Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia

Hohenzollern dynasty: marriages produce territorial inheritances:
           1614 Duchy of Cleves, counties of Mark & Ravensberg
           1618 Duchy of East Prussia
           1637 Duchy of Pomerania

Elector Frederick William (The Great Elector)  1640-1688
            begins army buildup:  1648 -- 8,000 men
                                         1688 --30,000 men
            1652 Recess of Diet of Brandenburg:  establishes army tax,
                        but exempts Junkers in return for their support
            Generalkriegskommissariat:  military commissariat to supply army;
                        becomes center of bureaucratic state control of economy
            1680's: Huguenot immigration encouraged (artisans, merchants, nobles)

Frederick I  1688-1713  (King in Prussia from 1701-1713)
            1700:  army up to 40,000 men
            1701:  Emperor Leopold (Habsburg) grants title of King in Prussia
                         in return for 8,000 men to fight in War of Spanish Succession

Frederick William I 1713-1740 (The Drillmaster)
           by 1740: increases army to 80,000 men, 4th largest in Europe;
            institutes cantonal recruitment system (= draft) in 1732
            founds Potsdam Giant Regiment (6-8 foot tall soldiers)
            solidifies Junker monopoly on officer corps
            writings: 1714 Infantry Regulations
                         1722 Political Testament:  stresses loyalty to Emperor
            "father of Prussian militarism" & of Prussian bureaucratic efficiency

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Frederick II The Great  1740-1786  (Enlightened Despot?)                                   
             by 1780: increases army to 200,000 (population up to 6 million)
            rejects dynastic & divine right theories of govt. for contract theory
                        -utilitarian justification of power ("1st servant of state")

            1740 Anti Machiavel:  political principles of enlightened rule outlined:
                         but note conflict with simultaneous territorial moves.
            1740 invasion of Silesia (from Austria at death of Charles VI)
            1740-1748 War of the Austrian Succession

            Diplomatic Revolution of 1756:  European response to rise of Prussia
              Austria & France (traditional enemies) ally against Prussia & England
          1756-1763 Seven Years' War Prussia retains Silesia
          1772 Partition of Poland:
              for Prussia, result is solid block of territory from Brandenburg to
                           Prussia  (Nieman River)  (See maps in Palmer)
           Issue of "enlightened despotism": Frederick's relationship with Voltaire

      Further reading:  Biography of Frederick the Great --
              Gerhard Ritter, Frederick the Great:  A Historical Profile