Editing Frederick III, German Emperor (section)

==Brief reign and death==
[[File:Post mortem portrait of Kaiser Frederick III.jpg|thumb|Post mortem portrait of Emperor Frederick III, 1888|upright=1.5]]
Three days after Frederick was confirmed to be suffering from cancer, his father Emperor William I died aged 90 at 8:22&nbsp;a.m. on 9 March 1888, upon which Frederick became German Emperor and King of Prussia.<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 788-89"/> His son Wilhelm, now Crown Prince, telegraphed the news to his father in Italy. Later the same day, Frederick wrote in his diary that he had received the telegram upon returning from a walk, "...and so I have ascended the throne of my forefathers and of the German Emperor! God help me fulfill my duties conscientiously and for the weal of my Fatherland, in both the narrower and the wider sense."<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 788-89">Röhl 1998, pp. 788–789.</ref> Germany's progressive elements hoped that William's death, and thus Frederick's succession, would usher the country into a new era governed along liberal lines.<ref name="Dorpalen-1" /><ref name="Sheehan-217">Sheehan, p. 217.</ref> Logically, Frederick should have taken as his regnal name either '''Frederick I''' (if the Bismarckian empire was considered a new entity) or '''Frederick IV''' (if it was considered a continuation of the old [[Holy Roman Empire]], which had had three emperors named Frederick); he himself preferred the latter. However, on the advice of Bismarck that this would create legal problems, he opted to simply keep the same regnal name he had as king of Prussia.<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 788-89"/> The new emperor reached Berlin at 11 p.m. on the night of 11 March; those who saw him were horrified by his "pitiful" appearance.<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 790-91">Röhl 1998, pp. 790–791.</ref> The question now was how much longer the mortally ill emperor could be expected to live, and what, if anything, he could hope to achieve.<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 788-89"/> In spite of his illness, Frederick did his best to fulfill his obligations as emperor. Immediately after the announcement of his accession, he took the ribbon and star of his Order of the Black Eagle from his uniform tunic and pinned it on the dress of his wife; he was determined to honor her position as empress.<ref name="VdK-193">Van der Kiste, p. 193.</ref> Too ill to march in his father's funeral procession, he was represented by Wilhelm, the new Crown Prince, while he watched, weeping, from his rooms in the [[Charlottenburg Palace]].<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 790-91"/>

As the German Emperor, he officially received Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (his mother-in-law) and [[Oscar II of Sweden|King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway]], and attended the wedding of his son Prince Henry to his niece [[Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine|Princess Irene]]. However, Frederick reigned for only 99&nbsp;days,<ref name="Kitchen-214">Kitchen, p. 214.</ref> and was unable to bring about much lasting change.<ref name="Cecil-110">Cecil, p. 110.</ref> The majority of the German ruling elite viewed Frederick III's reign as merely a brief interim period before the accession of his son Wilhelm II to the throne.<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 792">Röhl 1998, p. 792.</ref> An edict he penned before he ascended to the throne that would limit the powers of the chancellor and monarch under the constitution was never put into effect,<ref name="Kollander-147">Kollander, p. 147.</ref> although he did force [[Robert von Puttkamer]] to resign as Prussian [[Minister of the Interior]] on 8 June, when evidence indicated that Puttkamer had interfered in the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]] elections. Dr. Mackenzie wrote that the emperor had "an almost overwhelming sense of the duties of his position".<ref name="VdK-195">Van der Kiste, p. 195.</ref> In a letter to [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Lord Napier]], Empress Victoria wrote "The Emperor is able to attend to his business, and do a great deal, but not being able to speak is, of course, most trying."<ref name="VdK-196">Van der Kiste, p. 196.</ref> Frederick had the fervour but not the time to accomplish his desires, lamenting in May 1888, "I cannot die ... What would happen to Germany?"<ref name="Pakula-484">Pakula, p. 484.</ref>

From April 1888, Frederick became so weak he was unable to walk, and was largely confined to his bed; his continual coughing brought up large quantities of pus. In early June, the cancer spread to and perforated his esophagus, preventing him from eating.<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 823-25">Röhl 1998, pp. 823–825.</ref> He suffered from bouts of vomiting and ran high fevers, but remained alert enough to write a last diary entry on 11 June: "What's happening to me? I ''must'' get well again; I have ''so'' much to do!"<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 823-25"/> Frederick III died in Potsdam at 11:30&nbsp;a.m. on 15 June 1888, and was succeeded by his 29-year-old son [[Wilhelm II]].<ref name="Röhl_Young_Wilhelm 823-25"/> Frederick III is buried in a mausoleum attached to the [[Friedenskirche]] in Potsdam.<ref name="Wanckel">Wanckel</ref> After his death, [[William Ewart Gladstone]] described him as the "[[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Barbarossa]] of German liberalism".<ref name="Kollander-xi">Kollander, p. xi.</ref> Empress Victoria went on to continue spreading Frederick's thoughts and ideals throughout Germany, but no longer had power within the government.<ref name="Kollander-179">Kollander, p. 179.</ref> His premature demise is considered a potential turning point in German history.<ref name="Tipton-175">Tipton, p. 175.</ref>
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