Prussia, the French Revolution and the Partitions of Poland (1786-1797)

Last week we have seen Prussia shock the European theatre under Frederick the Great. As he passed away childless, his nephew, Frederick Wilhelm II succeeded him. This new King was quite different from his uncle. This new King chased women, was good-natured, impulsive and a lover of the arts and high-culture. It earned him the nickname ‘Fat Wilhelm’ and historians have been rather harsh on him. Now, during his reign, Prussia expanded to unprecedented heights, increasing over a third in size. But the politics of this King also signalled the beginning of a period of decline for the Prussian Kingdom. All in all, it can be said this King stood in the Hohenzollern tradition of being the complete contrast of his predecessor.
Welcome to the complete history of Prussia.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:57 Fat Wilhelm
2:52 Domestic and Foreign Policy
8:13 The Partitions of Poland (1793-1795)
11:32 Abandoning Allies (1795)
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Before we get to the new King’s foreign policy, it is worth having a look at his domestic politics.
As I mentioned, this new king was the opposite of his predecessor, certainly not a free-thinker, but a religious, art-loving, impulsive and enterprising king. He could be somewhat compared to Prussia’s first King Frederick I, who was a lover- and patron of the arts as well. He married several times - his first marriage to Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was disbanded after he cheated on her and in turn, Elisabeth decided to cheat on him with officers and court musicians. His second marriage led to seven children. He had another seven children with his mistress all the while marrying two other women in secret. The King was very interested in mysticism and astrology, joining an esoteric offshoot of the Freemasons.
During his reign much was done for Prussia’s architecture. The famous architect Carl Gotthard Langhans’ buildings in Silesia, Berlin and Potsdam belong to early Neoclassical architecture. The King commissioned him to build the Brandenburg Gate with Johann Gottfried Schadow’s chariot on top of it. During the King’s reign, August Wilhelm Iffland put the Berlin Royal Theatre on the European map, and Carl Friedrich Zelter did just this as leader of the Singakademie. Although a fruitless attempt, the King even attempted to get Mozart to move to Berlin. Under his reign, Berlin turned into a city of literary-political salons and of German romantics. Obviously, all these fantastic cultural endeavours came at a cost, which is why historians generally aren’t favourable when judging this King’s reign. Under his rule, the Prussian gold coffers he inherited were depleted at an incredible pace. Court expenditure reached 2 million thalers per year, which was around 15 per cent of the state budget (a ten-fold increase from the expenses of Frederick the Great!). As a matter of fact, Frederick the Great left Prussia with a massive treasury of 51 million thalers, something the new King managed to blow within 11 years.
Sources:
Photos, paintings and imagery: Public Domain, Wikicommons
#HouseofHistory #History #Prussia

[@Artur_M.]

I found it funny how you decided to refer to Tadeusz Kościuszko solely by his first name, like "Nope, I'm not pronouncing that!" :) Seriously though, topics like the 3 May Constitution of 1791 or Kościuszko Uprising seem to be talked about so little in English, that I'm extremely happy when I see anybody mentioning them, even just as a footnote in the Prussian history.

[@HoH]

I want to give the partitions their own video after I finish the documentary. And yes I had to edit his last name out because I kept butchering it

[@Artur_M.]

@@HoH That's really great to hear! Regarding the pronunciation of Kościuszko, there is a fun little video that I think could help, "How to Say Kościuszko ‒ Video Explainer" on Culture.pl channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWW6qXWspc18r8k&feature=emb_title It can actually teach you two ways to pronounce it: Polish and Belarussian. BTW I remember that you liked the progressive rock song about Józef Bem I once linked you, would you be interested in a more modern Belarussian punk rock tribute to Kościuszko? kzbin.info/www/bejne/foDHoI2tjqiCpNk

[@domitiusseverus1]

Kosh-chewsh-ko I believe is how you say it - not how Australians say it. (Our tallest mountain is named after him)

[@canthama2703]

Impressive territorial gains in such a short time, another greta episode Oscar, thank you.

[@AbbeyRoadkill1]

Holy cow, dude! Sweet work! A complete history Prussia is something I didn't realize I needed! I love your presentation attention to detail. Great series. I'm on board for the long haul!! 👍👍👍

[@zechariahtlee]

Aww man. I've been missing out. I didnt even notice the uploads! Keep up the good work, man!

[@savagedarksider5934]

Who do you think has the better chance of restoring their Monarchy:Gernany or France ?

[@zechariahtlee]

@@savagedarksider5934 Ooo. In modern times? I'd say France since they have a history of revolutions. Lol.

[@savagedarksider5934]

@@zechariahtlee I respectfully disagree with you. I think Germany has A better chance of restoring its Monarchy between France and Germany.

[@HoH]

Thanks! Will do! (About the monarchy question: neither are realistic but keeping in mind the historical pattern I'd have to go with France as well) Darksides I'd love to hear your reasoning about Germany though!

[@savagedarksider5934]

@@HoH My are purely nationalistic, As I feel Germany don't have A identity. As for France-Yeah, They do have thing for Revolutions. But their identity has been curved by Republism for so long that I cannot see them being anything but A Republic.

[@patrickweissel5241]

Thanks for sharing 👍🏻

[@valopf7866]

Great video! already excited for the next one

[@Aeyekay0]

Good work man

[@HoH]

Thank you! 😃

[@Mj-fx9no]

What a great video :)

[@HoH]

Thanks!

[@moronmilitia]

Great stuff keep it up!! Noticed that the last real episode was over a year ago. Is the series done with or do you have more in the works?

[@HoH]

Hey thanks for the comment! I am planning on redoing and finishing the entire series with maps and animations I made myself. My recent videos showcase the progression in video quality. Hopefully it will do the topic justice.

[@moronmilitia]

@@HoH thanks for the response! Looking forward to the next videos :)

[@JuanMatteoReal]

0:56 Now I can't get out of my head an imagined image of Kaiser Wilhelm II being fat.. Like a certain fat guy in the Luftwaffe...

[@georgep.h.9607]

Poland can *not* catch a break, historically

[@daniel-oc6pp]

An interesting thing I read, not mentioned in this video is Prussia was actually not content with the extent of land they acquired from Poland. On top of everything else, and holy shit they got a lot, they also wanted Samogitia, Kurland and Krakow. These aggressive demands troubled the Austrians and Russians, and fearing diplomatic isolation, the Prussians chose to drop these claims. Imagine a 18th Century Prussia in control of Krakow, Samogitia and Kurland lmao. Basically a Ludendorff wet-dream 120 years early.

[@tavasp]

Where is the next episode? I’m not able to find it

[@alexandernicholls2127]

Not to mention completely revolutionising western art music by the patronage of new works from composers across Europe ;)

[@trollon1232]

when do you think youll continue this series?

[@FeanaroNoldoran]

I can't wait for the next episode

[@HoH]

The Napoleonic wars!

[@FeanaroNoldoran]

@@HoH Bugger... On one hand, Prussia is my favourite historical European country. On the other, I really like Napoleon, the liberal who dabbed on the libtards and made himself the emperor

[@stevenv.surawski1178]

Fat Wilhelm, very funny stuff.

[@LCMM2150]

Comentario para ayudar el canal.

[@CaseyHarrisSr]

In the various forms (?) of the German language, was Prussia the nation of origin for "High German"? If the differing forms or dialects of the German language could be attempted in the future, I could cross off a bucket list item. At 66, not certain how long I will be around to see it crossed off, LOL! Thank you for this most recent share!

[@HoH]

I am not a linguist so if someone knows this better - please do correct me. There are several parts of your comment I want to unravel: 1) Prussia was a multi-ethnic state but not a nation in itself. Besides 'Germans', there were Poles, Slovaks, and Balts. 2) Prussia's name comes from the tribes that were colonized and almost annihilated by the Teutonic order around the 13th century. They simply took over the name Prussia for the eastern territory. 3) But contemporary High German apparently (I used Wikipedia to read about it) originated during the 15th century. Back then Prussia wasn't even an autonomous Duchy. I highly doubt it originated there. The Margravate of Brandenburg could have played a role in its development, I suppose, but Wikipedia doesn't mention the Margravate at all. I'm sorry I cannot elaborate on your question further, I genuinely barely know anything about it but find it very interesting. So I encourage anyone that knows more about this to join the conversation!

[@zabooza74]

No "High german" is not related to Prussia and much older, it´s history is complicated but it originates in the difference between "Hochdeutsch" (High German) and "Niederdeutsch" (Low German) which has nothing to do with it being a high or a lower class language but with regions, "High German" was spoken in the higher mountain regions while "Low German" was spoken in the Lowlands (Netherlands) and was closer to dutch, it only survives in a dialect called "Plattdeutsch" (flat German). But the final canonization of "High German" as the standard language came only later through the Martin Luther Bible.

[@HoH]

@@zabooza74 Thanks! Very interesting

[@AdriLeemput]

"esoteric offshoot of Freemasonry", do you mean the Rite of Strict Observance?

[@alexandernicholls2127]

Rosicrucianism. :)

[@AdriLeemput]

@@alexandernicholls2127 So yes: Rite of Strict Observance

[@jamesweikel2594]

Friedrich Wilhelm II was weak as in regards to Prussian military might

[@berserker4940]

It's a tragedy for humanity that Prussia was destroyed

[@EuropeanQoheleth]

I wouldn't say that.

[@berserker4940]

@@EuropeanQoheleth Catholics have always been on the wrong side of history