I
TO HIS GENERALS BEFORE INVADING SILESIA[1]
(1740)
Born in 1712, died in 1786; became King of Prussia and invaded Silesia in 1740; defeated the Austrians in 1741, 1742 and 1745; invaded Saxony, beginning the Seven Years' War in 1756; defeated the Austrians in 1756; invaded Bohemia in 1757; defeated the Austrians at Prague, but himself defeated at Kolin and driven out of Bohemia in 1757; in the same year defeated the French at Rossbach and the Austrians at Leuthen; defeated the Russians at Zorndorf in 1758, but himself defeated at Kunersdorf in 1759, his fortunes being now reduced to their lowest ebb; finally, through changes in foreign relations, he, in 1763, concluded a treaty with Austria which secured what he formerly had gained and then had lost, and in 1772 he joined in the partition of Poland.
Gentlemen, I am undertaking a war in which I have no allies but your valor and your good will. My cause is just; my resources are what we ourselves can do; and the issue lies in fortune. Remember continually the glory which your an-
- ↑ Delivered on December 11, 1740, the year in which he became king, and only a day or two before he marched into Silesia. "The king assembled his chief generals," says Carlyle, "all things ready out in the Frankfort-Crossen region yonder." Reprinted from Carlyle's "Frederick the Great," by permission of Chapman & Hall, the English publishers.
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