William I (; 27 September 178125 June 1864) was King of Württemberg from 30 October 1816 until his death.
Upon William's accession, Württemberg was suffering crop failures and famine in the "Year Without a Summer", in 1816. After taking office, he initiated sweeping reforms, resulting in the approval of the Estates of Württemberg to a constitution on 25 September 1819. In his 47-year reign, the kingdom moved from one that was created from different denominational principalities and a heterogeneous agricultural country, into a constitutional state with a common identity and a well-organised management.
In addition to his successful domestic policy, he pursued throughout his reign an ambition focused on German and European foreign policy. Alongside the great powers of Prussia and Austria, he imagined a third major German power in the form of Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover and Württemberg. Although this plan never succeeded, it ensured a consistent, coherent and targeted policy during his reign.
William was the only German monarch who was forced to recognise the Frankfurt Constitution of 1848. After the failure of the March Revolution of 1848, he pursued reactionary policies that counteracted his liberal image from before the revolution. He died in 1864 at Rosenstein Castle in Bad Cannstatt and is buried in the Württemberg Mausoleum.
Life
Youth
Born at Lüben (after 1945 Lubin, Poland) on 27 September 1781, Frederick William (known as "Fritz" until the beginning of his reign) was the son of Duke Frederick William Charles of Württemberg (1754–1816) and his wife, Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1764–1788).
The relationship between his mother and father was one of strife and discord. His father had entered the Prussian Army in 1774, then moved shortly after William's birth to the service of the Russian Empress, Catherine the Great, who appointed him Governor of Eastern Finland. Although William's mother gave birth in 1783 to his sister Catharina Frederica, then later that year to Sophia Dorothea, and Paul in 1785, the relationship between the parents continued to deteriorate. Augusta sought sanctuary from her abusive marriage and asked the Empress for protection in 1786. Catherine forced Frederick and his children to leave Russia and placed Augusta in the custody of a former royal huntsman, Reinhold Wilhelm von Pohlmann, by whom she allegedly later became pregnant. In the exhumation ordered by William himself, several years after, this was proven wrong.Toll, Harald Baron (1901). Prinzessin Auguste von Württemberg in Beiträgen zur Kunde Ehst-, Liv- und Kurlands, book 1. Vol. 4. pp. 81–83. She died in 1788. In 1790, Frederick and his two sons moved to Ludwigsburg Palace. He made sure that his sons' educators were from Württemberg and their education, at the behest of their father, was regulated and very strict.
Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg died on 24 October 1793. He had ruled for 56 years and as he had no legitimate offspring, the duchy passed to his brothers, Louis Eugene in 1793, then two years later to Frederick II Eugene, who was Frederick William's grandfather. Frederick William's father thus became Hereditary Prince (Erbprinz) in 1795, then duke on 23 December 1797. In 1797, Duke Frederick's father married Charlotte, Princess Royal, the daughter of King George III of Great Britain. They then began to look for a wife for Frederick William and potential brides included the Holy Roman Emperor's sister, Archduchess Maria Amalia, and the Grand Duchesses Alexandra Pavlovna and Maria Pavlovna.
Duke Frederick's relationship with his son also deteriorated. Frederick William often rebelled against his upbringing and his father. In 1799, Frederick William's escape plans were discovered and his father had him temporarily arrested. After his release, Frederick William began studying at the University of Tübingen. After the War of the Second Coalition erupted and France marched under Napoleon in the spring of 1800, Frederick William, who had joined as a volunteer in the Austrian army, participated in the Battle of Hohenlinden in December 1800. In 1803 he attained the rank of Imperial Major General. Contemporaries have credited him with profound military knowledge, courage and bravery.
After returning to Württemberg in 1801, Frederick William and his brother Paul began liaisons with the daughters of the landscape architect, Konradin von Abel. Frederick William fell in love with Therese von Abel, four years his senior. At that time there were clashes between Duke Frederick and the Estates of Württemberg (the Landstände) on domestic and foreign policy issues. Konradin von Abel represented the foreign policy interests of the estates and was supported by Frederick William, who moved against the interests of his father's policies. In 1803 Frederick William fled Württemberg to Paris, Vienna, Schaffhausen and Saarburg. In Saarburg, Therese gave birth to twins, who died shortly after birth. Now Elector of Württemberg, Frederick wanted to bring his son back to Württemberg. Frederick William went in October to Paris, where he was received on 14 October by Napoleon. Elector Frederick prevented the planned marriage of his son with Therese von Abel through diplomatic interventions, though separating the two did not happen until the autumn of 1804. During his time in Paris, Frederick William received financial support from the Landstände and later from Napoleon.
