''Anti-Machiavel'' is an 18th-century essay by

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

, King of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

and

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

, consisting of a chapter-by-chapter rebuttal of ''

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( it, Il Principe ; la, De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of ''The ...

'', the 16th-century book by

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli ( , , ; 3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527), occasionally rendered in English as Nicholas Machiavel ( , ; see below), was an Italian diplomat, author, philosopher and historian who lived during the Renaissance. ...

. It was first published in September 1740, a few months after Frederick became king.

Composition and publication

The work, written in French, was produced at a turning point in Frederick's life, after his turbulent and rebellious youth, and immediately before his assumption of the throne of Prussia. Frederick had, of course, read Machiavelli long before; it is not exactly clear what drew his attention to this subject in the late 1730s, although his affiliation with Voltaire and his impending change in rank most certainly contributed to the project. It is known from letters to Voltaire that Frederick began to ruminate on the project early in 1738; his draft of the brief work was completed by the end of 1739. Voltaire took over in Summer 1740. Living in Huis Honselaarsdijk, the Prussian residence near The Hague, and working with a dubious printer named Jan van Duren, Voltaire revised the text extensively on purpose and in order to get the manuscript back.Anti-Machiavel by Frederick II, p.

/ref> There was also a combined edition, with Voltaire's emendations as footnotes. Frederick sent Francesco Algarotti to London to take care of the publication of Anti-Machiavel in English. In the meantime, Frederick had become king, and his authorship — which was a very open secret — made the book an instant success and bestseller. Not surprisingly, Frederick had other matters to occupy his attention, and he did not return to the work in an appreciable way.

Argument

Frederick's argument is essentially moral in nature: he asserts that Machiavelli offered a partial and biased view of statecraft. His own views appear to reflect a largely Enlightenment ideal of rational and benevolent statesmanship: the king, Frederick contends, is charged with maintaining the health and prosperity of his subjects. On the one hand, then, Machiavelli erred by assigning too great a value on princely machinations that, Frederick claims, ended in disaster, as the king's evil actions are taken up by his subjects. On the other hand, and in support of the first idea, Frederick points out the numerous cases in which Machiavelli had ignored or slighted the bad ends of the numerous malefactors he describes and praises.

References

Sources

* Anti-Machiavel, of oordeelkundig onderzoek, van den Vorst, van Machiavel ... by Frederick II, Voltaire, H. Zweerts. Dutch translation from 174

*

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, ...

(1865). ''

History of Friedrich II of Prussia ''History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great'' is a biography of Friedrich II of Prussia by Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle. It was first published in six volumes from 1858 to 1865. Composition ...

'', Book 10. Project Gutenberg. March, 2000. {{authority control 1740 books Essays about politics Frederick the Great German essays Political literature Niccolò Machiavelli Mirrors for princes Books in political philosophy