Frederick William I (1688-1740) served as king of Prussia from 1713 until his death on May 31, 1740. He developed the most efficient government in Europe and made Prussia a leading military power.
Frederick William I was born on Aug. 15, 1688, in Berlin. He was a member of the Hohenzollern royal family and the son of Frederick I, the first king of Prussia. After becoming king, he established a merit system for hiring and promoting government officials and eliminated corruption in the government by placing spies to observe employees at all levels. Frederick William I also sharply reduced the number of government officials and cut government expenses.
The king used the money saved through his cost-cutting measures to improve the Prussian Army. Frederick William I doubled the size of the army to over 80,000 men and made it the best-trained army in Europe. He was called the “sergeant king” because he spent a great deal of his time with his soldiers. He paid large sums of money to recruit a “Giants Regiment,” made up of soldiers more than 6 feet (180 centimeters) tall. Despite the strength of his army, Frederick William I was a timid statesman who kept Prussia out of war for almost his entire reign.
Unlike his father and his son, who later became known as Frederick the Great, Frederick William I had little interest in the arts or education. He publicly ridiculed the young Frederick for preferring poetry, music, and philosophy to military affairs.
