The School of Battle - Frederick the Great #2 - Extra History Reaction
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มี.ค. 2023
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I just want to point out that Eugene of Savoy isn't some kind of indecisive general, he is one of the greatest military minds in history and Napoleon adored him and had him in his top list.
Eugene was also likely either gay or bissexual, much like Frederick, pretty much proving gay man can be as brave and as good a soldier as any other man. It's a shame their sexuality was "hidden" and ignored for centuries by historians, since they pretty much proved all the homophobic nonsense so many people believed in was bullshit
also the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen is named after him
@@aurelian3268 HEY HEY AURELIAN please listen to me, some of your officers are attempting to assassinate you make sure to get away alive from this trap!
at 70 he was indecisive, as most 70 year olds are.
@@MrShaneVicious Indeed, as Frederick remarked, his body was still there, but his soul had gone.
It makes me sad that by the time Frederick served alongside Eugene, such a brilliant general was fading and past his glory years. Eugene of Savoy was one of the greatest military minds of all time, bold, brave and aggressive. He and his legendary co-commander John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough made one of the best teams in military history. It was these two who crushed the French army at Blenheim during the War of Spanish Succession, not only saving Vienna from capture thus turning the tide of the war but also shattering the myth of French invincibility.
And I think after so many close calls, it’s easy to become cautious to most things in battle with everything becoming a risk
Dear Helmut, the campaigns on the Rhine in 1733-1735 were not conducted with vigor. No one on either side wanted bloody battles, since in the end it was only a matter of resolving the diplomatic question of who would ascend the throne of Poland and what would France get in return for accepting a Saxon elector on the Polish throne. According to the letters of the great Eugene, he was still quite fit mentally. I recommend you the two volyms of the k. u. k. General Staff on the War of the Polish Succession ("Die Kriege Eugens von Savoyen" vol. 19 and 20, I believe). From time to time I'm working on a manuscript about the campaign of the Swedish-Pomeranian contingent in 1735, which took part in Count Seckendorff's last offensive towards Trier ("Battle" of Rievenich/ Clausen) - all based on the letters of the commander of the contingent (von Kirchbach). Some years ago I gave a short overview in the "Baltic Studies" (Das schwedisch-pommersche Kreiskontingent im Reichkrieg gegen Frankreich 1735-1736).
2:00 Unfortunate that Prince Eugene of Savoy was like this by the time Frederick met him. But make no light of it, Prince Eugene is one of the greatest generals of his time. Napoleon thought of him as one of the greatest ever. HistoryMarche started a series about Eugene's life and military career, highly recommend.
Yeah, Eugene of Savoy was a excellent commander. He was also, like Frederick, almost certainly gay, which does show how gay man can rise to be excellent generals. Historians ignored their sexuality for years because the homophobia of society made it convenient to do so, despite their existence proving that homophobia is just bullshit, much like racism. Despite being gay, they were extremely brave and some of the best generals to have ever lived (which makes homossexuality being illegal in the army for centuries even more stupid).
I want "Napoleon's praise" as a new form of measurement for military genius after this series and learning this.
@@alexandrejosedacostaneto381 There's no way to really know if Eugene was gay, at the very least he was only accused to be one in a short period of his life by his enemies, and wrote that those accusations made him laugh.
He probably wasn't imho, even if it's a possibility. But clearly, saying "almost certainly gay" shows a strong bias. His case is not comparable his Frederik's.
@@xenotypos
Do you actually have citations in MLA or APA format to back your claim?
@@whathell6t I'm not the one making claims here, but what I mentioned is in his memoirs, page 15 in the original french version. To be accurate he just mocked the accusations (he didn't textually wrote that he laughed). You have to know what he's talking about because if my memory is right he refers to them as "accusation of depravity" from "the gallery of Versailles". Those accusations (the only ones of this kind directed toward him, so he was clearly refering to that) originated from Elizabeth Charlotte, duchess of Orleans, that had strong personal resentment toward Eugene. She described Eugene as "a vulgar whore who preferred a couple of fine page boys to any woman,"
The memoirs of eugene were translated in english in 1811 (I've just googled it): "[...]how I was born in France, and how I quitted it, my heart swelling with enmity toward Louis XIV. who refused me a company of horse, because, said he, I was of too delicate a constitution; and an abbey, because he thought (from I know not what evil discourse respecting me, or false anecdotes current in the gallery of Versailles) that I was more formed for pleasure than for piety."
