Today we're looking at Frederick II, better known as Frederick the GreatFrederick the Great (1/24/1712 - 8/17/1786) was born to the House of Hohenzollern and ruled as King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. He was seen by many Prussians as the father of the nation.Some notable feats or facts include the following>Last king in Prussia, first king of Prussia after 1772.>Favored music and literature to warfare in his youth, royally tilting his father Frederick William I>Father had a violent temper and regularly beat him as he thought he was effeminate. >When he made friends with his page his father sent that page to a remote Dutch frontier>When he planned an escape attempt with his friend and possible lover Hans Hermann von Katte, his father had his friend beheaded and forced Frederick to watch>Annexed Silesia from Austria in 1742. Won all three Silesian Wars in his lifetime. Acclaimed military genius.>Caused the rise of Prussia as a major power>Replaced Austria as the dominant power in the Holy Roman Empire>Crucial to the First Partition of Poland. >Won the War of the Bavarian Succession and diplomatically isolated Austria. >Supported enlightened absolutism. Mildly tolerant of catholics and jews. Allowed freedom of the press, supported the arts. >Sired no children. In a loveless arranged marriage with Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern. Sexuality highly debated to this day, probably gay. >Later spent most of his life away from his wife. Left all court duties to her as he hated the royal court. >After not seeing her for six years in 1763, his only words to her were to call her fat.>Reputation shrank after WW2 due to Nazis seeing him as a German folk hero. Has since recovered. Link to yesterday's thread: >>18681062
>>18683015Maybe he wouldn't be such a cunt if not his father
>>18683015he wasn't gay, he was homosexual
>>18683030It's pretty wild how abusive his dad was. The man had issues>>18683033That's the same thing????
>>18683033What if he was asexual?
>>18683015He wasn't a homosexual. His closeted faggot dad crushed his balls by regularly beating the shit out of him, so he become infertile. He feigned homosexuality to hide his infertility. Sad.
>>18683347>>18683348He was 99% a homo >https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_of_Frederick_the_Great
>>18683296Yeah. What caused it? He was a good ruler for Prussia but absolutely terrible father
>>18683395Educated old-school style by a Huguenot during a severe plague in Prussia. Believed in absolute monarchy and the power of the military. Very old fashioned might makes right sort of guy, military above all else.He always had a shitty temper and frequently beat his servants or family with a cane. He also suffered from inherited porphyritic disease that left him with chronic gout, disease, and stomach problems, so he was probably in pain all the time. His wife was afraid of him due to his anger issues, and he could get violent towards her too.Also he really, REALLY hated the French. He beat Frederick for shit like falling off a horse, wearing gloves in cold weather, etc. Basically anything that didn't seem masculine to him. On top of the whole banishing or executing anyone he made friends with like OP said. When he died, Frederick didn't even acknowledge it.
>>18683426 >also suffered from inherited porphyritic disease that left him with chronic gout, disease, and stomach problems, so he was probably in pain all the timeWell that explains a lot. Stomach acid can literally make you insane and gout is a terrible disease. Tho doesn't excuse his shitty behavior
>>18683433No it doesn't, but for further context he spent pretty much his entire reign purging corruption and inefficiency. Anything he saw as "weakness" would set him off. Some people really just should not have families.
>>18683426He was also a dimwit who couldn't write German or French correctly
>>18683377>For instance, there is no consensus on the actual number of Frederick's male loversMaybe Voltaire and Casanova have thing for Prussian bvll
The Battle of Leuthen should be studied for just how good of a tactician this guy was. He was like an early Napoleon, no joke.
>>18683458Rossbach as well. Man was like a walking supercomputer
>>18683458qrd?
>>18683015saved by russia
>>18683455dont call Voltaire and Casanova gay retard
>>18683015>his only words to her were to call her fat.ok now I'm 100% convinced he was Gay, that's so fucking catty lmao
>>18683442Jock Dad sires theater kid son, many such tragedies!
