Tim Blanning - Frederick the Great: King of Prussia
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Few figures loom as large in European history as Frederick the Great. When he inherited the Prussian crown in 1740, he ruled over a kingdom of scattered territories, a minor Germanic backwater. By the end of his reign, the much larger and consolidated Prussia ranked among the continents great powers. In this magisterial biography, award-winning historian Tim Blanning gives us an intimate, in-depth portrait of a king who dominated the political, military, and cultural life of Europe half a century before Napoleon.
A brilliant, ambitious, sometimes ruthless monarch, Frederick was a man of immense contradictions. This consummate conqueror was also an ardent patron of the arts who attracted painters, architects, musicians, playwrights, and intellectuals to his court. Like his fellow autocrat Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick was captivated by the ideals of the Enlightenmentfor many years he kept up lively correspondence with Voltaire and other leading thinkers of the age. Yet, like Catherine, Frederick drew the line when it came to implementing Enlightenment principles that might curtail his royal authority.
Fredericks terrifying father instilled in him a stern military discipline that would make the future king one of the most fearsome battlefield commanders of his day, while deriding as effeminate his sons passion for modern ideas and fine art. Frederick, driven to surpass his fathers legacy, challenged the dominant German-speaking powers, including Saxony, Bavaria, and the Habsburg Monarchy. It was an audacious foreign policy gambit, one at which Frederick, against the expectations of his rivals, succeeded.
In examining Fredericks private life, Blanning also carefully considers the long-debated question of Fredericks sexuality, finding evidence that Frederick lavished gifts on his male friends and maintained homosexual relationships throughout his life, while limiting contact with his estranged, unloved queen to visits that were few and far between.
The story of one mans life and the complete political and cultural transformation of a nation, Tim Blannings sweeping biography takes readers inside the mind of the monarch, giving us a fresh understanding of Frederick the Greats remarkable reign.
Praise for Frederick the Great
Writing Fredericks biography . . . requires a diverse set of skills: expertise in eighteenth-century diplomatic and military history, including the intricacies of the Holy Roman Empire; a familiarity with the music, architecture and intellectual traditions of Northern Europe; and, not least, a profound sense of human psychology, the better to grasp the makeup of this complex and tormented man. Fortunately, Tim Blanning . . . has all of these skills in abundance.The Wall Street Journal
At once scholarly and highly readable . . . [Blanning] has given us a superb portrait of an enlightened despot, equally at home on the battlefield and in the opera house, both utterly ruthless and culturally refined.Commentary
Blanning, in clear thinking and prose, investigates all aspects of Fredericks personality and reign. . . . The last word on this significant king, for years to come.Booklist (starred review)
Masterly . . . Blanning brilliantly brings to life one of the most complex characters of modern European history.The Telegraph (five stars)
A supremely nuanced account . . . This biography finds [Blanning] at the height of his powers.Literary Review
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As of the time of initial publication, the URLs displayed in this book link or refer to existing websites on the Internet. Penguin Random House LLC is not responsible for, and should not be deemed to endorse or recommend, any website other than its own or any content available on the Internet (including without limitation at any website, blog page, information page) that is not created by Penguin Random House.
Copyright 2016 by Tim Blanning
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
R ANDOM H OUSE and the H OUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Originally published in the UK by Allen Lane.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blanning, T.C.W.
Frederick the Great : king of Prussia / Tim Blanning.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4000-6812-8
eBook ISBN 978-0-8129-8873-4
1. Frederick II, King of Prussia, 17121786. 2. Frederick II, King of Prussia, 17121786Military leadership. 3. Frederick II, King of Prussia, 17121786Influence. 4. Prussia (Germany)Kings and rulersBiography. 5. Prussia (Germany)HistoryFrederick II, 17401786. 6. Seven Years War, 17561763. 7. EnlightenmentGermanyPrussia. 8. Prussia (Germany)Intellectual life18th century. 9. Social changeGermanyPrussiaHistory18th century. I. Title.
