Frederick III of Germany

Frederick III of Germany (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl; Potsdam, October 18, 1831 – June 15, 1888) was the second German emperor and the eighth king of Prussia, from his accession to the throne, on March 9, 1888, until his death, in June of the same year. He was married to Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort, Albert.

Belonging to the very conservative house of Hohenzollern, Frederick soon acquired liberal ideas under the influence of his mother, Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. After completing his studies, which combined military training and liberal arts, the young man married Royal Princess Victoria in 1858, who reaffirmed his progressive ideas. Little by little, the prince distanced himself from his father, King William I , and above all from the head of government, the minister-president Otto von Bismarck. Although he was the heir to the throne, the prince was removed from political affairs and relegated to a merely representative role.

Despite not agreeing with the "Bismarckian" policy of "blood and iron", Frederick also wanted German unification and the creation of a great nation in Europe. Although opposed to war, he participated in the conflicts initiated by his country in the 1860s: the War of the Duchies (1864), the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870). However, despite his military successes, his father kept him away from power. Furthermore, the proclamation of the German Empire in 1871 did not mean any political promotion for him.

After 27 years as heir to the throne, Frederick finally succeeded his father as King of Prussia and German Emperor on March 9, 1888. However, he suffered from advanced laryngeal cancer and died 99 days later, which prevented him from carry out the reforms he had dreamed of. Today, Emperor Frederick III is a controversial personality for historians: while some consider that he could have prevented the start of the First World War by turning Germany into a liberal democracy, others think that he would not have been able to reform the country in depth and They doubt he even wanted to do it.

Biography

Early years and education

Prince Frederick William Nicholas Charles of Hohenzollern was born in the New Palace in Potsdam, Prussia, on October 18, 1831. His father, Prince William, was the second son of King Frederick William III and therefore a brother minor of King Frederick William IV of Prussia. Having been educated in the strictest military tradition of the Hohenzollerns, he served as regency of the kingdom from 1858. Frederick's mother, on the other hand, had received a more liberal and artistic education than her husband and was, in fact, quite Known in Europe for her progressive ideas. Due to these differences in their education, the couple barely understood each other and Federico and his sister Luisa had lonely and difficult childhoods.

Despite the value that the Hohenzollern family placed on military training, Princess Augusta insisted that her son also receive a more traditional education. Frederick turned out to be a brilliant student and was especially gifted in foreign languages, especially all English, French and Latin. He was also an excellent gymnast and also studied history, geography, physics, music and religion. As a good Prussian prince, he became a good horseman.

Initiated very early in military matters, at only 10 years old he was appointed second lieutenant in the 1.er< /span> Infantry regiment of the Prussian guard and decorated with the Order of the Black Eagle. When he turned 18, his family thought he would become more involved in military affairs, but he broke with tradition and enrolled at the University of Bonn. His years as a university student, together with the influence of the less conservative personalities in his family, are key to understanding his liberal convictions.

Impact of liberalism in Germany

Federico grew up in a conflictive era during which liberalism experienced a strong push in the Germanic world. A desire to unify Germany and establish a constitutional monarchy that guaranteed the equality of all citizens before the law began to take shape., the protection of private property and the recognition of civil and political rights. The liberals wanted to impose on the German Confederation a government subject to popular will and representation.

In 1848, when the young Frederick was 16 years old, the development of national sentiment and liberal ideas led to the outbreak of a series of revolutions that eliminated some German and European monarchies. In the German states, the goal of the liberals was the recognition of fundamental freedoms, such as the right of assembly and freedom of the press, as well as the creation of a parliament and a German constitution. However, a few months later, The German revolution was swept off the map by conservative forces. However, and although the revolution failed because they could not maintain their reforms, the liberals were very present in German political life throughout Frederick's life.

Marriage and family

In the 19th century, European royal marriages were arranged by the court to create and strengthen relations between the states of the continent. Since 1851, Queen Victoria I of the United Kingdom and her husband, Prince Albert, began making plans to marry her eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, who had just turned 11, to Frederick, the heir to the throne. Prussian throne At that time, the British royal family was almost entirely of German origin: there was very little English blood running in Queen Victoria's veins and none in the veins of her husband. The sovereigns decided to maintain family ties with Germany. The prince consort also thought that the arrival of a British princess in the Hohenzollern family could allow the opening and modernization of the kingdom of Prussia. The King of Belgium, Leopold I, Victoria's great-uncle, intervened to facilitate the marriage between her and Frederick. For many years, she supported Baron Christian Friedrich Freiherr von Stockmar's idea of creating an alliance between the United Kingdom and Prussia. In Berlin, Princess Augusta was also in favor of an English marriage for her son. However, her husband He did not share his opinion and preferred to marry Frederick to a princess of the Romanov dynasty.

