Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Imperial

Definition: Imperial

Imperial

Adjective

1. Relating to or associated with an empire; "imperial colony"; "the imperial gallon was standardized legally throughout the British Empire".

2. Befitting or belonging to an emperor or empress; "imperial palace".

3. Belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler; "golden age of imperial splendor"; "purple tyrant"; "regal attire"; "treated with royal acclaim"; "the royal carriage of a stag's head".

Noun

1. A small tufted beard worn by Emperor Napoleon III.

2. A piece of luggage carried on top of a coach.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "imperial" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references)

Etymology: Imperial \Im*pe"ri*al\, adjective. [Old English emperial, Old French emperial, French imp['e]rial, from Latin imperialis, from imperium command, sovereignty, empire. See Empire.]. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Imperial

DomainDefinition

Literature

Imperial (An). A tuft of hair on the chin, all the rest of the beard and all the whiskers being shaved off. So called from the Emperor Napoleon III., who set the fashion. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Specialty Definition: British Empire

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The British Empire, which in the early decades of the 20th century covered nearly 30 million square kilometress with a population of 400-500 million people (roughly a quarter of the world's population), was the most extensive area under a single country's rule in history.

Introduction

The British Empire came together over 300 years through a succession of phases of expansion by trade, settlement or conquest, interspersed with intervals of pacific commercial and diplomatic activity or imperial contraction. Its territories were scattered across every continent and ocean, and it was described with some truth as "the empire on which the sun never sets". It reached its height in the 1930s and 40s.

The Empire facilitated the spread of British technology, commerce, language, and government around much of the globe. Imperial hegemony contributed to Britain's extraordinary economic growth and greatly strengthened her voice in world affairs. Even as Britain extended its imperial reach overseas, it continued to develop and broaden democratic institutions at home.

From the perspective of the colonies, the record of the British Empire is mixed. They gained from Britain the English language, an administrative and legal framework on the British model, as well as technological and economic development. With varying degrees of success, in decolonisation Britain sought to pass on to her colonies governments based on parliamentary democracy and the rule of law. At the very least, those countries which were colonised by Britain were spared the incompetence and brutality of some other European empires, such as the Belgian and Portuguese empires; and almost all have since chosen to join the Commonwealth of Nations, the association which replaced the Empire.

Nonetheless, British colonial policy was always driven to a large extent by Britain's trading interests. While settler economies developed the infrastructure to support balanced development, tropical African territories found themselves developed only as raw-material suppliers. British policies based on comparative advantage left many developing economies dangerously reliant on a single cash crop. A disregard for the complexities of national and racial identities left a legacy of partition or inter-communal difficulties in areas as diverse as Ireland, India, Zimbabwe, Guyana and Fiji.

History

For details, see the main article History of the British Empire.

The first British Empire

From the early 17th century England and later Great Britain established colonies in continental North America and the islands of the Caribbean such as Jamaica and Barbados. During the Seven Years War the British defeated the French at the Plains of Abraham and captured all of New France in 1760, giving Britain control over almost all of North America. However, the most populous American colonies were lost in the American War of Independence (1775-83).

The period is sometimes referred to as the end of the "first British Empire", indicating the shift of British expansion from the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries to the "second British Empire" in Asia and later also Africa from the 18th century.

See also Colonial history of America.

Later, the creation of British colonies in Australia (from 1788) and New Zealand (1840) created a major zone of British migration.

The second British Empire

For details, see the main article Pax Britannica.''

The end of the old colonial and slave systems (Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807) were accompanied by the adoption of free trade, culminating in the repeal of the Corn Laws and Navigation Acts in the 1840s. As the only industrialised country in the world, Britain could prosper through free trade alone without having to resort to formal rule.

From 1857 the British East India Company, whose main purpose was the lucrative East Indies trade, extended its rule across nearly the whole of India. Ceylon, Burma, Malaya and Hong Kong were gradually added. Following the Indian Mutiny of 1857 the Company's territories were placed (1858) under the administration of the Crown.

See also Imperialism in Asia.''


Benjamin Disraeli and Queen Victoria

New Imperialism

For details, see the main article New Imperialism.

The "Long Depression" of 1873-96 saw Britain's economic dominance threatened by competition from Germany and led to the widespread abandonment of free trade among Europe's powers. Although she continued to adhere to free trade until 1932, Britain joined the new scramble for protectionist formal empires rather than allow areas under her influence to be seized by rivals.

During this period, Europe's powers added nearly 23,000,000 km² to their overseas colonial possessions. As it was mostly unoccupied by the Western powers as late as the 1880s, Africa became the primary target of the "new" imperialist expansion. In 1899 Britain completed her takeover of South Africa, begun with the annexation (1795) of the Cape, by invading the Afrikaner republics of the gold-rich Transvaal and the neighbouring Orange Free State.

The period also saw the building of the Suez Canal.

See also Scramble for Africa.

After the First World War

The aftermath of World War I saw the last major extension of British rule, with British Mandates over the former Ottoman territories of Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait. but the heavy costs of the war undermined her capacity to maintain the vast empire. Nationalist sentiment grew in both old and new Imperial territories.

The 1920s saw a rapid transformation of the status of the self-governing territories, leading to the 1926 Balfour Declaration and the 1931 Statute of Westminster, which provided formal equality of the Dominions with Britain, which is seen as the beginning of the British Commonwealth.

See also Dominion.


M.K. Gandhi was a leader of the Indian independence movement

Decolonisation

The Second World War (1939 - 45) left Britain all but exhausted, with its former allies disinclined to support the colonial status quo. The bloody partition and independence of India in 1947 deprived the Empire of its heart and marked the beginning of the end for the British Empire. Burma and Ceylon followed soon after.

The Suez Crisis of 1956 saw Britain's limitations exposed to a humiliating degree. From then Britain's withdrawal from its colonies in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific was carried out with great rapidity through the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The last populous colony was decolonised in 1997, with the handover of Hong Kong to China.

Extent

At its height, the British Empire consisted of the following territory -

Africa

The Americas and Atlantic

Antarctica

Asia

Europe

Pacific

Remaining Dependent Territories

Now only a few small territories remain under British administration, mostly for reasons of perceived insufficiency as sovereign states. The last remaining Dependent Territories are:

Territories possessing substantial self-government

Other territories

See also:

External links:

Top     


Emperor

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

An Emperor is nominally a monarch and sovereign ruler of an Empire or any other ruler considered/called an emperor. Emperors are generally recognized to be above kings in honour. The English term for emperor is derived from the Latin imperator, which is in turn derived from a Latin word meaning "to impose". In German the title kaiser is used and in Russian tsar or czar is used, both of which are derived from Caesar.

There is currently only one Emperor left in the world, the Emperor of Japan.

Imperator was originally a title used by Roman military comanders, which reflected their right "to impose" punishment on the soldiers under their command. Caesar was the family name of Gaius Julius Caesar (100 BC-44 BC), who never was an emperor himself but rather the last dictator of the Roman republic. The name of Caesar lived on by adoption in the first Roman Emperor, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus or Augustus, as he is known as emperor. The style used by the Roman Emperors was primarily that of Augustus, but the names and titles of Caesar and Imperator was also used.

In China, Emperor was first introduced when Qin Shi Huangdi declared him as the first emperor. In Japan, a ruler in Yamato court was called "Tenno" and usually translated as emperor though Japan is usually not considered an empire except the brief period of time in late Meiji, Taisho and early Showa. In Japanese language, tenno is strictly distinguished from teiou who rules an empire--both are translated as emperor.

Sometimes, an retired emperor has actual power instead of the ruling emperor.

Countries which have been ruled by Emperors or Empresses:

Ancient Empires

Medieval Empires

Newer Empires

Emperors of short-lived "Empires"

Self-proclaimed "Emperors"

Fictional Empires

Unclassified

Top     


Empire

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

An empire is a large, multi-ethnic state, whose political structure is held together by coercion. (Compare with a federation, where a large multi-ethnic state is based on mutual agreement between the participants.)

The modern term is derived from the Latin imperium, which was coined in what was possibly the most famous example of this sort of political structure, the Roman Empire founded in 31 BC. The actual political concept, however, predates the Romans by several thousand years. Probably the first example was the Akkadian Empire of Sargon of Akkad.

An empire can take several forms. Empires have been traditionally ruled by powerful monarchies under the leadership of a hereditary (or in some cases, self-appointed) emperor. Historically, most empires came into being as the result of a militarily strong state conquering other states and incorporating them into a larger political union. Often these multi-ethnic entities were strengthened by the introduction of a common religion, as was the case under Constantine I of the Roman Empire.

The discovery of the New World provided an opportunity for many European states to embark upon programs of imperialism on a different model, colonization. Under this model, subject states were de jure subordinate to the imperial state, rather than de facto as in earlier empires. This led to a good deal of resentment in the client states, and therefore probably to the penultimate demise of this system in the early twentieth century.

Another problem with the European imperial model might be described as gerrymandering. In the interest of expediency, an imperial power tended to carve out a client state based solely on convenience of geography, while ignoring extreme cultural differences in the resulting area. An example of the attendant problems can be seen in India. Formerly part of the British Empire, after India gained its independence it quickly split along cultural lines producing the country of Pakistan, which later split yet again resulting in the country of Bangladesh.

The concept of "empire" in the modern world, while still present politically, is losing cohesion semantically. For example, the former Soviet Union fits many of the criteria of an empire, but nevertheless did not claim to be one, nor was it ruled by a traditional hereditary "emperor" (see Soviet Empire). In the early 21st century, tendencies to refer to the USA as an empire could be seen, following the book Empire by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt (see American Empire or History of United States Imperialism).

Among the empires in history are:

See Also

Empire is the name of several different computer games. See Empire (computer game).

An empire can also refer to the large economic holdings of one person, usually including the ownership of many different businesses and corporations. For example, Bill Gates could be said to have a "Software Empire."

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Empire."

Top     


Galactic Empire

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Galactic empires are a fairly common theme in science fiction. The idea suffers from practical difficulties, not least that it requires faster-than-light travel to hold the empire together. Nonetheless, many authors have either used a galactic empire as background, or written about the growth or decline of such an empire. Some of these empires are clearly based on the Roman empire, that in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series being an obvious example. The most well known is the empire from Star Wars, which was formed from the ashes of the Galactic Republic.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Galactic Empire."

Top     


Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

In the fictional Star Wars universe, the Galactic Empire was the regime established by Palpatine to replace the Galactic Republic.

The Republic ended following a period of intense political turmoil and war. At the height of the chaos the Republic's scheming head of government, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, proclaimed himself Emperor.

