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- Bismarck and the rise of Prussia
German Empire, historical empire founded on January 18, 1871, in the wake of three short, successful wars by the North German state of Prussia. Within a seven-year span, Denmark, the Habsburg monarchy, and France had been vanquished. The empire had its origin not in an upwelling of nationalist feeling from the masses but through traditional cabinet...
The Treaty of Prague concluded the Seven Weeks’ War with Austria and other German states on August 23, 1866, and cleared the way for a settlement both in Prussia and in the wider affairs of Germany. The Schleswig-Holstein question, which had threatened the balance of power in northern Europe for more than a decade, took on a new dimension with the cession of Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia. The Prussian parliament had been dissolved at the beginning of the war, and new elections were held on the day of the Battle of Königgrätz (July 3, 1866). The liberals in the parliament had a reduced majority, and they were now split in their attitude to Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck; his success had shaken their liberal principles. The moderates broke away from the Progressives (Deutsche Fortschrittspartei) to form the National Liberal Party, a party in which liberalism was subordinated to nationalism. Bismarck, on his side, made a conciliatory gesture by asking for an act of indemnity for the unconstitutional collection of taxes since the beginning of the parliamentary struggle with Prussian King William I in 1862. This act was passed on September 3, 1866, by a vote of 230 to 75.
It was a decisive step in German history. The Prussian liberals, hitherto genuine opponents of Bismarck, dropped their insistence on parliamentary sovereignty in exchange for the prospect of German unity and for an assurance that united Germany would be administered in a “liberal” spirit. Instead of a struggle for power, there was henceforth compromise. The capitalist middle classes ceased to demand control of the state, and the crown and the Junker governing class conducted the state in a way which suited middle-class needs and outlook. Since the middle classes ceased to be liberals, the Prussian Junkers became “Germans.” Neither side kept its bargain fully, and there were renewed alarms of constitutional struggle throughout the period of the empire. However, the decision of September 3, 1866, was not undone, and Germany did not become a constitutional monarchy.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
War flag of Prussia A non-rectangular flag depicting an Imperial Eagle in the center of a white field, and in the upper-left corner, an Iron Cross is shown. 1918–1933
DateUse1956–War ensign and jack ( Seekriegsflagge und ...1960–1990Naval ensign ( Seekriegsflagge) of the ...1938–1945Naval ensign of Kriegsmarine1935–1938Naval ensign of KriegsmarineThe Flag of the German Empire, or Imperial Flag, Realm Flag, (German: Reichsflagge) is a combination between the flag of Prussia and the flag of the Hanseatic League.
- 1867; 156 years ago (first 2:3 ratio), 1933; 90 years ago (second 3:5 ratio)
- 1919; 104 years ago (first 2:3 ratio), 1935; 88 years ago (second 3:5 ratio)
- 2:3 (3:5 in 1933–1935)
Nov 20, 2013 · The Second Reich Germany (1870-1918) was a strange federal monarchy. Over the course of the 19th century, the Kingdom of Prussia grew to become the most powerful of the various German states.
The German Empire ( German: Deutsches Reich ), also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic.
(1871–1918) A continental and overseas empire ruled by Prussia. The First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire, which ended in 1806. The Second empire replaced the German Confederation and the short-lived North German Confederation (1866–70).
