Why are countries like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany so powerful? In addition to their immense industries and economies, their population of tens of millions is also a major factor in their strength.
In the current ranking of European countries' populations, apart from the unique case of Russia, the most populous is Germany, with nearly 42 million people.
France and Austria-Hungary both have populations over 36 million, placing them as the closest to Germany in terms of population.
The reason Germany's population is so large is because Germany integrated most of the German Region. Bavaria, the largest state in Southern Germany, was once a medium-sized country and is now part of the German Empire, demonstrating how vast this integrated empire has become.
Excluding the overly populated Russia, Germany stands alone in the first tier in terms of population, France and Austria-Hungary are in the second tier, followed by the United Kingdom and Italy in the third tier.
