Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant or secretary to a person of high rank, usually a senior military, police or government officer, a member of a royal family, or a head of state. This is not to be confused with an adjutant, who is the administrator of a military unit. The first aide-de-camp is typically the foremost personal aide, in some countries, the aide-de-camp is considered to be a title of honour, and participates at ceremonial functions. The badge of office for an aide-de-camp is usually the aiguillette, whether it is worn on the left or the right shoulder is dictated by protocol. A controversy was raised in 2006, when president Néstor Kirchner decided to promote his army aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel Graham to colonel, upon taking office, former president Cristina Kirchner decided to have, for the first time, female officers as her aides-de-camp. In each of the forces, the chief of staff and other senior officers have their own adjutants, normally of the rank of major or lieutenant colonel.
An aiguillette is worn on the shoulder by aides-de-camp and adjutants as a symbol of their position. In Belgium the title of Honorary Aide-de-camp to the King can be granted by the court for services rendered. Notable people include Major General Baron Édouard Empain, Count Charles John dOultremont, generals being field marshals, have four, lieutenant generals two, major generals one”. In British colonies and modern-day British overseas territories, the aide-de-camp is appointed to serve the governor, in 1973, the Governor of Bermuda, Sir Richard Sharples, and his aide-de-camp, Captain Hugh Sayers, were murdered on the grounds of Government House. On the last day of British rule in Hong Kong on 30 June 1997 and he gave the Vice Regal Salute before proceeding, with the Pattens, to leave Government House for the last time. Prince Charles is a personal aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II, Honorary aides-de-camp to the Governor-General or state governors are entitled to the post-nominal ADC during their appointment.
Officers of and above the ranks of admiral, major general. Within the navy, an aide-de-camp is called a flag lieutenant, aides-de-camp in Canada are appointed to the Queen and some members of the royal family, the governor general, lieutenant governors, and to certain other appointments. All aides-de-camp wear the cypher or badge of the principal to whom they are appointed, aides-de-camp to the governor general wear the governor generals badge and aides-de-camp to a lieutenant governor wear the lieutenant governors badge. They are appointed officers of the Canadian Forces. In certain instances, civilians may be appointed, non-uniformed civilians do not wear the aiguillette, but do wear their lieutenant governors badge as a symbol of their appointment. Aides-de-camp to royal and vice-regal personages wear the aiguillette on the right shoulder, aides-de-camp to all others wear their aiguillette on the left shoulder
Kingdom of Prussia
It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia was a power from the time it became a kingdom, through its predecessor, Brandenburg-Prussia. Prussia continued its rise to power under the guidance of Frederick II, more known as Frederick the Great. After the might of Prussia was revealed it was considered as a power among the German states. Throughout the next hundred years Prussia went on to win many battles and it was because of its power that Prussia continuously tried to unify all the German states under its rule. Attempts at creation of a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when war ensued between its two most powerful states and Austria. The North German Confederation which lasted from 1867–1871, created a union between the Prussian-aligned states while Austria and most of Southern Germany remained independent.
The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War, the German Empire lasted from 1871–1918 with the successful unification of all the German states under Prussian hegemony. This was due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, in 1871, Germany unified into a single country, minus Austria and Switzerland, with Prussia the dominant power. Prussia is considered the predecessor of the unified German Reich. The Kingdom left a significant cultural legacy, today notably promoted by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, in 1415 a Hohenzollern Burgrave came from the south to the March of Brandenburg and took control of the area as elector. In 1417 the Hohenzollern was made an elector of the Holy Roman Empire, after the Polish wars, the newly established Baltic towns of the German states including Prussia, suffered many economic setbacks. Many of the Prussian towns could not even afford to attend political meetings outside of Prussia, the towns were poverty stricken, with even the largest town, having to borrow money from elsewhere to pay for trade.
