Frederick the Great: Prussia’s Fabulous King

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  • Опубліковано 14 лют 2021
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    Source/Further reading:
    BBC In Our Time, Frederick the Great: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b060...
    Britannica biography: www.britannica.com/biography/...
    Seven Years’ War overview: www.history.com/topics/france...
    National Geographic, what’s so great about Frederick? www.nationalgeographic.com/hi...
    First meeting with Voltaire: www.independent.co.uk/life-st...
    Times Literary Supplement, review of Blanning biography: www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/fl...
    Treatment of Jews in Prussia: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...
    Map of the First Partition of Poland: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_P...
    Biographics on Maria Theresa: • Maria Theresa: The Mig...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 826

  • @Biographics
    @Biographics  3 роки тому +85

    Go to NordVPN.com/biographics and use code BIOGRAPHICS to get a 2-year plan plus 1 additional month with a huge discount. It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!

    • @amy3in
      @amy3in 3 роки тому +2

      can you do videos on mlk anne frank Abraham Lincoln henry the 8th and Elizabeth the I

    • @etuheu
      @etuheu 3 роки тому +2

      can u cover the Távora affair of 1758-1759 in a future vid?

    • @andmake-qg5bi
      @andmake-qg5bi 3 роки тому +1

      I have been waiting for my boy fresrick the great to get a viedo I havent whatched it yet u better mention he was gay in this viedo

    • @andmake-qg5bi
      @andmake-qg5bi 3 роки тому +1

      @@jordantomes2658 dude Voltaire wrote about

    • @The_Daily_Tomato
      @The_Daily_Tomato 3 роки тому

      NordVPN has been hacked in the past and they even tried to hide it from their customers.
      NordVPN clearly cannot be trusted.

  • @frederickthegreat8148
    @frederickthegreat8148 3 роки тому +1305

    Well, this is flattering..

    • @catherinethegreat2548
      @catherinethegreat2548 3 роки тому +177

      Eh, nice to find you here i guess

    • @PeterLambert2211
      @PeterLambert2211 3 роки тому +58

      @@catherinethegreat2548 I hope you both are doing well 🤠

    • @aydankhaliq2967
      @aydankhaliq2967 2 роки тому +29

      I'm a bit homophobic, but your one of the few gay people I'm ok with.

    • @dont-call-me-et-al
      @dont-call-me-et-al 2 роки тому +49

      @@aydankhaliq2967 as a person of German descent, I can accurately say that Frederick and I do NOT claim you or “your kind”. 🤮❌

    • @rc59191
      @rc59191 2 роки тому +19

      Big fan of your oblique tactics

  • @CrypidLore
    @CrypidLore 3 роки тому +1174

    It's always about Frederick the Great, never his brother Derick the Pretty Good.

    • @KaptajnKaffe
      @KaptajnKaffe 3 роки тому +94

      That guy was a pretty good guy, like not the best, just alright. Go Derrick!

    • @casper6405
      @casper6405 3 роки тому +94

      Or Erick the okay

    • @solidraven6986
      @solidraven6986 3 роки тому +80

      Or his cousin merrik the eh

    • @KaptajnKaffe
      @KaptajnKaffe 3 роки тому +67

      ​@@solidraven6986 except that Merrik the eh, was just kinda Meh.

    • @solidraven6986
      @solidraven6986 3 роки тому +14

      @@KaptajnKaffe lol

  • @rennor3498
    @rennor3498 3 роки тому +736

    Voltaire once said that Prussia during Frederick's reign was: Sparta during the day and Athens during the night.

    • @iasonjacksongrace
      @iasonjacksongrace 3 роки тому +6

      Ha! Gay. Or is that a pedophilia joke?

    • @kas7423
      @kas7423 2 роки тому +34

      @@iasonjacksongrace Gay, not pedophilia

    • @thebigmanskeet6969
      @thebigmanskeet6969 2 роки тому +5

      Sparta was pretty gay tho.

    • @Gabsboy123
      @Gabsboy123 2 роки тому +9

      I always see the analogy as Prussia being Sparta and Austria being Athens, as Vienna was the better known German capital for arts and culture.

    • @GoGo-es9sn
      @GoGo-es9sn 2 роки тому +38

      @@iasonjacksongrace No . He literally means that prussia is both a military superpower and a very well organized philosopher sattate.

  • @TechSupport900
    @TechSupport900 3 роки тому +942

    A quote from Napoleon after taking Berlin and visiting this mans tomb
    “If he was alive I would not be standing here”

    • @craniusdominus8234
      @craniusdominus8234 3 роки тому +104

      Aside from the fact that if Frederick was alive, there wouldn't really be a point in visiting an empty plot of land where his tomb would be?
      But yes, I understand what Napoleon meant to say...

    • @Fyrdman
      @Fyrdman 3 роки тому +42

      He's being humble. Napoleon would have demolished him.

    • @Bullet-Tooth-Tony-
      @Bullet-Tooth-Tony- 3 роки тому +89

      @@Fyrdman I dunno, i think it would be closer than you think just look at Leuthen, Hohenfriedberg and Rossbach.

