Imperial Germans

Reichsdeutsche, literally translated "Germans of the Reich", is an archaic term for those ethnic Germans who resided within the German state that was founded in 1871. In contemporary usage, it referred to German citizens, the word signifying people from the German Reich, i.e., Imperial Germany or Deutsches Reich, which was the official name of Germany between 1871 and 1949.

The opposite of the Reichsdeutsche is, then, depending on context and historical period, Volksdeutsche, Germans Auslandsdeutsche (however, usually meaning German citizens living abroad), or a more specific term denoting the area of settlement, such as Baltic Germans or Volga Germans (Wolgadeutsche).

The key problem with the terms Reichsdeutsch, Volksdeutsch, Deutschstämmig (Ethnic German), and related ones is that the usage of the words often depends on context, i.e. who uses them where and when. There are, in that sense, no general legal or "right" definitions, although during the 20th century, all terms acquired legal — yet also changing — definitions.

The reason for the differentiation is that there has been a historical shift in the meaning of what belonging to a nation means. Until the early 19th century, a demonym such as "German" — apart from the theodiscus vernacular — was not too meaningful, although at least since the German Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, the concept certainly existed. If anything, it was more seen as a cultural concept. The idea of a Kulturnation, as advocated by philosophers like Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) and Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814), includes German first language, religion (in different forms), and already sometimes German origin, descent or race in a vague sense.

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