How was Frederick the Great an absolute monarch?

Answer 1

Enlightened Monarchy also called benevolent despotism, is a type of government formed in the 18th Century where absolute monarchs sought legal, social, and educational reforms. The Enlightenment mainly inspired these reforms. 3 of the most distinguished monarchs were Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, and Joseph II. These monarchs usually created administrative and economic reform, and religious toleration. One reason why these individuals have earned their title is because they were able to institute these reforms without undermining their supremacy or disrupting social order.

More than any other ruler of the age, Frederick the Great embodied enlightenment absolutism. Stemming from the accomplishments of his forebears, Frederick the Great forged a state that commanded loyalty of the military, primarily made from the junker nobility, the Lutheran clergy, a growing middle class, and university professors. Because the Prussian monarchy and military's authority was strong, and because the nobles, clergy, and professors were loyal, Frederick the Great was able to permit a more open discussion of Enlightenment ideas and values than that of any other continental ruler. As a consequence (in contrast to France), Prussians sympathetic to the Enlightenment tended to support the state rather than criticize it.

Similar to earlier rulers, Frederick the Great protected the local social and political interests of the Prussian nobility, but he required nobles who sought positions in his bureaucracy to qualify for those jobs by merit. Frederick the Great made it clear that merit rather than privilege of birth would determine who served the Prussian state. During his reign, Frederick the Great created few new nobles and the people whom he did make nobles earned their titles by merit. This policy of "ennobling" only for merit meant that Prussia did not experience the conflicts between the aristocracy and the monarchy that troubled other eighteenth-century European states.

Frederick the Great also personally participated in the culture of the Enlightenment. He favored the Prussian universities and allowed professors to discuss new ideas. As a result, Prussian professors highly supported Frederick.

Because of the "Promotion by merit" mindset, the Prussian state required academic training for appointment to positions of authority. In turn, nobles started attending universities. There they studied with middle class Prussians who wanted to serve the state either as Protestant clergy or bureacrats. As a result, nobles, clergy, and bureaucrats in Prussia shared a similar educational background that combined Enlightenment ideals with broadly shared religious values and loyalty to the state.

Frederick the Great also ordered a new code in Prussia law. He wanted to make the current law system more efficient. He did this by eliminating regional peculiarities, reducing aristocratic influence, abolishing torture, and limiting the number of capital crimes. The mid century war had damaged Prussia's economy. So Frederick used the power of the state to foster economic growth. He continued the long lasting policy of importing workers from outside of Prussia. He wanted to fully develop Prussian agriculture. Under his supervision, swamps were drained, new crops were introduced, and peasants were encouraged to migrate to places where they were needed. For the first time in Prussia, potatoes and turnips became important crops.

Frederick the Great's long lasting legacy in the Enlightenment was in his full religious toleration policy. As before mentioned, he continued the long lasting policy of toleration for foreign workers who brought important skills into Prussia. He allowed people of many religions into his country. Frederick however still appointed Protestants to most key positions in the government. Frederick the Great embraced the enlightenment idea advocated by philosophers Immanuel Kant and Moses Mendelsohn of full religious toleration by allowing Jews and Catholics to settle in his mainly Lutheran country.