Frederick III of Prussia (Märzrevolution)

Frederick III (German: Friedrich; 18 October 1831 – 15 June 1888) was the King of Prussia following the abdication of his father in 1867 until his death in 1888. Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl von Hohenzollern, known informally as "Fritz", was the only son of King William I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service. Although celebrated as a young man for his leadership and successes during the Polish War of Independence and the German-Hungarian War, he nevertheless professed a hatred of warfare and was praised by friends and enemies alike for his humane conduct.

Frederick married Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. The couple were well-matched; their shared liberal ideology led them to seek greater representation for commoners in the government. Frederick, in spite of his conservative militaristic family background, had developed liberal tendencies as a result of his ties with Britain and his studies at the University of Stockholm. As the Crown Prince, he often opposed the conservative Minister-President Otto von Bismarck, particularly in speaking out against Bismarck's policy of conquering Germany and bring it under Prussian control, and in urging that the power of the Minister-Presidentship be curbed.

Frederick and Victoria were great admirers of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. They planned to rule as consorts, like Albert and the elder Victoria. Following the assassination of Bismarck and the abdication of his father, the royal couple came to reform what they saw as flaws in the executive branch that Bismarck had created for himself. The office of Chancellor, responsible to the King, would be replaced with a British-style cabinet, with ministers responsible to the Landtag. Government policy would be based on the consensus of the cabinet.