WI: Frederick III Survives

This is a commonly mentioned POD, but I only found one big discussion thread on it, and that was from 2010.

After the death of his father William I, Frederick III of the German Empire ascended to the throne, in 1888. However, he had incurable throat cancer, and died after only 99 days on the throne. This is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. His successor, William II, dismissed Bismarck and his "balance-of-power" approach. His New Course of German foreign policy is viewed as one of the contributing forces to World War One.

Frederick III, on the other hand, is viewed as a more liberal leader. It is well-known that he was a strong admirer of the British Empire.

So what might have happened if Frederick III did not ever have cancer? Could WWI have been avoided?

Keep in mind that Frederick III was only 57 years old when he began his short reign, so he could have lived for quite a while longer.

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
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Do you guys think this might fit in better in Post-1900, since most of the major butterflies are for that century?

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
Well first of all you need to ensure he doesn't get cancer, ideally by having him stopping to smoke around the 1860s. Maybe he after a few battles lost against Austria (Frederick was a military commander on the Bohemian front) he decides to raise morale by distributing all of his cigarets to his soldiers for their loyalty and their valiance. And then he decides that smoking was annoying, so that would help him in the long run.

The results of him surviving... Bismarck will get sacked during his reign, that's for sure. Germany will still be involved in the colonial scramble for Africa and that probably earlier then in OTL, leading to more German colonies (e.g. Somalia which was proposed in OTL). Also the Social Democrats will still thrive and maybe they will be a monarchy-accepted party at the end of Frederick's reign (or early in his succesor's). OTL's Wilhelm II will change, definitely, becoming a tad more liberal (he will be mostly conservative ITTL as well, probably. His arm isn't helping).

Alliances with Russia and Austria, as well as maybe Italy (if Austria and Germany have a falling out) will be Germany's focus. Anglo-German relations will also be drastically better. That's all I can think of, Frederick isn't part of my field of expertise.
 
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