Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"As king, he used his military experiences to reorganize Prussia's army. By the time of his death, it had increased in size from 38,000 to 83,000 men and had become the most efficient fighting force in Europe. He also gained Pomerania from Sweden in 1720 under the Treaty of Stockholm. His son, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great, inherited a wealthy state and went on to make Prussia one of the major powers of Europe." [DK Timelines, p. 320] "The reasons for that country’s swift rise to become the most powerful northern German kingdom are well known, and need only be listed here: the organizing and military genius of three leaders, the Great Elector (1640–1688), Frederick William I (1713–1740), and Frederick “the Great” (1740–1786), the efficiency of the Junker-officered Prussian army, into which as much as four-fifths of the state’s taxable resources were poured; the (relative) fiscal stability, based upon extensive royal domains and encouragement of trade and industry; the willing use of foreign soldiers and entrepreneurs; and the famous Prussian bureaucrats operating under the General War Commissariat." [Kennedy: Great Powers, p. 91-2]