William I, North American Emperor

William I (born 30 September 1991) was the first Emperor of the North American Confederation and the Senior King in the Confederation. He was restored as North American Emperor on 27 May 2015 following a reunification agreement with the Republic of Ohio. He is more well known as the New European Kaiser of New Europe, reigning from January 2009 until his abdication in December 2013. He was married to Alyssa Birkett until 2019, with whom he had one child, William, Prince of Ohio. In December 2019, the Christmas Constitution established a constitutional diarchy in the North American Confederation, with William taking the Senior of the two crowns, and reigned until his abdication on 07 August 2020. He is currently the King in Illinois, since 04 March 2022.

Childhood and Education
Wilhelm von Hartmann-Peters was born at Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago, United States. He grew up in a town not far from the city. The town was very rural when Wilhelm was younger and developed greatly over the years. He attended a public grade school of which he spent many years at. In 2006 he began attending his town's local High School, of which he enrolled in its Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program. It was during his time in this program he would develop a life long interest in militarism and a sense of leadership.

Early Micronational life
Early in his high school career, Wilhelm began to be a very politically active person. He also had a passion for history, particularly German history. This was brought on by both his interest in history and his German heritage. Many saw this and thought him to be a Neo-Nazi demonstration, and the young William took great offense to this, and as a cruel joke, he readed Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. Finding the idea of one man rising to power and making a country into his own image appealed to him. And thus the idea to create a nation was born.

U.R.N.A.
He branched out and began to study the works of other famous European politicians and leaders such as Machiavelli, Napoleon I, Benito Mussolini, and Frederick the Great. He started to believe that in the United States, racism was alive and well. He believed that white-Americans were the victims of racism in 21st century America, and he felt that it was his duty to try and prove to the nation that this was the case, and that things needed to change. And so in 2007, he and two other people established an online organization called the United Reichs of North America. The U.R.N.A. was established as a Federal Dictatorship, with power divided between the three founders. And although the power was divided equally officially, in practice, nothing was done without Wilhelm's final approval. The group was a dedicated German influenced white supremisist group. And as the group went by Wilhelm proved to be a brutal, but fair dictator, or Jungführer . He was called this by many for his leadership and youth. And as nazism and racism was fading out, a new breed of extreme right-wing ideology was beginning to rise. With one of the original founders in exile, William was forced to resign from his office of King of Illinois and de facto Group Leader. This opened the door to Fascism, under James Russell, who would later become the Imperial Chancellor of New Europe. Russell became the Group Leader in Wilhelm's absence and attempted to transform it into a Fascist organization, but this did not happen completely. The last remaining founder laid the seeds for what was the primary cause for William's accession to the throne of New Europe. With William's return, he easily retook power, but left Russell as his right-hand. He then abdicated as King of Illinois in favor of the elected Johannus von Ikner and made himself the official Group Leader, and declared that a reorganization of the U.R.N.A. was required to survive in the long run. This group became the United Europeans of North America.

U.E.N.A.
The U.E.N.A. was a Fascist regime under William and James Russell. The old U.R.N.A. was strict on a German only policy. But William came to realize that this would not solve anything, it would only divide the people even more. And so he opened the group to all of European descent, membership sky-rocketed and thanks to the hidden policies put in place by Catherine, Queen of Tennessee, the demand for more action was made. William conceded to their demands and held a open election on whether or not the U.E.N.A. would reorganize into something more. The vote was a landslide in favor and it was decided that the U.E.N.A. would declare itself a micronation called the Empire of New Europe. With the decision to become a micronation made, William and his subordinates were left with another great problem, establish a government. By now the U.E.N.A. was divided between Monarchists and Fascists. Another vote was called and the vote showed 51% were in favor of a monarchy and 49% were in favour of a fascist state. And so both the declaration of New Europe and William as its emperor were made on the 20 January 2009.

Micronational monarch
In the opening months of his reign, William continued to rule as he did in the past, but had noticeably opened his mind to newer ideas. He was considered an intellectual person, but often impaired by his impatience and pride. This fact often caused the internal politics of New Europe to shift constantly offending some at various times. But his foreign policy had always been an open one and this had been well received by other micronations. His first rule has mixed opinions in the community. Some see him as ruler of his time, others as a racist warlord who did not contribute positively at all to the community.

Brief exile
On 21 November 2009, William went to the capital to confront a crowd of New European Fascist Party members lead by Chancellor von Ikner. During the confrontation, a skirmish erupted that resulted in him and others being injured. While captured by the so-called fascist forces, he was forced at a Airsoft gun point to abdicate in favour of the Social Republic of New Europe. He was then sent into exile to the Dutch island of Aruba. During his exile he monitored the growing conflict and did what he could to undermine the regime. And when the New European Loyalist Army regained control of New Europe's online resources, William reclaimed his title and managed to secure a safe passage to North Carolina, from there he made it to the front lines and took personal command of the loyalist army. After the war, he arranged for a coronation to take place. This never happened and he simply cracked down on the rights to free speech and assembly for two months.

