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The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918, when it was a semi-constitutional monarchy beginning with the unification of Germany and proclamation of William I of Prussia as German Emperor (18 January 1871), effectively ending with the proclamation of the German republic by Philipp Scheidemann (9 November 1918) and formally ending with the abdication of Wilhelm II (28 November 1918). The most important bordering states were the Russian Empire in the east, France in the west, and Austria-Hungary in the south. The official name used to describe Germany from 1871 to 1943 in German was the Deutsches Reich,[3][4] while the German term Deutsches Kaiserreich was used unofficially to describe Germany specifically during the 1871–1918 period. The direct translation of Deutsches Reich into English is "German Empire", although the German word "Reich" can have non-imperial connotations similar to the English "commonwealth", "realm" or "domain". The full English translation to "German Empire" and the part-translation German Reich was officially used to describe Germany during the 47 years of Hohenzollern rule,[5] while only "German Reich" was used in English from 1918 to 1943. During the whole 1871–1943 period, the German Reich was also known as simply Germany. The term Second Reich (Zweites Reich) is sometimes applied retrospectively to this period. The term was popularised by German nationalist historian Arthur Moeller van den Bruck in the 1920s, and drew an explicit link with the earlier Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (the "First Reich"), as well as underlining his desire for the establishment of a "Third Reich".[6] This term was subsequently adopted during the time of Nazi rule for state purposes - and therefore its use among non-German historians after World War II has generally been discouraged, as many non-Germans consider it to give what they consider legitimacy to National Socialist historiography. Under the guise of idealism giving way to realism, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848 to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck's authoritarian realpolitik. Bismarck wanted to unify the rival German states to achieve his aim of a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. Three wars led to military successes and helped to convince German people to do this the Second war of Schleswig against Denmark in 1864, the Austro-Prussian War against Austria in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War against the Second French Empire in 1870–71. During the Siege of Paris in 1871, the North German Confederation, supported by its allies from southern Germany, formed the German Empire with the proclamation of the Prussian king Wilhelm I as German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, to the humiliation of the French, who ceased to resist only days later.
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