How Did Prussia Become a Great Power? | Frederick the Great & Enlightened Despotism

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ม.ค. 2025

ความคิดเห็น • 98

  • @Veriox22
    @Veriox22 ปีที่แล้ว +300

    the rise of prussia really was a miracle. from a vassal to poland and a desolate swamp, to the unifier of germany. very well made video.

    • @myhonorwasloyalty
      @myhonorwasloyalty ปีที่แล้ว

      Poland never existed

    • @jojospice3353
      @jojospice3353 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Prussia wasn't even german in the beginning. It was originally a Baltic country

    • @sebe2255
      @sebe2255 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      @@jojospice3353 The lands of Prussia were, but the kingdom of Prussia in the video was obviously always Germanic (with Significant polish population)

    • @pedanticradiator
      @pedanticradiator ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@myhonorwasloyalty never heard of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?

    • @granockss9548
      @granockss9548 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@jojospice3353 Prussia roots lies in Brandenburg, not the native pruß.

  • @Gorboduc
    @Gorboduc ปีที่แล้ว +212

    Frederick's balance between "enlightened" and "despot" is best illustrated by his attitude to freedom of speech:
    "My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please."

    • @absboodoo
      @absboodoo 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      I love his "carefree" attitude regarding most contemporary value of the time.

    • @ThorstenStaerk
      @ThorstenStaerk 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@absboodoo if there had been more "carefree" monarchs, how good the world would look like now :)

    • @AntoineELismysalvation
      @AntoineELismysalvation 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      How prussia got so big?
      By leeching of Holy Roman Empire and Poland Lithiania Rzeczpospolita.

  • @luckyluciano1584
    @luckyluciano1584 ปีที่แล้ว +89

    You should make a video about how the Dutch survived the Holland war

    • @thommyneter168
      @thommyneter168 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      What is the Holland war? I'm from the Netherlands but I'm not aware of a war with that name

    • @TerrierMartello
      @TerrierMartello ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @Thom Hendriks: The Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678). The Dutch language Wikipedia page lists it as "De Hollandse Oorlog," which translates to "The Holland War."
      Franco-Dutch War: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Dutch_War
      Hollandse Oorlog: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollandse_Oorlog

    • @LookBackHistory
      @LookBackHistory  ปีที่แล้ว +18

      The French invasion under Louis XIV? Maybe!

    • @SchmulKrieger
      @SchmulKrieger ปีที่แล้ว +1

      ​@@TerrierMartello right after the Netherlanders left the Holy Roman Empire to form an own imperial Empire.

    • @sebe2255
      @sebe2255 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@SchmulKrieger Not an Imperial one

  • @samdaman2939
    @samdaman2939 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    This is amazing. I'm still suprised you have less subs than you should. You clearly take time when it comes to these videos and focus on knowledge to teach others what you know. Keep up these videos. They are amazing.

  • @Bln-f9u
    @Bln-f9u ปีที่แล้ว +41

    The Prussian kings truly managed to build breathtaking cities. Potsdam is an expression of local styles, with French and Italian palaces and villas, Romanesque city planing, as well as Russian- and Dutch architecture. One cannot help but be overwhelmed by the awe-inspiring beauty of this city.

  • @JaydenNunez2025
    @JaydenNunez2025 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    3:53 - his conquest of Silesia during the war was probably his most impactful military victory. 4:25 - concluding the treaty with Maria Theresa that saw Silesia ceded to him in 1742. 4:39 - 1741, the 1745 battles of Hohenfriedberg and Soor proved the power of Frederick’s cold analytical style of leadership. 5:08 - Acquiring Silesia was a game changer. It was the largest expansion made by the Hohenzollern dynasty to that point, increasing Frederick’s subjects by 50% and his state revenue by a third.