The engagement between Frederick and Victoria was announced in April 1856 and their marriage was celebrated on January 25, 1858 in the chapel royal of St. James's Palace in London. Although it was arranged, the union between the two young people soon became a happy marriage thanks to the fact that Federico had received a liberal education and Victoria shared the political ideas of her husband.

The couple had eight children, of which two died before reaching adolescence:

• William II, King of Prussia, German emperor. He was married first to Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein and, after his death, to Herminia de Reuss-Greiz.
• Carlota de Prussia, married to Bernardo III of Saxony-Meiningen.
• Enrique de Prusia, married to Irene de Hesse-Darmstadt.
• Segismundo de Prussia, dead at 2 years.
• Victoria de Prussia, married to Adolfo de Schaumburg-Lippe. Widow, he married white Russian Alexandre Zoubkoff.
• Waldemar of Prussia, died 11 years old.
• Sofia de Prussia, married to Constantine I of Greece.
• Margarita de Prussia, married to the landgrave Federico de Hesse, ephemeral king of Finland.

Relationship with his son Guillermo

Being so close, the couple soon created a large family. Their first child, Prince William, was born a year after the wedding, on January 27, 1859. He had problems during childbirth and was born with one arm. malformed, probably due to the fetus being in a bad position or cerebral palsy.

When he grew up, Guillermo did not agree with any of his parents' liberal ideas. In fact, his mother considered him a “true Prussian,” and ideological differences created a lifelong gulf between the prince and his parents, and Bismarck did everything he could to make the situation even worse.

Disdaining the progressive ideas of his parents and wishing to publicly humiliate them, William II made no reference to his father when he succeeded him to the throne in 1888. On the contrary, he declared that he wished to follow the path blazed by his grandfather < span style="white-space:nowrap">William I, so the new emperor continued a very conservative policy that led his country to the First World War.

Heir to the throne of Prussia

When his father came to the Prussian throne on January 2, 1861, Frederick became crown prince (German: kronprinz), aged 29, and would retain this position. title for 27 years. At the beginning of his reign, William I was considered a politically neutral sovereign and Frederick and German liberals hoped that he would usher in a new political era. This hope seemed to be shared with the population because, in the elections, the Liberals increased the number of seats in parliament. However, King William soon showed his conservative sensibility and his opposition to reforms.

A dogmatic soldier despite his 64 years, William I had problems with the Prussian parliament. Thus, since September 1862, there was a confrontation between the sovereign and the deputies due to a reform of the army that almost led to the replacement of William by Frederick. In fact, the king threatened to abdicate if parliament refused to give credence to his plan to reorganize the army. Frederick was horrified by this and told his father that abdication "would constitute a threat to the dynasty, to the country and to the crown."

William changed his mind and appointed Otto von Bismarck as minister and president of Prussia. The election of Bismarck, an authoritarian politician with little respect for parliament, as head of the government, led to a cooling of relations between the king and the crown prince. Desiring to unify Germany through political and liberal means, Frederick felt isolated by this policy of "blood and iron." Soon, his father excluded him from political affairs and this was the situation that was reproduced throughout the entire reign of William I. Supported by his wife, the crown prince did not hesitate to publicly protest against the government of his father In 1863, he harshly criticized Bismarck's restriction of press freedom during an official reception in Danzig.

Soon, devoid of any royal function in Prussia, Frederick and Victoria spent long periods in the United Kingdom. Unlike her father, Queen Victoria I did not hesitate to ask Frederick to represent her at public ceremonies.

