FREDERICK THE GREAT
(Frederick II)
Frederick the Great
Benjamin Franklin used almost the exact statement in a dispute of the Catholic Schools in the same year. It was unlikely that Frederick followed American politics so closely that he would have learned of Franklin’s statement, but Franklin was attuned to all the events of Europe, and this official act of the Emperor was big new for religious toleration enthusiasts. Therefore we suspect that Franklin was quoting Frederick without attribution.
Frederick II was a Prussian king and military leader who ruled the Kingdom of Prussia from 1740 until 1786, reigning longer than any other Hohenzollern king. His most significant accomplishments during his reign included his reorganization of Prussian armies, his military successes in the Silesian wars and the Partitions of Poland, and his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. Frederick was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia and declared himself King of Prussia after annexing strategic parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a leading military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great (German: Friedrich der Große) and was nicknamed "The Old Fritz" (German: "Der Alte Fritz") by the Prussian people and eventually the rest of Germany.
