German Empire

On today's date in 1871, 142 years ago, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles. While in retrospect monarchists can be ambivalent about German unification, at least most of the other German kings, dukes, and princes continued to reign until 1918, unlike their Italian counterparts ten years earlier. Outside of the Balkans, the European map and political order (all monarchies except for France & Switzerland) would remain essentially unchanged for the next 43 years, perhaps the most stable and glittering era the continent has ever had.  In honour of the anniversary I compiled this chart of European Sovereigns at the time of the proclamation and this chart of all the German rulers exactly one hundred years ago.