Head of the G.U.M.
William had been the Vice-Chairman of the Grand Unified Micronational since October 2009. The role of Vice-Chairman was largely a ceremonial role and went to the individual, rather than to the nation the individual represents. Vice-Chairman was considered a backup leader position in the event the Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational could not perform his duties. When Chairman Robert Lethler resigned from his position on 22 December 2009, William became the de facto Chairman until the election in January 2010.

Supreme Judge of the G.U.M.
During the G.U.M. 2010 elections, William ran for the office of Supreme Judge, receiving endorsement of the former Chairman Robert Lethler. He ran unopposed and won a massive amount of votes. Many appeared to have had confidence in his ability to judge those brought to trial by the G.U.M. wisely and fairly. During his first term as Supreme Judge, no one was brought to trial before the G.U.M. and his powers in this office went unused. He ran for a second term in April 2010, and was re-elected. In June 2010, Sandus petitioned him to investigate the formation of the St.Charlian Commonwealth, claiming the Commonwealth was unconstitutional by G.U.M. standards and should be dealt with accordingly. William was able to conduct the investigation and obtain proper evidence but was unfortunately unable to pass a verdict, as he left the office to attend U.S. Army Basic Training. He admitted later that it was a "rigged" investigation that Lethler and Sandus coordinated with him to discredit the Commonwealth in one of many attempts to erode the growing influence of St. Charlie.

Regency
On 10 March 2010, William formally announced that he would temporarily leave micronational life. He stated that he had enlisted into the United States Army and that a regency would be put into place lasting until 2014. Some suggested that Prince Jonathan should act as regent, others suggested former Kaiserin Catherine-Elizabeth of Canton, that eventually was made Regent. The regency went into effect on 14 June 2010, and although the regent managed the day-to-day duties, William would remain the Head of State. One of the final things William planned before the regency was a peace summit to deal with the rapidly growing tensions between communist and conservative micronations. He left before the summit, however the regent was intended to manage the affair in his place. When William was allowed more access to the internet in October 2010, he noticed how much ruin his country was in and announced his return to micronational life. Those who were intended to rule in his place proved to be unreliable and were replaced and William once again assumed absolute control over New European affairs. He had plans to rebuild his empire and re-establish it as an influential force in the community. He was quoted "I understand times have changed. Rest assured I plan to do these things in accordance with the new international policy of the community in mind." But his plans were never put into action and in the end New Europe was nothing more than a dead nation he was trying to bring back to life.

Imperial North America
As part of the provisional terms for unification with Eniarku and Ohio presented by New Europe, William was crowned head of state of the newly-established North American Confederation. The same day of unification, he relinquished the use his title of New European Emperor. However he did not formally abdicate the New European throne, claiming that the same monarchy will simply assume a new role and in practice this became true as well. The imperial family kept their same titles and positions in the line of succession and the political roles of the North American monarch was officially to be a semi-active role. Power and authority shared equally between the monarch and all members of government. William was considerably more active in founding the North American Confederation than he was with New Europe. He has said at the time that "Fascism and Nazism in New Europe were in its predecessor governments from the beginning but by the time he had wanted them removed it was to late". He made it his personal mission to see the confederation forge a true democracy designed to incorporate the best its three states had to offer. Though he appointed Joseph Marx as the nations first Foreign Minister, William had been extremely influential with the confederation's foreign policy. In February 2011, Andalusia contacted the confederation asking to join it. William had stated that he was not against Andalusia, but being they are in Spain, he thought it best to grant them a colonial or territorial status. This was because of United Kingdom of New Britain and Georgeton's admission and then sudden withdrawal from the confederation, he was hesitant to admit another state so soon. In a conversation with Daniel Morris, Prime Minister of Parliamentary Republic of Dorzhabad, it was discover that this proposal from Andalusia was simply a scam and they were ignored after that. As time went by, he became impatient with the debate over the constitution and gave a deadline for a final draft or he would draft one and force the others to agree with. Instead of a final version prepared for the deadline, he was given a full draft that was approved by Illinois and Eniarku, but Ohio had some concerns, pressing for a Bill of Rights to be included. After some debate, it was agreed that a Bill of Rights would be created separately from the constitution but would have equal legal force. He then introduced the Amero, a currency heavily based off of the Euro. William also began a recruitment drive in his temporary location for citizens, appointing among them for the cabinet as Ministers of Media and of War. These same individuals have helped him take an even more active role by creating Soldier First Class Productions, the national broadcasting system, as well as the entertainment network. They also began creating real uniforms for the North American Army and replicating the national flag. All this activity caused some tension between William and his ministers, that felt he was utilizing powers that he only partially had or overstepped his authority. Finally, William proposed a vote before Congress to move to the Micras Sector. During the deliberations however, he was so confident that the vote would pass that he made a land claim on the Micras map. Around the same time, the vote was defeated by Eniarku's and Ohio's votes. The week that followed was filled with the citizens of the Temporary Territory of Georgia and a two other states to leave for Micras anyway. He then proceeded to make moves for abdication which caused a slight uproar, mostly over NAC fall into another civil war. These theories were dispelled by both him and Prime Minister Aaron Meek and on 17 April 2011, he issued a statement of abdication which interpretation would create a crisis in the future.

