The German Empire is the name commonly use in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918, when it was a semi-constitutional monarchy: beginning with the unification of Germany and proclamation of William I of Prussia as German Emperor (January 18, 1871), effectively ending with the proclamation of the German republic by Philipp Scheidemann (November 9, 1918) and formally ending with the abdication of William II (November 28, 1918). The most important bordering states were the Russian Empire in the east, France in the west, and Austria-Hungary in the south.