'Our Fritz': Crown Prince Frederick William and the Political Culture of Bismarckian Germany

“我们的弗里茨”：腓特烈·威廉王储和俾斯麦德国的政治文化

• 批准号: AH/G00742X/1
• 负责人: Frank Muller
• 金额: $ 3.3万
• 依托单位: University of St Andrews
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2010 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FG00742X%2F1
• 关键词: Our; Fritz; Crown; Prince; Frederick

On 9 March 1888, after decades spent waiting, Crown Prince Frederick William (1831-1888) finally succeeded to the thrones of Prussia and the German Reich. He was 56 years old and dying of laryngeal cancer. After 99 days of voiceless torment Emperor Frederick III followed his father into the grave. Frederick's importance, however, does not lie primarily in his brief reign, but in the period before 1888 and in the commemoration that followed his death. During his years as a king-and-emperor in waiting, the Crown Prince served as the canvas onto which varied political forces projected their hopes and fears for Germany's future. After 1888, they either used his memory in an attempt to push for political change or worked hard to prevent such a utilisation. Some of the great what-if speculations about the course of German history pivot on the person of this perpetual Crown Prince and his alleged liberalism and Anglophilia. His succession at any point during the 1860s or 1870s, numerous contemporary and retrospective observers have wistfully (or fearfully) maintained, would have opened up a real chance for Germany to embrace liberal constitutionalism. A lasting Anglo-German partnership buttressed by dynastic links and growing ideological harmony would have prevented the Great War and subsequently the twentieth century would have turned out utterly different. Frederick William thus personifies one of the great potential historical turning points, but the prism of his tragic life also offers a fascinating perspective on the political culture of nineteenth-century Prussia, Germany and Europe. It encapsulates crucial formative forces such as generational change, dynasty, the role of political parties, nation-building, constitutional liberalism, the rise of bourgeois values, memory, the unfolding of a media-driven mass politics and the strong residual powers of the monarch. Overshadowed as he was by his father and by chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Frederick William has long suffered historiographical neglect with no full scholarly life being available in any language. I intend to remedy this by writing a biographical study of Crown Prince Frederick William, which will tackle the issues of his liberalism and the extent of his commitment to fundamental political change in Germany as well as his ability to deliver it. The book will also take seriously what he actually did do - in spite of the significant restrictions placed on him by his father and the political status quo. Taken together, these two core lines of enquiry will bring about a subtle and comprehensive understanding of the contribution which he, and the hopes (and fears) associated with his future reign, made to Prussia's and Germany's political culture during and beyond his lifetime. The memory of Frederick III has remained a topic charged with considerable, if speculative, political meaning: was he Germany's great liberal opportunity? Did he personify a generation that missed its historical hour, or was he - as is suggested by the monuments erected in his honour under his son's aegis - above all the glorious and uncontroversial victor of 1866 and 1870? The inherent problems of such speculative interpretations notwithstanding, a study of the Crown Prince's/Emperor's life and function will significantly contribute to our understanding of the dissatisfaction felt by many with the political, social and cultural status quo of Bismarckian Germany. It will also highlight the inherent ability of the system to resist change. Exploring the role of the next sovereign, the personification of an impending new beginning, will also draw attention to contemporaries' belief in the openness of Germany's future / a perception now buried under many layers of hindsight and powerful continuities. My book will tie these themes to the moving story of a tragic life, whose colour and detail can berevived powerfully through his diaries and letters.

1888年3月9日，经过几十年的等待，王储弗雷德里克·威廉（1831-1888）终于继承了普鲁士和德意志帝国的王位。他享年56岁，死于喉癌。经过99天无声的折磨，腓特烈三世皇帝跟随他的父亲进入了坟墓。然而，腓特烈的重要性主要不在于他短暂的统治，而在于1888年之前的时期和他去世后的纪念活动。在他担任国王和皇帝的那些年里，这位王储充当了各种政治势力对德国未来的希望和恐惧的画布。1888年后，他们要么利用他的记忆来推动政治变革，要么努力阻止这种利用。关于德国历史进程的一些伟大的“假设”猜测，都集中在这位永久的王储本人以及他所谓的自由主义和亲英主义上。他在19世纪60年代或70年代的任何时候继位，许多当代和回顾性的观察家都满怀渴望（或恐惧）地认为，都将为德国拥抱自由宪政打开一个真正的机会。在王朝联系和意识形态日益和谐的支撑下，英德持久的伙伴关系本可以阻止第一次世界大战，随后的20世纪也会完全不同。因此，腓特烈·威廉是一个潜在的伟大历史转折点的化身，但他悲惨生活的棱镜也为19世纪普鲁士、德国和欧洲的政治文化提供了一个迷人的视角。它囊括了重要的形成力量，如代际更迭、王朝、政党的角色、国家建设、宪政自由主义、资产阶级价值观的兴起、记忆、媒体驱动的大众政治的展开以及君主强大的剩余权力。由于受到父亲和俾斯麦总理的影响，弗雷德里克·威廉长期以来一直受到史学的忽视，没有任何语言的完整学术生涯。我打算通过写一篇关于王储弗雷德里克·威廉的传记研究来弥补这一点，这篇研究将涉及他的自由主义、他对德国根本政治变革的承诺程度以及他实现这一变革的能力。尽管他的父亲和政治现状对他施加了巨大的限制，但这本书也将认真对待他的实际所作所为。综上所述，这两条核心研究线将使我们对他以及与他未来统治相关的希望（和恐惧）对普鲁士和德国政治文化的贡献有一个微妙而全面的理解。腓特烈三世（Frederick III）的记忆一直是一个充满了重大政治意义的话题，即使是推测性的：他是德国伟大的自由主义机遇吗？他是错过历史时刻的一代人的化身，还是——正如在他儿子的庇护下为纪念他而建立的纪念碑所暗示的那样——他首先是1866年和1870年光荣而毫无争议的胜利者？尽管这种推测性解释存在固有的问题，但对王储/皇帝的生活和职能的研究将大大有助于我们理解许多人对俾斯麦德国的政治、社会和文化现状的不满。它还将突出系统抵抗变革的内在能力。探索下一位君主的角色——即将到来的新开端的化身——也将引起人们对当代人对德国未来开放的信念的关注，这种看法现在被层层的后见之明和强大的连续性所掩盖。我的书将把这些主题与一个悲惨生活的感人故事联系起来，他的色彩和细节可以通过他的日记和信件强有力地体现出来。

项目成果

Otto von Bismarck und das lange 19. Jahrhundert. Lebendige Vergangenheit im Spiegel der Friedrichsruher Beiträge 1996-2016

奥托·冯·俾斯麦 und das lange 19. Jahrhundert。

• 发表时间: 2017
• 作者: Müller, F. L.

Our Fritz: Emperor Frederick III and the Political Culture of Imperial Germany

我们的弗里茨：腓特烈三世皇帝和德意志帝国的政治文化

• 发表时间: 2011
• 作者: Muller Frank Lorenz

Zwei Kaiserinnen auf liberaler Mission

Zwei Kaiserinnen auf 自由主义使命

• 发表时间: 2015
• 期刊: Damals. Das Magazin für Geschichte
• 作者: Müller, F. L.

Der 99-Tage-Kaiser. Friedrich III. von Preußen. Prinz, Monarch, Mythos

Der 99-Tage-Kaiser。

• 发表时间: 2013
• 作者: Müller, F. L.

Frau Deines Mannes, Tochter Deiner Mutter: Victoria und das Scheitern einer Mission, in: Perspektivweitung - Frauen und Männer machen Geschichte. Beiträge des zweiten Colloquiums in der Reihe "Kulturgeschichte Preußens - Colloquien" vom 10. und 11. Oktober 2014, hg. von Jürgen Luh und Julia Klein (KultGeP - Colloquien, 2)

Frau Deines Mannes，Tochter Deiner Mutter：维多利亚和 Scheitern einer 使命，见：Perspektivweitung - Frauen und Männer machen Geschichte。

• 发表时间: 2016
• 作者: Müller, F. L.