Frederick-William I.

Frederick-William I., king of Prussia, born 15th August 1688 at Berlin, was in almost every particular the opposite of his father, Frederick I. In the same year (1713) that he ascended the throne he became embroiled in the war waged by Sweden against Russia, Poland, and Denmark, on behalf of the latter. At the Peace of Stockholm in 1720 Frederick-William received Hither Pomerania with Stettin. But the remaining twenty years of his reign were devoted to the amelioration of the internal condition of Prussia. Of a sternly practical turn of mind, despising the arts and sciences, rigidly economical, strict in his ideas of justice, blunt and determined, this king carried into all departments of his administration the habits and principles of the frugal military martinet. The results of his policy were seen at his death (31st May 1740), when he left to his son, Frederick II., a treasure of nine million thalers and an army of more than 80,000 men, the best drilled and disciplined force in Europe, so that Prussia, though ranking only twelfth among the powers of Europe in respect of population and area, came fourth in military power. He also fostered the industries and agriculture of his dominions, introducing the manufacture of woollen cloth, and settling in East Prussia 17,000 to 18,000 Protestant refugees from Salzburg. On the whole, his rule, arbitrary though it was, laid the foundation upon which Frederick the Great worked for the subsequent greatness of Prussia.