Page:Imperialdictiona03eadi Brandeis Vol3b.pdf/641

WIL of the case, and make it a subject of rejoicing that virtues of that class were seen upon the throne, to convince such of the people as might well doubt it, that a king may have a heart, and that some of its overflow might be for them."—F. E.  WILLIAM FREDERICK I., King of the Netherlands, was the son of William V., prince of Orange-Nassau, hereditary stadtholder, and was born at the Hague on the 24th August, 1772. When yet a young man, and as hereditary prince, he took a considerable share in the hostilities that preceded the temporary fall of his house and the rise of the Batavian republic. In 1793 the French national convention, stimulated by the Dutch patriotic party, who were struggling with that of Orange, proclaimed war against the stadtholder. In the course of the subsequent military operations William Frederick gained various successes, but the French arms were in the end triumphant, and Pichegru entered Utrecht as a victor in 1795. William V. retired to England, and his son to Berlin, afterwards taking up his residence at Fulda. On the death of his father, William Frederick succeeded to the hereditary dominions of Nassau. During the great wars of Napoleon the prince of Nassau (he had lost Orange by refusing to join the German confederation of the Rhine) served both in the Prussian and Austrian armies, and rose in the latter to the rank of field-marshal. Meanwhile, as Napoleon's star approached its decline, various influential personages were exerting themselves in Holland for the restoration of the house of Orange. After the battle of Leipsic the inhabitants of Amsterdam rose, the Hague declared for the prince, and the wish seemed general that he should be called to supreme power. A proclamation was issued, closing with the declaration, "The Netherlands are free, and William I. is the sovereign prince of this free country." The prince, who was then in England, assented to the nomination, but also affirmed that he only wished to reign as a constitutional monarch. Having arrived in Holland, he was gladly received by the people; the following year a constitution was accepted by their deputies and sworn to by the new ruler; and in 1815, the congress of Vienna deciding that Belgium and Liege, together with the seven United Provinces, should be formed into one kingdom, he was proclaimed at the Hague as duke of Luxemburg and king of the Netherlands. But the connection of Belgium with Holland was brief and unfortunate. No government could overcome the mutual repugnance that existed between the inhabitants of the two countries, and many causes tended to fan the flame of Belgian discontent into an open conflagration. The crisis came at last. In 1830 Brussels revolted, an example immediately followed by Louvain, Liege, Ghent, and Antwerp. The result of all was that the five great powers interposed; and after protracted hostilities and negotiations, besides actual measures of coercion on the part of France and England, the separation of the two kingdoms was effected, William Frederick was compelled, much against his will, to yield, and Belgium became a separate and independent monarchy. In Holland itself, after the events alluded to, much excitement and agitation prevailed. The people wanted financial and legislative reforms, and general discontent was expressed with the king and his ministers, who appeared unwilling to gratify their desires. On account of this and other circumstances, William Frederick at length resolved to resign, which he formally did in favour of his son, William II., in October, 1840. Under the name of Count of Nassau he fixed his residence at Berlin, where he died in 1843.

II., King of the Netherlands, son of the preceding, was born 6th December, 1792, and was educated first at the military academy of Berlin, and afterwards at the university of Oxford. He early devoted himself to the military profession, serving during his first campaign with the English army in Spain, where his energy and courage gained for him the favour of Wellington. His heroic conduct at Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, and Salamanca attracted admiration, and resulted in his being appointed aid-de-camp to the king of England. After his father was raised to the throne of the Netherlands, he commanded in 1815 the army of that kingdom, and evinced characteristic skill and gallantry at the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo. In the latter he was severely wounded. He played a prominent part during the events of the Belgian revolution, and commanded the Dutch forces in the brief war against Belgium, until the armed intervention of France checked his successful progress. On the abdication of his father in 1840 he succeeded to the throne, and although reluctant to grant constitutional reforms, he showed himself favourable to those of a financial character. In the great revolutionary era of 1848, however, he was compelled to yield to the storm, and sanction a new fundamental law involving very considerable changes. His death occurred not long afterwards, 17th March, 1849.

preceding, was born on the 19th February, 1817, and ascended the throne on the death of his father in 1849. His rule has on the whole been characterized by discretion, and a desire to promote the welfare of his subjects. He married in 1839 the Princess Sophia of Würtemberg, by whom he has several children. The eldest, William, hereditary prince of Orange, was born on the 4th of September, 1849.—J. J.  * WILLIAM I., Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia, second son of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. and Queen Louise, was born on the 22nd March, 1797. He was educated with his elder brother (afterwards King Friedrich Wilhelm IV.), entered the army in early youth, and in his seventeenth year was present in the campaigns of 1813-14. He married, June 11, 1829, the Princess Augusta (Marie Louise Katharina), born September 30, 1811, daughter of Karl Friedrich, grand-duke of Saxe Weimar. As heir presumptive to the throne, on the accession of his brother the crown prince was made governor of Pomerania and general of infantry. His own predilections were in favour of a military life, and he had been early convinced that the first duty of Prussia to herself was to secure an independent existence. In 1849 he received the command of the troops sent to quell revolutionary movements in the south-west, and passed through Nieder-Ingelheim, where, on the 12th June, an attempt was made on his life. His moderation and prudence in the discharge of his duty were, however, soon rewarded by some measure of popularity. Subsequently, when he resided at Coblenz and acted as governor of the Rhine Province, his success in this difficult position might be partly ascribed to the quiet virtues and amiable manners of the crown princess, Augusta. He was raised to the rank of field-marshal and made governor of Mayence in 1854, and about the same time was appointed grand-master of all the Prussian lodges of freemasons. On account of the hopeless affliction of his brother, he assumed the regency, October 9, 1858, and he acceded to the throne of Prussia, January 2, 1861. The coronation took place at Königsberg on the 18th of October, in 1861. As a king he maintained the principles which he had constantly asserted before his accession, and regarded as infinitely more important than any of the theoretical improvements advocated by several parties, "his own most proper work" (as he always called it), the development of the military power of Prussia. A liberal administration, which had been successful neither in domestic nor in foreign affairs, resigned office in 1862, and was succeeded by a conservative cabinet under Karl Otto von Bismarck-Schönhausen. With such a man at the helm and the king's own convictions in favour of his minister, it was inevitable that the question whether the old, worn-out, and merely traditional leadership of Austria, or that of Prussia, should be henceforth asserted. Already, in 1859, King Wilhelm had been ready to fight the battle for Austria against France; but he had made it a sine qua non, that if he did so, Prussia must henceforth have the military leadership of Germany, and rather than submit to this condition, the emperor of Austria chose to sign the treaty of Villafranca. After the appointment of Bismarck, the time from 1862 to 1870 was chiefly occupied with the strife of internal party politics and "particularism," allied against the determination of the king and his chief minister to win unity for Germany by making Prussia the head of the confederated states. An opportunity for giving an energetic utterance to this firm resolution soon presented itself. In August, 1863, the Emperor Franz Joseph I. of Austria invited Prussia to take her ancient subordinate place in the Diet to be assembled in Frankfort. Prussia felt herself too strong to occupy any longer such a humble position. King William refused to attend the conference. The assertion of the military power of Prussia in the war of Schleswig-Holstein soon followed, and served in a great degree to concentrate the national interest and throw divisions of party into the background; but this result was obtained more completely in 1866, when the war between Prussia and Austria, which had long been inevitable, actually took place. On the 18th of June the king summoned his troops to fight for nothing less than the existence of a free Germany, and on the 2nd of July he placed himself at the head of his army. The signal 
 * III., King of the Netherlands, and son of the