FREDERICK III, king of Prussia, second emperor of modern Germany: b. Potsdam, 18 Oct. 1831; d. 15 June 1888. He married in 1858 the Princess Royal of England, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. When Prussia declared war against Austria in 1866 the crown prince, as he was called, became commander of the army of the Oder. By a series of rapid marches from Silesia through the Sudetic mountain passes into Bohemia his army arrived just in time to aid Prince Frederick Charles and snatched the decisive victory of Sadowa. At the outbreak of the Franco-German War he commanded the third German army, which num bered 200,000 men, and with these to attack the French under MacMahon. The first assault was made at Weissenburg (4 Au gust), and two days later he successfully turned the French defense at Woerth, causing the dis orderly retreat of MacMahon's army. He
pressed northward closely after MacMahon, and the pas'sage of the Meuse by the Germans under his command greatly contributed to the success ful turning of the French advance and the final surrender at Sedan. This accomplished, he pushed on to Paris, and after surrounding the city established his headquarters at Versailles, where he remained until the capitulation in January 1871. In 1887 he was attacked by can cer, and while undergoing treatment for this his father died, and he became emperor in March i::. The announcement of his own death three months later was received with wide re Bret, for his renown as a military commander, his liberal views, his large-heartedness and his resignation under suffering, had touched his personality with the rarest heroic qualities.