ABSTRACT
The principal Prussian territories of Brandenburg, Pomerania and East Prussia were all crucial regions within eastern and central European politics, and had been wrested largely from Sweden, Poland and Austria. It is characteristic of Frederick that his acquaintance with Russia should be through the person of the great Tsar; he had little knowledge of actual conditions in Russia. 'The Russians are characterised by a mixture of distrust and villainy; they are lazy but self-centred; they are given to emulation but have no talent to produce their own initiatives'. Frederick was one of the first to recognise the momentous implications of increased Russian power for western and central European politics. Frederick's ideas about Russian power did not in practice affect his policies in the early years of his reign. Frederick's enhanced international position proved disconcerting to Russian statesmen, not only because of its territorial expansion, but also because of Berlin's close ties with France, whose influence in Poland was an irritant.
