A Brief History Of Germany

1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF GERMANY
BY BIKRANT ROY
ANCIENT GERMANY
About 55 BC Julius Caesar conquered the Roman province of Gaul.
He made the Rhine the frontier of the new province. It was a natural
defensive barrier. Later the Romans also chose the Danube as a
frontier. They also created a ditch and earth bank with a wooden
palisade on top from the Rhine to the Danube. In 9 AD the people
who lived beyond the Rhine inflicted a crushing defeat on the
Roman army in a battle at the Teutoberg Forest. The Romans lost
about 20,000 men and their leader committed suicide. The battle
ensured that the Romans never conquered Germany beyond the
Rhine. However the Romans occupied southern and western
Germany. They founded a number of towns which still survive
(Augsburg, Cologne, Mainz, Regensburg and Trier).
In the late 5th century a Germanic people called the Franks carved
out an empire in what is now France. (They gave the country its
name). In 496 Clovis, the leader of the Franks became a Christian
and his people followed. In 771 Charlemagne became king of the
Franks. In 772 he attacked the Saxons. After a battle in 782 more
than 4,000 Saxon captives were beheaded. The survivors were
'converted' to Christianity by force. Charlemagne also annexed
Bavaria. In 800 he was crowned emperor. However Charlemagne's
empire did not long survive his death. In 843 it was divided into
three kingdoms, west, middle and east. In time the eastern
kingdom, East Francia, was divided further into 5 duchies. In the
early 10th century fierce Magyars from Eastern Europe attacked
them.
GERMANY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Then in 911 Conrad, Duke of Franconia was elected king of
Germany. He died in 918 and was replaced by Duke Henry of
Saxony. In 933 Henry defeated the Magyars at the battle of Riade.

2. Henry also fought the Slavs. When he died in 936 his son Otto
became king of Germany. He is known as Otto the Great. In 955
Otto utterly defeated the Magyars at the battle of Lechfeld, ending
the threat to Germany forever. In 962 the Pope crowned Otto
emperor. He died in 973. The Christian thinker Augustine claimed
that God created the Roman Empire to bring law and order to
mankind. The idea was that there should be one Church with the
pope at its head and one secular empire. Otto and the following
emperors claimed they were the successors to the ancient Roman
Empire. So their Germanic empire was called the Roman Empire. In
1157 it was called the Holy Roman Empire. Not surprisingly other
European nations were not enthusiastic about the idea and in any
case the Holy Roman Empire was never a single united unit. In
reality the power of the emperors over the different areas of the
empire was limited.
During the Middle Ages the original five duchies broke up and by
1500 the Holy Roman Empire was like a patchwork quilt of different
units. It was made up of princely states, which were ruled by
princes subordinate to the emperor. There were also bishoprics
ruled by bishops and archbishops. They were called ecclesiastical
princes. Imperial knights who answered directly to the emperor
ruled some areas. There were also some independent cities like
Augsburg. In Medieval Germany lords granted land to their vassals
and in return the vassals swore to serve the lord. Most of the
population were peasants. Some were free but many were serfs,
halfway between freemen and slaves. The serfs had to work on
their lord's land for certain days of the week. Germany grew richer
in the early middle ages and the population rose sharply (until the
14th century). Trade and commerce boomed and towns grew larger
and more numerous. Yet life was still hard and rough for most
people. They continued to live in small villages scattered across the
forests.
Moreover in the 11th century there was a conflict between the Pope
and the emperor over who had the right to appoint bishops. It was
important to the emperor to be able to appoint suitable bishops. In
those days church and state were closely linked. Furthermore the
church was rich and powerful and the emperor was keen to have
the bishops on his side. The pope, naturally, resented this

3. interference in church affairs. The argument was only settled by the
concordat of Worms in 1122. From 1220 to 1250 Frederick II was
emperor. He was known as stupor mundi (wonder of the world)
because of his brilliant mind. However in 1254 central authority
broke down completely. From 1254 to 1273 there was no emperor.
This period was called the Great Interregnum. It ended when
Rudolph of Hapsburg was elected emperor. In 1356 Karl IV issued
a document called the 'golden bull', which lay down the rules for
electing emperors.
In the early 14th century conditions in Germany deteriorated. The
climate grew colder and there were several famines. Worse, the
black death struck Germany in 1349 and it killed about one third of
the population. Jews were treated as scapegoats and many were
massacred at that time. In the late 14th and 15th centuries there
were a series of peasant uprisings in Germany. Furthermore
impoverished noblemen called robber barons roamed the
countryside. However a number of universities were founded in
Germany at that time. Heidelberg was founded in 1386. It was
followed by Leipzig in 1409, Tubingen in 1477 and Wittenberg in
1502.
GERMANY IN THE 16TH CENTURY
In the Middle Ages divisions between nations were vague. In the
16th century they became more clearly defined. One sign of this
came in 1512 when the empire's title changed to the 'Holy Roman
Empire of the German nation'. Then in 1517 the great Christian
scholar Martin Luther started the Reformation when he nailed his
theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg. In 1521 the heads of
the various German states met in an Imperial Diet at Worms. Martin
Luther was called to account and he stood by his views. The
Reformation split Germany, with some states accepting his
teachings and others rejecting them. In 1531 the Protestant princes
formed the alliance of Schmalkalden to defend the Reformation by
force if necessary. The emperor fought a war with them in 1546-47.
Although he was victorious he could not turn the clock back and
Protestantism could not be eradicated. Then in 1555 the Diet of
Augsburg met. The peace of Augsburg declared that princes could
decide the religion of their state. Anyone who disagreed with their