The Empire was ruled with absolute power by Palpatine as Emperor with Darth Vader being his assistant. The Galactic Senate still existed years after the Empire's establishment, but it had little power and was eventually dissolved by Palpatine. The real power below the Emperor was in the hands of the Grand Moffs, like Tarkin and the regional governors who were eventually granted direct control of their regions.

This power was backed up by the use of state terrorism which threatened horrific retaliation to any defiance to the government. The instrument of that terror was the Imperial military, which included the Imperial Stormtroopers and a large fleet of intimidating war vehicles like Star Destroyers and All Terrain Armoured Transports (AT-ATs or Walkers) which were intended in part to spread fear as well as destroy the enemy.

In addition a key instrument was intended to be the Death Star, a moon sized space station with sufficient firepower to destroy a planet with a single shot, shown in the first Star Wars movie, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

In non-canonical works, the Empire also emphasized humanoid supremacy and other alien species like Wookies were subject to slavery. It is believed by some that Palpatine's association with non-humans like Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace contradicts this.

The Empire was opposed by the Rebel Alliance, a guerilla army dedicated to the defeat of the Emperor and the restoration of the Galactic Republic. This goal was nominally achieved with the death of Palpatine and the destruction of the second Death Star at the hands of the Alliance at the Battle of Endor, as depicted in the sixth Star Wars movie, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. However, the Empire was too large to be destroyed in one blow; for the next decade and more, the Rebels, renamed the New Republic, fought to free the galaxy from former Imperials styling themselves as independent warlords as well as Imperial loyalists such as Grand Admiral Thrawn. These battles are chronicled in the many novels licensed by Lucasfilm.

An interesting article supporting the Empire can be found at The Case for the Empire. A response to that article is No Case for the Empire.

See also: Isaac Asimov's Galactic Empire Series

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Galactic Empire (Star Wars)."

Top     


Holy Roman Empire

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

 This article is part of the
History of Germany series.
 Franks
 Holy Roman Empire
 German Confederation
 German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 Nazi Germany
 Germany since 1945

The Holy Roman Empire (German: Heiliges Römisches Reich) was a political conglomeration of lands in western and central Europe in the Middle Ages. Emerging from the eastern part of the Frankish realm after its division in the Treaty of Verdun (843), it formally lasted almost a millennium until its dissolution in 1806.

Contemporary terminology for the Empire varied greatly over the centuries. The term Roman Empire was used in 1034 to denote the lands under Conrad II, and Holy Empire in 1157. The use of the term Roman Emperor to refer to Northern European rulers started earlier with Otto II (Emperor 973-983). Emperors from Charlemagne (died 814) to Otto I the Great (Emperor 962-973) had simply used the phrase Imperator Augustus ("August Emperor"). The precise term Holy Roman Empire dates from 1254; the full expression Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (German Heiliges Römisches Reich deutscher Nation) appears in 1512, after several variations in the late 15th century.

Character of the Reich

The Holy Roman Empire is an institution unique in world history that is difficult to grasp. To understand what it was, it might be helpful to assess first what it was not.

The Reich can thus best be described as a crossbreed between a state and a confederation on religious grounds -- except for the latter, not being unlike the European Union of today.

Trivia

Contemporaries did not quite know how to describe this figure either. In his famous 1667 description De statu imperii Germanici, published under the alias Severinus de Monzambano, Samuel Pufendorf wrote: "Nihil ergo aliud restat, quam ut dicamus Germaniam esse irregulare aliquod corpus et monstro simile ..." ("We are therefore left with calling Germany a body that conforms to no rule and resembles a monster").

Voltaire later described it as "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire".

In Faust I, in a scene written in 1775, the German writer Goethe has one of the drinkers in Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig ask "Our Holy Roman Empire, lads, What holds it still together?" Goethe also has a longer, not very favorable essay about his personal experiences as a trainee at the Reichskammergericht in his autobiographical work Dichtung und Wahrheit.

Structure and institutions

From the High Middle Ages on, the Reich was stamped by a most peculiar coexistance of the Empire and the struggle of the dukes of the local territories to take power away from it. As opposed to the rulers of the West Frankish lands, which later became France, the emperor never managed to gain much control over the lands that he formally owned. Instead, from that time on, the emperor was forced to grant more and more powers to the individual dukes in their respective territories. This process began in the 12th century and was more or less concluded with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. Several attempts were made to reverse this degradation of the Reich's former glory, but failed.

Formally, the Reich comprised the king, to be crowned emperor by the pope (until 1508), on the one side, and the Reichsstände (imperial estates) on the other side.

German King. The pope's crowning of Charlemagne as emperor in 800 formed the example that later kings would follow: it was the result of Charlemagne having defended the pope against the rebellious inhabitants of Rome, which initiated the notion of the Reich being the protector of the church.

Becoming emperor required becoming king of the Germans first. German kings had been elected since time immemorial; in the 9th century by the leaders of the five most important tribes (the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians, Swabians and Thuringians), later by the main lay and clerical dukes of the kingdom, finally only by the so-called Kurfürsten (electing dukes). This collegiate was formally established by a 1356 decree known as the Golden Bull. Initially, there were seven electors; this number varied slightly over the following centuries (see Holy Roman Empire elector for details).

Until 1508, the newly elected king then traveled to Rome to be crowned emperor by the pope. In many cases, this took several years when the king was held up by other tasks: frequently he first had to resolve conflicts in rebellious northern Italy or was in quarrel with the pope himself.

At no time could the emperor simply decree rulings and govern autonomously over the Empire. His power was severely restricted by the various local leaders; after the late 15th century, the Reichstag established itself as the legislative body of the Empire, a complicated assembly that convened irregularly at the request of the emperor at varying locations. Only after 1663 would the Reichstag become a permanent assembly; see Reichstag (institution) for details.

Imperial Estates. An entity was considered Reichsstand (imperial estate) if, according to feudal law, it had no authority above it besides the king himself. Only these later had seats at the Reichstag and included, with great variance over the centuries:

The number of territories was amazingly large, rising to several hundreds at the time of the Peace of Westphalia. Many of these were comprised of no more than a few square miles. The Empire is thus aptly described as a "patchwork carpet" (Flickenteppich) by many. For a list as of 1792, refer to List of Reichstag participants (1792).

Imperial Courts. The Reich also had two courts: the Reichshofrat at the court of the king/emperor (that is, later in Vienna), and the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court), established with the Imperial Reform of 1495.

Chronology

From the East Franks to the Investiture Controversy

The Empire is usually considered to have been founded in 962 by Otto I the Great, at the latest.

Although some date the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire from the coronation of Charlemagne as emperor of the Romans in 800, Charlemagne himself more typically used the title king of the Franks. This title also makes clearer that the Frankish Kingdom covered an area that included modern-day France and Germany and was thus the kernel of both countries.

Most historians therefore consider the establishment of the Empire to be a process that started with the split of the Frankish realm in the Treaty of Verdun in 843, continuing the Carolingian dynasty independently in all three sections. The eastern part fell to Louis the German, who was followed by several leaders until the death of Louis IV, called "the Child", the last Carolingian in the eastern part.

The leaders of Alamannia, Bavaria, Frankia and Saxonia elected Conrad I of the Franks, not a Carolingian, as their leader in 911. His successor, Henry I the Fowler (r. 919-936), a Saxon, achieved the acceptance of a separate Eastern Empire by the West Frankish (still ruled by the Carolingians) in 921, calling himself rex Francorum orientalum (king of the East Franks).

Heinrich designated his son Otto to be his successor, who was elected king in Aachen in 936. His later crowning as Emperor Otto I (later called "the Great") in 962 would mark an important step, since from then on the Empire -- and not the West-Frankish kingdom that was the other remainder of the Frankish kingdoms -- would have the blessing of the pope. Otto had gained much of his power earlier, when, in 955, the Magyars were defeated in the Battle of Lechfeld.

In contemporary and later writings, the crowning would be referred to as translatio imperii, the transfer of the Empire from the Romans to a new Empire. The German emperors thus thought of themselves as being in direct succession of those of the Roman empire; this is why they initially called themselves Augustus. Still, they did not call themselves "Roman" emperors at first, probably in order not to provoke conflict with the Roman emperor who still existed in Constantinople. The term imperator Romanorum only became common under Conrad II later.

At this time, the eastern kingdom was not so much "German" as rather a "confederation" of the old Germanic tribes of the Bavarians, Alamanns, Franks and Saxons. The Empire as a political union probably only survived because of the strong personal influence of King Henry the Saxon and his son, Otto. Although formally elected by the leaders of the Germanic tribes, they were actually able to designate their successors.

This changed after Henry II died in 1024 without any children. Conrad II, first of the Salian Dynasty, was then elected king in 1024 only after some debate. How exactly the king was chosen thus seems to be a complicated conglomeration of personal influence, tribal quarrels, inheritance, and acclamation by those leaders that would eventually become the collegiate of Electors.

Already at this time the dualism between the "territories", then those of the old tribes rooted in the Frankish lands, and the king/emperor, became apparent. Each king preferred to spend most time in his own homelands; the Saxons, for example, spent much time in palatinates around the Harz mountains, among them Goslar. This practice had only changed under Otto III (king 983, emperor 996-1002), who began to utilize bishopries all over the Empire as temporary seats of government. Also, his successors, Henry II, Conrad II, and Henry III, apparently managed to appoint the dukes of the territories. It is thus no coincidence that at this time, the terminology changes and the first occurrences of a regnum Teutonicum are found.

The glory of the Empire almost collapsed in the Investiture Controversy, in which Pope Gregory VII declared a ban on King Henry IV (king 1056, emperor 1084-1106). Although this was taken back after the 1077 Walk to Canossa, the ban had wide-reaching consequences. Meanwhile, the German dukes had elected a second king, Rudolf of Swabia, whom Henry IV could only defeat after a three-year war in 1080. The mythical roots of the Empire were permanently damaged; the German king was humiliated. Most importantly though, the church became an independent player in the political system of the Empire.

The Empire under the Staufen

Conrad III came to the throne in 1138, being the first of the Staufen dynasty, which was about to restore the glory of the Empire even under the new conditions of the 1122 Concordat of Worms. It was Frederick I "Barbarossa (king 1152, emperor 1155-1190) who first called the Empire "holy", with which he intended to address mainly law and legislation.

