Editing German Empire (section)

==History==

===Background===
{{Main|Unification of Germany}}
{{Multiple image
 |total_width=300
 |perrow   = 2
 |header   = Founders of the German Empire
 |image1   = Otto von Bismarck.JPG
 |caption1 = Chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] (pictured in 1873)
 |image2   = Wilhelm I German Emperor circa 1870.jpg
 |caption2 = Emperor [[William I, German Emperor|Wilhelm I]] (pictured {{Circa|1870}})
}}
The [[German Confederation]] had been created by an act of the [[Congress of Vienna]] on 8 June 1815 as a result of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], after being alluded to in [[:wikisource:Treaty of Paris (1814)#ART.VI|Article 6]] of the 1814 [[Treaty of Paris (1814)|Treaty of Paris]].{{Sfnp|Heeren|1873|p=480}}

The liberal [[Revolutions of 1848]] were crushed after the relations between the educated, well-off middle-class liberals and the urban artisans broke down; [[Otto von Bismarck]]'s pragmatic ''[[Realpolitik]]'', which appealed to peasants as well as the aristocracy, took its place.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Otto von Bismarck |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Otto-von-Bismarck |access-date=23 July 2019 |last=Barkin |first=Kenneth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917080008/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Otto-von-Bismarck |archive-date=17 September 2021}}</ref> Bismarck sought to extend [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] hegemony throughout the German states; to do so meant unification of the German states and the exclusion of [[Prussia]]'s main German rival, [[Austrian Empire|Austria]], from the subsequent German Empire. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. The [[Second Schleswig War]] against [[Denmark]] in 1864, the [[Austro-Prussian War]] in 1866, and the [[Franco-Prussian War]] in 1870–1871 sparked a growing pan-German ideal and contributed to the formation of the German state.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The [[German Confederation]] ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between the constituent Confederation entities of the [[Austrian Empire]] and 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 a [[North German Confederation]], comprising the 22 states north of the river [[Main (river)|Main]]. The patriotic fervor generated by the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 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.{{Sfnp|Case|1902|page=139}}

==== Foundation ====
{{Main|Proclamation of the German Empire}}
[[File:Wernerprokla.jpg|thumb|''Die Proklamation des Deutschen Kaiserreiches'' by [[Anton von Werner]] (1877), depicting the proclamation of Emperor William I (18 January 1871, [[Palace of Versailles]]). From left, on the podium (in black): Crown Prince Frederick (later [[Frederick III, German Emperor|Frederick III]]), his father the emperor, and [[Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden|Frederick I of Baden]], proposing a toast to the new emperor. At centre (in white): Otto von Bismarck, first Chancellor of Germany, [[Helmuth von Moltke the Elder]], Prussian Chief of Staff.]]
On 10 December 1870, the [[North German Confederation]] Reichstag renamed the Confederation the "German Empire" and gave the title of [[German Emperor]] to [[William I, German Emperor|William I]], the [[King of Prussia]], as ''Bundespräsidium'' of the Confederation.{{Sfnp|Case|1902|pages=139–140}} The new constitution ([[Constitution of the German Confederation (1871)|Constitution of the German Confederation]]) and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871. During the [[Siege of Paris (1870–1871)|siege of Paris]] on 18 January 1871, William was proclaimed Emperor in the [[Hall of Mirrors]] at the [[Palace of Versailles]].{{Sfnp|Case|1902|page=140}}

The second [[Constitution of the German Empire|German Constitution]], adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April,{{Sfnp|Case|1902|page=140}} was substantially based upon Bismarck's [[North German Constitution]]. The political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the ''[[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]]'', which was elected by [[Universal suffrage|universal 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 grossly [[Malapportionment|over-represented]].

The legislation also required the consent of the ''[[Bundesrat (German Empire)|Bundesrat]]'', the federal council of deputies from the 27 states. Executive power was vested in the emperor, or ''[[Kaiser]]'', who was assisted by a [[Chancellor of Germany|chancellor]] responsible 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 the ''Reichstag'' to call for new elections. Officially, the chancellor was a one-man cabinet and was responsible for the conduct of all state affairs; in practice, the [[State Secretary|State Secretaries]] (top bureaucratic officials in charge of such fields as finance, war, foreign affairs, etc.) functioned much like ministers in other monarchies. The ''Reichstag'' had 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

