German Empire

German Empire
*Deutsches Reich*(German)
German Empire Deutsches Reich(German)
1871–1918
	Flag Coat of arms; (1889–1918)
	Motto:Gott mit uns(German); Nobiscum Deus(Latin); ( "God with us" )
	Anthem:Heil dir im Siegerkranz; ( "Hail to Thee in the Victor's Crown" ); Die Wacht am Rhein(unofficial); ( "The Watch on the Rhine" );
	TheGerman colonial empirein 1914
Capital and largest city	Berlin; 52°31′7″N13°22′34″E/ 52.51861°N 13.37611°E
Official languages	German
Common languages	List Unofficial:; Low German,Polish,Danish,Yiddish,Limburgish,Frisian,Sorbian,Sinte Romani,Lithuanian,Kashubian,Swahili,Arabic;
Religion (1880)	Majority:; 62.63%Protestant; (United Protestant,Lutheran,Reformed); Minorities:; 35.89%Roman Catholic; 1.24%Judaism; 0.17% otherChristian; 0.07% other
Demonym(s)	German
Government	Federalparliamentarysemi-constitutional monarchy Under amilitary dictatorship; (1916–1918);
Emperor
• 1871–1888	Wilhelm I
• 1888	Friedrich III
• 1888–1918	Wilhelm II
Chancellor
• 1871–1890	Otto von Bismarck
• 1890–1894	Leo von Caprivi
• 1894–1900	C. zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
• 1900–1909	Bernhard von Bülow
• 1909–1917	T. von Bethmann Hollweg
• 1917	Georg Michaelis
• 1917–1918	Georg von Hertling
• 1918	Max von Baden
Legislature	Bicameral
• Upper house	Bundesrat
• Lower house	Reichstag
Historical era	New Imperialism•World War I
•Unification	18 January 1871
•Constitution	16 April 1871
•Berlin Conference	15 November 1884
•WWI began	28 July 1914
•German Revolution	3 November 1918
•Abdication of Kaiser	9 November 1918
•Armistice	11 November 1918
•Weimar Constitution	11 August 1919
Area
• Total	1,750,000 km2(680,000 sq mi)
1910	540,857.54 km2(208,826.26 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	70,000,000
•1871	41,058,792
•1900	56,367,178
•1910	64,925,993
Currency	Until 1873: Vereinsthaler,South German gulden,Bremen thaler,Hamburg mark,French francGerman gold mark; (1873–1914); GermanPapiermark; (1914–1918)
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	North German Confederation
	Bavaria
	Württemberg
	Baden
	Hesse
Weimar Republic
Memel Territory
Territory of the Saar Basin
Danzig
Second Polish Republic
	Area and population not includingcolonial possessions

TheGerman Empire(German:Deutsches Reich),^[a]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]also referred to asImperial Germany,^[19]theSecond Reich^[b]^[20]or simplyGermany,was the period of theGerman Reich^[21]^[22]from theunification of Germanyin 1871 until theNovember Revolutionin 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to arepublic.^[23]^[24]

The empire wasfoundedon 18 January 1871 at thePalace of Versailles,outsideParis,France,where the south German states, except forAustriaandLiechtenstein,joined theNorth German Confederationand thenew constitutioncame into force on 16 April, changing the name of the federal state to the German Empire and introducing the title ofGerman EmperorforWilhelm I,King of Prussiafrom theHouse of Hohenzollern.^[25]Berlinremained its capital, andOtto von Bismarck,Minister President of Prussia,becamechancellor,the head of government. As these events occurred, thePrussian-led North German Confederation and its southern German allies, such asBaden,Bavaria,Württemberg,andHesse,were still engaged in theFranco-Prussian War.The German Empire consisted of25 states,each with its ownnobility,four constituentkingdoms,sixgrand duchies,fiveduchies(six before 1876), sevenprincipalities,threefree Hanseatic cities,andone imperial territory.While Prussia was one of four kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two-thirds of the Empire's population and territory, and Prussian dominance was also constitutionally established, since the King of Prussia was also the German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser).

After 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron (and later steel), chemicals, and railways. In 1871, Germany had a population of 41 million people; by 1913, this had increased to 68 million. A heavily rural collection of states in 1815, the now united Germany became predominantly urban.^[26]The success of German industrialization manifested itself in two ways in the early 20th century; German factories were often larger and more modern than many of their British and French counterparts, but the preindustrial sector was more backward.^[27]The success of the German Empire in the natural sciences, especially in physics and chemistry, was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire became an industrial, technological, and scientific power in Europe, and by 1913, Germany was the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world.^[28]Germany also became agreat power,building the longest railway network of Europe, the world's strongest army,^[29]and a fast-growing industrial base.^[30]Starting very small in 1871, in a decade, thenavybecame second only toBritain'sRoyal Navy.

From 1871 to 1890, Otto von Bismarck's tenure as the first and to this day longest-servingchancellorwas marked by relative liberalism at its start, but in time grew more conservative. Broad reforms, the anti-CatholicKulturkampfandsystematic repression of Polish peoplemarked his period in the office. Despite his hatred of liberalism and socialism – he called liberals and socialists "enemies of the Reich" – social programs introduced by Bismarck included old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance, all aspects of the modern Europeanwelfare state.

Late in Bismarck's chancellorship and in spite of his earlier personal opposition, Germanybecame involvedincolonialism.Claiming much of the leftover territory that was not yet conquered by Europeans in theScramble for Africa,it managed to build the third-largestcolonial empireat the time, after theBritishand theFrenchones.^[31]As a colonial state, it sometimes clashed with the interests of other European powers, especially the British Empire. During its colonial expansion, the German Empire committed theHerero and Nama genocide.^[32]

After the resignation ofOtto von Bismarckin 1890, andWilhelm II's refusal to recall him to office, the empire embarked onWeltpolitik( "world politics" ) – a bellicose new course that ultimately contributed to the outbreak of World War I. Bismarck's successors were incapable of maintaining their predecessor's complex, shifting, and overlapping alliances which had kept Germany from being diplomatically isolated.This periodwas marked by increased oppression of Polish people and various factors influencing the Emperor's decisions, which were often perceived as contradictory or unpredictable by the public. In 1879, the German Empire consolidated theDual AlliancewithAustria-Hungary,followed by theTriple AlliancewithItalyin 1882. It also retainedstrong diplomatic tiesto theOttoman Empire.Whenthe great crisis of 1914arrived, Italy left the alliance and the Ottoman Empireformally allied with Germany.

In the First World War,German plans to capture Paris quicklyin the autumn of 1914 failed, and the war on theWestern Frontbecame a stalemate. TheAllied naval blockadecaused severe shortages of food and supplements. However, Imperial Germany had success on theEastern Front;it occupied a large amount of territory to its east following theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk.The German declaration ofunrestricted submarine warfarein early 1917 contributed to bringing the United States into the war. In October 1918, after the failedSpring Offensive,the German armieswere in retreat,allies Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, andBulgariahad surrendered. The empire collapsed in theNovember 1918 Revolutionwith the abdication of Wilhelm II, which left the post-war federal republic to govern a devastated populace. TheTreaty of Versaillesimposed post-war reparation costs of 132 billiongold marks(around US$269 billion or €240 billion in 2019, or roughly US$32 billion in 1921),^[33]as well as limiting the army to 100,000 men and disallowing conscription, armored vehicles, submarines, aircraft, and more than six battleships.^[34]The consequential economic devastation, later exacerbated by theGreat Depression,as well as humiliation and outrage experienced by the German population are considered leading factors in the rise ofAdolf HitlerandNazism.^[35]

History

Background

TheGerman Confederationhad been created by an act of theCongress of Viennaon 8 June 1815 as a result of theNapoleonic Wars,after being alluded to inArticle 6of the 1814Treaty of Paris.^[36]

The liberalRevolutions of 1848were crushed after the relations between the educated, well-off middle-class liberals and the urban artisans broke down;Otto von Bismarck's pragmaticRealpolitik,which appealed to peasants as well as the aristocracy, took its place.^[37]Bismarck sought to extendHohenzollernhegemony throughout the German states; to do so meant unification of the German states and the exclusion ofPrussia's main German rival,Austria,from the subsequent German Empire. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. TheSecond Schleswig WaragainstDenmarkin 1864, theAustro-Prussian Warin 1866, and theFranco-Prussian Warin 1870–1871 sparked a growing pan-German ideal and contributed to the formation of the German state.

TheGerman Confederationended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between the constituent Confederation entities of theAustrian Empireand its allies on one side and Prussia and its allies on the other. The war resulted in the partial replacement of the Confederation in 1867 by aNorth German Confederation,comprising the 22 states north of the riverMain.The patriotic fervor generated by theFranco-Prussian Warof 1870 overwhelmed the remaining opposition to a unified Germany (aside from Austria) in the four states south of the Main, and during November 1870, they joined the North German Confederation by treaty.^[38]

Foundation

On 10 December 1870, theNorth German ConfederationReichstag renamed the Confederation the "German Empire" and gave the title ofGerman EmperortoWilliam I,theKing of Prussia,asBundespräsidiumof the Confederation.^[39]The new constitution (Constitution of the German Confederation) and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871. During thesiege of Parison 18 January 1871, William was proclaimed Emperor in theHall of Mirrorsat thePalace of Versailles.^[40]

The secondGerman Constitution,adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April,^[40]was substantially based upon Bismarck'sNorth German Constitution.The political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called theReichstag,which was elected byuniversal male suffrage.However, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas. As a result, by the time of the great expansion of German cities in the 1890s and 1900s, rural areas were grosslyover-represented.