  • @juliusvillalon6816
    @juliusvillalon6816 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    Frederick the great is the real life Gustavo Fring

  • @garvjuice2
    @garvjuice2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    finallly someone explains this, i have been tryna find a video like this

  • @zoomerboomer1396
    @zoomerboomer1396 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    Yt Historian about Bismarck:"A disciple of Fredicks school of cold pragmatism"
    Meanwhile Bismarck:"I'M THROWING MYSELF OUT OF THE WINDOW IF I DON'T GET MY WAY"

    • @LookBackHistory
      @LookBackHistory  ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Lol, I was thinking more in regards to foriegn affairs.

    • @akashpatro9393
      @akashpatro9393 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      One could say he threatened to defenestrate himself

  • @WhompWhomp-e3e
    @WhompWhomp-e3e ปีที่แล้ว +11

    i love your work keep doing this great job !!!!! btw video idea :what was the opinion of britain to monarchies becoming republics (or the monarchs of britain)

    • @LookBackHistory
      @LookBackHistory  ปีที่แล้ว

      Good question! Definitely an interesting topic.

  • @anti-spiral159
    @anti-spiral159 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Great video, I hope you rise and collaborate with other youtubers!

  • @thelvadam2884
    @thelvadam2884 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    thank you for making this Video !
    Frederick the great / Friedrich Der Große , is often very much underrated, with Prussia rose to great power status , and that is what made it even possible to at the end unify Germany in the long run.

    • @balabanasireti
      @balabanasireti ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Underrated 🤓

    • @sebe2255
      @sebe2255 ปีที่แล้ว

      I think he is very overrated. He got his country involved in a war they couldn’t win, and only managed to succeed because of pure luck (Tsarina’s death and Peter III being a prussiaboo

    • @thelvadam2884
      @thelvadam2884 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Sean Baggen he didn't even start that war tho.....

    • @sebe2255
      @sebe2255 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@thelvadam2884 Didn’t say he did

  • @Kackpuh
    @Kackpuh ปีที่แล้ว +11

    "He ran the kingdom well enough, though." Possibly the greatest understatement of the century. Friedrich Wilhelm I. pretty much built Prussia and laid all the foundations of it. As well as building upon those. Friedrich II. mostly just used what his father provided, even though he used it well.

    • @sebe2255
      @sebe2255 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I wouldn’t say he used it well. He was in a completely hopeless situation and was even willing to cede east prussia to Russia just to make peace with them. He got incredibly lucky with the Tsarina dying and her Prussiaboo son taking over. If that hadn’t happened he would have been a complete failure

  • @axelven8080
    @axelven8080 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    U should do a video on Tuetons and livnonians and Kazkhstan

  • @emilianohermosilla3996
    @emilianohermosilla3996 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Look back history’s always so great! Hahah

  • @Kackpuh
    @Kackpuh ปีที่แล้ว +3

    One further correction: Friedrich II didn't see himself as "personification of the state", that would be other absolute monarchs, he saw himself as the first servant of his state, appointed to this position by God (yes, you still can see his deep religiousness). The difference wasn't the "God" part but the "who is here to serve whom" part.

  • @tahamuhammad1814
    @tahamuhammad1814 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Napoleon was Corsican
    Hitler was Austrian
    Stalin was Georgian
    See a pattern?

    • @thelvadam2884
      @thelvadam2884 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Hitler very much was german , many German speaking people viewed themself as germans not austrians , and also really just were germans. Prussia , Austria , Bavaria etc all are german , just not always have been part of germany.

    • @tahamuhammad1814
      @tahamuhammad1814 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@thelvadam2884 when did I say Hitler wasn't german, I just said that he was originally Austrian.

    • @vetarlittorf1807
      @vetarlittorf1807 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Austrians ARE Germans. For the same reason Bavarians are Germans.