[[File:Berlin Nationaldenkmal Kaiser Wilhelm mit Schloss 1900.jpg|thumb|right|[[Berlin Palace]], the main residence of the House of Hohenzollern]]
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 new ''Reich'' and contained three-fifths of the country's population. The imperial crown was hereditary in the ruling house of Prussia, the [[House 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 the ''Bundesrat'', Berlin needed only a few votes from the smaller states to exercise effective control.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

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 virtually [[commemorative coin]]s and had limited circulation. While the states issued their own [[Military awards and decorations|decoration]]s and 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 in [[Empire of Japan|Imperial Japan]] under [[Emperor Meiji]] and the preservation of an authoritarian political structure under the [[tsar]]s in the [[Russian Empire]].{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

One factor in the social anatomy of these governments was the retention of a very substantial share in political power by the [[landed elite]], the [[Junker]]s, 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 a [[Prussian three-class franchise|three-class voting system]] which weighted votes based on the amount of taxes paid,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peter |first=Jelena |date=1 February 2000 |title=Das Preußische Dreiklassenwahlrecht |trans-title=The Prussian Three-Class Franchise |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/kaiserreich/das-reich/dreiklassenwahlrecht.html |access-date=19 January 2024 |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

===Bismarck era===
{{History of Germany sidebar}}
Bismarck's domestic policies played an important role in forging the authoritarian political culture of the ''Kaiserreich''. 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:

{{Blockquote|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.{{Sfnp|Kersbergen|Vis|2013|p=38}}}}

Bismarck created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s and enacted universal male suffrage in 1871.{{Sfnp|Moore|Vaudagna|2003|p=226}} He became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory and tried to emulate his policies.{{Sfnp|Frankel|2003|pp=543–560}}

====Foreign policy====

{{Further|International relations (1814–1919)}}
[[File:Karolinen-stamp.jpg|thumb|right|A postage stamp from the [[Caroline Islands]]]]

Bismarck's post-1871 foreign policy was conservative and sought to preserve the balance of power in Europe. British historian [[Eric Hobsbawm]] concludes 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".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hobsbawm |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Hobsbawm |title=The Age of Empire: 1875–1914 |date=1987 |page=312}}</ref> 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."{{Sfnp|Young|2006|p=33}}

Bismarck's chief concern was that France would plot revenge after its defeat in the [[Franco-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 the [[Dual 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, the ''[[League of the Three Emperors|Dreikaiserbund]]'' (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 [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] continued to 1915, when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Despite Germany, and especially Austria's, lack of faith in the Russian alliance, the [[Reinsurance Treaty#:~:text=The Reinsurance Treaty was a,Petersburg.|Reinsurance Treaty]] would be first signed in 1887, and renewed up until 1890, when the Bismarckian system collapsed upon Bismarck's resignation.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

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 to [[Georg 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 the [[Berlin–Baghdad railway]], financed by German banks, was designed to eventually connect Germany with the Ottoman Empire and the [[Persian Gulf]], but it also collided with British and Russian geopolitical interests. Conflict over the Baghdad Railway was resolved in June 1914.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Many consider Bismarck's foreign policy as a coherent system and partly responsible for the preservation of Europe's stability. 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. {{Sfnp|Tipton|2003|p=170}} 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.{{Sfnp|Gvosdev|Marsh|2013|p=241}}

====Colonies====
{{Main|German colonial empire}}
[[File:German_colonial.PNG|thumb|374x374px|The [[German colonial empire]] and its protectorates in 1914]]
Germans had dreamed of colonial imperialism since 1848.{{Sfnp|Fitzpatrick|2007|pp=135–161}} Although Bismarck had little interest in acquiring overseas possessions, most Germans were enthusiastic, and by 1884 he had acquired [[German New Guinea]].{{Sfnp|Ciarlo|2008|pp=285–298}} By the 1890s, German colonial expansion in Asia and the Pacific ([[Jiaozhou Bay]] and [[Tianjin]] in China, the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]], the [[Caroline Islands]], Samoa) led to frictions with the UK, Russia, Japan, and the US. The largest colonial enterprises were in Africa,<ref>{{Harvp|Gann|Duignan|1977}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}} (political and economic history)</ref><ref>{{Harvp|Perraudin|Zimmerer|2010}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}} (cultural impact in Africa and Germany).</ref> where the [[Herero Wars]] in what is now [[Namibia]] in 1906–1907 resulted in the [[Herero and Nama genocide]].{{Sfnp|Dedering|1993|pp=80–88}}

====Economy====
{{Further|Economic history of Germany}}
{{See also|Urbanization in the German Empire}}

