Background to the Letters Between Voltaire and Frederick the Great
Ross Scimeca, December 2016
Introduction: Voltaire and Frederick the GreatIn August 1736, Voltaire receives a letter from the crown Prince of Prussia, who is enamored with Voltaire’s Henriade and Zaire. For the next four years there will be many letters between the two men dealing with the problem of free will and the philosophical writings of Christian Wolff (1679-1754).
In 1740, the crown Prince of Prussia becomes Frederick the Great and a new epoch in the relations between the two men begins. The next ten years were, on both sides, years of growing disillusionment. Voltaire very soon discovers that his phrase about "un prince philosophe qui rendra les hommes heureux" is indeed a phrase and nothing more. This philosopher-prince, although a monarch of the Enlightenment, would nevertheless have a career of conquest, plunging all Europe into war, and turning Prussia into a great military power that would eventually unify all the German principalities in the Nineteenth Century.
In 1743, Voltaire visits Berlin for several weeks. Frederick hopes that Voltaire would stay in Berlin, but he goes back to France, Subsequent correspondence by Frederick to Voltaire deal with the former’s fascination with Voltaire’s La Pucelle, a parodic and satirical poem dealing with Joan of Arc, widely banned in Europe.
In July 1750, Voltaire returns to Berlin and the royal palace at Potsdam. He will remain there until 1753. For an excellent account of what occurred between Frederick and Voltaire see Voltaire and Frederick the Great from Books and Characters, in French and English by Lytton Strachey, 1915. Copyright 1977 by Geoffrey Sauer and available online at: http://books.eserver.org/nonfiction/strachey/voltaire-and-frederick.html
This HISTORICAL TIMELINE is intended as an aid to the reader of these letters to further appreciate the broader political, cultural, and intellectual events taking place in France and Germany during this period.
1740 Frederick ascends the throne of Prussia upon the death of his father Frederick William. He abandons peaceful pursuits to make his place in the geopolitical intrigue of 18th-century Europe. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (1685-1740) dies leaving his daughter Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (1717-1780) as heir to both the Empire and the House of Hapsburg. Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria, and France all repudiate her claim as Holy Roman Empress. Frederick invades Silesia starting the War of the Austrian Succession. Emilie du Châtelet (1706-1749) publishes her Institutions de Physique. Her collaboration and romantic involvement with Voltaire is well-known and lasts for most of her adult life.
1741 Prussia consists of scattered territories across central Europe with few significant allies save for Great Britain. Sensing weakness in the Austrian Empire, Frederick deceives Habsburg Queen Maria Theresa to allow his armies to occupy Lower Silesia in exchange for protection from France, Spain, and Bavaria. He proceeds to invade key areas, forcing Maria Theresa to cede almost all of Silesia to Prussia. First performance of Mahomet, a play about religious fanaticism.
1742 Charles VII, prince-elector of Bavaria (1697-1745), becomes Holy Roman Emperor. Prussia and Austria sign peace treaty. Frederick builds a new opera house in Berlin. The celebrated mathematician/philosopher/scientist Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759) becomes president of the Prussian Academy of Science.
1743 Voltaire is elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London and visits Frederick in Berlin.
1744 England, Austria, Netherlands and Saxony sign anti-Prussian Quadruple Alliance. France and Prussia sign peace treaty. Frederick, initiated into Freemasonry in 1738, grants his royal protection to the National Grand Lodge of Germany.
1745 Frederick defeats both Austrian and Saxon forces in three major battles to hold on to Silesia. Frederick commissions the architect Hans Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (1699-1753) to build the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. Jean-Philippe Rameau’s (1683-1764) opera-ballet La princesse de Navarre (text from Voltaire’s play) is performed in Versailles in the Théâtre du château. Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (1721-1764) is introduced to the royal court of Versailles and becomes the chief mistress of King Louis XV. She is henceforth known as Madame de Pompadour. At her urging, the king appoints Voltaire Royal Historiographer of France, a title bestowed upon him as a result of his histories of both Louis XIV and the Swedish King Charles II. Francis I, François Étienne, (1708-1765) becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1746 Frederick establishes the first German code of law. Denis Diderot (1713-1784) publishes his Pensées philosophiques wherein deism is postulated and argued for over other forms of theism. Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera-ballet Le temple de la gloire (libretto by Voltaire) is staged at the Grande Écurie in Versailles.
