User:Stephen2nd/Prussian Emperors (1871- 1918)

Prussian Emperors (1871 - 1918)

German Emperor was the official title of the Head of State of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The three Hohenzollern Emperors; Wilhelm I, Frederick III. and Wilhelm II were the kings of Prussia. The name "German Emperor" originated from the Old Kingdom of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, whose official title was King of the Romans or Roman emperor. The Deutsches Reich began in 1871, after the Franco-German War when southern states joined the North German Confederation. At the same time, under Article 11 of the Constitution of the German Empire, the Federal Bureau (Bundesrat of the German Reich and Office of the Presidency in the league),, declared the King of Prussia was entitled to the name of German Emperor.

Three Emperors
King William I initially resisted the adoption of the title German Emperor, primarily preferring the title Prussian Emperor. He sought consent of all federal princes, in preference to the title of president or Emperor of Germany, but nevertheless remained King of Prussia. Otto von Bismarck pushed King William, into the compromise title of German Emperor.

When German troops occupied the Palace of Versailles on 18 January 1871, the German princes and senior military commanders proclaimed Wilhelm "German Emperor" in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles.

German text translated: [...] on the wishes of Wilhelm I, on the 170th anniversary of the elevation of the House of Brandenburg to princely status on 18 January 1701, the assembled German princes and high military officials proclaimed Wilhelm I as German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Versailles Palace.

Noble titles
His Imperial and Royal Majesty William the First, by the Grace of God, German Emperor and King of Prussia; Margrave of Brandenburg, Burgrave of Nuremberg, Count of Hohenzollern; sovereign and supreme Duke of Silesia and of the County of Glatz; Grand Duke of the Lower Rhine and of Posen; Duke of Saxony, of Westphalia, of Angria, of Pomerania, Lunenburg, Holstein and Schleswig, of Magdeburg, of Bremen, of Guelders, Cleves, Jülich and Berg, Duke of the Wends and the Kassubes, of Crossen, Lauenburg and Mecklenburg; Landgrave of Hesse and Thuringia; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia; Prince of Orange; Prince of Rügen, of East Friesland, of Paderborn and Pyrmont, of Halberstadt, Münster, Minden, Osnabrück, Hildesheim, of Verden, Cammin, Fulda, Nassau and Moers; Princely Count of Henneberg; Count of Mark, of Ravensberg, of Hohenstein, Tecklenburg and Lingen, of Mansfeld, Sigmaringen and Veringen; Lord of Frankfurt.

States of the Empire
1.	Kingdom of Prussia: 2. Kingdom of Bavaria: 3. Kingdom of Saxony: 4. Kingdom of Württemberg: 5. Grand Duchy of Baden: 6. Grand Duchy of Hesse: 7. Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin: 8. Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: 9. Grand Duchy of Oldenburg: 10. Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: 11. Duchy of Anhalt: 12. Duchy of Brunswick: 13. Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg: 14. Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: 15. Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (merged 1876): 16. Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen: 17. Principality of Lippe: 18. Principality of Reuss, senior line: 19. Principality of Reuss, junior line: 20. Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe: 21. Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt: 22. Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: 23. Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont: 24. Free City of Bremen: 25. Free City of Hamburg: 26. Free City of Lübeck: 27. Alsace-Lorraine