By 1900, Germany became the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world behind the United States and the [[British 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&nbsp;million, while by 1913, this had increased to a predominantly urban population of 68&nbsp;million.{{Sfnp|Milward|Saul|1977|pp=17–70}}

=====Industrial power=====
{{Main|Economic history of Germany#Industrial Revolution|Industrialization in Germany}}
[[File:Essen a54 v Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg|thumb|The [[Krupp]] works in [[Essen]], 1890]]
For 30 years, Germany struggled against Britain to be Europe's leading industrial power. Representative of Germany's industry was the steel giant [[Krupp]], whose first factory was built in [[Essen]]. 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."{{Sfnp|Taylor, Edmund|1967|p=206}}

Under Bismarck, Germany was a world innovator in building the [[welfare state]]. German workers enjoyed health, accident and maternity benefits, canteens, changing rooms, and a national pension scheme.<ref name="Hennock">{{Harvp|Hennock|2007}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Harvp|Tilly|Kopsidis|2020}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

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).{{Sfnp|Streb|2006|pp=347–373}} 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 German [[cartel]] system (known as ''Konzerne''), 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 of [[Alsace-Lorraine]] in 1871, it absorbed parts of what had been France's industrial base.{{Sfnp|Broadberry|O'Rourke|2010}}

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.{{Sfnp|Torp|2014|p=63}}

German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts.<ref name="Germany article of Encyclopedia Britannia"/> By 1913, the German electricity production was higher than the combined electricity production of Britain, France, Italy and Sweden.{{Sfnp|Berend|2016|p=28}}

By 1900, the German chemical industry dominated the world market for [[Dye|synthetic dyes]].<ref>{{Harvp|Beer|1981}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> The three major firms [[BASF]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abelshauser |first=Werner |title=German History and Global Enterprise: BASF: The History of a Company |date=2004}} (covers 1865 to 2000)</ref> [[Bayer]] and [[Hoechst AG|Hoechst]] produced 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.{{Sfnp|Berend|2016|p=28}} 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 as [[Drug|pharmaceuticals]], [[photographic film]], [[Agrichemical|agricultural chemicals]] and [[Electrochemistry|electrochemicals]]. 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".{{Sfnp|Chandler|2004|pp=474–475}} There were many spinoffs from research—such as the pharmaceutical industry, which emerged from chemical research.{{Sfnp|Burhop|2009|pp=475–477}}

By the start of [[World 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 the [[Ruhr]] and other industrial districts and provided good connections to the major ports of [[Hamburg]] and [[Bremen]]. By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France.<ref>{{Harvp|Mitchell|2000}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> The total length of German railroad tracks expanded from {{Cvt|21,000|km|mi}} in 1871 to {{Cvt|63,000|km|mi}} by 1913, establishing the largest rail network in the world after the United States.<ref>{{Harvp|Feuchtwanger|2002|at=Table 1}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> The German rail network was followed by Austria-Hungary ({{Cvt|43,280|km|disp=semicolon}}), France ({{Cvt|40,770|km|disp=semicolon}}), the United Kingdom ({{Cvt|32,623|km|disp=semicolon}}), Italy ({{Cvt|18,873|km|disp=semicolon}}) and Spain ({{Cvt|15,088|km|disp=semicolon}}).{{Sfnp|Broadberry|O'Rourke|2010|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YHk0z-ujS3AC&pg=PA80 80]}}

====Consolidation====
The creation of the Empire under Prussian leadership was a victory for the concept of {{Lang|de|[[Kleindeutschland and Großdeutschland|Kleindeutschland]]}} (Smaller Germany) over the ''Großdeutschland'' concept. 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|date=April 2023}} The effective alliance between Germany and Austria played a major role in Germany's decision to enter [[Causes of World War I|World War I]] in 1914.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

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.{{Sfnp|Grenville|2000|p= 342}}

====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 the [[Holy See|Vatican]] under [[Pope Pius IX]], and working-class radicalism, represented by the emerging [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]].

