William I

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WILLIAM I

WILLIAM I (in German, Wilhelm I; 1797–1888), emperor of Germany (1871–1888) and king of Prussia (1861–1888).

William I was the second son of the future King Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg. As the younger brother of the heir, William was expected to make a career in the military, and this was a role that he relished. He served in the wars against Napoleon I and was devoted to the army.

In 1829 William married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The union produced two children: Frederick, who later reigned as Frederick III, and Louise, who married the grand duke of Baden. William's marriage was one of convenience; he had abandoned his love affair with a Polish countess, Elise Radziwill, who was not deemed to be a suitable consort for a Prussian prince. William and his wife were ill-suited temperamentally and politically; he particularly had no use for his wife's more liberal political views.

William's conservatism and advocacy of the use of force against the forces of change earned him the enmity of revolutionaries during the revolutions of 1848, and he was forced to flee to England incognito. When the tide of the revolution turned, William returned to Prussia and commanded the troops that put down a republican insurrection in Baden.

As the result of the revolution, Prussia became a constitutional monarchy. Although William was no advocate of constitutionalism, he believed that the monarch had the obligation to uphold the constitution. His beliefs on this score were tested in 1858 when he became regent of Prussia after his brother, King Frederick William IV, was declared unfit to rule. As regent, William gave hope for progressive change when he appointed moderate liberals to his cabinet. But after he became king in 1861, he introduced military reform bills that ran afoul of liberals in parliament who believed that it would create an army that would be used to suppress reforms. Liberals in the Prussian parliament repeatedly rejected his army reform bills, as government operations ground to a halt. For weeks, relations between crown and parliament stood at an impasse, and William threatened to abdicate. Liberals advocated the accession of William's son Frederick, who was more liberal than his father, whereas conservatives flocked to William's nephew Frederick Charles, who threatened to do away with the constitution altogether.

In September 1862, at the height of the crisis, William accepted his advisors' suggestion to appoint Otto von Bismarck as prime minister. Bismarck found a convenient loophole in the constitution that allowed him to push through the king's military reforms. Bismarck then proceeded to assuage liberals' anger over his manipulation of the constitution by achieving their long-held desire for a united Germany under Prussia, which became a reality after Prussia's victories over Austria in 1866 and France in 1871. William I commanded troops during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, received the surrender of Napoleon III at Sedan, France, and was proclaimed German emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

William reigned as emperor for the next seventeen years, despite advanced age and two attempts on his life. Although Bismarck told his biographers he was a mere servant of his emperor, historians usually refer to the period of William's rule as the Age of Bismarck, because the chancellor dominated both domestic and foreign policy. Yet William was no mere cipher of his chancellor; he often disagreed with his policies. William did not favor Bismarck's struggle against the Roman Catholic Church during the 1870s, and gave it only his tacit consent. In the end, William was a modest, hard-working, and conscientious ruler. His letters and memoranda show that he carefully thought through issues affecting his realm. Though his militarism and conservative views often put him at odds with radical elements in the German Empire, he was a popular monarch.

As William lay dying at the age of ninety-one, his wife permitted a cameo of Elise Radziwill to be placed in his hand. After clutching it briefly, the old emperor passed away. He was succeeded by his son Frederick, who was ill with cancer and reigned for only three months. Frederick in turn was succeeded by his son, who became Emperor William II. Although the young emperor worshipped his late grandfather, it was Germany's misfortune that he lacked the elder man's conscientiousness and sense of restraint.