![]() It was once said that most states possess an army, while the Prussian Army posses a state. Often, it will be France, which is lead by a maniac in a tricorne with an army and nowhere to put it. Sometimes, this will be Austria, which disapproves strongly of the territorial expansion you'll need to indulge in in the opening weeks of the campaign. War will be inevitable - not even the most patient and diplomatic of negotiation can avoid war with at least one person you wanted to keep happy. Sweden is a good trade partner, and Denmark is a bastard when it comes to being allied with France and attacking your Northwest border, which is dangerously close to the capital. In terms of the minor powers, you'll want to maintain decent relations with Sweden and Denmark. You can keep the territories you need, and give anything left to Austria to stop them from completely hating you. In many cases, if you remain neutral for long enough, France will push Austria back and be at your border with a fake smile and a sword behind their back - in these cases, it's prudent to ally with the Coalition (that is, Russia, Britain and Austria) to help. Remember, you have a list of territories you need to conquer - it may be that one power holds all of those territories, and you can avoid pissing the rest of Europe off by declaring war on just one power rather than two. ![]() However, do not make the mistake that that power will be the strongest. During this time, it's prudent to focus on uniting the German states before they have a chance to make alliances of their own. You can use the first few months of the game to forge (economic) alliances with all the powers, then allying with the power that best serves Prussian interests. This is a great advantage, at least for the opening stages of the game. Prussia's position in 1806 sees them as neutral, having allied with neither the Coalition nor the French. War is the national industry of Prussia, said French statesman Comte de Mirabeau, but that doesn't mean you should bluster in and force alliances by musket and bayonet. His attitude towards the very backbone of Prussia, its military, drove the kingdom into the ground, and saw Prussia fall, a debt-ridden, bloated state that he left to his son, Frederick-William III, in 1797, under whose reign we begin our campaign in 1805. He died in 1786 - childless, he was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick-William II - the architect of the famous Brandenburg Gate and Marmorpalais in Potsdam. During his reign, Prussia became a safe haven for immigrants fleeing religious unrest in Europe, while simultaneously passing Acts such as the First Partition of Poland in 1772 that connected Prussia's Brandenburgian territories with the rest of the Kingdom. These wars were part of the Seven Years' War, during which Prussia's rivalry with Austria was cemented.įrederick II understood that he was a 'servant of the State', focussing dually on domestic issues as well as on the immensely powerful army. In the first year of his reign, however, he showed his military prowess: Prussian troops crossed the border into Silesia, sparking the first of the Silesian Wars. ![]() Frederick II was the first King of Prussia (the previous title being King in Prussia, the only title allowed by Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire), and took elements from both his grandfather and his father - he was described as an enlightened absolutist, and had spent his princehood focussing on philosophy and the Arts. Better known as Frederick the Great, his reign was described by his friend Voltaire as having taken Prussia from "Sparta in the morning, to Athens in the afternoon". ![]() He developed the Prussian bureaucracy and military to the point where he was able to expand the borders of to include Pommerania and many territories west of the River Memel.įrederick William died in 1740, and was succeeded by his son, Frederick II. He was known as the Soldier-King, and the name is well-earned, despite his troops seeing action only once. While most people know Prussia as a military state, Frederick (now styled as King Frederick I) was a great lover of the Arts, and lead the kingdom into a period of artistic style much to the chagrin of the treasury.įrederick's son, Frederick William, did not take after his father. Prussia was, as most people know, the leading German state during the 18th and 19th centuries, and became a Great Power almost immediately after becoming a kingdom under the leadership of Elector Frederick III (after whom Friedrichstraße, in Berlin, is named).
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