Those accusations from the duchess were the only accusations of depravity in his life, not to mention from Versailles. Thus he was refering to it.
Anyway I know 0 biographer of Eugene or historian that didn't point out the severe lack of evidence regarding Eugene's homosexuality (or they didn't consider it a possibility). So the burden of proof clearly isn't on my side here. I only ever saw random people on the internet, possibly with an agenda, make the claim that he was "surely" gay. I'm not even ruling it out, I'm just saying it seems kind of improbable from what I saw. He explained himself why he didn't have a wife and why he saw that as an hindrance for a soldier.
Little to speculate from (or make up certainties). Compare that with Frederik II.
"Oblique attack tactics
Ain't exactly straight!
With creative talent
And battle malice,
Hard as steel in the field-
Gentiiiiiile in the palllaaaaace!!!!!"
-ERB Fredrick
Genteel, Gentile is a whole other thing lol.
4:55 from what I understand Fredrick didnt necessarily detest his wife but there also wasnt any love there. He gave her a palace and servants and basically told her "just smile and wave on official occasions when I need you but otherwise never come to court"
There is also a nice story (most certainly made up, but still nice) regarding the name of said palace - "Schloss Schönhausen". Allegedly he said to Elisabeth Christine: "Hier kannst du schön hausen!" Which translates to "Here you can dwell nicely."
Many moons later the same castle will be the seat of East Germany's first government and because of that, westerners will often refer to the communist government as "Pankow", the part of Berlin in which the the palace is located (Pankow became part of Berlin in 1920).
@@thoralfsahn very cool! Thanks for the knowledge
Honestly that sounds like a good deal to me
Prince Eugene is considered as one of the greatest generals in history. Unfortunately overshadowed by Napoleon, for example. But he had definitely also admired Eugene. At his peak, Eugen was an extremely bold fieldcommander ; you can still find his cuirass with the bullet holes. That's why it's also interesting how he became so reserved in old age.
Watching this I'm reminded of Extra History's series on Catherine the Great. When you know more about Frederick's youth, you understand why he connected so well with the young Catherine. He probably saw himself in the young girl.
Hey Chris, to answer your question about detesting his wife. Old Frtiz was a huge misogynist and hated all things female. So ya he really did hate his wife but for the most part he internalized his contempt and treated her well in public.
As far as I know that is not entirely true. The hole big misogyny thing was an explanation for why he did not like his wife that conveniently left out that one of the foundational figures in German history was gay.
@@wulle8509, The thing about Fritz was he had a lot of contradictions about him. I mean, see how he treated his family members; he was very dismissive of them, along with verbal abuse not far from his father.
@@wulle8509 Nah, he really had a problem with women. I believe there was a rumor that he didn't like meeting his generals or ministers' wives, and pushed men out of his "boys' club" if they got married.
@@MalikF15 I think the problem that I have specifically is that most quotes I see about this are from the 1910s and 20s. Do you have some good books or other sources you could recommend?
@@samrevlej9331 A rumor is not a very good piece of evidence. Do a good source you could recommend?
Frederick and his father giving off huge Phillip II & Alexander vibes
The infantry-calvary relationship actually still exists to the modern day. In WW2 it was common doctrine for US infantry divisions to try to punch holes in defensive lines (using organic tanks and artillery already in the division) and then send the Armored divisions through those holes to exploit them and rapidly take ground and destroy anything they could find (artillery, command posts, or logistics being common priority targets) before the lines reformed again.