Also, under Barbarossa, the idea of the "Romanness" of the Empire culminated again, which seemed to be a attempt to justify the emperor's power independently of the (now strenghened) pope. An imperial assembly at the fields of Roncaglia in 1158 explicitly reclaimed imperial rights at the advice of quattuor doctores of the emerging judicial facility of the University of Bologna, citing phrases such as princeps legibus solutus ("the leader is not bound by law") from the Digestae of the Corpus Juris Civilis. That the Roman laws were created for an entirely different system and didn't fit the structure of the Empire was obviously secondary; the point here was that the court of the Emperor made an attempt to establish a legal constitution.

Imperial rights had been referred to as regalia since the Investiture Controversy, but were enumerated for the first time at Roncaglia as well. This comprehensive list included public roads, tariffs, coining, collecting punitive fees, and the investiture, the seating and unseating of office holders. These rights were now explicitly rooted in Roman Law, a far-reaching constitutional act; north of the Alps, the system was also now connected to feudal law, a change most visible in the withdrawal of the feuds of Henry the Lion in 1180 which lead to his public banning. Barbarossa thus managed for a time to more closely bind the stubborn Germanic dukes to the Empire as a whole.

Another important constitutional move at Roncaglia was the establishment of a new peace (Landfrieden) for all of the Empire, an attempt to (on the one hand) abolish private vendettas not only between the many local dukes, but on the other hand a means to tie the Emperor's subordinates to a legal system of jurisdiction and public persecution of criminal acts -- a predecessor concept of "rule of law", in modern terms, that was, at this time, not yet universally accepted.

In order to solve the problem that the emperor was (after the Investiture Controversy) no longer as able to use the church as a mechanism to maintain power, the Stauffers increasingly lended land to ministerialia, formerly unfree service men, which Frederick hoped would be more reliable than local dukes. Initially used mainly for war services, this new class of people would form the basis for the later knights, another basis of imperial power.

Another new concept of the time was the systematic foundation of new cities, both by the emperor and the local dukes. These were partly due to the explosion in population, but also to concentrate economic power at strategic locations, while formerly cities only existed in the shape of either old Roman foundations or older bishoprics. Cities that were founded in the 12th century include Freiburg, possibly the economic model for many later cities, and Munich.

The later reign of the last Staufer, Frederick II, was in many ways different from that of earlier Emperors. Still a child, he first reigned in Sicily, while in Germany, Barbarossa's son Philip of Swabia and Otto IV competed with him for the title of King of the Germans. After finally having been crowned emperor in 1220, he risked conflict with the pope when he claimed power over Rome; astonishingly to many, he managed to claim Jerusalem in a Crusade in 1228 while still under the pope's ban.

While Frederick brought the mythical idea of the Empire to a last highpoint, he was also the one to initiate the major steps that lead to its disintegration. On the one hand, he concentrated on establishing a -- for the times -- extraordinarily modern state in Sicily, with public services, finances, and jurisdiction. On the other hand, Frederick was the emperor who granted major powers to the German dukes in two far-reaching privileges that would never be reclaimed by the central power. In the 1220 Confoederatio cum princibus ecclesiasticis, Frederick basically gave up a number of regalia in favor of the bishops, among them tariffs, coining, and fortification. The 1232 Statutem in favorem principum mostly extended these privileges to the other (non-clerical) territories. Although many of these privileges had existed earlier, they were now granted globally, and once and for all, to allow the German dukes to maintain order north of the Alps while Frederick wanted to concentrate on his homelands in Italy. The 1232 document marked the first time that the German dukes were called domini terrae, owners of their lands, a remarkable change in terminology as well.

The rise of the territories after the Stauffen

After the death of Frederick II in 1250, none of the dynasties worthy of producing the king proved able to do so, and the leading dukes elected several competing kings. The time from 1246 (beginning with the election of Heinrich Raspe and William of Holland) from 1273, where Rudolph I of Habsburg was elected king, is commonly referred to as the Interregnum.

The difficulties in electing the king eventually led to the emergence of a fixed collegiate of electors, the Kurfürsten, whose composition and procedures were fixed in the Golden Bull of 1356. This development maybe symbolizes best the emerging duality between Kaiser und Reich, emperor and realm, who were no longer considered identical. This is also revealed in the way the post-Stauffen kings attempted to sustain their power. While earlier, the Empire's strength (and finances) greatly relied on the Empire's own lands, the so-called Reichsgut, which always belonged to the respective king (and included many Imperial Cities), its relevance faded after the 13th century (even though some fractions of it did remain until the Empire's end in 1806). Instead, the Reichsgut was increasingly pawned to local dukes, sometimes to raise money for the Empire, but more frequently as a reward for faithful duty or in an attempt to civilize stubborn dukes. It seems that the direct governance of the Reichsgut no longer matched the needs of either the king or the dukes.

Instead, the kings, beginning with Rudolph I of Habsburg, increasingly relied on the lands of their respective dynasties to support their power. As opposed to the Reichsgut, which was mostly scattered and difficult to administrate, the territories were comparably compact and thus easier to control. In 1282, Rudolph I thus lended his own Austria and the Steiermark to his own sons; Louis IV of Wittelsbach (king 1314, emperor 1328-1347) relied on his lands in Bavaria; Charles IV of Luxembourg drew strength from his own lands in Bohemia. Interestingly, it was thus increasingly in the king's own interest to strenghen the power of the territories, since the king profited from such a benefit in his own lands as well.

The 13th century also saw a general structural change in how land was administered. Instead of personal duties, money increasingly became the common means to represent economic value in agriculture. Peasants were increasingly committed to pay tributes for their lands; the concept of "property" more and more replaced more ancient forms of jurisdiction, although the two were still very much tied. In the territories (not at the level of the Empire), power became increasingly bundled: who owned the land had jurisdiction, from which other powers were derived. (It is important to note however that jurisdiction, at this time, was not assumed to include legislation, which practically did not exist until well into the 15th century. Court practice heavily relied on traditional customs or rules described as such.)

It is during this time also that the territories began to transform themselves into predecessors of modern states. The process varied greatly among the various lands and was most advanced in those territories that were most identical to the lands of the old Germanic tribes, such as in Bavaria; it was slower in those scattered parts that were founded through imperial privileges.

Imperial Reform

The "constitution" of the Empire was still largely unsettled at the beginning of the 15th century. Although some procedures and institutions had been fixed, for example by the Golden Bull of 1356, the rules of how the king, the electors, and the other dukes should cooperate in the Empire much depended on the personality of the respective king. It therefore proved somewhat fatal that Sigismund of Luxemburg (king 1410, emperor 1433-1437) and Frederick III (king 1440, emperor 1452-1493) neglected the old core lands of the empire and mostly resided in their own lands. Without the presence of the king, the old institution of the Hoftag, the assembly of the realm's leading men, deteriorated. The Reichstag as a legislative organ of the Empire did not exist yet. Even worse, dukes often went into feuds against each other that, more often than not, escalated into local wars.

At the same time, the church was in crisis too. The conflict between several competing popes was only resolved at the Council of Constance (1414-1418); after 1419, much energy was spent on fighting the heresy of the Hussites.

With these drastic changes, much discussion emerged in the 15th century about the Empire itself. Rules from the past no longer adequately described the structure of the time, and a reinforcement of earlier Landfrieden was urgently called for. During this time, the concept of "reform" emerges, in the original sense of the latin verb re-formare, to regain an earlier shape that had been lost.

When Frederick III needed the dukes to finance war against Hungaria in 1486 and at the same time had his son, later Maximilian I elected king, he was presented with the dukes' united demand to participate in an Imperial Court. For the first time, the assembly of the electors and other dukes was now called Reichstag (to be joined by the Imperial Cities later). While Frederick refused, his more conciliant son finally convoked the Reichstag at Worms in 1495, after his father's death in 1493. Here, the king and the dukes agreed on four bills, commonly referred to as the Reichsreform (Imperial Reform): a set of legal acts to give the disintegrating Empire back some structure. Among others, this act produced the Imperial Circle Estates and the Reichskammergericht, (Imperial Chamber Court); structures that would -- to a degree -- persist until the end of the Empire in 1806.

However, it should take a few more decades until the new regulation was universally accepted and the new court began to actually function; only in 1512 would the Imperial Circles be finalized. The king also made sure that his own court, the Reichshofrat, continued to function in parallel to the Reichskammergericht. It is interesting to note that in this year, the Empire also receives its new title, the ''Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation'\' ("Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation").

Crisis after Reformation

When Martin Luther in 1517 initiated what would later be known as the Reformation, many local dukes saw the chance to oppose the Emperor. After a century of quarrels, this conflict -- among others -- eventually lead to the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), devastating most of Europe.

After the Peace of Westphalia

The actual end of the empire came in several steps. After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which gave the territories almost complete sovereignty, even allowing them to form independent alliances with other states; the Empire was only a mere conglomeration of largely independent states. any more.

The implosion of the Empire

The Empire was formally dissolved on August 6, 1806 when the last Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (from 1804, Emperor Francis I of Austria) resigned. Francis II's family continued to be called Austrian emperors until 1918.

Analysis

It has been said that modern history of Germany was primarily predetermined by three factors: the Reich, the Reformation, and the later dualism between Austria and Prussia.[1] Many attempts have been made to explain why the Reich never managed to gain a strong central power over the territories, as opposed to neighboring France. Some reasons include:

German Third Reich

After the unification of Germany as a nation state in 1871 (see German Empire), the Holy Roman Empire was sometimes known as the First Reich. Nazi Germany then referred to itself as the Third Reich, counting the 1871 Empire as the second, to connect itself with the resurrection of an allegedly better past.

Related articles

References

  1. Heinrich August Winkler, Der lange Weg nach Westen, Vol. 1: Deutsche Geschichte vom Ende des Alten Reiches bis zum Ende der Weimarer Republik, ISBN 3-406-46001-1, p. 5.
  2. The Holy Roman Empire by James Bryce ISBN 0333036093

External link

Top     


Imperial

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperial is a term that is used to describe something that relates to an Empire, Emperor, or the concept of Imperialism.

"Imperial" is also the name of a city in California, USA. (Its city hall zip code is 92251.)

"Imperial quart" is a measure of liquid volume.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Imperial."

Top     


Imperial College, London

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperial College, London\, is the new official name of what used to be called Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. Indeed the college actively discourages use of its old name and abbreviations such as IC preferring simply Imperial. It is a member of the University of London, and as its name suggests specialises in scientific subjects.

The main campus of the college is situated near the Albert Hall in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area dense with institutions of learning: The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal College of Music and the Royal College of Art are all nearby (see Albertopolis). There are two other major campuses - at Silwood Park (near Ascot, Berkshire) and at Wye (near Ashford in Kent). There are various other small medical campuses dotted around Greater London.

