sorry, but I slightly disagree with your arguments, first of all let's analyze the situation in which Frederick found himself upon his accession to the throne in 1440, first of all he had the limited resources of his archducal possessions at his disposal ( i.e. only Inner Austria , because the rest of the archduchy was in the hands of his brother Albert VI, who was hostile to him, of Sigismund and finally of Ladislaus, without forgetting that the whole of Austria was devastated several times by the incursions of the Hussites, with the aim of breaking their support to Sigismund's campaigns ) as if that wasn't enough you immediately have to face a war against the Swiss, and the last slag of the Western schism ( the Council of Basel and the Anti - Pope Felix V ) then there was the need to try to rebuild a semblance of central authority in the Reich, knowing that we could not count on a position of strength or an aggressive policy towards the princes ( given that unfortunately for him he did not have a clearly superior state property to his "vassals", in fact he preferred to opt for a more collegial policy or one aimed at creating solid ties with allies in strategic positions (1) for the rest he certainly was not a capable figure to impose himself militarily like his three main rivals ( Philip the Good, Charles the Bold and obviously Matthias Corvinus ) and which therefore disfigured him in comparison to them but only because the starting conditions in which he finds himself reigning and his propensity for soft power they made him a different ruler than them, but that didn't mean he was any less competent, now he certainly made mistakes or thwarted important opportunities to consolidate his influence as emperor ( especially in Italy, but also occasionally in Germany / Bohemia ) but all in all he was a discreet Caesar who tried to implement his own policy with the few means available its disposition