FREDERICK 



2321 



FREDERICK VIII 



sister of George II of England. In the first 

 year of his reign (1740) he marched an army 

 into Silesia, one of the fairest provinces of 

 Maria Theresa of Austria, an act which brought 

 on the great European conflict known as the 

 War of the Aus- 

 trian Succession. 

 After eight years 

 of warfare a peace 

 treaty was signed 

 at Aix-la-Cha- 

 pelle, the terras 

 of which have 

 been aptly sum- 

 marized by Car- 

 lyle, Frederick's 

 biographer, in 



these words: "To FREDERICK THE GREAT 

 Frederick, Silesia; He sent a note accompany . 



as to the rest, ing a gift to George Wash- 



, ,, ington in which he testified to 



wholly as they tne genius of the great Amer- 



wprp lean in these words : "From 



the oldest general in Europe 



During the next to the greatest general in the 



few years Fred- world '" 

 erick devoted himself to the improvement of 

 the Prussian military system and the develop- 

 ment of his country's resources. In the mean- 

 time, however, Maria Theresa was taking steps 

 to recover the territory she had lost in the pre- 

 vious war, and she succeeded m forming an 

 alliance with France, Russia, Sweden and many 

 of the Germanic states, for the humbling of 

 her Prussian enemy. Frederick, though half 

 of Europe was leagued against him, antici- 

 pated the movements of his foes by invading 

 Saxony (1756), and the Seven Years' War 

 (which see) began. This terrible conflict 

 ended, in 1763, with the Treaty of Huberts- 

 burg, which left Silesia still in the hands of 

 Frederick. Prussia emerged from the struggle 

 the equal of Austria, and the foundation was 

 laid for the union of the German states and 

 the formation of a great empire. 



About ten years after the close of the Seven 

 Years' War, Frederick joined with Catharine 

 II of Russia and Maria Theresa in what is 

 known as the First Partition of Poland, 

 thereby making an important addition to his 

 dominions. His whole policy was directed to- 

 ward the upbuilding of the Prussian state, but 

 he was as great in peace as in war. The years 

 following the Peace of Hubertsburg were given 

 up to the development of the material pros- 

 perity of his kingdom. He built roads and 

 canals, encouraged manufactures and agricul- 

 ture and brought the administration of the 

 146 



government to a high degree of efficiency. His 

 own tastes were those of a philosopher and a 

 poet, and he gathered about him the most 

 distinguished men of his time. Among these 

 was the great French writer, Voltaire. 



Frederick III (1831-1888), the only son of 

 William I, king of Prussia and first emperor 

 of united Germany, succeeded his father in 

 March, 1888. Three months after his acces- 

 sion he died. During the reign of his father 

 he took an important part in the affairs of 

 state, and he was in personal command of 

 troops in the Seven Weeks' War with Austria 

 in 1866 and in the Franco-German War. Fred- 

 erick was a man of cultivated tastes and a 

 believer in government by parliament. He 

 was succeeded by his son, Emperor William 

 II, the last of the Hohenzollerns. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 



Bismarck-SchSnhausen Poland 



Franco-German War Prussia 



Frederick William Seven Weeks' War 



Maria Theresa Succession Wars 



FREDERICK I, surnamed BARBAROSSA, or 

 RED BEARD (1122-1190), succeeded his uncle, 

 Conrad III, as king of Germany in 1152, and 

 was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1155. 

 During the greater part of his reign he was en- 

 gaged in a struggle with the powerful Italian 

 cities which were joined together in a union 

 known as the Lombard League. In 1176 his 

 forces were overwhelmingly defeated on the 

 field of Legnano, and in 1183 the emperor 

 concluded with the League a peace treaty 

 which granted the cities the right to manage 

 their domestic affairs. 



In 1189, having proclaimed peace in all his 

 dominions, he set out on a crusade to the Holy 

 Land (see CRUSADES). After defeating the Mo- 

 hammedans in two battles, he was drowned 

 while crossing a small stream in Asia Minor. 

 The news of his death brought the greatest 

 sorrow to his German subjects, who had come 

 to look upon him as the highest representa- 

 tive of the ideal of German nationality. In 

 the course of time a legend sprang up that 

 some day he would return to earth to make 

 the German people a strong and united nation. 



FREDERICK VIII (1843-1912), king of Den- 

 mark from 1906 until 1912, was the son and 

 successor of Christian IX. During his brief 

 and quiet reign he gained the sincere affection 

 and respect of his people because of his kindly 

 manner and democratic ideals. He was a man 

 of cultivated and scholarly tastes, and at one 



