The German Question, Part Twenty-Six

Slightly updated August 3, 2015


"Prussia Becomes A Military Power"

(Part 21 in this series has the foundation info for Prussia)

Just a note: When discussing these various "German states," please remember that while you may recognize some of the names as entities still today; like Bavaria, Austria, or Saxony, for instance, the "old" states do not really correspond in overall size to today's states, or even necessarily to states a little further on in our story. The borders were ever changing, as one duke married into the family of another duke, and then inherited certain territories, or of course, one state went to war with another over particular lands, and the results increased the victor's lands, and diminished the loser's. Further, the whole system was still based upon feudalism on a grand scale; with one noble being the master of his own territory, but then in turn being a vassal to another, more powerful noble. Often several layers of such cases were involved, and it is all quite complicated, but the particulars are not really all that relevant to our purposes here, only that the reader have a basic idea that this was the system.

So we have Prussia and Brandenburg united into the Kingdom of Prussia, and the state was usually, thereafter, referred to simply as Prussia, although most of its territories were not actually part of the original state of Prussia. King Friedrich Wilhelm I, of the Hohenzollern family, who became king in 1713, developed the Prussian military into a force comparable to the major European powers of his time: France, England and Russia. He was/is known for his love of tall soldiers, and he recruited these soldiers from all over Europe, forming them into a special grenadier regiment. Interestingly, while Friedrich Wilhelm loved military matters and was in fact known as "der Soldatenkönig," the Soldier King, he shunned going to war, and only rarely used his well-trained army. He was tight-fisted with his treasury, imposing taxes upon the citizenry to build-up his army, taxes which he himself paid to demonstrate compliance. He developed a solid basis for an educational system, and promoted agriculture throughout his realm. Even though he was king, he chose to live rather frugally, something that was not all that common among European royalty in those times. When he died, he left a substantial sum in the Prussian treasury. An interesting detail about Friedrich Wilhelm is, he married the daughter of the future King George I of England, who was his uncle; thus his wife was his cousin.

Upon his death, his son, Friedrich, became Prussian king as "Friedrich II" (his grandfather had been "Friedrich I"), in 1740, and he is better known to history as "Frederick the Great" (Friedrich der Grosse, in German). While his father was a strict disciplinarian and loved military matters, Friedrich showed little interest in the army or political affairs during his early life, preferring the arts, including music, and he was an accomplished flautist, and even composer. He had more than a contentious relationship with is father, as when he was 18, he tried to flee to England! He was apprehended, along with his closest friend, and his father had him imprisoned. He was then forced to watch the execution of his friend. It is possible that his father also planned to have Friedrich executed, but the German emperor intervened. Friedrich was later pardoned. He was forced into a marriage with a Protestant relative of the Habsburgs (the Habsburgs were largely devout Catholics), and the marriage bore no children. In fact, once he became king, Friedrich kept his wife in Berlin, while he lived at the palace in Potsdam (called "Sans Souci;" that is, "No Worries"), which is about 15-20 miles southwest of Berlin.

Prussia's territories were not all interconnected, and Friedrich sought to unite these lands and move Prussia into the ranks of the European powers by military action, not just reputation. He fought a series of battles and wars, primarily with Austria, the main component of the Habsburg possessions. Friedrich's successes expanded Prussian lands, notably most in "Silesia,"* and posed a serious challenge to Habsburg dominance of Germany. It should be noted that Friedrich also suffered reversals, and during the Seven Years' War, the part of which that took place in North America is known as "The French and Indian War," almost took him down. He faced a major coalition against him in Austria, Russia, France, Sweden (then a formidable military power), and smaller states, and he had only England and Hanover as allies.** At one point, after suffering defeat by Austrian-Russian forces at the Battle of Kunersdorf (approximately 50 to 55 miles east of Berlin; since the end of World War Two, Kunersdorf has been part of Poland), Friedrich wrote to Berlin that the situation was so bad,*** that he felt he would not survive as king. When things looked darkest for him, however, the Tsarina of Russia, Elisabeth, died, bringing to the Russian throne her nephew and Friedrich's close friend, Peter III.**** Peter immediately made peace with Prussia and Friedrich escaped an almost certain defeat, and possible loss of his throne. A peace treaty ended the war on all sides.

Friedrich is known for many things in German history: canals, agriculture, currency and tax reform, religious tolerance, music, architecture, and philosophy. He was a friend of French writer-philosopher Voltaire, who even lived in Berlin for a time at the invite of Friedrich. Friedrich also spoke many languages, including English. Interestingly, although in those times French was the language of diplomacy, Friedrich preferred French to his native German, even criticizing the complicated grammar of standard German. While Friedrich was "enlightened," he was still an autocrat, and many people died during the many wars he fought, although he was affectionately called by some, "Alter Fritz" (Old Fritz). No question, he really put Prussia on the map, and this helped foster an increasing nationalism in those north German lands. Friedrich died peacefully in 1786. His original burial site in a church in Potsdam was complicated by removal of his body during the latter stages of World War Two to keep it from falling into Russian hands, and then its storage at the Hohenzollern Castle in Hechingen, Germany, but since 1991 he has been buried on the grounds of his palace ("Sans Souci") in Potsdam, where he was laid to rest with full military honors. (A Word History is below the notes)

* Silesia, or Schlesien," in German, was an area with an abundance of coal and copper. This brought about the development of heavy industry in the region, thus making it a coveted area for any ruler. The population has been very mixed for centuries, with Germans much in the majority in most of the area, but with substantial Polish minorities (and majorities in some locales), and even a Czech minority (but majority in its part). The Habsburgs controlled the area for quite some time, until Friedrich successfully wrestled most of the region (except the Czech part) from them. (Note: Since the end of World War Two, Silesia has few Germans.)

** England and Hanover (or Hannover, in German, double "n") were united by the House of Hanover. Hanover provided the king of England, who was simultaneously "Kurfürst," elector prince, of Hanover. A "Kurfürst" was a prince who had a vote in the election of the German emperor. King George I had taken the throne of England in 1714, but knew little or no English. He was succeeded by his son, George II, who knew English, but was born in Germany, and he was succeeded by his grandson, George III, who was actually born in England and who spoke English from childhood. George II died before the end of the "Seven Years' War," and George III took over. He is better known to Americans, as he was king during the Revolutionary War. Interestingly, he never visited his holdings in Hanover during his long life.

*** Of some 50,000 men, only 3000 were still available to Friedrich immediately after the battle, although many more had simply been scattered, gradually making their way back to Berlin and forming the basis for a new army.

**** Tsar Peter III was the grandson of Russia's Peter the Great (Peter I), one of whose daughters married a German duke. Peter III was born and raised in Germany, but came to the Russian throne when Tsarina  Elizabeth, his aunt (his mother's sister), died. Having grown up as a German, Peter heavily favored Prussia and Frederick the Great. Peter married a German, who became famous in history as Catherine the Great, who became Tsarina of Russia when Peter died (likely murdered, with Catherine's deep involvement).

WORD HISTORY:
Dollar-This goes back to German Joachims"taler" (pronounced almost like English "taller"), which was a term used for the silver mined near Joachimstal (Joachim's Valley), now part of the Czech Republic, which was used to make a coin then termed a "taler," in the early 1500s. The Low German form was "dolar/doler," which is how English acquired the word in the mid 1500s. Eventually English made the spelling with a double "L." Modern German money doesn't use the "taler," as they eventually went to the "Mark," and now they use  the "Euro." The word exists in German as a historical reference, and is der Taler, the "der" denoting that it is a masculine noun, for those learning German.