... successors could build Europe's administratively most efficient and militarily most disciplined state. When Frederick William acceded the ducal throne in 1640 the Thirty Years War was threatening to tear apart his inheritance. Brandenburg-Prussia provided the grounds for a battle that she was not taking any part in. The Brandenburg core territories were particularly badly hit by pillaging mercenary bands that freely roamed the countryside. The twenty year old Frederick William was stuck in a dilemma: He faced an empty treasury, a rabble of an army that was every bit as exploitative as the Swedes or the Imperialists, Diets that were unwilling to obey him and subjects who could not defend themselves and refused to pay others to defend them. The Great Elector's first and most urgent contribution to the Rise of Prussia was to salvage her from the horrors of the Thirty Years War. In 1641 Frederick William managed ...

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