The legislation also required the consent of theBundesrat,the federal council of deputies from the 27 states. Executive power was vested in the emperor, orKaiser,who was assisted by achancellorresponsible only to him. The emperor was given extensive powers by the constitution. He alone appointed and dismissed the chancellor (so in practice, the emperor ruled the empire through the chancellor), was supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and final arbiter of all foreign affairs, and could also disband theReichstagto call for new elections. Officially, the chancellor was a one-man cabinet and was responsible for the conduct of all state affairs; in practice, theState Secretaries(top bureaucratic officials in charge of such fields as finance, war, foreign affairs, etc.) functioned much like ministers in other monarchies. TheReichstaghad the power to pass, amend, or reject bills and to initiate legislation. However, as mentioned above, in practice, the real power was vested in the emperor, who exercised it through his chancellor.

Although nominally a federal empire and league of equals, in practice, the empire was dominated by the largest and most powerful state, Prussia. It stretched across the northern two-thirds of the newReichand contained three-fifths of the country's population. The imperial crown was hereditary in the ruling house of Prussia, theHouse of Hohenzollern.With the exception of 1872–1873 and 1892–1894, the chancellor was always simultaneously the prime minister of Prussia. With 17 out of 58 votes in theBundesrat,Berlin needed only a few votes from the smaller states to exercise effective control.

The other states retained their own governments but had only limited aspects of sovereignty. For example, both postage stamps and currency were issued for the empire as a whole. Coins through one mark were also minted in the name of the empire, while higher-valued pieces were issued by the states. However, these larger gold and silver issues were virtuallycommemorative coinsand had limited circulation.

While the states issued their owndecorationsand some had their own armies, the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. Those of the larger states, such as the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony, were coordinated along Prussian principles and would, in wartime, be controlled by the federal government.

The evolution of the German Empire is somewhat in line with parallel developments in Italy, which became a united nation-state a decade earlier. Some key elements of the German Empire's authoritarian political structure were also the basis for conservative modernization inImperial JapanunderEmperor Meijiand the preservation of an authoritarian political structure under thetsarsin theRussian Empire.

One factor in the social anatomy of these governments was the retention of a very substantial share in political power by thelanded elite,theJunkers,resulting from the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by the peasants in combination with urban areas.

Although authoritarian in many respects, the empire had some democratic features. Besides universal manhood suffrage, it permitted the development of political parties. Bismarck intended to create a constitutional façade that would mask the continuation of authoritarian policies. However, in the process, he created a system with a serious flaw. There was a significant disparity between the Prussian and German electoral systems. Prussia used athree-class voting systemwhich weighted votes based on the amount of taxes paid,^[41]all but assuring a conservative majority. The king and (with two exceptions) the prime minister of Prussia were also the emperor and chancellor of the empire – meaning that the same rulers had to seek majorities from legislatures elected from completely different franchises. Universal suffrage was significantly diluted by gross over-representation of rural areas from the 1890s onward. By the turn of the century, the urban-rural population balance was completely reversed from 1871; more than two-thirds of the empire's people lived in cities and towns.

Bismarck era

Bismarck's domestic policies played an important role in forging the authoritarian political culture of theKaiserreich.Less preoccupied with continental power politics following unification in 1871, Germany's semi-parliamentary government carried out a relatively smooth economic and political revolution from above that pushed them along the way towards becoming the world's leading industrial power of the time.

Bismarck's "revolutionary conservatism" was a conservative state-building strategy designed to make ordinary Germans—not just the Junker elite—more loyal to the throne and empire. According to Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, his strategy was:

granting social rights to enhance the integration of a hierarchical society, to forge a bond between workers and the state so as to strengthen the latter, to maintain traditional relations of authority between social and status groups, and to provide a countervailing power against the modernist forces of liberalism and socialism.^[42]

Bismarck created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s and enacted universal male suffrage in 1871.^[43]He became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory and tried to emulate his policies.^[44]

Foreign policy

A postage stamp from theCaroline Islands

Bismarck's post-1871 foreign policy was conservative and sought to preserve the balance of power in Europe. British historianEric Hobsbawmconcludes that he "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [devoting] himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers".^[45]This was a departure from his adventurous foreign policy for Prussia, where he favored strength and expansion, punctuating this by saying, "The great questions of the age are not settled by speeches and majority votes – this was the error of 1848–49 – but by iron and blood."^[46]

Bismarck's chief concern was that France would plot revenge after its defeat in theFranco-Prussian War.As the French lacked the strength to defeat Germany by themselves, they sought an alliance with Russia, or perhaps even the newly reformed empire of Austria-Hungary, which would envelope Germany completely. Bismarck wanted to prevent this at all costs and maintain friendly relations with the Austrians and the Russians, signing theDual Alliance (1879)with Austria-Hungary in 1879. The Dual Aliance was a defensive alliance that was established against Russia, and by association France, in the event alliance did not work out with the state. However, an alliance with Russia would come not long after the signing of the Dual Alliance with Austria, theDreikaiserbund(League of Three Emperors), in 1881. During this period, individuals within the German military were advocating a preemptive strike against Russia, but Bismarck knew that such ideas were foolhardy. He once wrote that "the most brilliant victories would not avail against the Russian nation, because of its climate, its desert, and its frugality, and having but one frontier to defend", and because it would leave Germany with another bitter, resentful neighbor. Despite this, another alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy would be signed in 1882, preying on the fears of the German and Austro-Hungarian militaries of the untrustworthiness of Russia itself. This alliance, named theTriple Alliance (1882),would exist up until 1915, when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Despite Germany, and especially Austria's, lack of faith in the Russian alliance, theReinsurance Treatywould be first signed in 1887, and renewed up until 1890, when the Bismarckian system collapsed upon Bismarck's resignation.

Meanwhile, the chancellor remained wary of any foreign policy developments that looked even remotely warlike. In 1886, he moved to stop an attempted sale of horses to France because they might be used for cavalry and also ordered an investigation into large Russian purchases of medicine from a German chemical works. Bismarck stubbornly refused to listen toGeorg Herbert Münster,ambassador to France, who reported back that the French were not seeking a revanchist war and were desperate for peace at all costs.

Bismarck and most of his contemporaries were conservative-minded and focused their foreign policy attention on Germany's neighboring states. In 1914, 60% of German foreign investment was in Europe, as opposed to just 5% of British investment. Most of the money went to developing nations such as Russia that lacked the capital or technical knowledge to industrialize on their own. The construction of theBerlin–Baghdad railway,financed by German banks, was designed to eventually connect Germany with the Ottoman Empire and thePersian Gulf,but it also collided with British and Russian geopolitical interests. Conflict over the Baghdad Railway was resolved in June 1914.

Many consider Bismarck's foreign policy as a coherent system and partly responsible for the preservation of Europe's stability.^[47]It was also marked by the need to balance circumspect defensiveness and the desire to be free from the constraints of its position as a major European power.^[47]Bismarck's successors did not pursue his foreign policy legacy. For instance, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who dismissed the chancellor in 1890, let the treaty with Russia lapse in favor of Germany's alliance with Austria, which finally led to a stronger coalition-building between Russia and France.^[48]

Colonies

Germans had dreamed of colonial imperialism since 1848.^[49]Although Bismarck had little interest in acquiring overseas possessions, most Germans were enthusiastic, and by 1884 he had acquiredGerman New Guinea.^[50]By the 1890s, German colonial expansion in Asia and the Pacific (Jiaozhou BayandTianjinin China, theMarianas,theCaroline Islands,Samoa) led to frictions with the UK, Russia, Japan, and the US. The largest colonial enterprises were in Africa,^[51]where theHerero Warsin what is nowNamibiain 1906–1907 resulted in theHerero and Nama genocide.^[52]

Economy

By 1900, Germany became the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world behind the United States and theBritish Empire,which were also its main economic rivals. Throughout its existence, it experienced economic growth and modernization led by heavy industry. In 1871, it had a largely rural population of 41 million, while by 1913, this had increased to a predominantly urban population of 68 million.^[53]

Industrial power

For 30 years, Germany struggled against Britain to be Europe's leading industrial power. Representative of Germany's industry was the steel giantKrupp,whose first factory was built inEssen.By 1902, the factory alone became "A great city with its own streets, its own police force, fire department and traffic laws. There are 150 kilometers of rail, 60 different factory buildings, 8,500 machine tools, seven electrical stations, 140 kilometers of underground cable, and 46 overhead."^[54]

Under Bismarck, Germany was a world innovator in building thewelfare state.German workers enjoyed health, accident and maternity benefits, canteens, changing rooms, and a national pension scheme.^[55]

Industrialisation progressed dynamically in Germany, and German manufacturers began to capture domestic markets from British imports, and also to compete with British industry abroad, particularly in the U.S. The German textile and metal industries had by 1870 surpassed those of Britain in organisation and technical efficiency and superseded British manufacturers in the domestic market. Germany became the dominant economic power on the continent and was the second-largest exporting nation after Britain.^[56]

Technological progress during German industrialisation occurred in four waves: the railway wave (1877–1886), the dye wave (1887–1896), the chemical wave (1897–1902), and the wave of electrical engineering (1903–1918).^[57]Since Germany industrialised later than Britain, it was able to model its factories after those of Britain, thus making more efficient use of its capital and avoiding legacy methods in its leap to the envelope of technology. Germany invested more heavily than the British in research, especially in chemistry, ICE engines and electricity. Germany's dominance in physics and chemistry was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. The Germancartelsystem (known asKonzerne), being significantly concentrated, was able to make more efficient use of capital. Germany was not weighted down with an expensive worldwide empire that needed defense. Following Germany's annexation ofAlsace-Lorrainein 1871, it absorbed parts of what had been France's industrial base.^[58]

