WI: Frederick III never develops larynx cancer

Pretty straightforward POD here. Freddy 3 doesn't acquire cancer, and his OTL reign of 3 months goes on for a longer period of time. In OTL, he died at the age of 56, so presumably he had quite a few years left in him (and if his father's health is any indication, a good two and a half decades!).

Frederick III and his wife Victoria were relatively liberal minds compared to the Prussian and German establishments, and the Emperor himself was Anti-Bismarck and sought to lesson the Chancellor's power.
 
If you assume he reigns for about 20 years that would delay Willi II until he is more mature. It also delays teh German fleet craze (or butterfly it away alltogether)

A slightly more liberal Germany that does not antagonize England - even possibly betetr relations with Russia?
 
If Friedrich has any say in the matter, relations with Russia will deteriorate. He was always opposed to tying Germany's fortunes too closely to the Czar (and anyway, everybody would have picked Austria over Russia). Better diplomatic skills overall are a given, though.

Regarding domestic politics, any emperor who gets genuinely engaged with that hornet's nest is going to have his hands full. Poor Friedrich, trying to actually govern Bismarck's Germany.
 
I had the impression Willy did nothing to keep up the good relations with russia - but I was wrong the dreikaiserbund was already dead when Friedrich was emperor - so no better relations to russia ;)
 
No naval race with United Kingdom, and perhaps even an alliance in the end. Maybe a Anglo-German alliance against a Franco-Russo alliance.

Possibly but unlikely, a massive reform of the electoral system is Germany allowing the Social Democrats to gain ground.

He is also most likely to make peace with the German Centre Party and in the progress fire Bismarck. Perhaps the cult around Bismarck as the best statesman ever would get a blow.

Continued antagonism with France is a given though, unless he will give upp AL freely, which is highly unlikely.
 
No naval race with United Kingdom, and perhaps even an alliance in the end. Maybe a Anglo-German alliance against a Franco-Russo alliance.
Germany is still likely to build up its navy, but if they do it in a somewhat smarter fashion and don't seem to go out of their way to antagonise the British then it probably won't develop into a race as you said. An Anglo-German alliance isn't all that improbable if you take the idea of Britain supporting the European balance of power, if Russia is able to survive and continue modernising then Germany and Austria-Hungary could come to be seen, whether or not they actually are is another matter, as the weaker of the two alliances surrounded by them and France. At that point it makes sense to either keep to splendid isolation or support the Central Powers.
 
That thing with the Soxcial Democrats is as problem. Friedrich was a liberal, but in the Manchester sense. If he found that a more representative electoral system produced Social Democrat gains, he might think better of it.

Anyway, it's not like there is very much he could do to make the German electoral system more represesentative short of stuff like women's suffrage. The Prussian one could be interesting, but I suspect he might not be all that invested in changing too much.

What he would most likely do is change relations with the Reichstag and Landtag, allowing them more say in the executive branch.
 
Pretty straightforward POD here. Freddy 3 doesn't acquire cancer, and his OTL reign of 3 months goes on for a longer period of time. In OTL, he died at the age of 56, so presumably he had quite a few years left in him (and if his father's health is any indication, a good two and a half decades!).

Frederick III and his wife Victoria were relatively liberal minds compared to the Prussian and German establishments, and the Emperor himself was Anti-Bismarck and sought to lesson the Chancellor's power.

Probably a more liberal Germany and none of the idiotic foreign policy stunts of Emperor Wilhelm II. Britain was never really interested in joining an alliance before Germany started its naval race, and will most likely be neutral (perhaps pro-CP neutral considering conflicting interests with Russia in the Middle East). I don't see Britain joining the CPs unless they seem to be the weaker of the two alliances.
 
That thing with the Soxcial Democrats is as problem. Friedrich was a liberal, but in the Manchester sense. If he found that a more representative electoral system produced Social Democrat gains, he might think better of it.

Anyway, it's not like there is very much he could do to make the German electoral system more represesentative short of stuff like women's suffrage. The Prussian one could be interesting, but I suspect he might not be all that invested in changing too much.

What he would most likely do is change relations with the Reichstag and Landtag, allowing them more say in the executive branch.
Well, the electoral system favoured rural areas and severely hampered the social democrats. From 1890 and onwards to the great war SPD gained the popular support in every federal election while never getting the most electoral seats.
 
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Well, the electoral system favoured rural areas and severely hampered the social democrats. From 1890 and onwards to the great war SPD gained the popular support in every federal election while never getting the most electoral seats.

I doubt he would seriously try to tamper with that. It's very Westminster. Maybe address the worst abuses, but that'd be it. Friedrich was a liberal, but not a democrat and certainly no friend of the Social Democrats.
 
I doubt he would seriously try to tamper with that. It's very Westminster. Maybe address the worst abuses, but that'd be it. Friedrich was a liberal, but not a democrat and certainly no friend of the Social Democrats.
most likely yea, he would not do anything that radical. More likely he would mend the sour relations with the Catholics and make peace with the Centre party. Perhaps even appoint Ludwig Windthorst as chancellor. Windthorst died in 1891 but was active politically until his death.
 
Perhaps not. But a long Frederick III reign could help ensure that Britain doesn't join the Entente, either. And that would be a big win by itself.
Well it would kneecap the Entente's finances since IIRC the British borrowed large sums from the US and the world markets then re-lent it to France and Russia, which was one of the reasons their economy took such a kicking since the Soviets renounced the debt, when no-one else was willing to lend them money. Even if the Ottomans remain neutral with the Bosphorus staying open to civilian traffic and resultant improvement in Russia's financial situation in comparison to in our timeline, if it drags on too long then their economies are going to be wrecked.
 

Flubber

Banned
Seeing as the usual hagiography of Frederick III is being regurgitated here, let me strongly recommend Our Fritz: Emperor Frederick III and the Political Culture of Imperial Germany by Frank Lorenz Muller, Harvard University Press to anyone interested in who Frederick actually was and what his political views actually were.

As a known terminally ill crown prince, Frederick was mythologized even before he ascended to the throne. That process only accelerated after his death as groups across the political spectrum both inside and outside Germany spun the the facts in order to lay claim to "Our Fritz". As Wilhelm II's reign marched from disaster to catastrophe, the myths surrounding Frederick were repeatedly refined until Frederick was cast as an "anti-Wilhelm" during whose reign all problems foreign and domestic would have been solved "correctly".

The truth, as always, is far more nuanced however. After all, Wilhelm shared several personality traits with his father... ;)
 
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