The history of Germany

After having bought a delicious bratwurst, we are heading to our hotel in Germany. We pass by the remains of the Berlin Wall. We immediately face the history of Germany, the awful part, though. Germany has a lot more history than only the awful facts of two World Wars.

The first known king of Germany, was Charlemagne, the king of the Franks. He conquered the entire area and made it part of the Frankish Empire (771-814). This was not a united country as it is today, it was more a group of provinces under Frankish rule. The Treaty of Verdun placed the territory of what we now call Germany under one king and was called East Frankia.

In 1871 Wilhelm I of Prussia was declared German Emperor, the German empire was founded. This led to a rapid industrialisation of the country and by the end of the 19th century they almost had the same economic output as the United Kingdom.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a lot of competition for colonies and markets what led to rivalry between the European states. When Serbian nationalists murdered Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Germany declared war. In 1918 they surrendered and the country experienced a lot of revolutionary uproar. The Kaiser was forced to resign and the republic was declared.

The loss of territory and disagreement in political affairs led to an economic setback and a hyperinflation in the early 1920s. In 1932, the National Socialist Party, led by Hitler gained a lot of power and a year later, Hitler was declared Chancellor. It did not take long until Hitler turned Germany into a dictatorship. They set off Word War II but had to surrender in 1945.

The British, French, American and Soviet allies, who have won the war, divided Germany in 4 zones, each under control of one ally. In 1949, the three western zones were united to the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic. The two states would develop very differently and in 1961 the Berlin Wall was built, dividing Berlin in two parts.

As we saw the remains of the Wall, we could only imagine how enormous and terrifying this Wall must have been. In 1989, the East Germans were deeply unsatisfied with their lives, separated from the rest of the Western world. Finally, in November the Berlin Wall dell and a year later Germany was reunited and Berlin became the capital.

Sources:

http://study.com/academy/lesson/brief-history-of-germany.html

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Germany-history.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Germany

http://www.expatica.com/de/about/Germany-facts-A-brief-history_106918.html

http://www.about-germany.org/culture/history.php

http://www.ukgermanconnection.org/history-germany