Who was proclaimed german emperor in a ceremony held at versailles in january 1 1871

In January 1871, the Prussian king who was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles was: ______ 

• William II

• William I

• Napoleon

• Otto von Bismark

In January 1871, the Prussian king who was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles was William I.

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At the end of the War of 1870, France lay defeated and invaded by its enemies. Chancellor Bismarck proclaimed the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors. Following the humiliations meted out by Louis XIV and Napoleon I, Germany finally had its revenge.

France declared war against Prussia on 19 July 1870. On 2 September the French forces in Sedan surrendered, and Prussia invaded France. On 19 September the siege of Paris began, and the first troops arrived at Versailles. On 5 October Wilhelm I and Bismarck entered the city and prepared the proclamation of the German Empire in the Palace.

After its campaigns against Austria and Denmark in the mid-1860s Prussia had increased its territory and grown stronger, and it now stretched from the Rhine to Russia. Chancellor Bismarck intended to federate the other German states around Prussia to build an empire at the expense of its rival, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Bismarck's aim was to become the new major power in the centre of Europe, between France and Russia. He constituted the North German Confederation, which united all the states except those in the south, and which was joined in 1870 by Hesse, Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg. King Louis II of Bavaria refused to join the other German princes at Versailles, perhaps out of respect for the location and the legacy of Louis XIV. Whatever the reason, his brother Othon negotiated in his place. The proclamation of German unity had begun.

On 16 December 1870 a delegation from the parliament of North Germany arrived at Versailles to beg the Prussian king to accept the title of Emperor of Germany. The Confederation was dissolved on the 20th, and the proclamation of the Empire was set to be delivered on 18 January 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors. An altar was installed in the centre for a religious ceremony, and a platform was built near the War Room, opposite to where Louis XIV’s throne had once stood. Six hundred officers and all the German princes were present, except for Louis II. After the Te Deum the proclamation was read out by Bismarck, dressed in a cuirassier uniform. At the end the Grand Duke of Bade cried: “Long live His Majesty Emperor Wilhelm!”

Following the surrender by the French army in Sedan, which marked the fall of the Second Empire, the Germans arrived in Versailles and occupied the town. The King of Prussia took up residence in the Prefecture. The Palace was closed to the public, and the Hall of Mirrors was turned into a military hospital.

Shouts of “Hurrah!” rang through the hall. The chancellor had achieved his dream, beneath the paintings by Le Brun extolling the victories of Louis XIV over the Rhine, and had got his revenge for the Battle of Jena in 1806. The Germans then made way for the deputies of defeated France.

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Show captionAnton von Werner painting of the the crowning of Wilhelm I to emperor of Germany in Versailles, 18 January 1871. Photograph: Interfoto/Alamy

From the Guardian archive

On 18 January 1871, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Hohenzollern was crowned as the first emperor of a united Germany in Versailles. See how the Guardian reported events

compiled by Richard Nelsson

Wed 13 Jan 2021 22.50 AEDT

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In 1871, after waging three wars in seven years, Prussia under the leadership of Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck, succeeded in unifying the loosely confederated states of northern and southern Germany and the formation of the German Empire.

19 January, 1871

Berlin, Wednesday

A proclamation of the King of Prussia to the German people has been forwarded to the Upper and Lower Donau of the Prussian Diet. It runs as follows:

“We, William, by God’s grace King of Prussia, hereby announce that the German princes and free towns have addressed to us a unanimous call to renew and undertake, with the re-establishment of the German empire, the dignity of Emperor, which now for 60 years has been in abeyance; and the requisite provisions having been inserted in the constitution of the German Confederation, we regard it as a duty we owe to the entire Fatherland to comply with this call of the united German princes and free towns, and to accept the dignity of Emperor. Accordingly, we and our successors to the crown of Prussia henceforth shall use the imperial title in all our relations and the affairs of the German empire; and we hope to God that it may be vouchsafed to the German nation to lead the Fatherland on to a blessed future under the auspices of its ancient splendour.

From the archive, 20 July 1870: The Franco-Prussian War is declared

We undertake the imperial dignity conscious of the duty to protect with German loyalty the rights of the empire and its members, to preserve peace, to maintain the independence of Germany, and to strengthen the power of the people. We accept it in the hope that it will be granted to the German people to enjoy, in lasting peace, the rewards of its arduous and heroic straggle, within boundaries which will give to the Fatherland that security against renewed French attacks which it has lacked for centuries.

