Ernst Augustus (1629–1698),

│ │ Hanover princes, please see the picture above.

│ │

│┌——>； George I (1660–1727)

The king of Great Britain and the vassal of Hanover

│ │ │

││└——>； Sophie is at Falc Palace (1630–1714).

see above

│ │

└——>； Sophie Teresa of Hanover (1687–1757)

...

│

│┌——>； George William (1624–1705)

Duke of Brunswick-Lueneburg of Carenborg and Lueneburg.

│ │

└——>； Sophie Teresa of Brunswick-Luneburg (1666–1726), Princess Ahlden.

...

│

└——>； Aunola de Aubres (1639–1722).

...

Frederick II (1712-1786), king of Prussia (reigned1740-1786).

Prussian spirit, which is a very awesome term, is based on its militaristic system. The whole country is a big military camp, and the whole state institution is a military machine, which fully supports a huge army representing national honor. "Prussian spirit" reached its peak in the era of Frederick II, and this king also stayed in the long river of history as a "god of war".

Frederick II is undoubtedly a lucky man, and his ancestors left him rich capital. The Hornsauron family developed from a city-state owner in the Swiss mountains to a ruler in the vast land of North Germany, with titles ranging from earl to elector to king. More importantly, it left him a powerful and efficient army. But in his youth, Frederick was a man who loved freedom, literature and art, hated autocracy and obedience, and was full of rebellious character. It happened that he had a rigid and stubborn "military king" father, so a common contest between control and anti-control was launched between father and son, and when this contest happened in the Wang family, it became even more cruel. Young Frederick was often beaten with his father's stick and verbally stimulated. /kloc-when he was 0/8 years old, he tried to escape with several companions in order to resist the marriage arranged by his father. As a result, he was put in prison and arranged to watch the bloody scene of his companions being beheaded.

The days in prison made him pass through the agitation of adolescence, and he began to become deep and rational, and the traditions of the Hohensolen family began to appear in him. In the following days, he became interested in politics and military affairs, participated in the practice of the Polish war of succession to the throne, and initially established a set of military theories. 1740, he inherited the throne and a well-trained army of more than 80,000 people, and continued to expand this army to more than 200,000 people, becoming a tool to practice his theory that "the basic law of the government is to expand territory".

Frederick is not only an outstanding military commander, but also a wise military theorist. He founded the famous theory of "oblique entry into battle queue", the main point of which is to retract one wing of one's own combat team and strengthen the other wing that is ready to attack, so that it can form an advantage locally and attack the enemy's flank, which is suitable for the situation of winning more with less, and win a decisive point before the enemy's large troops enter the war. He also established many famous operational principles, such as "protecting your flank and rear, bypassing the enemy's flank and rear" and taking the annihilation of the enemy's effective forces as the main goal.

Frederick had a good practice opportunity in his first year in office. 1740, Austrian grand duchess Maria Tracy succeeded her father to the throne. Because women's succession is unprecedented in Germany, Frederick used this as an excuse to form an alliance with France, Bavaria and Saxony and launched a war against Austria. The Austrian side has the support of Britain, which is known in history as "the war of succession to the Austrian throne". Frederick is not interested in the Austrian throne. He wants Silesia, a developed industrial base where Germans are concentrated. The war went very smoothly. Pu Jun quickly occupied the whole Silesia and defeated the Austrian army in the battles of Molwitz and Huo Tussis. Frederick skillfully used the contradiction between Austria and France, and Bavaria won one after another, and finally occupied the whole Silesia through the Dresden Peace Treaty, becoming the biggest beneficiary of this war.

But the stubborn Maria Tracy refused to let go, determined to recapture Silesia, and brought France, Russia and Sweden to her side through diplomatic means, while Frederick made an alliance with Britain. 1756, the situation was even worse. Britain and France fought mainly overseas, while Prussia alone competed with Austria, France and Russia on the European continent. Frederick was outnumbered by his diplomatic blunders, but he achieved a series of classics in the military. 1757 The Battle of Rosbach was a masterpiece of enemy annihilation in mobile warfare, and the Battle of Leiten was a perfect practice of "leaning into the battle queue" and a masterpiece of motivation and determination. However, despite this, Prussia's national strength is exhausted and Berlin is in danger. Frederick is ready to commit suicide by taking poison at any time. Fortunately, the change of Russian regime gave him a chance to breathe, and finally ended the "Seven Years War" with dignity and saved Silesia.

In terms of territorial expansion, 1772, Frederick joined forces with Russia and Austria to carve up Poland for the first time, and obtained a large area of land along the Baltic Sea, connecting East Prussia and the national headquarters.

Frederick was admired by later generations mainly because of his military prestige, but he was also a master in politics. He crowned his rule with the most popular label "enlightened autocracy" in Europe at that time. In fact, he is more dictatorial than enlightened. He reorganized the "highest administrative body of finance, military and royal territory", making power more concentrated in the hands of the king himself. He asked his deputies to be efficient and honest, but they were not allowed to think independently. "The king is the only mind, and the bureaucrats are just his hands and feet." He asked every lieutenant to focus on his own area of responsibility, and only they could grasp the overall situation. Of course, the premise of all this is that the king himself is very diligent and enjoys reading official documents and letters from morning till night. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as "painstaking".

Of course, as an emperor who was influenced by the enlightenment thought in the18th century, Frederick's "enlightenment" was not just a whitewash. He led the leading judicial reform in Europe at that time, and published a unified draft constitution in Prussia for the first time, expressing the spirit of rule of law and judicial independence that the king completely gave up interfering in the judiciary, adhering to the spirit of Roman law that "everything should be decided by all" and ordering people to discuss legal provisions extensively and solicit opinions extensively. /kloc-The comments of politicians and philosophers in the 0/8th century on "enlightenment", such as religious tolerance, encouraging scientific culture and relaxing censorship of books and newspapers, are all reflected in the Constitution. Frederick claimed to be a "natural philosopher" and had close contacts with Voltaire, the leader of the Enlightenment, but eventually parted ways because of different aspirations and different roads. In Frederick's thoughts in his later years, "autocracy" became more and more important.

Frederick devoted himself to improving the situation of farmers, building water conservancy projects and promoting mercantilism. During his 40-odd years in power, despite the continuous wars, Prussia's economy developed rapidly, with the population increasing from 2.2 million to 5.43 million, the annual tax revenue nearly tripled, and the national treasury reserve increased from 8 million to 50 million. He left his successor a strong and prosperous Prussia. Therefore, he was honored as "frederick the great" by later generations.

Frederick the great is a recognized strategist, politician and self-styled philosopher. He is also a writer with beautiful writing style, leaving behind many works such as Principles of War, Political Model, Military Model, and Outline of Disposal Methods and Tactics. He loved literature and art all his life and was good at playing the flute.

Frederick the great is an important figure in the history of European military development. He inherited Gustav Adolphus, Du Lunni, Eugen, Napoleon and Mao Qi in military practice and theory. He changed the political situation in Europe. Later, Prussia was able to accumulate the power to unify Germany, and the frederick the great era was a key. However, some people think that Prussia in Frederick's time can already find the shadow of Nazi Germany later. Frederick the great is a very complicated figure, and it seems difficult to sum it up in one article. This paper focuses on his influence on history, and it may be more appropriate to rank him in the position of 4 1, after Suleiman I and before Gustav Adolphus.