Frederick William

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Frederick William (1620–88) ( Great Elector) Elector of Brandenburg (1640–88). He inherited a collection of small, disparate and impoverished territories ravaged by the Thirty Years' War. By the end of his reign, Frederick's organizational powers had created a unified state with a sound, centralized tax system and a formidable standing army. The powers of the provincial estates (assemblies) were reduced, and he encouraged commerce and industry. Frederick acquired Eastern Pomerania at the Peace of Westphalia and, by his interventions in the war between Poland and Sweden (1655–60), gained sovereignty over Prussia, formerly a Polish fief.

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