May God grant to us and our successors to the imperial crown that we may be the defenders of the German empire at all times, not in martial conquests, but in works of peace, in the sphere of national prosperity, freedom, and civilisation.”

21 January 1871

There was a striking scene at Versailles on Tuesday – a scene on which the future historian will dwell as one of the most memorable of these memorable times. In the presence of a host of German princes, and surrounded by representatives of all the regiments before Paris, the King of Prussia was proclaimed emperor of Germany.

National Kaiser Wilhelm monument standing at the Schlossfreiheit, Berlin, circa 1900. Photograph: ullstein bild/Getty Images

From our own correspondent
The Observer, 22 January 1871

Berlin, Jan 19
Once more the good people of Berlin are hanging out their flags, and this time it is for a bloodless victory. Germany has an Emperor once more. To foreigners, and, to tell the truth, to most Prussians, this seems a matter of small importance. If the real power of ruling Germany is placed in the hands of the King of Prussia, the title which he may choose to assume seems a matter of small moment. But there is often more in a name than we are inclined to believe. A standard is, after all, only to bit of coloured cloth, yet no soldier would view with indifference the loss of his ensign. To him it is the symbol of honour. So a name is often the rallying point for a nation, and the name of Emperor is dear to Germans, especially to those of the south.

From the archive, 3 March 1871: Editorial: the capitulation of Paris

Among all the changes which have passed over Germany she has never had to face a destructive revolution. Even the Reformation, at least for the moment, preserved more than it destroyed. The principles on which the social life of the country rests have never been suddenly altered; the great ideals of the nation have never been broken. It is true that the political life of Germany does not, like that of England, present a picture of almost uninterrupted development. Much has been lost in the course of her history which had afterwards to be reintroduced in new and modified forms. Yet still the strong conservative element which tempers the love of freedom in all Germanic races, has always been an active force in moulding her policy. The old Diet never took a powerful hold on the imagination of the people. Its introduction was a disappointment, and to the liberals it seemed to have a greater capacity for evil than for good. It was able to enforce reactionary measures, but it could not adopt a great national policy either in foreign or domestic affairs.

The North German Confederation was felt by all to be only a partial and temporary arrangement. It excluded the southern, in some respects the most gifted, German races. Its enemies said it was nothing but an enlarged Prussia, while its very friends were obliged to plead that it was only a preparation for something better. The inclinations of Germany are decidedly monarchical, and the federal and particularistic tendencies so clearly distinguishable in all parts of the country, particularly among the nobles and the peasantry, are chiefly displayed in loyalty to the ruling princes. Most of the smaller states have at some time or other played an important part either in the political or the literary history of the nation, and, like families who have “seen better times,” their inhabitants dwell, with perhaps a somewhat inordinate fondness, on the memories of their departed greatness.

Versailles, Sunday
The Emperor has issued the following order of the day, addressed to the army, in reference to his acceptance of the imperial dignity on the 18th inst:

“With this day, memorable for me and my house, I take, with the consent of the German princes and the adhesion of all the German people, in addition to my rank as King of Prussia, that of German Emperor. Your bravery and endurance, which I again recognise to the fullest extent, has hastened the work of the unification of Germany, a result which you have achieved by expenditure of blood and lives. Let it always be remembered that the feeling of mutual friendship, bravery, and obedience, rendered the army great and victorious. Maintain this feeling. Then will the Fatherland always regard you with pride, as today, and you will always remain its strong arm.”

Carlesruhe, MondayThe Emperor of Germany has addressed the following letter to the Grand Duke of Baden:–

“Germany, strong in the unanimity of her princes and her peoples, has regained her place in the councils of nations, and the German people neither requires nor desires, outside its own frontiers, anything beyond the attainment of international intercourse based upon mutual respect for the independence of each, and the united furtherance of the general welfare.”

How France missed a chance to sink Bismarck

From our own correspondent
18 February 1871

Although by no means inclined to optimism generally, I fully believe that Europe may congratulate herself on the approaching peace as offering a fair prospect of duration. While Germany was disunited she could not be otherwise than weak and discontented with her position, and this very naturally had the effect of making her revolutionary in her foreign and conservative in her home policy.

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