Frederick William's early childhood fell during a period in which the European monarchies were confronted with the revolutionary challenge of the French Revolution.

His tutor Friedrich Delbrück had instilled in him a disgust of revolutionaries, so that he had no sympathy for Karl August von Hardenberg's insistence that Prussia be reorganised through a "revolution from above".

[10] The high point of Frederick William's youth was his participation in the campaigns against Napoleon in the Wars of Liberation of 1813/1814 that pushed the French out of Germany.

In 1815, when he was twenty, the Crown Prince exerted his influence to structure the proposed new constitution of 1815, which was never enacted, in such a way that the landed aristocracy would hold the greatest power.

[13] He was against the liberalisation of Germany and aspired to unify its many states within what he viewed as a historically legitimate framework, inspired by the ancient laws and customs of the Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved under Napoleon in 1806.

He was a draftsman interested in both architecture and landscape gardening and was a patron of several great German artists, including architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and composer Felix Mendelssohn.

[19] The King intended his policy of reconciliation to restore trust in a medieval-feudal relationship of loyalty between the Prussian people and the monarch, making the liberal reform of the state along the lines of the French constitutional-parliamentary model superfluous.

As part of his policy of reconciliation, Frederick William IV was interested in finding a solution to the question of a constitution for Prussia.

[30] As his alternative to parliamentary-style popular legislatures, Frederick William IV focussed his attention on the Provincial Estates, the representative bodies of the eight Prussian provinces, which had been founded in 1823.

He did not want to levy new taxes or take out loans without the United Parliament's consent, envisioning that their approval would not restrict his power but strengthen it by eliminating future constitutional demands.

[32] In his opening speech, Frederick William reiterated that he did not want a "piece of paper" to come between himself and the people and replace the "old, sacred loyalty with it".

[36] With the failure of the First United Parliament, the government not only lost its ability to act on fiscal policy – the Prussian National Debt Act of January 1820 stipulating that the government could only take on new debt if it was co-guaranteed by the "imperial estates"[37] remained in force – but also faced increased doubts within Prussia about the legitimacy of the existing state order.

[38] During the reign of Frederick William IV, the Ruhr region, Silesia and Berlin slowly developed into centres of industrialisation.

[39] In spite of his politically backward-looking attitude, Frederick William supported the technological progress brought about by the Industrial Revolution, notably by using government bonds to promote the expansion of the railway network.

By discussing reform of the German Confederation, the King hoped to appease the people's revolutionary sentiments, but before he could implement his plans, they were overtaken by the events of the revolution in Berlin.

Although the Berlin barricade battle was one of the most costly incidents of the March Revolution, with 300 casualties among the demonstrators at the hands of Prussian troops, the King rejected any responsibility and instead spread the false report of a foreign conspiracy in his manifesto 'To my dear Berliners':[43] "A gang of villains, mostly consisting of foreigners, ... has become the ghastly author of bloodshed.

"[44] On 21 March 1848, the King, or rather his camarilla, initiated an apparent change of course by placing Frederick William IV at the head of the revolution, whereas the truth was that he lacked the means to pursue a policy independent of the citizens' movement.

The next day he secretly wrote to his brother William: "I had to voluntarily raise the Reich colours yesterday in order to save everything.

The second United Parliament called by Frederick William on 2 April 1848 announced elections to form a Prussian National Assembly, which convened in Berlin on 22 May.

Frederick William IV submitted a draft constitution in which the balance of power continued to favour the king's dominant position in the state.

On 1 November he appointed his uncle Frederick William of Brandenburg, who came from the conservative military camp, as minister president of Prussia.

[53] After the majority refused to comply, the King ordered General Friedrich von Wrangel to march through the Brandenburg Gate at the head of 13,000 soldiers and sixty guns.

Although Frederick William IV personally opposed the idea of introducing a constitution, the majority of his ministry urged him to take the step in order to prevent protests from flaring up again.

It also contained a number of liberal elements such as jury courts and a catalogue of fundamental rights that included freedom of religion, speech and the press.

In a letter dated 13 December 1848, Frederick William stated to the Prussian ambassador to England, Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen: Such an imaginary hoop [the crown] baked from dirt and weeds – should a legitimate king of Prussia be pleased with it?

[63]King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony provoked an uprising in Dresden in May 1849 by refusing to accept the Frankfurt Constitution.

[64] The suppression of the uprising in Saxony strengthened Prussia's negotiating position in its attempt to establish a united German federal state of princes under Prussian leadership.

The three monarchs committed themselves for a period of one year to work together to realise a conservative imperial constitution based on the Prussian three-class electoral system.

With the backing of the conservative opponents of the Erfurt Union in the Prussian government, Austria was able to revive the German Confederation, which had been inactive since the 1848 revolutions.

The signing of the Regency Charter heralded the New Era in Prussia, marking the end of Frederick William IV's idea of government.