History & Society
Frederick II
king of Prussia
Category:
History & Society
- Byname:
- Frederick the Great
- German:
- Friedrich der Grosse
- Died:
- August 17, 1786, Potsdam, near Berlin (aged 74)
- Title / Office:
- king (1740-1786), Prussia
- House / Dynasty:
- Hohenzollern dynasty
- Notable Family Members:
- father Frederick William I
- sister Wilhelmina
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Frederick II (born January 24, 1712, Berlin, Prussia [Germany]—died August 17, 1786, Potsdam, near Berlin) king of Prussia (1740–86), a brilliant military campaigner who, in a series of diplomatic stratagems and wars against Austria and other powers, greatly enlarged Prussia’s territories and made Prussia the foremost military power in Europe. An enlightened absolute monarch, he favoured French language and art and built a French Rococo palace, Sanssouci, near Berlin. Frederick, the third king of Prussia, ranks among the two or three dominant figures in the history of modern Germany. Under his leadership Prussia became one of the great states of ...(100 of 5266 words)