Return to New Europe
While on Micras, William assumed the title King of Vikland. Initially, Vikland enjoyed success and acceptance into the community but everything began to crumble when Vikland had issues managing a forum based nation. Inactivity plagued both Vikland as well as the entire Micras sector, making William realize that was a mistake leaving the MicroWiki. However, former New European citizens were seeking him out to re-establish New Europe. Alexander Huber wrote to him inviting him back to New Europe and completing the reforms that these citizens felt were unfinished. Initially William was skeptical of the offer due the timing but after a conversation with King Anthony of Zealandia, he accepted the offer. His second return was more well received than his first. He was very active in New Europe in over seeing the constitutional drafts and the reviewing of laws that the government felt need to be changed or abolished. Many members of the old confederations citizens from the Temporary Territory of Georgia returned to form the bulk of Falia. In addition to Falia, William guided Jessica Brigan and her friend, Caroline Kalayjian, into forming County of Aiken. After returning to the throne, William was credited with his endorsement of many domestic reforms. He also began a personal campaign to invite many more citizens to New Europe and improving New European impressions abroad. In December 2011, he was re-elected as Supreme Judge of the GUM along with New Europe being elected to the Advancement Council. Once again, however Wilhelm's reign came to a halt when the young reformed New Europe was hit with a large population decline. His service in the US military made it difficult for him to maintain his empire and it fell into yet another period of inactivity. This time, he declared inactivity rather than simply let New Europe collapse.

NAC reformed
William declared New Europe inactive on 13 March 2012. He stated that it was due to the lack of time on {his} part and the sudden loss of interest by people. He also said that he intended to return to activity in the community once he had enough time. Occasionally he engaged with members of the community to update himself on community events. On 25 May 2012, he posted a survey on the Microwiki forum to determine what the community would rather see return. As of 04 June 2012, 85.71%, 24 out of 28 votes suggested a return of New Europe instead of the North American Confederation. In June 2012, he began applied for citizenship in Nemkhavia. The government welcomed him with open arms, while the details of his citizenship were being worked out. He created his own canton within the Republic of Novomir. The Prime Minister of the Nemkhav Federation, Marka Mejakhansk, agreed that once William became active again, New Europe could be created as a state within Nemkhavia. These agreements never went full circle but William met Markus Berg, who he invited to scrap New Europe's democratic system and rebuild it completely from scratch. The 2012-13 GUM leadership scandal provoked William to resume his inactivity two months ahead of schedule. Tragically, while William was still in Afghanistan, Chancellor Berg returned home and in the remaining time William was away, Berg engaged a relationship with his fiancee, who left him in February 2013. This scandal led a grief stricken William to dissolve the government and pursue the personal matters of the scandal, leaving New Europe and its citizen completely leaderless until April 2013, when William placed Johannus von Ikner at the head of a provisional government. After all attempts to re-join the community failed, William decided to abdicate as Emperor. In May 2015, Wilhelm contacted Joseph Marx, while the discussed the old community the came to an agreement to reform the North American Confederation. Sadly with almost all documents, including the constitution, lost they reformed it under a provisional government based on memory of the laws.

