List of monarchs III
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What if Frederick was removed from the line of succession due to the Katte Affair?
Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henri I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline (House of Hohenzollern [4]
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvment in the Revolutionary Wars, prefering to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developping major manufacturing sites all accross his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she shoud rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4]
The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strenght. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries, and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space,the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to he borders, telagraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a himiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855, when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henri I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline (House of Hohenzollern [4]
[1] Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2]
The tale of ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778, when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2]
The tale of ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778, when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvment in the Revolutionary Wars, prefering to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developping major manufacturing sites all accross his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she shoud rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4]
The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strenght. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries, and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space,the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to he borders, telagraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a himiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855, when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
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What if Frederick was removed from the line of succession due to the Katte Affair?
Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henri I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by _____________.
Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henri I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
[1] Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by _____________.
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I don't think you are supposed to do that, because it determines the next round too much.
Frederick William, King of Prussia, b. 1688, r. 1713 to 1740, m. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687 to 1757)
2) Wilhelmine, b. 1709, d. 1XXX
4) Fredrick, b. 1712, (ab) 1740, d 1XXX
6) Frederica Louise, b. 1714, d. 1XXX
7) Philippine Charlotte, b. 1716, d. 1XXX
9) Sophia Dorothea, b. 1719, d. 1XXX
10) Louisa Ulrika, b. 1720, d. 1XXX
11) Augustus William, King of Prussia, b. 1722, r. 1740 to 1763, m. Bernhardina Christiana Sophia if Saxe-weimar Eisenach
a) William Augustus Frederick, b. 17XX, d. 1762/1763
b) several daughters
12) Anna Amalia, b. 1723, d. 1XXX
13) Henry I and IV, King of Poland and Lithuania (from 1762), King of Prussia (from 1763), b. 1726, d. 1802
a) Augustus II and V, King of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania, b. 1774, r. 1802 to 1812, m. Zofia Czartoryska
1) Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...), m. Henry II and VI of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1861
a) see line of Henry II and VI
2) other daughters
14) Augustus Ferdinand, b. 1730, d. 1XXX
a) unnamed son
1) Henry II and VI of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1855, m. Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...)
a) Louis Ferdinand, King of Catalonia (as Carlos I), b. 18XX, r. 1855 to 1XXX
b) Victor of the Commonwealth, m. Unnamed Austrian Poet
c) Friedrich I of the United Commonwealth (...), b. 1820, r. 1861 to 1891, m. Christina of Waldeck-Prymont
1) Viktoria b. 1845 d. 1XXX, m. 1867 to Prince Gustav of Sweden, b. 1841 d. 1886
- a) no issue
2) Frederika b. 1848 d. 1XXX
3) Ludwiga b. 1848 d. 1XXX
4) Wolfgang b. 1850 d. 1873
d) Ludwig, King of Bulgaria
e) Albert, King of Bosnia
f) seven other sons
g) seven daughters
Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henri I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of Wendish Empire
1891-1914 Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
[6]
Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to..............
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henri I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of Wendish Empire
1891-1914 Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
[1] Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by _Augustus III and V____________.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by _Augustus III and V____________.
[6]
Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to..............
You can name the children but you can't say who actually succeeds him. Naming the daughters but without giving when they die allows the open end to have them or their children, or other, succeed.
Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henry I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of Wendish Empire
1891-1914. Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
1914-1924. Joanna as Regent (House of Hohenzollern)
1924-1949. Friedrich II (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [7]
[7] Friedrich was born in 1906 to Augustus III and V and Princess Joanna of Catalonia, who was the daughter of Ferdinand I, who in turn was the grandson of Carlos I, older brother of Friedrich I. Friedrich was a very sociable child and was not expected that he would become the Wendish Emperor at an young age, but when his father died in 1914 at the age of 41, he unexpectedly became Emperor Friedrich II with his mother Joanna as regent.
During his mother's regency, Wendland went to war aganist Russia in the Great War, which lasted between 1916 and 1920 and saw many casualties during it. When the war ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1920, Wendland got Crimea and Latvia, while Sweden got Estonia and Karelia. Friedrich II became 18 in 1924, ending his mother's regency which caused many people to celebrate the beginning of their Emperor's personal rule.
Friedrich II married Princess Christina of Sweden in 1928 and would have nine children (five daughters and four sons) with her. Friedrich would continue the policies of his predecessors of making sure that the parts of the Wendish Empire were evenly noticed, and would turn Lithuania and Latvia into the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, an autonomous monarchy under his brother Augustus in 1932.
He also continued to liberalize the Empire including giving women the right to vote in 1925.
Unfortunately, Friedrich was assassinated by a Polish nationalist in 1949, which meant __________ was now the new ruler of the Wendish Empire.
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henry I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of Wendish Empire
1891-1914. Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
1914-1924. Joanna as Regent (House of Hohenzollern)
1924-1949. Friedrich II (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [7]
[1] Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
[5] Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by Augustus III and V.
[6] Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to his son Friedrich.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
[5] Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by Augustus III and V.
[6] Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to his son Friedrich.
[7] Friedrich was born in 1906 to Augustus III and V and Princess Joanna of Catalonia, who was the daughter of Ferdinand I, who in turn was the grandson of Carlos I, older brother of Friedrich I. Friedrich was a very sociable child and was not expected that he would become the Wendish Emperor at an young age, but when his father died in 1914 at the age of 41, he unexpectedly became Emperor Friedrich II with his mother Joanna as regent.
During his mother's regency, Wendland went to war aganist Russia in the Great War, which lasted between 1916 and 1920 and saw many casualties during it. When the war ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1920, Wendland got Crimea and Latvia, while Sweden got Estonia and Karelia. Friedrich II became 18 in 1924, ending his mother's regency which caused many people to celebrate the beginning of their Emperor's personal rule.
Friedrich II married Princess Christina of Sweden in 1928 and would have nine children (five daughters and four sons) with her. Friedrich would continue the policies of his predecessors of making sure that the parts of the Wendish Empire were evenly noticed, and would turn Lithuania and Latvia into the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, an autonomous monarchy under his brother Augustus in 1932.
He also continued to liberalize the Empire including giving women the right to vote in 1925.
Unfortunately, Friedrich was assassinated by a Polish nationalist in 1949, which meant __________ was now the new ruler of the Wendish Empire.
Frederick William, King of Prussia, b. 1688, r. 1713 to 1740, m. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687 to 1757)
---2) Wilhelmine, b. 1709, d. 1XXX
---4) Fredrick, b. 1712, (ab) 1740, d 1XXX
---6) Frederica Louise, b. 1714, d. 1XXX
---7) Philippine Charlotte, b. 1716, d. 1XXX
---9) Sophia Dorothea, b. 1719, d. 1XXX
---10) Louisa Ulrika, b. 1720, d. 1XXX
---11) Augustus William, King of Prussia, b. 1722, r. 1740 to 1763, m. Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach
------a) William Augustus Frederick, b. 17XX, d. 1762/1763
------b) several daughters
---12) Anna Amalia, b. 1723, d. 1XXX
---13) Henry I and IV, King of Poland and Lithuania (from 1762), King of Prussia (from 1763), b. 1726, d. 1802
------a) Augustus II and V, King of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania, b. 1774, r. 1802 to 1812, m. Zofia Czartoryska
---------1) Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...), m. Henry II and V of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1861
------------a) see line of Henry II and V
---------2) other daughters
---14) Augustus Ferdinand, b. 1730, d. 1XXX
------a) unnamed son
---------1) Henry II and V of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1855, m. Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...)
