fwo_944595 - ALLEMAGNE - ROYAUME DE PRUSSE - FRÉDÉRIC II LE GRAND 18 Kreuzer 1758 Königsberg

GERMANY - KINGDOM OF PRUSSIA - FREDERICK II THE GREAT

(1740-08/17/1786)

Frederic was born in Berlin on January 24, 1712 and is the son of Frederick William I. It was first France's ally in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) then there was a reversal of alliance during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). He was one of the great winners of the Treaty of Paris (1763) and took part in the first dismemberment of Poland (1772). Frederick II (1712-1786) was the greatest king of Prussia. Friend of Voltaire, he wrote in French and was the model of the enlightened despot of the second half of the 18th century. He succeeded his father Frédéric-Guillaume, King Sergent and made Berlin a real capital and the Château de Sans Souci in Potsdam a little Versailles. Thanks to a warlike policy, he made Prussia the most powerful state in Eastern Europe and counterbalanced the influence of Austria and Russia. He died at the castle of Sans-Souci (Potsdam), August 17, 1786.