    • @craniusdominus8234
      @craniusdominus8234 3 роки тому +80

      @@Fyrdman Napoleon, being humble? The man didn't have a single humble bone in him...

    • @Fyrdman
      @Fyrdman 3 роки тому +23

      @@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- And look at his other battles. Especially the one where he launched a front assault against Russians and Austrians on a hill.
      The guy was a one trick pony that used the same tactics over and over again; which resulted in losses even when he won.
      Frederick would have been decimated there and then. And Berlin would have been taken... Again

  • @ethanramos4441
    @ethanramos4441 3 роки тому +735

    “Diplomacy without military might is like music without instruments”
    Frederick the Great

  • @TheStapleGunKid
    @TheStapleGunKid 3 роки тому +392

    "Frederick was no Napoleon. He was sly, fast thinking and courageous, sure. But he was also stubborn and that occasionally led him to the brink of disaster"
    Actually that sounds exactly like Napoleon.

    • @TheStapleGunKid
      @TheStapleGunKid 3 роки тому +60

      @@ctrusse2 Napoleon was a genius, he just didn't know when to back down. When the third coalition was marching through Europe, dismantling his empire piece by piece, they offered him a peace deal and he still said no. Realistically there was no chance Napoleon could win the war at that point. He could have taken the deal and saved what was left of his empire, but he insisted on fighting on.

    • @TheStapleGunKid
      @TheStapleGunKid 3 роки тому +5

      @@ctrusse2 I don't know about greatest of all time, but he was certainly great. Like I said, he was just cursed with the utter inability to recognize the value of a strategic retreat or realize when a situation had gotten beyond the point of salvage.

    • @DefinitelyNotEmma
      @DefinitelyNotEmma 3 роки тому +24

      @@ctrusse2 indeed, but histories most memorable heroes and villains tend to be blown out of proportion sometimes, at the end they were all humans and humans make mistakes. Not to mention how many people were involved with every great battle that we remember today.

    • @yourstruly4817
      @yourstruly4817 3 роки тому +21

      I think unlike Napoleon, Frederick the Great wasn't an egotistical psychopath who did everything for his own personal glory. He also didn't commit war crimes like massacring villages for revenge.

    • @DefinitelyNotEmma
      @DefinitelyNotEmma 3 роки тому +6

      @@yourstruly4817 to make it short: he wasn't a narcissist

  • @librasgirl08
    @librasgirl08 3 роки тому +260

    Some important parts were missing.
    In Germany, especially former Prussia, he's called : Der alte Fritz (the old Fritz), we don't really call him Friedrich the great. It's kind of endearment. We treasure him to this day. Another really important thing, he's named : der Kartoffelkönig (the potato king) too.
    Because there were issues with the wheat production, he introduced the potato as alternative. Partially by force, because farmers didn't trust it. So his soldiers travelled all over Prussia to spread the potato.
    One famous story, his soldiers were protecting the potato fields to suggest, how value they are. And it worked. Germans love their potatoes. He saved his people from famine. To this day, people lie potatoes on his grave.
    He was not just a conquer, but someone who cared for his subjects. He's beloved to this day.

    • @xhagast
      @xhagast 2 роки тому

      History books remember the battles, even the treaties. Nations remember potatoes. Or at least they should. If only because without them there would be fewer people around to remember anything. In Spain we had this shameless social climber minister Godoy. People remember him for being corrupt and the queen's lover. BUT. He organized the first smallpox vaccination campaign in the Americas. Such things pay for many sins, you know.

    • @loveofmangos001
      @loveofmangos001 2 роки тому +11

      Know I'm 1 year later but thank you for this. I like hearing stories from around the world of culture and history.

    • @drxtale9446
      @drxtale9446 8 місяців тому +5

      LMAO potato king that is great. It’s nice to hear what people in Germany think of him.

    • @balabanasireti
      @balabanasireti 8 місяців тому

      Not really that important

    • @joaogabrielfrydman
      @joaogabrielfrydman 7 місяців тому +3

      @@balabanasireti Saving people from famine and introducing a very stable crop into eastern europe is kind of important. Not the MOST important but still a little.

  • @yourstruly4817
    @yourstruly4817 3 роки тому +449

    "Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl."
    - Empire Total War loading screen

    • @DefinitelyNotEmma
      @DefinitelyNotEmma 3 роки тому +18

      HAUBITZEN!

    • @spiffygonzales5899
      @spiffygonzales5899 3 роки тому +8

      HANZ!! GET ZE FLAMMENWERFER!!!
      -Me on Napoleon TW WW1 Mod

    • @Lordsebastian101
      @Lordsebastian101 3 роки тому +3

      @@spiffygonzales5899 Was playing empire today, saw that quote!

    • @Jacking0ff
      @Jacking0ff 3 роки тому +2

      literally had to fire up total war empire seeing this video

    • @spiffygonzales5899
      @spiffygonzales5899 3 роки тому +6

      @@Jacking0ff
      Literally any reason to play Empire total war is a good reason to play Empire total war. Respect.

