rederick
"illiam
HISTORY. |
In 1772 Prussia and Austria, in order to prevent an
overweening growth of Russia, joined in the first partition
of Poland. Frederick’s share consisted of West Prussia
and the Netze district, a most welcome addition, filling up
the gap between the great mass of his territories and the
isolated district of East Prussia. It had also this advan-
tage over later acquisitions at Poland’s expense, that it
was a thoroughly German land, having formed part of the
colonizations of the Teutonic Order. In 1778 Prussia
found herself once more in opposition to Austria on the
question of the Bavarian succession, but the war that
ensued was almost entirely nominal, and the difficulty was
adjusted without much bloodshed. The same question
elicited the last action of importance in which Frederick
engaged,—the formation of a ““ Fiirstenbund,” or league of
(ferman princes under Prussian supremacy, to resist the
encroachments of Austria. The importance of this union
was soon obscured by the momentous events of the French
Revolution, but it was a significant foreshadowing of the
duel of Austria and Prussia for the pre-eminence in Ger-
many. Frederick died on 17th August 1786, having in-
creased his territories to an area of 75,000 square miles,
with a population of five and a half millions. The revenue
also had immensely increased and now amounted to about
twenty million thalers annually, of which, however, thirteen
were spent on the army. The treasury contained a fund of
sixty million thalers, and the land was free of debt.
A continuation of the personal despotism under which
Prussia had now existed for seventy years, as well as of its
disproportionate influence in Europe, would have required a
ruler with something of the iron will and ability of Frederick
the Great. Unfortunately Frederick’s nephew and suc-
cessor, Frederick William II. (1786-1797), had neither the
energy nor the insight that his position demanded. He
was too undecided to grasp the opportunity of adding to
Prussia’s power by adhering to the vigorous external policy
of his predecessor, nor did he on the other hand make any
attempt to meet the growing discontent of his subjects
under their heavy burdens by putting himself at the head
of an internal movement of liberal reform. The rule of
absolutism continued, though the power now lay more in
the hands of a ““camarilla” or cabinet than in those of the
monarch ; and the statesmen who now came to the front
were singularly short-sighted and inefficient. The freedom
of religion and the press left by Frederick the Great was
abrogated in 1788 by royal ordinance. In 1787 the army
engaged in an expensive and useless campaign against
Holland. The abandonment of Frederick’s policy was
shown in a tendency to follow the lead of Austria, which
culminated in an alliance with that power against revolu-
tionary France. But in 1795 Prussia, suspicious of the
Polish plans of Russia and Austria, concluded the separate
peace of Basel, almost the only redeeming feature of
which was the stipulation that all north German states
beyond a certain line of demarcation should participate
in its benefits. This practically divided Germany into
two camps and inflicted a severe blow on the imperial
system. The indifference with which Prussia relinquished
to France German lands on the left bank of the Rhine,
compared with her eagerness to increase her Slavonic terri-
tories on the east, was certainly one of the great blunders
of the reign. Prussia’s share in the second and third
partitions of Poland (1793 and 1795) nearly doubled her
extent, but added little or nothing to her real power. The
twelve years following the peace of Basel form one of
the most sombre periods of the history of Prussia. Her
prestige was lost by her persistent and ill-timed neutrality
in the struggle with France ; the old virtues of economy,
order, and justice disappeared from the bureaucracy ; the
army was gradually losing its excellence and was weakened
PRUsS B 1 A
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rather than strengthened by the hordes of disaffected Polish
recruits ; the treasury was exhausted and a large debt in-
curred ; the newly-awakened feeling of German patriotism
had died away, especially among the upper classes.
Frederick William TIT. (1797-1840) possessed many Frederick
virtues that did him credit in his private capacity, but he William
lacked the vigour that was at this juncture imperatively [T
required from a ruler of Prussia, while he was unfortu-
nately surrounded by counsellors who had as little concep-
tion as himself of Prussia’s proper role. He continued to
adhere closely to a policy of timid neutrality and seemed
content to let Prussia slip back into the position of a
second-rate state, the attitude of which in the great Euro-
pean struggle could be of no special importance. Not even
the high-handed occupation of Hanover by the French in
1803 could arouse him ; and the last shred of self-respect
seemed to have been parted with in 1805 when Prussia
consented to receive Hanover, the property of its ally
England, from the hands of France. The formation of
the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 and the intelligence
that France had agreed to restore Hanover to England at
last convinced Frederick William of what he had to fear
from Napoleon; while Napoleon on his side, being now
free of his other antagonists, was only too glad of an
opportunity to destroy his tool. Prussia declared war on
9th October 1806 ; and the short campaign that ensued
showed that the army of Frederick the Great had lost its
virtue, and that Prussia, single-handed, was no match
for the great French commander. On 14th October the
Prussian armies were overthrown at Jena and Auerstidt,
and a total collapse set in. Disgraceful capitulations of
troops and fortresses without a struggle followed one
another in rapid succession; the court fled to East Prussia;
and Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph. At the peace
of Tilsit (9th July 1807) Frederick William lost half his
kingdom, including all that had been acquired at the
second and third partitions of Poland and the whole of
the territory to the west of the Elbe. An enormous war
indemnity was also demanded, and the Prussian fortresses
were occupied by the French until this should be paid.
Prussia now paid heavily for its past remissness and
drained the cup of humiliation to the dregs.
The next half-dozen years form a period of the greatest
significance in the history of Prussia, embracing, as they
do, the turning-point in the moral regeneration of the
country. The disasters of 1806 elicited a strong spirit of
devoted patriotism, which was fanned by the exertions of
the “Tugendbund,” or League of Virtue, and by the writ-
ings of men like Fichte and Arndt. This was accompanied
by a wonderful revelation of vitality and recuperative
power.
chancellor Hardenberg. The condition on which Stein
based his acceptance of office was itself of immense import-
ance ; he insisted that the system of governing through
irresponsible cabinet councillors, which had gradually be-
come customary, should cease, and that the responsible
ministers of departments should be at once the confidential
advisers and the executive agents of the king. Stein’s
designs and wishes extended to the establishment of a
regular system of parliamentary and local government like
that of England, but he had not an opportunity to do
much more than begin the work. His edict of 1807
abolished serfdom and obliterated the legal distinction of
classes by establishing freedom of exchange in land and
free choice of occupation.! The “Stidteordnung ” of 1808
1 Previous to this measure the distinction between ¢¢ noble,’
“burgher,” and “peasant” land and occupations was strictly observed,
and no transition of property or employment from one class to another
was possible,
The credit of the reformation belongs mainly to Stein’s
the great minister Stein, and in the second place to the reforms.
