The Emperor appointed the Chancellor, the head of government and chairman of the Bundesrat, the council of representatives of the German states.

Laws were enacted by the Bundesrat and the Reichstag, the Imperial Diet elected by male Germans above the age of 25 years.

It renamed the country to Deutsches Reich (conventionally translated to 'German Empire') and gave the Prussian King the title of German Emperor.

The member states of the North German Confederation that now became members of the Empire were Prussia, Saxony, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Anhalt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Waldeck, Reuss (older line), Reuss (younger line), Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe, Lübeck, Bremen, and Hamburg.

He believed that he ruled the Empire in personal union with Prussia, and could merely abdicate as German Emperor while keeping the Prussian crown.

Article 11 stated that the emperor had the power to declare war (and make peace), represent the Empire abroad, conclude treaties and alliances, and accredit and receive ambassadors.

In German constitutional law, it was not considered a parliament chamber, but foreign commentators tended to reckon it as an upper house.

Transitional arrangements set the total number of deputies at 382, with 48 for Bavaria, 17 for Württemberg, 14 for Baden, and 6 for Hesse south of the river Main (Article 20).

Therefore, initially, the criteria for becoming a citizen (the rules of acquisition of citizenship by descent, birth, marriage, legitimation, for a German through admission, or through naturalization), were laid down by the separate laws of the individual States.

(Article 18) The constitution was amended on 20 December 1873 by the Lex Miquel-Lasker to make the entirety of civil law the responsibility of the Empire.

In 1911 the constitution was amended to treat the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine as a state in some regards, including limited voting power in the Bundesrat.

[4][5]: 6 One month later, with the defeat of Germany in World War I and the November Revolution, the monarchy ceased to exist and the Constitution technically became obsolete.

It formally remained in force, though, and was only changed on 10 February 1919 by the Gesetz über die vorläufige Reichsgewalt passed by the National Assembly.

In fact, the Übergangsgesetz of 4 March stipulated explicitly that the 1871 constitution was still valid unless in contradiction to laws passed since November 1918.