  • @songohan3321
    @songohan3321 3 роки тому +436

    Last time I was this early, Frederick the Great had a flute solo.

    • @mushroomsamba82
      @mushroomsamba82 3 роки тому +65

      Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz!

    • @AbrahamLincoln4
      @AbrahamLincoln4 3 роки тому +41

      IM FREDERICK THE GREAT FIRST EVER SERVANT OF STATE

    • @FirstLast-zj8xd
      @FirstLast-zj8xd 3 роки тому +28

      Oblique attack tactics aint exactly straight

    • @abrahamkline8812
      @abrahamkline8812 3 роки тому +4

      Last time I was this early I hadn't waited a week, by putting it in my watch later list, to finally watch it

    • @PsionicMonk
      @PsionicMonk 3 роки тому +26

      I've got creative talents and battle malice

  • @Tarumarugan
    @Tarumarugan 3 роки тому +181

    “A sour subspecies of the female sect”
    This man perfectly put into words exactly how i felt about my sixth grade math teacher 😂😂😂

    • @patod4
      @patod4 Рік тому +8

      You made me laugh so much.

  • @jayb9153
    @jayb9153 3 роки тому +206

    "Gentlemen if this man was alive, I would not be here."
    Napoleon on the grave of Frederick the Great

    • @Alterfritz1763
      @Alterfritz1763 3 роки тому +8

      Actually it was at the Potsdam city palace where Napoleon held uo Frederick's dagger and said to his officers, "Gentlemen, if the man who wielded this was still alive, we would not be standing here." Of course, this was pure theater, Napoleon knew well that he had in fact defeated what was basically still Frederick's army, as he boasted in a letter to Josephine. And when Napoleon visited Frederick's tomb, an eyewitness reported that he only said, "sic transit gloria mundi."

    • @masterplokoon8803
      @masterplokoon8803 2 роки тому +3

      @@Alterfritz1763 Frederick was a man that made sure his army was up to date with the time. After he died the Prussian army pretty much rested on its laurels, Frederick died 3 years before the French revolution and during that time and Napoleon's reign the French army was massively reformed while the Prussian army was resting in its laurels. So when Napoleon fought the Prussians, their forces were pretty outdated compared to his army. What Napoleon meant was that if a guy like Frederick was in charge things might have been diferent or at least more dificult and Napoleon held Frederick in high regard and admired him.

    • @Alterfritz1763
      @Alterfritz1763 2 роки тому

      @@masterplokoon8803 You obviously know some history, but in this case I have to disagree with the Jedi Master. You need to catch up with the current state of miilitary history research. The consensus is that Frederick's army was out of date long before he died. For decades, Prussian military refromers like Scharnhorst had pleaded for modernizing the army but Frederick refused to listen to them. General Georg Heinrich von Berenhorst, who had served under Frederick in the Seven Years War, wrote:that Fredrick couldn't imagine that his "soldiers were beings with free will and intellect who could be inspired by anything else than force and fear." Moreover, he wrote that Frederick couldn't conceive of using any other kind of weapons or tactics than the ones he was used to. Cathal Nolan, author of a standard work in military history, "The Allure of Battle," concludes: "The great innovator left behind at his death a reactionary Prussian army inured to serious and much needed adaption and reform, run by old generals who thought the highest art of war was merely to drill and arm and fight exactly as he had done a half century after he first did it, When they led this anachromism into battle against newly dynamic and reformed and much larger armies of revolution it would be shattered in a day, and Prussia occupied and reduced." So, as I already pointed out, Napoleon did defeat Frederick's army, as he wrote to his wife. His comment about not making it to Potsdam if Frederick had still led his troops was pure theater.

    • @masterplokoon8803
      @masterplokoon8803 2 роки тому

      @@Alterfritz1763 but after Frederick died the army had plenty of time to modernize but didn't. The reforms than Napoleon made to the French army( the corps sistem) were much more advanced than anything Frederick might have done in his time. And if Frederick was in command he might not have made the sloppy diplomatic and military mistakes the prussians did during the war. He probably wouldn't have rushed to send an ultimatum to Napoleon , he probably would have waited for the Russian forces to arrive he also wouldn't make most of the sloppy childish mistakes the prussian commanders did. He may have been outdated but he would have been tougher nut to crack than the weak Frederick William III. Apart from that Napoelon did seem to have some genuine respect and admiration for him, however I do believe Napoleon always thought of himself as greater than Frederick the Great like you said. I really don't see Napoleon of thinking that someone could be his equal or superior.

    • @Alterfritz1763
      @Alterfritz1763 2 роки тому +1

      @@masterplokoon8803 You make some excellent points. I think the sad truth is that it usually takes a catastrophe to wake political and military leaders up to the need for serious structural reforms. Ultimately. the old ancien regime armies were no match for the massive armies of revolutionary France, which, thanks to the levee en masse , had troop numbers unimaginable to Frederick the Great. You should check out Nolan's book. He argues that we tend to vastly exaggerate the significance of indiviudual commanders and single battles. In the end, almost all military conflicts are wars of attrition which are normally won by the nations with the greatest resources. But thank you, Master Jedi, for our little discussion and inspiring me to reconsider some of my views. May the force be with you!

