German History

19th Century and First Half of the 20th Century

In 1806, the Austrian empire renounced the Imperial Crown, thus triggering the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806-1813), followed in 1815 by the Germanic Confederation. In 1871 reconstruction of the German Empire began under the Versailles Treaty, moving the capital from Vienna to Berlin. The first sovereign was William I of Prussia and his first chancellor, Bismarck. Germany rose to become a great industrial and military power, awakening misgivings in France and England which eventually led to the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918) with disastrous results for Germany.

Emperor William II was forced to abdicate and the Republic of Weimar was proclaimed (1919). The humiliating conditions the Versailles Treaty imposed on the Germans was, among others, one of the reasons for which in 1933, one of the elections granted the National Socialist Party, led by Adolf Hitler, triumph and power. Hitler, named Chancellor of the Third Reich, developed a militarist, racist, single party policy, triggering World War II (1939-1945), which ended in yet another defeat for Germany and caused its division, according to the counties who occupied the territory.