We all know that Hitler was the Third Reich, but what were the First and Second? IIRC Charlemagne was the First and Bismark was the Second. Am I correct?
The term "Third Reich" was invented by the German writer Arthur Moeller van den Bruck in his 1923 book "Das Dritte Reich" ("The Third Reich"). It refers to the Holy Roman Empire (962-1806) as the "First Reich" and the German Empire under the Hohenzollern dynasty (1871-1918) as the second.