Pastlasby Oleh Voronko

State · 1871 – 1918

German Empire

A state of 1871 – 1918 — 47 years in Europe. It replaced North German Confederation. It was replaced by Weimar Republic and followed by Second Polish Republic. The atlas records 345 things within it — wars and battles 15 · unrest and atrocity 1 · famine and plague 1 · treaties 8 · people 317 · works and ideas 3. Its line of rulers holds 3 people. Its own article says it was replaced by Weimar Republic.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood
47 years
1871 – 1918
Rulers
3
the King of Prussia
Most ground
1.02 million km²
in 1918
Within it
345
recorded rows
Symbols
3
on record, with years
Map: German Empire in 1918, its borders in gold among its neighbours
German Empire in 1918, when it held the most ground the borders dataset draws for it: 1.02 million km². Its neighbours wear their tints, as on the atlas's own map. Borders from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0), coast and rivers from Natural Earth, cities from Reba, Reitsma & Seto 2016 (CC BY 4.0), each city under the name it bore that year.
German Empire in 1871, first mapped

1871 · first mapped · 658,100 km²

German Empire in 1918, at its largest

1918 · at its largest · 1.02 million km²

The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

Where it sits in time

3000 BCE2000 BCE1000 BCE110002000North German Confederation: 1867 – 1870Second Polish Republic: 1918 – 1939Weimar Republic: 1918 – 1933German Empire: 1871 – 1918

Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.

Before and after

The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.

Before it

After it

How it ended, as its article says

Replaced by Weimar Republic. Read from the article's section “History - Revolt and demise” by its grammar; the claim is only that the article says so.

It was succeeded by the Weimar Republic.

One sentence of the English Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rulers

The line of King of Prussia - the office this state names as its head of state.

Wilhelm I · 1861 – 1888 · died in office, manner not recordedFrederick III, German Emperor · 1888 – 1888 · died in office of natural causesWilhelm II · 1888 – 1918 · deposed, the article says1880189019001910
deposed, abdicated, exiled or removeddied in office
RulerReignLengthHow it ended · sourceTo the ruler before
Wilhelm I1861 – 188827 yearsdied in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Frederick III, German Emperor1888 – 1888under a yeardied in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of deathchild
Wilhelm II1888 – 191830 yearsdeposed, the article saysread from the ruler's own articlechild

3 rulers, 3 with terms dated as terms, covering 1861 – 1918. Median reign 27 years. 0 of 2 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.

Ground held, by year

km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.

1880189019001910

658,100 km² in 1871, 1.02 million km² in 1918; at its largest 1.02 million km² in 1918. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.

Flags and arms, in order

Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.

  • Wappen Deutsches Reich - Reichsadler 1889
    coat of arms, undatedWappen Deutsches Reich - Reichsadler 1889 · Public domain
  • Wappen Deutsches Reich - Reichswappen (Grosses)
    coat of arms, undatedWappen Deutsches Reich - Reichswappen (Grosses) · Public domain
  • Flag of Germany (1867–1918)
    flag, undatedFlag of Germany (1867–1918) · Public domain

What happened within it, by century

Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.

1800 – 1899: 205 recorded — 2 wars and battles, 0 risings, regime changes and massacres, 203 other18001900 – 1999: 140 recorded — 13 wars and battles, 1 risings, regime changes and massacres, 126 other1900

1800 – 1899205 rows · 2 wars and battles

and 197 more in the atlas.

1900 – 1999140 rows · 13 wars and battles · 1 risings, regime changes and massacres

and 132 more in the atlas.

Among all states

Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.

  • How long it stood47 years

    stood longer than 32% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.

  • The most ground it held1,019,900 km²

    held more ground at its peak than 85% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.

  • Wars recorded per century1.0

    had more wars on record per century than 94% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.

  • How long a reign lasted, at the median27 years

    had longer reigns, at the median, than 78% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.

  • Rulers on record3

    has more rulers on record than 48% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.

What led to it, and what came of it

The investigation's own picture: 45 causes the record names and 3 results, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.

Franco-Prussian War · Argued · 1870 – 1871 · “Victory over France in 1870-71 brought the southern German states into a Prussian-led empire, proclaimed at Versailles.”Franco-Prussian WarNorth German Confederation · Linked · 1867 – 1870North German ConfederationBattle of Havana · Linked · 1870Battle of HavanaAustro-Prussian War · In the article · 1866 · “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…”Austro-Prussian WarNapoleonic Wars · In the article · 1803 · “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 Art…”Napoleonic WarsAustria-Hungary · In the article · 1867 · “Following the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, the Kaiser offered Emperor Franz Joseph full support for Aust…”Austria-HungaryGerman Empire · 1871 – 1918German EmpireWeimar Republic · Linked · 1918 – 1933Weimar RepublicSecond Polish Republic · Linked · 1918 – 1939Second Polish RepublicScuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow · Linked · 1919Scuttling of the German fleet at…180018501900
arguedin the articlelinked

Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.

Theories that apply to its ending

Of 3 theories of why states fall, 1 has every condition present at this ending; each is applied by its own logic, condition by condition, and whether its authors named this case is a footnote.

  • Demographic-structural breakdown

    Goldstone 1991 · Turchin & Nefedov 2009

    Applies by its own logic: 2 of its 3 conditions held here (it needs 2), and this is the kind of outcome it predicts — unrest, adverse regime change or the state's ending.

    • famine, plague or disaster within 30 y in the state, or population up 25% over 50 y — prior
    • a war the state is fighting, still under way, or a war the state fought, ended within 10 y — warOngoing

Open in the atlas

Wikidata Q43287 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · one sentence of the English Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.