1747 Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709-1751) publishes anonymously the treatise L'Homme Machine arguing that man is nothing more than a composite of complex matter. Fearing imprisonment, he goes to Berlin where he writes Discours sur le Bonheur arguing in favor for hedonistic sensualism, an ethical position that outrages Voltaire and most Enlightenment philosophers.
1748 The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession, granting Prussia all of Silesia and Spain the Duchy of Parma. Voltaire flees to the court of Stanislas (Louis XV’s father-in-law) in Lunéville near Nancy.
1749 Denis Diderot publishes his Lettre sur les aveugles, a treatise arguing for the notion of "thinking matter" (following La Mettrie) and demonstrating that the “argument by design” is unconvincing. He is incarcerated in the Vincennes fortress, later to be released on Voltaire’s behest. Émilie du Châtelet completes her translation and commentary of Newton’s Principia Mathematica. It will be published posthumously in 1759. Voltaire returns to Paris when Mme du Châtelet dies this year.
1750 Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (1717-1783) publish an elaborate prospectus announcing the project of the Encyclopédie.
1750-1753 Frederick invites Voltaire to Berlin.
1751-1765 First Seventeen volumes of the Encyclopédie are published.
1752 Voltaire writes the satirical essay Diatribe du docteur Akakia attacking Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis’s theories and his abuse of power as president of the Berlin Academy of Science. Voltaire writes Micromégas, a fantasy satirizing the follies of human knowledge.
1753 King Louis XV disbands the French parliament. Serious disagreements with Frederick leads to Voltaire’s departure from Berlin.
1755 Voltaire moves to Geneva, where he purchases Les Délices, accompanied by his niece Madame Denis, Marie Louise Mignot (1712–1790), who remains with him for the rest of his life. The Great Earthquake of Lisbon occurs on All Saints Day (November 1st). This historical event will have lasting philosophical influence for deism’s position on the problem of natural evil and the ontological unacceptability to the idea of an omnipotent God.
1756 Austria, backed by France and Russia, tries to regain control of Silesia. Frederick strikes preemptively, invading Saxony, and with his ally Great Britain, starts the Seven Years War.
1757 Voltaire acts as unofficial diplomatic intermediary between France and Prussia after the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756. Robert-François Damiens (1715-1757) attempts to assassinate King Louis XV. The Holy Roman Empire declares war on Prussia. In the Battle at Prague, Frederik beats the army of the Holy Roman Empire. However, at the Battle at Kolin in Bohemia, the Austrian army beats Prussia and three months later occupies Berlin for one night. The city is ransomed for 2000,000 thalers.
1758 Voltaire moves to Ferney. At Zorndorf, Prussia beats the Russian army with over a thousand casualties. At Hochkirch in Saxony, the Austrian army beats Prussia, but fails to take Dresden. Saxony remains under Prussian rule. Voltaire visits the Elector Palatine at Schwetzingen, near Mannheim.
1759 At Kunersdorf, the Russian-Austrian armies overpower Prussian forces. Frederick loses half of his forces. He considers abduction or suicide. January/February Voltaire publishes his novel Candide ou L’Optimisme, a satirical picaresque novella rejecting Leibniz’s idea of optimism and the latter’s conclusion that our world is the best possible one that God created.
1760 In the Battle of Landshut in Silesia, Austria beats Prussia. Austrian troops occupy the Prussian fortress at Glatz. At Leignitz in Silesia, Frederick scores a major victory defeating both Austrian and Russian troops.
1761 Russian troops occupy the Prussian port city of Kolberg. Paul-Henri Thiry known as the Baron d’ Holbach (1723-1789) publishes Christianisme dévoilé, an attack on Christianity and religion in general as an impediment to the moral advancement of humanity. Voltaire begins his campaign to rehabilitate Jean Calas, a Protestant merchant from Toulouse executed on dubious evidence for the murder of his son.
1762 The death of Empress Elizabeth of Russia (1709-1762) places the pro-Prussian advocate Czar Peter III (1728-1762) on the throne. Russia withdraws from the war. Although Frederick does not gain additional territory, the ensuing treaty allows him to retain Silesia. The infamous Jean Calas case in Toulouse ignites Voltaire’s anger at religious intolerance. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) publishes Emile and Du Social Contract which prompts royal orders for his arrest.
