Charles VI was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully claimed the throne of Spain following the death of his relative, Charles II. In 1708, he married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, by whom he had his four children: Leopold Johann, Maria Theresa, Maria Anna, and Maria Amalia.
William I, or Wilhelm I, was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany. He was de facto head of state of Prussia from 1858, when he became regent for his brother Frederick William IV. During the reign of his grandson Wilhelm II, he was known as Wilhelm the Great.
Charles-Joseph Lamoral, 7th Prince de Ligne in French; in German Karl-Joseph Lamoral 7. Fürst von Ligne : was a field marshal, inhaber of an infantry regiment, prolific writer, intellectual, member of the princely family of Ligne. He fought as a field officer during several famous battles during the Seven Years' War and briefly returned to military duty in the War of the Bavarian Succession. He performed an important diplomatic mission to Catherine the Great in 1787 and led troops against the Ottoman Empire at Belgrade in 1789. Beginning in the 1770s, he authored an impressive volume of work. After his estates in the Austrian Netherlands were lost to France during the War of the First Coalition, he lived in Vienna. All three of his sons died before him, but his wife and four daughters all outlived him. His grandson, the 8th Prince, became a Belgian statesman.
The Battle of Königgrätz was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové and village of Sadová, now in the Czech Republic. It was the single largest battle of the war, and the largest battle in the world since the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.
The Pour le Mérite, also informally known as the "Blue Max", is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The Pour le Mérite was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eagle and the House Order of Hohenzollern, among the highest orders of merit in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order of merit was the highest royal Prussian order of bravery for officers of all ranks.
Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a Prussian field marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field and one of the finest military minds of his generation. He commanded troops in Europe and the Middle East, in the Second Schleswig War, Austro-Prussian War and Franco-Prussian War. He is described as embodying "Prussian military organization and tactical genius". He was fascinated with railways and pioneered their military use. He is often referred to as Moltke the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, who commanded the German army at the outbreak of the First World War. He is notably the earliest-born human to have been audio-recorded, being born in the last year of the 18th century (1800). He made 4 recordings, 2 of which are preserved to this day, that were recorded in October 1889.
The House of Lorraine originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736, and with the success in the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), the House of Lorraine was joined to the House of Habsburg and became known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Francis, his sons Joseph II and Leopold II, and his grandson Francis II were the last four Holy Roman emperors from 1745 until the dissolution of the empire in 1806. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine inherited the Habsburg Empire, ruling the Austrian Empire and then Austria-Hungary until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918.
Karl Konstantin Albrecht Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal was an officer of the Prussian Army and field marshal of the Imperial German Army, chiefly remembered for his decisive intervention at the Battle of Königgrätz in 1866, his victories at Wörth and Weißenburg, and above all his refusal to bombard Paris in 1870 during the siege, of which he was in command.
The Order of the Red Eagle was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, or other achievements. As with most German other European orders, the Order of the Red Eagle could be awarded only to commissioned officers or civilians of approximately equivalent status. However, there was a medal of the order, which could be awarded to non-commissioned officers and enlisted men, lower ranking civil servants and other civilians.
Karl Dane was a Danish-American comedian and actor known for his work in American films, mainly of the silent film era. He became a star after portraying “Slim”, a supporting role in one of the most successful silent films of all time, The Big Parade (1925), directed by King Vidor and starring John Gilbert.
Count Leopold Joseph von Daun, later Prince of Thiano, was an Austrian field marshal of the Imperial Army in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War. Daun is considered one of the outstanding military leaders from his time.
The Blumenthal family is a Lutheran and Roman Catholic German noble family, originally from Brandenburg-Prussia. Other (unrelated) families of this name exist in Switzerland and formerly in Russia, and many unrelated families called Blumenthal, without "von", are to be found worldwide.
Creighton Hale was an Irish-American theatre, film, and television actor whose career extended more than a half-century, from the early 1900s to the end of the 1950s.
Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron, or simply The Bloody Red Baron, is a 1995 alternate history/horror novel by British author Kim Newman. It is the second book in the Anno Dracula series and takes place during the Great War, 30 years after the first novel.
(for the American sound film on Edith Cavell, see Nurse Edith Cavell)
The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were published in The London Gazette from 3 June to 12 August. The vast majority of the awards were related to the recently ended War, and were divided by military campaigns. A supplementary list of honours, retroactive to the King's birthday, was released in December 1919.
Johann Paul von Werner was chief of the Prussian Hussar Regiment No. 6 ; he also received the Prussian Order Pour le Mérite. Initially in Austrian service, he fought against Spain, France, the Ottoman Empire and against Prussia. One of Frederick the Great's trusted diplomats, Hans Karl von Winterfeldt, recruited him into Prussian service in 1750; subsequently, he fought for Prussia against the Austrians in the Seven Years' War and the War of Bavarian Succession. He was wounded once, and taken prisoner several times. The Prussian playwright Gotthold Lessing modeled the character of the sergeant in his Minna von Barnhelm on Werner.
Nancy Louise Leishman was an American heiress who married into the European aristocracy.
Karl, Prince of Wedel, born Karl Leo Julius Graf von Wedel, was a Prussian general and diplomat who served as the fourth Imperial Lieutenant of the Reichsland of Alsace–Lorraine from 27 October 1907 until his resignation on 18 April 1914.
