FREDERICK WILLIAM I. (1688-1770), king of Prussia, son of Frederick I. by his second marriage, was born in 1688. He spent a considerable time in early youth at the court of his grandfather, the elector of Hanover. On his return to Berlin he was placed under General von Dohna, who trained him to the energetic and regular habits that ever afterwards characterized him. He was soon imbued with a passion for military life, and this was deepened by acquaintance with the duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, whom he visited during the siege of Tournay. In nearly every respect he was the opposite of his father, having frugal, simple tastes, a passionate temper, and a determined will. He intensely disliked the French, and highly disapproved the imitation of their manners by Frederick I. and his courtiers. When he mounted the throne, his first act was to dismiss from the palace every unnecessary official, and to regulate the royal household on principles of the strictest parsimony. In 1715 he was forced, in alliance with Russia, Saxony, and Denmark, into a war with Charles XII. of Sweden, in consequence of which, in return for two million thalers paid to Sweden, he obtained the islands of Wollin and Usedom, Stettin, and part of Swedish Pomerania. This was his only war. All through his reign he strenuously insisted on his right to Jülich and Berg in the event of the Pfalz-Neuburg line dying out (which it seemed certain to do), and his anxiety respecting these duchies gives the key to most of his foreign policy. For some time he inclined to an understanding with England and Hanover; but in 1726 he formed an alliance with Austria, and in the Polish war of succession (1733-35) aided her with 10,000 men. Ultimately, however, he perceived that the emperor was not acting honourably by ...him, and withdrew from the alliance, occupying himself solely with the internal affairs of his kingdom. He despised many things which the modern world holds in high esteem, and was often coarse, violent, and fond of hideous practical jokes. Nevertheless Prussia profited immensely by his reign. He saw the necessity of rigid economy not only in his private life but in the whole administration of the state; and the consequence was that he paid off the debts incurred by his father, and left to his successor an overflowing treasury. He did nothing for the higher learning, and even banished the philosopher Wolf at 48 hours’ notice, “on pain of the halter,” for teaching, as he believed, fatalist doctrines; but he established many village schools, and he encouraged industry by every means in his power, particularly agriculture. Under him the nation flourished, and although it stood in awe of his vehement spirit, it respected him for his firmness, his honesty of purpose, and his love of justice. He was devoted to his army, the number of which he raised from 48,000 to 83,500; and there was not in existence a more thoroughly drilled or better appointed force. The Potsdam guard, made up of giants collected from all parts of Europe, sometimes kidnapped, was a sort of toy with which he amused himself. The reviewing of his troops was his chief pleasure; but he was also fond of meeting his friends in the evening in what he called his “tobacco college,” where he and they, amid clouds of tobacco smoke, discussed affairs of state. He died on the 31st May 1740, leaving behind him his widow, Sophie Dorothea of Hanover, and a numerous family.
See Morgenstern, Uebcr Friedrich Wilhelm I. (Brunswick, 1793); J. C. Droysen, Friedrich Wilhelm I., König von Preussen (2 vols., Leipsic, 1869); Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia.
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