passing, still darkened his counsels. The united Germany which he was prepared to champion was not the democratic state which the theorists of the Frankfort national parliament were evolving on paper with interminable debate, but the old Holy Roman Empire, the heritage of the house of Habsburg, of which he was prepared to constitute himself the guardian so long as its lawful possessors should not have mastered the forces of disorder by which they were held captive. Finally, when Austria had been excluded from the new empire, he replied to the parliamentary deputation that came to offer him the imperial crown that he might have accepted it had it been freely offered to him by the German princes, but that he would never stoop “to pick up a crown out of the gutter.”
Whatever may be thought of the manner of this refusal, or of its immediate motives, it was in itself wise, for the German empire would have lost immeasurably had it been the cause rather than the result of the inevitable struggle with Austria, and Bismarck was probably right when he said that, to weld the heterogeneous elements of Germany into a united whole, what was needed was, not speeches and resolutions, but a policy of “blood and iron.” In any case Frederick William, uneasy enough as a constitutional king, would have been impossible as a constitutional emperor. As it was, his refusal to play this part gave the deathblow to the parliament and to all hope of the immediate creation of a united Germany. For Frederick William the position of leader of Germany now meant the employment of the military force of Prussia to crush the scattered elements of revolution that survived the collapse of the national movement. His establishment of the northern confederacy was a reversion to the traditional policy of Prussia in opposition to Austria, which, after the emperor Nicholas had crushed the insurrection in Hungary, was once more free to assert her claims to dominance in Germany. But Prussia was not ripe for a struggle with Austria, even had Frederick William found it in his conscience to turn his arms against his ancient ally, and the result was the humiliating convention of Olmütz (November 29th, 1850), by which Prussia agreed to surrender her separatist plans and to restore the old constitution of the confederation. Yet Frederick William had so far profited by the lessons of 1848 that he consented to establish (1850) a national parliament, though with a restricted franchise and limited powers. The House of Lords (Herrenhaus) justified the king’s insistence in calling it into being by its support of Bismarck against the more popular House during the next reign.
In religious matters Frederick William was also largely swayed by his love for the ancient and picturesque. In concert with his friend Bunsen he laboured to bring about a rapprochement between the Lutheran and Anglican churches, the first-fruits of which was the establishment of the Jerusalem bishopric under the joint patronage of Great Britain and Prussia; but the only result of his efforts was to precipitate the secession of J. H. Newman and his followers to the Church of Rome. In general it may be said that Frederick William, in spite of his talents and his wide knowledge, lived in a dream-land of his own, out of touch with actuality. The style of his letters reveals a mind enthusiastic and ill-balanced. In the summer of 1857 he had a stroke of paralysis, and a second in October. From this time, with the exception of brief intervals, his mind was completely clouded, and the duties of government were undertaken by his brother William (afterwards emperor), who on the 7th of October 1858 was formally recognized as regent. Frederick William died on the 2nd of January 1861.
Selections from the correspondence (Briefwechsel) of Frederick William IV. and Bunsen were edited by Ranke (Leipzig, 1873); his proclamations, speeches, &c., from the 6th of March 1848 to the 31st of May 1851 have been published (Berlin, 1851); also his correspondence with Bettina von Arnim, Bettina von Arnim und Friedrich Wilhelm IV., ungedruckte Briefe und Aktenstücke, ed. L. Geiger (Frankfort-on-Main, 1902). See L. von Ranke, Friedrich Wilhelm IV., König von Preussen (works 51, 52 also in Allgem. deutsche Biog. vol. vii.), especially for the king’s education and the inner history of the debates leading up to the united diet of 1847; H. von Petersdorff, König Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (Stuttgart, 1900); F. Rachfahl, Deutschland, König Friedrich Wilhelm IV. und die Berliner Märzrevolution (Halle, 1901); H. von Poschinger (ed.), Unter Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Denkwürdigkeiten des Ministers Otto Frhr. von Manteuffel, 1848–1858 (3 vols., Berlin, 1900–1901); and Preussens auswärtige Politik, 1850–1858 (3 vols., ib., 1902), documents selected from those left by Manteuffel; E. Friedberg, Die Grundlagen der preussischen Kirchenpolitik unter Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (Leipzig, 1882).
FREDERICK WILLIAM (1620–1688), elector of Brandenburg,
usually called the “Great Elector,” was born in Berlin on the
16th of February 1620. His father was the elector George
William, and his mother was Elizabeth Charlotte, daughter of
Frederick IV., elector palatine of the Rhine. Owing to the disorders
which were prevalent in Brandenburg he passed part of
his youth in the Netherlands, studying at the university of
Leiden and learning something of war and statecraft under
Frederick Henry, prince of Orange. During his boyhood a
marriage had been suggested between him and Christina, afterwards
queen of Sweden; but although the idea was revived
during the peace negotiations between Sweden and Brandenburg,
it came to nothing, and in 1646 he married Louise Henriette
(d. 1667), daughter of Frederick Henry of Orange, a lady whose
counsel was very helpful to him and who seconded his efforts for
the welfare of his country.
Having become ruler of Brandenburg and Prussia by his father’s death in December 1640, Frederick William set to work at once to repair the extensive damage wrought during the Thirty Years’ War, still in progress. After some difficulty he secured his investiture as duke of Prussia from Wladislaus, king of Poland, in October 1641, but was not equally successful in crushing the independent tendencies of the estates of Cleves. It was in Brandenburg, however, that he showed his supreme skill as a diplomatist and administrator. His disorderly troops were replaced by an efficient and disciplined force; his patience and perseverance freed his dominions from the Swedish soldiers; and the restoration of law and order was followed by a revival of trade and an increase of material prosperity. After a tedious struggle he succeeded in centralizing the administration, and controlling and increasing the revenue, while no department of public life escaped his sedulous care (see Brandenburg). The area of his dominions was largely increased at the peace of Westphalia in 1648, and this treaty and the treaty of Oliva in 1660 alike added to his power and prestige. By a clever but unscrupulous use of his intermediate position between Sweden and Poland he procured his recognition as independent duke of Prussia from both powers, and eventually succeeded in crushing the stubborn and lengthened opposition which was offered to his authority by the estates of the duchy (see Prussia). After two checks he made his position respected in Cleves, and in 1666 his title to Cleves, Jülich and Ravensberg was definitely recognized. His efforts, however, to annex the western part of the duchy of Pomerania, which he had conquered from the Swedes, failed owing to the insistence of Louis XIV. at the treaty of St Germain-en-Laye in 1679, and he was unable to obtain the Silesian duchies of Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau from the emperor Leopold I. after they had been left without a ruler in 1675.
Frederick William played an important part in European politics. Although found once or twice on the side of France, he was generally loyal to the interests of the empire and the Habsburgs, probably because his political acumen scented danger to Brandenburg from the aggressive policy of Louis XIV. He was a Protestant in religion, but he supported Protestant interests abroad on political rather than on religious grounds, and sought, but without much success, to strengthen Brandenburg by allaying the fierce hostility between Lutherans and Calvinists. His success in founding and organizing the army of Brandenburg-Prussia was amply demonstrated by the great victory which he gained over the Swedes at Fehrbellin in June 1675, and by the eagerness with which foreign powers sought his support. He was also the founder of the Prussian navy. The elector assisted trade in every possible way. He made the canal which still bears his name between the Oder and the Spree; established a trading company; and founded colonies on the west coast of Africa. He encouraged Flemings to settle in Brandenburg,
