The Great Elector
Katherine Stoelk
Frederiksen
AP European History
17 October 2016
Frederick William the Great Elector
Frederick William was born in 16 February 1620 to George William the Elector and Elizabeth Charlotte of Palatinate. He was their oldest son and the great-grandson of WIlliam the Silent. During his childhood years, he lived in Küstrin where he was educated in Calvinism. When he was fourteen, he moved to Holland and studied there until he was eighteen. He studied at the university of Leiden and at The Hague, the court of his future father-in-law, Frederick Henry of Orange. While there, he was immensely impressed by Holland’s military’s technological advancements and organization. This also fueled his desire to open Brandenburg to becoming …show more content…
In the beginning though, it was hard for him to set the changes for these places in motion because he didn’t have a lot of support in his domain or with other foreign rulers. In 1646, he married Louise Henriette to try to gain Dutch support, but it didn’t work. He didn’t have the support of friendly powers at the congress of Westphalia in 1648, so he did not acquire all of the land he was hoping to gain, which was Pomerania. Since he had no serious ties with any specific power, he changed sides frequently and with ease. He believed that if you wanted balance so things wouldn’t change, you shouldn’t stay out of it, but instead you should join the weaker power against the stronger …show more content…
He believed that without an army, he could never become a master in his own house. He believed in this cause so greatly, half of his earnings went into creating and keeping his army a threat to others. At the beginning of his reign, he started without a strong and secure army. He started organizing a military force at the beginning of the end of the Thirty Years War. This was how he originally brought the Duchy of Cleves, the Duchy of Prussia, and Brandenburg together. The army slowly made its way to eight-thousand as the starting number when it really started becoming a force to be recognized. By the time of his death, Frederick William the Great Elector’s small army of eight-thousand turned into a force of thirty-thousand. The army supported Frederick William and his decisions. However, it was never big enough to allow him to conduct independent foreign
Frederiksen
AP European History
17 October 2016
Frederick William the Great Elector
Frederick William was born in 16 February 1620 to George William the Elector and Elizabeth Charlotte of Palatinate. He was their oldest son and the great-grandson of WIlliam the Silent. During his childhood years, he lived in Küstrin where he was educated in Calvinism. When he was fourteen, he moved to Holland and studied there until he was eighteen. He studied at the university of Leiden and at The Hague, the court of his future father-in-law, Frederick Henry of Orange. While there, he was immensely impressed by Holland’s military’s technological advancements and organization. This also fueled his desire to open Brandenburg to becoming …show more content…
In the beginning though, it was hard for him to set the changes for these places in motion because he didn’t have a lot of support in his domain or with other foreign rulers. In 1646, he married Louise Henriette to try to gain Dutch support, but it didn’t work. He didn’t have the support of friendly powers at the congress of Westphalia in 1648, so he did not acquire all of the land he was hoping to gain, which was Pomerania. Since he had no serious ties with any specific power, he changed sides frequently and with ease. He believed that if you wanted balance so things wouldn’t change, you shouldn’t stay out of it, but instead you should join the weaker power against the stronger …show more content…
He believed that without an army, he could never become a master in his own house. He believed in this cause so greatly, half of his earnings went into creating and keeping his army a threat to others. At the beginning of his reign, he started without a strong and secure army. He started organizing a military force at the beginning of the end of the Thirty Years War. This was how he originally brought the Duchy of Cleves, the Duchy of Prussia, and Brandenburg together. The army slowly made its way to eight-thousand as the starting number when it really started becoming a force to be recognized. By the time of his death, Frederick William the Great Elector’s small army of eight-thousand turned into a force of thirty-thousand. The army supported Frederick William and his decisions. However, it was never big enough to allow him to conduct independent foreign