Friedrich Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm II)

(1744-1797)
Born September 25, 1744 in Berlin, became king after the death of his uncle in 1786. Friedrich Wilhelm combined talents in the arts (including music - he played the cello) and inability to manage state. Powerful military machine of Prussia, had come to him by Frederick the Great, came to a standstill. The country was ruled by King favorites. One of them was inclined to mysticism Johann Christoph Vellner; in 1788 he was prepared a so-called. The religious edict, which included heavy censorship to combat the influence of Enlightenment. Alarmed by the development of the French Revolution, Frederick William joined Austria in the course of the campaign, aiming to help Louis XVI; Prussia became involved in war with France (1792-1795). In 1795, Frederick William was forced to sign with France, a separate Treaty of Basel, on which France, Prussia ceded all Prussian possessions west of the Rhine. Because of this betrayal of Prussia deserved contempt allies in the coalition, and lost its prestige in Germany. Territorial losses in the west of Frederick William compensated acquisition in the East: in the 2 nd and 3rd partition of Poland (1793 and 1795) of Prussia withdrew Danzig (now Gdansk) and Thorn (now Torun), . and Warsaw, and large areas in central Poland,
. Friedrich died in Potsdam on Nov. 16, 1797.