Random trivia

The Germans of course regarded it as part of Germany, with no special mention, although administratively, it was under direct command of the Kaiser (as opposed to all other areas which had their local governments).

New question:

Name all the countries that have been governed by their traditional individual equivalent of an emperor during the 20th century (for that matter, "traditional" is to be defined as usage beginning before 1900).
Bonus if you can name all the titles.
Extra-bonus if you can point out the only imperial title still in use today.
Extra-extra bonus if you can name the one country that has had a non-traditional imperial head of state (although that lasted only for three years).
 
Perun said:
Sorry to bicker there, but Alsace was under German control during WWI.
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And the moral of this is to not take history lessons from a dog trainer. :D
 
Perun said:
The Germans of course regarded it as part of Germany, with no special mention, although administratively, it was under direct command of the Kaiser (as opposed to all other areas which had their local governments).

New question:

Name all the countries that have been governed by their traditional individual equivalent of an emperor during the 20th century (for that matter, "traditional" is to be defined as usage beginning before 1900).
Bonus if you can name all the titles.
Extra-bonus if you can point out the only imperial title still in use today.
Extra-extra bonus if you can name the one country that has had a non-traditional imperial head of state (although that lasted only for three years).
Click to expand...

Japan still has an emperor, I believe. As far as I can recall off the top of my head they're the only country that still has one, and he performs a constitutional function like Queen Elizabeth II - a figurehead. I'm willing to bet there's a trick to your question, Per, and the real answer is some tiny country that has a monarch who styles himself an Emperor. (Bhutan perhaps?)

As for other emperors in the 20th Century:

The British monarchs claimed the title "Emperor of India" until the late 1940's (last one was George VI)

Lots of emperors lost their crowns at the end of the First World War:
The Romanovs were emperors of Russia, though I don't think they claimed any title other than "tsar". Also, the Ottoman Empire had a titular ruler who could probably be considered an emperor by our standards. I think he was limited in his power, though, and the empire was completely dissolved after WW I. Germany and Austria both had emperors too (Wilhelm II and Franz Josef respectively).


China technically had an emperor until the early 1910's, I think...but he had little real power, and I think when Japan occupied Manchuria in the 1930's they proclaimed one of his heirs as emperor, but it had no relevance in day-to-day operations.

The Shah of Persia (Iran) was more than just a king, so maybe he counts too. He was overthrown in a USA-backed revolution in the 1970's if I recall correctly.

Selassie claimed the title of Emperor in Ethiopia, but I don't think anyone actually recognized it.


These are just off the top of my head, so I can almost be certain that I'm missing a few!
 
I was actually only asking for the title, not the real or imagined power, so:

IronDuke said:
Japan still has an emperor, I believe.
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Correct.

The British monarchs claimed the title "Emperor of India" until the late 1940's (last one was George VI)
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Correct.

The Romanovs were emperors of Russia, though I don't think they claimed any title other than "tsar".
Click to expand...

Correct.

Also, the Ottoman Empire had a titular ruler who could probably be considered an emperor by our standards.
Click to expand...

Correct.

Germany and Austria both had emperors too (Wilhelm II and Franz Josef respectively).
Click to expand...

Correct.

China technically had an emperor until the early 1910's, I think...
Click to expand...

Correct.

when Japan occupied Manchuria in the 1930's they proclaimed one of his heirs as emperor,
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Correct (I actually forgot about that one, so you can extend that original "extra-extra bonus" of mine).

The Shah of Persia (Iran) was more than just a king, so maybe he counts too.
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Correct.

He was overthrown in a USA-backed revolution in the 1970's if I recall correctly.
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Incorrect. The Shah was a close ally of the US, and he was overthrown by his own people, led by Khomeini. I suppose you confused that with the coup against Muhammad Mossadegh in 1953.

Selassie claimed the title of Emperor in Ethiopia, but I don't think anyone actually recognized it.
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He didn't claim it, he actually was emperor- the last in a long, long, long tradition.


You got nearly all of them, Duke, there's only two missing. One was European and also got overthrown after the Second World War, the other one was in Africa, self-styled and lasted only three years. Both are quite obscure.
 
The African 3 year one was...Bekassa I of the Central African Empire?

And didn't the king of Romania take the title of tsar?
 
Not quite correct. Bulgaria regained its independence in 1908- that's a difference. The tradition of the Bulgarian Tsar goes back to 893.
 
When was the last time in history that the name "Persia" was officially used as an name of the country/state?
 
That's one for Perun.  :innocent:

I guess this differs per country. I'm not sure which country was the last one naming Iran Persia, neither do I know when they changed it to Iran.
 
I will elaborate my question further based on your reply;

Since 16th century's Sahavid dynasty, the country/republic/state that exists today as Islamic Republic Of Iran was called Iran. Foreigners used term Persia for that geographical space, simply for historical reasons, until Pahlavi asked foreigners to officially accept the name "Iran", instead of calling it Persia, in 1935.

And the answer isn't 1935, we're seeking a year of last internal, official appearance of the term "Persia".

Still, it's not far from 1935.
 
Reza Shah Pahlavi officially renamed it to "Iran" in 1934, mostly to present his country to the world as an independent and emancipated nation, as opposed to the pro-western puppet it had been under the Qadjars (information according to Monika Gronke, Geschichte Irans, Munich 2003). In the same vein, he added the "Pahlavi" moniker to his name, which was originally the name of the language nowadays referred to as "Middle Persian" (spoken before the Islamisation of the country).
I haven't seen any official files of the era, but I'm not really sure if internally, the country was ever referred to as "Persia" (or Fars, as the modern Persian name is), the simple reason being that the name has always been associated with the region around Shiraz- even the Sasanians, who came from that area, named their empire Eran. But with the Qadjars, I guess everything is/was possible.

Really, you shouldn't ask questions like that to an Iranistics student. ;)
 
Acrobat: Out of curiosity, what is the 'official' tally on the number of definitions of "set"?  My office dictionary is much less inclusive than, for example, the unabridged OED (is that considered the authoritative version?), though it does appear to have upwards of 50 definitions.  Thanks
 
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