  • @semaj_5022
    @semaj_5022 3 роки тому +258

    It's crazy how having a traumatizing, tortured childhood and youth, and being ostracized for being different leads to either an extremely mentally unstable individual, or a very tolerant and understanding one. Not usually much in between. But every now and then, you end up with both in the same person.

    • @EurojuegosBsAs
      @EurojuegosBsAs 3 роки тому +15

      You know... what we can call traumatized childhood and youth, might have been pretty much the norm back then. Just saying.

    • @lewism1995
      @lewism1995 3 роки тому +22

      @@EurojuegosBsAs Unfortunately, this still seems to be the norm to this day.

    • @semaj_5022
      @semaj_5022 3 роки тому +20

      @@EurojuegosBsAs well I would just say, if that were the case, that even if it was normal doesn't mean it was not also traumatic.

    • @damsarebiotic6263
      @damsarebiotic6263 2 роки тому +6

      Only by putting people through hell can we tell who is strong and who is weak

    • @semaj_5022
      @semaj_5022 2 роки тому +12

      @@damsarebiotic6263 or we could just avoid putting people through hell altogether and discard that archaic idea of "strong and weak." People are people and as long as they don't hurt anyone, they all have equal value.

  • @romangrabowski14
    @romangrabowski14 3 роки тому +161

    Fun fact - people still put potatoes on his grave in Potsdam where he is burried alongside his dogs
    Plus, his father, called the soldier king, never had been at war

    • @thealeph165
      @thealeph165 2 роки тому +9

      Frederick William directed a small group of troops at the Battle of Malplaquet, so he technically did fight at war, just not on a large scale

    • @1987MartinT
      @1987MartinT 2 роки тому +2

      During Frederick William I's reign Prussia was involved in the Great Northern War, the War of Spanish Succession, and the War of Polish Succession.

  • @DamonNomad82
    @DamonNomad82 3 роки тому +80

    The first time I saw a portrait of Frederick the Great, I thought it was a picture of George Washington in a very grumpy mood.

    • @lilymarinovic1644
      @lilymarinovic1644 3 роки тому +13

      Well, did anyone ever see them in the same room together? :)

  • @ignitionfrn2223
    @ignitionfrn2223 3 роки тому +115

    1:30 - Chapter 1 - The tyrant
    4:55 - Chapter 2 - Becoming the man
    8:15 - Mid roll ads
    9:45 - Chapter 3 - The old fritz
    12:30 - Chapter 4 - The enlightened despot
    16:15 - Chapter 5 - The real WWI
    20:10 - Chapter 6 - Partitions & partings

  • @nicholaserickson4233
    @nicholaserickson4233 3 роки тому +50

    Gustavus Adolphus would be another cool one like this.

  • @theyoungbonaparte3739
    @theyoungbonaparte3739 3 роки тому +129

    I'm early for my most admired king in Prussian History! My dear Frederick, you are second to Napoleon, but first in admiration in my eyes

    • @thorpeaaron1110
      @thorpeaaron1110 3 роки тому +1

      Wow are you Simp for Fredrick

    • @theyoungbonaparte3739
      @theyoungbonaparte3739 3 роки тому +14

      @@thorpeaaron1110 I like too much history, the Enlightened era especially, the minds of the great are easy to learn from, right?

    • @pyromania1018
      @pyromania1018 3 роки тому +8

      But Napoleon lost. Plus, for all his innovations, he was still a petty despot who tried to maintain slavery. He is fascinating, I'll admit, but admirable? Not the word I'd use.

    • @thorpeaaron1110
      @thorpeaaron1110 3 роки тому +5

      @@theyoungbonaparte3739 Indeed especially Frederick who's military skills as a commander could rival Napoleon

    • @DefinitelyNotEmma
      @DefinitelyNotEmma 3 роки тому +8

      @@thorpeaaron1110 there is nothing bad about simping for Frederick

  • @LouisHansell
    @LouisHansell 3 роки тому +25

    Fascinating video! Great job!
    Frederick brought enlightenment to the military. He believed in training soldiers. He suffered some losses and some victories but he was always outnumbered. His troops loved him, not only for the training that gave them an advantage but also that he was often found on the front lines with them. As you point out, he was good on his feet under fire, and the troops admired that.
    He was immensely popular in England. In the late 18th century there were something like 150 pubs and taverns in England named after him. One was dissembled in the mid-1700s shipped to the American colonies, in Pennsylvania, and reconstructed. That tavern stood in the middle of a major thoroughfare in suburban Philadelphia until a road project required that it be moved.
    That town in suburban Philadelphia is King of Prussia, PA.

    • @xhagast
      @xhagast 2 роки тому +1

      There is a big difference between a commander who just says, "CHARGE!!" and one that says, "FOLLOW ME, BOYS!!" The odds look better when you are following your commander into the fray.

  • @mohd.raziqansari292
    @mohd.raziqansari292 3 роки тому +166

    Can you cover the biographies of Mozart and Beethoven? I will highly appreciate this.

