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Early German Empire stamps are fascinating, reflecting the growth of German industry and military self-confidence culminating in the disaster of the First World War.
The German Empire was born out of the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War (July 1870 to May 1871). At the battle of Sedan, in September 1870, the French Emperor Napoleon III and his entire army were captured. The German armies then laid siege to Paris, which capitulated on January 28, 1871. The subsequent peace treaty awarded the territories of Alsace and Lorraine to the German Empire.
On January 18, 1871, the kings, princes, dukes, etc., of all the Germanic States, gathered in the Hall of Mirrors, in Versailles, to proclaim the creation of the German Empire. King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor. Bismarck, who had been Wilhelm's prime minister in Prussia, became the new Chancellor of the Empire.
During its existence from 1871 to 1918, the German Empire emerged as one of the most powerful industrial economies on Earth.
Stamp-Collecting-World has a fantastic discussion of the stamps of the German Empire and Colonies, including the following pages (which, however, don't link to each other on the original site):
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