Voltaire was a great French writer of the eighteenth century. Indeed, he was one of the greatest men whom European civilization produced. He was truthful, tolerant and benevolent. He sneered at everything. He was a man of critical genius and humanity. He was a man of perfect character and had a dynamic personality. He was anti-Nazi by nature. Above all, he was a man of contradictions. He was mischievous but a free-man. Frederick was a German dictator who believed in force, fraud and cruelty. He was a great organizer and was over-ambitious. He was a cultivated but sensitive gentleman. He believed in freedom of speech but he was a tyrant. Voltaire loved the human race while Frederick despised the human race. This is the dividing line between Voltaire and Frederick. Voltaire believed in humanity whereas Frederick did not. Frederick was a cynic whereas Voltaire was an optimist.
On being invited, Voltaire visited Frederick and stayed in Berlin. In the beginning, they were cordial and praised each other. But in the later years, Voltaire found the hidden cruelty in Frederick. Frederick also saw the tiresome little monkey in Voltaire. Voltaire involved in a shady financial transaction. He quarreled with another French man, drank too much chocolate and thus he gave more trouble to the King. At last, he left Berlin after a stay of two years.
But Frederick, who was cynical, worked through his Gestapo and got Voltaire and his niece arrested. Voltaire was imprisoned and tormented. With the king's intervention, Voltaire was released. Voltaire, for all his faults, was a free-man but Frederick was a tyrant.