4. ruler could emigrate. Meanwhile Martin Luther translated the New
Testament into German in 1522 and the Old Testament in 1534.
Furthermore in the early 16th century there were a series of
peasant uprisings across Germany, as the peasants, dissatisfied
with their lot, demanded economic and social change. The unrest
culminated in the Peasants War of 1525. However the princes
easily crushed the rebellion and tens of thousands of peasants
were killed. However the late 16th century was a time of relative
peace and stability in Germany.
GERMANY IN THE 17TH CENTURY
In the early 17th century the uneasy peace between Protestants
and Catholics broke down. The Protestants formed a military
alliance in 1608. In response the Catholics formed the Catholic
League in 1609. At that time Bohemia (the modern Czech Republic)
was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Protestant nobles in Bohemia
had gained certain privileges. When Ferdinand II became king of
Bohemia in 1617 he tried to undo them. In protest on 23 May 1618
Protestants threw royal officials out of a window in Prague. This
event became known as the defenestration of Prague.The
Bohemians rebelled and appealed to German Protestants to help
them. However the emperor led a force of Catholics and defeated
the Protestants at the battle of White Mountain in 1620.
Nevertheless a long series of wars between Catholic and Protestant
states began. Other European powers became involved. The
Swedes joined the Protestants in 1630 under their king Gustavus
Adolphus (although he was killed at the battle of Lutzen in 1632).
France joined the Protestant side in 1635. The wars dragged on
until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Thirty Years War was a
disaster for Germany. The population fell significantly and much of
the country was devastated. Germany took decades to recover from
the destruction. The war had another effect. It weakened the power
of the emperor and increased the power of the princes and kings.
GERMANY IN THE 18TH CENTURY
The main development in Germany during the 18th century was the
rise of Prussia. In the 17th century the Hohenzolleron family ruled
both Brandenburg and East Prussia. In 1701 the ruler of both was

5. Elector Frederick III. In that year he crowned himself King of
Prussia. Soon the whole realm was called Prussia. However at first
Prussia was an economically backward area. It only rose to
greatness under Frederick II 'The Great', who became king in 1740.
Frederick had a very large army and he was a capable general,
which allowed him to fight successful wars. In 1740 Prussia invaded
Silesia (an Austrian possession). On 10 April 1741 the Prussians
defeated the Austrians at the battle of Mollwitz. At first the battle
went well for the Austrians. Their cavalry defeated the Prussian
cavalry and Frederick fled from the battle. However the Prussian
infantry stood and fought. They overcame both the Austrian cavalry
and the Austrian infantry. As a result Prussia won the battle. Austria
made peace in 1742 but the peace did not last long. War began
again in 1745. The Prussians won a series of battles at
Hohenfriedberg on 4 June, at Soor on 30 September and at
Hennersdorf on 23 November. Frederick II ended the war in
December 1745 with his territory enlarged.
In 1756 Prussia went to war again when Frederick invaded Saxony.
However this time Frederick II was faced with a powerful coalition of
enemies. Nevertheless the Prussians won two victories at
Rossback in November 1757 and at Leuthen in December 1757.
The Prussians also defeated the Russians at the battle of Zorndorf
in 1758. However the tide of war then turned against the Prussians
and they were defeated at the battle of Minden in 1759. Fortunately
in January 1762, one of Frederick's most powerful enemies,
Elizabeth of Russia, died and her son made peace with the Treaty
of St Petersburg. The war ended in 1763. Then in 1772 Prussia,
Austria and Russia agreed to carve up part of Poland between
them. In 1792 Prussia and Austria went to war with Revolutionary
France. However the French won victories and Prussia made peace
in 1795. Meanwhile the Prussians and Russians divided up the
remaining part of Poland in 1793. Austria made peace with France
in 1797 but war began again in 1799.
GERMANY IN THE 19TH CENTURY
However Austria was defeated and was forced to make peace in
1801. France defeated Austria again in 1805. As a result some
German states allied themselves with Napoleon. In July 1806
Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine, which was made