Heir to the throne On 11 September 1805 Frederick William left Paris and returned (after a visit to his grandparents, the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in Brunswick) to Stuttgart, where in November he met his father for the first time in a few years. His return was mainly due to the change in the political climate. The United Kingdom, which had been at war with Napoleon since 1803, formed an alliance with Russia and Austria. Napoleon had Württemberg's neighbours of Baden and Bavaria on his side, so Württemberg was forced, after some hesitation, to yield to French pressure and also enter into an alliance with Napoleon. The French Foreign Minister Talleyrand suggested a coup against Elector Frederick, in which his son was to replace him, but Frederick William opposed the suggestion. This act is regarded as the main reason for William's subsequent aversion to Napoleon. Frederick refused to involve his son in the affairs of state, but gave him his own court headed by his friend, Ernst von Pfuel-Riepurr, who had accompanied him in his time out of the country. Frederick William took the time to further his education, including acquiring a knowledge of agriculture.
From 1 January 1806, the territorial gains as a result of the German mediatization enlarged the Electorate of Württemberg and it became a kingdom upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1806, Prussia joined the coalition against Napoleon and was defeated and occupied within a few weeks. Napoleon wanted Württemberg to be bound to him closer by marriage. On 13 August 1807 Frederick William's sister, Catherine, married Napoleon's brother Jérôme, the king of the newly created Kingdom of Westphalia. In order to prevent Napoleon arranging a marriage for him, Frederick William sought permission from his father to marry Charlotte (later Caroline) Augusta, the daughter of the Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph. After lengthy negotiations took place, the pair were married on 8 June 1808 in Munich. Since it was purely a marriage of convenience and Frederick William had no interest in a deeper relationship with his wife, Charlotte became increasingly lonely in Stuttgart. Frederick often stayed in Kassel at the court of his brother-in-law, Jérôme. Here he met Jérôme's former lover, Blanche La Flèche, Baroness of Keudelstein. He began an affair with her, which he later continued as king.
In 1809, Napoléon had Württemberg commit troops for his war against Austria, while safeguarding its own eastern borders. Frederick William received the command of the troops deployed for border defence. During Napoleon's Russian campaign, Frederick William was again in command of troops. The campaign was devastating for the Army of Württemberg. Of the 15,800 soldiers, only a few hundred returned to Württemberg. After the Battle of Leipzig from 16 to 19 October 1813, Württemberg moved to the side of the coalition against Napoleon. Frederick William then took over the command of the Army of Württemberg, which was reinforced by Austrian troops in November. On 30 December the army crossed the Rhine at Hüningen.
Despite having suffered heavy losses in 1812 and 1813 fighting as an ally of France, Württemberg agreed to raise an army for the Allies of 12,250 regular infantry, 2,900 cavalry and 12,250 militia. By strenuous efforts this quota was filled. At first, the Württemberger contingent was designated the German VI Corps, but in a subsequent reorganization it became the IV Corps in the main Allied army of Austrian Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. It marched to war with 14,000 men and 24 artillery pieces. Frederick William directed his corps in the First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube on 24 January 1814. One source asserted that IV Corps suffered 900 casualties in this combat while their Austrian allies lost 837. French losses were about 1,200. The IV Corps participated in the Allied victory over Napoleon at the Battle of La Rothière on 1 February.
On 18 February 1814, Schwarzenberg ordered Frederick William to hold Montereau until evening. Accordingly, the Crown Prince placed 8,500 foot soldiers, 1,000 horsemen and 26 artillery pieces on the north bank of the Seine River. The defending force included an Austrian brigade. The first French attacks in the morning were driven off, but by the mid-afternoon Napoleon was on the scene with 30,000 troops and 70 cannons. Frederick William ordered a retreat, but the movement quickly degenerated into a mad dash for safety across the single bridge with French cavalry in hot pursuit. The Allies lost 2,600 killed and wounded, plus 3,400 soldiers and 15 field pieces captured. The French lost 2,000 but captured the vital bridge intact. The Württembergers reported 806 killed and wounded, not counting prisoners.
On 25 March, the main Allied army came upon a 19,000-man French corps by surprise in the Battle of Fère-Champenoise. Leading the advance, Frederick William decided not to wait for his infantry to catch up but to attack with his cavalry alone. The result was a crushing Allied victory as the French corps suffered losses of 2,000 killed and wounded while losing 4,000 prisoners, 45 cannons and 100 ammunition wagons. A nearby 4,300-strong French division with 16 cannons was also caught and completely wiped out. The Allies sustained 2,000 casualties out of 28,000 men and 80 guns engaged. At the Battle of Paris on 30 March, 6,500 Württembergers fought, losing 160 killed, wounded and captured.
With the fall of Napoleon, Frederick William took the opportunity to begin divorce proceedings from his wife. He had been in the United Kingdom in June 1814 with his cousin Grand Duchess Catherine of Russia, the widow of Duke George of Oldenburg, and the two were in love. After Charlotte, King Frederick and King Maximilian Joseph had agreed to the divorce, a divorce court was convened by King Frederick on 31 August 1814. Both parties had indicated that the marriage was not consummated because of animosity. Dispensation by Pope Pius VII, which was necessary because Charlotte was Catholic, did not take place until over a year later on 12 January 1816, shortly before the wedding of Frederick William and Catherine. Charlotte then married on 10 November 1816, the Austrian Emperor Francis I.