Editing Frederick the Great (section)

=== Environment and agriculture ===
[[File:Der König überall2.JPG|thumb|alt=Painting of Frederick on a farm with peasants|''The King Everywhere'' by {{ill|Robert Warthmüller|de}} (1886, [[German Historical Museum]], Berlin). Frederick is depicted inspecting a potato harvest.]]
Frederick was keenly interested in land use, especially [[drainage|draining]] swamps and opening new [[farmland]] for colonisers to increase the kingdom's food supply. He called it {{lang|de|Peuplierungspolitik}} (peopling policy). About 1,200 new villages were founded in his reign.{{sfn|Blackbourn|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/conquestofnature00davi/page/50 50]}} He told Voltaire, "Whoever [[soil quality|improves the soil]], cultivates [[Barren vegetation|land lying waste]] and drains swamps, is making conquests from barbarism".{{sfn|Blackbourn|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/conquestofnature00davi/page/45 45]}} Using improved technology enabled him to create new farmland through a massive drainage programme in the country's [[Oderbruch]] [[marsh]]land. This programme created roughly {{convert|60000|ha}} of new farmland, but [[habitat loss|eliminated]] vast swaths of [[natural habitat]], destroyed the region's [[biodiversity]], and displaced numerous native plant and animal communities. Frederick saw this project as the "taming" and "conquering" of nature,{{sfn|Blackbourn|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/conquestofnature00davi/page/75 75]}} considering uncultivated land "useless",{{sfn|Blackbourn|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/conquestofnature00davi/page/43 43]}} an attitude that reflected his enlightenment era, [[rationalist]] sensibilities.{{sfn|Blackbourn|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/conquestofnature00davi/page/19 19]}} He presided over the construction of canals for bringing crops to market, and introduced new crops, especially the [[potato]] and the [[turnip]], to the country. For this, he was sometimes called ''Der Kartoffelkönig'' (the Potato King).{{sfn|The Potato King|2012|ps=: {{lang|de|Entgegen der weitverbreiteten Meinung habe Friedrich II. die Kartoffel nicht in Preußen eingeführt...Allerdings habe sich Friedrich sehr um ihre Verbreitung gekümmert.}} [Contrary to popular opinion, Friedrich II did not introduce the potato in Prussia...However, Frederick took great care in spreading it.]}}

Frederick's potato campaign demonstrated an enlightenment view of promoting scientific agriculture and challenging tradition for the benefit of the populace.{{sfn|Robinson|2021}}

Frederick's interest in [[land reclamation]] may have resulted from his upbringing. As a child, his father, Frederick William I, made young Frederick work in the region's provinces, teaching the boy about the area's agriculture and geography. This created an interest in [[agriculture|cultivation]] and development that the boy retained when he became ruler.{{sfn|Blackbourn|2006|pp=[https://archive.org/details/conquestofnature00davi/page/31 31–32]}}

Frederick founded the first [[veterinary school]] in Prussia. Unusually for the time and his aristocratic background, he criticised [[hunting]] as cruel, rough and uneducated. When someone once asked Frederick why he did not wear [[spur]]s on horseback, he replied, "Try sticking a fork into your naked stomach, and you will soon see why."{{sfn|Mitford|1970|p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreat00mitf_0/page/61 61]}} He loved dogs and his horse and wanted to be buried with his greyhounds. In 1752, he wrote to his sister Wilhelmine that people indifferent to loyal animals would not be devoted to their human comrades. He was also close to nature and issued decrees to protect plants.{{sfn|Das Gupta|2013}}