Brandenburg in the 30 Years War Domestic Policy, 1701-1740
Foreign Policy, 1648-1701 the Economy, 1648-1701






Brandenburg and Prussia during Absolutism, 1648-1701 : Domestic Policy



Friedrich Wilhelm (Frederick William), the Great Elector, ruled from 1640-1688. he was succeeded by Friedrich III. (Frederick III., since 1701 Frederick I., as King in Prussia, that is).
In 1654 the Brandenburg Estates were convened for the last time. The Prince-Electors claimed to rule absolute. The Estates of the Duchy in Prussia resisted; the Great Elector had the leader of resistance against absolute rule in the Duchy, Captain von Kalckstein, in 1679 arrested, sentenced and executed; since, absolute rule was uncontested. The princely administration collected taxes without requesting approval from the estates. The landowning nobility (the Junkers) was appeased by the state permitting the nobles to establish Gutsherrschaften, i.e. by usurping control over the jurisdiction over the communities where they owned the land. The practise of Bauernlegen, i.e. buying out landowning free peasants (in an involuntary process, and under value) and reducing the latter to the state of serfs, continued.
The structure of the territories to the west of the Elbe River did not permit such practise; with the nobility less in control of the country, a more diverse economy and social structure were able to develop.

The raison d'etre of the state lay in her standing army, numbering 20,000 men in the stage of her creation, and rising to 30,000 men in the 1680es. Military service was not regarded a mandatory duty, and theoretically, soldiers were to be recruited on a voluntary basis. But pay was low, the conditions soldiers had to endure were harsh and military service was unpopular. So, trickery and coercion were used to press men into military service, both inside the territories ruled by the Great Elector respectively his successor(s), and abroad. Similarly, pressure was exerted on noblemen to serve as officers. Deserters were treated brutally; if caught, they were whipped to death by their comrades (Gassenlaufen. Veteran soldiers were often employed as government officials, teachers etc., resulting in a 'militarization' of society.

When Louis XIV. of France cancelled the Edict of Nantes, causing a mass exodus of Huguenots, the Great Elector welcomed these refugees of conscience. C. 20,000 settled in Brandenburg-Prussia. The Prince-Electors came to regard population as the wealth of a country, and pursued a policy of Peuplierung, i.e. attracting immigrants, land reclamation etc. in order to expand the population. Other religious refugees were permitted to immigrate - Jews, expelled from Vienna, in 1671, Waldensians from Piemont 1686, Mennonites. Religious toleration was not a policy of conviction, but a pragmatic tool of the policy of promoting an expansion of the population.

Since 1616, Potsdam was, in addition to Berlin, residence of the Prince-Electors, since 1701 Kings. Berlin continued to be the capital. In 1682 it was struck by the plague; in 1709 Brandenburg was struck, but Berlin saved by protective measures.



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EXTERNAL
FILES 		Biography of Frederick William and of Frederick (III.) I. from infoplease
Biography of Frederick William from winona.msus.edu
Soldatenzucht, from Mit Stock, Rute und Peitsche, posted by Rob Miller, in German
Article Peuplierung, from Preussenlexikon, in German
Geschichte Berlins (History of Berlin), from Chronik Berlin, in German; click 17. Jahrhundert (17th Century)
DOCUMENTS Rulers of Prussia, from World Statesmen by Ben Cahoon
Edict of 1699 prohiting soldiers to play cards, from Documents in German History Project
REFERENCE Hans-Joachim Schoeps, Preussen, Geschichte eines Staates (Prussia, History of a State), Berlin : Propyläen 1966, in German [G]
Werner Gahrig, Unterwegs zu den Hugenotten in Berlin (On our way to the Huguenots in Berlin), Berlin : Edition Ost, 2000; in German [G]
Ingo Materna et al., Geschichte in Daten : Berlin (History in Dates : Berlin); (1997) Wiesbaden : Fourier 2003; in German [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on July 11th 2005

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