1763 The Treaty of Hubertusburg is signed by Prussia, Austria and Saxony. Together with the Treaty of Paris, it marks the end of the Seven Years' War. Frederick reforms the military and government, granting religious tolerance and freedom of the press. Publication of Voltaire’s Traité sur la Tolérance denouncing religious intolerance and the execution of Jean Calas in 1761.
1764 Voltaire publishes the Dictionnaire philosophique, an encyclopedic dictionary that embraces the concepts of the Enlightenment and argues against certain dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. Madame de Pompadour dies at the age of 42. The Jesuits are suppressed in France.
1765 Because of Voltaire intersession, Jean Calas is posthumously exonerated on all charges. Joseph II, Joseph Benedikt Anton Michael Adam (1741-1790), becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1766 The Chevalier de la Barre is executed in Amiens, for mutilating a crucifix. Voltaire publishes Le Philosophe ignorant.
1767 Voltaire’s L’Ingénu is published. This book is about a Huron called "Child of Nature" who arrives in France and sees the world in a 'natural' way, causing him to interpret things directly. It is a satirical criticism of intolerance, fanaticism, and the Catholic clergy.
1770 Baron d’Holbach publishes Le Système de la nature, an explicitly atheistic and materialistic account of natural philosophy. Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) marries Louis-Auguste, grandson to Louis XV. Voltaire’s Questions sur l’Encyclopédie is published in nine volumes until 1772.
1772 The eleven volumes of plates are completed for the Encyclopédie.
1774 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) publishes his novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers. His play Götz von Berlichingen is premiered in Berlin. Both are definitive works of the Storm and Stress period of German literature. Louis XV dies and his grandson becomes Louis XVI. Publication of Voltaire’s Le Taureau blanc, loosely based on the Greek mythological tale of Europa and the bull. In Voltaire’s tale the Bible is put on the same level as the myths from Ovid and various biblical teachings are ridiculed.
1775 Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799) stages his play Le Barbier de Séville at the Comédie-Française. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) stages his opera Iphigénie en Aulide at the Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris The premiere sparks a huge controversy demonstrating the Enlightenment’s preference for classicism in music and the arts, with its emphasis on balance and clarity of form, over the ostentation and ornateness of baroque music and art. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and other writers associated with the Encyclopédie side with the aesthetic ideals of classicism.
1778 Voltaire returns to Paris in February. He sits for the sculptor Houdon. He attends a meeting of the Académie Française. He is present at the Comédie Française for a triumphal performance of his tragedy Irène. Taken ill he dies on 30 May, one month after his initiation into Freemasonry. He cannot be buried in consecrated ground, and his body is smuggled out of Paris by night and interred at Scellières, in Champagne. Louis XVI declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1781 Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais completes Le Mariage de Figaro. The play initially passed by the censor is banned by Louis XVI after a private reading. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) publishes the first edition of the Kritik der reinen Vernunft.
1783 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s (1729-1781) play Nathan der Weise, a fervent plea for religious tolerance, is staged in Berlin.
1784-89 A complete edition of Voltaire’s writings is published in seventy volumes (the Kehl edition), under the direction of Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais.
1785 Cardinal de Rohan is arrested in Paris for his involvement in the infamous “Necklace Affair” that led to a huge decline in the Queen's popularity and encouraged the popular image of her as a manipulative spendthrift, interested more in vanity than in the welfare of France and the French.
1786 Frederick the Great dies. His paternal nephew Frederick William (1744-1797) becames King of Prussia, as Frederick William II. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) stages his opera Le nozze di Figaro (based on the Beaumarchais play) at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
1788 Madame de Stael (Anne Louise Germaine de Stael-Holstein, 1766-1817) publishes Lettres sur les ouvrages et le caractère de J.-J. Rousseau.
1789 The French Revolution begins with the Storming of the Bastille.
1791 In July, in an enthusiastic Revolutionary ceremony, Voltaire’s remains are brought back to Paris and placed in the Panthéon. Inscribed on the catafalque are the words: “He taught us to be free.”
See bibliography for the timeline above.