As a second son it had been doubtful whether he would ever succeed to the throne.

He had an intimate acquaintance with the whole condition of the army, and he had long known that in many points reform was necessary.

His first action on succeeding his brother was to appoint a Commission of the War Office to prepare a scheme of reorganisation.

A memorandum had been drawn up for him by Albert von Roon, and with some alterations it was accepted by the Commission.

The Minister of War, Bonin (the same who had been dismissed in 1854 at the crisis of the Eastern complications), seems to have been indifferent in the matter; he did not feel in himself the energy for carrying through an important reform which he had not himself originated, and of which perhaps he did not altogether approve.
The Prince Regent had set his mind upon the matter; the experience gained during the mobilisation of 1859 had shewn how serious the defects were; the army was still on a war footing and it was a good opportunity for at once carrying through the proposed changes.