The one historical character among the German rulers of this time is Frederick William of Brandenburg, who is generally called "The Great Elector." In bravery, energy and administrative ability, he was the first worthy successor of Frederick of Hohenzollern. No sooner had peace been declared than he set to work to restore order to his wasted and disturbed territory: he imitated Sweden in organizing a standing army, small at first, but admirably disciplined; he introduced a regular system of taxation, of police and of justice, and encouraged trade and industry in all possible ways. In a few years a war between Sweden and Poland gave him the opportunity of interfering, in the hope of obtaining the remainder of Pomerania. He first marched to Königsberg, the capital of the Duchy of Prussia, which belonged to Brandenburg, but under the sovereignty of Poland. Allying himself first with the Swedes, he participated in a great victory at Warsaw in July, 1656, and then found it to his advantage to go over to the side of John Casimir, king of Poland, who offered him the independence of Prussia. This was his only gain from the war; for, by the peace of 1660, he was forced to give up Western Pomerania, which he had in the mean time conquered from Sweden. [Sidenote: 1667. WAR WITH LOUIS XIV.] Louis XIV. of France was by this time aware that his kingdom had nothing to fear from any of its neighbors, and might easily be enlarged at their expense. In 1667, he began his wars of conquest, by laying claim to Brabant, and instantly sending Turenne and Condé over the frontier. A number of fortresses, unprepared for resistance, fell into their hands; but Holland, England and Sweden formed an alliance against France, and the war terminated in 1668 by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. Louis's next step was to ally himself with England and Sweden against Holland, on the ground that a Republic, by furnishing a place of refuge for political fugitives, was dangerous to monarchies. In 1672 he entered Holland with an army of 118,000 men, took Geldern, Utrecht and other strongly-fortified places, and would soon have made himself master of the country, if its inhabitants had not shown themselves capable of the sublimest courage and self-sacrifice. They were victorious over France and England on the sea, and defended themselves stubbornly on the land. Even the German Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Münster furnished troops to Louis XIV. and the Emperor Leopold promised to remain neutral. Then Frederick William of Brandenburg allied himself with Holland, and so wrought upon the Emperor by representing the danger to Germany from the success of France, that the latter sent an army under General Montecuccoli to the Rhine. But the Austrian troops remained inactive; Louis XIV. purchased the support of the Archbishops of Mayence and Treves; Westphalia was invaded by the French, and in 1673 Frederick William was forced to sign a treaty of neutrality.