Editing Frederick the Great (section)

=== Administrative modernisation ===
[[File:Friedrich Zweite Alt.jpg|thumb|alt=Portrait painting of Frederick as an old man|upright=.8|Portrait of Frederick by [[Anton Graff]] (1781, [[Schloss Charlottenburg]], Berlin).]]
In his earliest published work, the ''Anti-Machiavel'',{{sfn|Frederick II|1740a}} and his later {{lang|fr|Testament politique}} (''Political Testament''),{{sfn|Frederick II|1752}} Frederick wrote that the sovereign was the first servant of the state.{{efn|In the second printing of the ''Anti-Machiavel'', Voltaire changed {{lang|fr|premier domestique}} (''first servant'') to {{lang|fr|premier Magistrat}} (''first magistrate''). Compare Frederick's words from the handwritten manuscript{{sfn|Frederick II|1740b|p=[https://archive.org/details/antimachiaveloue00fred/page/10 10]|ps=: {{lang|fr|Il se trouve que le souverain, bien loin d'être le maître absolu des peuples qui sont sous sa domination, n'en est en lui-même que le premier domestique.}}[It turns out that the sovereign, far from being the absolute master of the peoples who are under his domination, is himself only the first servant.]}} to Voltaire's edited 1740 version.{{sfn|Frederick II|1740c|p=[https://archive.org/details/antimachiavelou00voltgoog/page/n24 2]}}}} Frederick helped transform Prussia from a European backwater to an economically strong and politically reformed state.{{sfn|Sainte-Beuve|1877|pp=[https://archive.org/details/mondaychats00sainuoft/page/255 255–257]}} He protected his industries with high tariffs and minimal restrictions on domestic trade. He increased the freedom of speech in press and literature,{{sfnm|Clark|2006|1p=[https://archive.org/details/ironkingdomrised00chri/page/256 256]|Mitford|1970|2p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat00mitf_0/page/88 88]}} abolished most uses of judicial [[torture]],{{sfnm|Asprey|1986|1p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatma00aspr/page/n173 145]|MacDonogh|2000|2p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatli00macd/page/140 140]}} and limited which crimes could be punished by death.{{sfn|Clark|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/ironkingdomrised00chri/page/252 252]}} Working with his Grand Chancellor [[Samuel von Cocceji]], he reformed the judicial system and made it more efficient. He also moved the courts toward greater legal equality of all citizens by removing special courts for special social classes.{{sfn|Weil|1960|p=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/844051 240]}} The reform was completed after Frederick's death, resulting in the [[General State Laws for the Prussian States|Prussian Law Code]] of 1794, which balanced absolutism with human rights and corporate privilege with equality before the law. Reception to the law code was mixed as it was often viewed as contradictory.{{sfn|Schieder|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat0000schi/page/186 186]}}

Frederick strove to put Prussia's fiscal system in order. In January 1750, [[Johann Philipp Graumann]] was appointed as Frederick's confidential adviser on finance, military affairs, and royal possessions, and the Director-General of all [[Mint (facility)|mint facilities]].{{sfn|Schui|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v6xahmxWS3YC&pg=PA92 92]}} Graumann's currency reform slightly lowered the silver content of [[Prussian thaler]] from {{frac|12}} Cologne mark of silver to {{frac|14}},{{sfn|Tuttle|1888|pp=[https://archive.org/details/historyprussia00adamgoog/page/n111 89–90]}} which brought the metal content of the thaler into alignment with its face value,{{sfn|Bundesbank|2013}} and it standardised the Prussian coinage system.{{sfn|Schui|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v6xahmxWS3YC&pg=PA92 92]}} As a result, Prussian coins, which had been leaving the country nearly as fast as they were minted,{{sfn|Tuttle|1888|pp=[https://archive.org/details/historyprussia00adamgoog/page/n111 89–90]}} remained in circulation in Prussia.{{sfn|Shaw|1895|pp=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924032520243/page/n249 202–203]}} Frederick estimated that he earned about one million thalers in profits on the [[seignorage]].{{sfn|Tuttle|1888|pp=[https://archive.org/details/historyprussia00adamgoog/page/n111 89–90]}} The coin eventually became universally accepted beyond Prussia and helped increase industry and trade.{{sfn|Bundesbank|2013}} A gold coin, the [[Friedrich d'or]], was also minted to oust the [[Ducat#Ducats of Netherlands|Dutch ducat]] from the Baltic trade.{{sfn|Adler|2020|p=[{{Google books|id=MUHWDwAAQBAJ|pg=PA120|plainurl=yes}} 120]}} However, the fixed ratio between gold and silver led to the gold coins being perceived as more valuable, which caused them to leave circulation in Prussia. Unable to meet Frederick's expectations for profit, Graumann was removed in 1754.{{sfn|Adler|2020|p=[{{Google books|id=MUHWDwAAQBAJ|pg=PA120|plainurl=yes}} 120]}}

