PREFACE

In attempting to sketch¹ the career of Frederick the Great and to define its relation to the rise of Prussia, I have made free use of many printed works, especially of Frederick’s own ?uvres and of the elaborate Politische Correspondenz of his reign². With these great “primary” authorities may perhaps be ranked the face and voice of modern Germany, rich in evidence of Frederick’s work, which have doubtless influenced my opinions more than I am aware of. Among “secondary” authorities I owe most to the opulent treasure-house of Carlyle’s Frederick the Great and to the more systematic³ narrative⁴ of Professor Koser. His Friedrich der Grosse als Kronprinz, which largely inspired the work of Lavisse translated under the title The Youth of Frederick the Great, forms my chief source for much of Frederick’s early life, as does the last volume of the K?nig Friedrich der Grosse (1903), for the domestic labours after 1763. Mr. Herbert Tuttle’s judicious⁵ History of Prussia gave me much assistance down to the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War, and I have often referred to Mr. Lodge’s Modern Europe and Mr. Henderson’s Short History of Germany.

At critical points in the record of the years 1712vi to 1786 I was influenced successively by the Mémoires de la Margravine de Baireuth, the trenchant⁶ Frédéric II et Marie-Thérèse of the Duc de Broglie, the Politische Staatsschriften, Sch?fer’s Der Siebenj?hrige Krieg, von Arneth’s Oesterreichische Geschichte, and Sorel’s The Eastern Question in the Eighteenth Century. Many of the battles in Saxony, Brandenburg, Bohemia, and Silesia form the subject of monographs⁷ which it was interesting to study on the field, sometimes with the aid of collections of maps and plans preserved in the neighbourhood.

It would be impossible without a false pretence⁸ of erudition to name more than a small portion of the books to which some reference must be made in writing of the rise of Prussia. Students will recognise the debt that I owe to such well-known works as those of Ranke, Droysen, Philippson, F?rster, Seeley, Isaacsohn, Oncken, Vitzthum, Archenholtz, and many more, as well as to the Essays of Macaulay and Lord Mahon. My account of the early history of Brandenburg is in part based on my paper of April, 1901, in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society.

I offer my grateful thanks to Mr. G. H. Putnam and to Mr. H. W. C. Davis for their counsel, to Mr. G. H. M. Gray for minute scrutiny⁹ of the proof-sheets, and to Messrs. Ernest and Harold Temperley, my indulgent comrades in Silesia. To the latter this book owes much at every stage.

W. F. R.

King’s College, Cambridge,
Jan. 9th, 1904.

1 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

2 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

3 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

4 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

5 judicious   

adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的

参考例句：

• We should listen to the judicious opinion of that old man.我们应该听取那位老人明智的意见。
• A judicious parent encourages his children to make their own decisions.贤明的父亲鼓励儿女自作抉择。

6 trenchant   

adj.尖刻的，清晰的

参考例句：

• His speech was a powerful and trenchant attack against apartheid.他的演说是对种族隔离政策强有力的尖锐的抨击。
• His comment was trenchant and perceptive.他的评论既一针见血又鞭辟入里。

7 monographs   

n.专著，专论( monograph的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The scholarly monographs were published as pamphlet. 学术专著是以小册子形式出版的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Subsequent individual monographs will proceed at increasing levels of sophistication. 此后几集将继续提高论述水平。 来自辞典例句

8 pretence   

n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰

参考例句：

• The government abandoned any pretence of reform. 政府不再装模作样地进行改革。
• He made a pretence of being happy at the party.晚会上他假装很高兴。

9 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。