His son, Crown Prince Frederick William, was celebrated for his military actions because of his leadership during the wars fought to unify Germany.
Frederick also had a number of children at the time, and his heir-apparent was named Wilhelm, after his grandfather.
[2] However, by the time of his father's death, Frederick was 56 years old and had already developed a terminal case of cancer of the larynx before he assumed the German imperial throne.
Due to this illness and subsequent treatment, Frederick could not talk during his short reign and had to communicate through writing.
Frederick still accomplished some of his duties as emperor despite his protracted illness; however, he did not have any lasting effect upon Germany.