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Karina Urbach, Our Fritz: Emperor Frederick III and the Political Culture of Imperial Germany, by Frank Lorenz Müller, The English Historical Review, Volume 128, Issue 533, August 2013, Pages 987–989, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cet136
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German history took a wrong turn in 1888. If Frederick III had reigned longer than 99 days he might have taken Germany ‘west’—that is, based it on the English model, less militaristic and more democratic. But would he have done so? Frank Lorenz Müller’s biography of the tragic figure of Emperor Frederick (Fritz) gives a complex answer. On the way, Müller achieves much more than covering a troubled man’s life. He is also interested in the political, social as well as cultural currents of the time and uses Frederick as a vehicle to give us a wide panorama of nineteenth-century German society. As a good psychologist, he starts off by analysing the three decisive relationships in Fritz’s life: with his father Emperor William I, with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and with his wife Victoria. It was Fritz’s misfortune that all three were—in different ways—out of his league.
Traditionally, the relationship between Prussian kings and their sons had been dysfunctional. William I and Fritz were no exception. Although he was described as ‘indolent’, he yearned for adulation and fame. It was unfortunate, however, that his much tougher father was supported by the political giant Bismarck. Bismarck and Frederick’s relationship fluctuated considerably over the years (from early rejection to sporadic co-operation) yet it was always clear that Fritz could hardly compete with the great man. Ironically, their relationship was at its best shortly before Frederick was diagnosed with cancer. The new closeness to Bismarck was due to Frederick’s British wife Vicky (eldest daughter of Queen Victoria), who had in 1885 sought a rapprochement with her old enemy. Throughout his adult life, Vicky was Fritz’s greatest asset and his greatest liability. Müller describes all her virtues—she was highly intelligent, fought against Prussian narrow-mindedness and did her best to lighten her husband’s recurring depressions. The couple’s vast correspondence shows that they shared everything with each other and worked closely together. Victoria, however, had the dominant intellect and her crusade to model Fritz—a Prussian at heart—into an Englishman backfired. She went beyond her husband’s cautious liberalism and managed to alienate both conservative and moderate politicians (p. 45). In an age of growing nationalism her loyalties were often questioned, her obsessive letter-writing to Queen Victoria was seen as suspect and in 1883 the German government had to realise that even Frederick passed on sensitive information to Windsor.
