At its birth Germany occupied an area of 540,854 square km and had a population of more than 41 million, which was to grow to 67 million by 1914.

Key politician was Otto von Bismarck, known as "The Iron Chancellor".

Under the Constitution, the Chancellor, whom the Emperor appointed and who was not dependent on the confidence of a parliamentary majority, was confronted by a Reichstag without the consent of which it was, in principle, impossible to enact any law and which had to approve the national budget. From 1871 the Reichstag initially met in the former Royal Prussian Porcelain Works in Leipziger Strasse. Not until 6 December 1894 did it move into the Reichstag building.

Otto von Bismarck tried to subject the Roman Catholic church to state controls. This era is known as Kulturkamf.

Bismarck doubted the loyalty of the Catholic population to the Prussian-centred and, therefore, primarily Protestant nation.

Culture War or Kulturkampf

​Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands; SPD

Fearing the potential of the Social Democrats in a rapidly industrializing Germany, Bismarck found a majority to outlaw the party from 1878 to 1890, although constitutionally it could not be forbidden to participate in elections.

Until his resignation in 1890, Bismarck had a relatively free hand in the conduct of foreign policy.

• Bismarck’s two areas of concern were the Balkans — where the disintegration of the Turkish Ottoman Empire could easily lead to conflict between Austria-Hungary and Russia, or Russia and France.

• Bismarck’s most important diplomatic objective was to prevent France from allying itself with either Austria-Hungary or Russia.

Congress of Berlin 1878

In 1877 Russia declared war on Turkey, leading both UK and Austria-Hungary to express serious concern about Russias`s expansionist war aims. Bismarck called for an international conference to reconsider the peace treaty between Russia and Ottoman Empire and to forestall another military conflict.