German Republic

WORK IN PROGRESS Germany officaly ( The German Republic ) is a country in Western and Central Europe. The territory of Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate.

A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations. The country was first unified in 1871, with the inception of the German Empire. The Weimar Republic was proclaimed in 1918, followed by the Third Reich in 1933. The latter period was marked by the initiation in 1939 of World War II under Adolf Hitler. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified. West Germany was a founding member of the European Community in 1957, which became the EU in 1993. Former members of the Alllies had begun to reform and that with they're military. The United States disbanded, and with all troops out of Germany by 2004.

History
Main articles: History of Germany and Names of GermanyThe English word "Germany" derives from the Greek[4] term Germania. The name "Germania" came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it from a Gallic term for the peoples east of the Rhine that could possibly have meant "neighbour", or "men of forests", or even "men with spears".[5] [6] [7]

Germanic tribes and Frankish Empire
Main articles: Germanic peoples, Germania, Migration Period, and FranksThe Nebra Sky Disk found in Saxony-Anhalt is associated with the Bronze Age and dated to c. 1600 BC.The ethnogenesis of the Germanic tribes is assumed to have occurred during the Nordic Bronze Age, or at the latest during the Pre-Roman Iron Age. From southern Scandinavia and northern Germany, the tribes began expanding south, east and west in the 1st century BC, coming into contact with the Celtic tribes of Gaul as well as Iranian, Baltic, and Slavic tribes in Eastern Europe.[8] Under Augustus, the Roman General Publius Quinctilius Varus began to invade Germania (a territory running roughly from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains). In AD 9, three Roman legions led by Varus were defeated by the Cheruscan leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. By AD 100, the time of Tacitus' Germania, Germanic tribes settled along the Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus), occupying most of the area of modern Germany; Austria, southern Bavaria and the western Rhineland, however, were Roman provinces.[9]

The 3rd century saw the emergence of a number of large West Germanic tribes: Alamanni, Franks, Chatti, Saxons, Frisians, Sicambri, and Thuringii. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands.[10] After the invasion of the Huns in 375 and with the decline of Rome from 395 began the great migration, during which the Germanic tribes moved further and further to the south-west. Simultaneously several large tribes formed on the territory of modern Germany and displaced the smaller Germanic tribes. Large areas were occupied by the Franks, and Northern Germany was ruled by the Saxons and Slavs. All areas of the former Frankish Empire associated with today's Germany were in the eastern part of the empire, which had been known since the Merovingian period as Austrasia.[9]

Holy Roman Empire
Main article: Holy Roman EmpireSee also: Medieval demography and OstsiedlungThe Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, created around AD 1000On 25 December 800, Charlemagne founded the Carolingian Empire, which was divided in 843.[11] The medieval empire resulted from the eastern portion of this division and existed in varying forms from 962 until 1806. Its territory stretched from the Eider River in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south.[11]

Under the reign of the Ottonian emperors (919–1024), several major duchies were consolidated, and the German king was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of these regions in 962. Under the reign of the Salian emperors (1024–1125), the Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy, although the emperors lost power through the Investiture Controversy. Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), the German princes increased their influence further south and east into territories inhabited by Slavs, preceding German settlement in these areas and further east (Ostsiedlung). Northern German towns grew prosperous as members of the Hanseatic League.[12] Starting with the Great Famine in 1315, then the Black Death of 1348–50, the population of Germany plummeted.[13] The edict of the Golden Bull in 1356 provided the basic constitution of the empire that lasted until its dissolution. It codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors who ruled some of the most powerful principalities and archbishoprics.[14]

Martin Luther publicised his 95 Theses in 1517, challenging practices of the Roman Catholic Church and initiating the Protestant Reformation. A separate Lutheran church became the official religion in many German states after 1530. Religious conflict led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), which devastated German lands.[15] The population of the German states was reduced by about 30 percent.[16] The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended religious warfare among the German states, but the empire was de facto divided into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onwards, the dualism between the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1806, the Imperium was overrun and dissolved as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.[17]

German Confederation and Empire
Main articles: German Confederation and German EmpireFrankfurt parliament in 1848Following the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Congress of Vienna convened in 1814 and founded the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), a loose league of 39 sovereign states. Disagreement with restoration politics partly led to the rise of liberal movements. These were followed by new measures of repression by Austrian statesman Metternich. The Zollverein, a tariff union, furthered economic unity in the German states.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18">[18] During this era many Germans had been stirred by the ideals of the French Revolution, and nationalism became a more significant force. In the light of a series of revolutionary movements in Europe, which established a republic in France, intellectuals and commoners started the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of Emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, leading to a temporary setback for the movement.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-state_19-0">[19]

