German Empire (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

The German Empire (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich) or offically known as the German Realm (German: Deutsches Reich) was a constitutional federal monarchy which existed on the northern part of Central Europe that incorporated all of north German states such as Prussia and several south German states, such as Bavaria, from the German unification and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.

The German Empire consisted of 27 constituent territories (most of them ruled by royal families). While the Kingdom of Prussia was the largest German state both in the term of territory and population within the Empire, the Prussian leadership became supplanted by German leaders and Prussia itself played a lesser role. Its three largest neighbours were rivals Russian Empire to the east and France to the west and ally Austria-Hungary to the south.

The German Confederation was created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris. The German Confederation then abruptly ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between the constituent Confederation entities of the southern Austrian Empire under Habsburg Dynasty and its allies on one side and the northern Kingdom of Prussia under Hohenzollern Dynasty and its allies on the other. As result, the Confederation being partially replaced by the North German Confederation in 1867 which included Prussia but excluded Austria and the South German states. During November 1870, the four southern states joined the North German Confederation by treaty.

After the 1868 Glorious Revolution in Spain, a tension between Prussia and its neighbor, France, heightened following the election of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as new King of Spain in 1870. France was feared the installation of a relative of the Prussian king would result in the expansion of Prussian influence and the encirclement of France (which later proved to be true). However, Minister-President of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, who wanted to drag the French into war with Prussia was able to convince Leopold to approve his candidacy. Unable to tolerate this matter, France then declared war to Prussia in July 1870, resulted to the Franco-Prussian War.

Activating the German alliances put in place after the Austro-Prussian War, the German states came together with Prussia and swiftly defeated France. On December 10, 1870, the Reichstag of North German Confederation renamed the Confederation as the German Empire and gave the title of German Emperor to the King of Prussia as President of the Confederation. During the Siege of Paris on January 18, 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles outside of Paris, while the French capital was still under siege. King William became the first emperor of a unified Germany.