Charles, Prince of Prussia becomes Charles I of Prussia

Another Prussian thread:

Frederick William III of Prussia had the following sons:

Frederick William IV (b. 1795: d. 1861)

Wilhelm I (b. 1797: d. 1888)

Charles of Prussia (b. 1801: d. 1883)

Albert of Prussia (b. 1809: d.1872)

My question is this, instead of having all four sons live to adulthood what happens if only two of his sons do?

So, instead, the family tree looks something like this:

Frederick William, Prince of Prussia (b. 1795: d. 1800)

Wilhelm of Prussia (b. 1797: d. 1800)

Charles I of Prussia (b. 1801: d. 1883)

Albert of Prussia (b. 1809: d. 1872)

So, now with his first two sons dying as children, and his youngest two sons surviving into adulthood, what might this change?

Otl, Charles married Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , and his brother Wilhelm married Marie's sister. With Charles serving as heir from birth would such a marriage still occur or would a more high profile marriage be sought if so, who might be considered a worthwhile candidate?

Secondly, Charles like other Prussian Princes served in the military, I do not see that changing, but would he remain as a high a patron of the arts as he was otl?

Thirdly, how might this influence things like the development of the German Empire, would it be led by Prussia here? Or would Austria get it in?
 
Another Prussian thread:

Frederick William III of Prussia had the following sons:

Frederick William IV (b. 1795: d. 1861)

Wilhelm I (b. 1797: d. 1888)

Charles of Prussia (b. 1801: d. 1883)

Albert of Prussia (b. 1809: d.1872)

My question is this, instead of having all four sons live to adulthood what happens if only two of his sons do?

So, instead, the family tree looks something like this:

Frederick William, Prince of Prussia (b. 1795: d. 1800)

Wilhelm of Prussia (b. 1797: d. 1800)

Charles I of Prussia (b. 1801: d. 1883)

Albert of Prussia (b. 1809: d. 1872)

We don't have to be so severe.

Frederick William, Prince of Prussia (b. 1795: d. 1836); childless as OTL.

Wilhelm of Prussia (b. 1797: d. 1815) (KIA at Ligny)


So, now with his first two sons dying as children, and his youngest two sons surviving into adulthood, what might this change?

Otl, Charles married Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , and his brother Wilhelm married Marie's sister. With Charles serving as heir from birth would such a marriage still occur or would a more high profile marriage be sought if so, who might be considered a worthwhile candidate?

Secondly, Charles like other Prussian Princes served in the military, I do not see that changing, but would he remain as a high a patron of the arts as he was otl?

Thirdly, how might this influence things like the development of the German Empire, would it be led by Prussia here? Or would Austria get it in?

Charles succeeds Frederick William III about 1840 (FW III was 70, Charles is 39.)

The first big change is Charles' reaction to 1848. FW IV played a double game - first opposing the revolution, then posing as its leader, then suppressed it, finally spurning the title offered by the Frankfurt Diet as "a crown from the gutter".

Charles? Who knows what he would do?
 
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Seeing him lead the opposition to 1848 would be quite good, and seeing him successfully stamp it out would be very good
 
I could imagine him accepting the crown - then waiting a year or two before doing a Louis Napoleon style coup d'état and replacing the liberal constitution with one more to his liking. He might have been a little less scrupulous than his brothers. Maybe Bismarck comes to power a decade or so earlier.
 
Oh that would certainly be very interesting would shock the liberals. A very good thing.


I had in mind a remark reportedly made by Frederick William IV about himself and his brothers

"Had we been born the sons of a petty official, I should have become an architect, William an NCO, Charles would have gone to prison and Albert turned out a drunkard".
 
I had in mind a remark reportedly made by Frederick William IV about himself and his brothers

"Had we been born the sons of a petty official, I should have become an architect, William an NCO, Charles would have gone to prison and Albert turned out a drunkard".
Aha nice. Good to see he kept the Prussian dry wit :p
 
I had in mind a remark reportedly made by Frederick William IV about himself and his brothers

"Had we been born the sons of a petty official, I should have become an architect, William an NCO, Charles would have gone to prison and Albert turned out a drunkard".
What on earth was there about his character that his brother thought villainous? We need to know as that has a bearing on how Charles would have dealt with the many issues arrising for Prussia in his lifetime.
 
I had in mind a remark reportedly made by Frederick William IV about himself and his brothers

"Had we been born the sons of a petty official, I should have become an architect, William an NCO, Charles would have gone to prison and Albert turned out a drunkard".
What on earth was there about his character that his brother thought villainous? We need to know as that has a bearing on how Charles would have dealt with the many issues arrising for Prussia in his lifetime.
Umm that make me wonder if FWIV feared his brother would conspirated against him? that is the best i can imagine, either that or Charles would be a kleptocrat.
 
Umm that make me wonder if FWIV feared his brother would conspirated against him? that is the best i can imagine, either that or Charles would be a kleptocrat.

Erich Eyck [1] mentions a scheme in 1848, by which the King was to be pressured into abdicating, and William into renouncing the succession, and Charles installed as Regent for the young Frederick III, with Bismarck aspiring to be the power behind the throne. William's wife, Princess Augusta, indignantly rejected the proposal and never forgave Bismarck.

[1] Bismarck and the German Empire, Ch1. AJP Taylor also mentions it in Bismarck; The Man and the Statesman. Neither Eyck nor Taylor gives the exact date, but both say it was while William was in exile in England, which iirc would put it between March and June 1848.
 
Erich Eyck [1] mentions a scheme in 1848, by which the King was to be pressured into abdicating, and William into renouncing the succession, and Charles installed as Regent for the young Frederick III, with Bismarck aspiring to be the power behind the throne. Whatever the truth of it, William's wife, Princess Augusta, indignantly rejected the proposal and never forgave Bismarck.

[1] Bismarck and the German Empire, Ch1. AJP Taylor also mentions it in Bismarck; The Man and the Statesman. Neither Eyck nor Taylor gives the exact date, but both say it was wile William was in exile in England, which iirc would put it between March and June 1848.
So seems that is Canon, so would explain why did't like his brother, wonder how he and bismarck would work together...that would make otl realpolitik looks like a child play
 
Nothing is more complicated than families; no, wait, Nothing is more complicated than families and German Princes families; no, wait, Nothing is more complicated than families and German Princes families and Prussian Royal families; no, wait, .......
 
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