Frederick (II) the Great (1712–1786)

Brought up in the harsh militarism of Prussia, Frederick II became a well-loved and enlightened monarch when he took the throne in 1740. He was a friend of Voltaire and a patron of the arts, and at his palace of Sans Souci he gathered a circle of literary friends.

King of Prussia from 1740, when he succeeded his father Frederick William I. In that year he started the War of the Austrian Succession by his attack on Austria. In the peace of 1745 he secured Silesia. The struggle was renewed in the Seven Years' War 1756–63. He acquired West Prussia in the first partition of Poland in 1772 and left Prussia as Germany's foremost state. He was an efficient and just ruler in the spirit of the Enlightenment and a patron of the arts.

In his domestic policy he encouraged industry and agriculture, reformed the judicial system, fostered education, and established religious toleration. He corresponded with the French writer Voltaire, and was a talented musician.