General Notes

Frederick William II (1744-97), king of Prussia (1786-97), grandson of
Frederick William I and nephew of Frederick II, born in Berlin. He succeeded
to the throne in 1786 upon the death of his uncle. In 1792 he made an alliance
with Leopold II, Holy Roman emperor, to support Louis XVI of France in the
French Revolution. As a result of Frederick's participation in the ensuing
wars, he was forced in 1795 by the Treaty of Basel to cede to France Prussian
territories west of the Rhine River. He secured territory from Poland,
however, by participating in the Polish partitions of 1793 and 1795.
Influenced during his reign by the Rosicrucian order, of which he was a
member, he suppressed the ideas of the Enlightenment, imposing censorship on
religion, education, and the press. He lacked interest in military affairs and
allowed a supreme college of war to supervise the army, which declined
markedly during his reign. Through his own ineptitude and that of the
favorites he appointed to administrative positions, the treasury of Prussia
was bankrupted and the reputation of the country diminished by the end of his
reign.