Christmas Constitution and Abdication
With its macronational obligations taking up more and more of its time, state affairs began to accumulate. Even with the North American Confederation having joined the Grand Republic of Delvera as a province in 2018, the administration of internal affairs depended heavily on its increasingly rare presence. At the end of 2019, a new constitution was enacted, called the Christmas Constitution. In it, his vast powers came to be shared with the Ohio ruler from the creation of a diarchy, where the he became a "Senior King in the Confederation", and the Ohio ruler the "Junior King in the Confederation" and other devices that helped the Prime Minister to govern in the absence of the Emperor. Despite the best efforts, even this initiative did not have the desired effect and much of the internal administration was paralyzed. After a short movement by the advent of the Treaty of Theodosia, which recognized its imperial rank, the state machine stopped again. After several meetings between representatives of the North American Confederation, the Grand Republic of Delvera and the Karno-Ruthenian Empire, an agreement was reached on 07 August 2020. That day, at 3:00pm, William I signed the "Act of Abdication and Viceroyalty" formally relinquishing his position as North American Emperor and Senior King in the Confederation on behalf of Oscar of Karnia-Ruthenia, a North American Prince since 2015. William continued to serve the nation in the private sector and within the Council of Junkers of the North American Confederation. On 04 March 2022, the III Legislature regulated the social position of several citizens from Delvera and Occidia, and approved to recognize Wilhelm as King in Illinois. It was considered by the parliament that was unthinkable to have a former Emperor without a proper title.

Family and interests
William married Alyssa Birkett, whose father is German and whose mother is Italian-Bohemian. They met in elementary school in Illinois, where she and he were friends until their graduation from High School. They reconnected in July 2013 and the wedding was held on 18 January 2014 at the Will County Courthouse. The Empress has one child from a previous relationship with no status in the micronational world. Empress Alyssa's pregnancy was announced on 26 February 2014. On 24 October of that year, the Empress was induced, and after 24 hours with no progression in her labour, the couple was sent home. They returned two days later for a second induction, that resulted in the birth of their son and heir, Prince Shaun William. They divorced in 2019. William in his spare time works on alternate history timelines and geneology. He frequently enjoys smoking Cigars, particularly brands made by Rocky Patel.

Titles, styles and honors
''His Imperial Majesty, Emperor of the North American Confederation, Prince of Hartmann, First Senator of the Nation, Master of the Order of the Crown. ''

Alternative Titles and styles

 * 1 January 2007 - 1 January 2009: His Majesty the King of Illinois
 * 20 January 2009 – 28 November 2010: His Imperial and Royal Majesty the New European Emperor
 * 28 November 2010 – 17 April 2011: His Imperial Majesty the North American Emperor
 * 11 June 2011 – 4 December 2013: His Imperial and Royal Majesty the New European Emperor
 * 27 May 2015 – 07 August 2020: His Imperial and Royal Majesty the North American Emperor
 * 04 March 2022 – present: His Majesty, King in Illinois and Prince of Hartmann-Peters, Margrave of Kandahar
 * official in Karnia-Ruthenia: 13 June 2015 – present: His Highness, the Prince of Hartmann
 * official in Imvrassia: 1 October 2015 – present: His Grace William, Grand Duke of Imvrassia
 * official in Abelden: 13 July 2016 – present: His Grace, the Duke of Bremmensheim

Military ranks

 * AFJROTC.png August 2006 – June 2010: JROTC Cadet
 * Flag of the United States Army.png July 2010 – June 2012: Private first class
 * Flag of the United States Army.png June 2012 – present: Specialist

National honours

 * North American Union flag.png – Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Crown
 * North American Union flag.png – Sovereign Commander Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of North America
 * North American Union flag.png – Sovereign of the Order of William
 * Flagv3.png – Grand Master of the Order of the Reich
 * Flagv3.png – Sovereign Commander of the Order of the White Lion

European

 * Flag of Austenasia.png Commander of the Austenasian Order
 * Flag of Austenasia.png Knight of Rose of the Order of the Bullmastiff

North American

 * Flag of angador.png Knight of the Royal Order of Saint Christopher
 * Coleraine flag.png Knight of the Dragon of the Order of the Dragon
 * Letzembourgish Flag.jpg Grand Cross of Letzembourg

South American

 * Karniarutheniaflag.png Knight of the Order of the Edelweiss

Other honours

 * Flag of the United States.png National Defense Service Medal
 * Flag of the United States.png Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
 * Flag of the United States.png Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one Bronze Service star
 * Flag of the United States.png Army Commendation Medal
 * Flag of the United States.png Army Achievement Medal
 * Flag of the United States.png Korea Defense Service Medal
 * Flag of NATO.png NATO Medal
 * Flagv3.png Honor Cross
 * Flagv3.png/North American Union flag.png – Cross of Independence
 * Flagv3.png Medal for Merit of New Europe
 * Flagv3.png Long Service Medal
 * Flagv3.png Service Medal
 * Flagv3.png Meissner War Medal
 * Flagv3.png Camurian War Medal
 * Flagv3.png Communist War Medal
 * Flagv3.png Red War Medal
 * Flagv3.png Civil War Medal
 * Flagv3.png Austenasian Civil War Intervention Medal
 * Flagv3.png Micronational War on Terrorism Service Medal