    • @theyoungbonaparte3739
      @theyoungbonaparte3739 3 роки тому +14

      Make this happen, I fully support

    • @mohd.raziqansari292
      @mohd.raziqansari292 3 роки тому +7

      @@theyoungbonaparte3739 I can just request and the rest depends on Simon.

    • @thorpeaaron1110
      @thorpeaaron1110 3 роки тому

      Yes please

    • @thorpeaaron1110
      @thorpeaaron1110 3 роки тому +1

      @@theyoungbonaparte3739 Yes particularly Beethoven he had a pretty rough childhood

    • @thorpeaaron1110
      @thorpeaaron1110 3 роки тому +5

      @@theyoungbonaparte3739 Or another great would be Bach

  • @dulio12385
    @dulio12385 3 роки тому +17

    That was Flute Sonata in B Minor. For my next performance I shall play "Humiliate Austria!" -Frederick the Great

  • @DocLeQuack
    @DocLeQuack 3 роки тому +27

    “Best Friend”

    • @NobodyofTwilgiht
      @NobodyofTwilgiht 3 роки тому +17

      just guys being dudes

    • @queenbee7266
      @queenbee7266 3 роки тому +15

      @@NobodyofTwilgiht just doods being guys (after his execution, Freidrich broke down/ went silent whenever he heard his name)

  • @lucianoosorio5942
    @lucianoosorio5942 Рік тому +3

    “Pss, what a about a flute busting Prussian? *Flute playing* Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! Old Fritz! I’m Fredrick the Great, I’m the gate first servant of state. Oblique attack tactics, ain’t exactly straight. I got creative talents and battle malice! Hard as steel in the field, genteel in the palace!” Frederick the Great

  • @PsionicMonk
    @PsionicMonk 3 роки тому +26

    Seems Fredrick was a "Oui"-aboo 🤔

  • @TwoWholeWorms
    @TwoWholeWorms 3 роки тому +17

    "A sour subspecies of the female sex" Ooooooof... xD I'm definitely stealing that one. xD

  • @maxwellkafka
    @maxwellkafka 3 роки тому +14

    “Flute Player” boom, got ‘em!

  • @jkee9760
    @jkee9760 3 роки тому +96

    No one:
    Absolutely no one:
    Frederick William: Hah Gaaayy

  • @furlosifurfox5794
    @furlosifurfox5794 3 роки тому +18

    Alter Fritz will always be a fascinating ruler. Highly recommend his book "Anti-Machiavel" circa 1740. Though it is funny how close it sometimes actually comes to "The Prince." Frederick will always be the epitome of the black-powder warrior poet king. Anyhow love the vids keep um up! =D

  • @daveowens271
    @daveowens271 8 місяців тому +2

    He was pretty much the catalyst of change for Europe at that time. He was the fulcrum that set so many larger forces on different trajectories.

  • @kaiserwaffle7896
    @kaiserwaffle7896 3 роки тому +13

    "Pssst what about a flute busting Prussian...... I'm the Fredrick the Great, I became first servant of state, oblique tactics ain't exactly straight, I've got creative talent and battle malice, how to steal on the field and gentille in the palace. Now bring me my chair I'm already there and ill get you a new terriere from here to red square, fought a seven years war, I ain't scared of a Tsar, cuz beating you only took me 12 bars"
    Only Legends know where that's from, ERB

  • @indefatigable8193
    @indefatigable8193 7 місяців тому +2

    “A discontinuous scrap of a state”
    Honestly, the best description of Prussia I’ve ever heard.

  • @pyromania1018
    @pyromania1018 3 роки тому +6

    Some details:
    1. By the time of his death, Frederick William had (somewhat begrudgingly) compromised with his son: Frederick could maintain his hobbies as long as he was vigilant with his studies. In his dying days, the old man even began to express regret for his bad parenting.
    2. Adding on to your remarks about Frederick's views on culture, he hated the Nibelung stories, regarding them as "rubbish".

  • @cosmicwolf9918
    @cosmicwolf9918 3 роки тому +64

    Oblique tactics weren’t exactly straight when it came to this flute busting Prussian

    • @oneasiangirl
      @oneasiangirl 3 роки тому +4

      Yes being hard as steel in the field genteel in the palace

    • @chandranair9448
      @chandranair9448 2 роки тому

      @@oneasiangirl the guy who would pay somebody to tear his eyes out if he had to look at Ivan's troll face every night

  • @JasonDoe1000
    @JasonDoe1000 3 роки тому +2

    Finally
    I was waiting so long for this video
    Thank you Simon!

  • @jeffreycihlar3072
    @jeffreycihlar3072 3 роки тому +1

    I've been waiting for this video ever since I found this channel. Thank you

  • @EmilyJelassi
    @EmilyJelassi 3 роки тому +13

    Suggestion: the Tuareg people. I know a wee bit, but a video about these people would be fascinating

  • @jarrodmack5344
    @jarrodmack5344 3 роки тому +15

    Can you please do one on James Longstreet, the Confederacy’s second most important general turned hardcore Republican and defender of African American rights after the war.

