#p <nat>German<o>emperor<n>Henry VII<aka>Henry of Luxemburg<b>1275(2)<ac>1312 Jun 29<d>1313 Aug 24<c>Germany<info>Henry VII was the first Holy Roman emperor of the Luxemburg dynasty. He was elected German king in 1308, and was crowned emperor by cardinals in Rome on June 29, 1312.<ref>Grolier
#p <nat>German<o>emperor<n>Charles IV<aka>Emperor Charles IV<b>1316 May 14<ac>1355<d>1378 Nov 29<c>Prague<info>Charles was king of the Germans and king of Bohemia from 1346 until his death, and Holy Roman emperor from 1355. Charles contributed immensely to the evolution of Czech culture. He procured the election of his own son @Wenceslas III@@ to succeed him - the first imperial father-son succession since the Hohenstaufen period.<ref>Grolier
// 15th century
#p <nat>German<o>philosopher<o>bishop<n>Nicholas of Cusa<sur>Nicholas of Cusa<b>1401<d>1464 Aug 11<c>Germany
// 16th century
#p <nat>German<o>emperor<n>Emperor Charles V<sur>Charles V<aka>Charles I of Spain<b>1500<ac>1519<depo>/*?*/1556<d>1558<info>Charles V also reigned as king of Spain, as Charles I, from 1516 to 1556.
#p <nat>German<o>king<n>Frederick V of Bohemia<sur>Frederick V<aka>the Winter King<b>1596 Aug 26<ac>1619<depo>1620<d>1632 Nov 29<c>the Palatinate<info>Frederick V the nephew of @Maurice van Nassau@@. He was was elector palatine from 1610 to 1620 and king of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. In 1613 he married Elizabeth, daughter of @James I of England@@. In 1619 the rebellious Bohemians elected Frederick king. Failing to receive support from his powerful relatives, Frederick was defeated in 1620 by the armies of the Holy Roman emperor and the Catholic League and fled. His generals and other allies continued the war, but the emperor bestowed the Upper Palatinate and the electorate on Frederick's distant relative, Maximilian, duke of Bavaria.<ref>Grolier
// 17th century
#p <nat>German<o>princess<n>Sophia<fem><b>1630<d>1714<fa>Frederick V<mo>Elizabeth<c>Bohemia<info>Sophia was a granddaughter of @James I of England@@. Her mother Elizabeth, a daughter of James, married Frederick V of Bohemia. Sophia was the last surviving offspring of this match. She married Ernest Augustus, who in 1692 became the first elector of Hanover. Sophia's title to the English throne was recognised, for lack of a better qualified Protestant heir, by the @Act of Settlement@@. She predeceased the last Protestant Stuart ruler in Britain, Queen @Anne@@, but her son @George I of England@@ succeeded to the British throne in 1714.<ref>Grolier
#e <t>war<n>Thirty Years' War<d>1618<e>1648<c>Germany<info>between Catholics and Protestants
// 18th century
#p <nat>German<o>king<o>emperor<n>Wilhelm I<b>1797 Mar 22<ac>1861<d>1888 Mar 9<c>Prussia<info>William (Wilhelm) I, king of Prussia and later the first German emperor, was a cautious ruler who presided over the rise of the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty to official predominance over most of the other German states. He commanded Prussian troops in suppressing a revolt in Baden in 1849. He succeeded his ill elder brother, Frederick William IV, first as regent in 1858 and then as king of Prussia in 1861. Initially, William's devotion to the constitution of 1848 seemed to herald a New Era. His insistence, however, upon reorganizing the army to increase efficiency and political reliability brought on a constitutional conflict in 1862 with the Chamber of Deputies. Rejecting the compromise suggested by Otto von Bismarck, whom he appointed as prime minister, William strengthened both his ascendancy over the army and his opposition to parliamentary control. He commanded the army with the advice of his other chief advisor, Helmuth K. B. von Moltke. Although favoring German unity, he resisted his proclamation as German emperor at Versailles on January 18, 1871, considering it a diminution of Prussian power. William was innately conservative, desiring slow internal development to strengthen the monarchy and favoring strong ties with Russia. He was succeeded briefly by his son, @Frederick III@@.<ref>Grolier
// 19th century
#p <nat>German<o>emperor<n>Frederick III<b>1831 Oct 18<ac>1888 Mar 9<d>1888 Jun 15<fa>Wilhelm I<info>Frederick III, emperor of Germany, reigned for only 99 days in 1888. The son of Wilhelm I, Frederick married @Victoria@Victoria, princess royal@, eldest daughter of Queen @Victoria@@ of Britain, in 1858. As crown prince, he served in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). Frederick was considered a liberal, and his death, from cancer, disappointed many who had looked forward to his rule. He was succeeded by his son @Wilhelm II@@.<ref>Grolier