Imperial College was founded in 1907, upon the merger of the City and Guilds College, the Royal School of Mines and the Royal College of Science, although these entities continued as Constituent Colleges. It was granted a Royal Charter in July 1907.

In later years St. Mary's Hospital Medical school (1988), the National Heart and Lung institute (1995), Charing Cross and Westminster schools (1997) merged into the Imperial College School of Medicine, the fourth Constituent College. In 1997, the size of the Medical School was increased with the merger of Royal Postgraduate Medical School, and the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In 2000, merger with the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology expanded it even further.

Also in 2000, Imperial College merged with Wye College, which at that time had a much lesser reputation then Imperial. A number of voices have opinioned that the merger may have been due to Imperial's wish to obtain the significant amount of land owned by Wye College rather then for academic reasons; similarly there have been suggestions that Wye College accepted the merger because it was in financial diffculties. Neither of these rumours can be confirmed.

In 2002, the constituent colleges were finally abolished in favour of a new faculty structure.

In October 2002, Imperial College and University College London (UCL) announced their intention to merge, however after protests by UCL staff, the merger was called off in November 2002.

Periodically rumours surface about a possible merger with the London School of Economics. Whilst the two institutions have often conducted joint ventures, there has been no significant progress toward a merger.

In the last few years, Imperial has boasted the largest research income of any UK university. It is consistently ranked in the top four in the country for academic prowess, often above Oxford University.

The college is also a member of the Russell Group of Universities.

Student Alumni:

Staff alumni:

External links

Top     


Imperial County, California

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperial County is a county located in the far southeast of California, on the border with Arizona and Mexico. The 2000 population was 142,361. The county seat is El Centro.

History

Imperial County was formed in 1907 from eastern San Diego County, the most recent of all California counties.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 11,608 km² (4,482 mi²). 10,812 km² (4,175 mi²) of it is land and 795 km² (307 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 6.85% water.

Demographics

As of the census2 of 2000, there are 142,361 people, 39,384 households, and 31,467 families residing in the county. The population density is 13/km² (34/mi²). There are 43,891 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (10/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 49.37% White, 3.95% Black or African American, 1.87% Native American, 1.99% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 39.08% from other races, and 3.65% from two or more races. 72.22% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 39,384 households out of which 46.70% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.70% are married couples living together, 17.10% have a female householder with no husband present, and 20.10% are non-families. 17.10% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.10% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.33 and the average family size is 3.77.

In the county the population is spread out with 31.40% under the age of 18, 9.90% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 18.20% from 45 to 64, and 10.00% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 109.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 111.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county is $31,870, and the median income for a family is $35,226. Males have a median income of $32,775 versus $23,974 for females. The per capita income for the county is $13,239. 22.60% of the population and 19.40% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 28.70% are under the age of 18 and 13.60% are 65 or older.

Cities and towns

External links

Top     


Imperial Records

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperial Records has been the name of at least three different record labels of the 20th century.

The earliest Imperial Records was a short-lived United States based company of the first decade of the 1900s, producing single-sided lateral cut disc records. Issues included ragtime banjo music, operatic solos, and Hebrew songs.

The second Imperial Records was a United Kingdom based label which went into business in 1920. Imperial was owned by the Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company LTD of Tonbridge, Kent, England. The company's main recording studio was in London. Most Imperial issues were recorded by the company, but some issues from masters leased from other companies in Continental Europe and from the USA's Banner Records also appeared on Imperial. Most Imperial recordings were of popular songs, music hall tunes, and dance music of the time. The label went out of business in February of 1934.

The third Imperial Records was a United States based label which flourished in the 1950s, famous for recordings of rhythm & blues and early rock & roll.

List of record labels

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Imperial Records."

Top     


Imperial unit

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

In metrology, Imperial units are the measurement units that were generally used in the British Commonwealth countries in the past. They were very similar, but not identical, to the units that are still predominantly used in the United States (see U.S. customary units). The Commonwealth countries have since switched to the SI system of units. In the United Kingdom, some imperial units are still retained (e.g. miles in road signs), but the use of metric (SI) units is increasingly mandated by law for the sale of food etc. Because references to the units of the old British customary imperial units are still found, the following discussion describes the differences between the U.S. and British customary systems.

Measures of length

After 1959, the U.S. and the British inch were defined identically for scientific work and were identical in commercial usage (however, the U.S. retained the slightly different survey inch for specialized surveying purposes). A similar situation existed for the U.S. and the British mass unit pound, and many relationships, such as 12 inches = 1 foot, 3 feet = 1 yard, and 1760 yards = 1 international mile, were the same in both countries; but there were some very important differences.

Measures of volume

In the first place, the U.S. customary bushel and the U.S. gallon, and their subdivisions differed from the corresponding British Imperial units. Also the British ton is 2240 pounds, whereas the ton generally used in the United States is the short ton of 2000 pounds. The American colonists adopted the English wine gallon of 231 cubic inches. The English of that period used this wine gallon and they also had another gallon, the ale gallon of 282 cubic inches. In 1824, the British abandoned these two gallons when they adopted the British Imperial gallon, which they defined as the volume of 10 pounds of water, at a temperature of 62°F, which, by calculation, is equivalent to 277.42 cubic inches. At the same time, they redefined the bushel as 8 gallons.

In the customary British system the units of dry measure are the same as those of liquid measure. In the United States these two are not the same, the gallon and its subdivisions are used in the measurement of liquids; the bushel, with its subdivisions, is used in the measurement of certain dry commodities. The U.S. gallon is divided into four liquid quarts and the U.S. bushel into 32 dry quarts. All the units of capacity or volume mentioned thus far are larger in the customary British system than in the U.S. system. But the British fluid ounce is smaller than the U.S. fluid ounce, because the British quart is divided into 40 fluid ounces whereas the U.S. quart is divided into 32 fluid ounces.

From this we see that in the customary British system an avoirdupois ounce of water at 62°F has a volume of one fluid ounce, because 10 pounds is equivalent to 160 avoirdupois ounces, and 1 gallon is equivalent to 4 quarts, or 160 fluid ounces. This convenient relation does not exist in the U.S. system because a U.S. gallon of water at 62°F weighs about 8 1/3 pounds, or 133 1/3 avoirdupois ounces, and the U.S. gallon is equivalent to 4 x 32, or 128 fluid ounces.

Measures of weight and mass

Among other differences between the customary British and the United States measurement systems, we should note that they abolished the use of the troy pound in England January 6, 1879, they retained only the troy ounce and its subdivisions, whereas the troy pound is still legal in the United States, although it is not now greatly used. We can mention again the common use, for body weight, in England of the stone of 14 pounds, this being a unit now unused in the United States, although its influence was shown in the practice until World War II of selling flour by the barrel of 196 pounds (14 stone). In the apothecary system of liquid measure the British add a unit, the fluid scruple, equal to one third of a fluid drachm (spelled dram in the United States) between their minim and their fluid drachm.

In Great Britain, the yard, the avoirdupois pound, the troy pound, and the apothecaries pound are identical with the units of the same names used in the United States. The tables of British linear measure, troy mass, and apothecaries mass are the same as the corresponding United States tables, except for the British spelling "drachm" in the table of apothecaries mass. The table of British avoirdupois mass is the same as the United States table up to 1 pound; above that point the table reads:

The present British gallon and bushel--known as the "Imperial gallon" and "Imperial bushel"--are, respectively, about 20 percent and 3 percent larger than the United States gallon and bushel. The Imperial gallon is defined as the volume of 10 avoirdupois pounds of water under specified conditions, and the Imperial bushel is defined as 8 Imperial gallons. Also, the subdivision of the Imperial gallon as presented in the table of British apothecaries fluid measure differs in two important respects from the corresponding United States subdivision, in that the Imperial gallon is divided into 160 fluid ounces (whereas the United States gallon is divided into 128 fluid ounces), and a "fluid scruple" is included. The full table of British measures of capacity (which are used alike for liquid and for dry commodities) is as follows: The full table of British apothecaries measure is as follows: Based on Appendices B and C of NIST Handbook 44. (Being a U.S. Government publication, it is presumably public domain).

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Imperial unit."

Top     


Imperial, California

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperial is a city located in Imperial County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 7,560.

Geography


Imperial is located at 32°50'33" North, 115°34'19" West (32.842630, -115.571841)1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.1 km² (3.9 mi²). 10.1 km² (3.9 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

Demographics


As of the census2 of 2000, there are 7,560 people, 2,308 households, and 1,911 families residing in the city. The population density is 746.5/km² (1,932.2/mi²). There are 2,385 housing units at an average density of 235.5/km² (609.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 58.53% White, 2.66% Black or African American, 0.75% Native American, 2.71% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 30.90% from other races, and 4.27% from two or more races. 61.10% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 2,308 households out of which 53.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.9% are married couples living together, 13.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 17.2% are non-families. 14.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 5.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.26 and the average family size is 3.60. In the city the population is spread out with 35.3% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 6.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100 females there are 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.5 males. The median income for a household in the city is $49,451, and the median income for a family is $53,053. Males have a median income of $37,373 versus $27,778 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,538. 11.6% of the population and 8.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 15.2% are under the age of 18 and 5.2% are 65 or older.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Imperial, California."

Top     


Imperial, Missouri

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperial is a town located in Jefferson County, Missouri. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 4,373.

Geography


Imperial is located at 38°22'15" North, 90°22'24" West (38.370735, -90.373460)1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 15.9 km² (6.1 mi²). 13.9 km² (5.4 mi²) of it is land and 1.9 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 12.09% water.

Demographics


As of the census of 2000, there are 4,373 people, 1,634 households, and 1,228 families residing in the town. The population density is 313.8/km² (812.4/mi²). There are 1,720 housing units at an average density of 123.4/km² (319.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 97.92% White, 0.14% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.11% from other races, and 1.33% from two or more races. 1.17% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 1,634 households out of which 38.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% are married couples living together, 10.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% are non-families. 20.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.67 and the average family size is 3.06. In the town the population is spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.4 males. The median income for a household in the town is $49,565, and the median income for a family is $58,955. Males have a median income of $39,292 versus $30,191 for females. The per capita income for the town is $20,431. 9.8% of the population and 4.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 13.7% are under the age of 18 and 8.9% are 65 or older.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Imperial, Missouri."

Top     


Imperial, Nebraska

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperial is a city located in Chase County, Nebraska. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,982. It is the county seat of Chase County6.