------------a) Louis Ferdinand, King of Catalonia (as Carlos I), b. 18XX, r. 1851 to 1875
------------------1) Carlos II, King of Catalonia, b. 18XX, r. 1875 to 1908
---------------------a) Ferdinand I, King of Catalonia, b. 1869, r. 1909 to 1XXX
-------------------b) Joanna, b. 1871, d. 1946, m. Friedrich II of the Wendish Empire
----------------------1) see line of Friedrich II
------------b) Victor of the Commonwealth, m. Unnamed Austrian Poet
------------c) Friedrich I of the United Commonwealth (...), b. 1820, r. 1861 to 1891, m. Christina of Waldeck-Prymont
---------------1) Viktoria b. 1845 d. 1XXX, m. 1867 to Prince Gustav of Sweden, b. 1841 d. 1886
---------------------a) no issue
---------------2) Frederika b. 1848 d. 18XX, m. Frederick Augustus II, King of Saxony
------------------a) Augustus III and V of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1873, r. 1891 to 1914, m. Joanna of Catalonia (1871-1946)
---------------------1) Friedrich II of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1906, r. 1914 to 1949, m. Christina of Sweden
------------------------a) four sons
------------------------b) five daughters
---------------------2) Augustus I, Grand Duke of the Baltic, b. 1907, r. 1932 to 1XXX
---------------3) Ludwiga b. 1848 d. 1XXX
---------------4) Wolfgang b. 1850 d. 1873
------------d) Ludwig, King of Bulgaria
------------e) Albert, King of Bosnia
------------f) seven other sons
------------g) seven daughters
---2) Wilhelmine, b. 1709, d. 1XXX
---4) Fredrick, b. 1712, (ab) 1740, d 1XXX
---6) Frederica Louise, b. 1714, d. 1XXX
---7) Philippine Charlotte, b. 1716, d. 1XXX
---9) Sophia Dorothea, b. 1719, d. 1XXX
---10) Louisa Ulrika, b. 1720, d. 1XXX
---11) Augustus William, King of Prussia, b. 1722, r. 1740 to 1763, m. Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach
------a) William Augustus Frederick, b. 17XX, d. 1762/1763
------b) several daughters
---12) Anna Amalia, b. 1723, d. 1XXX
---13) Henry I and IV, King of Poland and Lithuania (from 1762), King of Prussia (from 1763), b. 1726, d. 1802
------a) Augustus II and V, King of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania, b. 1774, r. 1802 to 1812, m. Zofia Czartoryska
---------1) Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...), m. Henry II and V of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1861
------------a) see line of Henry II and V
---------2) other daughters
---14) Augustus Ferdinand, b. 1730, d. 1XXX
------a) unnamed son
---------1) Henry II and V of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1855, m. Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...)
------------a) Louis Ferdinand, King of Catalonia (as Carlos I), b. 18XX, r. 1851 to 1875
------------------1) Carlos II, King of Catalonia, b. 18XX, r. 1875 to 1908
---------------------a) Ferdinand I, King of Catalonia, b. 1869, r. 1909 to 1XXX
-------------------b) Joanna, b. 1871, d. 1946, m. Friedrich II of the Wendish Empire
----------------------1) see line of Friedrich II
------------b) Victor of the Commonwealth, m. Unnamed Austrian Poet
------------c) Friedrich I of the United Commonwealth (...), b. 1820, r. 1861 to 1891, m. Christina of Waldeck-Prymont
---------------1) Viktoria b. 1845 d. 1XXX, m. 1867 to Prince Gustav of Sweden, b. 1841 d. 1886
---------------------a) no issue
---------------2) Frederika b. 1848 d. 18XX, m. Frederick Augustus II, King of Saxony
------------------a) Augustus III and V of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1873, r. 1891 to 1914, m. Joanna of Catalonia (1871-1946)
---------------------1) Friedrich II of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1906, r. 1914 to 1949, m. Christina of Sweden
------------------------a) four sons
------------------------b) five daughters
---------------------2) Augustus I, Grand Duke of the Baltic, b. 1907, r. 1932 to 1XXX
---------------3) Ludwiga b. 1848 d. 1XXX
---------------4) Wolfgang b. 1850 d. 1873
------------d) Ludwig, King of Bulgaria
------------e) Albert, King of Bosnia
------------f) seven other sons
------------g) seven daughters
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Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henry I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of Wendish Empire
1891-1914. Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
1914-1924. Joanna as Regent (House of Hohenzollern)
1924-1949. Friedrich II (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [7]
1949-1952. Caroline II (House of the Imperial Hohenzollerns) [8]
Caroline II stepped up as monarch in the agitation the followed her father's assassination, being crowned Empress of the Wendish Empire and making a point to continue her father's liberal policies and, sadly, meeting the same end three years later, murdered by the same Army of the Royal Eagle (a terrorist organization that fought for Polish supremacy instead of the pluralism that characterized the monarchy, and demanded a special recognition of the Catholic faith). By demanded to be called The Second, she solidified her namesake's position as a ruler in her own right in Wendish historiography.
Her short reign still let her time for three major laws and a slew of memorable quotes. The first law was the Dynastic Law of the Wendish Empire, that can be summarized in its preambulatory sentence: "The legitimate monarch of the Wendish Empire is the one that must be elected by the Sejm among the people of the closest possible parentage, and every Emperor is, for all intents and purposes, a Hohenzollern, at home as well as abroad." The second law, the Imperial Law of International Cooperation, was about the Wendish Empire's protectorate over Morocco: it was to be gradually transformed into an equal partnership through a number of codified steps. The third law was probably the most important: the Act of Separation of the Monarchy and the Government, that relinquished most of the executive power to the Chancellor of the Empire, that must now be appointed by the Sejm and confirmed by the Emperor, and an imperial veto can lead to a vote over the possible destitution of the monarch.
The Empress was of course, controversial, as many of her decisions lead to major changes in the way Wends thought of their Empire, and many of these laws, although technically Constitutional, brought major changes to the interpretation of the Constitution. She actually had in mind to invite a Constitutional Convention to readjust the Constitution after sixty years of service and simplify the everinflating text, but this plan was cut short by a grenade thrown during a public meeting with the citizens of Lublin that fatally wounded her in April 1952.
Perhaps her decisions and her will to push as many reforms as fast as possible can be best explained by a letter she sent to her younger sister Princess Jadwiga in which she said "I am well aware that I may be murdered at any moment by a terrorist of any sort: poisoned by a mole in my staff, shot through my window or during a conference, ... but the answer is to make the government more stable and less dependent on me, as we cannot uproot every single terrorist. I'd be no one if no one wanted me dead."
The Senate assembled in emergency at 9 PM on a Saturday to deliberate on her succession, and __________________________
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henry I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of Wendish Empire
1891-1914. Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
1914-1924. Joanna as Regent (House of Hohenzollern)
1924-1949. Friedrich II (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [7]
1949-1952. Caroline II (House of the Imperial Hohenzollerns) [8]
[1] Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
[5] Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by Augustus III and V.
[6] Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to his son Friedrich.
[7] Friedrich was born in 1906 to Augustus III and V and Princess Joanna of Catalonia, who was the daughter of Ferdinand I, who in turn was the grandson of Carlos I, older brother of Friedrich I. Friedrich was a very sociable child and was not expected that he would become the Wendish Emperor at an young age, but when his father died in 1914 at the age of 41, he unexpectedly became Emperor Friedrich II with his mother Joanna as regent.
During his mother's regency, Wendland went to war aganist Russia in the Great War, which lasted between 1916 and 1920 and saw many casualties during it. When the war ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1920, Wendland got Crimea and Latvia, while Sweden got Estonia and Karelia. Friedrich II became 18 in 1924, ending his mother's regency which caused many people to celebrate the beginning of their Emperor's personal rule.
Friedrich II married Princess Christina of Sweden in 1928 and would have nine children (five daughters and four sons) with her. Friedrich would continue the policies of his predecessors of making sure that the parts of the Wendish Empire were evenly noticed, and would turn Lithuania and Latvia into the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, an autonomous monarchy under his brother Augustus in 1932.
He also continued to liberalize the Empire including giving women the right to vote in 1925.
Unfortunately, Friedrich was assassinated by a Polish nationalist in 1949, which meant his eldest daughter Caroline was now the new ruler of the Wendish Empire.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. Only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk, when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
[5] Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by Augustus III and V.
[6] Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to his son Friedrich.
[7] Friedrich was born in 1906 to Augustus III and V and Princess Joanna of Catalonia, who was the daughter of Ferdinand I, who in turn was the grandson of Carlos I, older brother of Friedrich I. Friedrich was a very sociable child and was not expected that he would become the Wendish Emperor at an young age, but when his father died in 1914 at the age of 41, he unexpectedly became Emperor Friedrich II with his mother Joanna as regent.
During his mother's regency, Wendland went to war aganist Russia in the Great War, which lasted between 1916 and 1920 and saw many casualties during it. When the war ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1920, Wendland got Crimea and Latvia, while Sweden got Estonia and Karelia. Friedrich II became 18 in 1924, ending his mother's regency which caused many people to celebrate the beginning of their Emperor's personal rule.
Friedrich II married Princess Christina of Sweden in 1928 and would have nine children (five daughters and four sons) with her. Friedrich would continue the policies of his predecessors of making sure that the parts of the Wendish Empire were evenly noticed, and would turn Lithuania and Latvia into the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, an autonomous monarchy under his brother Augustus in 1932.
He also continued to liberalize the Empire including giving women the right to vote in 1925.
Unfortunately, Friedrich was assassinated by a Polish nationalist in 1949, which meant his eldest daughter Caroline was now the new ruler of the Wendish Empire.