Poverty in these towns was partly caused by Prussias neighbors, who had established and developed such a monopoly on trading that these new towns simply could not compete and these issues led to feuds, trade competition and invasions. However, the fall of these gave rise to the nobility, separated the east and the west. It was clear in 1440 how different Brandenburg was from the other German territories, not only did it face partition from within but the threat of its neighbors. It prevented the issue of partition by enacting the Dispositio Achillea which instilled the principle of primogeniture to both the Brandenburg and Franconian territories, the second issue was solved through expansion
Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz
Freiherr Wilhelm Leopold Colmar von der Goltz, known as Goltz Pasha, was a Prussian Field Marshal and military writer. Goltz was born in Adlig Bielkenfeld, East Prussia, into a noble family. He grew up at the house of Fabiansfelde near Preußisch Eylau. Goltz entered the Prussian infantry in 1861 as a lieutenant with the 5th East Prussian Infantry Regiment Number 41. He took part in the battles of Vionville and Gravelotte and in the siege of Metz, after its fall he served under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia in the campaign of the Loire, including the battles of Orleans and Le Mans. Goltz was appointed professor at the school at Potsdam in 1871, promoted to captain. It was that he wrote Die Operationen der II, Armee bis zur Capitulation von Metz and Die Sieben Tage von Le Mans, both published in 1873. In 1874 he was appointed first general officer of the 6th Division. Armee an der Loire and Léon Gambetta und seine Armeen, published in 1875 and 1877 respectively, the latter was translated into French the same year, and is considered by many historians to be his most original contribution to military literature.
In 1878 Goltz was appointed lecturer in history at the military academy at Berlin. He published, in 1883, Roßbach und Jena and Das Volk in Waffen, the latter became the theoretical handbook of the Argentine Army, and in 1910 Goltz headed the German diplomatic mission to the Argentine Centennial. During his residence in Berlin, Goltz contributed many articles to the military journals, the ideas that Goltz had first introduced in Léon Gambetta und seine Armeen were further expanded in The Nation in Arms, where he argued, The day of Cabinet wars is over. It is no longer the weakness of a man, at the head of affairs, of a dominant party that is decisive. As such, to win war in the future required that the civilized nations of the present bring their military organization to ever greater perfection. To that end, Goltz that society needed to be militarized in peacetime on an unprecedented level, Goltz was a militarist, Social Darwinist and ultra-nationalist who believed war to be something necessary and inevitable.
Goltz who saw the carnage of war as the most beautiful thing in the world wrote, It is an expression of the energy, Baron von der Goltz was sent. He spent twelve years on this work provided the material for several of his books. As long as Sultan Abdulhamid and the present ruling classes remain at the rudder, Goltz achieved some reforms such as lengthening the period of study at military schools and adding new curricula for staff courses at the War College
East Prussia
East Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773–1829 and from 1878–1945. East Prussia was the part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast. East Prussia enclosed the bulk of the lands of the Baltic Old Prussians. During the 13th century, the native Prussians were conquered by the crusading Teutonic Knights, the indigenous Balts who survived the conquest were gradually converted to Christianity. Because of Germanization and colonisation over the centuries, Germans became the dominant ethnic group, while Poles. From the 13th century, East Prussia was part of the state of the Teutonic Knights. After the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466 it became a fief of the Kingdom of Poland, in 1525, with the Prussian Homage, the province became the Duchy of Prussia. The Old Prussian language had become extinct by the 17th or early 18th century, because the duchy was outside of the core Holy Roman Empire, the prince-electors of Brandenburg were able to proclaim themselves King of Prussia beginning in 1701.
Between 1829 and 1878, the Province of East Prussia was joined with West Prussia to form the Province of Prussia, the Kingdom of Prussia became the leading state of the German Empire after its creation in 1871. Following Nazi Germanys defeat in World War II in 1945, war-torn East Prussia was divided at Joseph Stalins insistence between the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of Poland, the capital city Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946. The German population of the province was evacuated during the war or expelled shortly thereafter in the expulsion of Germans after World War II. An estimated 300,000 died either in war time bombings raids or in the battles to defend the province. Upon the invitation of Duke Konrad I of Masovia, the Teutonic Knights took possession of Prussia in the 13th century, local Old-Prussian and Polish toponyms were gradually Germanised. Its defeat was formalised in the Second Treaty of Thorn in 1466 ending the Thirteen Years War, together with Warmia it formed the province of Royal Prussia.
