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