Geography


Imperial is located at 40°31'6" North, 101°38'33" West (40.518398, -101.642491)1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.5 km² (2.5 mi²). 6.5 km² (2.5 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

Demographics


As of the census of 2000, there are 1,982 people, 807 households, and 547 families residing in the city. The population density is 303.7/km² (787.2/mi²). There are 887 housing units at an average density of 135.9/km² (352.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 97.88% White, 0.05% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.61% from other races, and 0.20% from two or more races. 5.15% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 807 households out of which 32.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.9% are married couples living together, 6.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% are non-families. 29.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.38 and the average family size is 2.94. In the city the population is spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.2 males. The median income for a household in the city is $33,833, and the median income for a family is $42,414. Males have a median income of $28,063 versus $19,405 for females. The per capita income for the city is $19,888. 7.7% of the population and 5.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 5.0% are under the age of 18 and 9.6% are 65 or older.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Imperial, Nebraska."

Top     


Imperial, Texas

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperial is a town located in Pecos County, Texas. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 428.

Geography


Imperial is located at 31°16'19" North, 102°41'45" West (31.271968, -102.695799)1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 11.0 km² (4.2 mi²). 11.0 km² (4.2 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.

Demographics


As of the census of 2000, there are 428 people, 156 households, and 126 families residing in the town. The population density is 39.1/km² (101.1/mi²). There are 245 housing units at an average density of 22.4/km² (57.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 79.21% White, 0.23% African American, 0.93% Native American, 1.40% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 14.02% from other races, and 4.21% from two or more races. 36.92% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 156 households out of which 34.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.6% are married couples living together, 7.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 18.6% are non-families. 18.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.74 and the average family size is 3.09. In the town the population is spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 117.9 males. The median income for a household in the town is $24,375, and the median income for a family is $28,333. Males have a median income of $35,938 versus $20,938 for females. The per capita income for the town is $16,464. 24.4% of the population and 18.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 30.6% are under the age of 18 and 6.5% are 65 or older.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Imperial, Texas."

Top     


Imperialism

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Imperialism is the political theory of the acquisition and maintenance of empires. The term is used to describe the policy of a country in maintaining colonies and dominance over distant lands, regardless of whether the country calls itself an empire.

Imperialists normally hold the belief that the acquisition and maintenance of empires is a positive good, combined with an assumption of cultural or other such superiority inherent to the imperial power. Subjects of imperial and post-imperial governments and those sympathetic to them have often considered imperialism to be an exploitive evil. This view has even been held by the subjects or citizens of the state which holds an imperial sway over other nations or peoples.

Origins of the word "Imperialism"

The term imperialism was a new word in the mid-19th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), it was first recorded in 1858, to describe Pax Britannica. At this time, imperialism was regarded as a new phenomenon deserving of a new word to describe it. However its intellectual roots can certainly be traced as far back as Dante, who in his Monarchia depicted a world with a single political focus and governed by rationalism. Dante was very influential on John Dee, who coined the term British Empire in the late sixteenth century. Although a hermeticist deeply involved in magic, Dee was instrumental in creating the intellectual and scientific environment whereby English seafarers such as Humphrey Gilbert, Martin Frobisher and Walter Raleigh could set the groundwork for a maritime empire.

According to the OED, in 19th Century England, imperialism, was generally used only to describe English policies. However, soon after the invention of the term, imperialism was used in reference to policies of the Roman Empire. In the 20th century, the term has been used to describe the policies of both the Soviet Union and the United States although analytically these differed greatly from each other and from 19th-century imperialism. Furthermore, the term has been expanded to apply, in general, to any historical instance of the aggrandizement of a greater power at the expense of a lesser power.

Related topics:

See also: colonialism, Cultural imperialism, Colonization of Africa, Imperialism in Asia, superpowers, client states, Pax Americana, New Imperialism, Media Imperialism, The White Man's Burden

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Imperialism."

Top     


Imperium

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Ancient Rome

Imperium was a Roman concept of legal authority. A man owning imperium had absolute authority within the scope of his magistracy or promagistracy (see below), but could be vetoed or overruled by a magistrate or promagistrate owning a higher degree of imperium.

Imperium was indicated in two prominent ways. An "imperial" magistrate or promagistrate carried an ivory baton surmounted by an eagle as his personal symbol of office (cf. field marshal's baton). Any such magistrate was also escorted by lictors bearing the fasces (traditional symbols of imperium and authority); when outside the pomerium, axes were added to the fasces to indicate an "imperial" magistrate's power to enact capital punishment outside of Rome (the axes were removed within the pomerium). The number of lictors in attendance upon a magistrate was an overt indication of the degree of imperium:

As can be seen, dictatorial imperium was superior to consular, consular to praetorian, and praetorian to aedilician; there is some historical dispute as to whether or not praetorian imperium was superior to "equine-magisterial" imperium. A promagistrate, or a man executing a magisterial office without actually holding that office, also owned imperium in the same degree as the actual incumbents (i.e., proconsular imperium being more or less equal to consular imperium, propraetorian imperium to praetorian) and was attended by an equal number of lictors.

Certain extraordinary commissions, such as Pompey the Great's famous command against pirates, were invested with imperium maius, meaning they outranked all other owners of imperium (in Pompey's case, even the consuls) within their sphere of command. Imperium maius later became a hallmark of the Roman "emperors".

See also: cursus honorum, curule dignity

Strategy Game

Imperium is a strategic play-by-email wargame run by E-Mail Games. The game is set in the future, has a science-fiction theme, and the goal is to become the Galactic Emperor via interstellar warfare.

External Links

Top     


Roman Empire

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The Roman Empire, successor of the Roman Republic, controlled the Mediterranean world and much of Northern Europe after 31 B.C The last Roman emperor in the western half of the empire was deposed in 476. The eastern part of the empire continued without interruption, but with gradually shrinking territory, until 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks (See Byzantine Empire). Successor states in the west (the Frankish kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire) and the east (the Russian czars) used titles adopted from Roman practices well into the modern period.

The Roman Empire's influence on government, law, architecture, and many other aspects of life remains inescapable. See also: Roman culture

The rise of Augustus

As the Roman Republic (509 B.C - 31 B.C) came to an end, Gaius Octavius, great-nephew of Julius Caesar, solidified his position by his defeat of his only rival for power, Mark Antony, in the battle of Actium the following year. He had his work cut out for him; years of civil war had left Rome in a state of near-lawlessness. Moreover, Rome was not prepared to accept the control of a despot.

Octavius (or Octavian) was clever. First, he disbanded his armies, and held elections. Octavian was chosen for the powerful position of Consul. In 27 B.C, he officially returned power to the Senate of Rome, and offered to relinquish his own military supremacy and hegemony over Egypt. Not only did the senate turn him down, he was also given control of Spain, Gaul and Syria. Shortly thereafter, the Senate gave him the name Augustus.

Augustus knew that the power he needed to rule absolutely could not be derived from his Consulship, however. In 23 B.C, he renounced this office in favor of two other powers. First, he was granted the office of a tribune, which allowed him to convene the senate at will and lay business before it. Since the tribuneship was an office traditionally associated with the people, this consolidated his power further. Second, he received new authority in the form of an "Imperial" power, which gave him supreme authority in all matters pertaining to territorial governance. 23 B.C. is the date on which Augustus is usually said to have assumed the mantle of Emperor of Rome. He more typically used a civilian title, however, Princeps, or "First Citizen."

As Emperor, Augustus organized the affairs of his empire with aplomb; it is largely due to his genius that the Roman Empire lasted for as long as it did. He established standardized minting and taxation; he created a civil service structure consisting of knights and freedmen (former slaves). He also provided retirement benefits for soldiers.

He was a master propagandist, and his patronage of the Roman writers Horace, Livy and (especially) Virgil allowed him to cement his position through use of poetry and prose. His use of games and special events to celebrate himself and his family cemented his popularity.

Augustus also founded the world's first fire brigade, and created a regular police force for Rome.

In fact, Augustus's control of power throughout the Empire was so absolute that it allowed him to name his successor, a custom which had been abandoned and derided in Rome since the foundation of the Republic. At first, indications pointed toward his sister's son Marcellus, who had been married to Augustus's daughter Julia. However, he died of food poisoning in 23 B.C. Reports of later historians that this poisoning, and other later deaths, were caused by Augustus's wife Livia Drusilla are inconclusive at best.

After the death of Marcellus, Augustus married his daughter to his right hand man, Marcus Agrippa. This union produced three children, Gaius Caesar, Lucius Caesar, and Postumus Agrippa (so named because he was born after Marcus Agrippa died). Augustus's intent to make the first two children his heirs was apparent when he adopted them as his own children. Augustus also showed favor to his stepsons (Livia's children from her first marriage) Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus and Tiberius Claudius, after they had conquered a large portion of Central Europe.

After Agrippa died in 12 B.C, Livia's son Tiberius divorced his own wife and married Agrippa's widow. Tiberius shared in Augustus's tribunical powers, but shortly thereafter went into retirement. After the early deaths of both Gaius and Lucius in AD 4 and AD 2. respectively, and the earlier death of his brother Drusus (9 BC), Tiberius was recalled to Rome, where he was adopted by Augustus.

On AD August 19, 14, Augustus died. Shortly thereafter, the senate voted him into the pantheon of Roman gods (or deified him). Postumus Agrippa and Tiberius had been named co-heirs. However, Postumus had been banished, and was put to death around the same time. Who ordered his death is unknown, but the way was clear for Tiberius to assume the same powers that his stepfather had.

The heirs of Augustus: the Julio-Claudian Line

Tiberius

The early years of Tiberius's reign were peaceful and relatively benign. Tiberius secured the power of Rome and enriched the treasury. However, Tiberius's reign soon became characterized by paranoia and slander. In 19, he was blamed for the death of his nephew, the popular Germanicus. In 23, his own son Drusus died. More and more, Tiberius retreated into himself. He began a series of treason trials and executions. He left power in the hands of the commander of the guard, Aelius Sejanus. Tiberius himself retired to live at his villa on the island of Capri in 26, leaving Sejanus in charge. Sejanus carried on the persecutions with relish. He also began to consolidate his own power; in 31, he was named co-consul with Tiberius and married Livilla, the emperor's niece. At this point, he was hoist by his own petard; the Emperor's paranoia, which he had so ably exploited for his own gain, was turned against him. Sejanus was put to death, along with many of his cronies, the same year. The persecutions continued apace until Tiberius's death in 37.