Your foreman story was exactly what happened to me on a weird "he said-she said" sex case. Everyone filed into the jury room and left the seat at the head of the table empty. It was the only one left, so I sat and said, "Who wants to be foreman?" and in a chorus, they all answered , "YOU!" Turns out I also decided the defendant's guilt or innocence, after the others all agreed with my stated opinion.
Bit of my local history. After corresponding with Voltaire for several years, Frederick met him in September 1740, shortly after being crowned king, at Schloss Moyland, wich is close to Kleve and the Reichswald, which you visited last year. On his way home Frederick passed by the old abbey Kloster Kamp, which is nowadays called the Sanssouci of the Lower Rhine for its terraced gardens. Only, Frederick started the construction of Sanssouci in 1744 and it is speculated, that he got the idea for its gardens from Kamp Abbey.
8:14 as a chess player it really hurts my eyes that the queen and king are swapped, as well as the knights and bishops haha
Prince Eugene of Savoy was one of the greatest generals of his time. He defeated the turks, the french etc. In vienna there is an entire castle that was built by him. Even Napoleon admired him
However, he did not age well.
highly recommend kings and generals series about Eugene of Savoy. He truly is a fascinating Charakter.
Chris, I recently watched a Kings and Generals video called “Why were Medieval Armies so Small?” I was reminded of it when the video talked about Fredrick inheriting an army of 80,000. Even though this wasn’t the medieval era anymore, it is so interesting how military sizes shrank. I think it would be a great video to react to after you’re done with this wonderful series.
I just finished their series and the last one is the best. Your gonna love it.
If you ever come to Austria especially Viennna and Innsbruck you can see the large impact Maria Theresia had. There are countless places and streets named after her.
3:58 When we're talking about the weakness of the Imperial Army, we have to take into account that it wasn't a well-organized standing army (similar to the Empire not being a unified, centralized political entity). The chaos, which is so often described in order to depict the Empire's administration, is also characteristic for its army.
Whenever an 'Imperial War' was declared, the different Imperial Circles (administrative units consisting of the separate member states) were to raise contingents, which in turn again consisted of men raised by the different member states within these circles. The men from the different member states within a circle very often not only did not drill together but were often drilled using different regulations, which means they were usually very ineffective whenever they had to fight together. We should keep this in mind when we have a look at battles like Rossbach or Leuthen, where at least a part of the forces opposing Friedrich consisted of these troops
The imperial war effort was usually carried by the larger members's contingents like Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, Brandenburg/Prussia...
As for Eugene of Savoy, I agree with many of the other guys here that the video is creating an at least misleading picture of him. His efforts are usually overshadowed in the English-speaking world by his congenial English/British counterpart, the Duke of Marlborough, and in the German-speaking world by Frederick the Great. Eugene was only the most prominent of a group of actually very competent Austrian/Imperial troop leaders (like Guido v.Starhemberg or Raymondo Montecuccoli), who, together with the growing professionalism in the European armies, helped to turn the tide in the Balkans against the Ottomans, who had literally been unstoppable prior to the mid-XVIIth century.
Enjoying this series so far. Keep up the great work Chris. I've been behind but getting caught up 👍😎
15:07 I watched a video from The Chieftain TH-cam Channel about preparations for the US Army in WWII and how they got ready for the war. One of the things he talked about was that the Cavalry did still have horses in the early 40s and were not keen on giving them up. He also talks about the roll they played in the military exercises in 1940 and I think 1941, but finally the decision was made to force them to mechanize.
When they mentioned Prince Eugene of Savoy i just got to think about how diffrent the name is pronounced in European languages for example in English it''s"U-gene" and in german it's "Oi-gen".
5:00 As for whether Frederick's dislike for Elizabeth Christine was personal or if it was on principle - I just did a few minutes of googling and it seems like some of both. He almost never saw her and apparently one time when they hadn't seen each other for a year the first thing he said was "my lady has gotten fatter". It could be that the cruelty was born out of projecting his anger about being in a heterosexual marriage but either way he definitely didn't like her at all. And on her side I would assume she took it pretty personally - it would be hard not to.
Extra history has the best theme music . So simple but every time I hear it I know I’m in for a good video!
