Frederick the Great and Enlightened Absolutism

Home , Enlightened absolutism, Frederick the Great

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Thisenthusiasm for andidealization ofPaciﬁc Islanders wasseldom extendedtowardsAfricans or Afro-Caribbeans,whowerecommonly considered asinferior.Thiswasaconvenient viewfor thosewho beneﬁted fromthe brutalbut highly lucrativeslavetrade. The philosophes wereunanimous intheiropposition to slavery,andde Jaucourt denounceditinhisarticle‘Theslavetrade’inthe Encyclope´die. Theessentialobjection wasthatslavery wasaviolation ofourcommon humannature.Asde Jaucourt wrote: ThisbuyingofNegroestoreduce themtoslavery isonebusiness thatviolatesreligion,morality,naturallaws,andall the rights of humannature.

(Gendzier,1967,p.229)

Avery fewformerAfricanslaves,such asOlaudahEquiano andIgnatius Sancho,succeeded inBritishsociety,thus vindicatingthe Enlightenment beliefinbasic humanequality.

EXERCISE 1How doyou account for the attraction ofthe mythofthe noble savagefor menandwomenofthe Enlightenment? 2Whywerethe Encyclopedistshostileto the slavetrade?

DISCUSSION 1Themythofthe noblesavageappeared to provideastriking combination offreedom andhappiness,andto demonstratethe inherent goodness ofhumannature.Thediscovery ofthe SouthSea Islanders andthe visittoBritainofmenlike Omai seemed to lend substance to the mythandattracted much uncriticalacceptance ofit. 2The philosophes wereunanimously criticalofthe slavetradeboth becauseofits savageexcessesandcrueltyandbecauseitdeniedto the Africans andAfro-Caribbeans the inherent dignity ashuman beingswhich mensuch asEquiano andSanchoshowed theycould puttogooduse.

Section 5: Frederickthe Greatandenlightened absolutism Unit1arguesthatthe philosophes wereusuallyopen-mindedaboutforms ofgovernment.Voltairewasparticularlyeclectic,approvingof constitutionalmonarchyinBritainandroyalabsolutism inFrance, provided thatthe government wasenlightened.Nearthe endofthe article‘Philosophe’fromthe Encyclope´die, which forms anappendixto Unit1,the author citesapprovingly asayingofthe RomanEmperor AntoninusPius:‘How happypeopleswill be whenkingsare VIDEO1,BAND1:ASPECTSOFENLIGHTENMENT 71

philosophers or whenphilosophers arekings!’(p.63). Theauthor underscoreshismessagebyadding: ‘Graftasovereignontoa philosopher... andyouwill haveaperfectsovereign.’Inthe secondhalf ofthe eighteenthcenturyseveralmonarchswereinfluencedto agreater or lesserdegree byaspects ofthe Enlightenment andareoftenreferred to byhistorians aspractitioners of‘enlightened absolutism’. Themain examplesarementioned on p.48 ofUnit1. Inthe finalsection,the videotouchesvery brieflyonthe many-sided and controversialFrederickthe GreatofPrussia (FigureV1.5),but exclusively fromthe viewpoint ofhisconnectionswithsomeofthe aspects ofthe Enlightenment mentioned insections1to 4.AbsoluterulerofPrussia from1740to1786,Frederickdescribed himselfas‘akingbydutyanda philosophe byinclination’. Theremarkwassignificant.Itwasnot thathe wasareluctant ruler:hedid not hesitateto rideroughshodoverthe pacifism ofmostofthe philosophes inwhathe considered the interestsof the state , turningPrussia intoamilitaristic stateandsparkingoff the two greatwars ofthe eighteenthcentury,1740–8 and1756–62. Inmany other respects,however,heshowed himselfremarkably enlightened. FrederickwasculturallyspeakingaFrancophile, whowrotecopiouslyon many themescentraltothe Enlightenment,includingliterature, history, philosophy,scientificprogress andthe arts. He correspondedwith several philosophes, includingCondorcet,d’Alembert,andparticularly Voltaire.D’Alembert andVoltairevisited himatSans-Souci.Voltaire stayedtherefor three years (1750–3). Theirrelationshipwaschequered andVoltaireoutstayedhiswelcome, but each admired the other’s attachment to the Enlightenment: You supposethatIthinkthatthe peopleneed the curbof religion inordertobe controlled.Iassureyouthesearenotmy sentiments. Onthe contrary ...asociety couldnotexist without laws,but itcouldcertainlyexist without religion,provided that thereisapowerwhich,bypunitivesanctions,cancompelthe massestoobeytheselaws.Thisisconfirmed bythe experience ofthe savagesdiscovered inthe MarianneIslands[the Maldive Islands], whohadnot ametaphysicalidea intheirheads. Itis proved stillmorebythe government ofChina, wheredeism is the religion ofall the leadingmeninthe state...Isee the present workofthe philosophes asvery useful,becausemenoughttobe madeto feelashamed offanaticism andintolerance, andbecause itisaserviceto humanity to fightthesecruelandatrociousfollies ... Todestroyfanaticism istodry up the most deadly source of division andhatred inEuropeanmemory,the bloodytracesof which arefoundamongall its peoples.

(FrederickIIto Voltaire, c .15December1766,quoted inLentin,1985,p.138) 72 AUDIO-VISUAL NOTESBLOCKS 1AND2

FigureV1.5J.H.C.Franke, Frederickthe Great ,1764, oil on canvas,Cambridge University Library.Photo:by permission ofthe Syndicsof Cambridge University Library.

‘He talkedto meabout literature, philosophy,even politicsandwarandpeace.I wouldneedawholevolume to giveyou anidea ofhis conversation. All Icantell you ...isthatthe King impressed measgreatereven thanhe isbyreputation’ (d’Alembert to Mllede Lespinasse, 13 June1763).

