Society of the Cincinnati Lecture

George Washington and Frederick the Great — A Timely Comparison: Two different ways of looking at the Enlightenment

Join the Department of History for the annual Society of Cincinnati lecture by Jürgen Overhoff, professor of the history of education at the Universität Münster.

George Washington and Frederick the Great were two of the most significant and influential figures of the 18th century. They admired each other as military leaders, but their political views differed sharply. Washington characterized the Prussian king as an absolutist tyrant, while the first American president saw himself as a champion of federalism, parliamentarianism and the separation of powers. At a time when liberal democracy is being challenged by authoritarian conceptions of the state, examining competing constitutional models from the Age of Enlightenment can provide valuable guidance and orientation. Reflecting upon the parallell lives of Washington and Frederick the Great is therefore a timely comparison.

Overhoff has served as president of the German Society for Eighteenth Century Studies and is an internationally acknowledged expert on the transatlantic Enlightenment. He has published monographs on Thomas Hobbes, Benjamin Franklin as well as a double biography of George Washington and Frederick the Great.