=====Kulturkampf=====
{{Main|Kulturkampf}}
{{See also|Pope Pius IX and Germany}}
[[File:Kladderadatsch 1875 - Zwischen Berlin und Rom.png|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Tensions between Germany and the Catholic Church hierarchy as depicted in a chess game between Bismarck and [[Pope Pius IX]]. ''Between Berlin and Rome'', [[Kladderadatsch]], 1875.]]
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, the [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre 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 in [[Silesia]]. A powerful intellectual force of the time was [[anti-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 of [[papal infallibility]] in 1870, and the tightening control of the Vatican over the local bishops.{{Sfnp|Lamberti|2001|pp=169–187}}

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 strict [[state education|government supervision of schools]] was applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools were left alone.{{Sfnp|Lamberti|2001|p=177}}

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.<ref>{{Harvp|Ross|1998}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

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.{{Sfnp|Holborn|1969|pages=258–260}}{{Sfnp|Clark|2006|pages=568–576}}

=====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 modern [[European 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.<ref name=Hennock/><ref>{{Harvp|Beck|1997}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> 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.{{Sfnp|Spencer|1979|pp=40–64}}{{Sfnp|Lambi|1962|pp=59–70}}

=====Antisemitism=====
As it was throughout Europe at the time, [[antisemitism]] was endemic in Germany during the period. Before [[Napoleon]]'s decrees ended the ghettos in [[Confederation of the Rhine]], it had been religiously motivated, but by the 19th century, it was a factor in [[German 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.<ref>{{Harvp|Levy|1975}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> But after the [[Treaty of Versailles]], and [[Adolf Hitler]]'s rise to power in [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], antisemitism in Germany would increase.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Everyday Antisemitism in Pre-War Nazi Germany |url=https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/microsoft%20word%20-%205618.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040512132613/http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205618.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2004}}</ref>

=====Germanisation=====
{{Main|Germanisation}}
[[File:Rugi pruskie.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Prussian deportations]] of ethnic [[Polish people|Poles]] ''(Polenausweisungen)'', 1909 painting by [[Wojciech Kossak]]]]
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 the [[Polish people|Poles]].{{Sfnp|Baycroft|Hewitson|2006|p=166}}

The Germanisation policies were targeted particularly [[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|against the significant Polish minority]] of the empire, gained by Prussia in the [[partitions of Poland]]. Poles were treated as an [[ethnic minority]] even where they made up the majority, as in the [[Province of Posen]], where a series of anti-Polish measures was enforced.<ref>{{Harvp|Kulczycki|1981}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> 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.{{Sfnp|Broszat|1978|p=144}}

====Law====
[[File:Meyers b18 s0533a.jpg|thumb|Crime; convicts in relation to the population, 1882–1886]]
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 the [[German Confederation|Confederation]] in 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 common {{Ill|Reich criminal code|lt=criminal code |de|Reichsstrafgesetzbuch}} was introduced; in 1877, common court procedures were established in the court system by the {{Ill|courts constitution act|de|Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz}}, code of civil procedure ({{Lang|de|[[Zivilprozessordnung (Germany)|Zivilprozessordnung]]}}) and code of criminal procedure ({{Lang|de|{{Ill|Strafprozessordnung|de|Strafprozessordnung (Deutschland)|v=sup}}}}). 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 the {{Lang|de|[[General State Laws for the Prussian States|Allgemeines Preußisches Landrecht]]}} of 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 the {{Lang|de|[[Bürgerliches 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 these [[Codification (law)|codification]]s are, albeit with many amendments, still in effect today.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
<gallery widths=180>
Legal systems in 1895 Germany.png| Different legal systems in Germany prior to 1900
DR Fields of Law.png|Fields of law in the German Empire
</gallery>

===Year of the three emperors===
[[File:Emperor Friedrich III.png|thumb|upright|[[Frederick III, German Emperor|Frederick III]] was emperor for only 99 days (9 March{{Spaced en dash}}15 June 1888)]]
{{Main|Year of the Three Emperors}}

On 9 March 1888, Wilhelm I died shortly before his 91st birthday, leaving his son [[Frederick III, German Emperor|Frederick]] as the new emperor. Frederick was a liberal and an admirer of the British constitution,{{Sfnp|Kitchen|2000|p=214}} while his links to Britain strengthened further with his marriage to [[Victoria, Princess Royal|Princess Victoria]], eldest child of [[Queen Victoria]]. With his ascent to the throne, many hoped that Frederick's reign would lead to a [[liberalization]] of the Reich and an increase of parliament's influence on the political process. The dismissal of [[Robert von Puttkamer]], the highly conservative [[Interior Minister of Prussia|Prussian 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 incurable [[laryngeal cancer]], which had been diagnosed in 1887. He died on the 99th day of his rule, on 15 June 1888. His son [[Wilhelm II|Wilhelm]] became emperor.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

