Frederick's Legacy

A timeline by Nkbeeching

Introduction
Frederick the Great (also known as Friedrich der Große in german). Friedrich II von Preußen (Frederick von Hohenzollern)  was the soveirgn of the kingdom of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. During his reign Prussia became a great power having taken on all of the Great European powers at one point or another. He is recognized for his military achievements and for his patronage of the arts and philosophy.

Despite all of his accomplishments, he never produced an heir due to the distaste he held for his spouse. The cause of their distant and mutually hatefilled relationship traces its origins to Frederick's efforts to escape Prussia on his 18th birthday. Out of anger his father King Frederick-William I imprisoned him and killed his beloved friend Hans Hermann von Katte. Afterwards Frederick was forced to marry Elisabeth Christine of Bruinswick-Wolfenbuttel-Bevern. These events helped mold the mentality of Frederick the great throughout his reign. But What if he had married another.

Friedrich's mother Sophie Dorothea von Hanover had hoped ot wed Friedrich and his sister Wilhelmina with the children of her brother King George II of England and Hanover. If it hadn't been for the efforts of Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff this marriage may have very well come to realization, shifting the balance of power in Central Europe greatly.

PoD
Otl Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff was the Imperial Ambassador to the Court of Prussia. In 1726 Seckendorff through a mix of bribery and diplomacy convinced Friedrich-Wilhelm I to make extreme demands which ended any chances of a marriage or alliance between Britain and Prussia. He also helped bring Prussia into Austria's orbit until the death of Friedrich-Wilhelm the Soldier King.

Prior to his diplomatic career Seckendorff served as a soldier under the employment of diverse European countries. He served in the Great Turkish War, the Spanish war of Succession, amongst others. Throughout his military career he came close to dying on a number of occasions most notably during the Battle of Malplaquet.....

On the 11th of May 1709, amidst the heat of battle and the shouts of young men dying, Generalmajor von Seckendorff of the Saxon auxilliary troops was struck by a stray musket shot leading to his untimely demise. Despite the fact that his death was of little consequense to the war and to the final peace talks, it would have large repprecussions during the following decades.