5:32 I could not agree more. As an agnostic I learn about things that honestly I wouldn’t want to learn but it helps me understand this life that I find myself living in. I hope we solve our unknowns and better ourselves
These reactions are the highlight of my day while at work
Hi Chris, great video and analysis! I've watched some of your videos, like your reactions to the don'ts of visiting Ohio and England, 1848 revolutions, and Brown v. Board of Education as well as your podcast episode about the battle of Passchendaele (and the heroism of Canadian soldiers). You do a great job and I like the insights you provide (and I like being able to learn about different history channels on TH-cam through your reactions). My knowledge of history is more generalist, but I've always been interested in learning more and find your videos and podcast to be informative and intriguing. Keep up the great work.
Thanks Alex! Glad to have you here.
@@VloggingThroughHistory Anytime, Chris! Glad to be here :). I hope you have a great day and great weekend.
Hi, Chris, another very interesting episode. I seem to think that fighting over Silesia happened more than once.
There are at least three Silesian wars.
Great stuff like always!
Good Video VTH! Can't Wait for the President Ranking Video
U remind me of my dad because he was a preacher as well. Thankyou.
I hope you’ll share the story of that jury trial
Not being a natural leader but stepping up when there's a leadership deficit, I can totally relate to that. That's how I've ended up in pretty much every leadership position I've ever been in.
The way that Frederick the Great's father left him set up with a kingdom thats ready militarily and politically is weirdly similar to how another Great, Alexander the Great, had a father who set him up militarily and politically for his own conquests. fun parallel
Bro your catchphrase needs to be "Isn't it interesting" 😂 that needs to be on a t-shirt or something! This is seriously the best channel on TH-cam imo.
13:36 It’s ironic enough that Old Fritz’s so-called “dad” was probably (deservedly) rolling in his grave.
Another great video!
btw there is a channel called House of History that shows Frederick's the Great battles in a very good strategic way
Loving the new mustache!
16:42 Around this same time frame, is when George II becomes the last British monarch to lead troops in battle IIRC.
From what we know, he didn't really detest Elisabeth Christine. It was the situation of marriage that he detested, but we do know that by the end of his life, he and his wife had reached some common ground and some level of friendship, to the point where his will left her quite endowed upon his death, increasing her wealth as Dowager Queen.
12:05
We really need an Alternate history video about that
Great reaction! Gustavus Adolphus was an incredible commander for his time, but to use his tactics more than a hundred year after his death may not have been a great idea.
15:32 This happened at First Bull Run/Manassas.
Until 1772 it was actually „King in Prussia“ due to the fact that there could be no kingdoms in the Holy Roman Empire and while brandenburg was in the HRE(thus the title elector of Brandenburg) the main Prussian lands were outside of the HRE, that is why they could be called King IN, but not of Prussia. Friedrich 2. eventually decided that he didn‘t care and changed it in 1772 to king of prussia.
Well, it's not as simple as "Frederick decided he didn't care" and decided to call himself King OF Prussia. The thing to note is that most of Royal Prussia was, up until 1772, part of the Kingdom of Poland. This changed in 1772 with the First Partition of Poland (there will be two more of these, then Poland comes back under the rule of the Tzar of Russia (kinda), then disappears again, then comes back because self-determination in 1919, and then the treaty splitting the reformed Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union, and then the Soviets kinda shoved Poland into Eastern Germany several years later... it's complicated). As a result of the First Partition of Poland, the holdings of the House of Hohenzollern now include the majority of the lands that historically was Royal Prussia. Thus, Frederick was now King OF Prussia rather than King IN Prussia.
Isn't Machiavellis "The Prince" not written ironicly as a guide how not do it, or how to recognicy tyrants? This was just a way to avoid censorship in writing it as a guidline for tyrants.
That's Rousseau's point of view about him... yes, it could be. But at that time, AFAIK, Machiavelli wanted a strong-kinda-united-if-not-totally-united-Italian-state... which was absolutely impossible to do without a central strong figure with the best skills/abilities and LUCK possible. He wanted the Roman Republic style... and that includes a Dictator, when the situation asks for it.
