Prussia under Frederick William III

• Prussia had a huge agricultural economy (one of the largest wheat—producing areas of europe)
• It also had some industry in Berlin (which was a part of prussia)
• The Junkers (powerful aristocrats who owned large estates) lived in East Prussia; they became the government and army officials
• Frederick William III had been King of Prussia since 1797; but the Napoleonic wars ruined Prussia (for example the 1806 Battle of Jena where Napoleon occupied Berlin)
• In the Tilsit Treaty (1807) Prussia lost territories along the Rhine and the East
• after the congress of Vienna (1815) William III regained these territories, but he became nervous and pursued reactionary policies for the rest of his life
• Frederick William’s reactionary policies were supported by Prince Metternich (the Austrian first minister) - as both wanted to bolster autocratic rule and prevent reform
• After the murder of August Von Kotzebug by a liberal student, the german confederation passed laws to restrict university life and freedom of the press - these were the Carlsbad Decrees (1819)
• The Carlsbad decrees exemplified Austria-Prussian co-operation - they were drawn up by Prince Metternich at Carlsbad with the agreement of Frederick William, then passed by the Federal Diet (the Decrees enabled reactionary power to be enforced)