Frederick III, German Emperor

Born Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl on 18 October 1831, the only son of Wilhelm I, he was raised in a military tradition but developed liberal leanings through his British ties and studies at Bonn. He married Victoria, Princess Royal - Queen Victoria's eldest child - and the well-matched pair became admirers of Prince Albert, planning to rule jointly and transform Germany into a constitutional monarchy modeled on Britain. As crown prince he clashed with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, opposing unification by force and pushing for the Reichstag to hold real power over the executive. When his father died on 9 March 1888, Frederick ascended at age 56 already suffering from laryngeal cancer; he died three months later on 15 June, his reform ambitions unmet and quickly reversed by his son Wilhelm II. Historians still debate whether a longer reign would have bent German history toward democracy.