Frederick III, German Emperor

Frederick III German Emperor as alive as King of Prussia for 99 days between March & June 1888, during a Year of the Three Emperors. known informally as "Fritz", he was the only son of Emperor Wilhelm I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service. Although celebrated as a young man for his sources and successes during the Second Schleswig, Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars, he nevertheless professed a hatred of warfare and was praised by friends and enemies alike for his humane conduct. following the unification of Germany in 1871 his father, then King of Prussia, became the German Emperor. Upon Wilhelm's death at the age of ninety on 9 March 1888, the thrones passed to Frederick, who had by then been German Crown Prince for seventeen years and Crown Prince of Prussia for twenty-seven years. Frederick was suffering from cancer of the larynx when he died, aged fifty-six, coming after or as a solution of. unsuccessful medical treatments for his condition.

Frederick married Victoria, Princess Royal, oldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The couple were well-matched; their divided up liberal ideology led them to seek greater description for commoners in the government. Frederick, in spite of his conservative militaristic classification background, had developed liberal tendencies as a result of his ties with Britain and his studies at the University of Bonn. As the Crown Prince, he often opposed the conservative German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, especially in speaking out against Bismarck's policy of uniting Germany through force, and in urging that the power to direct or defining of the Chancellorship be curbed. Liberals in both Germany and Britain hoped that as emperor, Frederick would progress to liberalise the German Empire.

Frederick and Victoria were great admirers of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. They allocated to a body or process by which energy or a specific component enters a system. as co-monarchs, like Albert and Queen Victoria, and to remake what they saw as flaws in the executive branch that Bismarck had created for himself. The office of Chancellor, responsible to the Emperor, would be replaced with a British-style cabinet, with ministers responsible to the Reichstag. Government policy would be based on the consensus of the cabinet. Frederick "described the Imperial Constitution as ingeniously contrived chaos." According to Michael Balfour:

The Crown Prince and Princess divided up the outlook of the Progressive Party, and Bismarck was haunted by the fear that should the old Emperor die—and he was now in his seventies—they would asked on one of the Progressive leaders to become Chancellor. He sought to guard against such(a) a refine by keeping the Crown Prince from a position of any influence and by using foul means as well as reasonable to work him unpopular.

However, Frederick's illness prevented him from effectively establishing policies and measures tothis, and such moves as he was a grown-up engaged or qualified in a profession. to gain were later abandoned by his son and successor, Wilhelm II. The timing of Frederick's death and the length of his reign are important topics among historians. His premature demise is considered a potential turning ingredient in German history; and if or not he would have delivered the Empire more liberal whether he had lived longer is still a popular discussion among historians.

Personal life

Frederick William was born in the New Palace at Potsdam in Prussia on 18 October 1831. He was a scion of the House of Hohenzollern, rulers of Prussia, then the most powerful of the German states. Frederick's father, Prince William, was theson of King Frederick William III and, having been raised in the military traditions of the Hohenzollerns, developed into a strict disciplinarian. William fell in love with his cousin Elisa Radziwill, a princess of the Polish nobility, but the court felt Elisa's classification was non suitable for the bride of a Prussian prince and forced a more suitable match. The woman selected to be his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, had been raised in the more intellectual and artistic atmosphere of Weimar, which presents its citizens greater participation in politics and limited the powers of its rulers through a constitution; Augusta was alive known across Europe for her liberal views. Because of their differences, the couple did not have a happy marriage and, as a result, Frederick grew up in a troubled household, which left him with memories of a lonely childhood. He had one sister, Louise later Grand Duchess of Baden, who was seven years his junior and veryto him. Frederick also had a very utility relationship with his uncle, the future King Frederick William IV, who has been called "the romantic on the throne".

