William I (German: Wilhelm I, March 22, 1797 - March 9, 1888), whose full name was Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig, was the king of Prussia (from January 2, 1861 to March 9, 1888), and was crowned the first emperor of the Reich of Germany and Italy on January 18, 1871.
William I joined the army in the anti-Napoleonic war in his youth, brutally suppressed the constitutional movement in his middle age, and was known as the Prince of Slaughter Shotgun. After inheriting the Prussian throne, he reformed the military system, unified Germany through three dynastic wars, and established the German Empire. After his death, because of his great achievements in unifying Germany, he was honored as the Great Emperor by his grandson William II, known as William the Great.

Prince Shotgun
Kaiser Wilhelm I
Emperor William I of Germany [1]
William I was born in Berlin, the capital of Prussia, on March 22, 1797. He is the second son of Prussian King Frederick William III and his mother is Queen Louise Auguste Williamminnie Amari. Prince William did not receive much royal education because his father did not expect him to become king in the future. In his youth, he received the traditional military training of Prussia and joined the army at the age of 10. In February 1814, he joined the army with the rank of captain to participate in the anti-Napoleon war. In Bar-Sur-Obe, near Frankfurt, the Prussian army fought a fierce battle with the French Napoleon army. William performed well in the battle. His superior said in his service report that he was a brave soldier. After 1815, he also became an attractive diplomat. In 1825, he won the rank of Lieutenant General and served as the commander of the Prussian Guard Corps.
In 1840, William's father died, and his brother Friedrich William IV succeeded Prussian king. William IV, who was seriously ill, asked William to handle the government affairs and made him Prince of Prussia. In 1848, the European Revolution of 1848 broke out. Under the influence of the French February Revolution. On March 13, the revolution took place in Vienna, and the people drove the Austrian Prime Minister Metternich out of power. At a time of unprecedented revolutionary sentiment, William was appointed as the military governor and special military plenipotentiary of Rhine-Westphalia on March 9. He made an inflammatory speech in the Berlin Guard barracks, inciting the army to commit mass killings on March 14, 15 and 16. The Berlin Revolution took place on March 18. Demonstrators gathered in front of the palace and asked the government to withdraw the garrison in the city. The king and ministers panicked. Prince William ordered the army to shoot the insurgents. Workers, citizens and college students in Berlin built barricades and fought for 14 hours. They defeated 14000 soldiers overnight, forcing their commanders to withdraw from Berlin the next morning. The king had to surrender to the people. William was afraid of the angry crowd and was forced to flee to London in disguise.
Kaiser Wilhelm I
Kaiser Wilhelm I
But the proletariat at that time was not yet mature, and the leadership of the revolution fell to the bourgeoisie. The leading bourgeois figures in the Rhine region, Comphausen and Hansemann, together with several bourgeois nobles, formed a new cabinet. On June 8, 1848, the Comphausen Cabinet recalled Prince William, who was driven away by the people, to Berlin, and also fabricated that he had completed a "diplomatic mission" in Britain. The bourgeoisie, represented by Comphausen, believes that it can safeguard its own interests to let the heir to the throne organize the constitutional monarchy, and they are willing to act as "the shield of this dynasty". The recalled Prince William acted as the head of the counter-revolutionary forces. When he received the officers in Koblenz, he said, "I only trust these officers." A constituency of Posen elected William to the parliament. William verbally said that he supported the new policy. In fact, he hoped to promote the renovation system as soon as possible.
On March 28, 1849, the Frankfurt Parliament passed the Imperial Constitution and elected Prussian King Friedrich William IV as the German emperor. The king of Prussia refused to accept the crown from the parliament and refused to accept the draft imperial constitution. In May 1849, an uprising broke out in Baden, Pfalz, Dresden and other areas in the South German region, which is known as the "constitutional movement to safeguard the empire". William led an army to suppress it. The military court sentenced 28 revolutionaries to death, including Trutschler and elementary school teacher Hofer, who did not participate in the fight at all. William's atrocities aroused the public's indignation and gave him the nickname "Prince of Shotgun", which spread among the residents of South Germany.

Military system reform
In 1857, the childless William IV suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed. Then he was insane and unable to take care of state affairs. In October 1858, Prince William became regent. On October 7 of the following year, William took power. In order to strengthen the military power of Prussia, we need the financial support of the bourgeoisie. To this end, William pretended to be a liberal. He dissolved Mantoifel's cabinet and appointed a cabinet headed by Oswald Schweilin, a bourgeois aristocrat. The bourgeoisie believes that this period is the "new era" of the free bourgeoisie. In the parliamentary elections held in 1858 after William began his regency, liberals became the majority in the House of Representatives.
