what was the second reich
I believe that the first Reich refers to the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th century was Charles the Great. The Second Reich was the unification of Germany under the Prussian Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1870. Of course, we all know what the Third Reich was. The First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire. There is little agreement as to when it was founded. Most German historians date the foundation from the coronation of Otto I in 962. That 'empire' had a continuous existence till 1806. The Second Reich was created by Bismarck in 1871 and lasted till 1918.