Germany overtook British steel production in 1893 and pig iron production in 1903. The German steel and pig iron production continued its rapid expansion: Between 1911 and 1913, the German steel and pig iron output reached one quarter of total global production.^[59]

German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts.^[27]By 1913, the German electricity production was higher than the combined electricity production of Britain, France, Italy and Sweden.^[60]

By 1900, the German chemical industry dominated the world market forsynthetic dyes.^[61]The three major firmsBASF,^[62]BayerandHoechstproduced several hundred different dyes, along with the five smaller firms. Imperial Germany built up the world's largest chemical industry, the production of German chemical industry was 60% higher than that of the United States.^[60]In 1913, these eight firms produced almost 90% of the world supply of dyestuffs and sold about 80% of their production abroad. The three major firms had also integrated upstream into the production of essential raw materials and they began to expand into other areas of chemistry such aspharmaceuticals,photographic film,agricultural chemicalsandelectrochemicals.Top-level decision-making was in the hands of professional salaried managers; leading Chandler to call the German dye companies "the world's first truly managerial industrial enterprises".^[63]There were many spinoffs from research—such as the pharmaceutical industry, which emerged from chemical research.^[64]

By the start ofWorld War I(1914–1918), German industry switched to war production. The heaviest demands were on coal and steel for artillery and shell production, and on chemicals for the synthesis of materials that were subject to import restrictions and for chemical weapons and war supplies.

Railways

Lacking a technological base at first, the Germans imported their engineering and hardware from Britain but quickly learned the skills needed to operate and expand the railways. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centers of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railroad construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. German unification in 1870 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was support of industrialisation, and so heavy lines crisscrossed theRuhrand other industrial districts and provided good connections to the major ports ofHamburgandBremen.By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France.^[65]The total length of German railroad tracks expanded from 21,000 km (13,000 mi) in 1871 to 63,000 km (39,000 mi) by 1913, establishing the largest rail network in the world after the United States.^[66]The German rail network was followed by Austria-Hungary (43,280 km; 26,890 mi), France (40,770 km; 25,330 mi), the United Kingdom (32,623 km; 20,271 mi), Italy (18,873 km; 11,727 mi) and Spain (15,088 km; 9,375 mi).^[67]

Consolidation

The creation of the Empire under Prussian leadership was a victory for the concept ofKleindeutschland(Smaller Germany) over theGroßdeutschlandconcept. This meant that Austria-Hungary, a multi-ethnic Empire with a considerable German-speaking population, would remain outside of the German nation state. Bismarck's policy was to pursue a solution diplomatically.^{[citation needed]}The effective alliance between Germany and Austria played a major role in Germany's decision to enterWorld War Iin 1914.^{[citation needed]}

Bismarck announced there would be no more territorial additions to Germany in Europe, and his diplomacy after 1871 was focused on stabilizing the European system and preventing any wars. He succeeded, and only after his departure from office in 1890 did the diplomatic tensions start rising again.^[68]

Social issues

After achieving formal unification in 1871, Bismarck devoted much of his attention to the cause of national unity. He opposed Catholic civil rights and emancipation, especially the influence of theVaticanunderPope Pius IX,and working-class radicalism, represented by the emergingSocial Democratic Party.

Kulturkampf

Prussia in 1871 included 16,000,000 Protestants, both Reformed and Lutheran, and 8,000,000 Catholics. Most people were generally segregated into their own religious worlds, living in rural districts or city neighbourhoods that were overwhelmingly of the same religion, and sending their children to separate public schools where their religion was taught. There was little interaction or intermarriage. On the whole, the Protestants had a higher social status, and the Catholics were more likely to be peasant farmers or unskilled or semiskilled industrial workers. In 1870, the Catholics formed their own political party, theCentre Party,which generally supported unification and most of Bismarck's policies. However, Bismarck distrusted parliamentary democracy in general and opposition parties in particular, especially when the Centre Party showed signs of gaining support among dissident elements such as the Polish Catholics inSilesia.A powerful intellectual force of the time wasanti-Catholicism,led by the liberal intellectuals who formed a vital part of Bismarck's coalition. They saw the Catholic Church as a powerful force of reaction and anti-modernity, especially after the proclamation ofpapal infallibilityin 1870, and the tightening control of the Vatican over the local bishops.^[69]

The Kulturkampf launched by Bismarck 1871–1880 affected Prussia; although there were similar movements in Baden and Hesse, the rest of Germany was not affected. According to the new imperial constitution, the states were in charge of religious and educational affairs; they funded the Protestant and Catholic schools. In July 1871 Bismarck abolished the Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of ecclesiastical and educational affairs, depriving Catholics of their voice at the highest level. The system of strictgovernment supervision of schoolswas applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools were left alone.^[70]

Much more serious were the May laws of 1873. One made the appointment of any priest dependent on his attendance at a German university, as opposed to the seminaries that the Catholics typically used. Furthermore, all candidates for the ministry had to pass an examination in German culture before a state board which weeded out intransigent Catholics. Another provision gave the government a veto power over most church activities. A second law abolished the jurisdiction of the Vatican over the Catholic Church in Prussia; its authority was transferred to a government body controlled by Protestants.^[71]

Nearly all German bishops, clergy, and laymen rejected the legality of the new laws, and were defiant in the face of heavier and heavier penalties and imprisonments imposed by Bismarck's government. By 1876, all the Prussian bishops were imprisoned or in exile, and a third of the Catholic parishes were without a priest. In the face of systematic defiance, the Bismarck government increased the penalties and its attacks, and were challenged in 1875 when a papal encyclical declared the whole ecclesiastical legislation of Prussia was invalid, and threatened to excommunicate any Catholic who obeyed. There was no violence, but the Catholics mobilized their support, set up numerous civic organizations, raised money to pay fines, and rallied behind their church and the Centre Party. The "Old Catholic Church", which rejected the First Vatican Council, attracted only a few thousand members. Bismarck, a devout pietistic Protestant, realized his Kulturkampf was backfiring when secular and socialist elements used the opportunity to attack all religion. In the long run, the most significant result was the mobilization of the Catholic voters, and their insistence on protecting their religious identity. In the elections of 1874, the Centre party doubled its popular vote, and became the second-largest party in the national parliament—and remained a powerful force for the next 60 years, so that after Bismarck it became difficult to form a government without their support.^[72]^[73]

Social reform

Bismarck built on a tradition of welfare programs in Prussia and Saxony that began as early as in the 1840s. In the 1880s he introduced old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance that formed the basis of the modernEuropean welfare state.He came to realize that this sort of policy was very appealing, since it bound workers to the state, and also fit in very well with his authoritarian nature. The social security systems installed by Bismarck (health care in 1883, accident insurance in 1884, invalidity and old-age insurance in 1889) at the time were the largest in the world and, to a degree, still exist in Germany today.

Bismarck's paternalistic programs won the support of German industry because its goals were to win the support of the working classes for the Empire and reduce the outflow of immigrants to America, where wages were higher but welfare did not exist.^[55]^[74]Bismarck further won the support of both industry and skilled workers by his high tariff policies, which protected profits and wages from American competition, although they alienated the liberal intellectuals who wanted free trade.^[75]

Antisemitism

As it was throughout Europe at the time,antisemitismwas endemic in Germany during the period. BeforeNapoleon's decrees ended the ghettos inConfederation of the Rhine,it had been religiously motivated, but by the 19th century, it was a factor inGerman nationalism.In the popular mind, Jews became a symbol of capitalism and wealth. On the other hand, the constitution and legal system protected the rights of Jews as German citizens. Antisemitic parties were formed but soon collapsed.^[76]But after theTreaty of Versailles,andAdolf Hitler's rise to power inGermany,antisemitism in Germany would increase.^[77]

Germanisation

One of the effects of the unification policies was the gradually increasing tendency to eliminate the use of non-German languages in public life, schools and academic settings with the intent of pressuring the non-German population to abandon their national identity in what was called "Germanisation".These policies often had the reverse effect of stimulating resistance, usually in the form of homeschooling and tighter unity in the minority groups, especially thePoles.^[78]

The Germanisation policies were targeted particularlyagainst the significant Polish minorityof the empire, gained by Prussia in thepartitions of Poland.Poles were treated as anethnic minorityeven where they made up the majority, as in theProvince of Posen,where a series of anti-Polish measures was enforced.^[79]Numerous anti-Polish laws had no great effect especially in the province of Posen where the German-speaking population dropped from 42.8% in 1871 to 38.1% in 1905, despite all efforts.^[80]

Law

Bismarck's efforts also initiated the levelling of the enormous differences between the German states, which had been independent in their evolution for centuries, especially with legislation. The completely different legal histories and judicial systems posed enormous complications, especially for national trade. While a common trade code had already been introduced by theConfederationin 1861 (which was adapted for the Empire and, with great modifications, is still in effect today), there was little similarity in laws otherwise.

In 1871, a commoncriminal code[de]was introduced; in 1877, common court procedures were established in the court system by thecourts constitution act[de],code of civil procedure (Zivilprozessordnung) and code of criminal procedure (Strafprozessordnung^[de]). In 1873 the constitution was amended to allow the Empire to replace the various and greatly differing Civil Codes of the states (If they existed at all; for example, parts of Germany formerly occupied by Napoleon's France had adopted the French Civil Code, while in Prussia theAllgemeines Preußisches Landrechtof 1794 was still in effect). In 1881, a first commission was established to produce a common Civil Code for all of the Empire, an enormous effort that would produce theBürgerliches Gesetzbuch(BGB), possibly one of the most impressive legal works in the world; it was eventually put into effect on 1 January 1900. All of thesecodificationsare, albeit with many amendments, still in effect today.

