Compare And Contrast The Achievements Of Fredrick And Catherine The Great

The Achievements and Blunders of Fredrick and Catherine the Great Born in the 1700’s both Fredrick the Great, King of Prussia, and Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, had many achievements stemming from their military standpoint, political clout, as well as their unique leadership ideals. (Kagan, Ozment, Turner, and Frank 499, 544). Their drive and determination to make their nations better and more advanced drove them to do extraordinary things. Although they achieved greatness, each had their own share of blunders along the way as well. When it comes to Fredrick the Great, his greatest achievements go hand-in-hand with his greatest blunders. Fredrick the Great, born on January 24, 1712, took the throne following his father’s death,

In order to rule a nation efficiently, a ruler must know their nation’s limits and not exceed or overextend their resources. With each of Fredrick’s military conquests, he lost an abundant amount of money and lives (Chua, 1). As for budgeting the nation’s finance’s for the wars, this was also a problem. The army alone took up about eighty percent of the state’s funds, which barely left any money to fix other aspects that needed attention (Chua, 1). When Fredrick decided to enter the Seven Years War he lost approximately 180,000 men and many of Prussia’s farmlands in the provinces were ravaged (Chua, 1). Aside from his military blunders, his inability to see that some of his policies that he created were detrimental to Prussia both socially and economically were also some of his blunders (Chua, 1). By increasing how many imported goods that have excise tax added to them, failing to “abolish serfdom as a result of the blocking of the nobility; he also took steps to prevent the sale of noble estates to commoners…” (Chua, 1). No matter what blunders Fredrick the Great had, his achievements for his country outweigh them and allow the world to see what a great leader he was. His ability to make peace with Catherine the Great’s husband, Peter III, is seen

Looking at Catherine the Great’s legacy, she had many accomplishments one being the fact that she was immediately proclaimed Empress of Russia upon her husband’s death (Kagan, Ozment, Turner, and Frank, 544). Catherine knew that Russia needed reforms, but had to make virtue out of necessity with some of the reforms she created (Kagan, Ozment, Turner, and Frank, 545). “In 1785. Catherine issued the Charter of the Nobility, which guaranteed nobles many rights and privileges” (Kagan, Ozment, Turner, and Frank, 545). Favor had to be shown to the nobles because they could make sure she didn’t keep the throne (Kagan, Ozment, Turner, and Frank, 545). She slowly started to reform the government, and westernize Russia as well with those reforms (Gilligan and Linder, 1). She established the first Assignation Bank for Russia, an orphanage for children, and Smolny Institute and school for girls (Young, 1). Catherine also expanded Russia’s borders by taking over Southern Ukraine and the Crimea, as well as winning many wars with the Ottoman Empire (Gilligan and Linder, 1). “Military success, combined with shrewd diplomacy, saw Russia gain recognition as one of Europe’s Great Powers” (Young, 1). Catherine tried to follow her heart and do what she felt was right for her people and her country while trying to keep the nobles happy enough that they would allow her to keep the