Caroline II stepped up as monarch in the agitation the followed her father's assassination, being crowned Empress of the Wendish Empire and making a point to continue her father's liberal policies and, sadly, meeting the same end three years later, murdered by the same Army of the Royal Eagle (a terrorist organization that fought for Polish supremacy instead of the pluralism that characterized the monarchy, and demanded a special recognition of the Catholic faith). By demanded to be called The Second, she solidified her namesake's position as a ruler in her own right in Wendish historiography.
Her short reign still let her time for three major laws and a slew of memorable quotes. The first law was the Dynastic Law of the Wendish Empire, that can be summarized in its preambulatory sentence: "The legitimate monarch of the Wendish Empire is the one that must be elected by the Sejm among the people of the closest possible parentage, and every Emperor is, for all intents and purposes, a Hohenzollern, at home as well as abroad." The second law, the Imperial Law of International Cooperation, was about the Wendish Empire's protectorate over Morocco: it was to be gradually transformed into an equal partnership through a number of codified steps. The third law was probably the most important: the Act of Separation of the Monarchy and the Government, that relinquished most of the executive power to the Chancellor of the Empire, that must now be appointed by the Sejm and confirmed by the Emperor, and an imperial veto can lead to a vote over the possible destitution of the monarch.
The Empress was of course, controversial, as many of her decisions lead to major changes in the way Wends thought of their Empire, and many of these laws, although technically Constitutional, brought major changes to the interpretation of the Constitution. She actually had in mind to invite a Constitutional Convention to readjust the Constitution after sixty years of service and simplify the everinflating text, but this plan was cut short by a grenade thrown during a public meeting with the citizens of Lublin that fatally wounded her in April 1952.
Perhaps her decisions and her will to push as many reforms as fast as possible can be best explained by a letter she sent to her younger sister Princess Jadwiga in which she said "I am well aware that I may be murdered at any moment by a terrorist of any sort: poisoned by a mole in my staff, shot through my window or during a conference, ... but the answer is to make the government more stable and less dependent on me, as we cannot uproot every single terrorist. I'd be no one if no one wanted me dead."
The Senate assembled in emergency at 9 PM on a Saturday to deliberate on her succession, and __________________________
Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henry I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the Wendish Empire
1891-1914. Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
1914-1924. Joanna as Regent (House of Hohenzollern)
1924-1949. Friedrich II (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [7]
1949-1952. Caroline II (House of the Imperial Hohenzollerns) [8]
1952-1961. Alexandrina I (House of Hohenzollern) [9]
[9] Princess Alexandrina was a sensitive and kind person, ever since she was a child. When she developed a close and intimate relationship with her best friend, Adam Czerwaski, she renounced all her titles, so that they could live together in the small Polish town that Adam had grown up in.
In the early hours of the morning, the former Wendish Princess had just finished breakfast when she heard knocking at the door. She opened the door, and there in front of her was her cousin, Prince Frederick of the Baltic and several Wendish delegates. Alexandrina was immediately informed that the Senate had restored her rights as a Wendish Princess and that she was selected to be the ruler of the Wendish Empire, Alexandrina thought it was some sort of joke. However, that notion was quickly dispelled when Alexandrina was told the events of the past several days, she began to cry immensely for the loss of her beloved sister, Caroline.
Soon after her ascension, the Polish nationalists that killed her sister were arrested and sentenced to be hanged, however, the Empress commuted their sentences to life in prison. In fact, Empress Alexandrina called for the abolition of the death penalty in the empire, which occurred in 1954. During her reign, Empress Alexandrina promoted many scientific and educational developments in the Wendish Empire. She especially promoted the belief in plurinationalism across the empire. In 1960, after several protests in major Ukrainian cities, Ukraine was granted an autonomous status similar to that of the Baltics. Her sister, Carolina Wilhelmina, was elected by the Ukrainian Congress and coronated as Olga I, Grand Duchess of Ukraine.
In 1961, Queen Alexandrina died from a stroke, which was most likely caused by stress, during a visit with Leopold II, King of Bulgaria, she was succeeded by ___________.
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henry I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the Wendish Empire
1891-1914. Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
1914-1924. Joanna as Regent (House of Hohenzollern)
1924-1949. Friedrich II (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [7]
1949-1952. Caroline II (House of the Imperial Hohenzollerns) [8]
1952-1961. Alexandrina I (House of Hohenzollern) [9]
[1] Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. The only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
[5] Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by Augustus III and V.
[6] Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to his son Friedrich.
[7] Friedrich was born in 1906 to Augustus III and V and Princess Joanna of Catalonia, who was the daughter of Ferdinand I, who in turn was the grandson of Carlos I, older brother of Friedrich I. Friedrich was a very sociable child and was not expected that he would become the Wendish Emperor at an young age, but when his father died in 1914 at the age of 41, he unexpectedly became Emperor Friedrich II with his mother Joanna as regent.
During his mother's regency, Wendland went to war aganist Russia in the Great War, which lasted between 1916 and 1920 and saw many casualties during it. When the war ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1920, Wendland got Crimea and Latvia, while Sweden got Estonia and Karelia. Friedrich II became 18 in 1924, ending his mother's regency which caused many people to celebrate the beginning of their Emperor's personal rule.
Friedrich II married Princess Christina of Sweden in 1928 and would have nine children (five daughters and four sons) with her. Friedrich would continue the policies of his predecessors of making sure that the parts of the Wendish Empire were evenly noticed, and would turn Lithuania and Latvia into the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, an autonomous monarchy under his brother Augustus in 1932.
He also continued to liberalize the Empire including giving women the right to vote in 1925.
Unfortunately, Friedrich was assassinated by a Polish nationalist in 1949, which meant his eldest daughter Caroline was now the new ruler of the Wendish Empire.
[8] Caroline II stepped up as monarch in the agitation the followed her father's assassination, being crowned Empress of the Wendish Empire and making a point to continue her father's liberal policies and, sadly, meeting the same end three years later, murdered by the same Army of the Royal Eagle (a terrorist organization that fought for Polish supremacy instead of the pluralism that characterized the monarchy, and demanded a special recognition of the Catholic faith). By demanded to be called The Second, she solidified her namesake's position as a ruler in her own right in Wendish historiography.
Her short reign still let her time for three major laws and a slew of memorable quotes. The first law was the Dynastic Law of the Wendish Empire, that can be summarized in its preambulatory sentence: "The legitimate monarch of the Wendish Empire is the one that must be elected by the Sejm among the people of the closest possible parentage, and every Emperor is, for all intents and purposes, a Hohenzollern, at home as well as abroad." The second law, the Imperial Law of International Cooperation, was about the Wendish Empire's protectorate over Morocco: it was to be gradually transformed into an equal partnership through a number of codified steps. The third law was probably the most important: the Act of Separation of the Monarchy and the Government, that relinquished most of the executive power to the Chancellor of the Empire, that must now be appointed by the Sejm and confirmed by the Emperor, and an imperial veto can lead to a vote over the possible destitution of the monarch.
The Empress was of course, controversial, as many of her decisions lead to major changes in the way Wends thought of their Empire, and many of these laws, although technically Constitutional, brought major changes to the interpretation of the Constitution. She actually had in mind to invite a Constitutional Convention to readjust the Constitution after sixty years of service and simplify the everinflating text, but this plan was cut short by a grenade thrown during a public meeting with the citizens of Lublin that fatally wounded her in April 1952.
Perhaps her decisions and her will to push as many reforms as fast as possible can be best explained by a letter she sent to her younger sister Princess Jadwiga in which she said "I am well aware that I may be murdered at any moment by a terrorist of any sort: poisoned by a mole in my staff, shot through my window or during a conference, ... but the answer is to make the government more stable and less dependent on me, as we cannot uproot every single terrorist. I'd be no one if no one wanted me dead."
The Senate assembled in emergency at 9 PM on a Saturday to deliberate on her succession, and __________________________
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. The only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
[5] Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by Augustus III and V.
[6] Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to his son Friedrich.
[7] Friedrich was born in 1906 to Augustus III and V and Princess Joanna of Catalonia, who was the daughter of Ferdinand I, who in turn was the grandson of Carlos I, older brother of Friedrich I. Friedrich was a very sociable child and was not expected that he would become the Wendish Emperor at an young age, but when his father died in 1914 at the age of 41, he unexpectedly became Emperor Friedrich II with his mother Joanna as regent.