In 1860, William embarked on military reform. The Prussian government asked the State Council to agree to allocate 10 million thals, increase the peacetime military strength from 140000 to 217000, extend the active service period and cancel the National Reserve Army. William appointed the Secretary of the Army, General Albrecht von Ron, to carry out this work. On February 10, Ron put forward a reform plan to the parliament, changing the service period of the standing army from two years to three years, and increasing the number of conscripts from 40000 to 63000 each year. William also strengthened military training, equipped the army with advanced weapons, and appointed young and energetic officers. It was at this time that William's aide, Old Mao Qi, was appointed Chief of the General Staff. The bourgeoisie is worried that this reform will weaken the influence of the bourgeoisie in the army, and an army deeply influenced by Juncker may become an instrument against the bourgeoisie and the state parliament. So they opposed William's reform and refused to pay a huge amount of money every year.
Statue of Emperor William I of Germany
Statue of Emperor William I of Germany
On January 2, 1861, William IV died of illness, and the regent Prince William became king, known as William I. When he ascended the throne, he issued a declaration to safeguard the eternal rights of the king. In the 1861 parliamentary election, the Progressive Party, representing the interests of the free bourgeoisie, won the majority of seats and proposed that the government's current expenditure should be supervised by the parliament, and the funds must be strictly controlled within the scope approved by the parliament. The struggle around the issue of military reform involves the issue of constitutional rights. The essence of this Prussian "constitutional dispute" is whether to implement the rule of the king or the rule of parliament.
William I insisted on military reform despite the opposition of the free bourgeoisie. He paid for the army without the approval of parliament. On March 11, 1861, he ordered the dissolution of the House of Representatives and the establishment of a new cabinet composed of feudal bureaucrats. The court was thrown into chaos by the fierce attack of the parliament. William I was at a loss and even announced at the cabinet meeting that he would rather give up the throne and still insist on military reform. He recalled the prince to Berlin. The Crown Prince and the cabinet ministers did not agree with the abdication of the king, for fear of causing revolution. At this time, the Secretary of the Army Ron proposed to recall Otto von Bismarck, the ambassador to Paris, to the country. On September 22, William I and Bismarck held talks for more than two hours at the Palace of Bielsbel. William asked, "Are you willing to be a minister and carry out military reform?" Bismarck replied, "Yes.". William asked again, "Are you ready to resist the majority of the parliament and its decision and carry out the plan of expanding the army?" Bismarck expressed his willingness. On September 23, William I decided to appoint Bismarck as Prime Minister.
Bismarck ignored the opinion of the bourgeois majority in the parliament to veto the government appropriation, and ignored their "unconstitutional" accusation, and simply set aside the parliament and paid for military reform without authorization. When William feared that the people would rise to revolution, Bismarck said: "Now, your majesty has only one way, that is, war! Your majesty cannot be subdued! If you want to die, you must die with dignity like Charles I, and you must not be as cowardly as Louis XVI." William I obeyed Bismarck. According to the Prussian Constitution, the Prime Minister only needs to listen to the king, and does not need to speak to the parliament. Although Bismarck said that his working relationship with William was that a vassal was loyal to his chief, in fact, Bismarck held the real power to manage internal affairs and foreign affairs. After several disagreements with William, Bismarck threatened to resign, and William had to agree with Bismarck.

Dynasty War
Kaiser Wilhelm I
Kaiser Wilhelm I
After Bismarck came to power, he vigorously pursued the "iron blood policy" and advocated that Prussia unify Germany by force. Later, he boldly and skillfully took advantage of international disputes and favorable opportunities to achieve German reunification through three dynastic wars. In 1863, Bismarck formulated a program for the unification of Germany, prepared to align with Russia and France, exclude Austria from the German Confederation, and let Prussia unify Germany. In 1864, Prussia launched a war against Denmark, occupying Holstein and Schleswig. On June 16, 1866, another war was launched against Austria. At that time, not only Austria, but also Bavaria, Saxony, Hannover, Baden, Wudenburg, Hessen and other states were hostile to Prussia. In Prussia itself, the conflict between the king and the parliament has not been resolved. Some aristocratic landowners did not understand why Bismarck started the war. William I was also worried about breaking up with Austria at the beginning and was not keen on fighting with Austria. But Bismarck tried to persuade the king and push him into war. On September 3, Puo troops met in Sadova. This is a decisive battle. The general army won the battle. William I and his generals were intoxicated with victory and wanted to march into Vienna. Bismarck advised William that Austria only needed to withdraw from the German Confederation, give up Holstein, and agreed to establish a new Northern German Union with Prussia as the leader. If Austria accepts these conditions, it should immediately order the army to "turn left and back". William I was obstinate and threatened to abdicate if he could not annex the land and population compatible with its power according to Prussian customs. Bismarck warned the king that if his army went deep into Austria, it would hit Napoleon III. Bismarck was most worried about the French intervention in the Franco-Prussian War. He also used his resignation to blackmail William and ask the king to find another prime minister. The king finally yielded to Bismarck. On July 26, 1866, Puo signed the Armistice Agreement in Nicolsburg, and the Prague Peace Agreement was officially signed on August 23. In August 1866, 24 states and three free cities of Northern Germany concluded an alliance treaty to establish the Northern German Union, with William I as its president and Bismarck as its prime minister, thus establishing Prussia's hegemony in Germany.
