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Nazi Germany is widely called the Third Reich. But what were the First and Second Reich then?

Tea Drinker
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1 Answers1

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I remembered talking about this in a history class but couldn't quite remember what the first two Reichs were. A quick search on Wikipedia redirects the first to the Holy Roman Empire (962 to 1806) and the second to the brief German Empire (1871 to 1918). Between the second and third is the Weimar Republic (1918 to 1933).

Artemis
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  • The German Empire is even split into two different eras from 1871 to 1918; the Bismarckian and Wilhelmine. – Sorcerer Blob Oct 13 '11 at 23:26
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    Yes, the Nazis regarded the Weimar Republic as a transition time before the empire was "reborn". The idea of recovering to full glory was very popular in the post-WWI Germany. – Wladimir Palant Oct 14 '11 at 05:28
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    I don't want to knock this answer, for you're not doing anything wrong, but the question really shouldn't exist. It's as trivial a general-reference question as you get! It's like free rep points for whomever can look up Wikipedia the quickest. To be fair, my quibble is that this SE site doesn't offer an option to close as GR, unlike some others. – Noldorin Oct 15 '11 at 03:06
  • @Noldorin, I totally understand. I figured I may as well answer it, but it is pretty simplistic. And a quick Google search will cough up results. – Artemis Oct 20 '11 at 12:46
  • @Artemis: Fair enough. It's answered now. I just envy the easy rep points heh. :-) – Noldorin Oct 20 '11 at 16:17
  • @Noldorin. lol. I was just lucky enough to catch it before anyone else did. You're totally schooling me on rep though, so I don't think you have much to fear. :) – Artemis Oct 23 '11 at 03:37
  • @Artemis: Haha, perhaps... Yes but I'm always looking out for challengers. ;-) And just to clarify to anyone reading, I do actually enjoy being on this site for the sake of it - rep is just that fun competition side of it heh. – Noldorin Oct 23 '11 at 15:34
  • Great questions. Great answers! – user4951 Nov 22 '11 at 01:38
  • For Asians like me it's a quick question. – user4951 Nov 22 '11 at 01:38
  • Hmm. I was always under the impression that #1 was the original Roman empire and #2 was the HRE, but from a Germanic point of view I guess that makes just as much if not more sense. – NotVonKaiser Jul 31 '13 at 16:09
  • I believe that Nazi Germany was exactly the same state in international law as the "Weimar Republic" and the German Empire, and I even think that the Federal Republic of Germany is legally the same state. This would make Nazi Germany merely one political phase of the Second Reich. see here https://historum.com/threads/can-nazi-germany-be-regarded-as-a-political-successor-state-of-the-second-reich.134317/ . – MAGolding Jul 03 '19 at 18:09