#p <nat>German<o>emperor<n>Wilhelm II<b>1859 Jan 27<ac>1888 Jun 15<ab>1918 Nov 28<d>1941 Jun 4<fa>Frederick III<mo>Victoria, princess royal<c>Germany<mov>1918 Nov<c>Netherlands<info>William (Wilhelm) II was king of Prussia and the third German emperor, who led Germany into World War I. In his youth, William developed a strong antagonism toward England, the country of his strong-willed mother, Victoria, the daughter of the British Queen @Victoria@@. His father, the less dominant parent, did not achieve the throne until March 1888, when he was already dying. William opposed the relatively liberal principles of his parents, identifying instead with the conservative policies of his grandfather, William I. William's youth, inexperience, and desire to rule on his own brought a decisive clash with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. With Bismarck's dismissal in 1890, William gradually extended his own authority. He relied heavily on irresponsible military advisors, rather than on civilian statesmen. His chancellors suggested that concessions should be made to gradually transform a monarchy dominated by landowners and industrialists into a state more responsive to the majority of the people, but William thwarted such suggestions. In his foreign policy William aimed to enhance German prestige, expressing a strident nationalism in warlike speeches and backing colonial expansion and the construction of a large navy under Alfred von Tirpitz. William abandoned Bismarck's ties with Russia in 1890. William's attempts to frighten France into alliance only strengthened French ties with Britain and Russia. His policies created the conditions which ultimately led to @World War I@@. By removing himself to army headquarters during the war, William lost contact with the German people and identified the monarchy with the war's outcome. He contributed to defeat by supporting far-reaching annexationist plans and unrestricted submarine warfare, which brought the intervention of the United States, and by opposing peace proposals and domestic reform. He lost authority to the party leaders in the Reichstag and to the dictatorship (1916-18) of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. With the armistice of November 1918, William fled to the Netherlands, where he abdicated; he died in exile there.<ref>Grolier
#p <nat>German<o>dictator<n>Adolf Hitler<b>1889 Apr 20<pow>1933<d>1945 May 1(1)<c>Berlin
#p <nat>German<o>airman<n>Manfred von Richthofen<aka>The Red Baron<b>1892 May 2<d>1918 Apr 21<info>Von Richthofen was shot down in 1917 by Lt. Woodbridge, an observer in the Royal Flying Corps. He returned to flying, but was fatally @shot down@Red Baron shot down@ in 1918.
// 20th century
#e <t><d>1938 Nov<n>Kristallnacht<c>Germany
#e <t>execution<d>1946 Oct 16<n>Nuremberg executions<c>Nuremberg<info>Ten of Hitler's henchmen are hanged in Nuremberg. Twelve had been sentenced to die. Hermann Göring committed suicide the night before the scheduled execution. Martin Bormann was tried in absentia.
#e <t>siege<d>1948 Jun 18<e>1949 May 12<n>Soviets blockade Berlin<c>Berlin<info>Tension over the Western Allies' decision to unify the zones of Germany they had occupied following @World War II@@ precipitated a Soviet blockade of Berlin. On June 18, 1948, the Soviets began a complete blockade of all means of surface transportation into the western sectors of Berlin. Britain and the United States responded to the blockade with the @Berlin Airlift@@. The Soviets lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949.
#e <t>flight<d>1948 Jun 26<e>1949 Sep 30<n>Berlin Airlift<c>Berlin<info>The Berlin Airlift was in response to a @Soviet blockade@Soviets blockade Berlin@ of the city. Between June, 1948, and September, 1949, Britain and the United States flew more than 2.3 million tons of supplies to Berlin on 277,800 round trips. The Soviets lifted the blockade in May, 1949, but the allies continued the airlift to build up supplies until September 30, 1949.<ref>www.avialantic.com/bahf.html
#e <t>construction<d>1961<n>Berlin Wall<c>Berlin<info>With the aim of preventing East Germans from seeking asylum in the West, the East German government in 1961 began constructing a system of concrete and barbed-wire barriers between East and West Berlin.
#e <t><d>1989 Nov 9<n>Berlin wall comes down<c>Berlin