In 1868, the bourgeois revolution in Spain expelled Queen Isabel II. Bismarck tried to buy the Spanish interim government and proposed that Prince Leopold Hohensolen, the cousin of the king of Prussia, should inherit the suspended Spanish throne. William I didn't know this at first. He wrote to Bismarck and said, "The attachment seems to be a bolt from the blue for me! Another Hohensolen family member came to be the alternate of the throne, and the alternate of the Spanish throne.". Although William yielded to Bismarck, he was very upset.
On July 9, the French ambassador to Berlin, Benedict, went to Ems, the King's healing place, in advance to visit the King, and asked to stop Leopold from inheriting the Spanish throne. William said he would try to persuade Leopold to give up the Spanish throne.
On July 13, the French ambassador was ordered to see the King of Spain again, and asked him to make a written guarantee that he would not be allowed to inherit the Spanish throne at any time in the future. Puwang thought it impossible to make such a guarantee.
On July 14, when William left Ames for Koblenz, he also met Benedetti at the station and said, "He has nothing to say except what he has said to the ambassador, but negotiations on this issue will continue in Berlin." Before William I left Ames, he asked his entourage, Counselor Abeken of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to inform Bismarck of the matter by cable. When Bismarck received the telegram, he was having dinner with the Secretary of the Army Ron and the Chief of Staff Mao Qi. Bismarck deleted the message and changed the original mild tone into an insult to the French government. Once the message was released, France declared war on Germany on July 19.
At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, William I made a speech in front of the court, calling on the German nation to go all out to resist the atrocities of France. He personally commanded the German army. On September 2, 200000 German troops launched an offensive against Sedan City, and 680 cannons fired violently. The French army was defeated and Napoleon III was taken prisoner. So far, the forces impeding the reunification of Germany have been eliminated. At the end of 1870, the four states of South Germany issued a statement announcing their accession to the German Federation.
William I on the battlefield
William I on the battlefield
On December 10, 1870, under the planning of Bismarck, the Northern German Union sent a delegation to Versailles to invite William I to be the emperor of the German Empire. Ludwig II, the king of Bavaria's fairy tales, was also forced to sign a letter drafted by Bismarck, suggesting that the king accept the crown. On January 18, 1871, William I, surrounded by princes and nobles, was crowned Emperor of the German Empire in the mirror room of Versailles Palace, announcing the establishment of the German Empire. In his toast at the celebration banquet, the king said to Sanjie: You, General Ron, sharpened your sword; You; General Mauchi; Correctly used the sword: You, the earl of Bismarck, have been in charge of my policy for so many years. Whenever I thank the army, I think of you three in particular. " After the ceremony, the Confederation of North Germany (1867-1871) was transformed into the German Empire (Kaiserreich, 1871-1918). This empire is a feudal country; The emperor is the head of state and president of the feudal monarchs. The new territories include Bavaria, Wuertenburg and Saxon kings; Baden and Grand Duke Hessen; Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen Senate. William reluctantly accepted the title of "German Emperor". He once proposed the name of "German Emperor", but obviously the feudal monarchs would not accept it.
In Bismarck's memoirs, Bismarck believed that William was a traditional, courteous and absolutely polite gentleman, and was a true Prussian officer. Some of his judgments are occasionally influenced by "women's benevolence".

Postwar years
Caricature of William
Caricature of William
On May 11, 1878, when William I was patrolling the streets of the Bodhi tree in Berlin in a convertible car, Hedel, the assistant of the hardware craftsman, shot him, but missed, and William was not injured. On June 2 of the same year, a man named Carl Nobilin shot the emperor with a shotgun, injured William and then committed suicide. This became the reason for the establishment of the socialist law on October 21, 1878. The legislation was proposed by Bismarck's government and strongly supported by Congress. The purpose of the legislation is to combat the actions of the socialists and the working class, and to deprive the German Social Democratic Party of its legal status. It prohibits all party organizations, mass organizations of workers, socialist and working class publications, and can be used to adjudicate or confiscate socialist literary works, but also to compensate social democrats. The legislation is expanded every two or three years. Although the punishment is serious, the influence of the Social Democratic Party continues to expand. Under the pressure of a large number of working class actions, the law was repealed on October 1, 1890. On March 9, 1888, William I died at the age of 91.