Frederick IIIKingof Prussia

Frederick III., King of Prussia, and second Emperor of Germany (1831-1888), was the son of the Emperor William I. (q.v.) and the Empress Augusta. He was born at Potsdam, and educated by Dr. Curtius and the Rev. W. Godet, while he afterwards studied at Bonn, and travelled. Moltke was his teacher in things military. In 1858 he married the Princess Victoria, eldest daughter of the Queen of England, soon after which he began to take part in public affairs. Thus in 1863 he wrote a letter of protest to his father against the measures of Bismarck (q.v.) dealing with the army and the press. He began his military career in the Danish War, and in the war of 1866 with Austria commanded the Second Army, whose base of operations was Silesia. In the Franco-German War, the Crown Prince, in command of the Third Army, won the victory of Woerth, and took part in the battle of Sedan and the siege of Paris. He had much to do with the formation of the new German Empire, and was Regent during the illness of his father in 1878. He was present at the Jubilee celebration in London in 1887. In March, 1888, he became Emperor of Germany, but was cut off in his prime on June 15th by cancer in the throat. The Emperor Frederick did not work harmoniously with Bismarck, who threatened to resign if he did not abandon the marriage which he proposed between his daughter and Prince Alexander of Battenberg. His views were more constitutional than those of any preceding Prussian king; he was opposed to the persecution of the Jews, and he shared in the liberal religious opinions and literary tastes of his wife. He has been called "Frederick the Noble."