Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, 1740-1786
Erich Eyck compares the legend and the reality of Prussia's infamous 18th century ruler, Frederick William I.
In the almost malicious characterization of William II with which Bismarck enlivens the third volume of his Gedanken und Erinnerungen, he makes some comparisons between the last Prussian King and his predecessors. Naturally, among these Frederick the Great figures prominently. From him and from Frederick’s father, Frederick William I, the young Emperor inherited, in the opinion of the embittered statesman, the “tendency to an autocratic direction of the affairs of state and the belief in the justification of hoc volo, sic jubeo.” The position occupied by Frederick the Great in history, Bismarck continues, was practically an invitation to each of his successors to model themselves upon him.
“He had two gifts which advanced each other, strategic ability and a sober understanding of the interests of his subjects.”
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