===Wilhelmine era===

====Bismarck's resignation====
[[File:Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany - 1902.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Wilhelm II]] in 1902]]

[[Wilhelm II]] wanted 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.{{Sfnp|Kurtz|1970|p=60}} 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 in [[Upper Silesia]]. Bismarck demanded that the [[German Army (German Empire)|German Army]] be 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."{{Sfnp|Stürmer|2000 |p=63}} 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. The fractious relationship ended in March 1890, after Wilhelm II and Bismarck quarrelled, and the chancellor resigned days later.{{Sfnp|Kurtz|1970|p=60}}

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. Wilhelm allowed politician [[Walther Rathenau]] to tutor him in European economics and industrial and financial realities in Europe.{{Sfnp|Kurtz|1970|p=63}}

As [[Isabel V. Hull]] noted in 2024, Bismarckian foreign policy "was too sedate for the reckless Kaiser".{{Sfn |Hull|2004|p=85}} Wilhelm became internationally notorious for his aggressive stance on foreign policy and his strategic blunders (such as the [[First Moroccan Crisis|Tangier Crisis]]), which pushed the German Empire into growing political isolation and eventually helped to cause [[World War I]].

====Domestic affairs====
[[File:Reichstagsgebaeude.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Reichstag building|Reichstag]]'' in the 1890s{{\}}early 1900s]]

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 as [[Prime Minister of Prussia]] assigned to them in the German Constitution. The reforms of Chancellor [[Leo 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.{{Sfnp|Kurtz|1970|p=67}}

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.{{Sfnp|Kurtz|1970|p=72}} However nearly all the schools in Imperial Germany had a very high standard and kept abreast with modern developments in knowledge.<ref>{{Harvp|Cocks|Jarausch|1990}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

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".{{Sfnp|Kurtz|1970|p=76}} It was largely thanks to Wilhelm's influence that most printed material in Germany used [[blackletter]] instead of the Roman type used in the rest of Western Europe. At the same time, a new generation of cultural creators emerged.<ref>{{Harvp|Jefferies|2003}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

[[File:Berlin Unter den Linden Cafe Bauer um 1900.jpg|thumb|Berlin in the late 19th century]]
From the 1890s onwards, the most effective opposition to the monarchy came from the newly formed [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD), whose radicals advocated [[Marxism]]. 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.{{Sfnp|Kurtz|1970|p=72}}

Having learned from the failure of Bismarck's [[Kulturkampf]], Wilhelm II maintained good relations with the Roman Catholic Church and concentrated on opposing socialism.{{Sfnp|Kurtz|1970|p=56}} This policy failed when the Social Democrats won a third of the votes in the [[1912 German federal election|1912 elections]] to the ''Reichstag'', 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 future [[President of Germany|German president]], Field Marshal [[Paul von Hindenburg]] and ''Generalquartiermeister'' [[Erich 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.{{Sfnp|Cecil|1996|loc=ch. 9–13}}

====Foreign affairs====

{{Further|International relations (1814–1919)}}

=====Colonialism=====
{{Main|German colonial empire}}
[[File:Kongokonferenz.jpg|thumb|[[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] at the [[Berlin Conference]], 1884]]

Wilhelm II wanted Germany to have her "[[place in the sun]]", like Britain, which he constantly wished to emulate or rival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilhelm II (1859–1941) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilhelm_kaiser_ii.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808170841/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilhelm_kaiser_ii.shtml |archive-date=8 August 2018 |access-date=19 April 2014 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> 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 acquired [[German South West Africa|German Southwest Africa]] (modern [[Namibia]]), [[Kamerun|German Kamerun]] (modern [[Cameroon]]), [[Togoland]] (modern [[Togo]]) and [[German East Africa]] (modern [[Rwanda]], [[Burundi]], and the mainland part of current [[Tanzania]]). Islands were gained in the Pacific through purchase and treaties and also a 99-year lease for the territory of [[Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory|Jiaozhou]] in northeast China. But of these German colonies only Togoland and [[German 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.
[[File:Reichskolonialflagge.svg|thumb|left|Flag of the German colonial empire]]{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

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. The [[Boxer Rebellion|Boxer Rising]] in China, which the Chinese government eventually sponsored, began in the Shandong province, in part because Germany, as colonizer at [[Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory|Jiaozhou]], 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 the [[Hun]] invaders of continental Europe – an unfortunate remark that would later be resurrected by British propagandists to paint Germans as barbarians during [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]{{According to whom|date=October 2023}}. On two occasions, a French-German conflict over the fate of Morocco seemed inevitable.
[[File:Herero chained.jpg|thumb|Prisoners from the [[Herero people|Herero]] tribe during the 1904-1908 revolt]]

