Frederick The Great - Biography

In this video, we discuss the life of Frederick II The Great, king of Prussia, and what made him Great.

Find us here too!
Instagram: @Fire_of_Learning
Twitter: @Fire_Learning

Music performed by Kevin Macleod, listed here
Kevin MacLeod ~ Egmont Overture [original composer: Ludwig van Beethoven]

Kevin MacLeod ~ The Descent

Picture sources

[therearenoshortcuts]

"what made him Great"


his outfit, it's awesome

[porcelaindoll]

Let's not forget him dissing on Ivan the Terrible

[mutajin]

Let's not forget one of his more unofficial titles: "Der Kartoffelkönig" engl. "The Potato King" .
Because he introduced the potato to the Prussian farmers and even invented some recipes for potato dishes himself, most notably the mashed potato.
To this day visitors to his grave in his old palace Sanssouci near Berlin lay potatoes on his grave to his honor.

[jgvtc]

Dude just spoke perfect french i dont know what he said but dang

[mayor]

I don’t know if I’m Prussian but I know I’m German and without Frederick strengthening Prussia, Germany may not have existed so I thank him for that

[mitchellblake]

"King Frederick William..."

Ahem

WILHELM!

[OneOnOne]

2:20 - I think I speak for everyone who can understand French when I say... "What?"

[Kriegter]

He is better than Napoleon relatively, according to technological limits and time period
Also, Napoleon said himself that he won:t be in Berlin if Frederick is still alive

[aaravtulsyan]

Can you do a "History of India" video just like "History of England" or "History of Germany"?

[rayleighs]

Friz the Great demonstrated a good example for actualizing the integration of during war time.

[Idahoguy]

Frederick had a talent for conquering, war, and scheming. The favorite sports of European nobility.

[ngmisjh]

bro Justin I just wanted to say that I love your videos so much. The way you talk about history is so therapeutic and I feel like you're an actual friend talking to me for once. Keep making awesome content dude!

[madduxparker]

He had creative talents and battle malice. He was hard as steel on the field and gentile in the palace

[davidecuccato]

Great video!
I just finished reading book about Frederick the Great by historian Alessandro Barbero. If you know italian, or if you find a translation, definitely pick it up. It's a quick and very informative book for who is interested by history but doesn't have the time to read original documents or large academic works. I've always been fascinated by the figure of Frederick II

[aymarafan]

Thanks so much for this upload, I have studied Fredrick’s sorrowful upbringing for sure. His wise to power is very inspiring.

[Andysalive]

The Wars got him the Great. And only them. But he was so much more. So much ahead of his time in some things. Which barely ever gets mentioned! Like here. The video jumps from War to War... Completely ignoring everything else "he was" or did. there were over TEN years between 1745 and 56! And 20 more after the 7year war.
He wasn't in Cryo-Sleep between wars.
"In the year of his ascension" He abolished torture*, he stopped the censoring of the press for the innerpolitical part**. And yes, he also started his attacking war against Austria (silesia) in it... this are quite a few interesting things aside from the wars. Let's rephrase that: He stablished a FREE PRESS in 1740 in an absolute monarchy! That meant everybody could critisize even him without consequences.

He was part of his time though and had to face realities. He abandoned his attemps to end serfdom in the face of massive restistance from Prussias aristoracy. He enforced it however on crown owned land. While he wasn't dreaming of democracy, he invested a lot in free (and enforced***) education to raise the general standards of literacy which were abysmal at the time.
And yes, War was a legitimate political tool. When he thought it to the advantage of the country, he used it. However he didn't sit in his palaces, letting his generals do his job, never seeing the horror of battlefields.

A complex and highly interesting historical character beyond just the battles! Not easy to grasp or sort into black&white. But he genuinly tried to do what he thought was best for the country. That included wars. He got it mostly right as history shows. Silesia cost Prussia a LOT in his generation. But without it's ressources Prussias meteoric rise later was unthinkable.

His greatest achievement however wasn't Leuthen. It was the reforming of the prussian law system into something surprisingly modern in concept. One book of laws, applying to everybody. And he spend much time of his days in later life to make it that also in the real world. The "Allgemeines preussisches Landrecht" is still visible at the core of current Germanies Law books.
He introduced, as absolute monarch, rights and freedoms to the public that went beyond anything the french revolution achieved before Napoleon had to make massive concessions to get back into power.

His Prussia was also the first european power with an extensive trading deal with the infant United states when the rest of the world tiptoed around them so not to anger Brittain.
"The Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the Kingdom of Prussia and the United States of America" (September 10, 1785) signed by Frederick the Great and George Washington.
Wikipedia:  "Additionally, the Treaty demanded the unconditionally humane custody for war prisoner, a novelty at the time."
Fritz should have been scared to Sh*t by the ideas floating around in the US constitution. And Washington and Jefferson, who negotiated the treaty, should have rejected an absolute monarch. They didn't.
That treaty is well worth it's own video. But of course it wouldn't be War, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, war, ....


*in 1740 Torture was banned for all but high treason and mass murder (or something like that) . These last exceptions he also removed, later.
** foreign politics parts were still censored so to avoid diplomatic incidents. So alien was the idea of an independent press.
* * * Farmers and other workers would rather have their children helping in the work then them "wasting" hours in schools. So it was made mandatory. It could have been better organised and funded but it was a start.

[troykacey]

This channel is extremely underrated. I love your content and please keep making more

[josemendes]

Could you maybe one day do one of these for Catherine the Great of Russia?

[JustinLee-jmwn]

Damn! he has so many fans!







incuding me

[firstconsul]

8:55 I've seen that is often the case for the great military kings. Their father forged the tools that they would use to mark their place in history.