J Äkermarx, Berlin

Title

J Äkermarx, Berlin

Description

William I in his carriage. William I (1797 – 1888), of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor as well as the first Head of State of a united Germany. Under the leadership of William and his Minister President Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the establishment of the German Empire. Despite his long support of Otto von Bismarck as Minister President, however, William held strong reservations about some of Bismarck's more reactionary policies, including his anti-Catholicism and tough handling of subordinates. Contrary to the aggressive, domineering Bismarck, William was described as polite, gentlemanly, and while a staunch conservative, more open to certain classical liberal ideas than his grandson Wilhelm II.

ca. 1885

Artist

Aekermarx

Historical Description

Poland is bordered by the Baltic Sea, Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast and Lithuania to the north, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and Czech Republic, to the south, and Germany to the west. The establishment of the Polish state can be traced back to AD 966, when Mieszko I ruler of the realm coextensive with the territory of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented its longstanding political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest at the end of the 18th century. Poland regained its independence in 1918 with the Treaty of Versailles. It was one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th-century Europe, with a uniquely liberal political system, which adopted Europe's first written national constitution, the Constitution of 1791.