1. Fredericks of Prussia By Noah Hirsch, Brent Rosenwald, and Michael Wexler

2. Frederick Wilhelm The Great Elector (r.1640-1688) He was not the king of Prussia Established himself and the Hohenzollern Family as the central utilizing power by: Building a strong army Organizing a royal bureaucracy Breaking the local noble estates Between 1655-1660, Frederick William got caught in the middle of a war between Sweden and Poland and In order to defend Prussia, he built up an Army. He gave the noble landlords(Junkers) the right to demand obedience from their serfs in exchange for obedience to him.

3. Frederick I (r.1688-1713)Frederick I (r.1688-1713)  The First Hohenzollern King  Earned title of king by putting his army at the disposal of Hapsburg Emperor Leopold I.  He built palaces, Founded a University, and patronized the arts

4. Frederick William I “The Soldier King” (r.1713-1740)  Organized the Bureaucracy along military lines  Created one of the largest and most powerful armies in Europe  Size of the Army grew from 39,000 to 80,000 during his rule  Separate laws applied to the army and to civilians. Laws, customs, and royal attention made officer corps the highest social class of the state.  He avoided conflict even though he had built a strong army.  The army existed as a symbol of Prussian power rather than aggression.

6. Promotion Through MeritPromotion Through Merit  Saw himself as a “servant of the state”  His interests came after subjects  Required nobles to qualify for positions under Prussian Civil Service Commission  Rejected privilege from birth  Professors praised him  Nobles, Clergy, Bureaucrats shared enlightened educational background

7. Religious PoliciesReligious Policies  Allowed Catholics and Jews to live in primarily Lutheran Prussia  Protected Silesian Catholics after he annexed it from Hapsburg  Offered to build mosques for Ottomans  Mendelsohn and Kant supported his religious views  Tended to appoint Protestants to positions in the Bureaucracy  Created an overall state of religious toleration  Followed Voltaire’s religious ideals

8. Economic PoliciesEconomic Policies  Codified Law  Legal system more efficient  Reduced noble power  Abolished Torture  Catalyzed economic growth by using power of the state  Imported foreign workers  Developed new system of agriculture  Drained swamps, introduced crops, and encouraged movement of peasants to needed areas  Established landowner mortgage credit

9. Activity in Seven Years WarActivity in Seven Years War  Started Seven years War by invading Saxony  Invaded in defense of Saxon, French, and Austrian alliance  Allied with Britain, admired by Peter III  Peter made treaty with Fredrick Hubertuseurg ended Russian conflict

10. Fredrick Wilhelm II r. (1786- 1797)  He and Marie Antoinette issued Declaration of Pilnitz  Would intervene in France to preserve monarchy and save family  Declaration failed due to Britain's lack of cooperation  Revolutionaries feared monarchal powers

11. Fredrick Wilhelm III r.(1797-1840)  Promised form of Constitutional Government after Wars of Liberation  Stalled and ignored pledge in 1817  Created council of state which improved administration efficiency  1819 after disagreement over army elected conservative ministers over liberals  Established 8 diets dominated by Junkers and advised him  Old system of Prussian liberal repression reimplementation

12. Fredrick William IV r. (1840- 1861)  Fredrick refused to fight revolutionaries in Berlin, 1848  Announced limited reforms and saw foreigners as reason for revolt  Killed several revolutionaries, government split  Called for Prussian Constituent Assembly to write a constitution  Desired unification of Germany  Abolished censorship  Appointed liberal cabinet but ignored it and conservatives took over  The assembly was thus dissolved  Frankfurt Parliament commenced; disagreed over inclusion of Austria  Rejected German crown; rather rule by grace of God