That's one theory. Another theory is that Machiavelli was in fact a republican idealist, and that his real agenda with writing The Prince was to show how fragile the power of autocrats really is, and how much of it is really a matter of perception becoming reality, "power resides where people believe it resides".
Have you read The Last King of America? I found it to be quite engrossing and enlightening.
When o saw this title I said to myself “Friedrich der Große” then you said the same thing and I was like. “Woah” and I’ve had too many do those today.
Interesting video
13:40 Sheds tears in Europa Universalis II. Taking Silesia is near impossible in that game since IIRC it has like a level 5 fortress.
Fredrick and his father kinda remind me of Alexander the Great and Philip II of Macedon because both Fredrick William and Philip set their sons up for success and glory i guess the biggest difference is that both Alexander and Philip were most likely bisexual
This reminds me a lot of Philip and Alexander in some ways.
I was thinking Frederick the Great reminded me of Alexander.
Extra history just released a video on John brown
I'm wondering if you're willing to look at or react (probably not its almost 2 hours) to Hello Future Me's documentary "The US Covered Up Japan's Worst Warcrime." Sure they're not a small channel, but they've not done a lot of history stuff before and its a well done video.
You missed a "Hunting the Bismark" Connection. The sister ship of the Bismark was named Prince Eugen.
Eugen of Savoyen has a fabulous life story. He was the Italian bastard of the French King, who conquered the European Part of the Ottoman Empire for the Austrians and built himself a palace, with the spoils of war, in Vienna, that was bigger than the emperors' palace.
I Visited Budapest last year, and in front of the palace in Budapest stands a 30 feet high equestrian statue of Eugen of Savoyen. He was probably the best general of the 17th century.
He hated the French King that was "boinking" his mom, like the Marquis de La Fayette.
Lafayette went to the US to free America, Eugen went to Austria to free the Balkans from the Ottomans.
Lafayette's mother was the mistress of Louise XV, and Eugene's mother was the mistress of Louis XIV.
The sister ship of Bismarck was named "Tirpitz". Prinz Eugen was the Admiral Hipper-class Heavy cruiser that escorted Bismarck.
The Regia Marina [Italian Navy of World war two ] had a light cruiser named Eugenio Di Savoia who of course was the self same Prinz Eugen.@@undertakernumberone1
He also played a large role in containing French expansion, at a time in which it was the strongest army in Europe.
How do i get an update on my order for my hoodie i ordered in January? My boyfriend loves your channel so i ordered as a surprise. I haven’t even received an update.
Did you order it through the merch store? I have nothing to do with that. You’d need to contact teespring if you haven’t received it.
May I get a frostie and fries please? And is the special on the spicy nuggets still going? 😂
Ahhhh I had so much fun with that thread.
@@VloggingThroughHistory it was hilarious to see 😂
Frederick is also great great great grandson of William the Silent. And through William the Silent he is related to marshall Turenne.
If Frederick the great had married Maria Theresa their wedding night would be an interesting one. 😁
I can imagine a very loving marriage between two tsunderes that refuse (to the death) to admit they like each other and are similar. The nights would be wildest you can imagine.
Great!
how do you like his german nickname "der alte fritz" (the old Fritz)?
i am astonished at how connected i now feel with an 18th century figure
I had a similar situation while serving on a jury. It was in 2000, and I was 23 years old. When we got back to the jury room I found that many of those on the jury panel wanted to choose me for the jury because I was very attentive and had taken a copious amount of notes during the five day trial. I was hesitant to accept because of my age. I was by far the youngest person on that jury. Most were in their 40s and 50s, and two were in their 70s, and I was a proper Southern girl who had been taught from birth to respect and defer to my elders so I didn't feel comfortable being in charge of them, but they insisted; so, I did serve as the foreperson on that jury. It turned out to be one of the most interesting experiences of my life; although, I did have to referee a couple of heated debated between jury members. I also had one pay me a compliment that has stuck with me throughout my life. You know how to disagree with someone without attacking their point of view or making them feel small. I really, really hope that is true.
