Comments on: Of ‘emperor’ and ‘kaiser’

By: Ivan the Terrible » the Past Tense, History will be kind to me, for I intend to write (about) it

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:50:38 +0000

[...] As Ivan grew older (and escaped murder) he came to believe God protected him. At the time, Russians believed orthodoxy was the true faith. Ivan saw Russia as the centre of Christianity and Russia’s ruler as it’s protector—hence the greatest ruler in the world. Therefore in 1547 Ivan crowned himself Czar of Russia, claiming sacred descendance from the Roman emperors. This ’sacred power’ placed him above the nobility. Ivan married Anastasia Romanov, who kept her husband’s cruelty remarkably well in check. Czar Ivan expanded the country, centralized power and reformed the government, the army, the economy and the church. [...]

By: Arjan

Arjan — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 11:36:01 +0000

@Nils: thanks for your comment!

I wonder why Hitler never opted for emperor? He quite liked the Romans, but perhaps Kaiser was a tainted term to him and the Nazis?

Yes, I think Kaiser Wilhelm had spoiled the title for them. Moreover, the nazi’s wanted to glorify Germans—the barbarians from the Roman days. Then again that makes me wonder why Mussolini did not choose the emperor’s title…

(Oh en ik denk dat je even aan het Nederlands bent blijven haken in je titel The Kaiser en Czar. Haal dit stuk van de comment dan maar weg als je wilt).

Thanks, I’ve corrected it! Stupid multiple languages

By: Nils

Nils — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 04:56:43 +0000

Very enlightening article. I never realized imperium actually referred to the actual power over a region, not the region itself � like we would now associate ‘empire’ with.

One ‘emperor’ who did survive the great shifting of the board after WWI was Haile Selassie, who ruled well into the thirties I think. I’m not sure what happened to him after that second global suicide attempt in the forties. On that note, I wonder why Hitler never opted for emperor? He quite liked the Romans, but perhaps Kaiser was a tainted term to him and the Nazis?

(Oh en ik denk dat je even aan het Nederlands bent blijven haken in je titel The Kaiser en Czar. Haal dit stuk van de comment dan maar weg als je wilt).

Great writing as ever. Glad you found the time to share with us.