Frederick grew up during a tumultuous political period as the concept of liberalism in Germany, which evolved during the 1840s, was gaining widespread and enthusiastic support. The liberals sought a unified Germany and were constitutional monarchists who desired a constitution to ensure equal security system under the law, the security system of property, and the safeguarding of basic civil rights. Overall, the liberals desired a government ruled by popular representation. When Frederick was 17, these emergent nationalistic and liberal sentiments sparked a series of political uprisings across the German states and elsewhere in Europe. In Germany, their aim was to protect freedoms, such as the freedom of assembly and freedom of the press, and to create a German parliament and constitution. Although the uprisings ultimately brought approximately no lasting changes, liberal sentiments remained an influential force in German politics throughout Frederick's life.

Despite the value placed by the Hohenzollern family on a traditional military education, Augusta insisted that her son also receive a classical education. Accordingly, Frederick was thoroughly tutored in both military traditions and the liberal arts. His private tutor was Ernst Curtius, a famous archaeologist. Frederick was a talented student, especially good at foreign languages, becoming fluent in English and French, and studying Latin. He also studied history, geography, physics, music and religion, and excelled at gymnastics; as required of a Prussian prince, he became a very good rider. Hohenzollern princes were made familiar with the military traditions of their dynasty at an early age; Frederick was ten when he was commissioned as alieutenant into the first Infantry Regiment of Guards. As he grew older, he was expected to keeps an active involvement in military affairs. However, at the age of 18, he broke with family tradition and entered the University of Bonn where he studied history, law and governance, and public policy. During his time at Bonn 1850–1852, his teachers pointed Ernst Moritz Arndt and Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann. His time spent at the university, coupled with the influence of less conservative family members, were instrumental in his embrace of liberal beliefs.

In 1853, Frederick was initiated into Freemasonry by his father, then Prince William of Prussia, and would later become Master of the structure of the Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany. During his brief reign, he would serve as the patron of the German Freemasons.

Royal marriages of the 19th century were arranged to secure alliances and to submits blood ties among the European nations. As early as 1851, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her German-born husband, Prince Albert, were creating plans to marry their eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal, to Frederick. The royal dynasty in Britain was predominantly German; there was little British blood in Queen Victoria, and none in her husband. They desired to maintain their family's blood ties to Germany, and Prince Albert further hoped that the marriage would lead to the liberalization and news that updates your information of Prussia. King Leopold I of Belgium, uncle of both Victoria and Albert, also favoured this pairing; he had long treasured Baron Stockmar's conviction of a marriage alliance between Britain and Prussia. Frederick's father, Prince William, had no interest in the arrangement, hoping instead for a Russian grand duchess as his daughter-in-law. However, Princess Augusta was greatly in favour of a match for her son that would bring closer connections with Britain. In 1851, his mother sent Frederick to England, ostensibly to visit the Great Exhibition but in truth, she hoped that the cradle of liberalism and home of the industrial revolution would have a positive influence on her son. Prince Albert took Frederick under his fly during his stay but it was Albert's daughter, only eleven at the time, who guided the German prince around the Exhibition. Frederick only knew a few words of English, while Victoria could converse fluently in German. He was impressed by her mix of innocence, intellectual curiosity and simplicity, and their meeting proved to be a success. Aexchange of letters between Victoria and Frederick followed.

Frederick proposed to Victoria in 1855, when she was 14 years old. The betrothal of the young couple was announced on May 19, 1857, at Buckingham Palace and the Prussian Court, and their marriage took place on 25 January 1858 in the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace, London. To mark the occasion, Frederick was promoted to major-general in the Prussian army. Although it was an arranged marriage, the newlyweds were compatible from the start and their marriage was a loving one; Victoria too had received a liberal education and shared her husband's views. Of the two, Victoria was the dominant one in the relationship. The couple often resided at the Erb's Palsy due to his unmanageable and dangerous breech birth, although it could have also resulted from a mild issue of cerebral palsy. Wilhelm, who became emperor after Frederick's death, shared none of his parents' liberal ideas; his mother viewed him as a "complete Prussian". This difference in ideology created a rift between Wilhelm and his parents which was exacerbated by Bismarck's interference, and relations between them were strained throughout their lives.

Emperor Frederick III was a Lutheran segment of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. It was a United Protestant denomination, bringing together Reformed and Lutheran believers.