Editing German Empire (section)

==== 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}}