Summary
Summary of Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia
Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia at a glance
Summary: 7 min to read
- Reading time
- About 6 h 10 min4 h 55 min fast, 7 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 88,200 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1898by William Fiddian Reddaway
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
Power begins with a painful contrast
An eighteen-year-old prince stands at a fortress window while his closest friend is led to execution below. His father has ordered him to watch, and he faints. Ten years later, Frederick marches into Silesia with an army and begins a war that reshapes Europe.
William Fiddian Reddaway places these scenes beside each other to open a question about power and character. His account does not treat conquest as proof of greatness. It asks whether Frederick’s choices were necessary, right and wise.
Key idea 2
Frederick inherited the tools of power
Before Frederick could make his own choices, his family had built the means to carry them out.
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Key idea 3
Cruelty taught Frederick to hide himself
Frederick loved French conversation, poetry and the flute, taking the side of his mother and sister against his father’s harsh household.
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Key idea 4
Silesia exposed the purpose of power
When Charles VI died, Frederick chose to take Silesia from the Habsburgs.
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Key idea 5
Conquest brought power and further danger
Frederick used peace to settle Silesia and support court life, building an opera house, founding an academy and hosting Voltaire.
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Key idea 6
The state answered to one will
During peace, Frederick governed without an independent institution able to restrain him.
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Key idea 7
Discipline turned danger into military opportunity
At Rossbach, Frederick’s enemies believed he was retreating.
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Key idea 8
Victory could not end the struggle
Success in battle did not bring Frederick peace.
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Key idea 9
Greatness requires more than winning wars
Reddaway brings together the family’s thrift, the father’s cruelty and the son’s daring to explain how Frederick used the power he inherited.
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Go deeper: the whole of Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia
About 6 h 20 min to read.Start freeWho it’s for
For readers who like military history with a human face, for anyone curious about how Prussia came to lead Germany, and for fans of biography that weighs a ruler's deeds.
What this book is
Picture an eighteen-year-old prince at a window in the fortress of Cüstrin. His father has ordered him to watch while his closest friend is beheaded in the courtyard below. The prince faints. Ten years later, the same man marches into Silesia with 19,000 men and starts a war that reshapes Europe.
Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia was written by William Fiddian Reddaway, a Cambridge historian, and finished in 1904. He asks of every conquest whether it was necessary, right and wise.
In this summary
- 1Power begins with a painful contrastFree
- 2Frederick inherited the tools of power
- 3Cruelty taught Frederick to hide himself
- 4Silesia exposed the purpose of power
- 5Conquest brought power and further danger
- 6The state answered to one will
- 7Discipline turned danger into military opportunity
- 8Victory could not end the struggle
- 9Greatness requires more than winning wars
Frederick inherited his power from a thrifty family
Reddaway starts three centuries before Frederick's birth, because he believes the king cannot be understood alone. The Hohenzollerns bought the rule of Brandenburg from the Emperor in 1415. It was a poor, sandy land, and they came with a townsman's talent for business.
A family law of 1473 gave the whole inheritance to one son, which spared them the splitting of lands that weakened other German houses. The Great Elector, Frederick William, took the throne in 1640 at twenty and ruled for forty-eight years. He silenced the provincial assemblies and raised an army of some twenty-seven thousand men.
His grandson, the Sergeant King Frederick William I, stripped away the show and raised the army to 83,000 men. Frederick inherited an army, a treasury and a method, and only the daring was his own.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
What did Frederick inherit from his predecessors?
Right. “Frederick inherited an army, a treasury and a method, and only the daring was his own.”Not quite. “Frederick inherited an army, a treasury and a method, and only the daring was his own.”
How does Reddaway judge the necessity of seizing Silesia?
Right. “No, since Silesia was no vital defense.”Not quite. “No, since Silesia was no vital defense.”
What central weakness does Reddaway identify in Frederick’s state?
Right. “His great fault was a machine that only a genius could run.”Not quite. “His great fault was a machine that only a genius could run.”
Go deeper: the whole of Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia
About 6 h 20 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 88,200 words
- Reading timeAbout 6 h 10 min
Questions about Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia
What is Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia about?
It follows Frederick II of Prussia from his harsh boyhood to his death in 1786, tracing the Hohenzollern family's rise, his wars for Silesia, his rule at home, and the question of whether he deserves to be called Great.
Why did Frederick the Great want Silesia?
Reddaway says it was no necessity. Frederick saw a rich province, a weak young Austrian queen and a ready army, and he took the chance. He named an old family claim only afterward, leaving the lawyers to work out the details.
Who was Katte in the life of Frederick the Great?
Lieutenant von Katte was Frederick's dearest friend. In 1730 he helped plan the prince's escape to France. The king had him beheaded before his son's eyes at Cüstrin, a scene that shaped Frederick for life.
Is Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia easy to follow?
Reddaway writes in clear, lively prose and tells the life in order, with dated battles, letters and vivid scenes. Each chapter has a plain focus, from the boyhood to the wars, the government and the verdict.
Does the book say Frederick was truly great?
Reddaway answers carefully. He finds Frederick weak as a thinker but extraordinary in energy, and credits him with raising Prussia to a first-rank power. He also faults him for leaving a state that only a genius could run.
Cite this edition
Reddaway, William Fiddian. Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/frederick-the-great-and-the-rise-of-prussia.
Reddaway, W. F. (2026). Frederick the Great and the rise of Prussia. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/frederick-the-great-and-the-rise-of-prussia (Original work published 1898)
Reddaway, William Fiddian. Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/frederick-the-great-and-the-rise-of-prussia.
@book{reddaway2026frederick,
author = {Reddaway, William Fiddian},
title = {Frederick the Great and the Rise of Prussia},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/frederick-the-great-and-the-rise-of-prussia},
note = {First published 1898}
}
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