Prussia
Prussia, or formerly known as the German Empire, also known as Imperial Germany or the Second Reich, was a period from 1871 when Germany changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic. It was founded on 18 January 1871 when the south German states joined the North German Confederation and the new constitution came into force on 16 April. Berlin remained its capital, and Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor.
After 1850, Germany rapidly became industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron (and later steel), chemicals, and railways. By 1913, Germany had a population of 68 million, and the empire became the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world. Germany also built the longest railway network of Europe, the world's strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base.
From 1871 to 1890, Otto von Bismarck's tenure as the first and longest-serving Chancellor was marked by relative liberalism at its start, but in time grew more conservative. Broad reforms, the anti-Catholic Kulturkampf, and systematic repression of Polish people marked his period in office. Social programs introduced by Bismarck included old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care, and unemployment insurance, all aspects of the modern European welfare state.
Late in Bismarck's chancellorship and despite his earlier personal opposition, Germany became involved in colonialism. Claiming much of the leftover territory not yet conquered by Europeans in the Scramble for Africa, it managed to build the third-largest colonial empire at the time, after the British and the French ones. As a colonial state, it sometimes clashed with the interests of other European powers, especially the British Empire. During its colonial expansion, the German Empire committed the Herero and Namaqua genocide.
In the First World War, Germany's attempts to capture Paris failed, leading to a stalemate on the Western Front. The Allied naval blockade caused food and supplement shortages. However, Imperial Germany had even more problems in the East after the Russians successfully repelled a German Counterattack in East Prussia. The German armies were retreating from the Eastern Front. Germany attempted to launch an offensive in the Baltic governorates in Autumn, with the aim of forcing Russia to exit the war with one blow but Russia managed to resist the offensive by deploying more reserve divisions to the front and apply flanking, infiltration and breakthrough tactics utilized in Brusilov offensive. Due to the coming winter, both sides were forced to pause military operations. Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire collapsed, and Bulgaria surrendered. The empire collapsed in 1920 leaving a Communist Government to take control of mainland Germany after the Treaty of Danzig
Historical Background
OTL History
The German Confederation was established in 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, following the breakdown of the liberal Revolutions of 1848. Otto von Bismarck's pragmatic Realpolitik sought to extend Hohenzollern hegemony throughout the German states, aiming for unification and the exclusion of Prussia's main rival, Austria, from the German Empire. 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 and contributed to the formation of the German state. The German Confederation ended in 1866 due to the Austro-Prussian War, which resulted in the partial replacement of the Confederation in 1867 by a North German Confederation. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 led to the remaining opposition to a unified Germany in the four states south of the Main joining the North German Confederation by treaty.