During his mother's regency, Wendland went to war aganist Russia in the Great War, which lasted between 1916 and 1920 and saw many casualties during it. When the war ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1920, Wendland got Crimea and Latvia, while Sweden got Estonia and Karelia. Friedrich II became 18 in 1924, ending his mother's regency which caused many people to celebrate the beginning of their Emperor's personal rule.
Friedrich II married Princess Christina of Sweden in 1928 and would have nine children (five daughters and four sons) with her. Friedrich would continue the policies of his predecessors of making sure that the parts of the Wendish Empire were evenly noticed, and would turn Lithuania and Latvia into the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, an autonomous monarchy under his brother Augustus in 1932.
He also continued to liberalize the Empire including giving women the right to vote in 1925.
Unfortunately, Friedrich was assassinated by a Polish nationalist in 1949, which meant his eldest daughter Caroline was now the new ruler of the Wendish Empire.
[8] Caroline II stepped up as monarch in the agitation the followed her father's assassination, being crowned Empress of the Wendish Empire and making a point to continue her father's liberal policies and, sadly, meeting the same end three years later, murdered by the same Army of the Royal Eagle (a terrorist organization that fought for Polish supremacy instead of the pluralism that characterized the monarchy, and demanded a special recognition of the Catholic faith). By demanded to be called The Second, she solidified her namesake's position as a ruler in her own right in Wendish historiography.
Her short reign still let her time for three major laws and a slew of memorable quotes. The first law was the Dynastic Law of the Wendish Empire, that can be summarized in its preambulatory sentence: "The legitimate monarch of the Wendish Empire is the one that must be elected by the Sejm among the people of the closest possible parentage, and every Emperor is, for all intents and purposes, a Hohenzollern, at home as well as abroad." The second law, the Imperial Law of International Cooperation, was about the Wendish Empire's protectorate over Morocco: it was to be gradually transformed into an equal partnership through a number of codified steps. The third law was probably the most important: the Act of Separation of the Monarchy and the Government, that relinquished most of the executive power to the Chancellor of the Empire, that must now be appointed by the Sejm and confirmed by the Emperor, and an imperial veto can lead to a vote over the possible destitution of the monarch.
The Empress was of course, controversial, as many of her decisions lead to major changes in the way Wends thought of their Empire, and many of these laws, although technically Constitutional, brought major changes to the interpretation of the Constitution. She actually had in mind to invite a Constitutional Convention to readjust the Constitution after sixty years of service and simplify the everinflating text, but this plan was cut short by a grenade thrown during a public meeting with the citizens of Lublin that fatally wounded her in April 1952.
Perhaps her decisions and her will to push as many reforms as fast as possible can be best explained by a letter she sent to her younger sister Princess Jadwiga in which she said "I am well aware that I may be murdered at any moment by a terrorist of any sort: poisoned by a mole in my staff, shot through my window or during a conference, ... but the answer is to make the government more stable and less dependent on me, as we cannot uproot every single terrorist. I'd be no one if no one wanted me dead."
The Senate assembled in emergency at 9 PM on a Saturday to deliberate on her succession, and __________________________
In the early hours of the morning, the former Wendish Princess had just finished breakfast when she heard knocking at the door. She opened the door, and there in front of her was her cousin, Prince Frederick of the Baltic and several Wendish delegates. Alexandrina was immediately informed that the Senate had restored her rights as a Wendish Princess and that she was selected to be the ruler of the Wendish Empire, Alexandrina thought it was some sort of joke. However, that notion was quickly dispelled when Alexandrina was told the events of the past several days, she began to cry immensely for the loss of her beloved sister, Caroline.
Soon after her ascension, the Polish nationalists that killed her sister were arrested and sentenced to be hanged, however, the Empress commuted their sentences to life in prison. In fact, Empress Alexandrina called for the abolition of the death penalty in the empire, which occurred in 1954. During her reign, Empress Alexandrina promoted many scientific and educational developments in the Wendish Empire. She especially promoted the belief in plurinationalism across the empire. In 1960, after several protests in major Ukrainian cities, Ukraine was granted an autonomous status similar to that of the Baltics. Her sister, Carolina Wilhelmina, was elected by the Ukrainian Congress and coronated as Olga I, Grand Duchess of Ukraine.
In 1961, Queen Alexandrina died from a stroke, which was most likely caused by stress, during a visit with Leopold II, King of Bulgaria, she was succeeded by ___________.
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A real prince in our world passed away today. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, husband of Queen Elizabeth, died at the age of 99, two months shy of his 100th birthday.
He was born in Greece and was Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, as the Greek Royal Family came out of the Danish one, the House of Glucksburg. He was exiled when he was 18 months old and eventually became a British citizen, adopting the surname of his maternal grandfather, Louis Mountbatten, who'd changed his name from Battenburg to Mountbatten when he became British.
He married Princess Elizabeth Windsor in 1947 after a long friendship. On his wedding day King George VI made him Duke of Edinburgh.
Although the cause of his death had not been disclosed, it was known he was ill.
Queen Elizabeth II now follows in the footsteps of her great-great grandmother Victoria as a Widow Queen, however, unlike Victoria, she had a long marriage of over 73 years and is elderly herself.
He was born in Greece and was Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, as the Greek Royal Family came out of the Danish one, the House of Glucksburg. He was exiled when he was 18 months old and eventually became a British citizen, adopting the surname of his maternal grandfather, Louis Mountbatten, who'd changed his name from Battenburg to Mountbatten when he became British.
He married Princess Elizabeth Windsor in 1947 after a long friendship. On his wedding day King George VI made him Duke of Edinburgh.
Although the cause of his death had not been disclosed, it was known he was ill.
Queen Elizabeth II now follows in the footsteps of her great-great grandmother Victoria as a Widow Queen, however, unlike Victoria, she had a long marriage of over 73 years and is elderly herself.
Monarchs in Prussia
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henry I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the Wendish Empire
1891-1914. Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
1914-1924. Joanna as Regent (House of Hohenzollern)
1924-1949. Friedrich II (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [7]
1949-1952. Caroline II (House of the Imperial Hohenzollerns) [8]
1952-1961. Alexandrina I (House of Hohenzollern) [9]
1961-1971. Adam as Regent (House of Czerwaski)
1971-2005. Casimir I and V (House of Hohenzollern) [10]
[10] Casimir was born in 1953 to Empress Alexandrina I and Adam Czerwaski as the first of three children, being followed by Augustus in 1954, and Caroline in 1957. Casimir's birth was celebrated across Wendland by it's people for it being a joyful event, and a breath of fresh air after having to go through two of their rulers being assassinated.
When Alexandrina died in Bulgaria in 1961, Casimir didn't heard of it until the next day when his favorite program was interrupted by an news report. When the news report finished describing the events of the past day, Casimir cried for five minutes, mouring the loss of his mother. He would become Casimir I and V with his father, Adam Czerwaski serving as his regent until he became 18. Casimir would spend the ten years of the regency rule vigorously preparing for the title of Emperor.
In 1971, Casimir became 18 years old with his coronation being the first to be televised in color. Six years later, he married his childhood sweetheart, Cecylia Kowalska, and had six children with her, three boys and three girls. Casimir would continue the belief of plurinationalism and promoted various technological advances across the empire. He would also open the Berlin Olympics in 1984. In 1989, after several protests across Saxony, it gained autonomous status like the Baltics and Ukraine before it. His brother, Augustus, was selected by the Saxon Congress and coronated as Augustus II, Grand Duke of Saxony.
Casimir I and V sadly died in an car crash on the 14th of May, 2005. he was succeeded by _________.
1713-1740. Frederick William I (House of Hohenzollern)
1740-1740. Sophia Dorothea as Regent (House of Hannover)
1740-1746. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia
1746-1763. Augustus William I (House of Hohenzollern) [1]
Monarchs of Prussia and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1763-1802. Henry I and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [2]
1802-1812. Augustus II and IV (House of Hohenzollern) [3]
Monarchs of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia, and Lithuania
1812-1855/1861. Henry II and V William and Caroline I (House of Hohenzollern) [4]
1861-1861. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the United Commonwealth
1861-1891. Friedrich I (House of Hohenzollern) [5]
Monarchs of the Wendish Empire
1891-1914. Augustus III and V (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [6]
1914-1924. Joanna as Regent (House of Hohenzollern)
1924-1949. Friedrich II (House of Wettin-Hohenzollern) [7]
1949-1952. Caroline II (House of the Imperial Hohenzollerns) [8]
1952-1961. Alexandrina I (House of Hohenzollern) [9]
1961-1971. Adam as Regent (House of Czerwaski)
1971-2005. Casimir I and V (House of Hohenzollern) [10]
[1] Augustus William I was the King in Prussia, who ruled from 1740 to 1763. In 1730, King Frederick William used Crown Prince Frederick’s involvement in the Katte Affair to remove him from the line of succession, and thus, the eight-year-old Augustus William became the Crown Prince of Prussia.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. The only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
[5] Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by Augustus III and V.
