FREDERICK WILLIAM IIL 



FHEDEKICK WILLIAM IIL 



and 600,000 inhabitants, as an indemnity for some dutrioU on 

 the bft bank of the Rhine, which hud been oedad to France by tha 

 peace of Basel, and which had an area of only 900 English square 

 mile*, with 170,000 inhabitant* Theee tcrritonei were Mixed long 

 before the decree of the diet of Regeniburg (lUtubou) In 1S03, through 

 which too partition of Germany was legally settled, and which he thui 

 anticipated, being sure of the support of Uuuia and France ; for as 

 early as 1501 Frederick William adhered to the plan of the Emperor 

 Paul of Huasia to rcaist the English supremacy on the tea, and a 

 Pruatian ship baring beo CArrieJ by an English cruiser to the port 

 of Cuxliaven. the kiog sent troops to th.it place and seized her, 

 although Cuxbaven was within the territory of Hamburg. England 

 was then far from wishing to have Prussia as an enemy, and, anxious 

 to prevent a rupture with her, George IIL eent his son Adolphus, 

 afterwards Duke of Cambridge, to Berlin, to settle the affair in nn 

 amicable manner. In spite of tbesd friendly overtures Frederick 

 William gave way to the dangerous advice of some of his ministers, 

 and secretly prepared for taking military possession of the electorate 

 of Hanover ami the whole Gorman coast between Denmark and Holland. 

 This gave rise to fresh distrust, and Prussia would perhaps as early as 

 1801 have felt the consequences of her dishonourable and self seeking 

 policy, but fjr the assassination of the Emperor Paul of Russii, anil 

 the friendly dispositions of his son and sueceator Alexander towards 

 Oivat liritain, in consequence of which the convention of the 17th of 

 Juno 1801 was Mgned, and peace restored between Russia and England. 

 Nebon'i attack on Copenhagen in April 1801 had already forced 

 Denmark to withdraw from the Not them Coalition, and thus Prussia 

 alao was compelled to abandon her hostile designs towards England. 

 Yet there was no real friendship between Prussia and either England 

 or Russia, and the conduct of Frederick William towards Austria was 

 o equivocal, that ho was not only considered at Vienna as an intriguer, 

 but as a secret enemy. 



During this time the friendship between Prussia and Franco was 

 strengthened, and the intercourse between the two governments and 

 between the king and the first consul Napoleon Bonaparte wai very 

 intimate. It was however evident that when Prussia claimed any- 

 thing from France, she seldom got it ; but when France was the 

 claimant, Prussia always yielded. No sooner had Bonaparte declared 

 that the residence of so many French emigrants in the Prussian 

 dominions seemed to be dangerou* to him, than Frederick William 

 ordered them to leave his kingdom immediately, and this order was 

 likewise extended to Louis XVIII., who won residing quietly at 

 Wanaw, but was now compelled to take refuge in Russia. The 

 legitimist* in Europe now treated Frederick William as a traitor to the 

 holy cause of kings. Tbeir astonishment was still greater when, after 

 Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor of France, in 1.S01, the King 

 of Prursia waa the first of the potentates of Europe to recognise him, 

 and to accept and bear the Grand Cross of the recently founded order 

 of the Legion of Honour, in acknowledgment of which the king tent 

 Napoleon the Grand Cross of the order of the Black Eagle. It seemed 

 to be settled that the King of Prussia was to receive all northern 

 Germany as the price of his neutrality and friendship, as soon as it 

 could be occupied with safety. Napoleon used to speak of King 

 Frederick William in terms of the highest esteem, but events soon 

 showed that he despised him. 



In 1805 Napoleon's designs against England were frustrated 

 through a new coalition headed by Great Britain, Austria, and Russia. 

