Nothing seems more typically ‘Prussian’ than the wars of Frederick the Great. Frederick’s aggressive campaigns have been portrayed as precursors of Germany’s strategy in the First and Second World Wars, his military methods supposedly reflecting a ‘German Way of War’ shaped by Prussia-Germany’s geopolitical position. This article, however, for the first time examines systematically the intellectual inspirations for Frederick’s military ideas, focusing on the period up to the Seven Years War (1756-63). It shows that Frederick was primarily inspired by France, and particularly by the towering figure of King Louis XIV.