Editing Unification of Germany (section)

=== Internal political and administrative unification ===

The new [[German Empire]] included 26 political entities: twenty-five constituent states (or ''Bundesstaaten'') and one Imperial Territory (or ''Reichsland''). It realized the ''[[Kleindeutsche Lösung]]'' ("Lesser German Solution", with the exclusion of Austria) as opposed to a ''[[German question|Großdeutsche Lösung]]'' or "Greater German Solution", which would have included Austria. Unifying various states into one nation required more than some military victories, however much these might have boosted morale. It also required a rethinking of political, social, and cultural behaviors and the construction of new metaphors about "us" and "them". Who were the new members of this new nation? What did they stand for? How were they to be organized?{{Sfn|Confino|1997}}

==== Constituent states of the Empire ====
Though often characterized as a federation of monarchs, the German Empire, strictly speaking, federated a group of 26 constituent entities with different forms of government, ranging from the main four constitutional monarchies to the three republican [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] cities.{{Sfn|Evans|2005|p=1}}

{{German Empire States|width=700|include_list=y}}
{{Clear}}

==== Political structure of the Empire ====

The 1866 [[North German Constitution]] became (with some semantic adjustments) the 1871 [[Constitution of the German Empire]]. With this constitution, the new Germany acquired some democratic features: notably the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Imperial Diet]], which—in contrast to the parliament of Prussia—gave citizens representation on the basis of elections by direct and equal [[Universal suffrage|suffrage]] of all males who had reached the age of 25. Furthermore, elections were generally free of chicanery, engendering pride in the national parliament.{{Sfn|Blackbourn|1998|p=267}} However, legislation required the consent of the ''Bundesrat'', the federal council of deputies from the states, in and over which Prussia had a powerful influence; Prussia could appoint 17 of 58 delegates with only 14 votes needed for a veto. Prussia thus exercised influence in both bodies, with executive power vested in the Prussian King as ''Kaiser'', who appointed the federal chancellor. The chancellor was accountable solely to, and served entirely at the discretion of, the Emperor. Officially, the chancellor functioned as a one-man cabinet and was responsible for the conduct of all state affairs; in practice, the [[State Secretary|State Secretaries]] (bureaucratic top officials in charge of such fields as finance, war, foreign affairs, etc.) acted as unofficial portfolio ministers. With the exception of the years 1872–1873 and 1892–1894, the imperial chancellor was always simultaneously the prime minister of the imperial dynasty's hegemonic home-kingdom, Prussia. The Imperial Diet had the power to pass, amend, or reject bills, but it could not initiate legislation. (The power of initiating legislation rested with the chancellor.) The other states retained their own governments, but the military forces of the smaller states came under Prussian control. The militaries of the larger states (such as the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]] and [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]]) retained some autonomy, but they underwent major reforms to coordinate with Prussian military principles and came under federal government control in wartime.{{Sfn|Blackbourn|1998|pp=225–301}}

==== Historical arguments and the Empire's social anatomy ====
[[File:Niederwald memorial 1.JPG|thumb|alt=Statue of the allegorical figure Germania|''Germania'', also called the [[Niederwalddenkmal|Niederwald Monument]], was erected in 1877–83 at [[Rüdesheim am Rhein|Rüdesheim]].]]

The ''Sonderweg'' hypothesis attributed Germany's difficult 20th century to the weak political, legal, and economic basis of the new empire. The Prussian [[landed elite]]s, the ''[[Prussian Junkers|Junkers]]'', retained a substantial share of political power in the unified state. The ''Sonderweg'' hypothesis attributed their power to the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by the middle classes, or by peasants in combination with the urban workers, in 1848 and again in 1871. Recent research into the role of the Grand Bourgeoisie—which included bankers, merchants, industrialists, and entrepreneurs—in the construction of the new state has largely refuted the claim of political and economic dominance of the ''Junkers'' as a social group. This newer scholarship has demonstrated the importance of the merchant classes of the [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic cities]] and the industrial leadership (the latter particularly important in the Rhineland) in the ongoing development of the Second Empire.<ref>{{Harvnb|Blackbourn|Eley|1984}}; {{Harvnb|Blickle|2004}}; {{Harvnb|Scribner|Ogilvie|1996}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

Additional studies of different groups in Wilhelmine Germany have all contributed to a new view of the period. Although the ''Junkers'' did, indeed, continue to control the officer corps, they did not dominate social, political, and economic matters as much as the ''Sonderweg'' theorists had hypothesized. Eastern ''Junker'' power had a counterweight in the western provinces in the form of the Grand Bourgeoisie and in the growing professional class of bureaucrats, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc.<ref>See, e.g.: {{Cite book |last=Eley |first=Geoff |title=Reshaping the German Right: Radical Nationalism and Political Change After Bismarck |date=1980 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-3000-2386-3 |location=New Haven |oclc=5353122 |ol=4416729M |author-link=Geoff Eley}}; {{Harvnb|Evans|2005}}; {{Cite book |author-link=Richard J. Evans |first= Richard J. |last=Evans |title=Society and politics in Wilhelmine Germany |location=London and New York |publisher=Barnes & Noble |date=1978 |ol=21299242M |isbn=0-06-492036-4 |oclc=3934998}}; {{Harvnb|Nipperdey|1996}}; {{Harvnb|Sperber|1984}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>