Editing Emperor (section)

===German Empire===
{{Main|German Emperor}}
[[File:Kohner - Kaiser Wilhelm II.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]], [[German Emperor]] and [[King of Prussia]]]]
Under the guise of idealism giving way to realism, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848 to [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] prime minister [[Otto von Bismarck]]'s authoritarian ''[[Realpolitik]]''. Bismarck wanted to unify the rival German states to achieve his aim of a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. Three wars led to military successes and helped to convince German people to do this: the [[Second war of Schleswig]] against Denmark in 1864, the [[Austro-Prussian War]] against [[Austrian Empire|Austria]] in 1866, and the [[Franco-Prussian War]] against the [[Second French Empire]] in 1870–71. During the [[Siege of Paris (1870-1871)|Siege of Paris]] in 1871, the [[North German Confederation]], supported by its allies from [[southern Germany]], formed the [[German Empire]] with the proclamation of the Prussian king [[Wilhelm I of Germany|Wilhelm I]] as German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the [[Palace of Versailles]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Treaty of Frankfurt am Main ends Franco-Prussian War|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/treaty-of-frankfurt-am-main-ends-franco-prussian-war|access-date=2020-11-27|website=HISTORY|date=5 November 2009 |language=en}}</ref> to the humiliation of the French, who ceased to resist only days later.

After his death he was succeeded by his son [[Frederick III, German Emperor|Frederick III]] who was only emperor for 99 days. In the same year his son [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]] became the third emperor within a year. He was the last German emperor. After the empire's defeat in World War I the empire, called the [[German Reich]], had a president as head of state instead of an emperor. The use of the word ''Reich'' was abandoned following [[World War II]].