World leaders in 1861
Everyone who held a state’s top posts at some point in 1861, in the order they held them. Names are from Wikipedia’s list of state leaders and appear only where the person’s Wikidata record agrees on the post and the years. What happened in 1861 →
Major powers in 1861
United StatesUnited States history
- President
- James Buchanan, then Abraham Lincoln
United KingdomUnited Kingdom history
- Queen
- Victoria
- Prime minister
- Henry John Temple
Russian EmpireRussia history
- Emperor
- Alexander II
Qing dynastyChina history
Second French EmpireFrance history
- Emperor
- Napoleon III
Tokugawa shogunate of JapanJapan history
- Emperor
- Kōmei
Africa
BasutolandLesotho history
- King or Paramount Chief
- Moshoeshoe I
Beylik of TunisTunisia history
- Grand vizier
- Mustapha Khaznadar
Ethiopian Empire
- Emperor
- Tewodros II
Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland)
- King
- Mswati II
Kingdom of Rwanda
LiberiaLiberia history
- President
- Stephen Allen Benson
Merina Kingdom
- Queen
- Ranavalona I
- Prime minister
- Rainivoninahitriniony
Morocco: Alaouite dynasty
- Sultan
- Mohammed IV
Sultanate of Zanzibar
- Sultan
- Majid
Americas
Argentine ConfederationArgentina history
- President
- Santiago Derqui, then Juan Esteban Pedernera
Conservative Republic of ChileChile history
- President
- Manuel Montt
El SalvadorEl Salvador history
- Acting President
- José María Peralta
- President
- Gerardo Barrios
Empire of BrazilBrazil history
- Emperor
- Pedro II
Granadine ConfederationColombia history
- President
- Juan José Nieto Gil, then Bartolomé Calvo
HondurasHonduras history
- President
- José Santos Guardiola
Liberal Republic of ChileChile history
- President
- José Joaquín Pérez
Miskito CoastNicaragua history
NicaraguaNicaragua history
- President
- Tomás Martínez
Oriental Republic of UruguayUruguay history
- President
- Bernardo Berro
Republic of BoliviaBolivia history
- Dictator for Life
- José María Linares
- Provisional President
- José María Achá
Republic of EcuadorEcuador history
- Interim President
- Gabriel García Moreno
Republic of GuatemalaGuatemala history
- President
- Rafael Carrera
Republic of ParaguayParaguay history
- President
- Carlos Antonio López
Second Federal Republic of MexicoMexico history
- President
- Benito Juárez
Second Haitian RepublicHaiti history
- President
- Fabre Geffrard
State of VenezuelaVenezuela history
- President
- Manuel Felipe de Tovar, then José Antonio Páez
- Interim President
- Pedro Gual Escandón
United StatesUnited States history
- President
- James Buchanan, then Abraham Lincoln
Asia
Aceh SultanateIndonesia history
Bruneian EmpireBrunei history
- Sultan
- Abdul Momin
Emirate of Afghanistan: Barakzai dynastyAfghanistan history
Emirate of BukharaUzbekistan history
Emirate of NejdSaudi Arabia history
Kedah SultanateMalaysia history
Kingdom of Luang PhrabangLaos history
- King
- Chantharath
Konbaung dynasty
- King
- Mindon
Ottoman EmpireTurkey history
- Sultan
- Abdülmecid I, then Abdülaziz
- Grand Vizier
- Kıbrıslı Mehmed Emin Pasha, then Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha, then Mehmed Fuad Pasha
Qing dynastyChina history
Rattanakosin Kingdom of SiamThailand history
- King
- Mongkut
Ryukyu Kingdom: Second Shō dynastyJapan history
- King
- Shō Tai
Selangor SultanateMalaysia history
- Sultan
- Abdul Samad
Sheikhdom of Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates history
Sheikhdom of DubaiUnited Arab Emirates history
- ruler
- Hasher bin Maktoum
Sheikhdom of KuwaitKuwait history
- Sheikh
- Sabah II
Sheikhdom of SharjahUnited Arab Emirates history
Sheikhdom of Umm Al QuwainUnited Arab Emirates history
Surakarta SunanateIndonesia history
- Sultan
- Pakubuwono IX
Terengganu SultanateMalaysia history
- Sultan
- Omar Riayat Shah
Tokugawa shogunate of JapanJapan history
- Emperor
- Kōmei
Yogyakarta SultanateIndonesia history
- Sultan
- Hamengkubuwono VI
Europe
Andorra
- Episcopal Co-Prince
- Josep Caixal i Estradé
- French Co-Prince
- Napoléon III
Anhalt-Bernburg
- Duke
- Alexander Karl
Austria-Hungary: Archduchy/ Austrian Empire/ Kingdom of Hungary
- Chairmen of the ministers' conference
- Johann Bernhard von Rechberg und Rothenlöwen, then Rainer Ferdinand
BelgiumBelgium history
- King
- Leopold I
- Prime minister
- Charles Rogier
DenmarkDenmark history
- King
- Frederik VII
- Council president
- Carl Christian Hall
Duchy of Holstein
- Duke
- Frederik VII
Duchy of Limburg (1839–1867)
- Duke
- William III
Duchy of Nassau
- Duke
- Adolphe
Electorate of Brandenburg, Kingdom of Prussia
- King
- Frederick William IV, then William I
Grand Duchy of Oldenburg
- Grand Duke
- Peter II
Kingdom of Bavaria
- King
- Maximilian II
Kingdom of Bohemia
- King
- Francis Joseph
Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)Croatia history
- King
- Franz Joseph
Kingdom of Galicia and LodomeriaUkraine history
- King
- Francis Joseph I
Kingdom of GreeceGreece history
- King
- Otto
- Prime minister
- Athanasios Miaoulis
Kingdom of ItalyItaly history
- Prime minister
- Camillo Benso, then Bettino Ricasoli
Kingdom of Lombardy–VenetiaItaly history
- King
- Francis Joseph I
Kingdom of PortugalPortugal history
Kingdom of Spain (1810–1873)Spain history
- Queen
- Isabella II
Kingdom of the NetherlandsNetherlands history
- King
- William III
- Prime minister
- Floris Adriaan van Hall, then Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt, then Schelto van Heemstra
Liechtenstein
- Prince
- Johann II
LuxembourgLuxembourg history
- Grand Duke
- William III
- Prime minister
- Victor de Tornaco
Monaco
- Prince
- Charles III
Papal States
- Pope
- Pius IX
Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont
- Prince
- George Victor
Principality of WallachiaRomania history
- Prince
- Alexander John Cuza
Russian EmpireRussia history
- Emperor
- Alexander II
San Marino
- Captains Regent
- Domenico Fattori
Saxe-Meiningen
- Duke
- Bernhard II
Second French EmpireFrance history
- Emperor
- Napoleon III
Sweden–Norway
- King
- Charles XV/IV
- First Minister
- Hans Christian Petersen, then Frederik Stang
SwitzerlandSwitzerland history
- President of the Confederation
- Melchior Josef Martin Knüsel
United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandUnited Kingdom history
- Queen
- Victoria
- Prime minister
- Henry John Temple
Oceania
Kings of Uvea (Wallis)
- Queen
- Falakika Seilala