[6] Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to his son Friedrich.
[7] Friedrich was born in 1906 to Augustus III and V and Princess Joanna of Catalonia, who was the daughter of Ferdinand I, who in turn was the grandson of Carlos I, older brother of Friedrich I. Friedrich was a very sociable child and was not expected that he would become the Wendish Emperor at an young age, but when his father died in 1914 at the age of 41, he unexpectedly became Emperor Friedrich II with his mother Joanna as regent.
During his mother's regency, Wendland went to war aganist Russia in the Great War, which lasted between 1916 and 1920 and saw many casualties during it. When the war ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1920, Wendland got Crimea and Latvia, while Sweden got Estonia and Karelia. Friedrich II became 18 in 1924, ending his mother's regency which caused many people to celebrate the beginning of their Emperor's personal rule.
Friedrich II married Princess Christina of Sweden in 1928 and would have nine children (five daughters and four sons) with her. Friedrich would continue the policies of his predecessors of making sure that the parts of the Wendish Empire were evenly noticed, and would turn Lithuania and Latvia into the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, an autonomous monarchy under his brother Augustus in 1932.
He also continued to liberalize the Empire including giving women the right to vote in 1925.
Unfortunately, Friedrich was assassinated by a Polish nationalist in 1949, which meant his eldest daughter Caroline was now the new ruler of the Wendish Empire.
[8] Caroline II stepped up as monarch in the agitation the followed her father's assassination, being crowned Empress of the Wendish Empire and making a point to continue her father's liberal policies and, sadly, meeting the same end three years later, murdered by the same Army of the Royal Eagle (a terrorist organization that fought for Polish supremacy instead of the pluralism that characterized the monarchy, and demanded a special recognition of the Catholic faith). By demanded to be called The Second, she solidified her namesake's position as a ruler in her own right in Wendish historiography.
Her short reign still let her time for three major laws and a slew of memorable quotes. The first law was the Dynastic Law of the Wendish Empire, that can be summarized in its preambulatory sentence: "The legitimate monarch of the Wendish Empire is the one that must be elected by the Sejm among the people of the closest possible parentage, and every Emperor is, for all intents and purposes, a Hohenzollern, at home as well as abroad." The second law, the Imperial Law of International Cooperation, was about the Wendish Empire's protectorate over Morocco: it was to be gradually transformed into an equal partnership through a number of codified steps. The third law was probably the most important: the Act of Separation of the Monarchy and the Government, that relinquished most of the executive power to the Chancellor of the Empire, that must now be appointed by the Sejm and confirmed by the Emperor, and an imperial veto can lead to a vote over the possible destitution of the monarch.
The Empress was of course, controversial, as many of her decisions lead to major changes in the way Wends thought of their Empire, and many of these laws, although technically Constitutional, brought major changes to the interpretation of the Constitution. She actually had in mind to invite a Constitutional Convention to readjust the Constitution after sixty years of service and simplify the everinflating text, but this plan was cut short by a grenade thrown during a public meeting with the citizens of Lublin that fatally wounded her in April 1952.
Perhaps her decisions and her will to push as many reforms as fast as possible can be best explained by a letter she sent to her younger sister Princess Jadwiga in which she said "I am well aware that I may be murdered at any moment by a terrorist of any sort: poisoned by a mole in my staff, shot through my window or during a conference, ... but the answer is to make the government more stable and less dependent on me, as we cannot uproot every single terrorist. I'd be no one if no one wanted me dead."
The Senate assembled in emergency at 9 PM on a Saturday to deliberate on her succession, and __________________________
[9] Princess Alexandrina was a sensitive and kind person, ever since she was a child. When she developed a close and intimate relationship with her best friend, Adam Czerwaski, she renounced all her titles, so that they could live together in the small Polish town that Adam had grown up in.
In the early hours of the morning, the former Wendish Princess had just finished breakfast when she heard knocking at the door. She opened the door, and there in front of her was her cousin, Prince Frederick of the Baltic and several Wendish delegates. Alexandrina was immediately informed that the Senate had restored her rights as a Wendish Princess and that she was selected to be the ruler of the Wendish Empire, Alexandrina thought it was some sort of joke. However, that notion was quickly dispelled when Alexandrina was told the events of the past several days, she began to cry immensely for the loss of her beloved sister, Caroline.
Soon after her ascension, the Polish nationalists that killed her sister were arrested and sentenced to be hanged, however, the Empress commuted their sentences to life in prison. In fact, Empress Alexandrina called for the abolition of the death penalty in the empire, which occurred in 1954. During her reign, Empress Alexandrina promoted many scientific and educational developments in the Wendish Empire. She especially promoted the belief in plurinationalism across the empire. In 1960, after several protests in major Ukrainian cities, Ukraine was granted an autonomous status similar to that of the Baltics. Her sister, Carolina Wilhelmina, was elected by the Ukrainian Congress and coronated as Olga I, Grand Duchess of Ukraine.
In 1961, Queen Alexandrina would die from a stroke, which was most likely caused by stress, during a visit with Leopold II, King of Bulgaria, she was succeeded by her son Casimir I and V.
The Crown Prince Augustus William was beloved by his father, and he grew up to be very sociable and enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Prussian court.
When King Frederick William died in 1740, a regency was set up, led by Sophia Dorothea, due to Augustus William being a few months under the age of 18. During regency rule, Augustus William vigorously prepared himself for the tasks he would need to do when he would become king.
Shortly after he became king, Augustus William aided Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII’s territories from being overrun by the Austrians. During the War of Austrian Succession, Augustus William was able to convince Great Britain and Hannover to remain neutral throughout the course of the war. After the war, Prussia annexed most of Silesia and solidified its alliance with France, Bavaria, and Sweden. Augustus William I declared himself as King of Prussia, in Berlin.
During the rest of his reign, August William made many reforms to the Prussian military. He also made many education reforms to schools, and assert Prussia's influence in the Holy Roman Empire and distanced Prussia from the influence of Austria.
In 1763, he died from a brain tumour, while sleeping alongside his wife, Princess Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, while their children were visiting. He was succeeded by his brother Henry.
[2] The tale of the ascension of Henry of Prussia to the thrones of both his native Prussia and foreign Poland was an odd one. Born 13th child of his parents, he was never expected to inherit anything, despite him having many personal talents and being admired by many people - both foreigners and Prussians. The chance for Henry to come out from his brother's shadow appeared when Augustus III of Poland, king of Poland and elector of Saxony died in 1762 from an unknown ilness. Poland was not an hereditary monarchy, instead the new king was elected regardless of whether previous king had issue or living relatives or not. Poland was not a power known from former centuries, either.
The only advantage of it was that it was somewhat large and populous, with the political system being absolutely non-functional and Russian influence being absolutely prevalent. That did not stop Henry, who wanted to be king at all costs. Henry soon gained the support of his brother, king Augustus William and tsar Peter III, and despite Austrian objections, Henry was crowned as king Henry IV of Poland in June 1762.
Soon after, the tragedy hit the Prussian family. The only son of Augustus William, Willliam Augustus Frederick was hit by lightning bolt when he was on a walk, thus leaving Henry as heir to the Prussian throne, as his brother had no other sons, and his nephew had no sons either. This was not taken lightly by Austrians, but ardent Prussophile Peter III was happy that his beloved Prussia would enter PU with Poland and thus did nothing to stop Henry from ascending to the Prussian throne, which was done next year. The first years of Henry's reign were relatively peaceful, with him slowly building up his party in Poland and stopping Austrian ambitions to take Bavaria in the Reich, continuing the work of his brother. His benefactor, Peter III was murdered but Henry didn't react to it, allowing Peter's wife, Catherine II to ascend as Tsarina in 1765. The opportunity to strike back came in 1778 when Henry wanted to pass the "Great Bill" containing several reforms in Poland - eg. making throne hereditary for Hohenzollerns, dissolving the liberum veto, greatly limiting Sejm's power (though much of it already existed unofficialy, as Henry thought that Saxons failed to assert their control over Poland because they wanted to do official reforms firstly, when according to Henry much more attention should be paid to modernization of king's estates and unofficial subjugation of a great magnate's faction leaders) and the Austrians wanted to exchange Bavaria for Austrian Netherlands with Charles Theodore of Palatinate.
The Russians sponsored so-called "Czehryń confederation" in Poland against king Henry and reforms, which called elector of Saxony to take the throne.
