FREDERICK WILLIAM 



2322 



FREDERICK 



time was chancellor of the University of 

 Copenhagen. He was a brother of Queen 

 Alexandra of England and of King George I 

 of Greece, and his second son, Charles, became 

 the ruler of Norway in 1905 with the title 

 Haakon .VII. Frederick was succeeded by his 

 son Christian X. 



FREDERICK WILLIAM (1620-1688), com- 

 monly called the GREAT ELKCTOR, who as ruler 

 of Brandenburg from 1640 to 1688 laid the 

 foundations for the greatness of Prussia (see 

 BRANDENBURG; PRUSSIA). When at the age of 

 twenty he succeeded his father as elector he 

 found Brandenburg sadly desolated by the 

 ravages of the Thirty Years' War, and at once 

 began to regulate the finances, to repopulate 

 the deserted towns, and to create a standing 

 army. For several years he was engaged in 

 warfare against Louis XIV of France and the 

 Swedes, defeating the latter in a decisive bat- 

 tle at Fehrbellin (1675). After concluding 

 peace with his enemies he devoted himself to 

 the interests of his people. He encouraged the 

 industries, opened up canals, established a pos- 

 tal system, reorganized the universities of 

 Frankfort and Konigsberg and founded the 

 Royal Library at Berlin, leaving to his son 

 Frederick, in 1688, a prosperous country and 

 a well-filled treasury. See ELECTOR. 



FREDERICK WILLIAM, the name of four 

 kings of Prussia, three of whom were of out- 

 standing importance. 



Frederick William I (1688-1740) succeeded 

 his father, Frederick I, in 1713. He estab- 

 lished an admirable system of administration, 

 strengthened the financial condition of the 

 country, and organized and drilled a splendid 

 army of 80,000 men. To satisfy his love for 

 tall soldiers, he resorted to most outrageous 

 methods to secure them, forcing such men 

 into his service by kidnaping them. During 

 his reign a large part of Pomerania was 

 wrested from Sweden and annexed to Prussia. 



Frederick William III (1770-1840)', who came 

 to the throne in 1797, was the son and suc- 

 cessor of Frederick William II. During the 

 first part of his reign he refused to enter the 

 coalition of the nations against Napoleon, 

 but finally yielded to the demands of his peo- 

 ple and sent an army against the great con- 

 queror. In 1806 his forces were overwhelmed 

 by the French at Jena and Auerstadt, and in 

 1807, by the Treaty of Tilsit, he was forced 

 to cede one-half of his dominions to France, 

 while the half that remained became in real- 

 ity a province of Napoleon's empire. The 



next few years were a period of regeneration 

 for humiliated Prussia, and it was one of 

 Frederick William's generals, the famous 

 Bliicher, who saved the day for the allies at 

 the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon suf- 

 fered his last defeat. After the conclusion of 

 peace Frederick William joined with Czar Alex- 

 ander I and Emperor Francis of Austria in 

 the formation of the HOLY ALLIANCE (which 

 see). Though he was opposed to popular lib- 

 erty, he contributed to the material prosperity 

 of his people, and during his reign the German 

 customs union (see ZOLLVEREIN) was estab- 

 lished. 



Frederick William IV (1795-1861), son of 

 Frederick William III, succeeded to the throne 

 in 1840. During his reign Prussia joined the 

 ranks of liberal states, for in 1848, the year 

 of popular uprisings throughout Europe, he 

 yielded to the demands of his subjects, who 

 had risen in arms in Berlin, and agreed to 

 grant them a constitution. Though the con- 

 stitution finally adopted greatly restricted the 

 liberties of the people, it marked the begin- 

 ning of a new political system for Prussia. 

 In 1857 Frederick William began to suffer 

 from attacks of insanity, and in 1858 the gov- 

 ernment was placed in the hands of his brother 

 William, the heir apparent, who succeeded 

 him in 1861. See GERMANY, subtitle History; 

 PRUSSIA. 



FREDERICK, MD., a city of historical inter- 

 est, made famous by the poet Whittier as the 

 scene of Barbara Frietchie's patriotic act (see 

 BARBARA FRIETCHIE). It is the county seat of 

 Frederick County, and is situated in the north- 

 western part of that portion of the state which 

 lies east of West Virginia. Washington, D. C., 

 and Baltimore are respectively fifty-seven 

 and sixty miles southeast, and York, Pa., is 

 fifty-six miles northeast. The Baltimore & 

 Ohio Railroad, constructed to the city in 1831, 

 and the Pennsylvania Railroad, built in 1871, 

 serve the city. The Hagerstown & Frederick 

 Railway (electric), constructed in 1904, con- 

 nects with towns to the north, west and south. 

 The population in 1916 was estimated to be 

 11,112; in 1910 it was 10,435. 



Frederick is an industrial city of importance, 

 possessing large canning establishments, flour 

 mills, brick works, planing mills and manu- 

 factories of tobacco products, hosiery, leather 

 and coaches. Its canning factories furnish 

 large supplies to the United States govern- 

 ment; the second largest flour mill in the 

 United States, one of the largest brush fac- 