6. up of 16 German states. The Holy Roman Empire officially ceased
to exist on 6 August 1806. Then in September 1806 Prussia went to
war with France. However Napoleon crushed the Prussians at Jena
on 14 October 1806. However in 1812 the French were utterly
defeated in Russia. In 1813 Prussia joined Russia in the war
against the French. Austria also joined and in October 1813 the
combined armies defeated the French at the battle of Leipzig.
After Napoleon's final defeat in 1815 the Congress of Vienna met to
decide the fate of Europe. A German confederation was formed to
replace the old Holy Roman Empire. It consisted of 38 states. An
assembly called the Bundestag, made up of delegates from the
states was formed. Prussia was the biggest winner from the peace.
It gained the Rhineland and Westphalia. The population of Prussia
increased and it gained valuable mineral resources. Prussia
became increasingly important in German affairs. In 1834 the
Prussians and other German states formed a customs union called
the Zollverein. Furthermore in the 1830s Germany began to
industrialize. One sign of this was the opening of the first German
railway in 1835 from Nuremberg and Furth. As Prussia
industrialized it grew stronger and stronger while its rival, Austria
remained an agricultural country and so grew relatively weaker.
Meanwhile an Austrian minister named Metternich tried to prevent
the ideas of the French Revolution spreading in Germany. In 1819
there were student bodies in German universities called
Burschenshaften. On 23 March 1819 a member of one killed a
writer called August von Kotzebue. Metternich used this as an
excuse to introduce press censorship and strict supervision of
universities. His measures were called the Karlsbad decrees.
However it proved impossible to put the genie back in the bottle. In
1818 Baden and Bavaria introduced liberal constitutions. So did
Wurttemberg in 1819 and Hessen-Darmstadt in 1820. Furthermore
in 1830 a revolution in France triggered riots in parts of Germany
and some German rulers were forced to make concessions. In 1831
Brunswick, Hesse and Saxony all introduced new constitutions.
However in Prussia and Austria all liberal movements were
repressed.
Then, after 1845 there were a series of bad harvests. There was
also a recession and high unemployment. Discontent erupted in

7. revolution in 1848. In February 1848 another revolution in France
triggered demonstrations and unrest across Europe, including
Germany. At first the rulers were so alarmed they backed down and
made concessions. However they soon regained their nerve. In
Prussia on 18 March 1848 the king announced he was willing to
make some reforms. However Prussian troops fired at some
demonstrators in Berlin and in the ensuing fighting many people
were killed. Afraid of further unrest the king decided to appease the
demonstrators. On 19 March 1848 he ordered the troops to leave
Berlin. On 21 March 1848 he rode through Berlin dressed in the
revolutionary colors, red, gold and black. Then in May 1848 an
elected assembly representing all Germany met in Frankfurt. The
Frankfurt parliament discussed German unity. However the rulers
soon regained their confidence and they began to crack down on
the revolutionaries. On 2 April 1849 the Frankfurt parliament offered
the King of Prussia the crown of Germany. However he rejected the
offer. The Frankfurt parliament gradually dispersed and its
members went home. Meanwhile, in 1849 European rulers began to
use their armies to put down rebellions. Soon the old order
returned.
THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY
Then, in 1863 the Danish king tried to annex the duchies of
Schleswig and Holstein. Both Prussia and Austria fought a short
war against Denmark in 1864. As a result Prussia and Austria were
given joint administration of the two duchies. Disagreements with
Austria over the duchies gave Prussia a pretext to start a war in
1866. It was over within a short period. On 3 July 1866 Prussia won
a great victory over the Austrians at Koniggratz. Afterwards a peace
treaty created North German Federation dominated by Prussia.
Austria was expelled from German affairs. Bismarck, the German
chancellor, then quarreled with France over the issue of who was to
succeed to the Spanish throne. The French declared war on 19 July
1870. However the French were utterly defeated at the battle of
Sedan on 2 September 1870 and they made peace in February
1871.
Meanwhile the southern German states agreed to become part of a
new German Empire with the Prussian king as emperor. William I
was proclaimed emperor on 18 January 1871. In the late 19th