Different legal systems in Germany prior to 1900
Fields of law in the German Empire

Year of the three emperors

On 9 March 1888, Wilhelm I died shortly before his 91st birthday, leaving his sonFrederickas the new emperor. Frederick was a liberal and an admirer of the British constitution,^[81]while his links to Britain strengthened further with his marriage toPrincess Victoria,eldest child ofQueen Victoria.With his ascent to the throne, many hoped that Frederick's reign would lead to aliberalizationof the Reich and an increase of parliament's influence on the political process. The dismissal ofRobert von Puttkamer,the highly conservativePrussian interior minister,on 8 June was a sign of the expected direction and a blow to Bismarck's administration.

By the time of his accession, however, Frederick had developed incurablelaryngeal cancer,which had been diagnosed in 1887. He died on the 99th day of his rule, on 15 June 1888. His sonWilhelmbecame emperor.

Wilhelmine era

Bismarck's resignation

Wilhelm IIwanted to reassert his ruling prerogatives at a time when other monarchs in Europe were being transformed into constitutional figureheads. This decision led the ambitious Kaiser into conflict with Bismarck. The old chancellor had hoped to guide Wilhelm as he had guided his grandfather, but the emperor wanted to be the master in his own house and had many sycophants telling him that Frederick the Great would not have been great with a Bismarck at his side.^[82]A key difference between Wilhelm II and Bismarck was their approaches to handling political crises, especially in 1889, when German coal miners went on strike inUpper Silesia.Bismarck demanded that theGerman Armybe sent in to crush the strike, but Wilhelm II rejected this authoritarian measure, responding "I do not wish to stain my reign with the blood of my subjects."^[83]Instead of condoning repression, Wilhelm had the government negotiate with a delegation from the coal miners, which brought the strike to an end without violence.^[82]The fractious relationship ended in March 1890, after Wilhelm II and Bismarck quarrelled, and the chancellor resigned days later.^[82]

With Bismarck's departure, Wilhelm II became the dominant ruler of Germany. Unlike his grandfather, Wilhelm I, who had been largely content to leave government affairs to the chancellor, Wilhelm II wanted to be fully informed and actively involved in running Germany, not an ornamental figurehead, although most Germans found his claims of divine right to rule amusing.^[84]Wilhelm allowed politicianWalther Rathenauto tutor him in European economics and industrial and financial realities in Europe.^[84]

AsHull(2004) notes, Bismarckian foreign policy "was too sedate for the reckless Kaiser".^[85]Wilhelm became internationally notorious for his aggressive stance on foreign policy and his strategic blunders (such as theTangier Crisis), which pushed the German Empire into growing political isolation and eventually helped to causeWorld War I.

Domestic affairs

Under Wilhelm II, Germany no longer had long-ruling strong chancellors like Bismarck. The new chancellors had difficulty in performing their roles, especially the additional role asPrime Minister of Prussiaassigned to them in the German Constitution. The reforms of ChancellorLeo von Caprivi,which liberalized trade and so reduced unemployment, were supported by the Kaiser and most Germans except for Prussian landowners, who feared loss of land and power and launched several campaigns against the reforms.^[86]

While Prussian aristocrats challenged the demands of a united German state, in the 1890s several organizations were set up to challenge the authoritarian conservative Prussian militarism which was being imposed on the country. Educators opposed to the German state-run schools, which emphasized military education, set up their own independent liberal schools, which encouraged individuality and freedom.^[87]However nearly all the schools in Imperial Germany had a very high standard and kept abreast with modern developments in knowledge.^[88]

Artists began experimental art in opposition to Kaiser Wilhelm's support for traditional art, to which Wilhelm responded "art which transgresses the laws and limits laid down by me can no longer be called art".^[89]It was largely thanks to Wilhelm's influence that most printed material in Germany usedblackletterinstead of the Roman type used in the rest of Western Europe. At the same time, a new generation of cultural creators emerged.^[90]

From the 1890s onwards, the most effective opposition to the monarchy came from the newly formedSocial Democratic Party of Germany(SPD), whose radicals advocatedMarxism.The threat of the SPD to the German monarchy and industrialists caused the state both to crack down on the party's supporters and to implement its own programme of social reform to soothe discontent. Germany's large industries provided significant social welfare programmes and good care to their employees, as long as they were not identified as socialists or trade-union members. The larger industrial firms provided pensions, sickness benefits and even housing to their employees.^[87]

Having learned from the failure of Bismarck'sKulturkampf,Wilhelm II maintained good relations with the Roman Catholic Church and concentrated on opposing socialism.^[91]This policy failed when the Social Democrats won a third of the votes in the1912 electionsto theReichstag,and became the largest political party in Germany. The government remained in the hands of a succession of conservative coalitions supported by right-wing liberals or Catholic clerics and heavily dependent on the Kaiser's favour. The rising militarism under Wilhelm II caused many Germans to emigrate to the U.S. and the British colonies to escape mandatory military service.

During World War I, the Kaiser increasingly devolved his powers to the leaders of the German High Command, particularly futureGerman president,Field MarshalPaul von HindenburgandGeneralquartiermeisterErich Ludendorff.Hindenburg took over the role of commander–in–chief from the Kaiser, while Ludendorff became de facto general chief of staff. By 1916, Germany was effectively a military dictatorship run by Hindenburg and Ludendorff, with the Kaiser reduced to a mere figurehead.^[92]

Foreign affairs

Colonialism

Wilhelm II wanted Germany to have her "place in the sun",like Britain, which he constantly wished to emulate or rival.^[93]With German traders and merchants already active worldwide, he encouraged colonial efforts in Africa and the Pacific ( "new imperialism"), causing the German Empire to vie with other European powers for remaining" unclaimed "territories. With the encouragement or at least the acquiescence of Britain, which at this stage saw Germany as a counterweight to her old rival France, Germany acquiredGerman Southwest Africa(modernNamibia),German Kamerun(modernCameroon),Togoland(modernTogo) andGerman East Africa(modernRwanda,Burundi,and the mainland part of currentTanzania). Islands were gained in the Pacific through purchase and treaties and also a 99-year lease for the territory ofJiaozhouin northeast China. But of these German colonies only Togoland andGerman Samoa(after 1908) became self-sufficient and profitable; all the others required subsidies from the Berlin treasury for building infrastructure, school systems, hospitals and other institutions.

Bismarck had originally dismissed the agitation for colonies with contempt; he favoured a Eurocentric foreign policy, as the treaty arrangements made during his tenure in office show. As a latecomer to colonization, Germany repeatedly came into conflict with the established colonial powers and also with the United States, which opposed German attempts at colonial expansion in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. Native insurrections in German territories received prominent coverage in other countries, especially in Britain; the established powers had dealt with such uprisings decades earlier, often brutally, and had secured firm control of their colonies by then. TheBoxer Risingin China, which the Chinese government eventually sponsored, began in the Shandong province, in part because Germany, as colonizer atJiaozhou,was an untested power and had only been active there for two years. Seven western nations, including the United States, and Japan mounted a joint relief force to rescue westerners caught up in the rebellion. During the departure ceremonies for the German contingent, Wilhelm II urged them to behave like theHuninvaders of continental Europe – an unfortunate remark that would later be resurrected by British propagandists to paint Germans as barbarians duringWorld War IandWorld War II^{[according to whom?]}.On two occasions, a French-German conflict over the fate of Morocco seemed inevitable.

Upon acquiring Southwest Africa, German settlers were encouraged to cultivate land held by theHereroandNama.Herero and Nama tribal lands were used for a variety of exploitative goals (much as the British did before inRhodesia), including farming, ranching, and mining for minerals anddiamonds.In 1904, the Herero and the Nama revolted against the colonists in Southwest Africa, killing farm families, their laborers and servants. In response to the attacks, troops were dispatched to quell the uprising which then resulted in theHerero and Nama Genocide.In total, some 65,000 Herero (80% of the total Herero population), and 10,000 Nama (50% of the total Nama population) perished. The commander of the punitive expedition, GeneralLothar von Trotha,was eventually relieved and reprimanded for his usurpation of orders and the cruelties he inflicted. These occurrences were sometimes referred to as "the first genocide of the 20th century" and officially condemned by the United Nations in 1985. In 2004 a formal apology by a government minister of the Federal Republic of Germany followed.

Middle East

Bismarck andWilhelm IIafter him sought closer economic ties with theOttoman Empire.Under Wilhelm II, with the financial backing of theDeutsche Bank,theBaghdad Railwaywas begun in 1900, although by 1914 it was still 500 km (310 mi) short of its destination in Baghdad.^[94]In an interview with Wilhelm in 1899,Cecil Rhodeshad tried "to convince the Kaiser that the future of the German empire abroad lay in the Middle East" and not in Africa; with a grand Middle-Eastern empire, Germany could afford to allow Britain the unhindered completion of the Cape-to-Cairo railway that Rhodes favoured.^[95]Britain initially supported theBaghdad Railway;but by 1911 British statesmen came to fear it might be extended toBasraon thePersian Gulf,threatening Britain's naval supremacy in the Indian Ocean. Accordingly, they asked to have construction halted, to which Germany and the Ottoman Empire acquiesced.