Eugene of Savoy..... what a man.
These 50 years, from 1740 when the two great Germans ascend until around 1795 when Catherine dies in Russia, are some of the most important in shaping modern Europe.
11:52 This deserves more follow up. Remember in the South Seas Bubble video series, when England dropped out of the War of Spanish Succession? One of the primary reasons why England dropped out was because both Charles' brother and his father Leopold had died, leaving him as Holy Roman Emperor. Prior to this England had been fighting to preserve the balance of power by putting Charles on the throne of Spain, but once Charles was HRE, the dynamic reversed and putting him on the throne of Spain disrupted the balance of power, rather than preserve it.
Fast forward 25 years and here we are in 1740 with another succession crisis, this time in Austria.
Imagine if Charles had become King of Spain, it might have been a "second war of Spanish Succession". Hapsburg marriage practices finally did them in, both in the Spanish and Austrian lines in the early 18th century.
Chris, how are old is Fredrick in this.
One of history’s greatest military minds being gay is quite interesting and dispels a lot of dumb stereotypes!
Chris I have another question, did Fredrick Mary the girl. Thanks!
Learned a bit about Prince Eugene from reading Churchill's "History of the English-Speaking Peoples". Even in those books there is a healthy bit dedicated to Marlborough.
My being of Bavarian and Swiss ancestry, I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the rise of Prussia as the dominant German state. Frederick the Great saying something on the order of, "I shall never let a scrap of paper come between me and my subjects." about constitutions doesn't help.
I mean doesn't the quote 'i love to learn but I hate being taught' exist?
Anyone picking up on similarities between Philip of Macedon & Alexander the Great to Frederick I and Frederick II the Great?
Please react to History Dose. He has a novel way of communicating History content.
11:50 Viserys I Targaryen obviously didn't learn that lesson.
Could you also react to napoleon's marshals by epic history tv.
He said recently that he will do it, but he just finished up a long napoleon series from epic history tv so I think he will do some other content for a while first.
I would say the American War of Independence was three continent war, The Spanish-French siege of Gibraltar in Europe and naval and military clashes between the French and British in India [e.g. capture the re-capture of Mahe].
Well anyway there have been multiple worldwide wars even before the War of the Austrian Succession, in the 17th century you had 9 Years War (also called the War of the Grand Alliance), in the early 18th century you had the War of the Spanish Succession. I don't know if the 30 Years War in the mid-17th century qualifies, it was the war with the biggest human losses in Europe until WW1, but I never heard much outside of the European theatre.
nice
Check out Jack Rackham.
He’s Another entertaining historian
It's interesting that both the Hanoveran and the Prussian family had some serious father/son relationship issues. Almost sounds like a family curse.
3:55 was the person end up being guilty or not?
It was a drive by shooting. We found him guilty on all counts.
0:05
Great pronounciation!
3:22 the chess board is set up incorrectly smh
Opium wars by extra history please
Man these family connection in Europe make everything confusing
Couldn't you argue that rules are made to be broken?
Cool
6:25 that’s literally just agreeing with machiavelli though. Most people misinterpret the Prince. Go read James Burnham
I mean you yourself could also read Frederick's book "Anti-Machiavel". How do you know you're not misinterpreting what HE wrote, if you're basing it on a brief mention out of context from a youtube video?
This kind of condescending "um, actually, go read n00b" comment is not the move, chief.
It's less that the soldier king didnt want to go to war, I bet he was sad that he had to miss out on all those cool wars; but maybe like Tokugawa Ieyasu, he just waited, bided his time to strike but he had a minor case of mortality or maybe like Bismarck in the future, he realized the best wars are started and made for a political purpose and everything else is nonsense OR he had just accrued too much aggressive expansion and he knew if he started a war, it would be a coalition war.
Regardless, if Fredereick II didn't have all those things his father left him, there is a chance he wouldn't have become the great.