8. century Germany industrialized rapidly. By the end of the century it
rivaled Britain as an industrial power. In 1879 Germany signed the
Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary. The two powers agreed to
come to each others aid in the event of a war with Russia.
Bismarck, the German chancellor also campaigned against
socialism. In the late 19th century it was a growing force in
Germany. Bismarck tried to take the wind out of Socialism's sails by
introducing welfare measures. In 1883 he introduced sickness
insurance. In 1884 he introduced accident insurance. Then in 1889
he introduced old age pensions. However socialism continued to
grow in Germany and by 1914 the Social Democratic Party was the
largest party in the Reichstag. Finally Bismarck resigned in 1890.
GERMANY IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Bismarck always pursued friendly relations with Britain but under
his successors it was different. From 1898 under Admiral Tirpitz
Germany began expanding its navy. Britain, the largest naval
power, was alarmed. Furthermore Europe became divided into two
armed camps, with Germany and Austria-Hungary one side and
Britain, France and Russia on the other. The spark that ignited war
came on 28 June 1914 when the Austrian Archduke Franz
Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. In August 1914 the
Germany army overran Belgium and marched on Paris. However
they were defeated at the battle of the Marne in September. Both
sides began a 'race for the sea'. Both sides reached it at the same
time. They then dug trenches and years of deadlock followed.
In the east the Germany was more successful. They crushed the
Russians at the battle of Tannenberg. Russia gradually weakened
and finally made peace by the treaty of Brest-Litvosk in March
1918. Meanwhile in 1917 Germany introduced unrestricted
submarine warfare, which meant that ships from any nations trying
to trade with the allies would be sunk. As a result the USA declared
war on Germany on 6 April 1917.
In March 1918 Germany launched a series of assaults on the British
and French lines. However they failed to break through and on 8
August 1918 the British counter-attacked with tanks. Furthermore in
September the Americans began an offensive against the

9. Germans. Slowly the allies advanced and on 29 September 1918
General Hindenburg advised the government that the war could not
be won. he Kaiser abdicated on 9 November and the Social
Democrats formed a new government. On 11 November they were
forced to sign an armistice with the allies.
However although the Kaiser went the 'pillars' of the old regime, the
generals, civil servants and judges remained. A new constitution
was drawn up but it had a fatal weakness. It used a system of
complete proportional representation. So if a party won 2% of the
vote it got 2% of the seats in the Reichstag. This meant there was a
huge number of parties in the Reichstag, none of them ever had a
majority of seats and Germany was ruled by weak coalition
governments. Worse, under Article 48 the President could ignore
the Reichstag and pass laws of his own choosing. This was called
rule by decree.
In 1919 the German government were forced to sign the Versailles
Treaty. However the vast majority of Germans bitterly resented the
Versailles Treaty. Firstly the Germans were not consulted on the
treaty and they resented being dictated to. They also resented the
'war guilt' clause, which blamed Germany and its allies for causing
the war. Worse under the treaty Germany lost a significant part of
its territory and its population. A section of land called the Polish
corridor was given to Poland so East Prussia was cut off from the
main part of Germany. Also Memel was given to Lithuania. After a
referendum Eupen-Malmedy was given to Belgium. After another
referendum North Schleswig joined Denmark. Alsace-Lorraine was
returned to France. Furthermore the Rhineland was demilitarized
(no German soldiers were allowed there). In any case Germany
was not allowed more than 100,000 soldiers. The Germans were
not allowed submarines or battleships. They were not allowed an air
force either. Worse still Germany was made to pay 'reparations' (a
form of compensation for damage done by the war). The amount
was set in 1921. It was the colossal figure of 6,600 million marks
and Germany was forced to start paying.
From the start there were attempts to overthrow the government. In
January 1919 a group of Communists called Spartacists led a
rebellion in Berlin. The government fled to Weimar. As a result the
new regime was called the Weimar Republic. (Even though it soon

10. returned to Berlin). The Communist uprising in Berlin was crushed
by the Freikorps (free corps). They were ex-soldiers bearing arms.
In April 1919 more communists seized power in Bavaria. Again the
Freikorps crushed them. Then in March 1920 a group of Freikorps
led by Dr Kapp tried to take control of Berlin. The army refused to
put down the rebellion but the trade unions in Berlin ordered a
general strike. As a result the Kapp putsch was defeated.
The early 1920s were years of hardship and near-starvation for
many people in Germany. Worse a myth began that Germany had
been 'stabbed in the back' in 1918. Some people said that Germany
could have fought on and won the war. That was nonsense but it
was a powerful myth. The people who agreed to the armistice in
1918 were called 'November criminals'. Extreme right-wingers
assassinated some of the so-called November criminals. Matthias
Erzberger, who signed the armistice was shot in 1921. Walter
Rathenau the foreign minister was shot in 1922.
Meanwhile in January 1919 Anton Drexler formed the German
Workers Party in Munich. In September 1919 an Austrian named
Adolf Hitler joined. (He did not become a German citizen until
1932). The party believed the myth that Germany was stabbed in
the back in 1918. They also wanted all Germans to live together in
one Greater Germany. The party was also unashamedly racist and
anti-Semitic. In 1920 the party's name was changed to the National
Socialist Germany Workers Party or NAZI party. In 1921 Adolf Hitler
became it's leader. In 1921 Hitler formed a paramilitary organisation
called the Sturm Abteilung or SA. They were also called brown
shirts because of the their brown uniforms. In 1923 Hitler and his
tiny party tried to take control of Germany. On 8 November a
politician named Gustav von Kahr was the speaker at a beer hall in
Bavaria. With him was General von Lossow. At 8.30 pm the SA
surrounded the beer hall and Hitler entered with armed men. Kahr
and the general were told they were under arrest. However Kahr
agreed to lead Hitler's attempt to take over Germany and the two
men were allowed to go. As soon as they went they took steps to
stop Hitler. When Hitler and his supporters marched through
Munich they were met by state troopers in the Odeonplatz. In the
skirmish that followed 4 troopers and 16 Nazis were killed. The

