This event happened in 1680 when he secured the lands of the archbishopric. The elector did not, however, take possession of the newly-acquired territories at once. Fresh difficulties arose with Sweden, and it was not until 1653 that eastern Pomerania was freed from her soldiers. Meanwhile a new quarrel had broken out with Wolfgang of Neuburg. In 1650 Frederick William attacked his rival, but a variety of circumstances, among others a change of government in the Netherlands, and the resistance of the estates of Cleves, thwarted his plans, and he was compelled to listen to the mediating powers, and to acquiesce in the status quo.
Profiting by these reverses the elector then undertook a series of internal reforms, tending to strengthen the central authority, and to mitigate the constant lack of money, which was perhaps his chief obstacle to success; a work in which he was aided by George, count of Waldeck (1620–1692), who became his chief adviser about this time. In 1651 the powers of the state council were extended to include all the lands under the elector’s rule; and a special committee was appointed to effect financial economies, and so to augment the electoral resources. In imperial politics Frederick William supported the election of Ferdinand, son of the emperor Ferdinand III., as king of the Romans in 1653; but when the emperor failed to fulfil his promises, influenced by Waldeck, he acted in opposition to the imperial interests, and even formed a plan for a great alliance against the Habsburgs. These projects were disturbed by the war which broke out in 1655 between Sweden and Poland. In this struggle the elector fought first on one side and then on the other; but the important consequences of his conduct belong rather to the history of the duchy of Prussia (q.v.). The transfer of the elector’s support from Sweden to Poland in 1656 was followed by the fall from power of Waldeck, who was succeeded by Otto von Schwerin (1616–1679), under whose influence the elector’s relations with the emperor became more cordial.
The increase in the prestige of Brandenburg was due chiefly to his army, which was gradually brought to a high state of efficiency. A proper organization was established to superintend the pay and maintenance of the soldiers, and they were commanded by experienced officers, among others by Georg Derfflingen (1606–1695), and Otto von Sparr (1605–1668). The general poverty, however, made the estates reluctant to support a standing army, and after the peace of Oliva in 1660, it was reduced to about 3500 men. The continual difficulties with the estates of his different dominions had harassed and hampered the elector, and the general peace which followed the treaty of Oliva offered a favourable opportunity to curtail their powers. Undaunted by two previous rebuffs he attacked the estates of Cleves, and by a display of force gained a substantial victory. Some important privileges were annulled, and he obtained a considerable sum of money. The Landtag of Brandenburg was not cowed so easily into submission, but an increase of revenue was obtained, and the stubborn struggle which ensued in Prussia ended in a victory for the ruler. This increased income enabled the elector to take a more considerable part in European politics. In 1663 he assisted the imperialists in their struggle with the Turks; in 1666 the dispute over Cleves, Mark and Ravensberg was finally settled, and Brandenburg were confirmed in the possession of these lands; and in the same year a reconciliation was effected with Sweden. Several disputes which threatened to disturb the peace of the Empire were settled through his mediation, and he compelled the citizens of Magdeburg to do homage to him. In religious matters he interceded with the emperor and the diet for the Protestants, and sought, but without success, to bring about a reconciliation between Lutherans and Calvinists in Brandenburg.
The elector’s relations with Louis XIV. of France are full of interest. After the conclusion of the war of devolution in 1667, he allied himself with Louis, and together they agreed to support the candidature of Wolfgang of Neuburg for the vacant Polish throne. In 1668, moreover, he refused to join the triple alliance against France, but soon afterwards became aware of the danger to his country from the aggressive policy of Louis. The United Provinces were bound to him by religious interests, political considerations, and family ties alike, and he could not be indifferent when their position was threatened by France. In spite of tempting offers from Louis, he was the first to join the Dutch when they were attacked by Louis in 1672, and conducted an ineffectual campaign on the Rhine until June 1673, when he was forced to make peace. In July 1674, however, he joined the Empire, the United Provinces and Spain, and in return for a subsidy, fought against France in Alsace. Meanwhile Louis had instigated the Swedes to invade Brandenburg, which had been left to the care of John George II., prince of Anhalt-Dessau. Hastening from Franconia to defend the electorate, Frederick William gained a complete victory over a superior number of the enemy at Fehrbellin on the 28th of June 1675, a great and glorious day for the arms of Brandenburg. Aided by the imperialists and the Danes, he followed up this success, and cleared Brandenburg and Pomerania of the Swedes, capturing Stettin in 1677 and Stralsund in 1678, while an attack made by Sweden on Prussia was successfully repelled. The general peace of Nijmwegen was followed by the treaty of St Germain-en-Laye in June 1679 between Sweden and Brandenburg. Owing, however, to the insistence of Louis XIV. and the indifference, or weakness, of the emperor Leopold I., the elector was forced to restore western Pomerania to Sweden, in return for the payment of 300,000 crowns by France. This feebleness on the part of his ally induced Frederick William to listen more readily to the overtures of Louis, and in 1679, and again in 1681, he bound himself to support the interests of France. He had, moreover, a further grievance against the emperor as Leopold refused to recognize his right to the Silesian duchies of Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau, which had been left without a ruler in 1675. About 1684, however, the foreign policy of Brandenburg underwent another change. Disliking the harshness shown by Louis to the Protestants, the elector concluded an alliance with William, prince of Orange, in August 1685; and entered into more friendly relations with the emperor. Further incensed against France by the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685, he made an alliance with Leopold in January 1686, agreeing in return for a subsidy to send troops against the Turks. Soon afterwards he received Schwiebus to compensate him for abandoning his claim on the Silesian duchies, and in a secret treaty made promises of support to Leopold. The great elector died in May 1688, leaving his territories to his eldest son, Frederick.
The remarkable services of Frederick William to his country can best be judged by comparing its condition in 1640 with that in 1688. At his accession the greater part of his territory was occupied by strangers and devastated by war, and in European politics Brandenburg was merely an appendage of the empire. Its army was useless; its soil was poor; its revenue was insignificant. At his death the state of Brandenburg-Prussia was a power to be reckoned with in all European combinations. Inferior to Austria alone among the states of the Empire, it was regarded as the head of the German Protestantism; while the fact that one-third of its territory lay outside the Empire added to its importance. Its area had been increased to over 40,000 sq. m.; its revenue had multiplied sevenfold; and its small army was unsurpassed for efficiency. The elector had overthrown Sweden and inherited her position on the Baltic, and had offered a steady and not ineffectual resistance to the ambition of France.
While thus winning for himself a position in the councils of Europe, Frederick William was not less active in strengthening the central authority within his own dominions. He found Brandenburg a constitutional state, in which the legislative power was shared between the elector and the diet; he left it to his successor substantially an absolute monarchy. Many circumstances assisted to bring about this change, among the chief of which were the want of harmonious action on the part of the estates, and the decline in the political power of the towns. The substitution of a permanent excise for the subsidies granted from time to time by the estates also tended to increase his independence, and the officials or Steuerräthe, appointed by him to collect this tax in the towns, gradually absorbed many of