Caligula

At the time of Tiberius's death, most of the people who might have succeeded him had been brutally murdered. The logical successor (and Tiberius's own choice) was his grandnephew, Germanicus's son Gaius (better known as Caligula). Caligula started out well, by putting an end to the persecutions and burning his uncle's records. Unfortunately, he quickly lapsed into illness. The Caligula that emerged in late 37 may have suffered from epilepsy, and was more probably insane. He ordered his soldiers to invade Britain, but changed his mind at the last minute and had them pick sea shells on the northern end of France instead. It is believed he carried on incestuous relations with his sisters. He had ordered a statue of himself to be erected in the Temple at Jerusalem, which would have undoubtedly led to revolt had he not been dissuaded. In 41, Caligula was assassinated by the commander of the guard Cassius Chaerea. The only member left of the imperial family to take charge was another nephew of Tiberius's, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, better known as the emperor Claudius.

Claudius

Claudius had long been considered a weakling and a fool by the rest of his family. He was, however, neither paranoid like his uncle Tiberius, nor insane like his nephew Caligula, and was therefore able to administrate with reasonable ability. He improved the bureaucracy and streamlined the citizenship and senatorial rolls. He also proceeded with the conquest and colonization of Britain (in 43), and incorporated more Eastern provinces into the empire. In Italy, he constructed a winter port at Ostia, thereby providing a place for grain from other parts of the Empire to be brought in inclement weather.

On the home front, Claudius was less successful. His wife Messalina cuckolded him; when he found out, he had her executed and married his niece, Agrippina the younger. She, along with several of his freedmen, held an inordinate amount of power over him, and very probably killed him in 54. Claudius was deified later that year. The death of Claudius paved the way for Agrippina's own son, the 16-year-old Lucius Domitus, or, as he was known by this time, Nero.

Nero

Initially, Nero left the rule of Rome to his mother and his tutors, particularly Lucius Annaeus Seneca. However, as he grew older, his desire for power increased; he had his mother and tutors executed. During Nero's reign, there were a series of riots and rebellions throughout the Empire: in Britain, Armenia, Parthia and Judaea. Nero's inability to manage the rebellions and his basic incompetence became evident quickly and in 68, even the Imperial guard renounced him. Nero committed suicide, and the year 69 (known as the Year of the Four Emperors) was a year of civil war, with the emperors Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian ruling in quick succession. By the end of the year, Vespasian was able to solidify his power as emperor of Rome.

The Flavian Emperors

Vespasian

Vespasian was a remarkably successful Roman general who had been given rule over much of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. He had supported the imperial claims of Galba; however, on his death, Vespasian became a major contender for the throne. After the suicide of Otho, Vespasian was able to hijack Rome's winter grain supply, placing him in a good position to defeat his remaining rival, Vitellius. On December 20, 69, some of Vespasian's partisans were able to occupy Rome. Vitellius was murdered by his own troops, and the next day, Vespasian was confirmed as Emperor by the Senate.

Vespasian was quite the autocrat, and gave much less credence to the Senate than his Julio-Claudian predecessors. This was typified by his dating his accession to power from July 1, when his troops proclaimed him emperor, instead of December 21, when the Senate confirmed his appointment. He would, in later years, expel dissident senators.

Vespasian was able to liberate Rome from the financial burdens placed upon it by Nero's excesses and the civil wars. By increasing tax rates dramatically (sometimes as much as doubling them) he was able to build up a surplus in the treasury and embark on public works projects. It was he who first commissioned the Roman Colosseum; he also built a forum whose centerpiece was a temple to Peace.

Vespasian was also an effective emperor for the provinces. His generals quelled rebellions in Syria and Germany. In fact, in Germany he was able to expand the frontiers of the empire, and a great deal more of Britain was brought under Roman rule. He also extended Roman citizenship to the inhabitants of Spain.

Another example of his monarchical tendencies was his insistence that his sons Titus Flavius and Domitian would succeed him; the imperial power was not seen as hereditary at this point. Titus, who had some military successes early in Vespasian's reign, was seen as the heir presumptive to the throne; Domitian was seen as somewhat less disciplined and responsible. Titus joined his father in the offices of censor and consul and helped him reorganize the senatorial rolls. Upon Vespasian's death in 79, Titus was immediately confirmed as Emperor.

Titus

Titus's short reign was marked by disaster: in 79, Vesuvius erupted in Pompeii, and in 80, a fire decimated much of Rome. His generosity in rebuilding after these tragedies made him very popular. Titus was very proud of his work on the vast amphitheater begun by his father. He held the opening ceremonies in the still unfinished edifice during the year 80, celebrating with a lavish show that featured 100 gladiators and lasted 100 days. However, it was during Domitian's reign that the Colosseum was completed. Titus died in 81, at the age of 41; it was rumored that his brother Domitian murdered him in order to become his successor.

Domitian

Domitian did not live up to the good name left for the family by his father and elder brother. While his offenses may have been exaggerated by hostile later generations, it is clear that he did not like to share power. It had become accepted by Domitian's time that the emperor would simultaneously hold many of the magistracies established during Republican times (for instance the censorship and the tribunate), but it was still customary for other politicians to have those powers as well. Domitian wanted to claim authority for himself alone, causing him to alienate the Senate as well as the people.

See also: Roman Emperors, Five good emperors, Pax romana, Byzantine Empire, Roman currency, Roman place names and Byzantine Emperors.

Ancient Historians of the Empire

Writing in Latin

Livy - his history is of the Roman Republic, but he wrote during the reign of Augustus
Suetonius
Tacitus
Ammianus Marcellinus

Writing in Greek

Eusebius of Caesarea
Sozomen

Latin Literature of the Empire

Apuleius
Augustine of Hippo
Horace
Virgil

18th and 19th century histories

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon (1776 - 1788)

Modern histories of the Roman Empire

nds:Römsche Riek simple:Roman Empire

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Roman Empire."

Top     

Abbreviations & Acronyms: Imperial

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField
imp.EnglishImperialMeteorology & Standards

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top     

Synonyms: Imperial

Synonyms: majestic (adj), purple (adj), regal (adj), royal (adj). (additional references)

Top     

Synonyms within Context: Imperial

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Government

Adjective: regal, sovereign, governing; royal, royalist; monarchical, kingly; imperial, imperiatorial; princely; feudal; aristocratic, autocratic; oligarchic; Noun: republican, dynastic.

Receptacle

Chest, box, coffer, caddy, case, casket, pyx, pix, caisson, desk, bureau, reliquary; trunk, portmanteau, band-box, valise; grip, grip sack; skippet, vasculum; boot, imperial; vache; cage, manger, rack.

Roughness

Brush, hair, beard, shag, mane, whisker, moustache, imperial, tress, lock, curl, ringlet; fimbriae, pili, cilia, villi; lovelock; beaucatcher; curl paper; goatee; papillote, scalp lock.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Top     

Crosswords: Imperial

English words defined with "imperial": Anker, Avoyer ♦ Ban of the empire, British capacity unit, bushel ♦ Cabinet photograph, chaldron, Chetvert, Ch'ing, Ch'ing dynasty, Chou, Chou dynasty, Chow, Chow dynasty, congius ♦ Diet of Worms, drachm ♦ Eacles ♦ Ferula, firkin, Firlot, fluid drachm, fluid dram, fluid ounce, fluidounce, fluidram, Forbidden City ♦ gallon, genus Eacles, gill ♦ Han, Han dynasty ♦ Imperatorian, Imperial capacity unit, Imperial gallon, imperialism, Imperiality, Imperialize, imperially ♦ kilderkin, King eagle ♦ majestic, Manchu, Manchu dynasty, metrication, metrification, Ming, Ming dynasty, minim, Mongol dynasty, Muchkin ♦ palatine, peck, pint, pragmatic sanction, purple ♦ Qing, Qing dynasty, quart ♦ regal, Romanoff, Romanov, royal, Royal touch ♦ scepter, sceptre, Shang, Shang dynasty, song, Song dynasty, sung, Sung dynasty ♦ tang, Tang dynasty, The Golden Bull, Tut ♦ Varangian, Vedro ♦ Wei, Wei dynasty ♦ yuan, Yuan dynasty ♦ Zhou, Zhou dynasty. (references)
Specialty definitions using "imperial": Alice, Applicative Language Idealised Computing Engine ♦ Born in the Purple, Bridge of Gold ♦ Caliban, Catch a Tartar, Corinthian Brass ♦ demand driven, Demon Internet Ltd. ♦ F-code, Flowers and Trees, FP/M, FPM ♦ IC Prolog II, IC-Prolog, Imperial Software Technology, Improvisators, IST ♦ K.K ♦ Lion and Unicorn, Louvre of St. Petersburg ♦ majesty ♦ NPL ♦ Parlog ♦ Red Button, Red Laws, Regions, Geographic, Rome of the West ♦ Sublime Porte, Swi Dynasty ♦ ultimatum ♦ wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk, Woo-tee Dynasty ♦ X-Designer ♦ Yellow Caps. (references)
Etymologies containing "imperial": Imperatorian. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Imperial" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

Portuguese (imperial), Romanian (imperial), Spanish (imperial, roof, top).

Top     

Modern Usage: Imperial

DomainUsage

Screenplays

The odds of successfully surviving an attack on an Imperial Star Destroyer are approximately (Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back; writing credit: George Lucas; Leigh Brackett)

Echo station 3-T-8, we have spotted Imperial walkers (Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back; writing credit: George Lucas; Leigh Brackett)

Movie/TV Titles

The Imperial Warrant (1968)

Coronación imperial (1968)

Imperial Sunset (1967)

Last of the Imperial Army (1960)

Hotel Imperial (1958)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Commercial Usage: Imperial

DomainTitle

References

  • Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • The New Imperial Hotel Public Co. Ltd.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Imperial Bancorp: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Imperial Chemical Industries PLC: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Imperial Holdings Limited: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

    (more reference examples)

  

Books

  • Bayonets Before Bullets: The Imperial Russian Army, 1861-1914 (Indiana-Michigan Series in Russian & East European Studies) (reference)

  • Imperial Istanbul: A Traveller's Guide Includes Iznik, Bursa and Edirne (reference)

  • Imperial China's Last Classical Academies: Social Change in the Lower Yangzi, 1864-1911 (China Research Monograph, No 42) (reference)

  • Egyptianization and Elite Emulation in Ramesside Palestine: Governance and Accomodation on the Imperial Periphery (Culture and History of the ancient (reference)

  • The Agony of Mammon: The Imperial Global Economy Explains Itself to the Membership in Davos, Switzerland (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  

Music

  

High Tech

  

Consumer Goods

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Image Slideshow: Imperial

Photos:
Imperial

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Imperial

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Imperial

More pictures...