From the War of the Duchies to the Austro-Prussian War

In 1863 the War of the Duchies broke out, in which Denmark faced Prussia and Austria for possession of the duchy of Schleswig-Holstein. Count Friedrich von Wrangel was appointed supreme commander of the armies of the German Confederation and the crown prince was able to tactfully ease the tensions that divided the officers. The Prussians and their Austrian allies defeated the Danes and invaded the south of the country as far as Jutland. However, after the war the Allies spent two years disputing the leadership of the German states. Their tensions led to the Austro-Prussian War. Contrary to a conflict with Vienna, Frederick nevertheless accepted command of one of the three Prussian armies and appointed Count Leonhard von Blumenthal as chief of the general staff. The timely arrival of the crown prince's troops at the Battle of Sadowa was decisive in ensuring the Prussian victory.

After the battle, William I decorated his son with the order Pour le Mérite in reward for his behavior on the battlefield. A few days before Sadowa, the crown prince wrote to his wife that he hoped this war would be the last one I was in. However, on the third day of the conflict, he wrote to Victoria: "Who knows if there will not be a third war to preserve what we have already won?"

Franco-Prussian War

Four years after the end of the Austro-Prussian War, in 1870, the Franco-Prussian War broke out, during which the crown prince led the Third German Army, made up of troops from the South German states. During this new conflict, Frederick was praised for his action against the French in the battles of Froeschwiller-Woerth and Wissembourg, but it was in the Battle of Sedan and the siege of Paris where he achieved the greatest successes. The respect with which Frederick treated the enemies of his country earned him the recognition of observers in neutral countries. Evidently, his military victories increased the prince's love for his men. After the Battle of Woerth, a London journalist witnessed the crown prince's numerous visits to wounded Prussian soldiers and described the affection and respect with which the military treated him.

However, the heir to the throne was not a man of war. During an interview with two Parisian journalists, he declared: «I don't like war, gentlemen. "When I reign, I hope I never have to do it." Another French journalist wrote about the prince: "The crown prince has left many proofs of his goodness and humanity in the country against which he wages war." The Times published a praise for Frederick in July 1871: "the prince is winning as many honors for his nobility of heart as for his exploits during the war."

Crown Prince of Germany

The proclamation of the German Empire

On January 18, 1871, the anniversary of the arrival of the Hohenzollerns to royal dignity in 1701, the princes of the North German Confederation, as well as those of South Germany (Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg and Hesse- Darmstadt) proclaimed William I emperor in the Hall of Mirrors of the palace of Versailles. These joined, for the moment symbolically, their states to the new German Empire. Frederick thus became crown prince of Germany and Otto von Bismarck became imperial chancellor. Shortly afterwards, the Catholic countries of South Germany, which only had a customs union agreement with Prussia, officially joined the unified Germany. by the Treaty of Versailles (February 26, 1871) and the Treaty of Frankfurt (May 10, 1871), which also marked the accession to the empire of Alsace and Lorraine.

A role always limited

Always in conflict with the policies and actions of his father and Bismarck, Frederick sided with the German liberals and supported them especially in their opposition to increased money for the army. However, he did not The opinion of the heir to the imperial throne was taken into account. His only functions were to represent Germany and her sovereign at ceremonies, weddings and official celebrations such as Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee of 1887.

Prince Frederick invested in numerous works of public interest such as founding schools and churches in the Bornstädt region, near Potsdam. Eager to help his father turn Berlin into an important cultural center in Europe, the heir was named "protector of public museums." In fact, thanks to him the German capital acquired new collections of art objects and the Bode Museum was founded (known as the "Kaiser Frederick Museum" until 1956).

Reign

A long-awaited emperor, but seriously ill

German progressive forces were eagerly awaiting Frederick's accession to the throne. However, the very conservative Emperor William lived to be 90 years old and died on March 9, 1888. At that time Frederick was already 57 years old and He suffered from laryngeal cancer. When he finally became Kaiser, he realized the importance of his illness and regretted not being able to serve his country.

Sick, Frederick III received contradictory advice from his doctors. In Germany, Dr. Ernst von Bergmann proposed completely removing his larynx, while his colleague, Dr. Rudolf Virchow, was totally opposed since it had not been completed. such an operation without causing the patient's death. The famous British laryngologist Morell Mackenzie, who did not recognize the emperor's cancer, advised him a simple cure in Italy, which both the emperor and his wife finally accepted.

