Domestic System Reformation, Military Construction And National Policy Calculations

Prussian King Frederick II (also known as Frederick the Great) is an outstanding 18th-century Europe's grand strategist. He combined the Enlightenment, the Prussian Hohenzollern House's traditions and national conditions to create a set of grand strategic thinking. Its fundamental principle is "pure national interests prior" and can be summed up as reform of the domestic system, military construction and national policy calculations. Domestic reform meant through legislative, administrative and other measures to protect production, promote the rule of law, the purposes of religious tolerance, for the country into an open, fair and new spirit. Building military strength upheld the traditions, to further strengthen discipline, enhance combat effectiveness and did everything to reduce the military burden on the economy. National policy was based on his macro grasp of international pattern, which regarded relations between countries as disputes on realistic interests, stressed that the use of such relations for the Prussian external expansion of the necessary and possible, and the decisive use of military expansion.Based on this thinking, Frederick King during 1740 to 1786 carried out long-time grand-strategic practice. Both domestic and external policies brought brilliant results in the first six years. He implemented a reform of the system, seized the Silesia by the chance of disputes on succession of Austrian throne, and hard shocked the Europe. But then he failed to accurately understand his own expansion had arouse the hostility in European countries, and did not take appropriate diplomatic means to deal with, in 1756 led to an unprecedented isolated circumstances forced into a "Seven Years'War". After hard fighting and tremendous sacrifice, resorted to tactical skills and amazing luck, he gained a miserable victory. In subsequent 20 years, he learn a lesson, did good governance, promoted the comprehensive domestic production, implemented reforms, and exert peaceful, multiple and effective diplomacy to greatly improved international environment. To his death, Prussia had been one of the great powers of Europe.Frederick the Great's grand strategy left future generations a lot of lessons. His success came from a clear strategy system, which based upon the emphasis on "national interest" and realistic cognition of the international situation. The strategic objective was reasonable, focused, harmonious, clearly pointed at domestic reforms and foreign limited expansion. He succeeded in making strategic means and goals of integration, whether legislative or operations have a clear purpose, and never blindly forward because the partial victory. His failure mainly lies in mistaking strategic consequences of his acts and the resulting lack of means to deal with. In addition, as inherited tradition, he raised the army, one of the policy tools, for the strategic objective itself, which absolutely run counter to the fundamental grand strategic principles, sown the seeds of the Prussian militaristic. Frederick's grand strategy was full of the both affirmative and negative experience. So far no domestic scholar has wholly researched the subject, and this thesis will try somewhat innovations.