German Empire

State · 1871–1918 · Capital: Berlin

The German Empire (Deutsches Reich), also called Imperial Germany or the Second Reich, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when it became a republic. It was founded on 18 January 1871 and consisted of 25 states, including four kingdoms, with Prussia containing about two-thirds of the Empire's population and territory; the king of Prussia was also the German Emperor. During its 47 years of existence it 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. Otto von Bismarck served as its first and longest-tenured chancellor from 1871 to 1890.