What if the Holy Roman Empire Reunited Today?

At its height in 1155, the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was one of the most powerful empires its time had ever seen. Calling it an empire is actually quite controversial, however, due to the way the empire was run and how it worked; it more closely resembles the way how the United Kingdom today works like a country of countries than a proper empire. Nonetheless, though, the empire practically dominated the whole part of Central Europe and was a key power in global politics during its duration. But gradually over time, the empire started to lose its sovereignty and influence it once had until it finally ceased to exist when the last HRE emperor, Francis II, abdicated his title and released all imperial states from rule. But what if the empire reunited today?

So the first thing we need to think about a reunited Holy Roman Empire is the population and land it would control. For starters, 16 total modern-day countries would lose all or some of their territory to the empire: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, San Marino, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Vatican City. At a glance, this might not seem that much to you but it would not stop the empire from having a significant land area.

In total, the empire's area would stand at a moderate 406,640 square miles (1,053,200 square km). This would be enough to make the empire the 29th largest country in the world, just slightly larger than Mauritania (397,955 sq miles) and Egypt (387,048 sq miles), but just smaller than Bolivia (424,164 sq miles). Just like most things I am going to cover, modern-day Germany would dominate the HRE's land area, accounting for 137,882 square miles or 33% of the entire empire's area, which is nearly enough to make a clear majority of 50%.

The population of the Holy Roman Empire would be as equally impressive, or probably even more, as its land area. Standing at a gargantuan 215,500,000 people! This would be enough to make the empire the 6th most populous country in the world, just ahead of Brazil (212.6 million) and Nigeria (206.1 million), but still quite behind the 5th place contender, Pakistan (220.9 million). Such a huge population would mainly account for the population centres within the empire like Germany, and parts of Italy and France.

As well as a massive population, the empire would also boast some very big cities in its borders. The capital city of the empire would be a very, and I mean a very tough choice as the imperial empire didn't actually have a permanent capital and was just based on where the emperor was residing at the time. So we would have to think of a whole new capital city from scratch. In my opinion, Berlin would probably be the most likely choice as the city served significant cultural and historic importance for the Holy Roman Empire, is the current capital of modern-day Germany (The most powerful country making up the empire), and is also a current major population and financial hub for the rest of Europe, with a moderate Urban population of 4,750,000 people. However, do not be fooled by this. Berlin would not be the most populous city in the reunited empire despite having a strong place in the top 10. Milan, in modern-day Italy, would actually be the most populous city with a huge population of 6,150,000. Here would be the rest of the top 10 most populous urban-areas in the empire:

The next topic we need to think about a reunited Holy Roman Empire is the money and GDP the empire would find in possession, and this would definitely be no disappointment. The Nominal GDP of the empire would stand at around $9.232 Trillion! This is gargantuan and would be enough to put the empire in a strong 3rd place, in terms of Nominal GDP, beating up other huge economies like Japan ($5.378 Trillion) and an independent Germany ($4.319 Trillion), and only behind the juggernauts of China ($16.68 Trillion) and the United States ($22.675 Trillion). Once again, Germany would contribute the most to the GDP, with an independent GDP of $4.319 Trillion

The GDP Per Capita of the empire would also be no disappointment, in contrast to other empires I have covered previously in the series, standing at $43,444, which would be enough to make the empire a high-income country. This would also place the empire with the 31st highest living standards in the world, quite ahead of Japan ($42,928) and Andorra ($40,887), but just behind an independent France ($44,995).

A reunited HRE would also most likely re-join the European Union as all of the modern-day countries that would make up the empire are already in the EU.

Starting with Religion, Christianity would make up the largest religion within the empire at 58%, split between 45% Catholic and 13% Protestant. Islam would be next at 3% of the population, which is actually quite surprising as the historic empire had very little to no Muslims within its borders. Today, however, it would have around 6 million. Finally,  Atheists and Irreligious people would make up the final block at a massive 39% of the population.

Focusing on Ethnic Groups now, Germans would unsurprisingly dominate the population, being the largest ethnicity in the empire at 45%. Italians would be the next largest ethnic group at 20% of the population, closely followed by the French at 11%, Dutch at 10%, and Polish at 6.8%. Czechs would be represented at 4.7%, while Slovenians would be at 1%, and the final 1.5% being a mix of various other small ethnicities in the empire, each representing less than 1% of the population.

The last topic we need to think about the Holy Roman Empire is its military. Starting with manpower, the empire would possess a huge force of around 694,000 active-duty military personnel, which would place the empire with the 6th highest number of active troops in the world, larger than other formidable military powers like Pakistan (653,800 troops) and South Korea (625,000 troops) but quite significantly behind Russia (900,000 troops). In addition to this, the HRE would also have around 1,000,000 troops placed in reserves, bringing the empire's troops to a total of 1,694,000. 

The empire would have a significant military budget, standing at around $109B, which would be 1.18% of its Nominal GDP but only half of the entire EU's budget ($219B). Nonetheless, this would be enough to make the empire have the 3rd highest budget in the world, well ahead of India's ($71 Billion) and Russia's ($65 Billion), but only behind that of China's ($261 Billion) and the United States' ($732 Billion).

As well as this, the Holy Roman Empire would also be a Nuclear Power, among the other 9 countries currently possessing them, inheriting some of France's nukes. However, a clear amount would be unclear but an estimation would be between 120-300 Nuclear Weapons.