11. Munich putsch promptly collapsed and Hitler fled the scene. He was
arrested two days later.
The year 1923 was a very bad one for Weimar Germany. By then
Germany had fallen behind with her reparations payments. In
response in January 1923 French and Belgian troops occupied the
Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland. German workers in the Ruhr
went on strike. They also held huge demonstrations. The striking
workers became heroes in Germany and the government printed
money to pay them, which led to rapidly increasing inflation.
Furthermore production of goods in Germany fell drastically. As a
result the price of goods rose very quickly. These two factors, the
printed money and the shortage of foods caused inflation in
Germany to go through the roof. Inflation became hyper-inflation. In
January 1923 a loaf of bread cost 250 marks but by September it
cost 1.5 million marks. Prices rose so fast that workers had to be
paid twice a day and they had to bring baskets or suitcases to take
their money home in. As a result of the hyperinflation people lost
their life savings. Money they had in the bank became virtually
worthless. On the other hand anyone in debt saw their debts
virtually disappear.
Finally in August 1923 Gustav Streseman became chancellor of
Germany. He issued a new currency the Rentenmark to replace the
mark, which had become almost worthless. Streseman lost the post
of Chancellor in November 1923 but he became foreign minister
instead. Germany began paying reparations again and in 1924
Streseman negotiated the Dawes plan. Germany's annual
repayments were reduced and the USA agreed to lend Germany a
huge sum of money to rebuild it's economy. In 1925 the French and
Belgian troops left the Ruhr and the years from 1925 to 1929 were
ones of relative prosperity for Germany. In 1929 Streseman
negotiated the Strong Plan. The amount of reparations was reduced
to 1,850 million. Unfortunately the good times in Germany ended
with the Wall Street Crash in the USA in 1929.
The depression of the early 1930s was a disaster for Germany.
Unemployment was already high in Germany in the 1920s. Even in
the peak year of 1928 it was 8.4%. However it soared from the end
of 1929. By 1933 unemployment in Germany had risen to 33%. One
effect of the depression was that the democratic parties lost

12. support. Instead people turned to radical parties like the
communists or the Nazis who promised seemingly easy solutions to
Germany's problems. In 1928 the Nazis only gained 2.6% of the
vote. By September 1930 they gained 18.3% of the vote. By 1932
they were the largest party in the Reichstag. (Although they never
obtained a majority of the vote). However in November 1932 votes
for the Nazi party fell and the economic situation in Germany
seemed to be getting better. Unfortunately on January 30 1933
President Hindenburg asked Hitler to become Chancellor of
Germany and to lead a coalition government. Hindenburg disliked
Hitler who he called the 'Bohemian corporal'. However a number of
German politicians thought they could use Hitler. They were
convinced that if he joined a coalition they could dominate him.
They soon turned out to be very wrong.
NAZI GERMANY
On 27 February the Reichstag burned down. A Dutchman called
Marinius van der Lubbe was arrested and confessed to the crime.
Hitler claimed that van der Lubbe did not act alone and that it was a
Communist plot. The next day President Hindenburg was
persuaded to sing 'Presidential Decree for the Protection of the
People and the State', which allowed arbitrary arrest. As a result all
the leading Communists were arrested. The last election in Weimar
Germany was held on 5 March 1933. The Nazi's still failed to gain a
majority of the vote. However the Communist party was banned and
none of its members could take their seats in the Reichstag. As a
result the Nazis were left in control of the Reichstag. In March 1933
Hitler persuaded the Reichstag to pass the enabling law. This would
give Hitler the power to pass new laws without the consent of the
Reichstag. The new law meant changing Germany's constitution
and that would require votes by two thirds of the Reichstag's
members. Incredibly 80% of the Reichstag voted in favor of the law,
only the Social Democrats voted against it. The Reichstag voted to
make a madman dictator of Germany.
Hitler wasted no time in introducing a tyrannical regime in Germany.
After 1871 Germany was a federal state. It was made up of units
called Lander, which had once been independent countries. A
governor ruled each. However in April 1933 Hitler replace them with
Reich governors, all of who were loyal Nazis. This helped to bring