    • @thebestteacher7466
      @thebestteacher7466 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Napoleon is Franch

    • @tahamuhammad1814
      @tahamuhammad1814 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @thebestteacher7466 Nah Corsica had recently been bought by France (when Napolean was born) and the people weren't French ethnically nor culturally and resented French rule forming the Corsican republic

  • @georgemx4136
    @georgemx4136 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Do a similar video about the dutch empire and golden age please

  • @djinnglebells241
    @djinnglebells241 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    2:40 “possible lover” tbh probably lover is more accurate. You can joke about how gay Fred G was but a lot of the things we’d call gay today were aristocratic standard then. The only thing we can say was out of the norm was he liked hot dogs more than hamburgers, at least judging by stories of how he interacted w/ his wife.

    • @historian252
      @historian252 ปีที่แล้ว

      Nah it really wasn't.

    • @Argacyan
      @Argacyan 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      There's some things people today call gay which were standard then, but most of what they did together was gay back then. It's wasn't aristocratic standard, that's why they executed his love & Friedrich's life too was up in the air, in terms of punishment in that moment.

  • @jtgd
    @jtgd ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Can you make a video on why Prussia, rather than Bavaria ?

    • @ellidominusser1138
      @ellidominusser1138 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Prussia was militaristic and expansionist as a result of reforms in the 17th and 18th century which were caused by the 30 years war in 1618-48 that destroyed germany and half it's population. Basically, some guy made Prussia a Military with a state, and no other german state was as eager or had as strong of an army as the prussians. Bavaria just wasn't militaristic

    • @sebe2255
      @sebe2255 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Bavaria was an underdeveloped agricultural region

  • @thorpeaaron1110
    @thorpeaaron1110 ปีที่แล้ว

    You should definitely do a video on the Belgian Revolution.

  • @natheriver8910
    @natheriver8910 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Very interesting

  • @achour.falestine
    @achour.falestine ปีที่แล้ว +10

    0:17
    bro really deleted the ottomans out of the map

    • @jtgd
      @jtgd ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I mean he also didn’t highlight Poland

    • @TheAustrianAnimations87
      @TheAustrianAnimations87 ปีที่แล้ว

      Other great powers weren't shown on the map either, but that's because they weren't so important.

    • @achour.falestine
      @achour.falestine ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@TheAustrianAnimations87 oh I'am sorry I didn't mean the map but when he was counting them

    • @someonethatlikesyou7713
      @someonethatlikesyou7713 ปีที่แล้ว

      the great powers of europe were austria,russia,france and great Britain the ottomans in the other hand they have been declined like polish-lithuania

  • @CliffCardi
    @CliffCardi ปีที่แล้ว +8

    When a Prussia Fanboy suddenly becomes the Russian Czar just when your army is about to collapse on 3 fronts

  • @mrkalaspuff_3866
    @mrkalaspuff_3866 ปีที่แล้ว

    Video idea/Video suggestion: Rise of the ottomans

  • @micahistory
    @micahistory ปีที่แล้ว

    nice video

  • @colindaniels945
    @colindaniels945 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    As I recall, the partitions of Poland were suggested by Russia as a way to appease Austria and Prussia.
    See, Austria and Prussia were growing nervous/concerned about Russia's increasing influence in the Ottoman Empire, nevermind all the territory they were taking from it.

  • @jesuschrist2268
    @jesuschrist2268 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    2:19 based

  • @colindaniels945
    @colindaniels945 29 วันที่ผ่านมา

    As I recall, the United Kingdom was well into it's transition to a constitutional monarchy by 1701

  • @Megalodon_Megumer
    @Megalodon_Megumer ปีที่แล้ว

    Make more videos about Romania

  • @abdullahdaniyal114
    @abdullahdaniyal114 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Prussia was just pure Gigachad state.

  • @papazataklaattiranimam
    @papazataklaattiranimam ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Pussia👀

  • @ordomachinum4016
    @ordomachinum4016 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fredrick the second was a G

  • @jpj77263
    @jpj77263 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Not perfect, but I have seen much worse, e.g. from Extra History. Keep it up!

