World History and Civilization II

MTH (8:30-10:00 AM) Rm. 242

Indol, Agakhan B. January 14, 2019

BSED - Social Science Mrs. Parayno

WORKSHEET #1

Frederick the Great (Frederick II)

Frederick II took the throne on May
31, 1740, and immediately launched an
unprovoked attack on the Austrian region
of Silesia (in what is now southwestern
Poland), triggering the eight-year War of
Austrian Succession. With an army
drilled to perfection by his late father,
Frederick annexed and held Silesia and
invaded Bohemia with an army of
140,000. He was driven back in
Bohemia, but a series of quick Austrian
defeats in 1748 led to treaty
negotiations. Following the war,
Frederick was hailed as a military genius
and given the moniker “Frederick the
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/archaeologya
Great.”
ndhistory/rights-exempt/history-magazine/

Over the next decade he enacted a number of major reforms and

domestic projects. He began to revamp and standardize Prussia’s justice
system along Enlightenment lines, banning torture and arguing for a uniform
national criminal code. He liberalized control of the press and supported a
moderate level of religious freedom. He worked to economically consolidate
Prussia, lowering internal duties, building canals to encourage trade and
enacting protective tariffs. Frederick built up Berlin as a cultural capital with
grand buildings and rejuvenated the scientific work of the Berlin Academy.

Frederick is often remembered as the father of Prussian militarism, but

Prussia’s location as a border state between larger empires meant that
frequent wars were hardly a new phenomenon. Still, Frederick’s long reign
unified Enlightenment rationalism and military tradition, yielding a highly
trained army and a militaristic system of public education.

Frederick’s greatest admirers tended to be those with large continental

ambitions. Napoleon made a special visit to Frederick’s tomb in 1806 after
defeating Prussia’s army, and Hitler hid the king’s body in a salt mine during
the allied bombings of World War II.
His first experience in active military service was during the ‘War of the
Polish Succession’ when Prussia aided Austria with troops to combat France
in the Rhineland. He came under the tutelage of the great Austrian
commander, Prince Eugene of Savoy.

On May 31, 1740 when he became the King of Prussia succeeding his father,
most of his territories were scattered and disconnected. With the objective of
expanding and uniting several territories of Prussia, he successfully fought
many wars.

He raised dispute on Maria Theresa’s succession after the death of her father
Emperor Charles VI of the Holy Roman Empire. On December 16, 1740 the
‘War of Austrian Succession’ started and continued till 1748 and he soon
invaded Silesia and occupied it in no time.

A series of Silesian wars followed. On April 10, 1741 he encountered the first
major battle in Silesia, ‘Battle of Mollwitz’. Although Prussia became
victorious in the battle, Frederick mistaken to have been defeated by the
Austrians fled the battlefield giving command of the army to Field Marshal
Kurt Schwerin, a move he later regretted.

On May 17, 1742 in the ‘Battle of Chotusitz’ the Austrian troops again
combated the Prussian army but faced defeat by the powerful force led by
Frederick II. The Austrians were compelled to sign the ‘Treaty of Breslau’
with Prussians in June 1742 that allowed Austria to retain only one section of
Upper Silesia, the ‘Austrian or Czech Silesia’ while Prussia took control of
rest of Silesia and Glatz County.

He remained victorious in the next couple of wars including ‘Battle of

Hohenfriedberg’ and the ‘Battle of Soor’. On December 25, 1745 the ‘Treaty
of Dresden’ was signed and Austria came under compulsion to comply with
the previously signed ‘Treaty of Breslau’.

Overcoming great odds he succeeded in the ‘Seven Years’ War’ that started
on August 29, 1756 and ended in 1763. His allies in the war were Great
Britain, Hanover, Brunswick and Hesse while confronting a coalition of
Austria, Russia Sweden, Saxony and certain minor states of Germany.