The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (French: Empire Français; Latin: Imperium Francicum) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from 18 May 1804 to 11 April …

Frederick William was born in the New Palace at Potsdam in Prussia on 18 October 1831. He was a scion of the House of Hohenzollern, rulers of Prussia, then the most powerful of the German states.Frederick's father, Prince William, was the second son of King Frederick William III and, having been raised in the military traditions of the Hohenzollerns, developed into a strict …

The Second French Empire (French: Second Empire; officially the French Empire, French: Empire Français), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France.. Historians in the 1930s and 1940s often disparaged the Second Empire as a precursor of fascism.

Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I, and the brother of Marie …

Francis I (Francis Stephen; French: François Étienne; German: Franz Stefan; 8 December 1708 – 18 August 1765) was Holy Roman Emperor (1745–1765), Archduke of Austria (1740–1765), Duke of Lorraine and Bar (1729–1737), and Grand Duke of Tuscany (1737–1765). He became the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, and Tuscany through his marriage to Maria Theresa, …

Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Castile and Aragon) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555. As he was head of the rising House of Habsburg during the first half of the 16th century, his dominions in Europe included the Holy …

Henry VII (German: Heinrich; c. 1273 – 24 August 1313), also known as Henry of Luxembourg, was Count of Luxembourg, King of Germany (or Rex Romanorum) from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first emperor of the House of Luxembourg.During his brief career he reinvigorated the imperial cause in Italy, which was racked with the partisan struggles …

Henry V (German: Heinrich V.; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125, in Utrecht) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Henry IV, in 1098. In Emperor Henry IV's conflicts with the imperial princes and the struggle against the reform …

French expansion increasingly threatened the Empire, especially the seizure of the strategic Duchy of Lorraine in 1670, followed by the 1672 Franco-Dutch War.By mid June, the Dutch Republic tethered at the brink of destruction, which lead Leopold to agree to an alliance with Brandenburg-Prussia and the Republic on June 25. However, he was also pondering a revolt …

Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper.His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, without Empress Dowager Cixi's influence, only from 1889 to 1898. He initiated the Hundred Days' Reform, but was abruptly stopped when the …