Description

Here’s your chance to pick up a nice 2 place Imperial era ribbon bar. This example has an enamel Iron Cross device on the Iron Cross ribbon. In good overall condition and would look great on display! Imperial   Germany was formally founded on 1 January 1871 when the south German   states, except for Austria, joined the North German Confederation and   the new constitution came into force changing the name of the federal   state to the German Empire and introduced the title of German Emperor   for Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern. Berlin   remained its capital, and Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Minister-President   of Prussia became Chancellor, the head of government. As these events   occurred, the Prussian-led North German Confederation and its southern   German allies were still engaged in the Franco-Prussian War. The   German Empire consisted of 26 states, most of them ruled by royal   families. They included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies   (six before 1876), seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities,   and one imperial territory. Although Prussia was one of few kingdoms in   the realm, it contained about two thirds of Germany’s population and   territory. Prussian dominance had also been established   constitutionally. During its 47   years of existence, the German Empire was an industrial,  technological,  and scientific giant, gaining more Nobel Prizes in  science than any  other country. By 1900, Germany was the largest  economy in Europe,  surpassing the United Kingdom, as well as the  second-largest in the  world, behind only the United States. Late   in Bismarck’s chancellorship and in spite of his personal opposition,   Germany became involved in colonialism. Claiming much of the leftover   territory that was yet unclaimed in the scramble for Africa, it managed   to build the third largest colonial empire at the time, after the   British and the French empires. Germany   became a great power, boasting a rapidly developing rail network, the   world’s strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less  than  a decade, its navy became second only to Britain’s Royal Navy. In  1879,  the German Empire consolidated the Dual Alliance with  Austria-Hungary,  followed by the Triple Alliance with Italy in 1882. It  also retained  strong diplomatic ties to the Ottoman Empire. When World  War 1 arrived,  Italy left the alliance and the Ottoman Empire formally  allied with  Germany. In the  First World War,  German plans to capture Paris quickly in the autumn of  1914 failed. The  war on the Western Front became a stalemate. However,  Imperial Germany  had success on the Eastern Front. The German  declaration of unrestricted  submarine warfare in early 1917 contributed  to bringing the United  States into the war. The  high  command under Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff  increasingly  controlled the country, but in October after the failed  offensive in  spring 1918, the German armies were in retreat, allies  Austria-Hungary  and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, and Bulgaria had  surrendered. The  Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution with  the removal of its  monarchs. This left Germany with the Weimar  Republic, and a devastated  and unsatisfied populace, faced with postwar  reparation costs of nearly  270 billion dollars, all in all leading to  the rise of Adolf Hitler and  Nazism. Free shipping ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD & I don’t charge PayPal fees like some of the other guys!