(1620-1688)
[Illustration: Frederick. [TN]]
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg surnamed the Great Elector,
was the son of the Elector George William. In the distracted state of
Germany, during the Thirty Years' War, and the necessary absence of his
father with the army, the young prince saw but little of the splendor
and indulgences of a court, passing the first years of his life in
retirement with his tutors, who were men of learning and experience, and
with his mother, first at the castle of Litzlingen, in the forests of
the Altmark, and afterward at Custrin. The adventures and the singular
fortunes of the family of his mother (who was sister of Frederick, King
of Bohemia, husband of the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of
England), the cruel and barbarous manner in which the war was carried
on, and the dangers to which he and his family were exposed, necessarily
made a deep impression on his mind. At the age of fifteen he was sent to
the University at Leyden, where he especially devoted himself to the
classics and to history. Of modern languages he was a proficient in
French, Dutch, and Polish. He was afterward in the camp of Frederick
Henry, Prince of Orange, during the siege of Breda, and was much noticed
by the prince for his amiable manners and exemplary conduct, as well as
for his sound understanding. About this time a widely known society of
young persons of both sexes (called Media Nocte) endeavored to draw the
prince into its circle at The Hague; but his friend and tutor, the Baron
Schulenberg, making him aware of the immoral nature of the society, the
prince abruptly left one of their convivial meetings, and resolved
immediately to quit The Hague. The Prince of Orange was much surprised
at this self-command, and when the prince arrived in the camp before
Breda, said to him, "Cousin, your flight is a greater proof of heroism
than if I took Breda; he who so early knows how to command himself will
always succeed in great deeds." These words, as he himself owned, made a
deep impression on him.
His father dying in 1640, the young prince found his dominions reduced
to a most deplorable condition by war and bad government. The exactions
of Wallenstein in Altmark alone were estimated at twenty millions of
gold florins; and in a memorial of the magistrate of Prenzlau, it is
stated that the inhabitants are reduced to such dreadful extremities
that they not only eat dogs, cats, and even carrion, but that, both in
the town and country, they attack and kill each other for food. He
commenced his government with a degree of prudence and wisdom rarely
found in so young a sovereign. His first care was to correct many crying
abuses and to restore order in the finances. His attention was then
directed to foreign affairs. In 1642 he received the investiture of
Prussia from the King of Poland; in 1643 he concluded a peace with the
Swedes, on condition of their evacuating the greater part of his
dominions. At the peace of Munster he was not able to enforce his claims
to Pomerania and Silesia, but obtained Magdeburg, Wallenstadt, Minden,
and part of Pomerania.
It is highly to his credit that it was chiefly owing to him, that the
principle of equal rights and privileges for the two great divisions of
the Protestant Church was admitted in that famous treaty. Charles
Gustavus, King of Sweden, appearing emulous of rivalling Gustavus
Adolphus, the elector concluded an alliance with Holland, and sought the
friendship of Cromwell and Louis XIV. He was, however, obliged to make
in 1655 a treaty with the Swedes, in consequence of which he joined in
the invasion of Poland, and greatly contributed to the victory at
Warsaw. Austria, Holland, and Poland vehemently protested against this
alliance with Sweden. Cromwell, however, who believed the Protestant
cause to be in danger from the King of Poland, sent William Jepson as
his ambassador to the elector, whom in letters he compliments in the
highest terms for his service to the Protestant religion. But Russia and
Austria declaring in favor of Poland, he, by the mediation of Austria,
concluded a convention with Poland at Wehlau, by one of the stipulations
of which he obtained the entire sovereignty of Prussia, and in 1678
completed the conquest of all Pomerania by the taking of Griefswald and
Stralsund. The death of Charles Gustavus freed him from an adversary who
would probably have endeavored to prevent the execution of this treaty,
which was confirmed by the treaty of Oliva. Frederick, now at peace with
his neighbors, directed all his attention to promote the welfare of his
subjects by favoring all internal improvements; the ruined towns and
villages were rebuilt, new roads made, waste lands cultivated, commerce
encouraged, and many useful establishments founded.
[Illustration: The Great Elector withdraws from the association of the
Dutch nobility.]
