Kingdom of Prussia

defeat Wellington and Blucher who were located there, before the Austrian and Russian army could advance. Four other French armies were situated around France to delay any surprise attack on the French border whilst Napoleon was fighting Britain and Prussia. Napoleon crossed into Belgium on the 15th June at Charleroi, in south Belgium. His army numbered around 122,652. Napoleon had chosen Charleroi as it was near the road that led to Brussels, by taking it Napoleon would prevent Wellington’s…

Saxony, Hanover and some smaller German states, and Prussia, with the support of Italy declared war on each other. It was started by Otto von Bismarck, a German statesman, to push Austria out of the German Confederation. He did this against the wishes of his king. Bismarck wanted the German unification under Prussian control. Prior to this though, Austria and Prussia were salty because of their argument over the governing of Schleswig-Holstein. Prussia confronted Austria for control of the…

Austria and Prussia both gained political power as the war and the threat of war aided the Strong kings greatly in building absolute monarchies. They monopolized the political power by imposing and collecting taxes without the people's consent. They also maintained strong standing armies to protect their countries and conducted relations as they pleased with the other states. Austria was exhausted after the thirty years war, and their effort to destroy the Protestantism in the German land had…

Prussia The Prussian Kingdom existed from 1701 to 1918. It was ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty for the entirety of its existence. From beginning to end there were a total of ten kings that ruled as the Prussian monarchy. It began with Frederick I declaring himself king, and it ended with William II’s abdication. The first King of Prussia was Frederick I. He was born in Königsberg, Prussia on July 11, 1657. It was an ambition of his to become king, and in 1701 he succeeded due to a treaty…

infrastructure that the people of Prussia can use to…

won the Seven Years War for Prussia (Murphy, 13). Austria’s will to repossess Silesia was a major cause leading up to the Seven Years War. Austria, Russia, France, in Saxony were all allied against Prussia. Great Britain was on Frederick’s side. Frederick understood that these countries did not work well with each other when it came to teamwork and attacked them one at a time and at the weakest point in their foundation (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 7). Prussia did not do all the work,…

The rise of Prussia within the German Empire began with Frederick William, the “Great Elector” (1640-1688), through shrewd diplomatic maneuvering and efficient domestic governance. Frederick William unified many of the scattered territories into the most powerful Protestant state and turned these territories into a unified state, to become a leading political player in northern Europe. This was a critical step in the rise of Prussia because if the smaller territories could not have been unified…

soldier and leader. Over the years Frederick met and exceeded his father’s expectations but at the same time still studied the music and literature he loved (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 3). On May 31, 1740, Frederick II was crowned the King of Prussia after his father had died. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 6). Frederick proved to be a very good king just like his father. He increased the size of his army from 80,000 men to 200,000 men (McGoldrick, 5). Frederick also saw an…

faced resistance to her succession from European powers who had previously agreed to her father’s Pragmatic Sanction. Under the leadership of Frederick II, King of Prussia, those powers formed a coalition against Maria Theresa. By December of that year, Frederick II’s army invaded Silesia, an Austrian province, and claimed it for his kingdom. Bavaria and France followed suit with their own invasion of Habsburg territories, resulting in an eight-year conflict dubbed the War of the Austrian…

of Russia and Prussia, came along two monarchs whose views and reforms almost changed everything. These rulers were Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine II of Russia and are now coined with the term “Enlightened Despots.” (Ellis, Esler 191). These monarchs managed to play both sides of the Enlightenment: reform and absolutism. Frederick and Catherine successfully maintained and even gained power while implementing new reforms based on new Enlightenment ideas. In Berlin, Prussia…