FREDERICK 



The new king of Prussia at once 

 went to war. Marching up the 

 Oder, he took Breslau in December, 

 placed his army in winter quarters, 

 and in the spring of 1741 met the 

 Austrians near Brieg. At the 

 battle of Mollwitz (April 10, 1741) 

 the Austrian cavalry drove the 

 Prussian horse off the field, and 

 the king took flight with them ; 

 but Marshal Schwerin had 60 guns 

 and solid infantry with a superior 

 musket, and at sundown the Aus- 

 trian general, Neipperg, ordered 

 a retreat southwards to Niesse. 

 Frederick was thus left in posses- 

 sion of Silesia. Meanwhile, France, 

 Bavaria, and Saxony had sided 

 with Frederick, and their armies 

 joined him in Moravia. The 

 Austrian army, however, had not 

 been disposed of, and on May 17, 

 1742, Prince Charles of Lorraine 

 brought the Prussians to action at 

 i Chotusitz, S.W. of Koniggratz. 

 i Frederick won the battle by a 

 ' resolute advance with his right 

 wing after his left had been de- 

 feated, and so initiated those en- 

 veloping movements that have 

 characterised Prussian tactics. 



Frederick now hoped to settle 

 i down to enjoy his possessions, his 

 i flute-playing and literary corre- 

 I spondence, and to improve his 

 army. He rose at 4 a.m. and put 

 | on uniform and the high boots 

 I which he only discarded once a 

 | year at his wife's court on her 

 i birthday. By 9 a.m. he had 

 j finished work with his secretaries, 

 j and then gave axidience to aides- 

 j de-camp and private individuals. 

 He dined at twelve, keeping cooks 

 of different nations to prepare 

 special dishes, and drinking cham- 

 pagne. Then he walked rapidly 

 till 4, when he dealt with state and 

 education matters, and at 6 held 

 a concert. By 1 1 the king was abed. 

 Meanwhile, Austria, having 

 drawn to her side England and 

 Hanover, was making headway 

 against France, but the Austrian 

 successes were inimical to Prussia, 

 and Frederick, in support of his 

 ally, moved an army into Bohemia. 

 Marching up the Elbe through 

 ! Saxony, he captured Prague (Sept. 

 8, 1742), but was outmanoeuvred 

 by Prince Charles and Marshal 

 Traun, and compelled to retreat 

 into Silesia. But on June 4, 1745, 

 at Hohenfriedberg, he attacked the 

 Austrians under Prince Charles, 

 and threw them back into the 

 Riesengebirge. On Sept. .. 30 

 Frederick met Prince Charles again 

 at Soor on the Elbe, and again 

 drove the Austrians westward. In 

 Dec. he concerted the measures by 

 which Prince Leopold beat the 

 Austro-Saxons &t Kesselsdorf, and 

 then Frederick Altered the Saxon 



3325 



capital, where a treaty was signed 

 on Christmas Day, 1745, by which 

 Austria resigned all claim on 

 Silesia. But in the autumn of 

 1756 Frederick was compelled to 

 draw the sword against a coalition 

 of all the continental powers, and 

 begin the contest known as the 

 Seven Years' War. 



The state of Prussia at the close 

 of the struggle in 1763 has been 

 painted by Macaulay in his well- 



AflerC. Vanloo 



known essay on Frederick the 

 Great. The king set about the work 

 of reconstruction with his accus- 

 tomed vigour. He was now fifty, 

 but was to reign for another 23 

 vears as a benevolent despot. 

 No department of church or state 

 was immune from his interference. 

 He would clap a judge into jail, or 

 appoint a cardinal for his Roman 

 Catholic subjects, or keep a general 

 in arrest for weeks. He set up loan 

 offices, built an opera-house, and 

 put his artillery horses to the 

 plough, in the intervals of instruct- 

 ing ambassadors and publishing 

 poetry. History has condemned 

 him for his share in the partition of 

 Poland in 1772, but in fact all but 

 one -seventeenth part of that deso- 

 lated country went to his two neigh- 

 bours, and for years Poland had 

 been virtually a province of Russia. 

 In 1779 Frederick took the field 

 for the last time, for Austria was 

 now ruled by Joseph I, who was 

 bent on reviving the old claim to 

 Silesia. Frederick and his brother 

 Henry attempted an invasion of 

 Bohemia, but the Austrians under 

 Loudon and Lacy had entrenched 

 50 m. of country so that the two 

 Prussian armies could not unite. 

 The campaign came thus to an 

 inglorious end through the medi- 

 ation of Catherine of Russia.. 



FREDERICK I 



Frederick attended manoeuvres 

 in 1785, and caught a chill from 

 which he never recovered. He 

 died childless at his palace of 

 Sanssouci, Aug. 12, 1786, and was 

 succeeded by his nephew, Frederick 

 William II. 



Bibliography. History of Fred* 

 erick II of Prussia, Thomas Car- 

 lyle, 6 vols., 1858-65 ; abridged ed- 

 A. M. D. Hughea, 1916 ; Life, F. T. 

 Kugler, Eng. trans. E. A. Moriarty, 

 repr. 1877 ; Hist, of Prussia (1134- 

 1757), H. Tuttle, 1884-96; Frederick 

 the Great on Kingcraft (i.e. I^es 

 Matinees du roi de Prusse : French 

 original with Eng. trans.), ed. J. W. 

 Whittnll, 1901 ; Frederick the 

 Great and the Rise of Prussia, W. F. 

 Reddaway, 1904; Life of Frederick 

 the Great, N. Young, 1919. 



Frederick. Name of five elec- 

 tors palatine of the Rhine. They 

 belonged to the family of Wittels- 

 b&ch (q.v.). Frederick I ruled from 

 1451 to 1476 ; Frederick II, called 

 the Wise, ruled from 1544 to 1556, 

 having before his accession been 

 prominent in German affairs ; 

 Frederick III, elector from 1559 to 

 1576, made Calvinism the domin- 

 ant faith in his electorate ; Fred- 

 erick IV ruled from 1583 to 1610. 



Frederick V( 1596- 1632). Elec- 

 tor palatine of the Rhine and nom- 

 inal king of Bohemia. A son of the 

 elector Frede- vam^^^^^^^m 

 rick IV, and 

 grandson of 

 William the 

 Silent, Frede- 

 rick became 

 elector in 1610 

 and married, 

 1613, Eliza- 

 beth, daughter 

 of James I of Frederick V, Elector 

 Great Britain, palatine of the Rhine 

 By descent and training Frederick 

 was a leader among the Protest- 

 ants, and as their nominee was 

 chosen king of Bohemia, Nov. 4, 

 1619. His rival, the emperor Fer- 

 dinand II, was, however, too 

 strong, and the first stage of the 

 Thirty Years' War was marked by 

 Frederick's defeat near Prague, 

 Nov. 8, 1619. 



He was driven from Bohemia, 

 the Palatinate was taken from him, 

 and he was deprived of his position 

 as an elector. From 1623 until his 

 death, Nov. 29, 1632, Frederick 

 remained an exile. He was the 

 father of Sophia, electress of 

 Hanover, and of the cavalier, 

 Prince Rupert. On account of his 

 short stay in Bohemia he is often 

 called the Winter King. . 



Frederick I (1369-1428). Elec- 

 tor of Saxony. About 1388, when 

 he succeeded to some part of the 

 family lands in central Germany, 

 Frederick began to take a leading 

 part in the affairs of the country, 