Eastern Prussia remained under the Knights, but as a fief of Poland,1466 and 1525 arrangements by kings of Poland were not verified by the Holy Roman Empire as well as the previous gains of the Teutonic Knights were not verified. The Teutonic Order lost eastern Prussia when Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach converted to Lutheranism, Albert established himself as the first duke of the Duchy of Prussia and a vassal of the Polish crown by the Prussian Homage. Walter von Cronberg, the next Grand Master, was enfeoffed with the title to Prussia after the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, in 1569 the Hohenzollern prince-electors of the Margraviate of Brandenburg became co-regents with Alberts son, the feeble-minded Albert Frederick. The Administrator of Prussia, the grandmaster of the Teutonic Order Maximilian III, when Maximilian died, Alberts line died out, and the Duchy of Prussia passed to the Electors of Brandenburg, forming Brandenburg-Prussia
Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg
Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann-Hollweg was a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. Bethmann-Hollweg was born in Hohenfinow, the son of Prussian official Felix von Bethmann-Hollweg and his grandfather was August von Bethmann-Hollweg, who had been a prominent law scholar, president of Frederick William University in Berlin, and Prussian Minister of Culture. His great-grandfather was Johann Jakob Hollweg, who had married a daughter of the wealthy Frankfurt am Main banking family of Bethmann, cosima Wagner was a relative on the Bethmann side, and his mother Isabella de Rougemont was a French Swiss. He was educated at the school of Schulpforta and at the Universities of Strasbourg, Leipzig. Entering the Prussian administrative service in 1882, Bethmann-Hollweg rose to the position of the President of the Province of Brandenburg in 1899, in 1889 he married Martha von Pfuel, niece of Ernst von Pfuel, Prime Minister of Prussia.
From 1905 to 1907 Bethmann-Hollweg served as Prussian Minister of the Interior, on the resignation of Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow in 1909, Bethmann-Hollweg was appointed to succeed him. This policy failed, largely due to the opposition of German Naval Minister Alfred von Tirpitz, the German Armys plan for invasion of Belgium had been in gestation since 1905, so when he found out Bethmann apologised to the Kaiser. However Wilhelmstrasses reliance on this assumption encouraged Austrian to write a Note to demand Serbian compromises and his main concern was Russian border manoeuvres, conveyed by his ambassadors at a time when Raymond Poincare himself was preparing a secret mission to St Petersburg. He wrote Count Sazonov, Russian mobilisation measures would compel us to mobilise, when Minister of War Falkenhayn wanted to mobilise for war on 29 July, Bethmann was still against it, yet used his veto to prevent the Reichstag debating it. Pourtales telegram of 31 July was what Moltke, designer of the Zustand drohender Kriegsgefahr wanted to hear, when the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum was presented to Serbia, Kaiser William II ended his cruise of the North Sea and hurried back to Berlin.
When Wilhelm arrived at the Potsdam station late in the evening of July 26, he was met by a pale and somewhat fearful Chancellor. Bethmann-Hollwegs apprehension stemmed not from the dangers of the looming war, the Kaisers first words to him were suitably brusque, How did it all happen. Rather than attempt to explain, the Chancellor offered his resignation by way of apology, Wilhelm refused to accept it, muttering furiously, Youve made this stew, now youre going to eat it. He had counted on fighting France alone, and reportedly asked the departing British Ambassador Edward Goschen how Britain could go to war over un chiffon de papier, a tall, sombre, well-trimmed aristocratic figure, Bethmann-Hollweg sought approval from a declaration of war. He supported the goal of ethnically cleansing Poles from the Polish Border Strip, Bethmann presented the Septemberprogramm, which outlined the aggressively expansionist goals for the war. To their consternation the United States entered into the war the next April, yet this was hardly surprising, now all credibility and power lost, had originally conspired with Ludendorff and Hindenburg for an Eastern Offensive over Falkenhayns head.