Upon acquiring Southwest Africa, German settlers were encouraged to cultivate land held by the [[Herero people|Herero]] and [[Nama people|Nama]]. Herero and Nama tribal lands were used for a variety of exploitative goals (much as the British did before in [[Rhodesia]]), including farming, ranching, and mining for minerals and [[diamonds]]. 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 the [[Herero 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, General [[Lothar 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

=====Middle East=====
Bismarck and [[Wilhelm II]] after him sought closer economic ties with the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Under Wilhelm II, with the financial backing of the [[Deutsche Bank]], the [[Baghdad Railway]] was begun in 1900, although by 1914 it was still {{Cvt|500|km|mi}} short of its destination in Baghdad.{{Sfnp|Stürmer|2000|p=91}} In an interview with Wilhelm in 1899, [[Cecil Rhodes]] had 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.{{Sfnp|Louis|1963|p=163}} Britain initially supported the [[Baghdad Railway]]; but by 1911 British statesmen came to fear it might be extended to [[Basra]] on the [[Persian 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

=====South America=====
In South America, Germany's primary interest was in [[ABC countries|Argentina, Brazil, Chile]], and [[Uruguay]] and viewed the countries of northern South America—[[Ecuador]], [[Colombia]], and [[Venezuela]]—as a buffer to protect its interest from the growing influence of the United States.{{Sfnp|Fischer|2008|pp=135–160}} Policymakers in Germany analysed the possibility of establishing bases in [[Margarita Island]] and showed interest in the [[Galápagos Islands]] but soon abandoned any such designs given that far-flung bases in northern South America would be very vulnerable.{{Sfnp|Mitchell|1999|p=67}}{{Sfnp|Fischer|2008|pp=135–160}} Germany attempted to promote Chile, a country that was [[German influence in Chile|heavily influenced by Germany]],<ref name="Carlos2011">{{Cite book |last=Sanhueza |first=Carlos |title=Ideas viajeras y sus objetos. El intercambio científico entre Alemania y América austral. Madrid–Frankfurt am Main: Iberoamericana–Vervuert |date=2011 |pages=29–40 |language=es |chapter=El debate sobre "el embrujamiento alemán" y el papel de la ciencia alemana hacia fines del siglo XIX en Chile |chapter-url=http://publications.iai.spk-berlin.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/Document_derivate_00000510/BIA%20146%20Sanhueza.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221182758/http://publications.iai.spk-berlin.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/Document_derivate_00000510/BIA%20146%20Sanhueza.pdf |archive-date=21 December 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> into a regional counterweight to the United States.<ref name="Fischer2008">{{Cite journal |last=Fischer |first=Ferenc |date=1 January 2008 |title=La expansión (1885–1918) del modelo militar alemán y su pervivencia (1919–1933) en América Latina |journal=Revista del CESLA |language=es |publisher=[[Uniwersytet Warszawski]] |volume=11 |pages=135–160}}</ref> Germany and Britain managed through Chile to have Ecuador deny the United States a naval base in the [[Galápagos Islands]].<ref name="Fischer2008"/>

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.{{Sfnp|Penny|2017|pp=519–549}} German political, cultural and scientific influence was particularly intense in Chile in the decades before [[World 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.{{Sfnp|Sanhueza|2011|pp=29–40}}{{Sfnp|Penny|2017|pp=519–549}}

=====Pre-war Europe=====
{{Main|Causes of World War I|Diplomatic history of World War I}}
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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=E. Malcolm |title=Germany and the great powers, 1866–1914: A study in public opinion and foreign policy |date=1938 |pages=485–487, 830} |ol=7014761W}}</ref> 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.{{Sfnp|Seligmann|2002|pp=333–355}} According to American historian [[Gordon 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."{{Sfnp|Craig|1978|p=321}} Few outside observers agreed with the notion of Germany as a victim of deliberate encirclement.{{Sfnp|Geise|1976|pp=121–138}}<ref>{{Harvp|Kantorowicz|1931}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> English historian [[G. M. Trevelyan]] expressed the British viewpoint:

{{Blockquote|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trevelyan |first=G. M. |author-link=G. M. Trevelyan |title=British history in the 19th century and after 1782–1919 |date=1937 |page=463 |ol=10439924W |orig-date=1922}}</ref>}}

