1,276 words
Frederick the Great
De la littérature allemande, des défauts qu’on peut lui reprocher, quelles en sont les causes, et par quels moyens on peut les corriger (1780), http://friedrich.uni-trier.de/fr/oeuvres/7/103/page/
Frederick the Great is an awkward figure for German patriots in certain respects. Politically, he was in no ways a German nationalist, (more…)
2,521 words
English original here
Возможно, самая впечатляющая западная традиция государственного строительства, по крайней мере в Новое время, принадлежит Пруссии. Разумеется, либерально-демократическая традиция, начатая Соединенными Штатами и Францией крепка, и она недаром сегодня господствует в нашем мире. (more…)
Julius Schrader, Frederick the Great after the Battle of Kolin
5,086 words
Frederick the Great
Exposé du gouvernement prussien, des principes sur lesquels il roule, avec quelques réflexions politiques
Berlin, 1775-1776[1]
One often encounters people who have no faith in the ability of a small nation to achieve anything worthwhile.[2] Yet one typically does not have the luxury of choice. One may prefer to live in a large and populous country, but in any event one must work with what one has. (more…)
Charles-Eugene, Duke of Württemberg (1728-1793)
1,683 words
Translated by Guillaume Durocher
Translator’s Note:
This text was addressed to Duke Charles-Eugene of Württemberg on February 6, 1744, on the occasion of his turning 16 and the end of his regency as a minor, to advise him on how to be a good monarch. Charles-Eugene was Frederick the Great’s nephew-in-law and had been raised in part at his court in Prussia. (more…)
2,925 words
Part 2 of 2; Russian translation here
Moderation & Humaneness
The sovereign has authority but, as with the father, this must be deserved. Frederick notes dispassionately that Publicola, one of the founders of the Roman Republic, had legalized tyrannicide. The laws must be fair and appropriate to the nation concerned, (more…)
2,887 words
Frederick the Great
Russian translation here
Perhaps the most impressive Western tradition of statecraft, at least in the modern era, is that of Prussia. To be sure, the liberal-democratic tradition launched by the United States and France is formidable, and it is not without reason that it today dominates our world. But the greatness of America and France also relied upon a prosaic factor: sheer demographic and geographic size. (more…)