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			#REDIRECT ]
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	{{Mergeinto\|Emperor\|date=December 2006}}
	'''''Kaiser''''' is the ] title meaning "],"
	and '''''Kaiserin''''' is the German title meaning "]."

	==Word history and translations==
	Kaiser is derived from the ] title of ] ("Kaiser" is pronounced similarly to how "caesar" was in ]), as is the ] title of ]. It is a sovereign ]ic title of the highest rank, explicitly at par with ].

	In German, the word ''Kaiser'' is also used in a generic sense equivalent to the English word ''"emperor"'' while ''Kaiserin'' is the feminine form as an ''empress''. For instance, German-speaking historians would refer to an ] as a ''Chinesischer Kaiser'' or ''Kaiser von China''. Cognate, nearly homophone titles are used in the same ways in Germanic languages or those, mainly Baltic and Slavonic languages, which derived the term from German, for example:
	* ''Kejser'' in ];
	* ''Keizer'' in ];
	* ''Keiser'' in ];
	* ''Keisari'' in ];
	* ''Keisari'' in ];
	* ''Keisari'' in ];
	* ''Keser'' in ] (in Luxembourg).
	* ''Kejsare'' in ];
	* ''Kajzer'' in ] (only with respect to German Empire (1871—1918))

	Semitic ] also uses the same word ("Keisar", Heb. קיסר) , though in this case the term did not go through German but came directly from Latin in the Roman period itself.

	In contrast, most Romance and tributary vocabularies, including English, derive their terms for emperor from the Latin ''].''

	==German history and antecedents of the title==
	The Roman imperial style was first revived in the Frankish realm, the hegemon of the Catholic West, thus claiming equality with the ] and the Muslim Caliphate, by ] in 800, and when his empire was divided again through inheritances it came to be linked to the eastern ("German") kingdom. The ] (]—]) (the "First German ]", becoming an ]) called themselves ''Kaiser'', while combining this imperial title with that of Roman King (assumed by the designated heir before the imperial coronation); they saw their rule as a continuation of that of the ]s and so used the name "Caesar" to reflect their supposed heritage.

	The rulers of the ] Empire (]—]), from the Habsburg dynasty that had provided all ] (though formally still elected) since ], again used the title ''Kaiser''.

	In ] and most other foreign usage, however, the untranslated title is mainly associated with the emperors of the unified ] (]—]) (the "Second Reich") which chancellor Bismarck had welded skilfully from two federations covering most of the many principalities (mainly petty, known as ''Kleinstaaterei'') that had constituted Germany, the core of the former ]. The term is particularly associated in English with the last Kaiser, Wilhelm II.

	When the Empire was formed, there was much debate about how to precisely phrase the title of the monarch. ''Kaiser von Deutschland'' ("Emperor of Germany") was one of the contributions to this debate, another one being ''Kaiser der Deutschen'' ("Emperor of the Germans"). Finally, ''Deutscher Kaiser'' ("German Emperor"), the version expressing the least degree of superiority to the rulers of the other principalities, was agreed upon.

	There were three Kaisers of the German Empire. All belonged to the ] dynasty, which had already ruled much of Germany as kings of (originally "in") ], militarily the only great power among the German principalities, before ascending the brand new "German" imperial throne. These three Prussian Kaisers were:

	* ] (1871—]);
	* ] (1888), who ruled for 99 days;
	* ] (1888—1918), during whose reign the monarchy in Germany ended after ].

	==See also==
	* ]

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Revision as of 21:19, 23 December 2006

Redirect to:

Emperor