Initially it had much succes, as it had taken much of Belarus and Ukraine, but for Henry preventing Austrians from taking Bavaria was more important.
He raided Saxony with ease, neutralizing it as a military force and in a few short battles, he defeated the Austrians, allowing them to take part of Bavaria in exchange of them supporting Henry in his struggle against Russians, ceding him the rest of Silesia and making Augustus Ferdinand, Henry's youngest brother sovereign duke of Luxembourg.
Than he expelled Russians in 1778 from PLC's land, forcing them to recognize his reforms. He also didn't care about French revolution, until French expelled Augustus Ferdinand from his duchy of Luxembourg in 1790s, but the Prussians didn't do much to stop the revolution. When he died in 1802, he left the throne to his son Augustus.
[3] Augustus II of Prussia and IV of Poland and Lithuania was the eldest son of Henri I and IV, born in 1774 after his father had many daughters. The child was at first a source of great relief for his father who feared that an uncertain descendance could risk his heir's grip on Poland, and soon evolved into delight as Henry saw a great deal of his qualities in his son. Indeed, growing up, Augustus demonstrated great abilities, but it soon appeared that his talent was more of a talent for economic affairs than diplomacy or war. Before his ascension to the thrones of the Hohenzollern, Augustus had been tasked by his father to devise a plan with his ministers to better rebuild the parts of Silesia that had suffered the most damage. A second of his feats accomplished before the coronation was to master fluently Polish, Lithuanian and Yiddish as well as his maternal German, only Latin remained quite obscure to him.
He followed his father's policy of minimal involvement in the Revolutionary Wars, preferring to remain out of any destructive conflicts so soon after the end of the troubles against Russia, Austria, and the Czerhyń Confederation. To be plainly honest, he was somewhat sympathetic to some of the early measures: taking down priviledges, representing the non-nobles, unifying weights and measures, simplifying the administrative structure ... however, he would not stand for the violences and, even worse, the forceful abolition of a monarchy! But still, he wouldn't put his kingdoms at risk.
On the contrary, the devastation of Europe he saw as a boon: he would attract as many intellectuals, engineers and scientists as he could, and capitalize on the need for grains and goods on both sides of the war to enrich his kingdom. To this end, he started developing major manufacturing sites all across his land: textile in Great Poland to transform the cotton and linen into fabrics; siderurgy around the coal regions, metallurgy around the copper depots, ... both Prussia and Poland industrialized at a rapid pace, Lithuania making lesser but still significant progress, especially around the Neris and Nemunas rivers in the Northeast.
To ease the relations with the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, he married Zofia Czartoryska, daughter of the powerful Adam Kazimierz Czatoryski, and would often organize celebrations in Warsaw where everyone could join and meet him personally, in order to appear as a people's monarch: he knew what happened to monarchs who'd keep their lives in a golden cage.
A major affair of his reign was the Stralsund Controversy of 1807. As he until that point only had daughters with his wife Zofia, the question of succession was starting to be raised. Of course, Augustus Ferdinand had children, of course ... German children who couldn't utter two sentences in Polish if they tried their best (and God knew they didn't). And his eldest daughter Karolina he was so fond of ... she was brilliant. Yes, she should rule. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was no obstacle, as the precedent was clear: the Rex can be a woman. No, the real problem was in the West, in Prussia. There, he slammed his hand on the table and famously said "It is legal because I want it to be", as although enlightened, his mind was very much the one of a despot.
In the end, the affair would only come to an end a year later when it was chosen that Prince Henry Wilhelm, the grandson of Augustus Ferdinand would succeed him. He died in 1812, drowning in Lake Wannsee with his wife after their rowboat flipped itself: he knew how to swim, but drowned himself trying to save his wife, entangled in, ironically, her Polonaise dress.
[4] The marriage between the dashing Uhlan-Prince Henry Wilhelm, grandson of Prince Augustus Ferdinand, and Princess Caroline was a compromise solution, born in great pains and amongst much arguing, but it proved remarkably successful. It helped that Henry cared little for anything else than that looking fabulous, killing royal wisents, deers, bears and other endangered animals in the many hunting grounds of his great realm, leading cavalry charges, and making his queen pregnant (And to give him credit, he was an absolute genius in those few areas, although to lead a charge against real opponent he would need to wait for quite long time. He made up for this conceiving twelve sons and seven daughters with Queen Caroline.) and gladly signed anything his wife would tell him to sign.
Queen Caroline continued the successful policies of her father, and the combined realms were quickly growing in strength. The transformation from mostly agrarian to industrial countries and needs of modern military led to further changes. In the royal domains, the serfdom was abolished during King Augustus rule, now it was the turn to free peasants living in noble lands. However, the form of emancipation created large number of unemployed people who moved in masse to the cities, providing cheap workforce for the steadily growing industry. Abolition of serfdom allowed for introduction of universal short term conscription, revolutionizing army organization. Economically it did great until the late thirties, when it began reaching the limits of its expansion and the economic growth slowed down.
However, the most important undertaking of the Queen was the great political reform that would officially turn the two parts of the Hohenzollern monarchy into a single state, which was concluded in 1824 with the passing of the constitution of the United Kingdoms of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania. The constitution, among other things, established male-preference primogeniture as the mode of succession in the Union. Queen Caroline put a great effort in making sure than no part of the Union would be favored or disadvantaged, and among her policies was demand that all schools in German-speaking parts taught Polish language and vice versa.
Prussian military tradition was not forgotten, and the Union put much effort in keepin an edge over its neighbors, being first to introduce rifled muskets and then breech-loeading weapons. It made sure to take advantage of any new development that could be used for that purpose, the railway would prove to be the greatest of them. Construction of first lines began in 1830, and barely six years later railways connected all major cities and industrial regions. The military however remained untested, until the Union's great eastern neighbor provided it with an opportunity by invading the Ottoman Empire and starting the Black Sea War, in the Union called the Short Victorious War of 1845. The British and French supported the Ottomans, and persuaded the Union to assist them, although the Union didn't require much invitation - generals wanted to test their theories, officers desired glory, industrialists whose factories were suffocating from overproduction hoped to get rich on war deliveries, common people spoke of gaining living space, the King dreamed of leading a great cavalry charge... Inhabitants of the Union literally squirmed at the prospect of war, except maybe for the Queen, but it wasn't 1812 anymore and the Queen had to take the will of the people into account.
The military expenses payed off. The conscription system allowed to raise and enormous army, the excellent railway system delivered them to the borders, telegraph allowed for unprecedented coordination, and modern weapons and tactics massacred the traditional Russian armies that were only halfway mobilized. The Union also managed to utilize the fact that the two main Russian railway lines were in fact extensions of the Union's railway system, the connection between them was not yet finished, and the rapid advance of the Union armies prevented the Russians from making them unusable for the invaders. Tsar Nicholas and Grand Prince Constantin were taken prisoner in the great Battle of Smoleńsk when cavalry charge led personally by king Henry overran their position, and the Union armies continued their march towards Moscow and Sankt Petersburg, the latter blockaded and bombarded by the Union and British navy. On the southern front, the Union forces took most of Ukraine and Crimea, where they were joined by the rest of the Coalition forces. The war ended in three months with a humiliating defeat of Russia, the Union gained the area between Dniepr and Dniester, blocking Russian expansion towards the Balkans, the city of Riga, and trade concessions which allowed goods from the Union factories to flood the great Russian market in return for cheap resources. Trade agreement with the Ottomans similarily allowed the Union access the latter's markets, leading to its economic and political subjugation to the Polish-Prussian state.
The well-administered union survived the calamitous years of 1846-48 avoiding famines and revolutions, the access to new markets reinvigorated the Union's economy, and the last years of the two monarchs rule would be remembered as the new golden age. However, the astronomic rise of the Union was not seen favorably by other great powers who didn't like competition in the Middle East, and of course, Russia was hungry for revenge.
King Henry died in 1855 when his hunt for a bear ended in a tragedy. Hunting bears with javelin at the tender age of sixty-five was not the wisest decision, but King Henry always behaved like a particularly juvenile twenty-year-old. Queen Caroline lived six more years, ceding more and more duties on her heir _____, and in her last two years withdrawing from the public life.
[5] Friedrich I was the third eldest son of King Henry II and V William and Queen Caroline I. From an early age, Friedrich was a bright child who excelled in nearly every academic subject. However, he showed no interest in military training, which made his father rather upset at him. Friedrich would show great interest in the affairs of the state and often sneak into his father and mother’s meetings with their ministers.
