The Constitution of the German Confederation (german: Verfassung des Deutschen Bundes) or November Constitution (''Novemberverfassung'') was the constitution of the German federal state at the beginning of the year 1871. It was enacted on January 1, 1871. This is a slightly changed version of the Constitution of the North German Confederation; it is not to be confused with the constitutional laws of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

of 1815. The Constitution of the German Confederation of 1871 incorporated agreements between the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

and some the South German states that joined the Confederation: with

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

and

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse be ...

, but not

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

and

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

. The new constitution appeared on 31 December 1870 in the ''Bundesgesetzblatt des Norddeutschen Bundes'' (North German Federal Law Gazette) and came into effect the following day. New elections to the Reichstag, the parliament, took place on 3 March. They included for the first time the South German states, also Württemberg and Bavaria. On 16 April 1871 the constitution was replaced with a new constitution which was in effect until the end of the German Empire in 1918. There are four different constitutions or texts to distinguish between: # The 'Constitution of the North German Confederation' (''Verfassung des Norddeutschen Bundes'', ''Norddeutsche Bundesverfassung'', NBV) from 16 April 1867. It came into effect on 1 July 1867. # The 'Constitution of the German Confederation' (''Verfassung des Deutschen Bundes'') as a text which was added to one of the November treaties: the agreement between the North German Confederation and Hessen-Darmstadt and Baden. # The 'Constitution of the German Confederation' (''Verfassung des Deutschen Bundes'', ''Deutsche Bundesverfassung'', DBV) as the constitutional text which appeared in the Federal Law Gazette on 31 December 1870. The Constitution, in spite of its title, already names the federal state 'German Empire' ('' Deutsches Reich''). It came into effect the following day, 1 January 1871. # The '

Constitution of the German Empire The Constitution of the German Empire (german: Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches) was the basic law of the German Empire of 1871-1918, from 16 April 1871, coming into effect on 4 May 1871. German historians often refer to it as Bismarck's imper ...

' of 16 April 1871, which came into effect on 4 May 1871. This is usually the constitution called the '' Bismarcksche Reichsverfassung'' (BRV or RV). In all of those four texts, the political system remains the same. The changes relate mainly to the agreements with the South German states regarding their accession to the North German Confederation. For example the number of delegates to the Federal Council were adjusted. All this was executed in a rather messy way. Constitutional historian Ernst Rudolf Huber called the constitution of 1 January 1871 a 'Monstrum'.Ernst Rudolf Huber: ''Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789.'' Vol. III: ''Bismarck und das Reich.'' 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart . a.1988, p. 757. The constitution of 1 January 1871 was one step from the North German Confederation to the German Empire. Those steps did not create a new state but concerned the accession of the South German states. The North German Confederation was renamed, and some of its organs received a new title. The constitution of 1 January 1871 did have lasting significance in the German Empire despite of the new constitution of 16 April 1871: article 80 (not repeated in the constitution of 16 April) made many North German laws come into force also in the South.

References

{{Authority control North German Confederation 1871 in Germany Government of the German Empire Historical constitutions of Germany Treaties involving territorial changes 1871 in law 1871 documents 1871 in politics Otto von Bismarck