13. the country even more under Hitler's control. In May Hitler banned
trade unions. To replace them he created the Deutsche Arbeitsfront
(German Labor Front) under Robert Ley. It set levels of pay and
hours of work. The Social Democratic Party was banned in June
1933. Later that summer other parties dissolved themselves, under
pressure from the Nazis. On 14 July 1933 Hitler banned all parties
except the Nazi party.
Finally Hitler consolidated his grip on power with a purge called the
Night of the Long Knives on 30 June 1934. In 1934 the SA or brown
shirts wanted to take over the army. The army was appalled by this
idea and Hitler needed the army's support. Moreover the SA had
other enemies. In 1925 Hitler created the Schutztaffel (protection
squad) of SS as his bodyguard. Heinrich Himmler the head of the
SS resented the fact that the SS was officially part of the SA. He
wanted the SS to be a separate organisation. He also wanted more
power for himself. Himmler told Hitler that the SA were planning to
overthrow him. Hitler himself arrested Rohm the leader of the SA.
The SS arrested other important figures in the SA and other
prominent critics of the regime. All of them were shot. Then on 2
August 1934 President Hindenburg died. Hitler, the Chancellor took
over the President's powers and called himself Fuhrer (leader). The
army were made to swear an oath of loyalty of Hitler. (Previously
they swore an oath of loyalty to Germany). Furthermore any
opponents of the regime (mostly communists and socialists) could
be arrested and sent to a concentration camp without trial. (At first
although prisoners were beaten and tortured concentration camps
were designed as prisons rather than extermination camps).
The Nazis managed to eliminate unemployment in Germany. Partly
they did this by rearming (even though this meant breaking the
Versailles Treaty). In 1935 Hitler announced that Germany had an
air force. He also introduced conscription. In 1936 German troops
entered the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland. Britain and France
did nothing. Hitler also built roads called autobahns across
Germany and he built great public buildings such as the Olympic
Stadium for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. All this helped to reduce
unemployment. Although there was full employment workers were
paid low wages (to keep the German industrialists happy). They
also worked long hours. In the 1930s they worked an average of 49

14. hours a week. During the Second World War this was increased to
60 hours a week or more. To try and keep the workers happy an
organisation was formed called (Strength Through Joy). Some
workers went on cheap holidays to places like Norway and Italy.
However, more often they organised cheap concerts and trips to the
theater.
Hitler's attitude to women was simple. They were to be mothers and
housewives. Their role was summed up in the phrase kinder, kuche
and kirche (children, kitchen and church). In Nazi Germany married
women were encouraged to give up their jobs and they were
encouraged to have children. Women who had four children were
given a bronze medal. Women who had six were given a silver
medal and women who had eight were given a gold medal. During
the Second World War other nations conscripted women to work in
industry but Hitler refused to do that.
Hitler hated Jews. In April 1933 he ordered a boycott of Jewish
shops. Also in 1933 a law called 'The Law for the Restoration of the
Professional Civil Service' banned Jews from working in
government jobs. Then in 1935 Hitler passed the Nuremberg laws.
The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor made it
illegal for Jews to marry 'Aryans' (people of Germanic descent). The
Reich Citizenship Law stated that Jews could not be German
citizens. Worse was to come. On 7 November 1938 a Polish Jew
called Herschel Grynzpan shot a German official called Ernst Von
Rath at the German embassy in Paris. In response the Germans
attacked Jews and Jewish property on 9 November 1938. Jewish
homes and shops were attacked and so many windows were
broken it was called Kristallnacht (crystal night). Thousands of Jews
were sent to concentration camps. The Nazis also decided that the
rest of the Jews must pay a fine of 1,000 million marks and they
were not eligible for insurance payments. The Nazis also detested
Gypsies. In 1935 they were forbidden to marry 'Aryans'. From 1939
onward German Gypsies were deported to Poland. Later, like the
Jews they were murdered in concentration camps.
In 1933 Josef Goebbels was made head of the 'Reich Ministry of
Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda'. Afterwards newspapers
and books were strictly controlled. Nothing critical of the Nazis
could be published. The Nazis also arranged for cheap radios to be

