FREDERICK II, best known as FRED ERICK THE GREAT, king of Prussia : b. 24 Jan. 1712; d. Sans Souci, 17 Aug. 1786. He was the son of Frederick William I and the Princess Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. Though by the direction of his father, he was instructed only in the details of military exercises and service, his taste for .poetry and music was early developed by the influence of his first instructress, Madame de Rocoules, and his early teacher, Duhan, who, by the queen, formed a secret opposition to his father's system of education. The prince's in clination led him to adopt entirely the views of his mother. This gave rise to a coolness be tween him and his father. Indignant at the oppression and hatred which he experienced from his father, Frederick determined to flee to the court of George II, king of England, his mother's brother. His sister Frederica and his friends, Lieutenants Katt and Keith, were the only persons entrusted with the secret of his flight. He was, however, overtaken, was barbarously treated by his father, and obliged to be an eye-witness of the execution of his friend Katt.
While the prince remained in the closest confinement in Kiistrin, the king sent him a proposal to renounce the succession in favor of his younger brother Augustus William, on con dition that he should have the liberty of pur suing his own inclinations in regard to his stud ies, traveling, etc. "I accept the proposal," said the prince, "if my father declares that I am not really his son.• On this answer the king, who looked on conjugal fidelity with re ligious respect, relinquished his design. That the king was inclined to sentence his son to death is certain. But the provosts Reinbeck and Seckendorf, who had before intrigued against the now saved his life; the latter, in particular, by availing himself of the interfer ence of the emperor.
The prince was not admitted to court till on the occasion of the nuptials of his sister Frederica, and was obliged by his father in 1733 to marry the Princess Elizabeth Christina, daughter of Ferdinand Albert, Duke of Bruns wick-Bevern. Frederick William gave the castle of" Schonhausen to her, and to the prince the county of Ruppin, and in 1734 the town of Rheinsberg, where he lived devoted to study till he ascended the throne. Among his daily visitors were literati, musicians and painters.
He corresponded with foreign scholars, particu larly with Voltaire, whom he greatly admired. Several of his writings, in particular his'Anti Machiavel,' had their origin in the rural tran quillity of Rheinsberg.
The death of his father raised him to the throne 31 May 1740. Frederick on his succes found in his states a population of only 2,240,000. At his decease the number had risen to 6,000,000. He raised Prussia to a pitch of greatness by his talents as a legislator and general, assisted in the field and in the cabinet during a reign of 46 years by many distin guished men. Frederick, who had already ex cited great expectations, retained for the most part the institutions and laws of his father, but gave to the latter more extent and vigor. The death of the Emperor Charles VI was a favorable moment, of which Frederick II took advantage, to revive the claims of the house of Brandenburg with regard to the Silesian prin cipalities, so far as to ask from the queen, Maria Theresa, the duchies of Glogau and Sagan, in return for which he promised her assistance against all her enemies, his vote for the election of. her husband as emperor, and 2,000,000 Prussian dollars. These proposals being rejected, he occupied Lower Silesia in De cember 1740, and defeated the Austrians 10 April 1741, near Molwitz. This victory, which was almost decisive of the fate of Silesia, raised new enemies against Austria. France and Bavaria united with Prussia, and the war of the Austrian Succession commenced. The only ally of the queen of Hungary and Bohemia, George II of England, advised her to make peace with Prussia because Frederick II was her most active and 'formidable enemy. After the victory of Czaslau (Chotusitz), gained by Frederick, 17 May 1742, the first Silesian War was terminated by preliminaries signed at Bres lau under British mediation (11 June), and by the peace signed at Berlin, 28July 1742. Fred erick obtained Lower and Upper Silesia, and the larger part of the county of Glatz, with full sovereignty. On the other hand he re nounced all claims to the other Austrian terri tories, assumed a debt of 1,700,000 Prussian dollars charged on Silesia, and promised to re spect the rights of the Catholics in Silesia. Saxony acceded to this peace, of which England and Russia were the guarantors.