South America

In South America, Germany's primary interest was inArgentina, Brazil, Chile,andUruguayand viewed the countries of northern South America –Ecuador,Colombia,andVenezuela– as a buffer to protect its interest from the growing influence of the United States.^[96]Policymakers in Germany analysed the possibility of establishing bases inMargarita Islandand showed interest in theGalápagos Islandsbut soon abandoned any such designs given that far-flung bases in northern South America would be very vulnerable.^[97]^[96]Germany attempted to promote Chile, a country that washeavily influenced by Germany,^[98]into a regional counterweight to the United States.^[96]Germany and Britain managed through Chile to have Ecuador deny the United States a naval base in theGalápagos Islands.^[96]

Claims that German communities in South America acted as extensions of the German Empire were ubiquituous by 1900 but it has never been proved that these communities acted in such way to any significant degree.^[99]German political, cultural and scientific influence was particularly intense in Chile in the decades beforeWorld War I,and the prestige of Germany and German things in Chile remained high after the war but did not recover to its pre-war levels.^[98]^[99]

Pre-war Europe

Berlin was deeply suspicious of a supposed conspiracy of its enemies: that year-by-year in the early 20th century it was systematically encircled by enemies.^[100]There was a growing fear that the supposed enemy coalition of Russia, France and Britain was getting stronger militarily every year, especially Russia. The longer Berlin waited the less likely it would prevail in a war.^[101]According to American historianGordon A. Craig,it was after the set-back in Morocco in 1905 that the fear of encirclement began to be a potent factor in German politics. "^[102]Few outside observers agreed with the notion of Germany as a victim of deliberate encirclement.^[103]^[104]English historianG. M. Trevelyanexpressed the British viewpoint:

The encirclement, such as it was, was of Germany's own making. She had encircled herself by alienating France over Alsace-Lorraine, Russia by her support of Austria-Hungary's anti—Slav policy in the Balkans, England by building her rival fleet. She had created with Austria-Hungary a military bloc in the heart of Europe so powerful and yet so restless that her neighbors on each side had no choice but either to become her vassals or to stand together for protection....They used their central position to create fear in all sides, in order to gain their diplomatic ends. And then they complained that on all sides they had been encircled.^[105]

Wilhelm II, under pressure from his new advisors after Bismarck left, committed a fatal error when he decided to allow the "Reinsurance Treaty"that Bismarck had negotiated with Tsarist Russia to lapse. It allowed Russia to make a new alliance with France. Germany was left with no firm ally butAustria-Hungary,and her support for action in anne xingBosnia and Herzegovinain 1908 further soured relations with Russia. Berlin missed the opportunity to secure an alliance with Britain in the 1890s when it was involved in colonial rivalries with France, and he alienated British statesmen further by openly supporting the Boers in theSouth African Warand building a navy to rival Britain's. By 1911, Wilhelm had completely picked apart the careful power balance established by Bismarck and Britain turned to France in theEntente Cordiale.Germany's only other ally besides Austria was theKingdom of Italy,but it remained an ally onlypro forma.When war came, Italy saw more benefit in an alliance with Britain, France, and Russia, which, in the secretTreaty of Londonin 1915 promised it the frontier districts of Austria and also colonial concessions. Germany did acquire a second ally in 1914 when the Ottoman Empire entered the war on its side, but in the long run, supporting the Ottoman war effort only drained away German resources from the main fronts.^[106]

World War I

Origins

Following the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian ArchdukeFranz FerdinandbyGavrilo Princip,the Kaiser offered EmperorFranz Josephfull support for Austro-Hungarian plans to invade theKingdom of Serbia,which Austria-Hungary blamed for the assassination. This unconditional support for Austria-Hungary was called a "blank cheque" by historians, including GermanFritz Fischer.Subsequent interpretation – for example at theVersailles Peace Conference– was that this "blank cheque" licensed Austro-Hungarian aggression regardless of the diplomatic consequences, and thusGermany bore responsibility for starting the war,or at least provoking a wider conflict.

Germany began the war by targeting its chief rival, France. Germany saw the French Republic as its principal danger on the European continent as it could mobilize much faster than Russia and bordered Germany's industrial core in theRhineland.Unlike Britain and Russia, the French entered the war mainly for revenge against Germany, in particular for France'slossofAlsace-Lorraineto Germany in 1871. The German high command knew that France would muster its forces to go into Alsace-Lorraine. Aside from the very unofficialSeptemberprogramm,the Germans never stated a clear list of goals that they wanted out of the war.^[107]

Western Front

Germany did not want to risk lengthy battles along the Franco-German border and instead adopted theSchlieffen Plan,a military strategy designed to cripple France byinvading BelgiumandLuxembourg,sweeping down to encircle and crush both Paris and the French forces along the Franco-German border in a quick victory. After defeating France, Germany would turn to attack Russia. The plan required violating the official neutrality of Belgium and Luxembourg, whichBritainhad guaranteed by treaty. However, the Germans had calculated that Britain would enter the war regardless of whether they had formal justification to do so.^[108]At first the attack was successful: theGerman Armyswept down from Belgium and Luxembourg and advanced on Paris, at the nearby riverMarne.However, the evolution of weapons over the last century heavily favored defense over offense, especially thanks to the machine gun, so that it took proportionally more offensive force to overcome a defensive position. This resulted in the German lines on the offense contracting to keep up the offensive timetable while correspondingly the French lines were extending. In addition, some German units that were originally slotted for the German far-right were transferred to the Eastern Front in reaction to Russia mobilizing far faster than anticipated. The combined effect had the German right flank sweeping down in front of Paris instead of behind it exposing the German Right flank to the extending French lines and attack from strategic French reserves stationed in Paris. Attacking the exposed German right flank, theFrench Armyand theBritish Armyput up a strong resistance to the defense of Paris at theFirst Battle of the Marne,resulting in the German Army retreating to defensive positions along the riverAisne.A subsequentRace to the Searesulted in a long-held stalemate between the German Army and the Allies in dug-intrench warfarepositions fromAlsacetoFlanders.

German attempts to break through failed at the two battles ofYpres(1st/2nd) with huge casualties. A series of allied offensives in 1915 against German positions inArtoisandChampagneresulted in huge allied casualties and little territorial change. GermanChief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayndecided to exploit the defensive advantages that had shown themselves in the 1915 Allied offensives by attempting to goad France into attacking strong defensive positions near the ancient city ofVerdun.Verdun had been one of the last cities to hold out against the German Army in 1870, and Falkenhayn predicted that as a matter of national pride the French would do anything to ensure that it was not taken. He expected that he could take strong defensive positions in the hills overlooking Verdun on the east bank of the river Meuse to threaten the city and the French would launch desperate attacks against these positions. He predicted that French losses would be greater than those of the Germans and that continued French commitment of troops to Verdun would "bleed the French Army white." In February 1916, theBattle of Verdunbegan, with the French positions under constant shelling and poison gas attack and taking large casualties under the assault of overwhelmingly large German forces. However, Falkenhayn's prediction of a greater ratio of French killed proved to be wrong as both sides took heavy casualties. Falkenhayn was replaced byErich Ludendorff,and with no success in sight, the German Army pulled out of Verdun in December 1916 and the battle ended.

Eastern Front

While theWestern Frontwas a stalemate for the German Army, theEastern Fronteventually proved to be a great success. Despite initial setbacks due to the unexpectedly rapid mobilisation of the Russian army, which resulted in a Russian invasion of East Prussia and AustrianGalicia,the badly organised and suppliedRussian Army falteredand the German and Austro-Hungarian armies thereafter steadily advanced eastward. The Germans benefited from political instability in Russia and its population's desire to end the war. In 1917 the German government allowed Russia's communistBolshevikleaderVladimir Leninto travel through Germany fromSwitzerlandinto Russia. Germany believed that if Lenin could create further political unrest, Russia would no longer be able to continue its war with Germany, allowing the German Army to focus on the Western Front.

In March 1917, theTsarwas ousted from the Russian throne, and in November aBolshevikgovernment came to power under the leadership of Lenin. Facing political opposition, he decided to end Russia's campaign against Germany, Austria-Hungary, theOttoman EmpireandBulgariato redirect Bolshevik energy to eliminating internal dissent. In March 1918, by theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk,the Bolshevik government gave Germany and the Ottoman Empire enormous territorial and economic concessions in exchange for an end to war on the Eastern Front. All of present-dayEstonia,LatviaandLithuaniawas given over to the German occupation authorityOber Ost,along withBelarusandUkraine.Thus Germany had at last achieved its long-wanted dominance of "Mitteleuropa" (Central Europe) and could now focus fully on defeating the Allies on the Western Front. In practice, however, the forces that were needed to garrison and secure the new territories were a drain on the German war effort.