EXERCISE Whataspects ofFrederick’s enlightenment emerge fromsection 5ofthe video?

DISCUSSION Aspects ofFrederick’s enlightenment mentioned include: . hispromotion ofmass inoculation againstsmallpox; . hisrepealofharshpenaltiesagainstinfanticide 1 andamore understandingattitude towardsunmarriedmothers; . hisrespectfor classicalantiquity,aninterest innon-European cultures,andreligioustoleration andopen-mindedness.

1 OutsidePrussia the crimewaspunishedbypublic execution.TheyoungGoethe witnessed onesuch execution inFrankfurtin1772. VIDEO1,BAND1:ASPECTSOFENLIGHTENMENT 73

Afterviewing You mightgothrough the article‘Philosophe’,which forms anappendix to Unit1(pp.61–3),notingconnectionswiththemesraised insections 1–5 ofthe video. The articlerelatesdirectlytosection 1,since itwas publishedinthe Encyclope´die ,but your readingshouldalso suggest links withothersections.

References Diderot,D.(ed.) (1751) Encyclope´die,vol.1,Paris. Gendzier,S.J.(ed.andtrans.) (1967) DenisDiderot’s‘TheEncyclopedia’: Selections,NewYork, HarperTorchbooks. Gibbon,E.(1998) TheHistoryofthe DeclineandFall ofthe Roman Empire: 28Selected Chapters,ed.A.LentinandB.Norman,Ware, WordsworthClassics. Lentin,A.(ed.) (1985) Enlightened Absolutism (1760–1790):A Documentary Sourcebook ,Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Avero.

Music heardon the video 1JosephHaydn,Symphonyno. 12 inBﬂatmajor,Menuetto. 2Johann SebastianBach,Brandenburgconcertono. 3inG, Allegro. 3JosephHaydn,Symphonyno. 12 inBﬂatmajor,Finale/Presto. 4KPM Music 315, AndyClark, WorldMusic 2,Exotic Journeys. 5Johann SebastianBach,Brandenburgconcertono. 3inG, Allegro.

Illustrations shown on the video

Section 1 Pagesfromthe Encyclope´die ,published1751–72. NicolasPoussin, Spring (alsocalled AdamandEveinEarthly Paradise ), 1660–4,Louvre, Paris. MichelVanLoo, Diderot ,1767,Louvre, Paris. J.G.Ziesenis, Frederickthe Great,c.1760. AfterJeanHuber, VoltaireWriting ,engraving. AfterMoreauleJeune, Candide andCune´gonde,originallyanillustration inaneighteenth-centuryedition ofVoltaire’s Candide,Bibliothe`que Nationale, Paris. 74 AUDIO-VISUAL NOTESBLOCKS 1AND2

Section 2 Pagesfromthe Encyclope´die .

Section 3 Johann Zoffany, CharlesTowneleyandFriendsinthe ParkStreetGallery, Westminster ,exhibited atthe RoyalAcademy 1783,partly repainted c .1793,TowneleyHall Art Gallery andMuseum,Burnley. NathanielDance, TheSecondDuke ofNorthumberlandwithhisTutor at the Colosseum,Rome , c .1760 (Duke ofNorthumberland’s collection). AngelicaKaufmann, J.J.Winkelmann,1764, Kunsthaus,Zurich. ThomasJones, AnExcavation ofAntiqueBuildings , c .1777,TateGallery, London. L.Ducros, TheArch ofConstantine, Rome , c .1782–9. TheTowneleyCollection,BritishMuseum (ﬁlmed on location). Kedleston Hall,Derbyshire(ﬁlmed on location).

Section 4 LordClivemeetingMrJafacNawab ofMurhidabad , c .1761–2,National PortraitGallery,London. JohnMowbray , c .1790,NationalPortraitGallery,London. SirJoshuaReynolds, CaptainJohnFoote (inturban),1765, National PortraitGallery,London. Johann Zoffany, The PalmerFamily,BritishLibrary,London. Parkinson, Maoris ,BritishLibrary manuscripts,London. W.Hodges, ViewfromPoint Venue ,NationalMaritimeMuseum, Greenwich. SirJoshuaReynolds, Omai, c .1775, privatecollection. W.Hodges, Omai, c .1776,RoyalCollegeofSurgeons,London. AllanRamsay, Rousseau ,1766,NationalGallery ofScotland, Edinburgh. ‘Slavemanhung’,fromStedman, NarrativeofaFiveYears’Expedition against the Revolted NegroesofSurinam ,1806. ‘Slavewomanhung’,fromStedman, NarrativeofFiveYears’Expedition, 1806. OlaudahEquiano,Albert MemorialMuseum,Exeter. VIDEO1,BAND1:ASPECTSOFENLIGHTENMENT 75

ThomasGainsborough, Ignatius Sancho ,1768, NationalGallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Section 5 Frederickthe Greatwithtricornhat,fromH.Dollinger, FriedrichIIvon Preussen ,Munich, ListerVerlag,1986. Originalinprivatecollection, Breslau. Frederickinspectingabattalion,fromK.O.von Artin, Friedrichder Grosse ,Freiburg. P.C.Baquoy afterN.A.Monsian, VoltaireandFrederickatSans-Souci, early nineteenth-centuryengraving, UllsteinBilderdienst. Frederick-WilliamI, fromA.Palmer, Frederickthe Great ,Weidenfeldand Nicolson,Archivefu¨rKunst undGeschichte. Motherbreast-feedinginfant,anonymous chalkengraving, Wellcome Foundation. Drawingofbattlescene, fromA.Palmer, Frederickthe Great . Palace andparkofSans-Souci,Potsdam(ﬁlmed on location).