Top     

Photo Album: Imperial

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Laser-leveled land is irrigated in Southern California's Imperial Valley. Laser-leveling is done by earth movers equipped with laser receiving equipment. Levelling is done to optimally manage the flow of irrigation water across a field. Credit: Tim McCabe.

Drip irrigation delivers small amounts of water to young citrus trees in California's Imperial Valley. This type of irrigation is highly efficient because it delivers small amounts of water over a long period of time and greatly reduces evaporation of irr. Credit: Tim McCabe.

Law Enforcement Ranger using his EMT skills on a victim in the Imperial Sand Dunes. Credit: Lori Cook.

Lewisia cotyledon var. howellii, also commonly known as Imperial Lewisia. Credit: Russ Holmes.

Artwork from a 19th or early 20th Century Japanese publication, depicting the last battle in the war that restored the authority of the Japanese Emperor. The leading ship of the Imperial squadron, in the foreground, is the ironclad ram Kotetsu (formerly the Confederate Stonewall). She is followed by the paddle steamer Kasuga. The enemy squadron, shown in the right distance, included the steamers Kaiten, Banryu and Chiyodagata. All three were sunk, but the last two were salvaged and entered service with the Imperial Navy. Credit: NAVY.

With officers of the Imperial Navy, on board the battleship Musashi off Yokosuka Naval Base on 24 June 1943. Sixth officer from the left in front row is Admiral Osami Nagano, Chief of the Naval General Staff. This view looks aft on the port side. Note the battleship's searchlights and extensive anti-aircraft armament, including enclosed triple 25mm machine gun mounts in upper left and 5"/40 caliber Type 89 twin high-angle guns at right. Credit: NAVY.

Pavilion of the Imperial College, Peking. Credit: Library of Congress.

Imperial councils of war at Potsdam. Credit: Library of Congress.

The new Reichstags-Gebäude--Hall of the Imperial Diet, (completed 1894), Berlin, Germany. Credit: Library of Congress.

Egypt--opening of the Suez Canal--blessing the canal at Port Said in the presence of the imperial and royal visitors. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Top     

Digital Photo Gallery: Imperial
 

"Imperial War6" by Dan Jones
Commentary: "Pano shot of entrance to the Imperial War Museum."		"CHANGE YOUR LIFE" by Piotr P
Commentary: "Berlin Wall fragment. In front of Imperial War Musem. London. ."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

Top     

Historic Usage: Imperial

AuthorDateQuotation

Treaty of Versailles

1919

The French Government is substituted in all the rights of the German Empire over all the railways which were administered by the Imperial railway administration and which are actually working or under construction. (reference)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Use in Literature: Imperial

TitleAuthorQuote

Sylvie and Bruno Concluded

Carroll, Lewis

I was much struck by the great change a few months had made in the faces of the Imperial Pair

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

There the lion is placed, the involuntary symbol of the supreme heroism of the Imperial Guard

Gulliver's Travels

Swift, Jonathan

After some time, when they observed that I made no more demands for meat, there appeared before me a person of high rank from his Imperial Majesty

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Non-Fiction Usage: Imperial

SubjectTopicQuote

Business

A possible explanation is that U.S. machines are calibrated in the imperial system, facing difficulty integrating into the local market (which uses the metric system of measurement). (references)

Metric, British Imperial, Chinese and U.S. units are all in use in Hong Kong. The territory is promoting the adoption of a metric system of units, the "International System of Units" (SI). Adoption of SI in areas related to length, area, volume and capacity, force, pressure and energy/power is almost complete. (references)

Economic History

Turkmenistan

By 1894 imperial Russia had taken control of Turkmenistan. (references)

Japan

From the 16th to the 19th century Shintoism flourished, eventually seeking unity under a symbolic imperial rule. (references)

Switzerland

This united them in the struggle against "foreign" rule by the Hapsburgs, who then held the German imperial throne. (references)

Trade

Ireland

Both imperial units and the International System of Units (SI) are in use. (references)

Kenya

Weights and measure indicators must be in metric form or both metric and imperial forms. (references)

Ireland

However, the imperial units shall not be more prominent than the metric units in size, color, or position. (references)

Travel

Kuwait

Public water and electricity are presently subsidized by the Kuwait government; consumers are charged KD0.800 (US$2.70) for 1,000 Imperial gallons of water and KD0.002 (US$0.07) per kilowatt-hour of electricity. (references)

Women

Korea

The Government provides an allowance of $387 (500,000 won) per month to 142 former "comfort women" (women who, during World War II, were forced to provide sex to soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army). (references)

Worker Rights

Japan

In April the Supreme Court rejected two separate lawsuits filed by individuals seeking disability pensions for injuries sustained while forced to serve with the Imperial army. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

ULTIMATUM, n. In diplomacy, a last demand before resorting to concessions. Having received an ultimatum from Austria, the Turkish Ministry met to consider it. "O servant of the Prophet," said the Sheik of the Imperial Chibouk to the Mamoosh of the Invincible Army, "how many unconquerable soldiers have we in arms?" "Upholder of the Faith," that dignitary replied after examining his memoranda, "they are in numbers as the leaves of the forest!" "And how many impenetrable battleships strike terror to the hearts of all Christian swine?" he asked the Imaum of the Ever Victorious Navy. "Uncle of the Full Moon," was the reply, "deign to know that they are as the waves of the ocean, the sands of the desert and the stars of Heaven!" For eight hours the broad brow of the Sheik of the Imperial Chibouk was corrugated with evidences of deep thought: he was calculating the chances of war. Then, "Sons of angels," he said, "the die is cast! I shall suggest to the Ulema of the Imperial Ear that he advise inaction. In the name of Allah, the council is adjourned."

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Top     

Spoken Usage: Imperial

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Rush Limbaugh

Imagine if Canada's neighbors were Iraq or Nazi Germany or the USSR or imperial Japan or any powerful empire.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Speeches: Imperial

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

James Monroe

1817-1825Petersburg, submitted to the decision of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia.

George Bush

1989-1993But for a half Century now, the American people have shouldered the burden and paid taxes that were higher than they would have been to support a defense that was bigger than it would have been if imperial communism had never existed.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Usage Frequency: Imperial

"Imperial" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 79.08% of the time. "Imperial" is used about 2,416 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words		Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)79.08%1,9114,475
Noun (proper)20.92%50511,960
                    Total100.00%2,416N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top     

Name Usage Frequency: Imperial

The following table summarizes the usage of "imperial" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.
NameUsage/GenderUsage per 100
million Persons		Rank in USA
ImperialLast name30026,447
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top     

Usage in Company Names: Imperial

CountryNameCountryName
Canada

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Japan

Imperial Hotel, Ltd.

South Africa

Imperial Holdings Limited

Taiwan

Imperial Hotel Co. Ltd.

Thailand

The New Imperial Hotel Public Co. Ltd.

United Kingdom

Imperial Chemical Industries PLC

USA

Imperial Bancorp

 (more examples...)  

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

Top     

Cities: Imperial


1. Imperial, CA (city, FIPS 36280)
Location: 32.84051 N, 115.57103 W
Population (1990): 4113 (1372 housing units)
Area: 6.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip Code(s): 92251
Country: USA

2. Imperial, MO (CDP, FIPS 34354)
Location: 38.36773 N, 90.37222 W
Population (1990): 4156 (1564 housing units)
Area: 14.0 sq km (land), 1.9 sq km (water)
Country: USA

3. Imperial, NE (city, FIPS 23690)
Location: 40.51623 N, 101.63761 W
Population (1990): 2007 (870 housing units)
Area: 6.4 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip Code(s): 69033
Country: USA

4. Imperial, PA
Zip Code(s): 15126
Country: USA

5. Imperial, TX
Zip Code(s): 79743
Country: USA

Top     

Expressions: Imperial

Expressions using "imperial": Crown imperial ♦ Imperial Beach ♦ imperial beard ♦ Imperial bushel ♦ imperial capacity unit ♦ Imperial chamber ♦ Imperial city ♦ Imperial County ♦ imperial decree ♦ Imperial diet ♦ Imperial drill ♦ imperial eagle ♦ imperial elephant ♦ imperial gallon ♦ Imperial green ♦ Imperial guard ♦ imperial Japanese morning glory ♦ imperial mammoth ♦ imperial moth ♦ imperial orb ♦ imperial order ♦ Imperial pigeon ♦ Imperial Qi Gong ♦ imperial roof ♦ imperial sateen ♦ imperial size ♦ imperial Software Technology ♦ imperial topaz ♦ imperial weights and measures ♦ imperial yeomanry. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "imperial": Imperial-Enlow, imperial-insular, imperial-metric, imperial-minded, imperial-provincial.

Ending with "imperial": anti-imperial, franco-imperial, post-imperial.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Imperial

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day		ExpressionFrequency
per Day

imperial palace

1,101

imperial tobacco group

102

imperial

622

imperial tobacco

99

imperial palace las vegas

455

imperial beach

89

imperial press valley

319

imperial eastman

77

imperial oil

310

imperial county

74

chrysler imperial

302

imperial palace hotel las vegas

72

canadian imperial bank of commerce

265

imperial mo

72

imperial palace biloxi

224

imperial teen

66

imperial palace hotel

185

imperial majesty cruise line

64

imperial wallpaper

147

imperial wall covering

63

imperial hotel

145

imperial college london

63

imperial palace casino hotel

144

imperial guard

56

imperial beach ca

132

cibc.com imperial

56

imperial college

124

imperial shih tzu

55

imperial palace casino

115

imperial valley

54

imperial valley college

114

imperial pa

51

imperial ca

110

conflict imperial

51

the imperial war museum

109

imperial spa

49

metric imperial conversion

109

imperial majesty cruise

48

imperial majesty

107

crab imperial

47
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Modern Translation: Imperial

Language Translations for "imperial"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

suprem (paramount, superlative, supreme), perandorak, mjekër (beard, chin), madhështor (brilliant, dignified, distinguished, exalted, gorgeous, grandiose, imposing, impressive, kingly, lordly, luxurious, magnificent, majestic, monumental, olympian, palatial, princely, proud, royal, spectacular, splendid, stately, sublime, superb), më i madh (better, elder, eldest, major, maximal, maximum, more, ranking), britanik (britannic, British). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏فخم (deluxe, grand, grandiose, imposing, lordly, luxurious, magnificent, majestic, noble, palatial, plushy, pompous, pontifical, regal, rich, royal, splendid, stately, substantial, sumptuous, superb), ‏ملكي (facultative, kingly, king's, mine, monarchal, monarchist, of mine, possessive, proprietary, regal, royal, royalistic, sovereign), ‏ملوكي (majestic), ‏اللحية الامبراطورية, ‏إمبراطوري, ‏إستبدادي (absolute, arbitrary, autocratic, dictatorial, totalitarian, tyrannical, tyrannous), ‏بالغ الضخامة. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

