Prussia's Relations With the Holy Roman Empire, 1740–1786
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8959324 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter H Wilson (0000-0002-1368-5868, University of Hull, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 337-371 |
| Publication date | 2008-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x08006742 |
| OpenAlex | W2075823053 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 6 |
Most writers have taken Frederick II at his word and interpreted his sparse and generally derogatory comments about the Holy Roman Empire as indications of its low priority in Prussian policy after 1740. This article offers a reappraisal, based on a re-examination of his writings and his policy towards the Empire and its principal dynasties. Despite his distaste for the imperial constitution, Frederick swiftly appreciated its significance to his goals of security and international recognition. Certainly, relations with the imperial Estates remained secondary to diplomatic and military engagement with Austria and the other major European powers. Nonetheless, the Empire remained more than an arena in which Austro-Prussian rivalry was played out. The imperial constitution offered a means to neutralize threats to Prussia's more vulnerable provinces and a framework to constrain Habsburg ambitions, while ties to minor German dynasties offered avenues to maintain or improve relations with Europe's leading monarchies that were likewise bound within the elite kinship of the Christian old world. For this to be effective, however, Frederick had to engage in all aspects of imperial politics and not just representation in formal institutions
Ancient history · Constitution · Economic history · Elite · Empire · Monarchy · Nobility · Political science · Politics · Rivalry · Roman Empire · Central European and Russian historical studies · Classics · European Political History Analysis · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · History · Law
The Habsburg Court as Center of the Imperial Government
The German ‘Soldier Trade’ Of The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries
The Politics of Sentimentality and the German Fürstenbund , 1779–1785
Still a Monstrosity? Some Reflections on Early Modern German Statehood
The Constitution of the Holy Roman Empire After 1648
| Citations per year | 0.3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2019 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |