GERMANY

The origins
Germany is located along migration routes, so since prehistoric times this country
has been the site of numerous migrations. In fact, paleontologists have recovered
traces of hominids that migrated from Africa and go back 50 million years. In
addition, thanks to scientists we know that at the beginning of history 400,000
years ago, lived a form derived from Homo Sapiens near the current city of
Heidelberg. Since it was thought to lie in this area it was called the "Heidelberg
Man", which was a more advanced species than its predecessor. At that time, the
groups of nomads were dedicated to hunting and gathering. There are also data
from the Neanderthal period thanks to the remains that were found near
Düsseldorf. These groups lived there approximately 100,000 years ago.

Some time later, in 40,000 BC, it is known that the "Man of Cro-Magnon" existed, a
species of Homo Sapiens-Sapiens more similar to modern man. The hunter
peoples met with the agricultural peoples of southwestern Asia, with whom they
mingled and lived together for a time. Impressively, it is in Germany where most of
the most important archaeological data related to this prehistoric group come from.
These findings have made archaeologists think that it was in Germany (in the
south of the country) where music was discovered, and even art itself, about
35,000 years ago.

Later, in the year 2,300 a.C. new immigrant groups arrived especially from
southern Russia, and settled in central and northern Germany. From 1800 to 400
a.C, during the Bronze Age, German tribes absorbed much of the culture of the
Celtic peoples, which disappeared in later years. It is up to the so-called "Migration
Period", which begins the history of Germany as we know it today, when the Greek
and Roman writers began to describe the inhabitants of the region. From 300 to
500 AD the nomadic peoples who spoke Germanic languages, emigrated to the
region that we now know as East Germany, meeting with the Celtic peoples who
already lived there
The Roman Empire
In the centuries that followed, the Germanic tribes gradually replaced the Celtic
tribes, who invaded the Roman Empire along the borders of the Rhine and the
Danube. For the Romans who called Germany "Germania", this region was a
barbarous and somber village, which was inclined towards destruction. After the
Roman authority collapsed in the western end of the year 400 of the Christian era,
one of the Germanic peoples provinces, the Franks gradually led to the various
Germanic tribes under his authority and Christianized the remaining pagans in the
region . The Frankish rulers, including the famous CarloMagno, presented them as
heirs of the Roman emperors.
Around 800 AD Carlo Magno created a great empire that occupied the territories of
Germany and France, however, after his death the region suffered great social
unrest. It was not until 936 that Otto I consolidated the empire again. CarloMagno
was the only sovereign who could unify what is now Germany, France and Italy.
The empire only lasted 40 years, which is divided by the Treaty of Verdun. During
the following 80 years, Germany is divided into five duchies (Saxony, Bavaria,
Franconia, Lorraine and Swabia) led by King Louis "The Germanic". The creation
of a Germanic state in central Europe, whose rulers would inherit the crown of the
Holy Roman Empire, was an important cornerstone in the development of German
identity, as language and political loyalty merged.
Middle Ages
During the medieval era and the modern early era, the imperial structure provided
the fragmented German territories with an administrative and legal framework,
while at the same time preserving the freedom of hundreds of German princes and
cities. Subsequently, the unity of the "Holy Roman Empire" was destroyed during
the sixteenth century, with the trial of Martin Luther against the Catholic Church.
Precisely, one of the most influential characters of this period of history is Martin
Luther. Thanks to his translation of the Bible he makes an important contribution to
the development of the German language, besides creating an impressive fracture
in the Christian world. With its Protestant reform, it not only changes religious
history and theological thought, but also modifies the face of Europe, thanks to the
social and political elements that the reform contains. The new religious thought
that he defended was the cornerstone of the thinkers of the modern era, such as
Hegel and Kierkegaard.
Germany and Europe were divided into a religious struggle, where Catholics and
Protestants met, since the Lutheran Church was recognized as the new confession
sanctioned from 1530 onwards in many German states. As a consequence of this
religious conflict, the so-called "Thirty Years' War" arose, which devastated the
German territory, causing the population to be reduced by 30%. The Thirty Years
War greatly diminished the power and prestige of the Holy Roman Emperor and
destroyed the balance within the empire with imperial authority and territorial
autonomy. This, in turn, caused a strong struggle for power among the princes,
which at the same time would give a dominant power to the north of Germany.
Something that later, in the modern era, would bring disastrous consequences, due
to its exaggerated nationalism.
The modern era, was brought by the armies of Napoleon, who helped the fall of the
Holy Roman Empire, propagating revolutionary and nationalist ideas within
Germany. It is until 1648 that the war ends, but the territory is divided into
numerous principalities.
Germanic Confederation
When the last monarch of the Sacrum Germanic Empire abdicated, a search
began to create a unified German national state. Among the issues to be
discussed was whether to create a large Germany consisting of all the territories or
a small Germany integrated only by some states; In addition to this dilemma was
added the distribution of power between the people and the crown.
In March of 1848, the Revolution exploded in Germany, which makes Germany a
national and institutional state. When the first Parliament was installed in Frankfurt,
it was established that it would not be possible to establish a national State that
included Austria, which is decided by the "small Germany", in the form of an
empire under the rule of the Kingdom of Prussia. The emergence of Prussia, brings
with it the establishment of a militarily aggressive power, declaring Germany as an
Empire in 1871, and governed by a Prussian monarch.

German Unification

In 1871 it is the beginning of Germany as a country with the institution of the German Empire.
After the victory of Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War, the unification of the different German
states is achieved, excluding Austria. In this way Prussia becomes Germany under the regime of
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, one of the most important statesmen of the nineteenth century.
From then on, a period of great national development began in the fields of economy, politics and
militia. Since then, Germany is considered along with the United Kingdom, one of the world's
leading powers. Under this leadership, Germany experienced rapid industrialization, and militant
German nationalism emerged at the end of the 19th century.

First World War

The pretext for the beginning of the war was the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
Austrian crown, in Sarajevo (June 1914) by a Serbian nationalist organization called "Black Hand".
With this event, Austria wanted to take the opportunity to end Serbia, to which Germany joined.
On August 1, 1914, the First World War broke out, where Germany launched into combat in
support of its ally the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The great powers allied themselves in two camps:
on the one hand, the Allies of the Triple Entente (Russia, the United Kingdom and France), and, on
the other hand, the Powers of the Central Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary).

The conflict began with the invasion of France by the German Empire, Belgium and Holland,
followed by the invasion of Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the attack of Russia
against Germany. In total, more than 70 million soldiers, including 60 million Europeans, fought in
the largest war in history until that time. After years of stagnation, the war began its decline in
March 1917 with the defeat of Russia after the February Revolution and the signing of a peace
agreement between this country and the Central Powers in March 1918. On November 4, 1918 ,
the Austria-Hungary Empire requested an agreement and after a series of offensives on the part of
the German empire throughout all the Western Front, the Allies made retreat to the Germans.
Germany, on November 11, 1918, requested an agreement, ending the war with the victory of the
allies.

At the end of the war, France, the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire were defeated
militarily and politically, to the point of disappearing. The German Empire then annexed the
defeated territories of France, Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal.

Second World War

In 1933, the National Socialist German Workers Party, which was constituted by a radical fascist
group, took control in Germany after its leader, Adolf Hitler, was appointed chancellor. Under this
autocratic Nazi leadership, Germany fell into a totalitarian dictatorship, which also resulted in a
racist oppression of its Jewish citizens. Despite the fact that Hitler's government lasted only a
decade, it brought with it a Second World War and the genocide of millions of Jews, better known
as "the Holocaust".

World War II is the darkest chapter in German history. On September 1, 1939, Germany started
the Second World War by invading Polish territory. The government of Hitler had like goal the
acquisition of a great empire, to reach the hegemony of Germany. However, this war was not only
political-economic in nature, but also served to enforce strong racist laws. During this war, the
worst massacre in history took place, not only were more than 6 million Jews, Gypsies, Russians,
Serbs, Poles and other ethnic groups murdered, but concentration camps were also created where
people were tortured and exploited. belonging to these groups.

The concentration camp at Auschwitz was the largest death camp during the Holocaust, was led by
SS officer Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Hoess until the summer of 1943. In 1940, it had a
population of 1,400 people, most of them Jews. More than 6,500 members of the SS served in
Auschwitz performing various brutal tasks to fulfill the goal of the so-called final solution to the
"Jewish problem". The final solution was the plan of the Nazis to carry out a systematic genocide,
to eradicate the Jewish population of Europe.

Also, within Germany several internal struggles were held to stop Hitler as many were at odds with
their ideas, they also realized that what he wanted to achieve was impossible. The White Rose was
an organized group that advocated nonviolent resistance against the regime. It was founded in
1942, by a group of Christian students who wrote, printed and distributed 6 sheets in which they
encouraged the population to resist against nationalism. At first, the sheets were distributed by
mass mailings, in different cities in Bavaria and Austria, as southern Germany would be more
receptive to the anti-militarist message. The Scholl brothers, their main leaders, appeared in court
on February 22, 1943, where they were accused of treason, and were sentenced to the guillotine
that same day. All the key members of the group were sentenced to death the summer of that
year. On April 25, 1945, Soviet and American troops entered Germany for the first time, "cutting"
the country in two.
On April 30, 1945, Hitler commits suicide in his bunker of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. The entry
of the United States into the war ended up defeating Germany who signed its surrender on May 8,
1945. It is then that in the Potsdam conference the political map of Europe and the occupation
zones of Europe are redefined. Germany and Austria.

The Cold War

After the Second World War, Germany, already defeated and devastated by the war, became the
first point of the Postdam Conference. At the Potsdam Conference of 1945, the Allies divided
Germany into four zones of military occupation: France to the southwest, Britain to the northwest,
the United States to the south and the Soviet Union to the east. The ancient capital of the Nazi
empire, Berlin, was also divided among the allies. The Russians had pledged that the Western
allies would cross the territory. However, by 1948, the Russians tightened control over Eastern
Europe. But, the allies of the west emitted a currency to rescue the German economy, which
caused anger between the Soviets, who responded cutting all the traffic of West Berlin in June of
1948.

The occupation of the allies had as icon the Berlin Wall, which lasted more than 40 years.
However, after 1950 it achieved an impressive international recovery, which makes it the third
economic power in the world, surpassing the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France.

The Berlin Wall

The differences between the allies and the communists were so great that they even had two
coins, two political ideals and finally two Germanies. In 1949, Germany is divided into the Federal
Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The poor Soviet economy
and the growing economy of Berlin, brought with it that many residents of East Germany wanted
to move to the other side, which caused the night of August 12, 1961, a provisional wall was raised
and only left open 12 points of control. With the passage of time, a brick wall was built and a wire
fence was put in place so that the people of East Germany could not go to the other side. Between
1961 and 1989 thousands of people tried to cross to western Germany, however, many were
arrested and many others died in the attempt. Until November 9, 1989 thousands of people
crowded at the checkpoints to cross to the other side, without anyone could stop them, so that
there was a mass exodus.

The German Reunification

Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev took over as head of the Russian Communist Party in
March 1985, after a series of ineffective leaders. As part of this change, Gorbachev launched an
extensive program of reforms in the Communist Party Congress in February 1986. During a state
visit to East Germany by Gorbachev, a crowd of protesters greeted the Soviet leader, shouting for
change.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it took 11 months for the Reunification of Germany to be
established. With this West and East Germany are united forming a single country, having as
capital Berlin. On October 3 the reunification treaty is signed, the accession of the RDA to the RFA
was authorized. The countries that had occupied postwar Germany: the Soviet Union, the United
States, Great Britain and France, signed the Treaty on the Final Agreement with respect to
Germany on March 15, 1991.

The treaty, signed by East and West Germany and ratified by the unified German state, removed
the limitations on German sovereignty that remained of the aftermath of World War II. Giving rise
to the birth of the new Germany.

Germany and the European Union

Germany is considered a founding state of the European Union, since it played a fundamental role
in its construction. At first the European Union was not as big as it is today, since it was only
formed by Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Currently, there are
28 members of the European Union.

In 2001, one of the most important economic changes in the region was opened, establishing the
euro as the common currency of the European Union. The euro is the currency of 19 countries of
the 28 members of the EU. The Schengen area is one of the greatest achievements of the EU. It
consists of a space without internal borders, in which citizens of the EU, as well as citizens of other
countries can circulate freely without being subject to border controls. Since 1985, it has been
growing and nowadays it includes almost all EU Member States and some associated countries
that do not necessarily belong to the EU.

As you can see German history is very complex and extensive, however, here we try to highlight
the most important points and above all to take up again those events that have impacted not
only Germany, but also the entire world. Germany is a country that has suffered many turbulent
episodes throughout its history, has also been the executor of one of the most tragic episodes of
humanity; However, despite its difficult and controversial history, today is a nation that recognizes
and seeks equality between all its inhabitants, including those who were not born in Germany.
And, in addition, at present it is considered the locomotive of Europe, a world power.

Germany is a successful country, admired by many other countries, and although 27 years after
the reunification, it still has some differences between regions, without a doubt, it is a country
with enormous economic strength and political influence. Besides being a totally democratic
country, something very different from what the Third Reich was in the 40s. We hope that this
brief tour of German history has pleased you and that you have learned something new from this
beautiful country. If you want to continue reading about topics related to Germany, we invite you
to register to our newsletter.