Policies Administrative modernisation thumb|alt=Portrait painting of Frederick as an old man|upright=.8|Portrait of Frederick by Anton Graff (1781, Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin). In his earliest published work, the Anti-Machiavel, and his later (Political Testament), Frederick wrote that the sovereign was the first servant of the state. Frederick helped transform Prussia from a European backwater to an economically strong and politically reformed state. He protected his industries with high tariffs and minimal restrictions on domestic trade. He increased the freedom of speech in press and literature, abolished most uses of judicial torture, and limited which crimes could be punished by death. Working with his Grand Chancellor Samuel von Cocceji, he reformed the judicial system and made it more efficient. He also moved the courts toward greater legal equality of all citizens by removing special courts for special social classes. The reform was completed after Frederick's death, resulting in the Prussian Law Code of 1794, which balanced absolutism with human rights and corporate privilege with equality before the law. Reception to the law code was mixed as it was often viewed as contradictory.
Policies Administrative modernisation thumb|alt=Portrait painting of Frederick as an old man|upright=.8|Portrait of Frederick by Anton Graff (1781, Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin). In his earliest published work, the Anti-Machiavel, and his later (Political Testament), Frederick wrote that the sovereign was the first servant of the state. Frederick helped transform Prussia from a European backwater to an economically strong and politically reformed state. He protected his industries with high tariffs and minimal restrictions on domestic trade He increased the freedom of speech in press and literature, abolished most uses of judicial torture, and limited which crimes could be punished by death. Working with his Grand Chancellor Samuel von Cocceji, he reformed the judicial system and made it more efficient. He also moved the courts toward greater legal equality of all citizens by removing special courts for special social classes. The reform was completed after Frederick's death, resulting in the Prussian Law Code of 1794, which balanced absolutism with human rights and corporate privilege with equality before the law. Reception to the law code was mixed as it was often viewed as contradictory.