    • @pyromania1018
      @pyromania1018 3 роки тому +5

      Also made a scapegoat for all of Robert E. Lee's mistakes by the "Lost Cause" myth.

  • @cierrajmaach.creative
    @cierrajmaach.creative 3 роки тому +6

    Love this channel and your others too. I learn a lot and sometimes bring up things I hear here with my students. (I’m an art teacher, but still cool stuff!)
    Thanks for the show!

  • @P4DDYW4CK
    @P4DDYW4CK 3 роки тому +12

    Do a video on the Prussian-American Friedrich Wilhelm ‘Baron’ von Steuben. He was the gay Prussian Major General who whipped the continental army into shape at Valley Forge!

  • @blackblurable
    @blackblurable 3 роки тому +10

    Great bio, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Simon you’ve improved massively over the years. You seem comfortable and like you’re having fun doing it. What a great send off just like the Augustus biography. Awesome 😎

    • @kingstarscream320
      @kingstarscream320 3 роки тому

      Meh. It is hard to respect Simon when you realize he does none of the research and knows very little about history himself. Not unlike a mouthpiece for WatchMojo doing a top ten for a topic they know nothing about.

    • @DETRACT0RD00M
      @DETRACT0RD00M Рік тому

      @kingstarscream320 who cares dude, he makes the words come to life, which is arguably more important than the research itself..

  • @chrisclancy2692
    @chrisclancy2692 3 роки тому +8

    Did anyone else see the eyes move on the painting of young Frederick. At 1:40 they’re looking to his left, 1:43 they move to his right and then back again

    • @marklowery8193
      @marklowery8193 3 роки тому

      Yes. Hearing the comedic blind noises too?

  • @davidtucker3729
    @davidtucker3729 3 роки тому +3

    Thank you for your continuing efforts at filling in the gaps for me of the history of the lands of my forefathers.

  • @steveblevins8793
    @steveblevins8793 Рік тому

    Wonderful presentation!

  • @tanyawade5197
    @tanyawade5197 2 роки тому +1

    Ah, what a really nice bio! I’m sure if he was listening, Frederick would’ve been very flattered by the portrayal & warmed by the kindness shown to him. I enjoyed this, not knowing anything about him prior. Thx guys.

  • @randomcon123
    @randomcon123 Рік тому +1

    Great channel. Love the videos. And your soothing voice

  • @vidhibansal2186
    @vidhibansal2186 Рік тому +1

    loved the storytelling. information made fun. i was kinda hooked and couldnt leave it midway

  • @deemariedubois4916
    @deemariedubois4916 3 роки тому +1

    Thanks Simon.

  • @warlockly123
    @warlockly123 3 роки тому +9

    Wow great video! Can’t believe that it took Simon this long to make a bio on Frederick the great 😅

  • @kaiserwaffle7896
    @kaiserwaffle7896 3 роки тому +8

    Glad someone did this!

  • @alphakakcmeddlakadoofahkii3362
    @alphakakcmeddlakadoofahkii3362 3 роки тому +3

    I love that you made a video about him, Friedrich is besides Bismarck my favourite person of German/ Prussian history

  • @jakejackson4177
    @jakejackson4177 3 роки тому +6

    I'd like to leave a couple of suggestions if I may of people I'd like to see covered at some point.
    Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Charles XII of Sweden, Cecil Rhoades, Sir Douglas Haig, Mary Ann Cotton, Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, and Dr.William Harvey.
    Thank's Simon and keep up the amazing work :)

  • @--enyo--
    @--enyo-- 3 роки тому +5

    Nice. Been waiting for this one.
    Other suggestions: Anne of Great Britain, Juana of Castile, Sir Douglas Mawson, Sir Francis Walsingham, Liliuokalani of Hawaii.

  • @Valthoran90
    @Valthoran90 3 роки тому

    Another awesome video! I'd love to see one on T.E. Lawrence.

  • @patod4
    @patod4 Рік тому

    I both enjoyed it and because of that all the info got into my brain even with your accelerated pace. Your wit and humor matched the interesting content. I also loved reading the comments and the potato story.

  • @BlarggOMighty
    @BlarggOMighty 3 роки тому +18

    *OLD FRITZ, OLD FRITZ, OLD FRITZ, OLD FRITZ*

    • @mymyhi9921
      @mymyhi9921 3 роки тому +2

      I'm Freddy the great

  • @Dogirot
    @Dogirot 3 роки тому +6

    16:23 don’t forget the Philippines as well

  • @davecooper360
    @davecooper360 2 роки тому +7

    I love your jokes and analogies! You make history fascinating and fun. As it should be.

  • @christophermolina5132
    @christophermolina5132 3 роки тому +7

    Love this vid, great work on it. Always like ur vids on royals of Europe. I do want to add that to do it on swedish king Carl Bernadotte. His is also interesting.

    • @ejno4137
      @ejno4137 3 роки тому +1

      Who the heck are you referring to? There never was a Swedish king by that name, only a bunch of princes.

