# The constitution of the German Empire is promulgated

Date: 1871

## The fact

On 16 April 1871 the constitution of the German Empire was promulgated, extending the North German Confederation’s organs to Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, and Hesse, with a Reichstag of universal male suffrage, a Bundesrat, and a chancellor appointed by the emperor. [Bismarck](/people/otto-von-bismarck) remained that chancellor. This is a constitutional text, not the Versailles ceremony. Later museums, competitions, UNESCO lists, and translations are not this Fact. The Reichstag, Wilhelm I, Moltke, Roon, and state administrations may share the file; they do not erase a documented decision, and they are not a licence to treat every regiment’s act as his handwriting.

## Context

Reservatrechte for Bavaria (army, post, beer) were the price. The chancellor was not responsible to the Reichstag. Budget rights over the army were time-limited. Compared with the gap years, a national statute book still existed. Compared with a parliamentary system, it was thin. Both comparisons belong in the bound, not as twins. Later museums, competitions, UNESCO lists, and translations are not this Fact. The Reichstag, Wilhelm I, Moltke, Roon, and state administrations may share the file; they do not erase a documented decision, and they are not a licence to treat every regiment’s act as his handwriting.

Shared responsibility is part of The constitution of the German Empire is promulgated. Naming Otto von Bismarck does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1871-04-16 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

## Evidence and sources

GHDI publishes the 1871 constitution. Britannica independently describes it. Official Reichsgesetzblatt publication is the legal carrier. Later museums, competitions, UNESCO lists, and translations are not this Fact. The Reichstag, Wilhelm I, Moltke, Roon, and state administrations may share the file; they do not erase a documented decision, and they are not a licence to treat every regiment’s act as his handwriting.

Official or archival record: GHDI — Constitution of the German Empire, 16 April 1871 (https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/forging-an-empire-bismarckian-germany-1866-1890/constitution-of-the-german-empire-april-16-1871; German History in Documents and Images).

## Significance

Modest improving democratic path: a national elected chamber for the whole Empire. Weight bounded by missing ministerial responsibility. Complex. Later museums, competitions, UNESCO lists, and translations are not this Fact. The Reichstag, Wilhelm I, Moltke, Roon, and state administrations may share the file; they do not erase a documented decision, and they are not a licence to treat every regiment’s act as his handwriting.

## What is established and what is not

Established: the imperial constitution was promulgated on 16 April 1871. Not established: that the Reichstag could dismiss Bismarck, or that this text cancelled Kulturkampf. Later museums, competitions, UNESCO lists, and translations are not this Fact. The Reichstag, Wilhelm I, Moltke, Roon, and state administrations may share the file; they do not erase a documented decision, and they are not a licence to treat every regiment’s act as his handwriting.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Do not twin 1871 with 1867. Do not treat the text as a parliamentary monarchy. Mixed effects of The constitution of the German Empire is promulgated are separate paths.

The attached driver is [democratic-resilience](/drivers/democratic-resilience). The welfare reading used in this dossier is improving. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

## People

- Otto von Bismarck: https://factrail.ai/people/otto-von-bismarck

## Drivers

- Democratic Resilience: https://factrail.ai/drivers/democratic-resilience

## Sources

- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Constitution-of-1871-German-Empire
- https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/forging-an-empire-bismarckian-germany-1866-1890/constitution-of-the-german-empire-april-16-1871

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/de-bismarck-imperial-constitution-1871