Although the ineffectual King himself seemed resigned to Prussia's fate, various reforming ministers, such as Baron vom Stein, Prince von Hardenberg, Scharnhorst, and Count Gneisenau, set about reforming Prussia's administration and military, with the encouragement of Queen Luise (who died, greatly mourned, in 1810). Frederick William III (1770-1840, r.1797-1840) was king of Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars, and led Prussia during one of the most disastrous periods in her history in 1806-7 and during her revival in 1813-15. Frederick III, also called (until 1888) Crown Prince Frederick William, German Kronprinz Friedrich Wilhelm, in full Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl, (born Oct. 18, 1831, Potsdam, Prussia—died June 15, 1888, Potsdam), king of Prussia and German emperor for 99 days in 1888, during which time he was a voiceless invalid, dying of throat cancer. This manner of speech subsequently came to be considered entirely appropriate for military officers. His troops were allowed to move to northern East Prussia.

Frederick William III is buried at the Mausoleum in Schlosspark Charlottenburg, Berlin. (3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. Russian troops were allowed to cross Prussian territory, but only after the French had done the same in Ansbach on 3 October 1805.

He was quoted as saying the following, which demonstrated his sense of duty and peculiar manner of speech: At first Frederick William and his advisors attempted to pursue a policy of neutrality in the Napoleonic Wars. In the spring of 1805 Tsar Alexander visited the King on his way to take command of the Russian army in Austria. When Frederick William finally decided to declare war against France (7 August 1806) he sent his wife Queen Louise and Prince Louise to Russia to make an agreement with the Tsar. When the Prussian commander-in-chief, the Duke of Brunswick, was fatally wounded, Mollendorf briefly took over before being wounded himself. 21. Brunswick's chief of staff Scharnhorst, who might have been able to save the situation, was absent, having taken over Schmettau's corps when that general was wounded. The eagerness to restore dignity to his family went so far that it nearly caused sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow to cancel his Prinzessinnengruppe project, which was commissioned by the previous monarch Frederick William II.

Serfdom was abolished on 11 November 1810, although the peasants weren't freed from their feudal duties. He was a melancholy boy, but he grew up pious and honest. At the time the King officially condemned the convention, but it is possible that Yorck was obeying secret orders. Despite this he remained popular in Prussia. This manner of speech subsequently came to be considered entirely appropriate for military officers.[1]. However the Prussians weren't willing to wait for Russian aid, and on 12 September Frederick William ordered his army to move into Saxony. She was also popular with the Prussian people and army. After the military collapse of 1806–07 and the loss of all provinces west of the Elbe River, he finally realized that Prussia would have to make decisive changes.

On 30 December he agreed to the Convention of Tauroggen, in which Yorck's corps became neutral. Following Napoleon's defeat he was King of Prussia during the Congress of Vienna which assembled to settle the political questions arising from the new, post-Napoleonic order in Europe. He therefore sanctioned the reforms proposed by Prussian statesmen such as Karl Stein and Karl von Hardenberg, but these amounted only to a reform of the higher bureaucracy, not of the royal prerogative. Once he was in the anti-French camp he became fully committed to it. Frederick William III (1770-1840, r.1797-1840) was king of Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars, and led Prussia during one of the most disastrous periods in her history in 1806-7 and during her revival in 1813-15.

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Prussians then stopped while they decided what to do next. He also abolished the Tugendbund, one of the societies formed to try and regenerate Prussia, under French pressure. Frederick William was happy at Paretz, and for this reason in 1795 he bought it from his boyhood friend and turned it into an important royal country retreat. Frederick William agreed to join the war against France, but not immediately. Napoleon dealt with Prussia very harshly, despite the pregnant Queen's personal interview with the French emperor. In the crisis of the Vienna Congress over the partition of Saxony, he sided with Alexander I, thus bringing Prussia to the brink of war against England, France, and Austria (January 1815). Prussian troops played a key part in the victories of the allies in 1813 and 1814, and the King himself travelled with the main army of Prince Schwarzenberg, along with Alexander of Russia and Francis of Austria. After the end of the wars Frederick William lost much of his interest in reform, and he became an opponent of liberalism. Frederick William III, (born August 3, 1770, Potsdam, Prussia [Germany]—died June 7, 1840, Berlin), king of Prussia from 1797, the son of Frederick William II.

Soon afterwards Napoleon was forced to abdicate for the first time. Frederick William III, Tsar Alexander and the Emperor Francis of Austria all accompanied the Allied armies during the War of Liberation, normally accompanying Prince Schwarzenberg's main Austrian army.

They had no children.

Frederick William III was the son of Frederick William II and his second wife, Frederika Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt. In previous wars this would probably have forced them to retreat to deal with the new threat, but on this occasion that didn’t happen.

On 14 October 1806, at the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt, the French defeated the Prussian army led by Frederick William, and the Prussian army collapsed.

In 1824 Frederick William III remarried (morganatically) Countess Auguste von Harrach, Princess of Liegnitz. Over the next few years Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and a series of other reforms greatly improved the Prussian army, and also found ways around the 42,000 size limit. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Steering a careful course between France and her enemies, after a major military defeat in 1806, he eventually and reluctantly joined the coalition against Napoleon in the Befreiungskriege. Frederick William was also forced to recognize the Confederation of the Rhine. Even late in the day the Prussians still had a chance to restore the situation, as one third of their army had yet to enter the fighting.