  • @cmorris9494
    @cmorris9494 3 роки тому +4

    I live in a town named after him for his work in the American revolution. So it's nice to learn what he did for america.

    • @fredlougee2807
      @fredlougee2807 2 роки тому

      Fredericksburg, Maryland by any chance?

  • @Virtuous_Rogue
    @Virtuous_Rogue 3 роки тому +2

    Been waiting for this since the Empress Maria Theresa episode!

  • @joshuawaldo9435
    @joshuawaldo9435 3 роки тому +3

    You should do a video on Salvatore Pais next! P.s. Love all your channels and you have kept me extremely entertained this past year.

  • @zoolanderXXL
    @zoolanderXXL 8 місяців тому

    Nice vid!

  • @treydodson4726
    @treydodson4726 3 роки тому +8

    This video was....great! I like the informative and non-bias manner while maintaining interest.
    Also, I would love to see Shah Jahan. There is nothing solid on the person, just the building he commissioned.

  • @mammuchan8923
    @mammuchan8923 3 роки тому +1

    Great video and you timed it perfectly to match up with Wikipedia’s featured article of the day on the Silesian Wars 👍👍👍

  • @CatalinaLinal7710
    @CatalinaLinal7710 3 роки тому +3

    We had a musical about him here in germany and its a full blown shame it didnt run for long, it was amazing!

  • @lloydonlead
    @lloydonlead 3 роки тому +3

    Thanks for doing this, Simon! L' Audace, L'Audace, Tojours, L'Audace. Patton's immortal quote of Frederick the Great. Always bolder, always bolder!

    • @EurojuegosBsAs
      @EurojuegosBsAs 3 роки тому

      I thought that was from Georges Danton :o)

  • @artemisarrow179
    @artemisarrow179 3 роки тому +19

    You guys know me too well my food arrives just in time for a new episode! :D

  • @kt3184
    @kt3184 10 місяців тому +1

    I appreciated this video! It is the era in which my ancestor lived, I’m actually stuck at this era and looking for information on Jean-baptiste Titelay and Catherine christine…

  • @hakopathebro9727
    @hakopathebro9727 2 роки тому +8

    People today: “Gay people where all victims though history ”
    My boy Frederick: “Oblique attack tactics ain't exactly straight 😉”

  • @ofataal7494
    @ofataal7494 3 роки тому +9

    Anyone else love the sound of Simon's voice? So relaxing. Love all your videos

  • @michaelhowell2326
    @michaelhowell2326 3 роки тому +6

    I just have to say thank you for not judging 18th century by 21st century standards. It kills me when people do it. It proves and achieves nothing.

  • @giorgibregvadze49er
    @giorgibregvadze49er 2 роки тому +2

    I think you forgot one major think: Fredrick also added the freedom of speech and freedom of press which was particularly important too (imo)

    • @stanleyrogouski
      @stanleyrogouski 2 роки тому +1

      And he allowed the Catholic Church to build a cathedral in Calvinist Berlin, effectively ending the legacy of the 30 Years War.

  • @HistoryOfRevolutions
    @HistoryOfRevolutions 3 роки тому +7

    Neitzsche once wrote:
    I advise you to love the neighbor? I suggest rather to escape from the neighbor and to love those who are the farthest away from you. Higher than the love for the neighbor is the love for the man who is distant and has still to come.

  • @mohammadjaffal2791
    @mohammadjaffal2791 3 роки тому +2

    What an amazing bio

  • @michaelhurley3171
    @michaelhurley3171 3 роки тому +7

    Simon the Great. UA-cam greatest king!

  • @cecilenevares2811
    @cecilenevares2811 3 роки тому +1

    Great video! Could you please also do a video on Pedro Albizu Campos and one on Lola Rodriguez de Tio

  • @dreadharte9746
    @dreadharte9746 3 роки тому +18

    "donning a uniform and shooting a foreigner" - well, if that doesn't sum up the 1800-1900s, I don't know what does.

  • @federicov.8685
    @federicov.8685 3 роки тому +2

    Thanks

  • @schizoidboy
    @schizoidboy 3 роки тому +7

    Here's something Frederick's father might have attacked his son's lifestyle but his father liked to dance with the tall soldiers he enlisted into his army, so we can make a guess where his lifestyle originated from.

  • @Bassillixx
    @Bassillixx 3 роки тому +12

    But did Fritz the great actually use NordVPN ???

  • @IntellectualCuriosity
    @IntellectualCuriosity 3 роки тому +2

    I love all your content and channels and appreciate the hard work.
    As a Yank...
    Yogi Bear says “pick-a-nic basket”❤️
    I am laughing at myself...seems quite petty, i know. ✌🏼

  • @theawesomeman9821
    @theawesomeman9821 3 роки тому +18

    Cool fact: Most German Americans can trace their ancestry back to Prussia, the home of Frederick the Great!