Colonies

Germany quickly lost almost all its colonies. However, inGerman East Africa,a guerrilla campaign was waged by the colonial army leader there, GeneralPaul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck.Using Germans and nativeAskaris,Lettow-Vorbeck launched multiple guerrilla raids against British forces inKenyaandRhodesia.He also invadedPortuguese Mozambiqueto gain his forces supplies and to pick up more Askari recruits. His force was still active at war's end.^[109]

1918

The defeat of Russia in 1917 enabled Germany to transfer hundreds of thousands of troops from the Eastern to the Western Front, giving it a numerical advantage over theAllies.By retraining the soldiers in newinfiltration tactics,the Germans expected to unfreeze the battlefield and win a decisive victory before the army of the United States, which had now entered the war on the side of the Allies, arrived in strength.^[110]In what was known as the "kaiserschlacht", Germany converged their troops and delivered multiple blows that pushed back the allies. However, the repeated German offensives in the spring of 1918 all failed, as the Allies fell back and regrouped and the Germans lacked thereservesneeded to consolidate their gains. Meanwhile, soldiers had become radicalised by theRussian Revolutionand were less willing to continue fighting. The war effort sparked civil unrest in Germany, while the troops, who had been constantly in the field without relief, grew exhausted and lost all hope of victory. In the summer of 1918, the British Army was at its peak strength with as many as 4.5 million men on the western front and 4,000 tanks for the Hundred Days Offensive, the Americans arriving at the rate of 10,000 a day, Germany's allies facing collapse and the German Empire's manpower exhausted, it was only a matter of time before multiple Allied offensives destroyed the German army.^[111]

Home front

The concept of "total war"meant that supplies had to be redirected towards the armed forces and, with German commerce being stopped by the Alliednaval blockade,German civilians were forced to live in increasingly meagre conditions. Firstfood priceswere controlled, then rationing was introduced. During the war about 750,000 German civilians died from malnutrition.^[112]

Towards the end of the war, conditions deteriorated rapidly on the home front, with severe food shortages reported in all urban areas. The causes included the transfer of many farmers and food workers into the military, combined with the overburdened railway system, shortages of coal, and the British blockade. The winter of 1916–1917 was known as the "turnip winter", because the people had to survive on a vegetable more commonly reserved for livestock, as a substitute for potatoes and meat, which were increasingly scarce. Thousands of soup kitchens were opened to feed the hungry, who grumbled that the farmers were keeping the food for themselves. Even the army had to cut the soldiers' rations.^[113]The morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink.

Spanish Flu Pandemic

The population of Germany was already suffering from outbreaks of disease due to malnutrition due to Allied blockade preventing food imports.Spanish fluarrived in Germany with returning troops. Around 287,000 people died of Spanish flu in Germany between 1918 and 1920 with 50,000 deaths in Berlin alone.

Revolt and demise

Many Germans wanted an end to the war and increasing numbers began to associate with the political left, such as theSocial Democratic Party(SPD) and the more radicalIndependent Social Democratic Party(USPD), which demanded an end to the war. Theentry of the U.S.into the war in April 1917 tipped the long-runbalance of powereven more in favour of the Allies.

The end of October 1918, inKiel,in northern Germany, saw the beginning of theGerman Revolution of 1918–1919.Units of the German Navy refused to set sail for a last, large-scale operation in a war which they saw as good as lost, initiating the uprising. On 3 November, the revolt spread to other cities and states of the country, in many of whichworkers' and soldiers' councilswere established. Meanwhile, Hindenburg and the senior generals lost confidence in the Kaiser and his government.

Bulgariasigned theArmistice of Salonicaon 29 September 1918. TheOttoman Empiresigned theArmistice of Mudroson 30 October 1918. Between 24 October and 3 November 1918, Italy defeatedAustria-Hungaryin thebattle of Vittorio Veneto,which forced Austria-Hungary to sign theArmistice of Villa Giustion 3 November 1918. So, in November 1918, with internal revolution, the Alliesadvancing toward Germany on the Western Front,Austria-Hungary falling apart from multiple ethnic tensions, its other allies out of the war and pressure from the German high command, the Kaiser and all German ruling kings, dukes, and princes abdicated, andGerman nobilitywas abolished. On 9 November, the Social DemocratPhilipp Scheidemann proclaimed a republic.The new government led by theGerman Social Democratscalled for and received anarmisticeon 11 November. It was succeeded by theWeimar Republic.^[114]Those opposed, including disaffected veterans, joined a diverse set of paramilitary and underground political groups such as theFreikorps,theOrganisation Consul,and the Communists.

Constitution

The Empire was afederal parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

TheFederal Council(Bundesrat) held sovereignty over the Empire and served as its highest authority.^[115]TheBundesratwas a legislative body that possessed the right oflegislative initiative(Article VII Nr. 1) and, because all laws required its consent, could effectively veto any bill coming from theReichstag(Article V).^[116]TheBundesratwas able to set guidelines and make organisational changes within the executive branch, act as supreme arbitrator in administrative disputes between states, and serve as constitutional court for states that did not have a constitutional court (Article LXXVI).^[116]It was composed of representatives who were appointed by and reported to the state governments.^[117]

TheImperial Diet(Reichstag) was a legislative body elected by universal male suffrage that effectively served as parliament. It had the right to propose bills and, with the concurrence of theBundesrat,approve the state budget annually and the military budget for periods of seven years until 1893, then after that for five years. All laws required theReichstag'sapproval to pass.^[118]After theconstitutional reforms of October 1918,the Reich chancellor, through a change to Article XV, became dependent on the confidence of theReichstagrather than the emperor.^[119]

Theemperor(Kaiser) washead of stateof the Empire – he was not a ruler. He appointed the chancellor, usually the person able to command the confidence of theReichstag.The chancellor, in consultation with the emperor, determined the government's broad policy guidelines and presented them to theReichstag.^[118]On the advice of the chancellor, the emperor appointed the ministers and – at least formally – all other imperial officers. All acts of the emperor except for military directives^[120]required the countersignature of the chancellor (Article XVII). The emperor was also responsible for signing bills into law, declaring war (which required the consent of theBundesrat), negotiating peace, making treaties, and calling and adjourning sessions of theBundesratand theReichstag(Articles XI and XII). The emperor wascommander-in-chiefof the Empire'sArmy(Article LXIII) andNavy(Article LIII);^[116]when exercising his military authority he hadplenary power.

The chancellor washead of governmentand chaired theBundesratand the Imperial Government, led the lawmaking process and countersigned all acts of the emperor (except for military directives).^[118]

Constituent states

Before unification, German territory (excluding Austria and Switzerland) was made up of 27 constituent states. These states consisted of kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies, principalities, freeHanseaticcities and one imperial territory. The free cities had a republican form of government on the state level, even though the Empire at large was constituted as a monarchy, and so were most of the states. Prussia was the largest of the constituent states, covering two-thirds of the empire's territory.

Several of these states had gained sovereignty following the dissolution of theHoly Roman Empire,and had beende factosovereign from the mid-1600s onward. Others were created as sovereign states after theCongress of Viennain 1815. Territories were not necessarily contiguous—many existed in several parts, as a result of historical acquisitions, or, in several cases, divisions of the ruling families. Some of the initially existing states, in particular Hanover, were abolished and annexed by Prussia as a result of the war of 1866.

Each component of the German Empire sent representatives to the Federal Council (Bundesrat) and, via single-member districts, the Imperial Diet (Reichstag). Relations between the Imperial centre and the Empire's components were somewhat fluid and were developed on an ongoing basis. The extent to which the German Emperor could, for example, intervene on occasions of disputed or unclear succession was much debated on occasion—for example in the inheritance crisis inLippe-Detmold.

Unusually for a federation or a nation-state, the German states maintained limited autonomy over foreign affairs and continued to exchange ambassadors and other diplomats (both with each other and directly with foreign nations) for the Empire's entire existence. Shortly after the Empire was proclaimed, Bismarck implemented a convention in which his sovereign would only send and receive envoys to and from other German states as the King of Prussia, while envoys from Berlin sent to foreign nations always received credentials from the monarch in his capacity as German Emperor. In this way, the Prussian foreign ministry was largely tasked with managing relations with the other German states while the Imperial foreign ministry managed Germany's external relations.

Map and table


State		Capital
Kingdoms(Königreiche)
	Prussia(Preußen) as a whole	Berlin
	Bavaria(Bayern)	Munich
	Saxony(Sachsen)	Dresden
	Württemberg	Stuttgart
Grand Duchies(Großherzogtümer)
	Baden	Karlsruhe
	Hesse(Hessen)	Darmstadt
	Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Schwerin
	Mecklenburg-Strelitz	Neustrelitz
	Oldenburg	Oldenburg
	Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach(Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach)	Weimar
Duchies(Herzogtümer)
	Anhalt	Dessau
	Brunswick(Braunschweig)	Braunschweig
	Saxe-Altenburg(Sachsen-Altenburg)	Altenburg
	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha(Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha)	Coburg
	Saxe-Meiningen(Sachsen-Meiningen)	Meiningen
Principalities(Fürstentümer)
	Lippe	Detmold
	Reuss-Gera(Junior Line)	Gera
	Reuss-Greiz(Elder Line)	Greiz
	Schaumburg-Lippe	Bückeburg
	Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt	Rudolstadt
	Schwarzburg-Sondershausen	Sondershausen
	Waldeck and Pyrmont(Waldeck und Pyrmont)	Arolsen
Free and Hanseatic Cities(Freie und Hansestädte)
	Bremen
	Hamburg
	Lübeck
Imperial Territories(Reichsländer)
	Alsace–Lorraine(Elsass-Lothringen)	Straßburg

Other maps

Administrative map
Population density (c. 1885)
Election constituencies for the Reichstag
Detailed map in 1893 with cities and larger towns

Demographics

About 92% of the population spoke German as their first language. The only minority language with a significant number of speakers (5.4%) wasPolish(a figure that rises to over 6% when including the relatedKashubianandMasurianlanguages).

The non-GermanGermanic languages(0.5%), likeDanish,DutchandFrisian,were located in the north and northwest of the empire, near the borders withDenmark,theNetherlands,Belgium,andLuxembourg.Low Germanwas spoken throughout northern Germany and, though linguistically as distinct from High German (Hochdeutsch) as from Dutch and English, was considered "German", hence also its name. Danish andFrisianwere spoken predominantly in the north of thePrussian province of Schleswig-Holsteinand Dutch in the western border areas of Prussia (Hanover,Westphalia,and theRhine Province).

Polish and otherWest Slavic languages(6.28%) were spoken chiefly in the east.^[c]

A few (0.5%) spoke French, the vast majority of these in the ReichslandElsass-Lothringenwhere francophones formed 11.6% of the total population.

