ABSTRACT
East Prussia had been depopulated and reduced almost to the condition of a desert by the ravages of cattle-disease and the plague, especially in 1709 and 1710, and Frederick William saw that the exiles would prove most desirable colonists. Though attended with great difficulties, the settlement in East Prussia was on the whole a great success, and William managed to extort from the Archbishop compensation for the confiscated property of the emigrants. From the moment of his accession it became obvious that the Prussian state was on the verge of sweeping changes. The gorgeous funeral which William gave to his father may be regarded as emblematic of the obsequies of the ceremonious and extravagant order which had prevailed under the first King in Prussia. With so strong a force at his disposal the unimportant part played by William in international affairs is a little surprising.
