Editing Frederick the Great (section)

== Historiography and legacy ==
{{see also|Portraits of Frederick the Great}}
Frederick's legacy has been subject to a wide variety of interpretations.{{sfn|Valentin|1934|pp=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/24401202 115–123]}} For instance, [[Thomas Carlyle]]'s ''[[History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great|History of Frederick the Great]]'' (8 vol. 1858–1865) emphasised the power of one great "hero", in this case Frederick, to shape history.{{sfn|Bentley|2002|pp=398–400, 414–415}} In German memory, Frederick became a great national icon and many Germans said he was the greatest monarch in modern history. These claims particularly were popular in the 19th century.{{sfn|Gooch|1947|p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatru0000gooc_n4j0/page/343 343]}} For example, German historians often made him the romantic model of a glorified warrior, praising his leadership, administrative efficiency, devotion to duty and success in building up Prussia to a leading role in Europe.{{sfn|Valentin|1934|pp=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/24401202 117–120]}} Frederick's popularity as a heroic figure remained high in Germany even after [[World War I]].{{sfn|Gooch|1947|pp=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatru0000gooc_n4j0/page/370 370–371]}}

Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis glorified Frederick as a precursor to Adolf Hitler.{{sfn|Kershaw|2000|pp=[https://archive.org/details/hitler193645neme00kers/page/610 610–611]}} In an attempt to legitimise the Nazi regime, Propaganda Minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] commissioned artists to render fanciful images of Frederick, [[Otto Von Bismarck|Bismarck]], and Hitler together to create a sense of a historical continuum amongst them.{{sfn|Craig|1978|p=[https://archive.org/details/germany1866194500crai/page/543 543]}} Throughout World War II, Hitler often compared himself to Frederick,{{sfn|Kershaw|2000|p=[https://archive.org/details/hitler193645neme00kers/page/277 277]}} and he kept a copy of [[Anton Graff]]'s portrait of Frederick with him to the end in the ''[[Führerbunker]]'' in Berlin.{{sfn|Hoffmann|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tKftDBVbLAQC&pg=PA49 49]}}

After the war, the role of Prussia in German history was minimised and Frederick's reputation was downgraded in both [[East Germany|East]]{{sfn|MacDonogh|2000|p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatli00macd/page/6 6]}} and [[West Germany]],{{sfn|Clark|2006|pp=[https://archive.org/details/ironkingdomrised00chri/page/678 678–680]}} partly due to the Nazis' fascination with him and his connection with Prussian militarism.{{sfnm|Lau|2012|ps= : {{lang|de|Der einvernehmliche Konsens der Anti-Hitler-Koalition des Zweiten Weltkrieges und Siegermächte über Preußen wurde durch deren Memorandum vom 8. August 1946 im Alliierten Kontrollrat zusammengefasst: "Es muss nicht eigens betont werden, dass Preußen in den letzten 200 Jahren eine Bedrohung für die Sicherheit Europas dargestellt hat.|}} [The consensus of the anti-Hitler coalition of the Second World War and the victorious powers over Prussia was summarized in their memorandum of August 8, 1946 in the Allied Control Council: "It goes without saying that Prussia has been a threat to security for the past 200 years"...]}} During the second half of the 20th century, political attitudes towards Frederick's image were ambivalent, particularly in communist East Germany.<ref>{{harvnb|Lau|2012|ps= : {{lang|de|Die offizielle Sicht der DDR auf Friedrich II. und Preußen war keineswegs eine Einbahnstraße.}} [The GDR's official view of Frederick II and Prussia was by no means a one-way street.]}}</ref> For example, immediately after World War II images of Prussia were removed from public spaces,<ref>{{harvnb|Lau|2012|ps={{lang|de|...in der SBZ/DDR die Herrschaftszeichen des "reaktionären Preußentums" keinen Platz im öffentlichen Raum haben durften.}} [...in the Soviet Zone / GDR the symbols of "reactionary Prussia" were allowed to have no place in public space.]}}</ref> including [[Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great|Frederick's equestrian statue]] on the [[Unter den Linden]], but in 1980 his statue was re-erected.{{sfnm|1a1=Elkins|1a2=Hofmeister|1y=1988|1pp=[{{Google books|id=8VqRAgAAQBAJ|pg=PA10|plainurl=yes}} 10–11]}} Since the end of the [[Cold War]], Frederick's reputation has continued to grow in reunified Germany.{{sfnm|Clark|2006|1p=[https://archive.org/details/ironkingdomrised00chri/page/686 686]|Heilbrunn|2012}}

In the 21st century, the view of Frederick as a capable and effective leader remains strong among military historians.{{sfnm|Citino|2010|Fraser|2001|2p=[https://archive.org/details/frederickgreatki00fras/page/4 4]}} However, the originality of his achievements is debated,{{sfn|Krimmer|Simpson|2011|p=[{{Google book|id=rMLE1IaIEKkC|page=2|plainurl=yes}} 2]}} as many were based on developments already underway.{{sfn|Storring|2017|pp=[https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020834/https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/277782/Adam%20Storring%20PhD%20Dissertation%20Version%20Printed.pdf 279–284]}} He has been studied as a model of [[servant leadership]] in management research{{sfnm|1a1=Langhof|1a2=Güldenberg|1y=2019|1loc=[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2397002219869903 Introduction]|2a1=Langhof|2a2=Güldenberg|2y=2020|2pp=32–68}} and is held in high regard for his patronage of the arts.{{sfn|Donoghue|2016}} He has been seen as an exemplar of enlightened absolutism,{{sfn|Blanning|2016|p=[{{Google book|id=Hz_TCwAAQBAJ|page=431|plainurl=yes}} 431]}} though this label has been questioned in the 21st century as many enlightenment principles directly contrast with his military reputation.{{sfn|Paret|2012|pp=29–33}}