DD404.B63 2016
943.053092dc23 [B] 2015030616
eBook ISBN9780812988734
randomhousebooks.com
Book design by Caroline Cunningham, adapted for eBook
Cover design: Susan Zucker
Cover painting: portrait of Frederick the Great of Prussia (detail), Maerkisches Museum, Berlin/Bridgeman Images
v4.1
a
PART I
The Sufferings and Greatness of Frederick
PART II
War and Peace
PART III
On the Home Front
Frederick William I, Self-portrait, 1737. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Roland Handrick)
Wusterhausen Hunting Lodge, Brandenburg. Photo: Clemensfranz
Francesco Carlo Rusca or Georg Lisiewski, Crown Prince Frederick with his brothers Ferdinand, August Wilhelm and Henry, 1737. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Klaus G. Bergmann)
The chteau at Rheinsberg, 1740. Engraving from Friedrich Ekel, Plans et Vues du Chteau, du Jardin et de la Ville de Reinsberg (Berlin: 1773)
The chteau at Schnhausen. Engraving by Schwarz, 1787. Photo: ullsteinbild / TopFoto
Jean-tienne Liotard, Francesco Algarotti, 1745. Photo: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Carl Friedrich Fechhelms set for Act III of Fredericks opera Montezuma, 1755. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Wolfgang Pfauder)
The Golden Gallery in the Charlottenburg Palace. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Leo Seidel)
Johann Friedrich Meyer, View of the Lustgarten and Town Palace, Potsdam, 1773. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Gerhard Murza)
Ground plan of Sanssouci. From Hans-Joachim Giersberg, Schloss Sanssouci. Die Sommerresidenz Friedrichs des Groen (Berlin: Nicolai, 2005)
The terraces and parterre garden, Sanssouci. Engraving by Johann David Schleven, c. 1765. Photo: De Agostini Picture Library / Bridgeman Images
The Music Room, Sanssouci. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Roland Handrick)
The Picture Gallery, Sanssouci. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Leo Seidel)
Karl Christian Wilhelm Baron, The New Palace at Potsdam from the Klausberg, 1775. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Roland Handrick)
Mercury, antique statue from the Entrance Hall of Sanssouci. Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo: 2015 Scala, Florence/bpk, Bildagentur fr Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin (Johannes Laurentius)
Ares Ludovisi after Lambert-Sigismund Adam, Mars, 1730. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Daniel Lindner)
Antinous (Praying Youth), c. third century B.C.E. Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo: 2015 Scala, Florence/bpk, Bildagentur fr Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin (Johannes Laurentius)
Antinous, copy of the original statue, at Sanssouci. Photo: Tim Blanning
The Berlin Dessert Service, manufactured by the Royal Porcelain Factory and presented by Frederick to Catherine the Great of Russia in 1772. The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Photo: The State Hermitage Museum / Vladimir Terebenin
The Temple of Friendship, Sanssouci. Photo: James Steakley
Charles Amde Vanloo, Ganymede Is Introduced to Olympus, 1768. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Gerhard Murza)
E. Henne after Daniel Chodowiecki, The Dispatch of Dr. Aprill When HeNotified the Prussian Ambassador Baron von Plotho of the Imperial Declaration of Outlawry, 1780. From Gustav Berthold Volz (ed.), Friedrich der Groe im Spiegel seiner Zeit, vol. 2 (Berlin: 1926)
Bernhard Rode, Allegory on the Foundation of the League of Princes by Frederick the Great, 1786. Gemldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo: 2015 Scala, Florence/bpk, Bildagentur fr Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin (Jrg P. Anders)
Vivat ribbons, made in celebration of Fredericks birthday, 1759. Photo: akg-images
Heinrich Franke, Frederick the Great, 1764. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG / Fotothek (Jrg P. Anders)
Johann Friedrich Bolt after Johann Gottfried Schadow, Frederick the Great Victorious at the Battle of Rossbach, 1801. Handschriftenabteilung, Staatsbibliothek, Berlin SMPK
Christian Daniel Rauch, Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great on Unter den Linden, Berlin, unveiled 1851. Photo: Maximilian Weinzierl / Alamy
Bartolomeo Verona, The Interior of the Cathedral of St. Hedwig, Berlin, c. 1780. Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo: 2015 Scala, Florence/bpk, Bildagentur fr Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin
Vincenzo Vangelisti, The Scales of Frederick, 1780. Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin SMPK
Olaf Thiede, Reconstruction of the Pisang House at Sanssouci, 2011. Stiftung Preuische Schlsser und Grten, Berlin-Brandenburg. Photo: SPSG
E. Henne after Daniel Chodowiecki,
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