Conflict between King William I of Prussia and the increasingly liberal parliament erupted over military reforms in 1862, and the king appointed Otto von Bismarck the new Prime Minister of Prussia. Bismarck successfully waged war on Denmark in 1864. Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Federation (Norddeutscher Bund) and to exclude Austria, formerly the leading German state, from the affairs of the remaining German states. The state known as Germany was unified in 1871, when the German Empire was forged, with the Kingdom of Prussia as its largest constituent. After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire was proclaimed in Versailles. The Hohenzollern dynasty of Prussia ruled the new empire, whose capital was Berlin. The empire was a unification of all the scattered parts of Germany except Austria (Kleindeutschland, or "Lesser Germany"). Germany also began establishing several colonies outside Europe.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-state_19-1">[19]

In the Gründerzeit period following the unification of Germany, Emperor William I's foreign policy secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances, isolating France by diplomatic means, and avoiding war. Under William II, however, Germany, like other European powers, took an imperialistic course leading to friction with neighbouring countries. Most alliances in which Germany had been previously involved were not renewed, and new alliances excluded the country. Specifically, France established new relationships by signing the Entente Cordiale with Great Britain and securing ties with the Russian Empire.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[20] Germany joined many other powers in Europe in claiming its share of Africa during the Scramble for Africa. The Berlin Conference divided Africa between the European powers. Germany owned several pieces of land in Africa including German East Africa, German South-West Africa, Togo, and Cameroon.

The assassination of Austria's crown prince on 28 June 1914 triggered World War I. Germany, as part of the unsuccessful Central Powers, suffered defeat against the Allied Powers in one of the bloodiest conflicts of all time. An estimated two million German soldiers died in World War I.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21">[21] The German Revolution broke out in November 1918, and Emperor William II and all German ruling princes abdicated. An armistice putting an end to the war was signed on 11 November, and Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. Its negotiation, contrary to traditional post-war diplomacy, excluded the defeated Central Powers. The treaty was perceived in Germany as a humiliating continuation of the war. The treaty's harshness is often cited as an influence toward the later rise of Nazism in the country.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lee_h_22-0">[22]

Weimar Republic and Third Reich
Main articles: Weimar Republic and Nazi GermanyAdolf Hitler, chancellor of the Großdeutsches Reich from 1933–1945At the beginning of the German Revolution, Germany was declared a republic and the monarchy collapsed. However, the struggle for power continued, with radical-left communists seizing power in Bavaria, but failing to take control of all of Germany. The revolution came to an end in August 1919, when the Weimar Republic was formally established. The Weimar Constitution came into effect with its signing by President Friedrich Ebert on 11 August 1919.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23">[23]

Suffering from the Great Depression, the harsh peace conditions dictated by the Treaty of Versailles, and a long succession of unstable governments, the people of Germany increasingly lacked identification with their political system and the "Establishment Parties" in their parliamentary democracy. This was exacerbated by a widespread right-wing (monarchist, völkisch, and Nazi) Dolchstoßlegende, which promoted the view that Germany had lost World War I because of the efforts and influence of those who wanted to overthrow the government. The Weimar government was accused of betraying the German Nation by signing the Versailles Treaty, while the radical left-wing communists, such as the Spartacist League, had wanted a revolution to abolish "capitalist rule" in favour of a Räterepublik, and were also targeted. Discontentment with the new Weimar government helped fuel the growth of the German Communist Party. Many conservatives were drawn towards the reactionary/revolutionary right, particularly the National Socialist German Workers Party—the Nazi Party. By 1932, these two parties controlled the majority of parliament. After a series of unsuccessful cabinets, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24">[24]

On 27 February 1933 the Reichstag building went up in flames, and a consequent emergency decree abrogated basic citizens' rights. An Enabling Act passed in parliament gave Hitler unrestricted legislative power. Only the Social Democratic Party voted against it, while Communist MPs had already been imprisoned.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25">[25] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26">[26] Using his powers to crush any actual or potential resistance, Hitler established a centralised totalitarian state within months. Industry was revitalised with a focus on military rearmament.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27">[27] In 1935, Germany reacquired control of the Saar and in 1936 military control of the Rhineland, both of which had been lost in the Treaty of Versailles.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28">[28] Berlin in ruins after World War IIRoughly in parallel with military rearmament, German foreign policy became more aggressive and expansionistic. In 1938 and 1939, Austria and Czechoslovakia were brought under control and the invasion of Poland prepared through the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact and Operation Himmler. On 1 September 1939 the German Wehrmacht launched a blitzkrieg on Poland, which was swiftly occupied by Germany and by the Soviet Red Army. The UK and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29">[29] As the war progressed, Germany and its allies quickly gained control of much of continental Europe while the plan to occupy the United Kingdom failed. On 22 June 1941, Germany broke the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact and invaded the Soviet Union. The same year, Japan attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor, and Germany declared war on the United States. Although the German army advanced into the Soviet Union quite rapidly, the Battle of Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the war. Subsequently, the German army started to retreat on the Eastern front.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30">[30] In September 1943, Germany's ally Italy surrendered, and German troops were forced to defend an additional front in Italy. D-Day opened a Western front; the Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy and made advances towards German territory. On 8 May 1945, the German armed forces surrendered after the Red Army occupied Berlin. Approximately seven million German soldiers and civilians – including ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe – died during World War II.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31">[31]

