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by wickedwillie on March 24th, 2004

wickedwillie

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What were Germany's First Reich, Second Reich, and Third Reich?

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  • by Astaroth on March 24th, 2004

    Astaroth

    The definition of Reich is "German State", and in this definition the word "German" is not related to what is today the Country of Germany, but in an ancient meaning the Germanic Lands.

    The First Reich, was also known as The Holy Roman Empire (a continuation of the Roman Empire in Europe), that started in the lands ruled by Charlemagne (Germany, Austria, Eslovenia, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, eastern France, Northern Italy and western Poland), with a period beginning on the 9th century and finishing in the 19th century.

    The Second Reich, also known as The German Empire, ruled by the Hohenzollern dinasty, in the areas known as Prussia and Brandenburg, from 1871 to 1919, they fell with the ending of World War I. During this Reich the "Iron Chancellor" Otto Von Bismark united Germany, and set the roots for World War I.

    Then there was a period known as the Weimar Republic, from 1919 to 1933 (called sometimes the pre-3rd Reich).

    The Third Reich (from 1933 to 1945), called the Nazi Germany, was under Hitler control. He called it the Third Reich because he thought that under his leadership Germany could reunite the old Holy Roman Empire, bringing Germany back to its glorious days. This Reich was terminated with the fall of Germany at the end of World War II.

    This is an interesting question because most people don't know why Hitler started World War II and what was his objective. Of course his delusional beliefs about the supremacy of the German Race and the necessity to reinstate The German Empire (that he believed was the heir of the Roman splendor) cost our world millions of lifes, and his country years of poverty and suffering.

    Comments

    • Wonderful answer

      YonBon

      by YonBon on March 25th, 2004

    • More than correct

      wickedwillie

      by wickedwillie on March 28th, 2004

    • useful

      Revelator

      by Revelator on April 27th, 2004

    • The limited German military allowed by France from the Versailles Treaty after WWI helped lead to the rise of the Third Reich

      Nesaukee

      by Nesaukee on April 15th, 2005

    • There were plenty of other reasons for the beginning of WWII but otherwise well stated.

      Relsqui

      by Relsqui on August 27th, 2005

    • But actually he didn't start de WWII for that reason...He just wanted to invade Poland because there he could get the raw materiales the german industry needed...
      Remember, all wars have an economical reason!

      Kumbaya

      by Kumbaya on January 23rd, 2007

    • Hitler was also highly influenced by Friedrich Ratzel's geographical theory of 'lebensraum', which effectively derived from Darwinian thinking...Well worth looking up if you're interested in German or WWII politics! :)

      Siobhan_d13

      by Siobhan_d13 on April 30th, 2009

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