The analogy to Adolf Hitler was so clear that Hitler sent a print to Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Goebbels warned against the drawing of the comparison in print, in particular, because of the pessimistic mood that opens the film.

[5] Goebbels had some difficulty with the Army High Command over this film because it depicted the king as being left in the lurch by his general.

[2] Frederick the Great was previously adapted into film for propaganda usage in The Hymn of Leuthen by future Reich Chamber of Film president Carl Froelich, The Old and the Young King, and Fridericus.

The Great King was commissioned by Joseph Goebbels, who later ordered multiple scenes to be rewritten.

[9] It was approved by the censors on 28 February, and premiered in Berlin on 3 March to an audience of wounded soldiers and armaments workers.