page_title: North German Confederation
section_title: Political system
hierarchical_section_title: North German Confederation / Political system
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Eine Sitzung des konstituierenden Reichstages, Februar-April 1867; Bismarck steht direkt unterhalb des Pultes des Parlamentspräsidenten. Der konstituierende Reichstag verhandelte mit den verbündeten Regierungen über die Norddeutsche Bundesverfassung. Eröffnet wurde das Gremium am 24. vom König im Berliner Schloss, die erste Sitzung fand am Tag danach statt. English: Gathering of the Konstituierender Reichstag, February-April 1867.
context_page_description: The North German Confederation was the German federal state which existed from July 1867 to December 1870. Although de jure a confederacy of equal states, the Confederation was de facto controlled and led by the largest and most powerful member, Prussia, which exercised its influence to bring about the formation of the German Empire. Some historians also use the name for the alliance of 22 German states formed on 18 August 1866. In 1870–1871, the south German states of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg and Bavaria joined the country. On 1 January 1871, the country adopted a new constitution, which was written under the title of a new "German Confederation" but already gave it the name "German Empire" in the preamble and article 11.
  The federal constitution established a constitutional monarchy with the Prussian king as the bearer of the Bundespräsidium, or head of state. Laws could only be enabled with the consent of the Reichstag and the Federal Council. During the four years of the North German Confederation, a conservative-liberal cooperation undertook important steps to unify Germany with regard to law and infrastructure.
context_section_description: The North German Constitution of 16 April 1867 created a national parliament with universal suffrage (for men above the age of 25), the Reichstag. Another important organ was the Bundesrat, the 'federal council' of the representatives of the allied governments. To adopt a law, a majority in the Reichstag and in the Bundesrat was necessary. This gave the allied governments, meaning the states and their princes, an important veto.
  Executive power was vested in a president, a hereditary office of the House of Hohenzollern, the ruling family of Prussia. He was assisted by a chancellor responsible only to him – an office that Bismarck designed with himself in mind. There was no formal cabinet; the heads of the departments were not called ministers but secretaries. Those were installed and dismissed by the chancellor.
  For all intents and purposes, the confederation was dominated by Prussia. It had four-fifths of the confederation's territory and population – more than the other 21 members combined. The presidency was a hereditary office of the Prussian crown. Bismarck was also foreign minister of Prussia, a post he held for virtually his entire career. In that role he instructed the Prussian deputies to the Bundesrat. Prussia had 17 of 43 votes in the Bundesrat despite being by far the largest state, but could easily get a majority by making alliances with the smaller states.
caption: First session of the (then still provisional) Reichstag on 24 February 1867
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