1900 census results

Native languages of the citizens of the German Empire
(1 December 1900)^[121]
language	Count	Percentage
German^[122]	51,883,131	92.05
German and a foreign language	252,918	0.45
Polish	3,086,489	5.48
French	211,679	0.38
Masurian	142,049	0.25
Danish	141,061	0.25
Lithuanian	106,305	0.19
Kashubian	100,213	0.18
Wendish (Sorbian)	93,032	0.16
Dutch	80,361	0.14
Italian	65,930	0.12
Moravian (Czech)	64,382	0.11
Czech	43,016	0.08
Frisian	20,677	0.04
English	20,217	0.04
Russian	9,617	0.02
Swedish	8,998	0.02
Hungarian	8,158	0.01
Spanish	2,059	0.00
Portuguese	479	0.00
Other foreign languages	14,535	0.03
Imperial citizens	56,367,187	100

Linguistic maps

Immigration

In the 1860s, Russia removed privileges for German emigrants and placed pressure on German immigrants to assimilate. The majority of German emigrants left Russia after the turn of the century. Some of these ethnic Germans immigrated to Germany.^[123]

Religion

Generally, religious demographics of theearly modern periodhardly changed. Still, there were almost entirely Catholic areas (Lower and Upper Bavaria, northern Westphalia, Upper Silesia, etc.) and almost entirely Protestant areas (Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Saxony, etc.). Confessional prejudices, especially towards mixed marriages, were still common. Bit by bit, through internal migration, religious blending was more and more common. In eastern territories, confession was almost uniquely perceived to be connected to one's ethnicity and the equation "Protestant = German, Catholic = Polish" was held to be valid. In areas affected by immigration in the Ruhr area and Westphalia, as well as in some large cities, religious landscape changed substantially. This was especially true in largely Catholic areas of Westphalia, which changed through Protestant immigration from the eastern provinces.

Politically, the confessional division of Germany had considerable consequences. In Catholic areas, the Centre Party had a big electorate. On the other hand, Social Democrats andFree Trade Unionsusually received hardly any votes in the Catholic areas of the Ruhr. This began to change with the secularization arising in the last decades of the German Empire.

Religious confessions in the German Empire 1880
Area	Protestant		Catholic		Other Christian		Jewish		Other
Area	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Prussia	17,633,279	64.64	9,206,283	33.75	52,225	0.19	363,790	1.33	23,534	0.09
Bavaria	1,477,952	27.97	3,748,253	70.93	5,017	0.09	53,526	1.01	30	0.00
Saxony	2,886,806	97.11	74,333	2.50	4,809	0.16	6,518	0.22	339	0.01
Württemberg	1,364,580	69.23	590,290	29.95	2,817	0.14	13,331	0.68	100	0.01
Baden	547,461	34.86	993,109	63.25	2,280	0.15	27,278	1.74	126	0.01
Alsace-Lorraine	305,315	19.49	1,218,513	77.78	3,053	0.19	39,278	2.51	511	0.03
Total	28,331,152	62.63	16,232,651	35.89	78,031	0.17	561,612	1.24	30,615	0.07

In Germany'soverseas colonial empire,millions of subjects practiced variousindigenous religionsin addition to Christianity. Over two millionMuslimsalso lived under German colonial rule, primarily inGerman East Africa.^[124]

Distribution of Protestants and Catholics in Imperial Germany
Distribution of Protestants, Catholics and Jews in Imperial Germany (Meyers Konversationslexikon)
Distribution of Jews in Imperial Germany

Coat of arms

Legacy

The defeat andaftermath of the First World Warand the penalties imposed by theTreaty of Versaillesshaped the positive memory of the Empire, especially among Germans who distrusted and despised the Weimar Republic. Conservatives, liberals, socialists, nationalists, Catholics and Protestants all had their own interpretations, which led to a fractious political and social climate in Germany in the aftermath of the empire's collapse.

Under Bismarck, a united German state had finally been achieved, but it remained a Prussian-dominated state and did not include German Austria asPan-Germannationalists had desired. The influence of Prussianmilitarism,the Empire's colonial efforts and its vigorous, competitive industrial prowess all gained it the dislike and envy of other nations. The German Empire enacted a number of progressive reforms, such as Europe's first social welfare system and freedom of press. There was also a modern system for electing the federal parliament, the Reichstag, in which every adult man had one vote. This enabled theSocial Democratsand the CatholicCentre Partyto play considerable roles in the empire's political life despite the continued hostility of Prussian aristocrats.

The era of the German Empire is well remembered in Germany as one of great cultural and intellectual vigour.Thomas Mannpublished his novelBuddenbrooksin 1901.Theodor Mommsenreceived theNobel prize for literaturea year later for his Roman history. Painters like the groupsDer Blaue ReiterandDie Brückemade a significant contribution to modern art. TheAEG turbine factoryin Berlin byPeter Behrensfrom 1909 was a milestone in classic modern architecture and an outstanding example of emerging functionalism. The social, economic, and scientific successes of thisGründerzeit,or founding epoch, have sometimes led the Wilhelmine era to be regarded as agolden age.

In the field of economics, the "Kaiserzeit"laid the foundation of Germany's status as one of the world's leading economic powers. The iron and coal industries of theRuhr,theSaarandUpper Silesiaespecially contributed to that process. The first motorcar was built byKarl Benzin 1886. The enormous growth of industrial production and industrial potential also led to a rapid urbanisation of Germany, which turned the Germans into a nation of city dwellers. More than 5 million people left Germany for theUnited Statesduring the 19th century.^[125]

Sonderweg

Many historians have emphasized the central importance of a GermanSonderwegor "special path" (or "exceptionalism" ) as the root of Nazism and the German catastrophe in the 20th century. According to the historiography by Kocka (1988), the process of nation-building from above had very grievous long-term implications. In terms of parliamentary democracy, Parliament was kept weak, the parties were fragmented, and there was a high level of mutual distrust. The Nazis built on the illiberal, anti-pluralist elements of Weimar's political culture. The Junker elites (the large landowners in the east) and senior civil servants used their great power and influence well into the twentieth century to frustrate any movement toward democracy. They played an especially negative role in the crisis of 1930–1933. Bismarck's emphasis on military force amplified the voice of the officer corps, which combined advanced modernisation of military technology with reactionary politics. The rising upper-middle-class elites, in the business, financial and professional worlds, tended to accept the values of the old traditional elites. The German Empire was for Hans-Ulrich Wehler a strange mixture of highly successful capitalist industrialisation and socio-economic modernisation on the one hand, and of surviving pre-industrial institutions, power relations and traditional cultures on the other. Wehler argues that it produced a high degree of internal tension, which led on the one hand to the suppression of socialists, Catholics and reformers, and on the other hand to a highly aggressive foreign policy. For these reasonsFritz Fischerand his students emphasised Germany's primary guilt for causing the First World War.^[126]

Hans-Ulrich Wehler,a leader of theBielefeld Schoolof social history, places the origins of Germany's path to disaster in the 1860s–1870s, when economic modernisation took place, but political modernisation did not happen and the old Prussian rural elite remained in firm control of the army, diplomacy and the civil service. Traditional, aristocratic, premodern society battled an emerging capitalist, bourgeois, modernising society. Recognising the importance of modernising forces in industry and the economy and in the cultural realm, Wehler argues that reactionary traditionalism dominated the political hierarchy of power in Germany, as well as social mentalities and in class relations (Klassenhabitus). The catastrophic German politics between 1914 and 1945 are interpreted in terms of a delayed modernisation of its political structures. At the core of Wehler's interpretation is his treatment of "the middle class" and "revolution", each of which was instrumental in shaping the 20th century. Wehler's examination of Nazi rule is shaped by his concept of "charismatic domination", which focuses heavily on Hitler.^[127]

The historiographical concept of a GermanSonderweghas had a turbulent history. 19th-century scholars who emphasised a separate German path to modernity saw it as a positive factor that differentiated Germany from the "western path" typified by Great Britain. They stressed the strong bureaucratic state, reforms initiated by Bismarck and other strong leaders, the Prussian service ethos, the high culture of philosophy and music, and Germany's pioneering of a social welfare state. In the 1950s, historians inWest Germanyargued that theSonderwegled Germany to the disaster of 1933–1945. The special circumstances of German historical structures and experiences, were interpreted as preconditions that, while not directly causing National Socialism, did hamper the development of a liberal democracy and facilitate the rise of fascism. TheSonderwegparadigm has provided the impetus for at least three strands of research in German historiography: the "long 19th century",the history of the bourgeoisie, and comparisons with the West. After 1990, increased attention to cultural dimensions and to comparative and relational history moved German historiography to different topics, with much less attention paid to theSonderweg.While some historians have abandoned theSonderwegthesis, they have not provided a generally accepted alternative interpretation.^[128]

Military

The Empire of Germany had two armed forces:

theImperial German Army,which included
- Schutztruppe,
- Polizeitruppen,
- Imperial German Air Service,and
theImperial German Navy,
- Seebataillon.

Territorial legacy

In addition to present-day Germany, large parts of what comprised the German Empire now belong to several other modern European countries.

