Creation
The title "German Emperor" was carefully chosen by Otto von Bismarck after discussion until (and after) the day of the proclamation. William I of Prussia accepted this title grudgingly as he would have preferred "Emperor of Germany" which was however, unacceptable to the federated monarchs, and would also have signalled a claim to lands outside of his reign (Austria, Swiss Confederation, Luxembourg etc.). The title Emperor of the Germans, as proposed in 1848, was ruled out as he considered himself chosen "By the Grace of God", not by the people as in a democracy.
By this ceremony, the North German Confederation (Norddeutscher Bund) was transformed into the German Empire (Deutsches Kaiserreich). This empire was a federal monarchy; the emperor was head of state and president of the federated monarchs (the kings of Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, the grand dukes of Baden, Mecklenburg, Hesse, as well as other principalities, duchies and of the free cities of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen).
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“We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“There have been heroes for whom this world seemed expressly prepared, as if creation had at last succeeded; whose daily life was the stuff of which our dreams are made, and whose presence enhanced the beauty and ampleness of Nature herself.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I do not, like the Fundamentalists, believe that creation stopped six thousand years ago after a week of hard work. Creation is going on all the time.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)