König von Preußen Friedrich Wilhelm III

Friedrich Wilhelm III, König von Preußen (Potsdam, 1770-1840, Berlin), son of Friedrich Wilhelm II, came to the throne on the death of his unpopular father in 1797. His unassuming personality, his love match with Luise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz (see Luise Königin), and his irreproachable family life secured him immediate popularity. Timid and irresolute, he was hesitant in carrying out reforms which he believed to be right. Thus between 1799 and 1805 the serfs on the royal domains were progressively freed, but the King feared to impose this measure on the landed nobility. In foreign affairs he was equally hesitant and preferred dilatory and cautious ministers. He did not join the Austro-Russian coalition against Napoleon in 1805 (see Napoleonic Wars), but in autumn 1806, after Austria's defeat at Austerlitz, he plunged too late into war with France and was disastrously defeated at Jena. Virtually ignored at the discussion of peace at Tilsit in 1807, Friedrich Wilhelm had to accept the dismemberment of his state. He did, however, for a time employ activist reformers of strong and energetic character (see Stein, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau). The serfs throughout Prussia were liberated in 1807, and the out-of-date army was reformed and trained on modern principles. Friedrich Wilhelm feared his own people as much as the French, and resisted those who called for a levée en masse. He kept the peace with France in 1809 when Austria was again defeated, and condemned the action of General H. D. L. Yorck von Wartenburg in making a truce with the Russians on 30 December 1812. Only after the disasters to Napoleon's Grand Army did he take the decisive step of moving the government to Breslau. The popular proclamation An mein Volk, though signed by the King, was not drafted by him. Influenced by the activists in Breslau, he made a declaration of war against France in February 1813. After 1815 it was expected that the King would promulgate a liberal constitution, but the reforming ministers (W. von Humboldt and K. A. von Hardenberg) failed to move him and the mistrustful King aligned himself with the Metternich system and the Holy Alliance (see Heilige Allianz) for the remainder of his reign. He appears as a character in Fontane's novel Schach von Wuthenow.