On August 2, 1934, Paul von Hindenburg, the second president of the Weimar Republic of Germany, passed away. As the chancellor of Germany, Hitler took over as a matter of course, proclaiming himself as Chancellor of the Third Reich and acting as president. Subsequently, the legislation became the head of Germany, and Nazi Germany was formally established. After Hitler came to power, he immediately abolished the "Versailles Peace Treaty," and immediately began to reorganize his arms, regain lost ground, and established a "German Third Reich" dominated by Germanic nations. So why did Hitler name his empire the "Third Reich"? In fact, before this, Germany still had two powerful dynasties, let's get to know these two "empires" together.
The First Empire: The Holy Roman Empire, which was a feudal monarchy empire spanning Western and Central Europe from 962 to 1806. The territory is based on Germania, including some peripherals The region, at its peak, covered northern and central Italy, Burgundy and Frisia and other regions. The country’s predecessor was the Kingdom of East Franconia, the first emperor was Otto I, and was later by Frederick at the peak. I changed the country’s name to the Holy Roman Empire.
Later, the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope fought fiercely for the succession of the bishop. Although the internal fighting consumed a lot of national vitality, the empire and the church were jointly safeguarding the feudal system On the one hand, they have always maintained close cooperation. In order to dominate Europe, they have invaded Italy many times, and this protracted war has consumed most of the strength of the empire.
In the middle of the empire, the central power began to decline. The disputes and infighting among princes, knights and cities continued, and many independent feudal lords appeared, and the Roman emperor at that time directly governed it. Feudal princes outside the territory have no jurisdiction. Subsequently, Burgundy and Italy announced their separation from the Roman Empire, and separatist disputes began across the country. At this time, the Holy Roman Empire became a political combination with no name.
In the late empire, in order to strengthen the centralization of the Holy Roman Empire, Emperor Maximilian I tried to revive the empire’s former glory, but was unable to combine the interests of the Habsburg family with the interests of the empire. The distinction is clear, the princes did not support his policy and ended in failure. In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire existed in name only under the military attack of Napoleon I. Later, Prussia unified Germany and officially declared the demise of the First German Empire.
Second Empire: German Empire. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the Hohenzollern dynasty completed the reunification of Germany. The empire consists of 27 territories, of which the Kingdom of Prussia accounts for most of the empire The region has the largest population. At its peak, it was one of the five traditional European powers and one of the world's great powers. Its economic aggregate ranked second in the world, second only to the United States, and its strength surpassed Britain and France.
On January 18, 1871, King William I of Prussia was crowned Emperor of the German Empire at the Palace of Versailles in France, with Bismarck as prime minister, and subsequently promulgated a series of bills conducive to the development of capitalist economy And through the Franco-Prussian War, about 5 billion gold francs of war reparations were plundered from France, the iron and potash ore of Alsace and Lorraine, and the acceptance and application of advanced science and technology and production experience from other countries to make the Empire’s The economy has developed rapidly.
After William II came to power, Bismarck was relieved of his post as prime minister, and then the young emperor began to actively implement imperialist policies, and successively clashed with Britain, Russia, Japan, the United States and other countries From then on, the confrontation between the two camps formally formed on the European continent, which eventually led to the complete outbreak of the First World War. After the end of the First World War, Germany was defeated and the German Empire collapsed. Wilhelm II was forced to go to exile in the Netherlands. He died of illness in Doron, the Netherlands on June 5, 1941.
