Frederick of Prussia’s Anti-Machiavel is published with Voltaire’s help
In 1740 Anti-Machiavel appeared, a royal-Enlightenment critique of The Prince issued under Frederick’s name with Voltaire’s editorial labour. Machiavelli is the target, not the author of 1740. In the causal graph this event strengthens Democratic Resilience, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — an improving welfare path.
Read the full account
In 1740 Anti-Machiavel appeared, a royal-Enlightenment critique of The Prince issued under Frederick’s name with Voltaire’s editorial labour. Machiavelli is the target, not the author of 1740.
Context
A king denouncing raison d’état while practising it is mixed.
Niccolò Machiavelli is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.
Why it matters
A published rebuttal of princely cynicism is a small improving path. It is not a constitution.
It is not a constitution.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Niccolo Machiavelli
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.16 · verified
Florentine secretary and writer as documented. Printers, censors, and later rulers reuse the name.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactFrederick of Prussia’s Anti-Machiavel is published with Voltaire’s help
- strengthensDriverDemocratic Resilience
- strengthensIndicators (3)Having a say in government
impact weight 0.25 · Effect from 1 January 1740 · verified
A published rebuttal of princely cynicism is a small improving path. It is not a constitution.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.17 (weight 0.25 × strength 0.7)
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.11 (weight 0.25 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.53 score from 0 to 1 · 0.34 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.17 score from 0 to 1 to 0.53 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.11 (weight 0.25 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Anti-Machiavel — Internet ArchiveInternet Archive · High credibility · verified
- 2.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Niccolò MachiavelliStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, and museums are not converted into extra lifetime acts. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. Confidence is stated on the impact path. A later English edition is not a recovered autograph. If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here. Confidence is stated on the impact path.
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorNiccolo Machiavelli
- contributed toFactFrederick of Prussia’s Anti-Machiavel is published with Voltaire’s help
- strengthensDriverDemocratic Resilience
- strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Frederick of Prussia’s Anti-Machiavel is published with Voltaire’s help. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/mc-frederick-antimachiavel-1740
https://factrail.ai/facts/mc-frederick-antimachiavel-1740
Accessed 16 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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