Friedrich II
From IBWiki
In 1740, Friedrich II (more commonly known as Friedrich the Great) came to the throne and invaded Silesia, a province of Austria which was in turmoil after the death of the Emperor Charles VI. The invasion was the first shot of the War of the Austrian Succession (Silesia was to have passed to the rulers of Brandenburg on the extinction of its Piast dynasty according to a bilateral arrangement of 1537, subsequently vetoed by the Emperor Ferdinand I). After rapidly occupying Silesia, Friedrich offered to protect the new Austrian Archduchess, Maria Theresa if the province were turned over to him. The offer was rejected, but Austria faced several other opponents, and Friedrich was eventually able to gain formal cession with 1742's Treaty of Berlin.
To the surprise of many, Austria managed to renew the war successfully, and in 1744 Friedrich invaded again to forestall reprisals and to claim, this time, the province of Bohemia. This time he failed, but French pressure on Austria's ally Britain led to a series of treaties and compromises (culminating in the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle that restored peace and left Prussia still in possession of Silesia).
Humiliated by the cession of Silesia, Austria worked to secure an alliance with France and Russia, while Prussia drifted into the United Kingdom's camp.
This war was a desperate struggle for the Prussians, and the fact that they managed to fight much of Europe to a draw bears witness to Friedrichk's military skill. Facing Austria, Russia, France and Sweden simultaneously, and with only Hanover (and the non-continental British) as notable allies, he managed to hold off serious invasion until October 1760, when the Russian army briefly occupied Berlin and Königsberg. The situation became progressively grimmer, however, until the death of the Tsarina Elizabeth and the accession of the prussophile Peter III relieved the pressure on the eastern front. Sweden also dropped out of the war at about the same time.
Defeating the Austrian army at the Battle of Burkersdorf, and relying on continuing British success against France in the war's colonial theatres, Prussia was finally able to force a status quo ante bellum on the continent. This result confirmed Prussia's major role in Germany and Europe as a whole. Friedrich, appalled by the near-miss for his country, lived out his days as a much more peaceable ruler.
Expansion to Veneda
Prussia continued to grow through diplomatic means, however. To the east and south, Veneda and the Republic of the Two Crowns had gradually become weakened, and in 1772 Friedrich was unable to resist the first of the Partitions of the Republic between Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The Kingdom of Prussia thus gained full sovereignty of Warmia and the Venedic Royal Prussia, henceforth (until 1824, and again in 1878-1918) the province of West Prussia. After Friedrich the Great died (in 1786), his nephew Friedrich Wilhelm II continued the partitions through military and diplomatic force, gaining a large part of the western RTC in 1793.
| Preceded by: Friedrich I King of Prussia | King of Prussia
1740-1786 | Succeeded by: Friedrich Wilhelm II |