установен (determinate, established, fixed, invariable, regulation, rooted, routine, set, settled, stated, unalterable), руска златна монета, разкошен (costly, gorgeous, luxurious, magnificent, opulent, palatial, princely, profuse, royal, splendiferous, sumptuous, superb, voluptuous), куфар (case, suitcase), върховен (crowning, high, meridian, paramount, sovereign, supreme), внушителен (awesome, compulsive, gallant, grave, handsome, heroic, imposing, impressive, noble, portly, proud, towering), величествен (awesome, grand, jovian, kingly, lofty, magnificent, majestic, monumental, noble, olympian, proud, regal, royal, sculpturesque, stately, statuesque, sublime), великолепен (champion, colossal, glorious, gorgeous, grand, immense, magnificent, palatial, pompous, princely, royal, smashing, splashing, splendid, super, superb, wonderful), висш (crowning, empyreal, high, paramount, sovereign), на империя, блестящ (agleam, bright, brilliant, flaring, fulgent, garish, gay, glistening, lambent, lucent, lucid, luminous, lustrous, oriental, pyrotechnic, refulgent, relucent, resplendent, shining, sparkling, splendent, splendid, splendiferous, superb, vivid), имперски (empire), императорски, император (emperor), империал. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

龍 (dragon, Long), 鑾 , 皇家 (imperially, royal, royally), 御 (defend, to drive), 帝國 (empire). (various references)

   

Czech

  

imperiální, vznešený (August, elevated, ennobling, high, highbred, lofty, noble, stately, sublime), majestátní (leonine, majestic, queenly, royal, stately), císařský (caesarian), britský (british), říšský. (various references)

   

Danish

  

Imperial Smelting-proces (Imperial Smelting Process), rummål (gallon, imperial gallon), mexikansk kejserspaette (Imperial woodpecker), kejser-amazone (Imperial parrot), gallon (gallon, imperial gallon), gal (odd, peculiar, strange), fritillaria (crown imperial, fritillaria), britisk stoerrelse (imperial size). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

Imperial Smelting-proces (Imperial Smelting Process), smaragdgroen (copper acetoarsenite, Emerald green, Imperial green, Mitis green, Paris green, Schweinfurt green), Schweinfurtgroen,keizerlijk groen (copper acetoarsenite, Emerald green, Imperial green, Mitis green, Paris green, Schweinfurt green), Parijsgroen (copper acetoarsenite, Emerald green, Imperial green, Mitis green, Paris green, Schweinfurt green), mitisgroen (copper acetoarsenite, Emerald green, Imperial green, Mitis green, Paris green, Schweinfurt green), keizerspecht (Imperial woodpecker), keizerskroon (fritillary), keizersamazone (Imperial parrot), keizeramazone (Imperial parrot), Engelse maten (imperial size). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

پادشاهی (Kingdom, Regal, Sovereignty), مجلل (Gala, Glorious, Gorgeous, Grand, Illustrious, Luxuriant, Luxurious, Plush, Royalty, Stately, Sumptuous), همایونی (Royal), همایون (August), امپراتوری (Emperor), شاهنشاهی , باعظمت (Big, Majestic), باشکوه (Gala, Glorious, Lush, Majestic, Noble, Plush, Rial, Rich, Stately, Superb). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

keisarillinen. (various references)

   

French

  

impériale, impérial, autoritaire (imperious). (various references)

   

German

  

kaiserlich (cesarean, imperialistic, imperially). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

επιβλητικόσ (commanding, grandiose, imposing, impressive, orotund), αυτοκρατορικόσ (imperialistic). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

מלכותי (kingly, majestic, monarchial, regal, royal), קיסרי (caesarean). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

kocsitetõre szerelhetõ utazóláda, császári (caesarean, cesarean, imperatorial), birodalmi. (various references)

   

Italian

  

imperiale (caesurean). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

帝国 (empire). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

あまつ (heavenly), インペリアル , じょう (10^28, aboard a ship or vehicle, as a matter of, besides, best, cane, company officer, emotion, feelings, first volume, from the standpoint of, going up, governmental, high class, jailer, lock, old man, padlock, passion, presenting, rank, shape, showing, superior quality, -tatami mats, ten octillion, ten thousand quadrillion, top, uselessness, whipping rod, young woman), ていこく (appointed time, empire, schedule, timetable). (various references)

   

Korean 

  

제국 (empire). (various references)

   

Manx

  

impiroil (jingo), ard-rheamagh, ard-reeoil (monarchal, sovereign). (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

keiserlig. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

imperialay.(various references)

   

Portuguese

  

imperial, moeda de ouro dos czares. (various references)

   

Romanian

  

imperial, regesc (kingly), barbişon (goatee), august (August), împãrãtesc (kingly, majestic, monarchal, royal, splendid), ţãcãlie (beard, goatee). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

имперский. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

imperijalni, vrsta bradice ispod donje usne, nekadašnji ruski zlatnik, krov na kolima, hartija za štampanje, državni (national, privy, public, state), carski (caesarian, regally). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

imperial (roof, top). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

kejserlig (caesarian). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

imparatorluk (empire), imparatora ait, imparator (emperor, kaiser), muhteşem şey, muhteşem (August, corking, glorious, gorgeous, grand, lordly, magnific, magnifical, magnificent, majestic, noble, olympian, regal, resplendent, royal, slashing, solemn, spectacular, splendid, stately, stupendous, superb), keçi sakalı (goatee, goat's beard), görkemli (brave, bright, brilliant, effulgent, fulgent, gallant, gorgeous, grandiose, magnificent, majestic, olympian, palatial, pompous, proud, puffy, queenlike, queenly, refulgent, splendid, stately, sublime, sumptuous), üst bagaj (roof rack). (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

суверенний (independent, sovereign), імперський, імперіал, імператорський (caesarean). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

tráng lệ (gorgeous, magnific, magnifical, magnificent, princely, rich, splendent, splendid, superb), oai vệ (august, impressive, majestic, stately), đường bệ; lộng lẫy. (various references)

   

Welsh

  

ymerodrol. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Top     

Ancestral Language Translations: Imperial

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

imperialis. (various references)

Avestan200-600

xshathrya. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Derivations & Misspellings: Imperial

Derivations

Words beginning with "imperial": imperialism, imperialisms, imperialist, imperialistic, imperialistically, imperialists, imperially, imperials. (additional references)

Words ending with "imperial": postimperial. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Imperial" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Amberola, emperial, impera, imperal, impereal, imperiali, imperiall, imperical, imperile, imperio, impertial, impirial, impirical, interial. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top     

Rhyming with "Imperial"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "imperial" (pronounced i'mpi"rēul)
5-i" r ē u lantibacterial, arterial, bacterial, biomaterial, cereal, ethereal, immaterial, managerial, material, serial, venereal.
4-r ē u lindustrial, actuarial, adversarial, advertorial, aerial, ambassadorial, arboreal, Ariel, burial, conspiratorial, curatorial, dictatorial, directorial, editorial, endometrial, equatorial, extraterrestrial, extraterritorial, gubernatorial, immemorial, terrestrial, territorial, janitorial, magisterial, malarial, memorial, mercurial, ministerial, nomenclatorial, pictorial, professorial, prosecutorial, raptorial, reportorial, sartorial, secretarial, senatorial, tutorial, vitriol.
3-ē u ladverbial, alluvial, biaxial, bicentennial, biennial, binomial, bronchial, centennial, ceremonial, coaxial, collegial, colloquial, colonial, convivial, custodial, decennial, entrepreneurial, filial, fluvial, testimonial, intracranial, jovial, laryngeal, lineal, marsupial, matrilineal, matrimonial, medial, menial, microbial, millennial, myocardial, parochial, patrilineal, perennial, pluvial, polynomial, primordial, proverbial, pseudopodial, quadrennial, radial, remedial, tracheal, triennial, trivial, vestigial.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Top     

Anagrams: Imperial

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-e-i-i-l-m-p-r"

-1 letter: impaler, impearl, imperia, imperil, lempira, palmier, ramilie.

-2 letters: ampler, impair, impale, limier, limper, mailer, palier, palmer, prelim, primal, remail, rimple.

-3 letters: aimer, ample, ariel, email, impel, lamer, limpa, maile, maple, miler, milia, milpa, paler, parle, pearl, peril, pilar, pilea, pilei, plier, prima, prime, primi, ramie, realm, remap.

-4 letters: alme, amie, amir, aper, aril, earl.

 Words containing the letters "a-e-i-i-l-m-p-r"
 

+1 letter: amplifier, empirical, imperials.

 

+2 letters: amplifiers, impartible, impearling, imperially, pilgrimage.

 

+3 letters: empirically, imperialism, imperialist, marlinspike, milliampere, palmistries, peristomial, pilgrimaged, pilgrimages, planimetric, pleinairism, preliminary, primalities, spermicidal, unempirical.

 

+4 letters: hyperlipemia, imperatively, imperatorial, imperialisms, imperialists, imperishable, imperishably, marlinespike, marlinspikes, milliamperes, multipartite, nonempirical, permeability, pleinairisms, polarimetric, postimperial, preamplifier, reimplanting, semitropical.

 

+5 letters: amitriptyline, exemplarities, filmographies, hemispherical, hyperlipemias, imperceivable, imperialistic, imperishables, impersonality, impersonalize, impracticable, interproximal, marlinespikes, microcephalic, microparticle, multiparticle, overamplified, paterfamilias, polarimetries, preamplifiers, preliminaries, preliminarily, premillennial, primatologies, recompilation, republicanism, semiempirical, semiporcelain, slipstreaming, supercriminal, superfamilies, supermilitant, temporalities, temporalizing.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Top     



INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern 		5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Images: Digital Art 		9. Quotations: Historic
10. Quotations: Fiction
11. Quotations: Non-fiction
12. Quotations: Spoken 		13. Quotations: Speeches
14. Usage Frequency
15. Names: Frequency
16. Names: Company Usage 		17. Cities
18. Expressions
19. Expressions: Internet
20. Translations: Modern 		21. Translations: Ancient
22. Abbreviations
23. Acronyms
24. Derivations 		25. Rhymes
26. Anagrams
27. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.