In what later became known as The Holocaust, the Third Reich regime enacted governmental policies directly subjugating many dissidents and minorities. About seventeen million people were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, including six million Jews and a sizeable number of Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, Poles and other Slavs, including Soviet POWs, people with mental and/or physical disabilities, homosexuals, and members of the political opposition.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32">[32] World War II and the Nazi genocide were responsible for more than 40 million dead in Europe.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-33">[33] The Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals were held after World War II.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34">[34]

East and West Germany
Main article: History of Germany (1945–1990)Post-WWII occupation zones of Germany.The war resulted in the death of over seven million German soldiers and civilians; large territorial losses; the expulsion of about 15 million Germans from the eastern areas of Germany and other countries; mass rape of German women;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35">[35] and the destruction of multiple major cities. The remaining national territory and Berlin were partitioned by the Allies into four military occupation zones. The western sectors, controlled by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, were merged on 23 May 1949, to form the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland); on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone became the German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or DDR). They were, mainly outside Germany, informally known as "West Germany" and "East Germany". East Germany selected East Berlin as its capital, while West Germany chose Bonn. However, West Germany declared the status of its capital Bonn as provisional, in order to emphasise its stance that the two-state solution was an artificial status quo that was to be overcome one day.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-provisional_36-0">[36]

West Germany, established as a federal parliamentary republic with a "social market economy", was allied with the United States, the UK and France. The country came to enjoy prolonged economic growth beginning in the early 1950s (Wirtschaftswunder). West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957. East Germany was an Eastern bloc state under political and military control by the USSR via the latter's occupation forces and the Warsaw Pact. While claiming to be a democracy, political power was solely executed by leading members (Politburo) of the communist-controlled SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany). Their power was ensured by the Stasi, a secret service of immense size, and a variety of SED sub-organizations controlling every aspect of society. A Soviet-style command economy was set up; later, the GDR became a Comecon state. While East German propaganda was based on the benefits of the GDR's social programs and the alleged constant threat of a West German invasion, many of her citizens looked to the West for political freedoms and economic prosperity.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37">[37] The Berlin Wall, built in 1961 to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany, became a symbol of the Cold War.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-state_19-2">[19] The Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate shortly after its opening in 1989Tensions between East and West Germany were reduced in the early 1970s by Chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik, which included the de facto acceptance of Germany's territorial losses in World War II. In summer 1989, Hungary decided to dismantle the Iron Curtain and open the borders, causing the emigration of thousands of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary. This had devastating effects on the GDR, where regular mass demonstrations received increasing support. The East German authorities unexpectedly eased the border restrictions, allowing East German citizens to travel to the West. Originally intended to help retain East Germany as a state, the opening of the border actually led to an acceleration of the Wende reform process. This concluded with the Two Plus Four Treaty a year later on 12 September 1990, under which the four occupying powers renounced their rights under the Instrument of Surrender, and Germany regained full sovereignty. This permitted German reunification on 3 October 1990, with the accession of the five re-established states in the former GDR (new states or "neue Länder")

German Republic
The Germany reunification had lead Germany into a spring, a new dawn a brighter future. Two majority parties had sprung up in the newly redone Reichstag, the Socialist Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Germany had enjoyed a long lasted military protection by the United States and othe Allied nations after the end of the Cold War and after the dissovle of the United States, Germany went into a state of shock and feared of the newly formed New Germanic Empire to its south and massed up national defense reserves to its southern borders fearing attacks. This time period lead to a de-stablization in the area which allowed drastic changes in the Reichstag. Germany had feared the worst that the New Germanic Empire would uprise another National Socialist Empire and attack at the time another chaotic area, Poland. Germany had feared that the tensions between Poland and herself would damage a bloc between the two against the Southern gaint. With growing popularity with the New Germanic Empire in the Polish Republic in 2005, Germany had staged yet another embarrassing moment in its history, it lead a coup d'etat against the Polish Government and its people as it would fear another country absorbed by the Germanic Empire.