Frederick William realised that if he wanted Brandenburg-Prussia to be a major power in…, Frederick William and Brandenburg-Prussia gained a well deserved reputation in Europe and Frederick William became a very much sought after ally. Frederick allowed many persecuted religious minorities to settle in his territory, which enabled him to get more taxes and soldiers for his army. The army was to give him complete control over his lands – at the expense of everybody.eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-3','ezslot_1',129,'0','0'])); Frederick William inherited a state where the previous ruler had been held in very low regard by the real power base in Brandenburg-Prussia – the Junkers. If Frederick William was to establish himself, he needed to impose his authority and control over the Junkers. He also suffered a more serious personal loss with the death of the gifted young heir to the throne, Karl Emil. Known as the Great Elector, he augmented and integrated the Hohenzollern possessions in northern Germany and Prussia. The army ran the civil service and the Central Privy Council (Geheimer Staatsrat) was dominated by it. Many of his ambitious plans were not realized. Frederick solved this problem by making a deal with the Junkers. In a contemporary folk song Frederick William was for the first time called the “Great Elector.” In the same year, allied with the Emperor and with Denmark, he once more began to retrieve the spoils of the Thirty Years’ War from the Swedes. Their sole European ally, he concluded an aid agreement with them, fully aware of the danger from France to his territories of Cleves on the lower Rhine. In punishment, these two areas had to endure rule by men appointed by Frederick William, as the nobility there could not be expected to rule in a loyal way. Peter favored the westernization and modernization of Russia. Managed by Caboodle UX design studio in London, Citation: C N Trueman "Frederick William and the Army", The army was to be central to the success of. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. He saw the importance of trade and promoted it vigorously. To the Junkers, this seemed a good deal. After Frederick’s army turned into a powerful force, he didn’t need the diets anymore because his army could force them to vote him whatever he wanted. Frederick sometimes resorted to cruel measures to get his way. Peter also got men working in factories to produce uniforms and other items that would be needed by an army. There was a large amount of items taxed, and these taxes became a large burden for the Russians. The army was to become Frederick William’s instrument of gaining respect for Brandenburg-Prussia throughout Europe. By the time he planned to move onto the more powerful Junker families, his army was considered so strong, that any confrontation was not needed. The army was to be central to the success of Frederick William in Brandenburg-Prussia. In July 1674 he joined the alliance of the Habsburg emperor, Spain, and the Netherlands. He controlled promotions and he set the standard of discipline. With the exception of mass executions, billeting was probably the worst punishment a city could expect. By 1660, the Junkers were dependent on Frederick William and not the other way round. The Junkers agreed to this deal, and voted to approve his taxes. Troops were billeted in the city. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. With the exception of mass executions, billeting was probably the worst punishment a city could expect. Any dissent in his state was crushed – as Konigsberg was to find in 1674. The army continued to grow under his son, Frederick I. He sought not a simple policy of neutrality but rather, as he recommended to his successor in his political testament of 1667, to advance the interests of his house by always joining the weaker power against the stronger. Ironically, the Junkers had sealed their fate by agreeing to the Recess believing that it gave them the powers they had always considered their own – except that these powers clashed with Frederick William’s belief that he and he alone ruled Brandenburg-Prussia. In 1669, Frederick had a nobleman kidnapped, tortured, and killed for protesting one of his new taxes. It also enabled him to maintain a constant grip over the Junkers. After a Russian army of 40,000 men was defeated by a mere 8,000 Swedes, Peter decided that the Russian army needed to be modernized as well. When the Swedes invaded Brandenburg, the Elector turned northward, and under his command his army, in June 1675, scored its first independent victory. By 1688, it numbered 30,000 highly trained men. 50% of Frederick William’s income went on the army. Frederick William turned on the weakest Junkers first. Such was the impact…, Frederick William tried to modernise Brandenburg-Prussia as quickly as was possible. The state’s authorities also felt that the rebellious people of Konigsberg probably deserved the treatment they got from the soldiers. In FrederickWilliam’s mind, the army was Brandenburg-Prussia and Brandenburg-Prussia was the army. History and Economics from a Libertarian perspective. By 1681, Frederick William had assumed total control over his army. In this year, the rebellion had been lead by two noblemen – Roth and Kalkstein. This meant that families had to put up soldiers as Frederick William did not see why he had to pay for their upkeep in a rebellious city. “By the end of his reign, foreign observers agreed that his forces, though not the biggest in Europe, were the most efficient.” (Lockyer), Frederick William – or the self-titled ‘Great Elector’ – took Brandenburg-Prussia from obscurity to become one of Europe’s most dominant powers. Peter thought that the Russian people were backward and superstitious and needed to be opened up to foreign customs. Frederick was concerned with the power of Sweden and Saxony, and decided to amass a large standing army to defend and extend his lands. ( Log Out /  1674, Konigsberg again rebelled against Frederick William’s authority and this time faced a more severe punishment. Peter came up with new taxes and enforced old ones to fund his project. Soldiers in the army knew that they had a regular income. However, once Frederick William had made his point perfectly clear, the nobility of Konigsberg were brought into positions in his court so that they could have no festering resentment.eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'historylearningsite_co_uk-leader-1','ezslot_16',115,'0','0']));eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'historylearningsite_co_uk-leader-1','ezslot_17',115,'0','1'])); In 1666, troops were stationed in Cleves and Mark (two of the more outlying properties of Frederick William) to ensure that tax was collected. In this area, too, the Elector established a tradition that was broadened by his 18th-century successors. The process remained the same – subdue a Junker family into acquiescence and use its money to fund an expansion of his army. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Frederick William wanted to put the army at the centre of his state. As with Peter the great of Russia several decades later, the people were burdened by his heavy taxes. The Heliocentric Model of the Solar System, the Role of Religion, and the Enlightenment. Frederick William, who came to be known as “The Great Elector” due to to the changes he did in his territory, was the ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia from 1640-1688. He did not live to witness the great shift in the European balance of power that his nephew was to effect through his landing in England and his succeeding the Catholic Stuart King James II. Frederick William wanted to put the army at the centre of his state. Frederick William saw himself and the state as being one – and the protector of his state was the army. On retirement, senior officers were given state posts, which was a good inducement to loyalty. Brandenburg was a poor rural area ruled by diets dominated by Junkers (lower class nobles). Thus, at the end of his life, the Great Elector returned to the political ties of his early years. However, once Frederick William had made his point perfectly clear, the nobility of Konigsberg were brought into positions in his court so that they could have no festering resentment. The Elector’s disillusionment with Louis XIV coincided with the assumption by William of Orange (later King William III of Great Britain) of his historical role as founder of the Grand Alliance. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.

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