In 1851, his eldest brother and the heir to the thrones of Poland, Prussia, and Poland, Louis Ferdinand was offered the position of ruler of the newly independent Kingdom of Catalonia by the Catalonian nobles. Oddly, Louis Ferdinand renounced all of his Polish, Prussian, and Lithuanian titles and accepted the position as King of Catalonia as Carles I. Since his second eldest brother, Victor had renounced his titles to marry an Austrian poet, Friedrich was now the crown prince.
When Friedrich became crown prince, the already decaying relations between him and his father worsened. The two were well-known for their frequent arguments. When King Henry II and V died, Friedrich did not even attend his father’s funeral. After the death of his father, Friedrich became co-monarch and Queen Caroline ceded more of her duties to Friedrich.
In 1861, Friedrich I became the sole ruler of the United Kingdoms. His first action was to grant suffrage to all ethnicities in the Union including, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Latvians. Friedrich I also would grant Ukraine, Ruthenia, and Courland the same rights as the Prussians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Freidrich continued his mother’s policy, ensuring that no part of the United Commonwealth would be favoured or disadvantaged over another. And, Friedrich I pardoned many people who were arrested in the ‘‘Years of Revolutions’’. Though some of his pardons were extremely controversial such as his pardoning of suspected Russian collaborator, Otto von Kries.
Friedrich I helped his brothers, Ludwig and Albert, gain the thrones of Bulgaria and Bosnia, respectively, in the aftermath of the Ottomans losing all of their territory in the Balkans due to revolts.
During the last years of his reign, worked very hard and succeeded to liberalize most parts of the Commonwealth’s society, at the urging of his twin daughters, Frederika and Ludwiga, he even opened military schools to women. In 1891, he died peacefully in his sleep and was succeeded by Augustus III and V.
[6] Augustus III and V was son of princess Frederika and king of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II (who was descendant of Augustus William I from female line himself). The childlessness of his aunt and early death of his mother who was always a frail woman, meant that 18-year old Augustus was recognized as a best choice to succeed his grandfather Frederick I. Soon after, his father, king of Saxony died and Augustus ascended also to the throne of that kingdom.
Although German by birth, Augustus was very fascinated with pan-Slavism and since he was 15 he became a member of growing neo-Wendish movement, which claimed that Germans east of Elbe aren't "real" Germans but descendants of Slavic Wends, who were forced to forfeit their culture. The main factor of movement's rise were Slavic immigrants in lands of kingdom of Prussia - a lot of Poles and Ukrainians moved there in search of a job and flocked to the movement in search of new identity, also the presence of mandatory Polish in schools made many Germans more sympathetic towards that idea and Augustus was chief among them, as he was practically raised by his Lusatian babysitter.
Augustus also envied Austrian and Russian monarchs for having the title of Emperor, so he worked towards obtaining one himself. In the fifth year of his reign, he summoned joint parliaments of Prussia, Poland, Lithuania and Saxony and obtained their agreement to assume the title of Emperor of the Wends, and made Saxony another part of real union. Augustus also befriended a young Polish politician, Roman Dmowski who greatly benefited from Emperor's favor, being raised to the rank of Imperial Prime minister in 1900. Their policy was directed towards obtaining colonial empire, but also towards reconciliation with French and Austrians, with whom they wanted to divide Germany with. The policy bore fruits, as the Empire obtained control over part of Morocco and also gained control over South Africa, helping it liberate itself from Dutch rule, also they gained some influence in China in congress of Berlin in 1905. The last years of his reign were most peaceful, focused on enlarging Imperial navy and trying to forge an alliance with Sweden against Russia. He died in 1914 leaving the throne to his son Friedrich.
[7] Friedrich was born in 1906 to Augustus III and V and Princess Joanna of Catalonia, who was the daughter of Ferdinand I, who in turn was the grandson of Carlos I, older brother of Friedrich I. Friedrich was a very sociable child and was not expected that he would become the Wendish Emperor at an young age, but when his father died in 1914 at the age of 41, he unexpectedly became Emperor Friedrich II with his mother Joanna as regent.
During his mother's regency, Wendland went to war aganist Russia in the Great War, which lasted between 1916 and 1920 and saw many casualties during it. When the war ended with the Treaty of Vienna in 1920, Wendland got Crimea and Latvia, while Sweden got Estonia and Karelia. Friedrich II became 18 in 1924, ending his mother's regency which caused many people to celebrate the beginning of their Emperor's personal rule.
Friedrich II married Princess Christina of Sweden in 1928 and would have nine children (five daughters and four sons) with her. Friedrich would continue the policies of his predecessors of making sure that the parts of the Wendish Empire were evenly noticed, and would turn Lithuania and Latvia into the Grand Duchy of the Baltic, an autonomous monarchy under his brother Augustus in 1932.
He also continued to liberalize the Empire including giving women the right to vote in 1925.
Unfortunately, Friedrich was assassinated by a Polish nationalist in 1949, which meant his eldest daughter Caroline was now the new ruler of the Wendish Empire.
[8] Caroline II stepped up as monarch in the agitation the followed her father's assassination, being crowned Empress of the Wendish Empire and making a point to continue her father's liberal policies and, sadly, meeting the same end three years later, murdered by the same Army of the Royal Eagle (a terrorist organization that fought for Polish supremacy instead of the pluralism that characterized the monarchy, and demanded a special recognition of the Catholic faith). By demanded to be called The Second, she solidified her namesake's position as a ruler in her own right in Wendish historiography.
Her short reign still let her time for three major laws and a slew of memorable quotes. The first law was the Dynastic Law of the Wendish Empire, that can be summarized in its preambulatory sentence: "The legitimate monarch of the Wendish Empire is the one that must be elected by the Sejm among the people of the closest possible parentage, and every Emperor is, for all intents and purposes, a Hohenzollern, at home as well as abroad." The second law, the Imperial Law of International Cooperation, was about the Wendish Empire's protectorate over Morocco: it was to be gradually transformed into an equal partnership through a number of codified steps. The third law was probably the most important: the Act of Separation of the Monarchy and the Government, that relinquished most of the executive power to the Chancellor of the Empire, that must now be appointed by the Sejm and confirmed by the Emperor, and an imperial veto can lead to a vote over the possible destitution of the monarch.
The Empress was of course, controversial, as many of her decisions lead to major changes in the way Wends thought of their Empire, and many of these laws, although technically Constitutional, brought major changes to the interpretation of the Constitution. She actually had in mind to invite a Constitutional Convention to readjust the Constitution after sixty years of service and simplify the everinflating text, but this plan was cut short by a grenade thrown during a public meeting with the citizens of Lublin that fatally wounded her in April 1952.
Perhaps her decisions and her will to push as many reforms as fast as possible can be best explained by a letter she sent to her younger sister Princess Jadwiga in which she said "I am well aware that I may be murdered at any moment by a terrorist of any sort: poisoned by a mole in my staff, shot through my window or during a conference, ... but the answer is to make the government more stable and less dependent on me, as we cannot uproot every single terrorist. I'd be no one if no one wanted me dead."
The Senate assembled in emergency at 9 PM on a Saturday to deliberate on her succession, and __________________________
In the early hours of the morning, the former Wendish Princess had just finished breakfast when she heard knocking at the door. She opened the door, and there in front of her was her cousin, Prince Frederick of the Baltic and several Wendish delegates. Alexandrina was immediately informed that the Senate had restored her rights as a Wendish Princess and that she was selected to be the ruler of the Wendish Empire, Alexandrina thought it was some sort of joke. However, that notion was quickly dispelled when Alexandrina was told the events of the past several days, she began to cry immensely for the loss of her beloved sister, Caroline.
Soon after her ascension, the Polish nationalists that killed her sister were arrested and sentenced to be hanged, however, the Empress commuted their sentences to life in prison. In fact, Empress Alexandrina called for the abolition of the death penalty in the empire, which occurred in 1954. During her reign, Empress Alexandrina promoted many scientific and educational developments in the Wendish Empire. She especially promoted the belief in plurinationalism across the empire. In 1960, after several protests in major Ukrainian cities, Ukraine was granted an autonomous status similar to that of the Baltics. Her sister, Carolina Wilhelmina, was elected by the Ukrainian Congress and coronated as Olga I, Grand Duchess of Ukraine.
In 1961, Queen Alexandrina would die from a stroke, which was most likely caused by stress, during a visit with Leopold II, King of Bulgaria, she was succeeded by her son Casimir I and V.
