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Glite Dictionary
Second Reich

Second Reich

8.9
A period in German history from 1871 to 1919 when the country was an empire
  • proper noun
translation icon : Segundo Reich
  • Germany prospered economically during the Second Reich, which lasted until 1919.

Examples

  • The Second Reich was established in 1871 after the unification of Germany.

  • The Second Reich collapsed.

    Blog text (10)

  • The Second Reich is often remembered for its significant industrial growth.

Synonyms

Hohenzollern empire
vsSecond Reich
9.9

A country in Europe ruled by the Hohenzollern family from 1871 to 1919

is the same period but uses the alternative name form

Surface Forms

Second Reich main

Morphology

2nd + Reich

The meaning is directly compositional: 'Second' signals an ordinal sequence and 'Reich' denotes a realm/empire, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to the second German empire. Specific historical dates or dynastic details are extra world knowledge, but the basic referent is transparently derivable and mirrored in other languages' labels for historical periods.

Etymology

Second Reich comes from German speakers who used Reich to mean 'empire' or 'realm' and added Second to show it was the second German empire after the old Holy Roman Empire. That's why Second Reich refers to the German empire from 1871 to 1919.