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 but [[Austria-Hungary]], and her support for action in annexing [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] in 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 the [[South African War]] and 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 the [[Entente Cordiale]]. Germany's only other ally besides Austria was the [[Kingdom of Italy]], but it remained an ally only ''pro forma''. When war came, Italy saw more benefit in an alliance with Britain, France, and Russia, which, in the secret [[Treaty of London (1915)|Treaty of London]] in 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.{{Sfnp|Craig|1978|pp=302–338, 350}}

===World War I===
{{See also|History of Germany during World War I}}

====Origins====
{{Main|German entry into World War I}}
[[File:WWI-re.png|thumb|upright=1.75|Map of the world showing the participants in World War I. Those fighting on the [[Triple Entente|Entente]]'s side (at one point or another) are depicted in green, the [[Central Powers]] in orange, and neutral countries in grey.]]

Following the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Franz Ferdinand]] by [[Gavrilo Princip]], the Kaiser offered Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]] full support for Austro-Hungarian plans to invade the [[Kingdom of Serbia]], which Austria-Hungary blamed for the assassination. This unconditional support for Austria-Hungary was called a "blank cheque" by historians, including German [[Fritz Fischer (historian)|Fritz Fischer]]. Subsequent interpretation – for example at the [[Versailles Peace Conference]] – was that this "blank cheque" licensed Austro-Hungarian aggression regardless of the diplomatic consequences, and thus [[War Guilt Clause|Germany 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 the [[Rhineland]]. Unlike Britain and Russia, the French entered the war mainly for revenge against Germany, in particular for France's [[Franco-Prussian War|loss]] of [[Alsace-Lorraine]] to Germany in 1871. The German high command knew that France would muster its forces to go into Alsace-Lorraine. Aside from the very unofficial [[Septemberprogramm]], the Germans never stated a clear list of goals that they wanted out of the war.{{Sfnp|Stibbe|2006|pp=176–178}}

====Western Front====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R19231, Berlin, Mobilmachung.jpg|thumb|German troops being mobilized, 1914]]

Germany did not want to risk lengthy battles along the Franco-German border and instead adopted the [[Schlieffen Plan]], a military strategy designed to cripple France by [[Rape of Belgium|invading Belgium]] and [[Luxembourg]], 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, which [[British Empire|Britain]] had guaranteed by treaty. However, the Germans had calculated that Britain would enter the war regardless of whether they had formal justification to do so.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Schlieffen Plan {{!}} German military history |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Schlieffen-Plan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802075838/https://www.britannica.com/event/Schlieffen-Plan |archive-date=2 August 2019 |access-date=18 May 2021 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> At first the attack was successful: the [[German Army (German Empire)|German Army]] swept down from Belgium and Luxembourg and advanced on Paris, at the nearby river [[Marne (river)|Marne]]. 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, the [[French Army]] and the [[British Army]] put up a strong resistance to the defense of Paris at the [[First Battle of the Marne]], resulting in the German Army retreating to defensive positions along the river [[Aisne (river)|Aisne]]. A subsequent [[Race to the Sea]] resulted in a long-held stalemate between the German Army and the Allies in dug-in [[trench warfare]] positions from [[Alsace]] to [[Flanders]].
[[File:Karte Brigadestandorte des Deutschen Heers 1914.png|thumb|left|German Army positions, 1914]]{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

German attempts to break through failed at the two battles of [[Ypres]] ([[First Battle of Ypres|1st]]/[[Second Battle of Ypres|2nd]]) with huge casualties. A series of allied offensives in 1915 against German positions in [[Second Battle of Artois|Artois]] and [[Second Battle of Champagne|Champagne]] resulted in huge allied casualties and little territorial change. German [[Chief of Staff]] [[Erich von Falkenhayn]] decided 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 of [[Verdun]]. 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, the [[Battle of Verdun]] began, 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 by [[Erich Ludendorff]], and with no success in sight, the German Army pulled out of Verdun in December 1916 and the battle ended.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

====Eastern Front====
[[File:Map Treaty of Brest-Litovsk-de.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]] at the time of the cease-fire and the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]]]

