Diplomacy Without Arms Is Music Without

Widely attributed to Frederick, this maxim captures a realpolitik view of diplomacy that he practiced throughout his reign. Frederick's foreign policy combined extensive correspondence, negotiation, and treaty-making with the credible threat — and frequent exercise — of military force. He seized Silesia from Austria in 1740 in a surprise invasion that opened the War of Austrian Succession, demonstrating that diplomatic claims without military backing were hollow. His correspondence with Voltaire shows he was under no illusion about the role of power in international relations.