>>18683015I like how he tricked Peasants into enjoying potatoes
>>18683522They are closest homosexual, redditards
>>18684755Yeah that's why Voltaire was fucking Émilie du Châtelet, the wife of a nobleman and Casanova is literally known as THE guy that attracted women, you fucking retard
>>18683015>>Replaced Austria as the dominant power in the Holy Roman Empire>>Won the War of the Bavarian Succession and diplomatically isolated Austria.I would like to expand on those points as those are good examples on how Prussia was able to become the eventual german hegemon. To me it seems that many people think Prussias rise to becoming the hegemon of Germany began with the Congress of Vienna 1815, the establishment of the German Customs Union 1833 or the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. But already a century earlier Prussia was able to win over multiple german states in the face of the established Austrian dominance. There were always states within the HRE that opposed/countered the rule of the austrian Habsburg (traditionally the Electorate of Saxony, the Landgraviate of Hessen and even the Electorate of Bavaria) but Prussia was able to place itself on the front of those movements in the 18th century. In 1778/79 the War of the Bavarian Succession broke out as the line of the Bavarian-Wittelsbacher died out. As per house treaties the line of Palatinate-Sulzbach (itself descendants of the Wittelsbacher) were to become the heirs but Austria intervened militarily. Having recently lost Silesia Austria was intend on taking parts of Bavaria and contacted Elector Karl-Theodor of Palatinate-Bavaria (Palatinate-Sulzbach) and a treaty was drafted where Bavaria sold some of its lands towards Austria. This action was protested by the heir of Karl-Theodor and Friedrich II. sided with him. Austria and Prussia both mobilized their armies but due to logistical issues and the political intervention of Maria Theresia no large battle was fought. 1/2
>>18683015Insanely lucky dude.
>>18683458"Hats off gentlemen, if he were alive we wouldn't be here today" Napoleon did have a good amount of respect for Freddy.I bet Napoleon would have won in an equal battle, but Prussia degenerated fast after Frederick and he'd have put up a much more competent resistance.
Later in 1785 Friedrich II. founded the League of Princes which consisted of 16 german states and acted in opposition towards the attempts of Emperor Joseph II. and Elector Karl Theodor of Palatinate-Bavaria to switch the entireties Austrian Netherlands with Old Bavaria. This switch would have greatly consolidated the territories of both Austria and Palatinate-Bavaria (or more so the newly found state of "Burgundy"), which worried the other princes of the realm as this would not only increase the power of those two states but also breached the de facto customs of territorial sovereignty. As Prussia was able to position itself as the guardian of the "German Liberties", the Rights of the Princes in the face of Austria, in those conflicts it founded for itself a strong position within the realm that went beyond military conquest and concentrated on diplomatic and legal legitimisation. But it should also be noted that Friedrich II. neglected the League of Princes after it was able to block Austria - their purpose for him was fulfilled.2/2>pic relA painting depicting Friedrich II. as an ancient king wraps a wreath of olive branches (peace) around a bundle of javelins (war) that is given to him by Germania. Harmonia watches over both.
>>18684951They called it Potato War due to propagated by Frederick potatoes providing Prussian soldiers with good diet btw
Frederick wrote exclusively in French. He mostly detested German culture and found it primitive and stupid--the only aspect he found enjoyable was some of the architecture. Indeed when Voltaire visited Berlin, he found that nearly every educated person also spoke French and that German was "only spoken to soldiers on the road."
>The Seven Years War had left Prussia shattered and in ruins, most of its male population under 50 dead or maimed. Frederick had only survived and still had a country left to rule by the barest thread of luck. He "aged 30 years overnight" by the time the war was over. At the end of hostilities, he was 50 years old but looked closer to 70. Frederick's earlier liberal inclinations faded with old age and the traumatic experience of the war; the Prussian state became increasingly authoritarian in his later years and criticism of government policies and the king were no longer permitted. One visitor complained "The only freedom one has in [Prussia] is the freedom to attack religion."[2]
>In 1752, Frederick made the daring experiment of allowing total religious liberty in his domains. All were free to believe or not believe as they wished, on condition that no one was allowed to publicly criticize the beliefs of others. Although Frederick detested Catholicism, he reluctantly included Catholics in this policy of religious freedom, on the condition that he personally appoint bishops.