On February 8, 1888, a month before the death of William I, Dr. Bergmann placed a cannula on the then crown prince to allow him to breathe. However, this surgical operation deprived him of speech. Unable to communicate verbally, Frederick decided to use writing to communicate. Despite everything, the prince was lucky during the operation: Dr. Bergmann almost killed the heir to the throne by making the incision in the trachea and directing the cannula towards the right side of the throat. Federico began to cough and bleed and Bergmann had to insert his index finger into the wound to properly position the cannula. The bleeding subsided after two hours, but the doctor's action produced an abscess in the patient's neck. Pus quickly accumulated in the neck and caused discomfort to the emperor in the last months of his life. After the operation, the prince complained to those close to him about the poor treatment meted out by Bergmann and wondered "why did Bergmann treat me?" "He stuck his finger down his throat." A few weeks later, Dr. Thomas W. Evans successfully performed a tracheotomy with a silver cannula on him again.

The Emperor of 99 Days

Despite his illness, Emperor Frederick did his best to fulfill his official obligations and did not forget to reward those who always supported him. Immediately after coming to the throne, he decorated his wife with the Order of the Black Eagle. During his short reign, the sovereign received an official visit from his mother-in-law, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and King Oscar II of Sweden. He also attended the wedding of his son, Prince Henry of Prussia, to his niece, Princess Irene of Hesse-Darmstadt. However, Frederick was only emperor for 99 days and was unable to carry out the reforms that he had had in mind for so long. In fact, an edict that he had written before becoming emperor that limited the sovereign's powers and of the chancellor it was never applied. On June 8, 1888, Frederick forced the Minister of the Interior, Robert von Puttmaker, to resign after it was discovered that he interfered in the Reichstag elections.

Aware that he was going to die shortly, Frederick worried above all about the fate of his country. In May 1888, he declared "I cannot die...what would happen to Germany?" He died the following June 15 and his eldest son, the young William II, succeeded him to the throne. Frederick was buried in a mausoleum attached to the Peace Church in Potsdam. After the emperor's death, British Prime Minister William Gladstone called him "the Barbarossa of German liberalism."

Historiographical controversy

Throughout his life, Frederick was convinced that a government should not act against the will of its people. Very liberal, he admired his father-in-law Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the British parliamentary system. Before ascending the throne, he had the opportunity to debate at length with Queen Victoria and others his ideas regarding government. According to his wife, he planned to reform the German Empire and put ministers at its head. more liberal.

When he came to the throne, Frederick and Victoria attempted to limit the role of the imperial chancellor and reorganize the German political system to add more elements of the British liberal model. Many historians, such as William Harbutt Dawson and Erich Eyck, have considered that the sudden death of Frederick III hindered the development of the liberal movement within the German Empire. They think that if he had reigned longer and in better health, Frederick would have become Germany into a liberal democracy and would have prevented its militarization. Other authors, such as Michael Balfour or Michael Freund, go even further and argue that if he had reigned longer, Frederick would have prevented the outbreak of the First World War and, therefore, Consequently, World War II. More cautiously, historian Frank Tipton asks: "What would have happened if his father had died earlier or if he had lived longer?"

On the contrary, other researchers, such as Wilhelm Mommsen or Arthur Rosenberg, oppose the idea that the emperor could have "liberalized" Germany, since he would not have dared to oppose his father and Bismarck to change the history of Germany. his country. An excellent soldier raised in the military tradition of his family, Federico submitted to most of the political decisions of his father and the chancellor. Andreas Dorpalen states that it is unlikely that the emperor would have changed his mind if he had been on the throne longer, although he was too weak of character to be able to effect real changes in Germany. Arthur Rosenberg goes further and considers that, despite his liberal tendencies, Frederick firmly believed in Bismarck and his system. For his part, James J. Sheehan supposes that the German political climate and party system was too conservative at the end of the century xix so that Federico could have "liberalized" him in depth. Finally, Andreas Dorpalen adds that Federico's liberalism has been exaggerated after his death to give a strong image of the German liberal movement. In addition, he considers that the mistakes made by his son, William II, have contributed to him being seen in a better light.

Honors

German decorations

Foreign decorations

Ancestors

Predecessor: Guillermo I	Emperor of Germany 1888 (9 March-15 June)	Successor: William II
Predecessor: Guillermo I	King of Prussia 1888 (9 March-15 June)	Successor: William II