Hi to one and all on PF ,
If you ask anyone with a remote interest in Military leaders to name the best the one that will undoubtably be mentioned is a Prussian leader .........
Its of course "Friedrich der Große"..... or Frederick the Great in 2012 its the 300th anniversary of Fredericks birth and to celebrate this great event who better than Ulrich Puchala from UP Miniaturen to give us a new release in his bust range .
But before we get onto the releaase itself lets all sit down at our schooldesks and have a history lesson on the man himself , a brilliant tactician , soldier, musician amongst other things.
Are we sitting comfortably ..then sit up straight and enjoy ................
Frederick was born 24 January 1712 and reigned from 1740-1786 ,he became known as Frederick the Great (Friedrich der Große) and was nicknamed "Old Fritz" (Der Alte Fritz)
Interested primarily in music and philosophy and not war during his youth, Frederick unsuccessfully attempted to flee from his authoritarian father Willaim with childhood friend Von Katte whose execution he was forced to watch after they had been captured.
Upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked Austria and claimed Silesia during the war with them winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia.
For years he was a friend of Voltaire with whom the king respected and loved to talk with. He modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service and promoted religious tolerance throughout his realm. Frederick patronized the arts and philosophers, and wrote flute music (an instrument he was proficient at playing)
The young Frederick, with the help of his tutor procured for himself a three thousand volume secret library of poetry, Greek and Roman classics, and French philosophy to supplement his official lessons...clearly a man who wanted to learn .
Frederick frequently led his military forces personally and had six horses shot from under him during battle. Frederick is often admired as one of the greatest tactical geniuses of all time, especially for his usage of the oblique order of battle. Even more important were his operational successes, especially preventing the unification of numerically superior opposing armies and being at the right place at the right time to keep enemy armies out of Prussian core territory.
The Austrian co-ruler EmperorJoseph II wrote of him :
"When the King of Prussia speaks on problems connected with the art of war, which he has studied intensively and on which he has read every conceivable book, then everything is taut, solid and uncommonly instructive. There are no circumlocutions, he gives factual and historical proof of the assertions he makes, for he is well versed in history… A genius and a man who talks admirably."
Napoleon looked on him as :
"The greatest tactical genius of all time.
In 1807 Napoleon visited Frederick's tomb in Potsdam and remarked to his officers, "Gentlemen, if this man were still alive I would not be here"
Clausewitz was particularly impressed by :
"The quick and skillful movement and way that he moved his troops on the battlefield" .
Frederick was a gifted musician who played the transverse flute and composed 100 sonatas for the flute as well as four symphonies .
His flute playing was the subject of a painting .
In addition to his native language, German, Frederick spoke French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian; he also understood Latin, ancient and modern Greek, and Hebrew.
Frederick suffered not only from gout, but also he had Graves' disease (a bulging of the eyes) .
He died on 17th August 1786 , Frederick had wished to be buried next to his greyhounds on the vineyard terrace on the side of the corps de logis of Sanssouci. His nephew and successor Frederick William II instead ordered the body to be entombed next to his father in the garrison Church of Potsdam.
On the 205th anniversary of his death, on 17 August 1991, Frederick's again lay in state in the court of honor of Sanssouci, covered by a prussisn flag and escorted by aBundeswehr honour guard . After nightfall, Frederick's body was finally laid to rest on the terrace of the vineyard of Sanssouci, according to his last will without pomp and at night (" Im übrigen will ich, was meine Person anbetrifft, in Sanssouci beigesetzt werden, ohne Prunk, ohne Pomp und bei Nacht...").
Truely a great man and a great leader .
Continued in next post:
Nap
If you ask anyone with a remote interest in Military leaders to name the best the one that will undoubtably be mentioned is a Prussian leader .........
Its of course "Friedrich der Große"..... or Frederick the Great in 2012 its the 300th anniversary of Fredericks birth and to celebrate this great event who better than Ulrich Puchala from UP Miniaturen to give us a new release in his bust range .
But before we get onto the releaase itself lets all sit down at our schooldesks and have a history lesson on the man himself , a brilliant tactician , soldier, musician amongst other things.
Are we sitting comfortably ..then sit up straight and enjoy ................
Frederick was born 24 January 1712 and reigned from 1740-1786 ,he became known as Frederick the Great (Friedrich der Große) and was nicknamed "Old Fritz" (Der Alte Fritz)
Interested primarily in music and philosophy and not war during his youth, Frederick unsuccessfully attempted to flee from his authoritarian father Willaim with childhood friend Von Katte whose execution he was forced to watch after they had been captured.
Upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked Austria and claimed Silesia during the war with them winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia.
For years he was a friend of Voltaire with whom the king respected and loved to talk with. He modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service and promoted religious tolerance throughout his realm. Frederick patronized the arts and philosophers, and wrote flute music (an instrument he was proficient at playing)
The young Frederick, with the help of his tutor procured for himself a three thousand volume secret library of poetry, Greek and Roman classics, and French philosophy to supplement his official lessons...clearly a man who wanted to learn .
Frederick frequently led his military forces personally and had six horses shot from under him during battle. Frederick is often admired as one of the greatest tactical geniuses of all time, especially for his usage of the oblique order of battle. Even more important were his operational successes, especially preventing the unification of numerically superior opposing armies and being at the right place at the right time to keep enemy armies out of Prussian core territory.
The Austrian co-ruler EmperorJoseph II wrote of him :
"When the King of Prussia speaks on problems connected with the art of war, which he has studied intensively and on which he has read every conceivable book, then everything is taut, solid and uncommonly instructive. There are no circumlocutions, he gives factual and historical proof of the assertions he makes, for he is well versed in history… A genius and a man who talks admirably."
Napoleon looked on him as :
"The greatest tactical genius of all time.
In 1807 Napoleon visited Frederick's tomb in Potsdam and remarked to his officers, "Gentlemen, if this man were still alive I would not be here"
Clausewitz was particularly impressed by :
"The quick and skillful movement and way that he moved his troops on the battlefield" .
Frederick was a gifted musician who played the transverse flute and composed 100 sonatas for the flute as well as four symphonies .
His flute playing was the subject of a painting .
In addition to his native language, German, Frederick spoke French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian; he also understood Latin, ancient and modern Greek, and Hebrew.
Frederick suffered not only from gout, but also he had Graves' disease (a bulging of the eyes) .
He died on 17th August 1786 , Frederick had wished to be buried next to his greyhounds on the vineyard terrace on the side of the corps de logis of Sanssouci. His nephew and successor Frederick William II instead ordered the body to be entombed next to his father in the garrison Church of Potsdam.
On the 205th anniversary of his death, on 17 August 1991, Frederick's again lay in state in the court of honor of Sanssouci, covered by a prussisn flag and escorted by aBundeswehr honour guard . After nightfall, Frederick's body was finally laid to rest on the terrace of the vineyard of Sanssouci, according to his last will without pomp and at night (" Im übrigen will ich, was meine Person anbetrifft, in Sanssouci beigesetzt werden, ohne Prunk, ohne Pomp und bei Nacht...").
Truely a great man and a great leader .
Continued in next post:
Nap
