German Empire

German Empire
Deutsches Kaiserreich
German Empire Deutsches Kaiserreich
1871–1918
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: Gott mit Uns; (German: "God with us”)
	Anthem: ; Heil dir im Siegerkranz (unofficial)
	The German Empire in 1914
Status	Empire
Capital	Berlin; 52°31′N 13°24′E / 52.517°N 13.400°ECoordinates: 52°31′N 13°24′E / 52.517°N 13.400°E
Common languages	German; Polish (Posen, Upper Silesia, Masuria); French (Lothringen region of Elsass-Lothringen)
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Emperor
• 1871-1888	Wilhelm I
• 1888-1888	Friedrich
• 1888-1918	Wilhelm II
Chancellor
• 1871-1890	Otto von Bismarck
• 3 Oct-9 Nov 1918	Max von Baden
History
• Victory in the Franco-Prussian War	January 18 1871
• Proclamation of the Weimar Republic	November 9 1918
Area
1910	540,766 km2 (208,791 sq mi)
Population
• 1871	41058792
• 1890	49428470
• 1910	64925993
Currency	Goldmark
ISO 3166 code	DE
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	North German Confederation
Weimar Republic

The German Empire or Germany ("Deutsches Reich" or "Deutsches Kaiserreich"or Deutschland in the German language) is the name for a group of German countries from January 18, 1871 to November 9, 1918. This is from the Unification of Germany when Wilhelm I of Prussia was made German Kaiser to when the third Emperor Wilhelm II was removed from power at the end of the First World War. In the 1920s, German nationalists started to call it the "Second Reich".

The name of Germany was "Deutsches Reich" until 1945. "Reich" can mean many things, empire, kingdom, state, "richness" or "wealth". Most members of the Empire were previously members of the North German Confederation.

At different times, there were three groups of smaller countries, each group was later called a "Reich" by some Germans. The first was the Holy Roman Empire. The second was the German Empire. The third was the Third Reich.

The words "Second Reich" were used for the German Empire by Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, a nationalist writer in the 1920s. He was trying to make a link with the earlier Holy Roman Empire which had once been very strong. Germany had lost First World War and was suffering big problems. van den Bruck wanted to start a "Third Reich" to unite the country. These words were later used by the Nazis to make themselves appear stronger.

States in the Empire[change | change source]


State		Capital
Kingdoms (Königreiche)
	Prussia (Preußen)	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, junior line	Gera
	Reuss, senior line	Greiz
	Schaumburg-Lippe	Bückeburg
	Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt	Rudolstadt
	Schwarzburg-Sondershausen	Sondershausen
	Waldeck-Pyrmont	Arolsen
Free Hanseatic cities (Freie Hansestädte)
	Bremen
	Hamburg
	Lübeck
Imperial territory (Reichsland)
	Alsace-Lorraine (Elsaß-Lothringen)	Straßburg