While the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] was a stalemate for the German Army, the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]] eventually 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 Austrian [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]], the badly organised and supplied [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian Army]] [[Battle of Tannenberg|faltered]] and 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 communist [[Bolshevik]] leader [[Vladimir Lenin]] to travel through Germany from [[Switzerland]] into 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In March 1917, the [[Tsar]] was ousted from the Russian throne, and in November a [[Bolshevik]] government came to power under the leadership of Lenin. Facing political opposition, he decided to end Russia's campaign against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the [[Ottoman Empire]] and [[Bulgaria]] to redirect Bolshevik energy to eliminating internal dissent. In March 1918, by the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty 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-day <!--three Baltic countries--> [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]] was given over to the German occupation authority ''[[Ober Ost]]'', along with [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]]. 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

====Colonies====
Germany quickly lost almost all its colonies. However, in [[German East Africa]], a guerrilla campaign was waged by the colonial army leader there, General [[Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck|Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck]]. Using Germans and native [[Askari]]s, Lettow-Vorbeck launched multiple guerrilla raids against British forces in [[Kenya]] and [[Rhodesia]]. He also invaded [[Portuguese Mozambique]] to gain his forces supplies and to pick up more Askari recruits. His force was still active at war's end.<ref>{{Harvp|Hoyt|1981}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

====1918====
[[File:German Empire in 1918.png|thumb|The German Empire during [[World War I]], shortly before its collapse:
{{Legend|#336733|Home Territory (1871–1918)}}
{{Legend|#48a448|[[Puppet states]] (1917–1918)}}
{{Legend|#77c977|Occupied territory (1914–1918)}}]]
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 the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]]. By retraining the soldiers in new [[infiltration 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.<ref>{{Harvp|Herwig|1996}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> 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 the [[military reserve|reserves]] needed to consolidate their gains. Meanwhile, soldiers had become radicalised by the [[Russian Revolution]] and 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&nbsp;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.<ref>{{Harvp|Paschall|1994}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

The concept of "[[total war]]" meant that supplies had to be redirected towards the armed forces and, with German commerce being stopped by the Allied [[naval blockade]], German civilians were forced to live in increasingly meagre conditions. First [[food prices]] were controlled, then rationing was introduced. During the war about 750,000 German civilians died from malnutrition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=German Historical Museum |author-link=German Historical Museum |title=1914–18: Lebensmittelversorgung |url=http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/wk1/wirtschaft/versorgung/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001102140012/http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/wk1/wirtschaft/versorgung/index.html |archive-date=2 November 2000 |access-date=23 July 2007 |language=de}}</ref>

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.{{Sfnp|Chickering|2004|pages=141–142}} The morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink. The population of Germany was already suffering from outbreaks of disease due to malnutrition due to Allied blockade preventing food imports. [[Spanish flu]] arrived 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

=====Revolt and demise=====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 175-01448, Berlin, Reichskanzlei, Philipp Scheidemann.jpg|thumb|The [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] leader [[Philipp Scheidemann]] [[Proclamation of the republic in Germany|proclaims the republic for Germany]] from the [[Reichstag building]] on 9 November 1918.]]
Many Germans wanted an end to the war and increasing numbers began to associate with the political left, such as the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD) and the more radical [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|Independent Social Democratic Party]] (USPD), which demanded an end to the war. The [[American entry into World War I|entry of the U.S.]] into the war in April 1917 tipped the long-run [[balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] even more in favour of the Allies.

The end of October 1918, in [[Kiel]], in northern Germany, saw the beginning of the [[German 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 which [[German workers' and soldiers' councils 1918–1919|workers' and soldiers' councils]] were established. Meanwhile, Hindenburg and the senior generals lost confidence in the Kaiser and his government.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

[[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] signed the [[Armistice of Salonica]] on 29 September 1918. The [[Ottoman Empire]] signed the [[Armistice of Mudros]] on 30 October 1918. Between 24 October and 3 November 1918, Italy defeated [[Austria-Hungary]] in the [[battle of Vittorio Veneto]], which forced Austria-Hungary to sign the [[Armistice of Villa Giusti]] on 3 November 1918. So, in November 1918, with internal revolution, the Allies [[Hundred Days Offensive|advancing 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, and [[German nobility]] was abolished. On 9 November, the Social Democrat [[Philipp Scheidemann]] [[Proclamation of the republic in Germany|proclaimed a republic]]. The new government led by the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|German Social Democrats]] called for and received an [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|armistice]] on 11 November. It was succeeded by the [[Weimar Republic]].<ref>{{Harvp|Ryder|2008}}.{{Page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> Those opposed, including disaffected veterans, joined a diverse set of paramilitary and underground political groups such as the [[Freikorps]], the [[Organisation Consul]], and the Communists.