territories. The Prussian lands suffered much
through the Thirty Years' War during the reign of John Sigismund's
successor, George Wilhelm. But the latter's son, Friedrich Wilhelm,
the so-called Great Elector, succeeded by his ability in repairing the
ravages the war had made and raising the electorate immensely in
political importance. He left at his death, in 1688, the financial
condition of the country in a sound state, with an effective army of
38,000 men. Friedrich I, who followed him, held matters together and
got Prussia promoted to the rank of a kingdom in 1701. His son,
Friedrich Wilhelm I, by rigid economies succeeded in raising the
financial condition of the kingdom to a still higher level. The
military power of the monarchy he also developed considerably, and is
famous in history for his mania for tall soldiers.

We now come to the real founder of the Prussian monarchy as a great
European Power, Friedrich Wilhelm I's son, who succeeded his father in
1740 as Friedrich II, and who is known to history as Friedrich the
Great.

Friedrich no sooner came to the throne than he started on an
aggressive expansionist policy for Prussia. The opportunity presented
itself a few months after his accession by the dispute as to the
Pragmatic Sanction and Maria Theresa's right to the throne of Austria.
In the two wars which immediately followed, the Prussian army overran
the whole of Silesia, and the peace of 1745 left the Prussian King in
possession of the entire country. East Friesland had already been
absorbed the year before on the death of the last Duke without issue.
In spite of the exhaustion of men and money in the two Silesian wars,
Friedrich found himself ready with both men and money eleven years
later, in 1756, to embark upon what is known as the Seven Years' War.
Though without acquiring fresh territory by this war, the gain in
prestige was so great that the Prussian monarchy virtually assumed the
hegemony of North Germany, becoming the rival of Austria for the
domination of Central Europe, the position in which it remained for
more than a century afterwards. Nevertheless, after this succession of
wars the condition of the country was deplorable. It was obvious that
the first thing to do was the work of internal resuscitation. The
extraordinary ability and energy of the King saved the internal
situation. Agriculture, industry, and commerce were re-established and
reorganized. It was now that the cast-iron syst