Prussia
Vereinsthaler 1870 C
Av.: Wilhelm I.
Rs.: Eagle
Minted from 1867-1871
Mint Frankfurt
Historical
Wilhelm I, whose full name was Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig von Preußen (1797-1888), from the House of Hohenzollern, was King of Prussia from 1861 until his death and the first German Emperor since the founding of the German Empire in 1871. That Wilhelm would become German Emperor in the future was not yet foreseeable at his birth, as he was only the second-born son of Friedrich III and Luise of Prussia and was not even to inherit the throne of Prussia at that time. For this reason, he initially embarked on a military career and attended battles as an observer during the wars of liberation in 1813/14. In the 1820s, the prince also took on smaller diplomatic assignments. In 1826, for example, he traveled to Russia to pay an inaugural visit to Czar Nicholas I. His stay coincided with the period shortly after the Decrabist uprising, which caused him to develop a lifelong fear of revolution. From then on, like many politicians and monarchs of the Vormärz, he believed in secret conspiracies that would work towards the overthrow of the crowned heads in Europe. He concluded that any concession to popular sovereignty would have to be prevented by repressive means. In 1829, Wilhelm married Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, with whom he fathered two children.
His penchant for the military was reflected in many of his decisions; during the March Revolution of 1848, for example, he advocated violent action against the demonstrators. Outraged, the people demanded that he be excluded from the throne, so Friedrich Wihelm IV urged his brother to go into exile in England. William gave in and traveled to London. Only a year later, shortly after his return, he, as commander-in-chief, had the revolution in the Palatinate and Baden bloodily suppressed. At the same time, as a result of the 1848/49 revolution and his stay in Koblenz as military governor of the Rhineland and Westphalia, Wilhelm's attitude toward a constitutional monarchy began to moderate. For him, German nationalism increasingly became an instrument of political power for the monarchy. Since his father had appointed him his brother's official successor in 1840, Wilhelm took over the regency for his ailing brother in 1858. In 1861, he became King of Prussia.
As king, Wilhelm I quickly worked toward an extremely conservative army reform. He did not want to accept any parliamentary restrictions on his military command, which resulted in a constitutional conflict in the House of Representatives. As a result, he developed a strong aversion to the Prussian Parliament and transferred this dismissive attitude to later opposition parties in the German Parliamnet. In 1862, Wilhelm finally appointed the Prussian ambassador Otto von Bismarck as prime minister to gain support in the struggle against the parliament. With Bismarck's support, the constitutional conflict was finally settled in 1866. In addition, the German-Danish War of 1864, the Prussian-Austrian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 ultimately ensured that Prussia was able to further expand its supremacy.
After the founding of the German Empire, Wilhelm was proclaimed German Emperor in 1871 at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. In fact, the exact title proved difficult in advance, as Wilhelm wanted to be proclaimed "Emperor of Germany." In order not to endanger German unity, which was not yet fully secured, Bismarck pleaded for the title "German Emperor." In the end, the conflict was circumvented by the Grand Duke of Baden proclaiming the newly crowned monarch simply as "Emperor Wilhelm I". From the 1870s onward, the new emperor left the business of government more to his prime minister and imperial chancellor due to his age. Wilhelm I instead focused more on public appearances. His health also deteriorated noticeably. Wilhelm I died on March 9, 1888, his son and successor Wilhelm survived him by only 99 days before succumbing to cancer. Thus Wilhelm's grandson ascended the throne as Wilhelm II in the so-called Dreikaiserjahr.
