Wilhelm I

Germany state institutions Monarchy and royalism 1797–1888 ○ Natural causes

King of Prussia who refused the French ambassador at Ems and, after Sedan, became German Emperor at Versailles

The second son of Frederick William III, born in Berlin, he fought in the Napoleonic Wars and in 1848 crushed the Berlin rising with cannon, earning the nickname "Prince of Grapeshot". Regent from 1858 and king from 1861, he appointed Bismarck minister president in 1862 when the Landtag refused the military budget, and was commander-in-chief in the wars against Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866. On 13 July 1870 at Bad Ems he refused the demand of the French ambassador Benedetti, and he commanded the German forces at Gravelotte and Sedan. He wanted the title "Emperor of Germany" but, persuaded by Bismarck, accepted "German Emperor" and was proclaimed at Versailles on 18 January 1871. He left governing largely to Bismarck; the assassination attempts of 1878 became the pretext for the Anti-Socialist Laws. He died in 1888 at the age of 90.

Also known as: Kaiser Wilhelm I · Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig · William I, German Emperor