They had succeeded in securing his replacement by Ludendorff as supreme commander on the western front, during 1918 Germany sank into anarchy. Bethmann-Hollweg had failed to persuade the Reichstag to moderate for peace and his plan to dominate European hegemony through Pan-Germanism in the East and Mitteleuropas economic plan in the west disintegrated at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
German Army (German Empire)
The Imperial German Army was the name given to the combined land and air forces of the German Empire. The term Deutsches Heer is used for the modern German Army, the German Army was formed after the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership in 1871 and dissolved in 1919, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I. When operating together, the units were known as the Federal Army, Prussia formed the North German Confederation and the treaty provided for the maintenance of a Federal Army and a Federal Navy. Further laws on military duty used these terms, through these conventions and the 1871 Constitution of the German Empire, an Army of the Realm was created. The contingents of the Bavarian, Saxon and Württemberg kingdoms remained semi-autonomous, the Constitution of the German Empire, dated April 16,1871, changed references in the North German Constitution from Federal Army to either Army of the Realm or German Army. After 1871, the armies of the four kingdoms remained relatively distinct.
German Army was used in legal documents, such as the Military Penal Code. Württemberg and Saxon units were numbered according to the Prussian system, the commander of the Imperial German Army, less the Bavarian contingent, was the Kaiser. He was assisted by a Military Cabinet and exercised control through the Prussian Ministry of War, the Chief of the General Staff became the Kaisers main military advisor and the most powerful military figure in the Empire. Bavaria kept its own Ministry of War and General Staff, saxony maintained its own Ministry of War and the Ministry of War of Württemberg continued to exist. Command of the Prussian Army had been reformed in the wake of the defeats suffered by Prussia in the Napoleonic Wars, the General Staff system, that sought to institutionalize military excellence, was the main result. It provided planning and organizational work during peacetime and wartime, the Prussian General Staff, proven in battle in the Wars of Unification, became the German General Staff upon formation of the German Empire, given Prussias leading role in the German Army.
During wartime, the staff of the Army inspectorates formed field army commands, during World War I, a higher command level, the army group, was created. Each army group controlled several field armies, Germany was divided into army inspectorates, each of which oversaw three or four corps. There were five in 1871, with three more added between 1907 and 1913, the corps consisted of two or more divisions and various support troops, covering a geographical area. The corps was responsible for maintaining the reserves and Landwehr in the corps area. By 1914, there were 21 corps areas under Prussian jurisdiction, besides the regional corps, there was a Guard Corps, which controlled the elite Prussian Guard units. A corps usually included an infantry battalion, a heavy artillery battalion, an engineer battalion, a telegraph battalion
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a territory in Northern Germany held by the House of Mecklenburg residing at Schwerin. It was a member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German Confederation. The smaller southeastern part was held by the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz branch of the ducal house. Likewise in the west, the Duchy of Holstein was incorporated into the Schleswig-Holstein Province, in the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars Duke Frederick Francis I of Mecklenburg-Schwerin had remained neutral, and in 1803 he regained Wismar, which was pawned to him from Sweden. After Napoleons victory at the Battle of Austerlitz and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Napoleon, in preparation for the French invasion of Russia in 1812, disregarded this alliance, Denmark was promised the adjacent lands of Swedish Pomerania by the 1814 Peace of Kiel and the rule of the Mecklenburg dukes remained inviolate. In 1819 serfdom was abolished in his dominions.