  • @Shi4Shi
    @Shi4Shi ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Simple terms: A shit ton of Frederick The Greats.

  • @علي-ش7ث8ب
    @علي-ش7ث8ب ปีที่แล้ว

    Gog and Magog.

  • @thedyingpictureproductions2304
    @thedyingpictureproductions2304 ปีที่แล้ว

    So, what's your citation for Frederick's view of being a philosopher king? Or is that your opinion on what a philosopher king is? Cuz either way that is an extremely skewed and, basically, utterly false interpretation of Plato's philosopher king.

    • @LookBackHistory
      @LookBackHistory  ปีที่แล้ว +4

      You're of course entitled to your opinion. My primary source for this video was a book containing a collection of quotes from Frederick, listed in the description.

  • @AlexS-mf2kc
    @AlexS-mf2kc หลายเดือนก่อน

    0:28 u mean "colonies" ok?

  • @GreenPoint_one
    @GreenPoint_one ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I wanna bring back the old glory of prussia even if that takes a 1000 years

  • @haslamabad_
    @haslamabad_ ปีที่แล้ว +2

    based gay man

    • @Bln-f9u
      @Bln-f9u ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ja, this is how we Berlin-Brandenburgers see our local hero v:

  • @dorktriogamer2865
    @dorktriogamer2865 ปีที่แล้ว

    AND THEN THE BASTARDS PUT HIM IN THE GROUND NEXT TO HIS FATHER

  • @scibanana3542
    @scibanana3542 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    By making France not great

  • @Ciech_mate
    @Ciech_mate ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Prussia was a German colony like Australia is to Britain

    • @LookBackHistory
      @LookBackHistory  ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Uhh, you're gonna have to explain that one to me.

    • @Ciech_mate
      @Ciech_mate ปีที่แล้ว

      @@LookBackHistory they moved to Prussia from modern west Germany. Killed the inhabitants and took the resourses. They don't belong there as much as whites don't belong in for example SA. By don't belong, I mean aren't native to that region. They conquered the native people.

    • @JohnSmith-zs9vr
      @JohnSmith-zs9vr ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Nah, I would rather compare Prussia to British India. The British East Indian Company was so strong that it managed to colonise a faraway indian region all by itself, acting there independently from the United Kingdom. And so it created a faraway base which eventually became a pivotal part for the entirety of Britain. Just like Prussia (the actual one, excluding Brandenburg): a region once colonised by the german Teutonic Knights who acted there all on their own, independently from the Holy Roman Empire. Although it's more accurate to say that this colony was only East Prussia. West Prussia was a polish region briefly conquered by the Teutonic Knights striking at Poland from East Prussia.

    • @sebe2255
      @sebe2255 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@LookBackHistoryProbably because it was actually settled by various Germanic people from the Holy Roman as it was initially Slavic and Baltic

    • @Argacyan
      @Argacyan 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@sebe2255 The population of the region changed over the ages, and "initially" very much included first East Germanic tribes and later north germaic Scandianvians as well as west germanic people. The idea of selling the region as "slavic and baltic" was a Cold War era addage to sell ethnic cleansing easier - and it succeeded in doing so. That is with it being the case that yes, later during the early modern period settlers were invited from western europe, mostly the HRE but going as far west as Scottish immigrants settling in the area. Most slavs in this place, especially today, have less of a history with any relationship whatsoever than the Germanic people who used to live in the area - the slavic settlers were resettled from Polish areas taken by the Soviet administration & annexed into Ukraine & Belarus.

  • @commiecat5879
    @commiecat5879 ปีที่แล้ว

    Even the average French peasant can dominate France, and Austria fell over in a stiff breeze so I wouldn’t really call Prussia great. sure briefly influential in Europe but little else.

    • @CMitchell808
      @CMitchell808 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Not even attempting accuracy.

    • @commiecat5879
      @commiecat5879 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@CMitchell808 Finland is the true successor state to the Roman Empire