PRUSSIA
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PRUSSIA
ability than any other HohenzoUern known to his-
tory; he had in him a touch of genius. What checked
the development and exercise of his abiUty was,
however, that he seemed from his natural pre-
dispositions, and from the way in which in youth
he looked upon life, to be born for entirely different
conditions than those prevailing in the Prussia of
that era. He was more inclined to literature and
music than to official routine work and mihtary ser-
vice, and early became a free-thinker. He preferred
the literature of France and despised that of Germany,
and was indifferent to Prussia and its people. \Mien
a young man these tastes led to conflicts with his
father, who resolved on this account to exclude
Frederick from the succession, and imprisoned him
for several years in the fortress at Kiistrin. Freder-
rick was then married against his will, by the advice
of Austria, to the Princess Elizabeth of Brunswick-
Be vern, personally an excellent and good woman.
He finally learned self-control and applied himself
with gradually increasing zeal and intensity to the
civil and military affairs of the state, but he did this
not from a sense of pleasure in such occupations, but
from one of discipline and necessity. This may be
the reason why in his civil administration and in the
aims of his foreign policy he showed little originality
in compari.son to his natural abiUties. On the other
hand, in the conduct of war the king showed ex-
traordinary energy, great intellectual actiWty, and
ceaseless personal attention to his task. In his
foreign policy Frederick followed the principles of
his predecessors and sought above all to develop
his domain towards the east. The precarious posi-
tion of Austria at the beginning of the reign of ^Iaria
Theresa was taken advantage of by Frederick to
begin a campaign in Silesia in Dec, 1740. As a
pretext for the war he took the treaties of succession
of his forefathers with the rulers of several of the
smaller Silesian duchies, made in 1.537, for the non-
fulfilment of which Austria seemingly was alone to
blame.
He gained the battle of Mollwitz 10 April, 1741, and on 5 June formed an alliance with France, the cliief of the other opponents of Maria Theresa; the intervention of England led him to agree to a truce on 9 October, which enabled Austria to make its military force equal to that of France. In alarm Frederick advanced into Moravia, gained the battle of Chotusitz, 17 May, 1742, and in the Peace of Breslau, of 1 June of the same year, obtained from Austria the whole of Silesia, excepting the Count- ships of Glatz, Troppau, and Teschen. As in the war between Austria and France, which still went on, the advantage of the former continually increased, Frederick once more formed an alliance with Au.s- tria's opponents and began a campaign in Bohemia in Sept., 1744, but was obliged to withdraw from this
CrovinCe in December. His position in Silesia now ecame precarious, but he extricated himself by the victory at Hohenfriedberg, 4 June, 174.5, and then defeated the enemy, already on the march to Berlin, at Soor 20 Sept., at Katholisch-Hennersdorf 23 Nov., and at Kesselsdorf 15 Dec. By the Peace of Dres- den of 25 Dec, 1745, Frederick retained Silesia. Maria Theresa, however, was not willing to give up Silesia without further effort. Consequently after peace had been made between Austria and France, Kaunitz, who was now Maria Theresa's minister of foreign affairs, sought to form more friendly relations with France and to strengthen those already existing with Russia. So little, however, was attained in France that Kaunitz wished to drop the negotiations, but Maria Theresa's persistence and the measures taken by Frederick in 17.56 led to the formation of the alliance. Made uneasy by the weakness of France, Frederick did not maintain the amicable relations that had existed until then between himself and that
power. WTien war broke out between England and
France over the colonies in 1755-6, England ne-
gotiated with Russia for the sending of auxiliary
troops. Frederick feared to permit such auxiliaries
to march through Prussia and offered to guarantee
England's possession on the Continent himself
(Convention of Westminster, Jan., 1756).
France and Austria now agreed to help each other in case of attack by Frederick (First Alliance of Versailles, 1 May, 1756). Upon this Frederick, led perhaps by fear of attack by a coalition stronger than himself, perhaps also by the hope of making fresh gains by daring seizures, began a third war, the Seven Years' War, with Austria, taking as a pretext the advance of the Austrian troops. Without any declaration of war he advanced into the Electorate of Sa.\ony, which was friendly to Austria, and be- sieged Dresden 9 Sept., but the Saxon troops kept up a longer resistance than he had counted upon, so it was 1757 before he could begin a campaign in Bohemia. In the meantime Russia and Austria had signed an alliance for war against him 2 Feb., 1757; in addition both the Empire and Sweden declared war against him, and on 1 May, 1757, France and Austria agreed in the Second Alliance of Versailles to adopt the offensive together against him. Fred- erick's opponents could produce a force of 430,000 men, while he with the aid of England and Hanover (Treaty of 11 January, 1757) controlled about 210,000 men. It was most important for him to force the matter to a conclusion as quickly as possible, before the means of his still poor country were ex- hausted. On 6 May he won a bloody battle near Prague, but on 18 June he was defeated near Kollin and suffered losses by the new Austrian commander Daun which he could not repair. Frederick was forced to return to Saxony, while the French defeated the Hanoverian army at Kastenbeck on 6 July, and the Russians defeated a Prussian army at Gross- jagerndorf on 30 Aug. However, the Russians and French did not form a junction with the Austrians quickly enough. \Mien finally the united French and Imperial army advanced, Frederick defeated the joint forces badly at Rossbach on 5 Nov., and then turned against Daun, who had entered Silesia and had taken Breslau. Frederick defeated him at Leuthen on 5 Dec. Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick continued to lead the Hanoverian and Prussian forces that fought against the French and drove the latter to the Rhine in the battle of Crefeld, 23 June, 1758. The progress of the war in the east did not equal the great expectations aroused by the success at Leuthen. In 1758 the Russians advanced. Frederick maintained himself against them at Zorndorf, 25 August, but the battle was not decisive; from here he hastened to Saxony, where the troops he had left behind were threatened by Daun, and he was surprised by Daun at Hochkirch on 14 Oct.
At the end of 1758 the majority of his officers were dead, and he could only fill the gaps among the soldiery by the compulsory enlistment of mercenaries. His treasury was empty, and he struck debased coin. He exhausted the resources of Saxony. On the other hand the Austrian army was always ready for the field, and the Austrian artillery was superior to his. Acc-ordingly his opponents in the campaign of 17.59 forced Frederick to take the defensive. The united Russians and Austrians decisively defeated Fred- erick at Kunersdorf on 12 August. The result was a .series of capitulations. Frederick lost Saxony, the greater part of Silesia was taken from him in 1760- 61, largely by Laudon. What saved him, besides his own energy, was the gradual dissolution of the al- liances between his enemies. France began to with- draw in the Third Alliance of Versailles of 30-31 December, 1757. At first Russia and Austria <lrew all the closer together in the Treaty of St. Petersburg