[10] Casimir was born in 1953 to Empress Alexandrina I and Adam Czerwaski as the first of three children, being followed by Augustus in 1954, and Caroline in 1957. Casimir's birth was celebrated across Wendland by it's people for it being a joyful event, and a breath of fresh air after having to go through two of their rulers being assassinated.
When Alexandrina died in Bulgaria in 1961, Casimir didn't heard of it until the next day when his favorite program was interrupted by an news report. When the news report finished describing the events of the past day, Casimir cried for five minutes, mouring the loss of his mother. He would become Casimir I and V with his father, Adam Czerwaski serving as his regent until he became 18. Casimir would spend the ten years of the regency rule vigorously preparing for the title of Emperor.
In 1971, Casimir became 18 years old with his coronation being the first to be televised in color. Six years later, he married his childhood sweetheart, Cecylia Kowalska, and had six children with her, three boys and three girls. Casimir would continue the belief of plurinationalism and promoted various technological advances across the empire. He would also open the Berlin Olympics in 1984. In 1989, after several protests across Saxony, it gained autonomous status like the Baltics and Ukraine before it. His brother, Augustus, was selected by the Saxon Congress and coronated as Augustus II, Grand Duke of Saxony.
Casimir I and V sadly died in an car crash on the 14th of May, 2005. he was succeeded by _________.
Frederick William, King of Prussia, b. 1688, r. 1713 to 1740, m. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687 to 1757)
---2) Wilhelmine, b. 1709, d. 1XXX
---4) Fredrick, b. 1712, (ab) 1740, d 1XXX
---6) Frederica Louise, b. 1714, d. 1XXX
---7) Philippine Charlotte, b. 1716, d. 1XXX
---9) Sophia Dorothea, b. 1719, d. 1XXX
---10) Louisa Ulrika, b. 1720, d. 1XXX
---11) Augustus William, King of Prussia, b. 1722, r. 1740 to 1763, m. Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
------a) William Augustus Frederick, b. 17XX, d. 1762/1763
------b) several daughters
---12) Anna Amalia, b. 1723, d. 1XXX
---13) Henry I and IV, King of Poland and Lithuania (from 1762), King of Prussia (from 1763), b. 1726, d. 1802
------a) Augustus II and V, King of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania, b. 1774, r. 1802 to 1812, m. Zofia Czartoryska
---------1) Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...), m. Henry II and V of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1861
------------a) see line of Henry II and V
---------2) other daughters
---14) Augustus Ferdinand, b. 1730, d. 1XXX
------a) unnamed son
---------1) Henry II and V of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1855, m. Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...)
------------a) Louis Ferdinand, King of Catalonia (as Carlos I), b. 18XX, r. 1851 to 1875
------------------1) Carlos II, King of Catalonia, b. 18XX, r. 1875 to 1908
---------------------a) Ferdinand I, King of Catalonia, b. 1869, r. 1908 to 1XXX
-------------------b) Joanna, b. 1871, d. 1946, m. Friedrich II of the Wendish Empire
----------------------1) see line of Friedrich II
------------b) Victor of the Commonwealth, m. Unnamed Austrian Poet
------------c) Friedrich I of the United Commonwealth (...), b. 1820, r. 1861 to 1891, m. Christina of Waldeck-Prymont
---------------1) Viktoria b. 1845 d. 1XXX, m. 1867 to Prince Gustav of Sweden, b. 1841 d. 1886
---------------------a) no issue
---------------2) Frederika b. 1848 d. 18XX, m. Frederick Augustus II, King of Saxony
------------------a) Augustus III and V of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1873, r. 1891 to 1914, m. Joanna of Catalonia (1871-1946)
---------------------1) Friedrich II of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1906, r. 1914 to 1949, m. 1928, Christina of Sweden
------------------------a) Caroline II of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 19XX, r. 1949 to 1952
------------------------b) Alexandrina I of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 19XX, r. 1952 to 1961, m. Adam Czerwaski
---------------------------1) Casimir I and V of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1953, r. 1961 to 2005, m. 1977, Cecylia Kowalska (1954 to Present)
------------------------------a) three sons
------------------------------b) three daughters
---------------------------2) Augustus II, Grand Duke of Saxony, b. 1954, r. 1989 to Present
---------------------------3) Caroline b. 1957
------------------------c) Jadwiga b. 19XX
------------------------d) Carolina Wilhelmina, Grand Duchess of Ukraine (as Olga I), b. 19XX, r. 1960 to 20XX
------------------------e) four sons
------------------------f) one other daughter
---------------------2) Augustus I, Grand Duke of the Baltic, b. 1907, r. 1932 to 1XXX
------------------------a) Frederick b. 19XX
---------------3) Ludwiga b. 1848 d. 1XXX
---------------4) Wolfgang b. 1850 d. 1873
------------d) Ludwig, King of Bulgaria
---------------1) a couple of generations later
------------------a) Leopold II, King of Bulgaria
------------e) Albert, King of Bosnia
------------f) seven other sons
------------g) seven daughters
---2) Wilhelmine, b. 1709, d. 1XXX
---4) Fredrick, b. 1712, (ab) 1740, d 1XXX
---6) Frederica Louise, b. 1714, d. 1XXX
---7) Philippine Charlotte, b. 1716, d. 1XXX
---9) Sophia Dorothea, b. 1719, d. 1XXX
---10) Louisa Ulrika, b. 1720, d. 1XXX
---11) Augustus William, King of Prussia, b. 1722, r. 1740 to 1763, m. Bernhardina Christiana Sophia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
------a) William Augustus Frederick, b. 17XX, d. 1762/1763
------b) several daughters
---12) Anna Amalia, b. 1723, d. 1XXX
---13) Henry I and IV, King of Poland and Lithuania (from 1762), King of Prussia (from 1763), b. 1726, d. 1802
------a) Augustus II and V, King of Poland, Prussia and Lithuania, b. 1774, r. 1802 to 1812, m. Zofia Czartoryska
---------1) Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...), m. Henry II and V of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1861
------------a) see line of Henry II and V
---------2) other daughters
---14) Augustus Ferdinand, b. 1730, d. 1XXX
------a) unnamed son
---------1) Henry II and V of the United Kingdoms (...), b. 17XX, r. 1812 to 1855, m. Caroline I of the United Kingdoms (...)
------------a) Louis Ferdinand, King of Catalonia (as Carlos I), b. 18XX, r. 1851 to 1875
------------------1) Carlos II, King of Catalonia, b. 18XX, r. 1875 to 1908
---------------------a) Ferdinand I, King of Catalonia, b. 1869, r. 1908 to 1XXX
-------------------b) Joanna, b. 1871, d. 1946, m. Friedrich II of the Wendish Empire
----------------------1) see line of Friedrich II
------------b) Victor of the Commonwealth, m. Unnamed Austrian Poet
------------c) Friedrich I of the United Commonwealth (...), b. 1820, r. 1861 to 1891, m. Christina of Waldeck-Prymont
---------------1) Viktoria b. 1845 d. 1XXX, m. 1867 to Prince Gustav of Sweden, b. 1841 d. 1886
---------------------a) no issue
---------------2) Frederika b. 1848 d. 18XX, m. Frederick Augustus II, King of Saxony
------------------a) Augustus III and V of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1873, r. 1891 to 1914, m. Joanna of Catalonia (1871-1946)
---------------------1) Friedrich II of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1906, r. 1914 to 1949, m. 1928, Christina of Sweden
------------------------a) Caroline II of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 19XX, r. 1949 to 1952
------------------------b) Alexandrina I of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 19XX, r. 1952 to 1961, m. Adam Czerwaski
---------------------------1) Casimir I and V of the Wendish Empire (...), b. 1953, r. 1961 to 2005, m. 1977, Cecylia Kowalska (1954 to Present)
------------------------------a) three sons
------------------------------b) three daughters
---------------------------2) Augustus II, Grand Duke of Saxony, b. 1954, r. 1989 to Present
---------------------------3) Caroline b. 1957
------------------------c) Jadwiga b. 19XX
------------------------d) Carolina Wilhelmina, Grand Duchess of Ukraine (as Olga I), b. 19XX, r. 1960 to 20XX
------------------------e) four sons
------------------------f) one other daughter
---------------------2) Augustus I, Grand Duke of the Baltic, b. 1907, r. 1932 to 1XXX
------------------------a) Frederick b. 19XX
---------------3) Ludwiga b. 1848 d. 1XXX
---------------4) Wolfgang b. 1850 d. 1873
------------d) Ludwig, King of Bulgaria
---------------1) a couple of generations later
------------------a) Leopold II, King of Bulgaria
------------e) Albert, King of Bosnia
------------f) seven other sons
------------g) seven daughters