What if Frederick the Great had been executed by his father?

Wikipedia said:
When he was 18, Frederick plotted to flee to England with Hans Hermann von Katte and other junior army officers. While the royal retinue was near Mannheim in the Electorate of the Palatinate, Robert Keith, Peter's brother, had an attack of conscience when the conspirators were preparing to escape and begged Frederick William for forgiveness on 5 August 1730;[11] Frederick and Katte were subsequently arrested and imprisoned in Küstrin. Because they were army officers who had tried to flee Prussia for Great Britain, Frederick William leveled an accusation of treason against the pair. The king threatened the crown prince with the death penalty, then considered forcing Frederick to renounce the succession in favour of his brother, Augustus William, although either option would have been difficult to justify to the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire.[12] The king forced Frederick to watch the decapitation of his confidant Katte at Küstrin on 6 November, leaving the crown prince to faint away and suffer hallucinations for the following two days.[13]

Wikipedia said:
After the prince attempted to flee to England with his tutor, Hans Hermann von Katte, the father had Katte executed before the eyes of the prince, who himself was court-martialled.[4] The court declared itself not competent in this case. Whether it was the king's intention to have his son executed as well (as Voltaire claims) is not clear.

Okay so basically Frederick attempted to escape to England, but was caught. Because by running away Frederick had deserted the Prussian army his father court-martialled him, but the court claimed itself not competent enough to perform the trial. Some claimed that Frederick father wanted to execute him (punishment for desertion).

So what if Frederick the Great had been executed?
 
Okay so basically Frederick attempted to escape to England, but was caught. Because by running away Frederick had deserted the Prussian army his father court-martialled him, but the court claimed itself not competent enough to perform the trial. Some claimed that Frederick father wanted to execute him (punishment for desertion).

So what if Frederick the Great had been executed?

Execution was a remote possibility. No doubt his father was draconian but executing one's own heir would isolate Prussia politically. The rest of Europe would be horrified and this would greatly undermine Prussian internationally. Possibly, it would have been seen as a type of mental illness on the part of Frederick I.

Plus, I'm not sure if Frederick II's father really liked his younger sons any better.

More likely, Frederick II would have been placed on house arrest and made generally miserable for years on end.
 
Frederick William liked Prince August William and wanted him to be his successor. What if Frederick William succeeded in forcing Fritz (Frederick the Great) to give up his rights to the throne, so August William could become the heir presumptive.
 
Frederick William liked Prince August William and wanted him to be his successor. What if Frederick William succeeded in forcing Fritz (Frederick the Great) to give up his rights to the throne, so August William could become the heir presumptive.

If Frederick William wanted that, he could have simply let Fritz keep going to England.
 
If Frederick William wanted that, he could have simply let Fritz keep going to England.

No he couldn't. It would have been a massive humiliation, the heir to the throne fleeing his father for the safety of England. It wold place a key pretender in the hands of a rival country, giving them a weapon against Prussia in the event of a war. Friedrich Wilhelm wasn't a stupid man and would never have allowed the flight to succeed if he knew about it.
 
Execution was a remote possibility. No doubt his father was draconian but executing one's own heir would isolate Prussia politically. The rest of Europe would be horrified and this would greatly undermine Prussian internationally. Possibly, it would have been seen as a type of mental illness on the part of Frederick I.

Plus, I'm not sure if Frederick II's father really liked his younger sons any better.

More likely, Frederick II would have been placed on house arrest and made generally miserable for years on end.

Peter the Great had his only son executed in favor of his daughter Elizabeth. If Russia could do that, I don't see why not Prussia. But if the heir proves upon his succession to be not "the Great", but "the Unready", the effects for the 7YW and future world history will be profound. If nothing else, should Prussia end up being left in the lurch by Britain (again) you could see the other powers carving up Prussia like a roast, and even have German Unification happening much sooner. And on Austrian terms.

Then if the ARW happens more or less on schedule...:(
 
Peter the Great had his only son executed in favor of his daughter Elizabeth. If Russia could do that, I don't see why not Prussia. But if the heir proves upon his succession to be not "the Great", but "the Unready", the effects for the 7YW and future world history will be profound.

The 7YW (1754-63) was (almost) a continuation of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48) that was started by Frederick invading Silesia. It was a totally unexpected move and his brother may well not have done it.

So you have probably butterflied away OTL's wars - although there will be different ones in the ATL.
 
The 7YW (1754-63) was (almost) a continuation of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48) that was started by Frederick invading Silesia. It was a totally unexpected move and his brother may well not have done it.

So you have probably butterflied away OTL's wars - although there will be different ones in the ATL.

OR, he may have been so "Unready" that he couldn't recognize his own incompetence. We've certainly seen that before in history. Frex, Charles of England, George III, George W. Bush:p:rolleyes:
 
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