FREDERICK III. (1831-1888), king of Prussia and German emperor, was born at Potsdam on Oct. 18, 1831, being the eldest son of prince William of Prussia, afterwards first German emperor, and the princess Augusta. He was carefully educated, and in 1849-5o studied at the university of Bonn. The next years were spent in military duties and in travels, in which he was accom panied by Moltke. In 1851 he visited England on the occasion of the Great Exhibition. He married Victoria, princess royal of Great Britain, in London on Jan. 25, 1858. On the death of his uncle in 1861 and the accession of his father, Prince Frederick William, as he was then called, became crown prince of Prussia. His educa tion, the influence of his mother, and perhaps still more that of his wife's father, the Prince Consort, had made him a strong Liberal, and he disliked the course of events in Prussia after the appointment of Bismarck as minister. In June 1863, he publicly dissociated himself from the press ordinances which had just been published. He ceased to attend meetings of the council of state, and was much away from Berlin. The opposition of the crown prince to the ministers was increased by Bismarck's refusal to support the claims of his friend the prince of Augustenburg to Schleswig-Holstein. During the war with Denmark Frederick had his first military experience, being attached to the staff of Marshal von Wrangel; he performed valuable service in arranging the difficulties caused by the disputes between the field marshal and the other officers, and was eventually given a control over him. After the war he continued to support the prince of Augustenburg, and was strongly opposed to the war with Austria. During the campaign of 1866 he received the command of an army consisting of four army corps; he was assisted by General von Blumenthal, as chief of the staff, but took a very active part in directing the difficult operations by which his army fought its way through the mountains from. Silesia to Bohemia, fighting four engagements in three days, and showed that he possessed genuine military capac ity. In the decisive battle of Koniggratz the arrival of his army on the field of battle, after a march of nearly 20m., secured the victory. During the negotiations which ended the war he per suaded the king to accept Bismarck's policy as regards peace with Austria. He was anxious to see the king of Prussia unite the whole of Germany, with the title of emperor, and was impatient of the caution with which Bismarck proceeded.
He played a conspicuous part in the year 187o-71, being appointed to command the armies of the Southern States, General Blumenthal again being his chief of the staff ; his troops won the victory of Worth, took an important part in the battle of Sedan, and later in the siege of Paris. During the years that followed, little opportunity for political activity was open to him. He and the crown princess took a great interest in art and industry, especially in the royal museums; and the excavations conducted at Olympia and Pergamum were chiefly due to him. In 5878, when the emperor was incapacitated by the shot of an assassin, the prince acted for some months as regent. His palace was the centre of all that was best in the literary and learned society of the capital. For many reasons the accession of the prince was looked forward to with great hope by a large part of the nation. Un fortunately he was attacked by cancer in the throat ; he spent the winter of 1887-88 at San Remo; in January 1888 the operation of tracheotomy had to be performed. On the death of his father, (March 9), he at once journeyed to Berlin; but he came to the throne only to die. While the Liberals hoped the emperor would use his power for some signal declaration of policy, the adherents of Bismarck made bitter attacks on the empress. The emperor's most important act was a severe reprimand addressed to von Puttkamer, the reactionary minister of the interior, which caused his resignation ; in the distribution of honours he chose many who belonged to classes and parties hitherto excluded from court favour. Queen Victoria visited Berlin to see her dying son-in-law. He died at Potsdam on June 15, 1888, after a reign of 99 days.
After the emperor's death Professor Geffcken, a personal friend, published in the Deutsche Rundschau extracts from the diary of the crown prince containing passages which illustrated his differ ences with Bismarck during the war of 5870. The object was to injure Bismarck's reputation, and a very unseemly dispute ensued. The treatment of the crown prince's illness also gave rise to an acrimonious controversy, for which see MACKENZIE, SIR MORELL.
The empress VICTORIA, who, after the death of her husband, was known as the empress Frederick, died on Aug. 5, 1901 at the castle of Friedrichskron, Cronberg, near Homburg, where she spent her last years. Of the emperor's children two, Prince Sigismund (1864-1866) and Prince Waldemar (1869-1879), died in child hood. He left two sons, William, his successor as emperor, and Henry, who adopted a naval career. Of his daughters, the princess Charlotte was married to Bernard, hereditary prince of Meiningen; the princess Victoria to Prince Adolph of Schaumburg-Lippe ; the princess Sophie to the duke of Sparta, crown prince of Greece; and the princess Margaretha to Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse.