Editing Wilhelm I (section)

==Early life and military career==
[[File:Johann Heusinger Bildnis Prinz Wilhelm (I.) (1797-1888) (C40a).jpg|thumb|left|Prince Wilhelm at age 13, {{circa|1810}}]]

The future king and emperor was born '''Wilhelm Friedrich Louis of Prussia''' ({{lang|de|Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig von Preußen}}) in the {{lang|de|[[Kronprinzenpalais]]|italic=no}} in [[Berlin]] on 22 March 1797. As the second son of [[Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]] and [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Prince Frederick William]], himself son of King [[Frederick William II of Prussia|Frederick William II]], Wilhelm was not expected to ascend to the throne. His grandfather died the year he was born, at age 53, in 1797, and his father Frederick William III became king. He was educated from 1801 to 1809 by {{Interlanguage link multi|Johann Friedrich Gottlieb Delbrück|de}}, who was also in charge of the education of Wilhelm's brother, the Crown Prince [[Frederick William IV of Prussia|Frederick William]]. At age twelve, his father appointed him an officer in the Prussian army.<ref name=DHM>{{cite web |url=http://www.dhm.de/lemo/biografie/biografie-wilhelm-i.html |title=Biografie Wilhelm I |language=German |publisher=Deutsches Historisches Museum |access-date=12 June 2013 }}</ref> 

Wilhelm served in the army from 1814 onward. Like his father, he fought against [[Napoleon I of France]] during the part of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] known in Germany as the {{lang|de|Befreiungskriege}} ("Wars of Liberation", otherwise known as the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]]), and was reportedly a very brave soldier. He was made a captain ({{lang|de|Hauptmann}}) and won the [[Iron Cross]] for his actions at [[Battle of Bar-sur-Aube|Bar-sur-Aube]]. The war and the fight against France left a lifelong impression on him, and he had a long-standing antipathy towards the French.<ref name="DHM"/>

In 1815, Wilhelm was promoted to major and commanded a battalion of the ''1. Garderegiment''. He fought under [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]] at the Battles of [[Battle of Ligny|Ligny]] and [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]].<ref name="DHM"/> In 1817, he accompanied his sister Charlotte to [[Saint Petersburg]], when she married Emperor [[Nicholas I of Russia]], becoming Empress [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia)|Alexandra Feodorovna]].<ref>Lincoln, ''Nicholas I Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias'', p. 66</ref>

In 1816, Wilhelm became the commander of the {{lang|de|Stettiner Gardelandwehrbataillon}} and in 1818 was promoted to {{lang|de|Generalmajor}}. The next year, Wilhelm was appointed inspector of the [[VII Corps (German Empire)|VII.]] and [[VIII Corps (German Empire)|VIII. Army Corps]]. This made him a spokesman of the Prussian Army within the [[House of Hohenzollern]]. He argued in favour of a strong, well-trained, and well-equipped army. In 1820, Wilhelm became commander of the {{lang|de|1. Gardedivision}} and in 1825 was promoted to commanding general of the [[III Corps (German Empire)|III. Army Corps]].<ref name="DHM"/>

Around this time, Wilhelm became romantically linked with his cousin, Polish noblewoman [[Elisa Radziwill]]. In 1826, Wilhelm was forced to break off the relationship by his father, who deemed it an inappropriate match. It is alleged that Elisa had an illegitimate daughter by Wilhelm who was brought up by Joseph and Caroline Kroll, owners of the [[Kroll Opera House]] in Berlin, and was given the name Agnes Kroll. She married a Carl Friedrich Ludwig Dettman (known as "Louis") and emigrated to Sydney, in 1849. They had a family of three sons and two daughters. Agnes died in 1904.<ref>Dettman, E. Belinda, and Stevens, Jane (2017). ''Agnes the Secret Princess – An Australian Story''. ISBN 9781543400755.</ref>

In 1829, Wilhelm married [[Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Princess Augusta]], the daughter of Grand Duke [[Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach|Karl Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]] and [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859)|Maria Pavlovna]], the sister of Nicholas I. Their marriage was outwardly stable, but not a very happy one.<ref name="Kings">{{cite book|last=Feldhahn|first=Ulrich|title=Die preußischen Könige und Kaiser (German)|publisher=Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg|year=2011|isbn=978-3-89870-615-5|pages=24–26}}</ref> In 1834-37 he had the [[Old Palace, Berlin|Old Palace]] in Berlin built as a new family home, in which he continued to live later as king and emperor, while he only used the [[Berlin Palace]] for representative purposes.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

On 7 June 1840 his older brother became King of Prussia. Since he had no children, Wilhelm was first in line to succeed him to the throne and thus was given the title {{lang|de|Prinz von Preußen}}.<ref name="DHM"/> Against his convictions but out of loyalty towards his brother, Wilhelm signed the bill setting up a [[Prussian parliament]] in 1847 and took a seat in the upper chamber, the [[Prussian House of Lords]].<ref name="DHM"/>

[[File: Frederick Richard Say (1805-60) - Wilhelm I, Prince of Prussia, later King of Prussia and German Emperor (1797-1888) - RCIN 406464 - Royal Collection.jpg|thumb|left|195px|Portrait of Prince Wilhelm, by [[Frederick Richard Say]], {{circa|1848}}]]
During the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|Revolutions of 1848]], Wilhelm successfully crushed a revolt in Berlin that was aimed at Frederick William IV. The use of cannons made him unpopular at the time and earned him the nickname {{lang|de|Kartätschenprinz}} (Prince of [[Grapeshot]]). Indeed, he had to flee to England for a while, disguised as a merchant. He returned and helped to put down an [[Baden Revolution|uprising in Baden]], where he commanded the Prussian army. In October 1849, he became governor-general of the [[Rhine Province]] and [[Province of Westphalia]], with a seat at the [[Electoral Palace, Koblenz]].<ref name="DHM"/><ref name="Kings"/>

During their time at [[Koblenz]], Wilhelm and his wife entertained liberal scholars such as the historian [[Maximilian Wolfgang Duncker]], [[August von Bethmann-Hollweg]] and {{Interlanguage link multi|Clemens Theodor Perthes|de}}. Wilhelm's opposition to liberal ideas gradually softened.<ref name="DHM"/>

In 1854, the prince was raised to the rank of a field-marshal and made governor of the [[German Confederation|federal]] [[Fortress of Mainz]].<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=William I. of Germany |volume=28 |pages=665–667}}</ref> In 1857 Frederick William IV suffered a stroke and became mentally disabled for the rest of his life. In January 1858, Wilhelm became [[Regent|Prince Regent]] for his brother, initially only temporarily but after October on a permanent basis. Against the advice of his brother, Wilhelm swore an oath of office on the Prussian constitution and promised to preserve it "solid and inviolable". Wilhelm appointed a liberal, [[Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern (died 1885)|Karl Anton von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen]], as [[Minister President of Prussia|Minister President]] and thus initiated what became known as the "New Era" in Prussia, although there were conflicts between Wilhelm and the liberal majority in the Landtag on matters of reforming the armed forces.<ref name="DHM"/>