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„Règner sur les coeurs”: Frederick II in the Age of Sensibility

The article focuses on the Prussian king Frederick II and analyzes his “emotional policies”. Although, like most of his contemporaries, he considered himself to be an homme sensible, in direct reference to the Age of Sensibility, his policies spoke a different language: he acted ruthlessly by embarking on war whenever it suited his interests while his people felt the ensuing financial squeeze. Why, then, did he write so fervently about political emotions in his manifestos and testaments? Why did he praise monarchs whose aim was to be loved rather than feared by their subjects? What did the fact that he spoke of his own love for his people mean? How did this love materialize, and how did the people receive it? The article argues that Frederick was indeed keen on presenting himself as a loving and beloved king because he had developed an interest in his people as productive and imaginative as well as obedient but not necessarily oppositional subjects. He thus engaged in policies that aimed at reaching out to the people by fashioning himself as an approachable king: he invited them to write petitions and complaints and always staged his returns from expeditions or wars with ceremonious displays of loyalty from the gathered crowds. It is certainly hard to judge how this policy was received by the people. The available sources allow us to discern a growing sense of pride and expectation among urban dwellers, who engaged in a two-way communication with the king: on the one hand, they gladly and thankfully showed him their devotion, love, and reverence; at the same time, however, they put demands on his time and approachability. Gradually they started thinking in terms of laying down conditions: if the king wants us to love him, we want something back, we want him to prove his love for us. At this point, some scant traces of a change in political communication may be identified – a change that became more pronounced and evident after the French Revolution.