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Nineteenth century onwards, the kingdom of Prussia grew to such power that it defeated France in 1870. This victory of the Prussian kingdom over France, strengthened its power to such an extent that it established a German Empire or Deutsches Reich. This particular transition holds one of the most important threads in the History of Germany. This empire encapsulated all the German states outside Austria. Some of the states that had bypassed the assimilation until 1870 were allowed to retain some of their former Government administrative policies but were mostly supervised by the Reich government. The smaller and the weaker states had their foreign policies governed by the king of Prussia who was also the emperor of the German Empire.
The responsibility of the speculation of the military affairs and the appointment of the chancellor also lied on the emperor. Some of the kingdoms that retained their royal stature and position were the monarchies of Saxony, Württemberg. Hamburg, the republican state that was assimilated in the Reich Government of the German empire also retained its designation as a Free and Hanseatic City till date. The monarchies were abolished after the First world war.
The constitution of the German Empire had dual house parliament. The first house was called the Reichstag and the members were elected democratically by the people. The second house was called the Bundesrat, the Members of which were appointed by the state government. The states involved in the German empire had 26 member. All the laws and the bills could be approved by the the parliament but they did not have the power to judge the office of the chancellor.