Although Frederick's debasement of the coinage to fund the Seven Years' War left the Prussian monetary system in disarray,{{sfn|Shaw|1895|pp=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924032520243/page/n249 202–203]}} the Mint Edict of May 1763 brought it back to stability by fixing rates at which depreciated coins would be accepted and requiring tax payments in currency of prewar value. This resulted in a shortage of ready money, but Frederick controlled prices by releasing the grain stocks he held in reserve for military campaigns. Many other rulers soon followed the steps of Frederick in reforming their own currencies.{{sfn|Henderson|1963|p=[https://archive.org/details/studiesineconomi0000hend/page/48–49 48]}} The functionality and stability of the reform made the Prussian monetary system the standard in Northern Germany.{{sfn|Schui|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v6xahmxWS3YC&pg=PA93 93]}}

Around 1751, Frederick founded the [[Emden Company]] to promote trade with China. He introduced the [[lottery]], [[fire insurance]], and a [[Giro (banking)|giro]] discount and credit bank to stabilise the economy.{{sfn|Schieder|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat0000schi/page/207 207]}} One of Frederick's achievements after the Seven Years' War included the control of grain prices, whereby government storehouses would enable the civilian population to survive in needy regions, where the harvest was poor.{{sfn|Ritter|1936|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_520010744/page/178 178]}} He commissioned [[Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky]] to promote the trade and – to take on the competition with France – put a [[silk]] factory where 1,500 people found employment. Frederick followed Gotzkowsky's recommendations in the field of toll levies and import restrictions. When Gotzkowsky asked for a [[deferral]] during the [[Amsterdam banking crisis of 1763]], Frederick took over his [[porcelain]] factory, now known as [[Royal Porcelain Factory, Berlin|KPM]].{{sfn|Henderson|1963|p=[https://archive.org/details/studiesineconomi0000hend/page/68 68]}}

Frederick modernised the Prussian civil service and promoted religious tolerance throughout his realm to attract more settlers in East Prussia. With the help of French experts, he organised a system of [[indirect taxation]], which provided the state with more revenue than direct taxation; though French officials administering it may have pocketed some of the profit.{{sfn|Henderson|1963|pp=[https://archive.org/details/studiesineconomi0000hend/page/63 63], [https://archive.org/details/studiesineconomi0000hend/page/69 69–70]}} He established new regulations for tax officials to reduce graft.{{sfn|Schui|2011|pp=371–399}} In 1781, Frederick made coffee a royal monopoly and employed disabled soldiers, the [[coffee sniffers]], to spy on citizens illegally roasting coffee, much to the annoyance of the general population.{{sfn|Liberles|2012|p=[{{Google book|id=pMtiGgdGSiQC|page=29|plainurl=yes}} 29]}}

Though Frederick started many reforms during his reign, his ability to see them to fulfillment was not as disciplined or thorough as his military successes.{{sfn|Ozment|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/mightyfortressne00ozme/page/141 141]}}