In 962, King Otto I of East Francia was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, and later, the country was renamed the "Roman Empire", that is, the "Holy Roman Empire", establishing the first feudal empire in German history, which the Germans called "German First Empire". At its height, the empire's territories included modern Germany, Austria, northern and central Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, eastern France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.
From the 13th century onwards, the Holy Roman Empire fell into a state of vassalage, similar to the Spring and Autumn Warring States of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in China. From 1474 onwards, the Holy Roman Empire was known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, and Germany was widely used as a nation and region, but it was still in a state of fragmentation, and the emperor had no name until Prussia was born.
Prussia was originally only a small vassal state, and it became stronger step by step by territorial annexation. This is a bit like the Qin state that unified China. The Prussian monarchs worked hard to govern and discipline themselves. Generations of Prussian rulers lived almost masochistically in puritanical frugality in order to save valuable military and government expenditures. During the reign of William I (the later Epoch-Emperor was two), Prussian diplomatic envoys were "well-known" in Europe for their shabby filth, and people called William I the "Beggar King" behind his back.
The Prussian rulers were also good at adapting to social development, and each time they actively carried out "top-down" reforms, supported the Reformation, accepted Protestants, encouraged the development of industry and commerce, developed capitalism, actively implemented militarism, and established the strongest army in Germany.
The historical mission of German reunification ultimately fell to the Prussians and a legendary figure named Bismarck, the iron-blooded Prime Minister.
In 1864, Prussia defeated Denmark and basically completed the unification of northern Germany;
In 1866, Prussia defeated Austria and expelled Austria from the German Confederation;
In 1870, Prussia defeated France and completely completed the unification of Germany.
In 1871, the Constitution of the German Empire was promulgated, and a constitutional monarchy was introduced.
Since then, the major European powers have completed capitalist reforms.
The best gift of a unified Germany to the world is to "attach importance to education", and the Germans regard education as a weapon for the rising countries to catch up with and surpass the "first developing countries", and are the first to implement compulsory education and actively develop higher education. By 1911 there were 39,000 german junior high schools with 6.5 million students, and fewer than 5 illiterates per 1,000 Germans could not read or write.
In the 19th century, the level of education of Germans far exceeded that of other European countries, and after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Prussia won a great victory, and Marshal Moltke of Prussia said that the victory of Germany had long been decided on the podium of primary school teachers! Because of the importance attached to education, the Germans not only trained a well-disciplined and high-quality army, but also trained a large number of knowledgeable and skilled workers and researchers. Thus, Germany developed the most advanced industrial economy in Europe without relying on colonies. These successful experiences were copied by later Israel and Japan.
If it were not for Germany launching World War 2, Germany could have become a benchmark for world civilization.