 From Boulogne, where the French army hod been concentrated for 

 the intended invasion of England, it advanced by rapid marches to the 

 frontiers of Austria. Berlin waa the centre of the most important 



contempt by Napoleon, and that it was now time to fight against the 

 usurper. Frederick William however still professed friendship for 

 Napul'-on ; be assembled a strong army on the frontier* of Austria, 

 but whom that army was to oppose waa known only to a few. The 

 Emperor Alexander now demanded a free passage through Silesia for 

 a Kuuian army, which was either to join the Austrians in Bohemia, or 

 more probably to occupy Hanover, and having mot with a refusal, he 

 repeated his demand in an imperious tone. The King of Prussia 

 answered that his generals had received order* to treat any Russian 

 who should set his foot on the Prussian soil as an enemy. There was 

 little doubt that in this struggle also Frederick William would remain 

 < ither neuter, or wait tdl one of the belligerent parties should have 

 been weakened by defeats, and then join the victor and have his share 

 in the spoliation of Austria and France. No sooner had the war 

 broken out than the violation of the Prussian dominions in Franconia, 

 by Man-hal Utrnadotte, showed how little Napoleon cared for the 

 Prussian king-or rather, how well he knew that Frederick William 

 was a man of indrcUive character, who would not avenge an insult 

 unless he could do it with impunity and profit. However, that 

 insolent violation roused tho war-party in Prussia; and Frederick 

 Wil,i nn, always influenced by circumstances, now followed the advice 

 of his mii.istur the Baron von Hardeiiberg, and consented to an inter- 

 view with the Emperor Alexander, which led to the Convention of the 

 3rd of November It 05 ; in consequence of which a Russian army was 

 allowed to paw through Silesia, while, by a secret article of that 



Convention, Frederick William promised to join the coalition against 

 Napoleon unlest he withdraw from Germany before the 15th of 

 December. Napoleon's wrath at this unexpected news was in !.- 

 soribablo ; but being then in the heart of Austria and on the eve of a 

 battle, he concealed his vexation. Through his intrigue* however 

 he induced Frederick William to dismiss Von Hardenberg, and to 

 appoint in his stead Count Hangwitz, who at onoo hastened to the 

 head-quarters of Napoleon in Moravia. A battle between the hostile 

 armies was unavoidable ; and tha general opinion in Prussia was that 

 Hangwitz was to present bis master's ultimatum to Napol . .-.-1 

 cither to compel him to make peace with Austria as the tiatut quo, or 

 to have a new enemy in Prussia. One hundred and fifty thousand 

 Prussians were on the Moravian frontier, ready, as it seemed, to join 

 the Auatro-Russians, from whom they were separated only by a few 

 days' march. No ultimatum was .tendered to Napoleon. 11 u 



till the Austro-Rusaiau army was annihilated by Napoleon in 

 the battle of Auslcrlitz (2nd of December, 1805), and the day aft-r 

 the battle impudently congratulated Napoleon in the wonls "l'i<u 

 merci, noua avn* vaiucu I " "If I had lost," said Napoleon to his 

 ministers, after Haugwitz hod left him, " he would have said the same) 

 to the Emperors of Austria and Russia." 



Only thirteen days after the battle of Austerlitz (15th of December 

 1S05) a treaty was concluded at Vienna, through Haugwitz, between 

 France and Prussia, which astonished all Europe, caused deep indig- 

 nation in England, and filled all Prussian patriots with shame and 

 despair. Prussia ceded to Franco her dominions in Kranconia, the 

 violation of which had caused so much indignation in Germany, and 

 received as the reward of her duplicity the electorate of Hanover, 

 though only de facto, and till a general peace to which Great llrii nn 

 should be a party should bo made. Hanover had been occupied by the 

 French in 1803, against the law of nations. In that year Georgu III. 

 renewed the war against France as King of Great Itritaiu and Ireland, 

 but not as Elector of Hanover; and in order to establish that distinc- 

 tion, he sent a circular to the courts of Europe informing them that 

 Hanover was out of the question, and was consequently a neutral 

 territory. In this case however, as in so many others, Napoleon 

 disregarded international law ; and the consequence \\-.\-, th.it 1 1 

 was first occupied by the French, and afterwards by the Prussians. 

 According to the condition on which Prussia was put in possession of 

 Hanover, she could only hold it as a trustee for the Elector King 

 George IIL; but a second convention, concluded at Paris on the 15th 

 of February ISOd, showed that Frederick William intended to annex 

 Hanover to his dominions, which he actually effected, declaring that 

 he had received Hanover as a lawful conquest of Napoleon. 



Prussia soon received the duo punishment for the duplicity of her 

 government. The first consequence of the treaty of Paris was a 

 declaration of war by Great Britain ; in a few mouths several hu 

 Prussian ships were seized by the English cruisers; and England's 

 ally, King Gustavus Adolphus IV. of Sweden, occupied the duchy of 

 Lauenburg, an appendage to the electorate of Hanover, for George III., 

 and threatened to invade Prussia. However, as neither Groat liritain 

 nor Sweden was able to injure Prussia much by land, King Frederick 

 William hoped to settle his differences with those powers and to enjoy 

 the profits of his neutrality, but he was roused from his dreams by 

 the insolent conduct of Napoleon, and at last brought to see clearly 

 his dangerous position. The history of those times shows plainly 

 that in such a contest as was occasioned by the French revolution, 

 there was no lasting neutrality for any power which was in direct 

 contact with French influence, and that there was no chance left but 

 to fight for or against France. The king and statesmen of Prussia had 

 ill understood the French revolution, and they now suffered for it. 



As to the personal character of Frederick William, he was regarded 

 as a man of plain understanding, more admired by his subjects for the 

 qualities of his heart than those of his head, and little disposed to 

 admire others for their talents or genius. There is no doubt N apoleon 

 expressed his real opinion when he spoke of him with contempt, and 

 his contempt changed into animosity in proportion as the Prussian, 

 cabinet deranged his plans without exactly thwarting them. On 

 ceding Hanover to Prussia, Napoleon could boast of having caught 

 Frederick William in a trap from which he could not escape without 

 becoming either his vassal or his enemy ; and matters being once in 

 this condition, the French emperor boldly proceeded towards pushing 

 him to extremities. The foundation of tho Rhenish confederation, 

 which, a* Napoleon openly said, would be as useful to him against 

 Prussia as against Austria, was only notified by Napoleon to the 

 Prussian cabinet after it was completely established, though it would 

 seem that such an union of most of the members of tho German 

 empire would not have been proposed to any of them without pre- 

 viously consulting Prussia, if Frederick William had been regarded by 

 Napoleon with tho respect and deference which be owed to tin 

 of one of the great European kingdom*. Another provocation was 

 the occupation by the new Grand-Duke of Berg, Murat, who was tho 

 brother-in-law of Napoleon, of the territories of the Prince of Nassau- 

 Duti-Orange, the brother-in-law of the King of Prussia ; and perhaps 

 a direct order of Napoleon only could induce Murat to take possession 

 of the three abbotships iu Westphalia which had belonged to Prussia 

 since 1MJU. In order to soothe Frederick William's anger at tho esta- 

 t.li i.i.i'jut of tho Rhcuith Confederation, Napoleon, with apparent 



