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Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King of Prussia from 1740 until 1786.〔Frederick was the third and last "King in Prussia"; beginning in 1772 he used the title "King of Prussia".〕 Frederick's achievements during his reign included his military victories, his reorganization of Prussian armies, his patronage of the Arts and the Enlightenment in Prussia, and his final success against great odds in the Seven Years' War. He became known as Frederick the Great (''Friedrich der Große'') and was nicknamed ''Der Alte Fritz'' ("Old Fritz") by the Prussian people. In his youth, Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than the art of war. He defied his authoritarian father, Frederick William I, and sought to run away with his best friend Hans Hermann von Katte. They were caught at the border and King Frederick William I nearly executed his son for desertion. After being pardoned, he was forced to watch the official beheading of Hans. Upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked Austria and claimed Silesia during the Silesian Wars, winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia. Near the end of his life, Frederick physically connected most of his realm by conquering Polish territories in the First Partition of Poland. He was an influential military theorist whose analysis emerged from his extensive personal battlefield experience and covered issues of strategy, tactics, mobility and logistics. Frederick was a proponent of enlightened absolutism. He modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation.〔Stanislaw Salmonowicz, "Was Frederick the Great an Enlightened Absolute Ruler?" ''Polish Western Affairs'' (1981) 22#1 pp 56-69〕 He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men not of noble stock to become judges and senior bureaucrats, while at the same time his practical yet prejudiced attitude towards Jews was similar to his father's.〔Amos Elon (2002) ''The Pity Of It All. A History of Jews in Germany 1743-1933'', pp. 16-20. ISBN 0805059644〕 Frederick also encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Prussia. Some critics, however, point out his oppressive measures against conquered Polish subjects during the First Partition.〔〔Conquest: How Societies Overwhelm Others by David Day Oxford University Press,page 212, 2008〕 Frederick supported arts and philosophers he favored, but at the same time enacted several laws censoring the press. Frederick is buried at his favorite residence, Sanssouci in Potsdam. Because he died childless, Frederick was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II, son of his brother, Augustus William. Nearly all 19th century German historians made Frederick into a romantic model of a glorified warrior, praising his leadership, administrative efficiency, devotion to duty and success in building up Prussia to a leading role in Europe. Historian Leopold von Ranke was unstinting in his praise of Frederick's "Heroic life, inspired by great ideas, filled with feats of arms...immortalized by the raising of the Prussian state to the rank of a power." Johann Gustav Droysen was even more extolling.〔G. P. Gooch, ''Frederick the Great: The Ruler, the Writer, the Man'' (1947) p 343-76; quote p 346〕 Frederick remained an admired historical figure through the German Empire's defeat in the First World War, and the Nazis glorified him as a great German leader pre-figuring Hitler, but his reputation became far less favorable in 1945 in both East and West Germany after the fall of the Nazi regime, largely due to his status as a favorite icon of the Nazis.〔Jürgen Angelow, "Kontexte ungleicher Deutung," ''Zeitschrift fuer Religions und Geistesgeschichte'' (2004) 56#2 pp 136-151.〕 ==Youth== Frederick, the son of Frederick William I and his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, was born in Berlin on 24 January 1712. Frederick William I, popularly dubbed as the soldier-king, had developed a strong army led by his famous Potsdam Grenadier Guards and encouraged centralized government, but he possessed a violent temper and ruled Brandenburg-Prussia with absolute authority. In contrast, Frederick’s mother Sophia was polite, charismatic and learned. Her father, George Louis of Brunswick-Lüneburg, succeeded to the British throne as King George I in 1714. The birth of Frederick was welcomed by his grandfather, Frederick I, with more than usual pleasure, as two of his grandsons had already died at an early age. With the death of his father in 1713, Frederick William became King of Prussia, thus making young Frederick the crown prince. The new king wished for his sons and daughters be educated not as royalty, but as simple folk. He had been educated by a Frenchwoman, Madame de Montbail, who later became Madame de Rocoulle, and he wished that she educate his children. Frederick was brought up by Huguenot governesses and tutors and learned French and German simultaneously. In spite of his father's desire that his education be entirely religious and pragmatic, the young Frederick, with the help of his tutor Jacques Duhan, procured for himself a three thousand volume secret library of poetry, Greek and Roman classics, and French philosophy to supplement his official lessons.〔MacDonogh, p. 37〕 Although Frederick William I was raised a Calvinist, he feared he was not of the elect. To avoid the possibility of Frederick being motivated by the same concerns, the king ordered that his heir not be taught about predestination. Nevertheless, although Frederick was largely irreligious, he to some extent appeared to adopt this tenet of Calvinism. Some scholars have speculated that he did this to spite his father.〔MacDonogh, p. 35〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Frederick the Great」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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