15. made so as many people as possible could afford one. The Nazis
realized that radio was an effective medium for propaganda. The
Nazis also used the cinema. Many Nazi propaganda films were
made. The Nazis attacked modern art, which they called
degenerate. They also banned music by Jewish composers. The
Nazis also disliked jazz music, which they regarded as decadent. In
1933 the Nazis organised a book burning. They seized books in
libraries they disapproved of and burned them on bonfires.
Furthermore many writers, artists, film directors and musicians fled
from Nazi Germany.
The Nazis also controlled education. Children were indoctrinated
with Nazi ideas at school. The Nazi version of history was taught
and children were taught Nazi racial theories. To further influence
young people the Nazis created the Hitler-Jugend (Hitler Youth),
which was an organisation boys could join at the age of 14. They
went camping and hiking but also learned Nazi ideas. In 1936
membership was effectively made compulsory. For girls the Nazis
created the Bund Deutscher Madel (League of German Girls).
However not all German youth conformed to Nazi ideas. By the late
1930s groups called Edelweiss Pirates emerged in western
Germany (so called because they wore an edelweiss flower). They
often beat up members of the Hitler Youth. There were also the
Swing-Jugend (Swing Youth). They liked jazz music (which the
Nazis disapproved of).
On 1 September 1939 the German Army invaded Poland. On 3
September Britain and France declared war on Germany. However
Poland was soon overrun. On 17 September the Russians invaded
Poland from the east and by early October Polish resistance was
crushed. Then in April 1940 the Germans occupied Denmark and
they invaded Norway. They captured Norway in early June.
Meanwhile in May 1940 Germany invaded the Netherlands,
Belgium and France. The German army was astonishingly
successful and France capitulated in late June. However Britain
fought on. In 1941 German troops were sent to fight the British in
North Africa. Meanwhile the Germany army conquered Yugoslavia,
Greece and Crete. However in June 1941 Hitler in 1941 Hitler
invaded Russia, a very stupid move. Worse on 11 December 1941
he declared war on the USA.

16. Then at the end of 1942 the British won the battle of El Alamein in
Egypt. In November 1942 the Russian army surrounded the
Germans at Stalingrad. Part of the German army there surrendered
on 31 January 1943. The remaining part surrendered on 2
February. After this disaster Germany was losing the war. Also
British and American bombing began to destroy German cities and
industry. The German troops in North Africa surrendered in May
1943. In July 1943 the allies invaded Sicily and in September they
invaded Italy. On 6 June 1944 the allies invaded Normandy and
opened a second front. That spelled Germany's doom. By the
autumn of 1944 they had liberated France and Belgium. The
Germans counterattacked in December 1944 but failed. By January
1945 the Russians were poised to invade Germany. They had
suffered terribly at the hands of the Germans and they wanted
revenge. Civilians from East Prussia fled in terror. Then as the
Russians entered Germany they committed terrible atrocities.
Finally on 2 May 1945 the Russians captured Berlin.
Meanwhile in late March the British and Americans crossed the
Rhine. Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945. His tyranny did
not long outlast him Germany surrendered unconditionally at 11.01
pm on 8 May 1945. The Nazis brought Germany to ruins, its cities
reduced to rubble, its industry mostly destroyed. Furthermore
Hitler's was cost millions of German lives. This was the legacy of
Nazism. The Nazis were, of course, responsible for murdering
millions of innocent people. From 1940 Polish Jews were confined
in ghettos. When the Germans invaded Russia in 1941 the mass
murder of Jews in the east began. At first they were shot. Then at
the Wannsee Conference in January 1942 Nazi leaders decided to
exterminate all Jews. So they were rounded up and deported to
death camps. When they arrived some were selected for work (and
worked to death), while others were gassed. Afterwards the bodies
were burned. By the end of World War II some 6 million Jews had
been murdered.
MODERN GERMANY
Following the surrender Germany was divided into four zones,
American, British, French and Russian. Berlin, although it was
within the Russian area, was also divided into zones. Nazi war
criminals were brought to trial at Nuremberg in November 1945.

17. Soon the Russians and the western powers drifted apart and it
became clear that Germany was not going to be reunited. The
Russians stripped East Germany of its resources but the Americans
gave aid to West Germany and the rest of Western Europe. This aid
was called the Marshall plan and it was paid from 1948 to 1952.
Meanwhile in 1948 the three western powers introduced a new
currency into their zones. The Russians responded by blocking all
land routes to West Berlin (which was occupied by the western
powers). The western allies flew in supplies for the next 11 months
until the Russians relented.
In the west a new state called the Federal Republic of Germany
was formed on 23 May 1949. At first the new state had to cope with
high unemployment. However in the 1950s and 1960s West
Germany went through an 'economic miracle'. The devastation
caused by World War II was repaired and the economy boomed.
However by the mid-1970s the miracle had ended and Germany
was mired in recession. Meanwhile, in 1955, West Germany was
allowed to join NATO and rearm. Then, in 1957, West Germany
was one of the founder members of the EEC (forerunner of the EU).
However in East Germany things were very different. It was called
the German Democratic Republic. Of course, it was anything but
democratic and soon a full communist regime was imposed. In
1953 there was a wave of strikes in East Germany. The Russians
responded by sending in tanks and killing many civilians. Not
surprisingly many people in East Germany fled to a better life in the
west. In 1961, alarmed at the number of skilled workers leaving
East Germany, the government built the Berlin Wall. Afterwards
anyone who tried to leave was shot. However the communist
tyranny collapsed in 1989. On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall
was opened. Following the collapse of communism Germany was
reunited on 3 October 1990. Germany then faced the task of raising
living standards ins in the east to the same level as those in the
west. Today Germany is a wealthy country with a high standard of
living. Germany is famous for making plastics, paints and
pharmaceuticals as well as cars, electrical goods and computers.
Germany is also famous for its exports of wine, beer and sausages.
Meanwhile Germany joined the euro in 1999 and in 2005 Angela
Merkel became the first woman Chancellor of Germany.

