: 1 thaler Wilhelm III, 1830 Frederick William succeeded to the throne on 16 November 1797. He also became, in
personal union, the sovereign prince of the
Principality of Neuchâtel (1797–1806 and again 1814–1840). At once, the new king showed that he was earnest of his good intentions by cutting down the royal establishment's expenses, dismissing his father's ministers, and reforming the most oppressive abuses of the late reign. Disgusted with his father's court (in both political intrigues and sexual affairs), Frederick William's first and most successful early endeavor was to restore his dynasty's moral legitimacy. The eagerness to restore dignity to his family went so far that it nearly caused sculptor
Johann Gottfried Schadow to cancel the expensive and lavish project, which was commissioned by the previous monarch Frederick William II. He was quoted as saying the following, which demonstrated his sense of duty and peculiar manner of speech: Every civil servant has a dual obligation: to the sovereign and the country. It can occur that the two are not compatible; then, the duty to the country is higher. At first, Frederick William and his advisors attempted to pursue a neutrality policy in the
Napoleonic Wars. Although they succeeded in keeping out of the
Third Coalition in 1805, eventually, Frederick William was swayed by the queen's attitude, who led Prussia's pro-war party and entered into the war in October 1806. On 14 October 1806, at the
Battles of Jena-Auerstädt, the
French effectively decimated the
Prussian Army's effectiveness and functionality; led by Frederick William, the Prussian army collapsed entirely soon after.
Napoleon occupied Berlin in late October. The royal family fled to
Memel,
East Prussia, where they fell on the mercy of Emperor
Alexander I of Russia. Alexander, too, suffered defeat at the hands of the French, and at
Tilsit on the
Niemen France made peace with
Russia and Prussia.
Napoleon dealt with Prussia very harshly, despite the pregnant queen's interview with the French emperor, which was believed to soften the defeat. Instead, Napoleon took much less mercy on the Prussians than what was expected. Prussia lost many of its Polish territories and all territory west of the
Elbe and had to finance a large indemnity and pay French troops to occupy key strong points within the kingdom. Although the ineffectual king himself seemed resigned to Prussia's fate, various reforming ministers, such as
Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein, Prince
Karl August von Hardenberg,
Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst, and Count
August von Gneisenau, set about reforming Prussia's administration and military, with the encouragement of Queen Louise (who died, greatly mourned, in 1810). After bereavement, Frederick William fell under the influence of a 'substitute family' of courtiers, among whom included
Friedrich Ancillon, a Huguenot preacher that provided the king with strong ideological support against political reforms that might restrain monarchical power,
Sophie Marie von Voß, an older woman with conservative views and Prince
Wilhelm zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. In 1813, following Napoleon's
defeat in Russia and pressured by the
Convention of Tauroggen, Frederick William turned against France and signed an alliance with Russia at
Kalisz. However, he had to flee Berlin, still under French occupation. Prussian troops played a crucial part in the victories of the allies in 1813 and 1814, and the king himself traveled with the main army of
Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg, along with Alexander of Russia and
Francis of Austria. At the
Congress of Vienna, Frederick William's ministers succeeded in securing significant territorial increases for Prussia. However, they failed to obtain the annexation of all of
Saxony, as they had wished. Following the war, Frederick William turned towards political reaction, abandoning the promises he had made in 1813 to provide Prussia with a constitution.
Prussian Union of Churches '' by
Thomas Lawrence, (1831) Frederick William was determined to unify the Protestant churches to homogenize their liturgy, organization, and architecture. The long-term goal was to have fully centralized royal control of all the Protestant churches in the
Prussian Union of Churches. The merging of the Lutheran and Calvinist (Reformed) confessions to form the United Church of Prussia was highly controversial. Angry responses included a large and well-organized opposition. Especially the "
Old Lutherans" in Silesia refused to abandon their liturgical traditions. The crown responded by attempting to silence protest. The stubborn Lutheran minority was coerced by military force, their churches' confiscation, and their pastors' imprisonment or exile. By 1834 outward union was secured based on common worship but separate symbols—the opponents of the measure being forbidden to form communities of their own. Many left Prussia, settling in
South Australia,
Canada, and the
United States. The king's unsuccessful counterattack worsened tensions at the highest levels of government. The crown's aggressive efforts to restructure religion were unprecedented in Prussian history. In a series of proclamations over several years, the Church of the Prussian Union was formed, bringing together the majority group of Lutherans and the minority group of Reformed Protestants. The main effect was that the government of Prussia had full control over church affairs, with the king himself recognized as the leading bishop. In 1824 Frederick William III married for the second time, to
Countess Auguste von Harrach zu Rohrau und Thannhausen. At the time of their marriage, the
House of Harrach was still not recognized as
equal to other
European royal families for dynastic purposes. The marriage was therefore
morganatic and she was created
Princess of
Liegnitz. They had no children. survived by his second wife. His eldest son,
Frederick William IV, succeeded him. Frederick William III is buried at the Mausoleum in Schlosspark
Charlottenburg, Berlin. ==Issue==