They may have hated each other ideologically, but they had agreed that Prussia should be made great, which sometimes its good enough.
Couple things that fascinate Mr about this story. First 2 of the top 20 leaders of all time were homosexual, that we know of anyway. Alexander the Great and Fredrick the Great. Second all successful people absorb knowledge and adapt to their surroundings. Also the fact Prussia got 3 even 4 competent rulers in a row is kind of remarkable at this time. Plus I think Prussia benefitted from their favorable immigration policies after the 100 years war.
Learning about his father is intersting abusive as he is, he also has strong points favor merit in promotions. While not justifty abuse of your child, it does show that indivudals are compliated. Even Frederrick ends up regreting his anti Machievli book.
From my understanding of Frederick's sexuality is that it depends on your personal opinion of what you view as homosexuality. Did he surround himself with men, yes, but was it for sexual desires, from what I know, no. He shared meaningful relationships with men but I dont see anywhere from contemporary sources that they were anything other than platonic. Also, the misogyny that he exudes may be because he was mutilated while trying to treat an STD he recieved when he was younger, which made him sterile. There were no documented cases of him having affairs with men from my knowledge and if it did happen there would be articles from contemporary sources mocking him. I would appreciate if anyone can send more sources about this topic so I can see where others base this thesis.
Well, there was one such contemporary source: Voltaire's scandalous revelations about Frederick's life at court. Though, Voltaire did write them after having had a falling-out with Frederick, so he might have been making stuff up out of spite.
@@anderskorsback4104 that is true, however another first hand source would be his sister Wilhemina, who said he was close with the men stated but she wasn't convinced it was sexual. There is one more thing about the efficacy of her statement being she was also a conspirator in getting Frederick to Britain, so she may have been covering for him.
0:03 In this context it would've been better to say Friedrich den Großen, because of German grammar 😂
That’s not how it’s written on his tombstone.
@@VloggingThroughHistory yes that is his name, but if used in a sentence, you have to alter the article of his title. For example: "Friedrich der Große war der König von Preußen" -> Frederick the Great was the king of Prussia, but "Reden wir jetzt über Friedrich den Großen, König von Preußen" -> Let's talk about Frederick the Great, the king of Prussia. The variety of German grammer is one of the reasons why it's such a beautiful language.
Honestly if I told someone that a gay king fought an insane war against a queen he was gonna marry they won't believe me but here we are
"Enlightened absolute monarch". Isn't that an oxymoron?
A fascinating ruler, even though we don't really like this gentleman in Poland for obvious reasons. >cough< partition >cough
A king who reforms the army of a small nation whose son uses said army to create an empire, has a questionable sexuality, and becomes "The Great"...So King Phillip and Alexander??
I think it far more likely he disliked her because she was female more than her personality, to the point she was a reminder of his freedom and the type of relationship he couldn't publicly have.
Series tries hard to make the allegations of his relationships aka friends being more than what was known. Allegation remains allegation. eg Francesco Algarotti gets sidelined almost entirely as little more than a likely lover. When he was akin to a Thomas Jefferson to Merlin figure.
Frankly, the allegations are shallow assumption and often, eg The Katte Affair, rife with politics and the machinations of such being the true cause and likely root of the allegation.
This isn’t super related to the content in this video ( only about 30 seconds of it ) but I just have to get this off my chest
Frederick the Great is by far the most overrated general in history as far as tactical ability and martial character is concerned - he was absolutely carried by his generals and his fathers development; his greatness is more the result of his ability to lead his country - so, his greatness comes from political ability, but despite this being the case, he constantly appears in top 10 rankings all over TH-cam ( which in of itself is a mess )
I guess for me, it always comes down to the issue of credit, where the person of the highest rank receives all the credit even if they did not do anything uniquely notable in the field; or another case, where most of the infrastructure that made their dominance possible, was pretty much gifted to them.
Fredrick, obviously, is an elite commander when compared to average standards, but to have him in ranks with Napoleon or Caesar is blasphemous IMO
He has many parallels to Alexander, another overrated general