Charlemagne conquered the area that today is Germany during the latter half of the 8th century.
When the Frankish kingdom was partitioned 843 a German kingdom was created by its eastern parts. The complete name of this new state would
eventually be "the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation". The regents were German kings but also Roman emperors since they claimed
to be the successors of the Roman Empire. It was however seriously weakened during the late middle age and was only a state
by name when most power were in the hands of the hundreds princes and self-governing cities that made up Germany. Napoleon
finally dissolved the empire 1806. In its place a loose German confederation was created 1815. A major issue during the 19th
century was the unification of Germany into a strong state. This was complicated by the rivalry between the two largest German
states Austria and Prussia. When Germany 1871 at last was unified it was under Prussian leadership and without Austria, which
had been defeated in a war 1866
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