During the revolutions of 1848, the duchy witnessed a considerable agitation in favour of a liberal constitution, on 10 October 1849 Grand Duke Frederick Francis II granted a new Basic law elaborated by his First Minister Ludwig von Lützow. In the dispute over neighbouring Holstein which culminated in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, Frederick Francis II supported the Kingdom of Prussia and his grand duchy began to pass more and more under Prussian influence. In 1867 he joined the North German Confederation and the Zollverein, in the Franco-Prussian War, Prussia again received valuable assistance from Grand Duke Frederick Francis II, who was an ardent advocate of German unity and held a high command in her armies. In the course of the German unification in 1871, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, there was now renewed agitation for a more democratic constitution, and the German Reichstag parliament gave some countenance to this movement. In 1897 Frederick Francis IV succeeded his father Frederick Francis III as the last grand duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in 1907 the Grand Duke promised a constitution to his subjects.
The duchy had always been under a system of government. The duchy shared a diet, which met for a short session each year, at other times they were represented by a committee consisting of the proprietors of knights estates, known as the Ritterschaft, and the Landschaft, or burgomasters of certain towns. Mecklenburg-Schwerin returned six members to the Reichstag, upon the suicide of his cousin Grand Duke Adolphus Frederick VI on 23 February 1918, Frederick Francis served as regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Shortly afterwards, on 14 November, he was forced to renounce the Mecklenburg throne in the course of the German Revolution, the grand duchy turned into the Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a federated state of the Weimar Republic. Thereby ended nearly eight centuries of rule by the originally Obotrite Mecklenburg dynasty. Until 1918 the grand duke was styled as Prince of the Wends and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Hugh, ed. article name needed
Paris
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, fashion and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is a rail and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly.
Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has been known as Panam in French slang.
Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
Berlin
Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries include IT, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions.
The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod.
In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
German Empire
The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base.
In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system.
The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same.
The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a German Field Marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field. He is often referred to as Moltke the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Helmuth Johann Ludwig von Moltke, Moltke was born in Parchim, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, son of the Danish Generalleutnant Friedrich Philipp Victor von Moltke. Young Moltke therefore grew up under difficult circumstances, at nine he was sent as a boarder to Hohenfelde in Holstein, and at age twelve went to the cadet school at Copenhagen, being destined for the Danish army and court. In 1818 he became a page to the king of Denmark, at twenty-one Moltke resolved to enter the Swedish service, in spite of the loss of seniority. In 1822 he became a lieutenant in the 8th Infantry Regiment stationed at Frankfurt. At twenty-three, he was allowed to enter the war school. For a year Moltke had charge of a school at Frankfurt an der Oder.
In 1832 he was seconded for service on the staff at Berlin. He was at this time regarded as a brilliant officer by his superiors, including Prince William, max Boot says of Moltke in his War Made New, Moltke loved music, art and theater. He was a prolific artist who filled sketchbooks with landscapes and portraits, as well as a popular author. For all his catholicity of interests and he was a nationalist to the core who was appalled by the liberal revolutions that swept Europe on 1848. He placed his faith in the king and the forces of the old regime, Moltke was well received at court and in the best society of Berlin. His tastes inclined him to literature, to study and to travel. In 1827 he had published a romance, The Two Friends. In 1831 he wrote an essay entitled Holland and Belgium in their Mutual Relations, a year he wrote An Account of the Internal Circumstances and Social Conditions of Poland, a study based both on reading and on personal observation of Polish life and character. In eighteen months he had finished nine volumes out of twelve, in 1835 on his promotion as captain, Moltke obtained six months leave to travel in south-Eastern Europe.
After a short stay in Constantinople he was requested by the Sultan Mahmud II to help modernize the Ottoman Empire army and he remained two years at Constantinople, learned Turkish and surveyed the city of Constantinople, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. He travelled through Wallachia and Rumelia, and made other journeys on both sides of the Strait
North German Confederation
Kingdom of Prussia
Prussian Army
Media related to Helmuth Johannes Ludwig von Moltke at Wikimedia Commons