When lost from Germany	Name	Country	Region
Both World Wars	Alsace-Lorraine	France	ThedepartmentsofBas-Rhin,Haut-Rhin(both withinAlsaceregion) andMoselle(northeastern part of theLorraineregion)
Both World Wars	Eupen-Malmedy	Belgium	The two towns ofEupenandMalmedyand themunicipalitiesofAmel,Büllingen,Burg-Reuland,Bütgenbach,Kelmis,Lontzen,Raeren,WaimesandSt. Vith(all are parts ofLiège Provincein theWalloniaregion on the Belgian–German border)
World War II	Wylerberg	Netherlands	Duivelsberg(German:Wylerberg), an uninhabited hill and some nearby slivers of land, annexed by the Netherlands after WWII
World War I	Northern Schleswig	Denmark	South Jutland County(excluding towns of Taps, Hejle and Vejstrup), and the towns of Hviding, Roager and Spandet
Both World Wars	Hultschin Region	Czech Republic	Hlučín Region,on the Czech–Polish border in Silesia, whose German population waspartially deported following WWII;part ofCzechoslovakiauntil its dissolution in 1992
Both World Wars	Memel Territory	Lithuania	Klaipėda Region,annexed byLithuaniain 1923, retaken byNazi Germanyin 1939, from which Germans weredeported following WWIIby the Soviet authorities; now part of independent Lithuania since 1990
Both World Wars	Most ofWest PrussiaandPosen,a part ofUpper Silesia,parts of the districts ofBütow,LauenburgandStolpinPomerania,^[129]SoldauinEast Prussia	Poland	Silesian,PomeranianandGreater Poland Voivodeships,the towns ofBytów,Lębork,SłupskandDziałdowo(the German population wasdeported following WWII)
World War II	Silesia,East Brandenburg,Warmia,Masuria,southern East Prussia, central and eastern parts ofPomerania	Poland	Northern and western parts of the country, includingPomerania,Silesia,Lubusz Land,Warmia and Masuria,from all of which Germans weredeported following WWII
World War II	NorthernEast Prussia	Russia	TheKaliningrad Oblastexclave on the Baltic, from which Germans weredeported following WWII.Transferred to theRussian SFSRand continued as a part of Russia following thecollapse of the Soviet Union

Denotes territories lost in World War I

Denotes territories lost in both World Wars

Denotes territories lost in World War II

References

Informational notes

^Pronounced[ˌdɔʏtʃəsˈʁaɪç];today often referred to asDeutsches Kaiserreich.
^German:Zweites Reich
^The Slavic speakers includedPolish,Masurian,Kashubian,SorbianandCzechwere located in the east; Polish mainly in thePrussian provincesofPosen,West PrussiaandSilesia(Upper Silesia). Small islands also existed inRecklinghausen(Westphalia) with 13.8% of the population and in theKreisofCalau(Brandenburg) (5.5%) and in parts ofEast PrussiaandPomerania.Czech was spoken predominantly in the south of theSilesia,Masurian in the south of East Prussia, Kashubian in the north of West Prussia and Sorbian in theLusatianregions of Prussia (Brandenburg and Silesia) and theKingdom of Saxony.^{[citation needed]}

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^"Gesetz zur Abänderung der Reichsverfassung vom 28. Oktober 1918"[Law Amending the Imperial Constitution of 28 October 1918].documentarchiv.de(in German).Archivedfrom the original on 15 November 2022.Retrieved29 April2023.
^Huber, Ernst Rudolf (1988).Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789. Band III: Bismarck und das Reich[German Constitutional History since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the Reich] (in German) (3 ed.). Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Verlag. p. 1003.
^"Fremdsprachige Minderheiten im Deutschen Reich"(in German). Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2010.Retrieved20 January2010.
^IncludingLow German
^Oltmer, Jochen (2006).""The Unspoilt Nature of German Ethnicity": Immigration and Integration of "Ethnic Germans" in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic ".Nationalities Papers.34(4): 429–446.doi:10.1080/00905990600841959.ISSN 0090-5992.S2CID 162220760.Archivedfrom the original on 11 March 2023.Retrieved11 March2023.
^"The Hitler Legacy: The Nazi Cult in Diaspora" p. 64
^"A New Surge of Growth Archived6 February 2018 at theWayback Machine".Library of Congress.
^Jürgen Kocka (January 1988). "German History before Hitler: The Debate about the German 'Sonderweg'".Journal of Contemporary History.23(1): 3–16.doi:10.1177/002200948802300101.JSTOR 260865.S2CID 159651458.
^Wehler,Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte: Vom Beginn des Ersten Weltkrieges bis zur Gründung der Beiden Deutschen Staaten 1914–1949(2003) is the fourth volume of his monumental history of German society. None of the series has yet been translated into English. A partial summary appears in Hans-Ulrich Wehler,The German Empire, 1871–1918(1997)
^Helmut Walser Smith (May 2008). "When theSonderwegDebate Left Us ".German Studies Review.31(2): 225–240.
^Der Große Brockhaus.15th edition, vol. 14, Leipzig 1933, p. 741.

External links

Ravenstein's Atlas of the German Empire.Archived6 June 2013 at theWayback Machine.library.wis.edu.
Administrative subdivision and census results (1900/1910).gemeindeverzeichnis.de(in German).
German Reich map of states 1913 (300 dpi)
Dissemination of the German Language 1913 (map, 300 dpi)
Dissemination of the main foreign mother tongues in the German Reich 1913 (map, 300 dpi)

[15] Pronounced[ˌdɔʏtʃəsˈʁaɪç]^ⓘ;today often referred to asDeutsches Kaiserreich.

[21] German:Zweites Reich

[123] The Slavic speakers includedPolish,Masurian,Kashubian,SorbianandCzechwere located in the east; Polish mainly in thePrussian provincesofPosen,West PrussiaandSilesia(Upper Silesia). Small islands also existed inRecklinghausen(Westphalia) with 13.8% of the population and in theKreisofCalau(Brandenburg) (5.5%) and in parts ofEast PrussiaandPomerania.Czech was spoken predominantly in the south of theSilesia,Masurian in the south of East Prussia, Kashubian in the north of West Prussia and Sorbian in theLusatianregions of Prussia (Brandenburg and Silesia) and theKingdom of Saxony.^{[citation needed]}

[1] Seyler, Gustav A.:Die Wappen der deutschen Landesfürsten. Reprograf. Nachdr. von Siebmacher's Wappenbuch 1. Bd., 1. Abt. 2. – 5. Teil (Nürnberg 1909 – 1929)

[2] Preble, George Henry,History of the Flag of the United States of America: With a Chronicle of the Symbols, Standards, Banners, and Flags of Ancient and Modern Nations,2nd ed, p. 102; A. Williams and co, 1880

[3] Fischer, Michael; Senkel, Christian (2010). Klaus Tanner (ed.).Reichsgründung 1871: Ereignis, Beschreibung, Inszenierung.Münster: Bachmann Verlag.

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[122] Huber, Ernst Rudolf (1988).Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789. Band III: Bismarck und das Reich[German Constitutional History since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the Reich] (in German) (3 ed.). Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer Verlag. p. 1003.

[124] "Fremdsprachige Minderheiten im Deutschen Reich"(in German). Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2010.Retrieved20 January2010.

[125] IncludingLow German

[126] Oltmer, Jochen (2006).""The Unspoilt Nature of German Ethnicity": Immigration and Integration of "Ethnic Germans" in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic ".Nationalities Papers.34(4): 429–446.doi:10.1080/00905990600841959.ISSN 0090-5992.S2CID 162220760.Archivedfrom the original on 11 March 2023.Retrieved11 March2023.

[127] "The Hitler Legacy: The Nazi Cult in Diaspora" p. 64

[128] "A New Surge of Growth Archived6 February 2018 at theWayback Machine".Library of Congress.

[129] Jürgen Kocka (January 1988). "German History before Hitler: The Debate about the German 'Sonderweg'".Journal of Contemporary History.23(1): 3–16.doi:10.1177/002200948802300101.JSTOR 260865.S2CID 159651458.

[130] Wehler,Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte: Vom Beginn des Ersten Weltkrieges bis zur Gründung der Beiden Deutschen Staaten 1914–1949(2003) is the fourth volume of his monumental history of German society. None of the series has yet been translated into English. A partial summary appears in Hans-Ulrich Wehler,The German Empire, 1871–1918(1997)

[131] Helmut Walser Smith (May 2008). "When theSonderwegDebate Left Us ".German Studies Review.31(2): 225–240.

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v t e States of the German Empire(1871–1918)
Kingdoms	Bavaria Prussiaas a whole(Berlin,Brandenburg,East Prussia,Hanover,Hesse-Nassau,Hohenzollern,Pomerania(including theLauenburg and Bütow Landand the formerStarostwo of Draheim),Posen,Rhineland,Saxony,Schleswig-Holstein,Silesia,Westphalia,West Prussia) Saxony Württemberg
Grand Duchies	Baden Hesse-Darmstadt Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Weimar-Eisenach
Duchies	Anhalt Brunswick Altenburg Coburg-Gotha Lauenburg(until 1876) Meiningen
Principalities	Lippe Reuss-Gera(Junior Line) Reuss-Greiz(Elder Line) Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Waldeck and Pyrmont
City-states	Bremen Hamburg Lübeck
Imperial Territories	Alsace–Lorraine
Other	German colonial empire Mittelafrika Mitteleuropa

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History

Background

Foundation

Bismarck era

Foreign policy

Colonies

Economy

Industrial power

Railways

Consolidation

Social issues

Kulturkampf

Social reform

Antisemitism

Germanisation

Law

Year of the three emperors

Wilhelmine era

Bismarck's resignation

Domestic affairs

Foreign affairs

Colonialism

Middle East

South America

Pre-war Europe

World War I

Origins

Western Front

Eastern Front

Colonies

1918

Home front

Spanish Flu Pandemic

Revolt and demise

Constitution

Constituent states

Map and table

Other maps

Demographics

1900 census results

Linguistic maps

Immigration

Religion

Coat of arms

Legacy

Sonderweg

Military

Territorial legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links