In 1672, however, Holland being threatened by Louis XIV., he concluded a
treaty with the republic, engaging to furnish 20,000 men for its
defence. He also contributed to induce the emperor: Denmark, Hesse
Cassel, and several German princes to join him against France. But
though his advance into Westphalia induced the French to quit Holland,
the campaign was rendered unsuccessful by the slowness of the Austrian
general, and he was forced to abandon Westphalia to the enemy. The
Austrians leaving him, and the Dutch neglecting to send him subsidies,
he was obliged to make a convention with France in 1673. The French were
to evacuate Westphalia and pay him 800,000 livres, he promising to
withdraw from his alliance with Holland, and not to support the enemies
of France; yet he reserved to himself the right of assisting the German
emperor in case of attack. This happened in 1674, when he invaded Alsace
with 16,000 men, and joined the Imperial army; but the Austrian general,
Bournonville, avoided a battle, contrary to the advice of Frederick, and
Turenne receiving reinforcements obliged the Germans to quit Alsace.
In order to free themselves from Frederick, the French instigated the
Swedes to invade Pomerania and Altmark, which they attacked in December,
1674, with 16,000 men. Frederick hastened to his dominions, and
proceeding with great rapidity and secrecy at the head of only 5,000
men, he totally defeated 11,000 Swedes at Fehrbellin in 1675, and freed
his dominions from the enemy. Following up his successes, he took
Stettin. In January, 1679, he crossed the Frische Haff and the Gulf of
Courland with his army on sledges over the ice, and surprising the
Swedes in their winter quarters, compelled them to quit Prussia. He did
not reap any real advantage from his success, for Louis XIV. insisted
that he should make peace with Sweden and give up all his conquests; and
on his refusal, sent an army of 30,000 men to lay waste the duchy of
Cleves, and city of Minden, so that he was forced to conclude the treaty
of St. Germain, by which he restored all his conquests to Sweden; the
French withdrew from his Westphalian dominions, and paid him 300,000
crowns.
After this, we do not find Frederick again in the field. He was indeed
engaged in various negotiations; was involved in disputes with France on
account of its seizure of Strasbourg and Luxembourg; and in consequence
of his reception of 20,000 French Protestants, who left their country on
the repeal of the edict of Nantes. Frederick, who had previously
obtained from his ambassador, von Spanheim, notice of the intended
measure, had made preparations to receive the fugitives, and sent funds
to his agents at Frankfort, Amsterdam, and Hamburg, for their
assistance. In like manner he protected the proscribed Waldenses. Having
in vain interceded for them in a very affecting letter to the Duke of
Savoy, he offered to receive 2,000 of them into his dominions. He sent
8,000 men, in 1686, to assist the emperor against the Turks; having in
the year preceding renewed his alliance with Holland, when Prince
William of Orange was preparing for his expedition to England, Frederick
assisted him with several regiments and Marshal von Schomberg, who
became so great a favorite with William, and was eventually killed at
the battle of the Boyne. As another proof of Frederick's enterprising
spirit, it deserves to be noticed that Spain neglecting to pay him the
arrears of a subsidy promised him for his co-operation against France,
he resolved to commence a war by sea against that power; he fitted out
eight frigates which had been employed against Sweden, and sent them in
1680 to capture Spanish ships, and they actually took some rich
merchantmen.
We have not space, nor is it necessary, to detail the proceedings of
this great prince in consolidating the prosperity of his dominions and
the welfare of his subjects. He died in April, 1688, leaving to his son
a much enlarged and highly cultivated territory, a well-filled treasury,
and an army of 30,000 excellent troops. He was twice married: first, in
1647, to Louisa Henrietta, Princess of Orange, an amiable and
accomplished person, author of the celebrated German hymn "Jesus meine
Zuversicht." She died in 1667. In the following year Frederick married
Dorothea, Duchess Dowager of Brunswick Lueneberg; but though an excellent
and virtuous princess, she was not liked by the people, chiefly because
she was on ill terms with her step-children, especially the
crown-prince. The character of Frederick, both in public and private
life, has always been highly esteemed. He was kind, generous, fond of
society, and, though rather quick in his temper, extremely placable. He
was the real founder of the Prussian monarchy; and as a sovereign he
appears to have justly merited the surname of the Great Elector.