Editing History of Germany (section)

===Rise of Prussia===
[[File:Acprussiamap2.gif|thumb|Prussia became a European great power after 1763 and Austria's greatest rival in Germany.]]
[[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick William]], ruler of [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] since 1640 and later called the Great [[Prince-elector|Elector]], acquired [[Province of Pomerania (1653–1815)|East Pomerania]] via the [[Peace of Westphalia]] in 1648. He reorganized his loose and scattered territories and managed to throw off the vassalage of Prussia under the Kingdom of Poland during the [[Second Northern War]].<ref>Philip G. Dwyer, ed. ''The rise of Prussia: Rethinking Prussian history, 1700–1830'' pp. 1–26.</ref> In order to address the demographic problem of Prussia's largely rural population of about three million, he attracted the immigration and settlement of French [[Huguenots]] in urban areas. Many became craftsmen and entrepreneurs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hornung |first1=Erik |title=Immigration and the Diffusion of Technology: The Huguenot Diaspora in Prussia |journal=American Economic Review |date=2014 |volume=104 |issue=1 |pages=84–122 |doi=10.1257/aer.104.1.84 |hdl=10419/37227 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[Frederick William I of Prussia|King Frederick William I]], known as the ''Soldier King'', who reigned from 1713 to 1740, established the structures for the highly centralized Prussian state and raised a professional army, that was to play a central role.{{Sfn|Clark|2006|pp=78–94}} He also successfully operated a command economy that some historians consider mercantilist.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gawthrop |first=Richard L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VodSxz7Haq4C&pg=PA266 |title=Pietism and the Making of Eighteenth-Century Prussia |date=2 November 2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5210-3012-0 |page=266 |language=en |access-date=30 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kahler |first=Erich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_iiNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT279 |title=Man The Measure: A New Approach To History |date=5 March 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-4297-0934-0 |page=279 |language=en |access-date=30 August 2022}}</ref>

The total population of Germany (in its [[German Empire|1914 territorial extent]]) grew from 16 million in 1700 to 17 million in 1750 and reached 24 million in 1800. The 18th-century economy noticeably profited from widespread practical application of the Scientific method as greater yields and a more reliable agricultural production and the introduction of hygienic standards positively affected the birth rate – death rate balance.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=75, 207–291, 291–323, 324–371, 802–820}}