Ahem.
Before I speak, I want to address an criticism of Kaiser Wilhelm I, German Emperor. There are many who criticize the emperor's reluctance of accepting the title "Emperor of Germany". Often the blunt of it is the German emperor had been a crybaby, or the German emperor was obstructing Bismarck needlessly. This is a dishonorable argument, because it ignores what made the 2nd German Empire great.
Remember the heritage of the household, and the constitution of monarchy – that is, the heritage – the discipline of monarchs is their family history, the tradition and wisdom of their ancestors, and the responsibility of their crowns. A good monarch looks back to his past monarchs from within the blood, wanting to follow the footsteps of success… For this reason, I think, monarchy surpasses the history of republics. The heritage of a monarch, and the history of a people, seems interconnected. The responsibility to stand up to the standards of their predecessor is more personal, while in a republic… they can simply blame a political opponent – a partisan – for the mistakes of the past, which is often the case. (Yes, most political opponents love to blame their predecessors, without any weight of responsibility… their office isn't connected to them personally, after all).
The glory of Frederick the Great was attached to the title King of Prussia. If you asked Kaiser Wilhelm I to abandon the title of King of Prussia, it simply meant abandoning his heritage, his discipline, and his connection to a great ancestor. For this reason, it is understandable the German Emperor would accept the title of popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty allowed him to have the responsibility of being the King of Prussia and Emperor of the Germans. This went well with the federation of the German Empire, and it brought the heritage of Prussia with the empire, a history that is important to German people.
Another injustice is the Treaty of Versailles. The beginning of the German Empire, the highest point of its success and the beginning of their empire, had been in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. This treaty humiliated the German people and separated the last legitimate German government from the people. The highest achievement of Germany began at Versailles, and the greatest injustice to Germany marked the end at Versailles.