>Detesting the gaudy trappings of royalty, Frederick lived in a modest residence, ate peasant food, and "could have passed for an average German burgher." Despite his various enlightened reforms such as religious liberty, the king drew the line when it came to breaking up the feudal system of land ownership in Prussia for he dared not offend the Junker nobility whose support he depended on. The country remained a land of mostly poor peasants tilling on noble estates.[9]
>>18685035It should be noted that the peasants who worked on the lands of the royal domain were free of any form of serfdom since 1718 and in 1777 Friedrich II. granted them the right to bequeath the lands they worked onto their descendants. It was also forbidden to retract the lands of any peasants. And throughout his reign Friedrich II. established internal colonies for the development of land. The inhabitants of those colonies were also free as they were the direct subjects of the prussian crown and in certain cases were even free from military conscription.>pic relMap of the Neuwedel colony consisting of 20 houses arranged on a single straight street with 20 plots of land behind them
>>18685000Not too different from Berliners today with English desu
>>18685133I always forget that Germany was still full of these straight up medieval ass areas where it genuinely was a despotic shit show for many plebs
>>18685164How are internal land colonialisations/development projects despotic?
>>18685000All European nobility spoke French back them
>>18685164a lot of them moved to America for a good reason
>>18685191I meant the ones who weren't freed from serfdom and were still tied to Junkers' land
People forget that the burden of proving a historical figure to be homosexual lays not just in proving they had sex with men but also in disproving they ever had sex with women
>>18685259And he didn’tHe hated his wife and avoided women in general if he could
>>18685248Yeah, but serfdom ≠ serfdom as is often understood. The peasants had rights, there were laws and the noble estate owners were responsible for the enforcement of those laws. >and were still tied to Junkers' landDepends. At least for Silesia Friedrich II. abolished the mandatory ties to the land for all farmers. Additionally many peasants all over Prussia were able to buy their "geographic freedom" and then settled in the aforementioned colonies.And it's not like peasants had it far better in other european countries. Being a tenant farmer in the UK anf getting your land appropriated under an inclosure act and then forced to relocate to the city must have sucked too. A similar development would occur in Prussia at the beginning of the 19th century too.>>18685224The first wave fled in the 16th and 17th centuries due to religious persecution. The second and largest wave occured in the 19th century due to the increasing pauperism brought on by the early industrialisation and the diminishing amount of useful farmland and due to political persecution after the Karlsbad Decrees and the failed revolution of 1848.
>>18685224Included my ancestors who came here around 1740.
>>18685259>No kids with his wife despite this being the bare minimum royal duty>No bastards kids or known mistresses either despite it being common for royalty of the era It's not looking good, bro
So was Freddy gay because his dad was an abusive cunt or was his dad an abusive cunt because Freddy was gay?
>>18686993neither, his dad was a cunt to everyone
>>18684785Cope retards. They were gay.
>>18685156>American "English"Which is disgusting.
>>18687464American English and British English are basically identical bruh, I swear to God only monoglots think there's any real chasm between them.The differences between Brazilian Portuguese and Portugal Portuguese, or Latin America Spanish(es) and Spain-Spanish are far greater than English's dialectical diversity overseas. It's actually quite astounding how conservative English has remained across Oceania, Europe, and North America.
>>18687928that's probably just due to spics and favelamonkeys having significantly lower iqs than anything else
>>18683015One of the few true greats. Shame we don't still do enlightened despotism.
>>18683015Don't forget the time Napoleon visited his grave and said, "Hats off gentlemen, if he were alive we wouldn't be here today."
>>18683426Did anybody stop and give him a ride?