    • @dannahbanana11235
      @dannahbanana11235 3 роки тому +2

      ✋🏻 me lol

    • @theawesomeman9821
      @theawesomeman9821 3 роки тому +1

      @@dannahbanana11235 cool

    • @thunderbird1921
      @thunderbird1921 3 роки тому +3

      One of my great great great grandfathers IIRC was one of them. He came to the US in 1866 and we suspect he may have been trying to avoid fighting in the Austro-Prussian War, among other reasons.

    • @theawesomeman9821
      @theawesomeman9821 3 роки тому

      @@thunderbird1921 cool

    • @erraticonteuse
      @erraticonteuse 3 роки тому

      I can't. Lower Saxony, NRW, even Bavaria, but no Prussia.

  • @felixa1111
    @felixa1111 3 роки тому +1

    Flute bustin prussian old fritz!!

  • @ericacaa
    @ericacaa 3 роки тому

    his palace at potsdam is pretty neat, visited there once

  • @triblex305
    @triblex305 2 роки тому +4

    Historically speaking I would love to know how europe would look today if he and Napoleon had lived during the same time, he was afterall the only person you could actually call Napoleons role model.

  • @MondegoPress
    @MondegoPress 3 роки тому +2

    Please do biographies on Kaiser Wilhelm I, Kaiser Friedrich III, and Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern.

    • @thunderbird1921
      @thunderbird1921 3 роки тому +1

      Frederick III is one of the greatest tragedies in European history. That man just might have stopped the two world wars on the continent if he had lived longer.

  • @MurraySteel3.14
    @MurraySteel3.14 3 роки тому +5

    In regards to another great Frédéric, please may you do Chopin, if possible! He was such a wonderful man, and I would love to learn more about him, personally.

  • @hermanspaerman3490
    @hermanspaerman3490 3 роки тому +4

    Not only a flute player but also a composer. Check out his concertos on UA-cam.

  • @footiepharaoh
    @footiepharaoh 3 роки тому

    Have been waiting for this! Stunning video

  • @_dreadknought
    @_dreadknought 3 роки тому +9

    I’ve been watching Infographics for two years, and finally. My favorite Prussian/German historical figure is finally on the show.

  • @alternavent
    @alternavent Рік тому

    Great channel to listen to while driving down I-5 through the middle of nowhere.

  • @MrChopstsicks
    @MrChopstsicks 3 роки тому +6

    Finally. Been waiting since the start of this channel for Old Fritz.

  • @carld1250
    @carld1250 3 роки тому +2

    i felt the need to start Prussia's glory to at the same time as this video

  • @Wryterchannel91
    @Wryterchannel91 3 роки тому +3

    Hehe, I had a feeling there would be some comments in reference to the ERB video. I was not disappointed.

  • @AftermathRV
    @AftermathRV 3 роки тому +3

    Ahfinally i get my dose of simon about my (ancestors) one true king. took yall a while over at biographics, b ut great one non the less

  • @iwatchDVDsonXbox360
    @iwatchDVDsonXbox360 3 роки тому

    Thanks! Hyder Ali next? ☺️

  • @princepscivitatis00
    @princepscivitatis00 3 роки тому +6

    Please do more episodes on japanese feudal warlords! For instance, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Uesugi Kenshin or Takeda Shingen. The one you made on Oda Nobunaga was really fun and informative!

  • @Fredgamer4
    @Fredgamer4 3 роки тому +1

    Hi Simon. Could we get a video on the Seven Years war please? Not sure what channel you would do it on

  • @mcfk9623
    @mcfk9623 3 роки тому +11

    Thank you for this great video! This is not relevant to Frederick the Great, but please consider covering Doukyou (道鏡), a Japanese Rasputin. He was a Buddhist priest from a low-rank provincial family in the 8th century, and allegedly seduced an ill female ex-emperor (the details of their relationships are unknown). With his support, the ex-emperor returned to the throne, appointing Doukyou as the top of Buddhism and of the civilian government, then almost abdicated in favor of Doukyou. Even though 1200 years have passed, this incident is referred to today by those who oppose any female emperor in Japan... Lack of English language source about him may be a barrier, but his life from a medic to a chancellor(太政大臣)and to the pope-equivalent of Japanese Buddhism (法王) is remarkable, and I am sure you will make a great video out of his life!

    • @mcfk9623
      @mcfk9623 3 роки тому +1

      His Wikipedia page has "Dōkyō" as his spelling, but his descriptions there are from an encyclopedia and do not convey how dramatic and controversial his life was.

    • @fullmetaltheorist
      @fullmetaltheorist Рік тому

      There was a man in Japan long ago.
      He was big and strong and his eyes were very brown.
      People looked at him with terror and with fear.
      But to Tokyo chicks he was such a lovely dear.

  • @savagethegentlemen243
    @savagethegentlemen243 3 роки тому +11

    Fredrick the hero of Prussia himself such a man he was may god bless that legend of history hope one day I could be like him one day

    • @thegamingartists9390
      @thegamingartists9390 3 роки тому +2

      He was literally an atheist

    • @savagethegentlemen243
      @savagethegentlemen243 3 роки тому +3

      @@thegamingartists9390 I know but I say the lord bless him for his good deeds on earth how he made impact on the world if that make sense