FEDERICO GUGLIELMO I, king of PRUSSIA. — Born on 15 August 1688, died on 21 May 1740. The Northern War compelled him to reach an agreement with Peter I of Russia; in 1715 he declared war on Sweden, and by the Peace of Stockholm (1720) he obtained Stettin and the mouth of the Oder.
Of harsh and soldierly character, he instituted an iron discipline in the administration and the army. He also drew his troops from among the peasants, while the officers were chosen exclusively from the nobility. He gave rise to a state of soldiers and officials, governed directly by the sovereign.
BIBL.: G. Künzel, Die drei grossen Hohamvolters, Stoccolda 1922, V. indice; C. Hinrichs, Friedrich Wilhelm I. König von Preussen, Amburg 1941; R. Ersann, The Potsdam Führer: F. William I. father of prussian militarism, Novak York 1941; see also P. Muret, La preponderance anglaise, 2nd ed., Parigi 1942, p. 46 ff. (with bibliography). Roberto Palmarocchi