18. The population of Germany is 82 million.
A TIMELINEOF GERMANY
9 AD The Romans are routed by the Germans preventing a Roman
conquest of Germany
772 Charlemagne king of the Franks (from France) attacks the Germans
814 Charlemagne dies. After his death his empire breaks up and part of it
becomes Germany.
933 Henry Duke of Saxony defeats the Magyars
936 Otto the Great becomes king of Germany
955 Otto crushes the Magyars
962 The pope crowns Otto emperor
1157 The Germanic Empire is called the Holy Roman Empire for the first
time
1220 Frederick II becomes emperor
1254-1273 The Great Interregnum (a period without an emperor)
1356 Karl IV issues the golden bull, a document of rules for electing
emperors
1349 The Black Death strikes Germany and kills about a third of the
population
1386 Heidelberg University is founded
1409 Leipzig University is founded
1502 Wittenberg University is founded
1517 Martin Luther begins the Reformation

19. 1522 The Diet of Worms, (a meeting of the German states). Martin Luther
translates the New Testament into German
1525 The Peasants War (a peasants uprising) takes place in Germany
1531 German Protestant princes form an alliance
1555 The Diet of Augsburg decrees that each prince can decide which
religion his people will follow
1618 The Thirty Years War begins
1648 The Thirty Years War ends but Germany is left devastated with much
of her population dead
1740 Frederick the Great becomes king of Prussia and invades Silesia
1741 The Prussians defeat the Austrians at Mollwitz
1745 The war ends but Prussia is left with more territory
1756 Prussia goes to war against a coalition of enemies
1763 The war ends
1772 Prussia takes part of Poland
1792 Prussia goes to war with France
1793 Prussia takes more of Poland
1795 Prussia makes peace with France
1806 Napoleon ends the Holy Roman Empire. The French crush the
Prussians at Jena.
1813 Prussia joins Russia against France
1815 A German Confederation is formed
1819 Metternich introduces strict censorship with the Karlsbad decrees
1834 Prussia and other states form a customs union called the Zollverein
1835 The first railway in Germany is built

20. 1848 Revolution sweeps Germany. An elected assembly representing all
Germany, called the Frankfurt Parliament meets.
1849 The rebellions are put down and the old order returns
1864 Prussia and Austria fight Denmark
1866 War between Prussia and Austria. Afterwards a North German
Confederation is formed, which is dominated by Prussia.
1870 Prussia crushes France
1871 Prussia makes peace with France. The southern German states unite
with the north.
1883 Bismarck introduces sickness insurance
1889 Bismarck introduces old age pensions
1890 Bismarck resigns
1898 Germany begins to expand its navy
1914 The German army overruns Belgium
1918 Russia surrenders to Germany. The Germans launch a series of
assaults on France and Germany but fail to break through. From August
the Germans are pushed back. In November they sign a cease-fire.
1919 Germany is forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. Communists try to
seize power in Berlin but are defeated.
1920 Dr Kapp attempts a coup but is defeated. The German Workers Party
changes its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party.
1921 Hitler becomes head of the National Socialists
1923 Hitler leads a rebellion in Bavaria but is easily defeated. French and
Belgian troops occupy the Ruhr. The workers go on strike but the result is
hyper-inflation.
1925 French and Belgian troops leave the Ruhr
1929 The Wall Street Crash in the USA leads to mass unemployment in
Germany

21. 1932 Unemployment in Germany reaches 6 million. The National Socialists
become the largest party.
1933 Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany. Later the Reichstag passes
the enabling law, which gives Hitler dictatorial powers.
1934 President Hindenburg dies. Hitler takes over the President's powers.
1935 Hitler announces that Germany has an air force. He also introduces
conscription. Hitler also passes the Nuremberg Laws oppressing Jews in
Germany.
1936 German troops enter the demilitarised zone in the Ruhr
1938 Germans attack Jews and Jewish property in 'crystal night'.
1939 Germany invades Poland
1940 Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France
1941 Germany invades Yugoslavia, Greece and Russia
1942 The Germans are defeated at El Alamein in Egypt
1943 The Germans are defeated at Stalingrad
1945 Russia invades Germany from the East. Britain and the USA invade
from the west. Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders.
1948 The Berlin airlift takes place. USA sends Marshall Aid to help rebuild
the German economy.
1949 A new state, West Germany is created.
1953 Strikes take place in East Germany. The Russians send in tanks.
1955 Germany joins NATO
1961 Communists build the Berlin Wall
1989 The Berlin Wall falls
1990 Germany is reunited
1999 Germany joins the Euro

22. 2005 Angela Merkel becomes the first woman chancellor