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<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Germany - RationalWiki</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":!1,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"Z94sWow8P9mfdZH8Eb5f2QAAABc","wgCSPNonce":!1,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":!1,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Germany","wgTitle":"Germany","wgCurRevisionId":2721312,"wgRevisionId":2721312,"wgArticleId":10699,"wgIsArticle":!0,"wgIsRedirect":!1,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Bronze-level articles","European countries","Fascism","Germany","Member states of the European Union","NATO member states"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Germany","wgRelevantArticleId":10699,"wgIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":!0, "wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgMediaViewerOnClick":!0,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":!0};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready","noscript":"ready","user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","mediawiki.page.gallery.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles.legacy":"ready","mediawiki.toc.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.startup","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.legacy.js","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","mmv.head","mmv.bootstrap.autostart"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@1hzgi",function($,jQuery,require,module){/*@nomin*/mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); });});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cmediawiki.page.gallery.styles%7Cmediawiki.toc.styles%7Cskins.vector.styles.legacy&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.35.6"/> <meta name="description" content="Germany (German: Deutschland), officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is a country in Central Europe that has, in many ways, been the primary engine of that continent's tumultuous modern history. The country is famous internationally for being the economic powerhouse of the European Union bloc and is one of its most influential members.&#91;2&#93; Germany's gifts to the world are its excellent beer, sausages, automobiles, classical music, and picturesque castles.&#91;3&#93; Unfortunately, the country wasn't always so nice, and it's thus also known for its violent history, rife with savage, horrific brutality, imperialism, religious wars, and not to mention the myriad crimes of the Nazi regime, the Holocaust, and the tense national division during the Cold War. Today, however, Germany is a democratic republic with its capital located in its largest city, Berlin. Thankfully, Germans of today are much more likely to smoke a joint than a Jew.&#91;4&#93; The country is strongly secular, with 55% of the population identifying as Christian but only 10% saying they are sure God exists.&#91;5&#93; About 6% of its people are Muslim, and 28% are atheist or agnostic.&#91;5&#93;"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit"/> <link rel="edit" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/opensearch_desc.php" title="RationalWiki (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="license" href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="RationalWiki Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="RationalWiki"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Germany"/> <meta property="og:description" content="Germany (German: Deutschland), officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is a country in Central Europe that has, in many ways, been the primary engine of that continent's tumultuous modern history. The country is famous internationally for being the economic powerhouse of the European Union bloc and is one of its most influential members.&#91;2&#93; Germany's gifts to the world are its excellent beer, sausages, automobiles, classical music, and picturesque castles.&#91;3&#93; Unfortunately, the country wasn't always so nice, and it's thus also known for its violent history, rife with savage, horrific brutality, imperialism, religious wars, and not to mention the myriad crimes of the Nazi regime, the Holocaust, and the tense national division during the Cold War. Today, however, Germany is a democratic republic with its capital located in its largest city, Berlin. Thankfully, Germans of today are much more likely to smoke a joint than a Jew.&#91;4&#93; The country is strongly secular, with 55% of the population identifying as Christian but only 10% saying they are sure God exists.&#91;5&#93; About 6% of its people are Muslim, and 28% are atheist or agnostic.&#91;5&#93;"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Germany"/>  </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Germany rootpage-Germany skin-vector action-view minerva--history-page-action-enabled skin-vector-legacy"> <div id="mw-page-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="mw-head-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="content" class="mw-body" role="main"> <a id="top"></a> <div id="siteNotice" class="mw-body-content"><div id="localNotice" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div id="2025_RationalWiki_.27Oregon_Plan.27_Fundraiser"> <table role="presentation" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 60%; text-align: left;"><big><center><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">2025 RationalWiki 'Oregon Plan' Fundraiser</a></b></center></big> <p><b>There is no RationalWiki without you.</b> We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. 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Germany as a country has only been in existence for just over a hundred years. But in that time they've started two world wars, they've had two military coups, they've been brought on the brink of starvation two times, and they've invaded almost all of their neighbours.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Jeremy Clarkson, <i><a href="/wiki/Top_Gear" title="Top Gear">Top Gear</a>: Jeremy Meets the Neighbours</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="navbox" style="float: right; clear:right; border: 2px solid silver; margin: 0 0 .5em .5em; width: 200px;"> <div style="background-color: #e7ece6; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; padding: .3em;"><b>Germany</b> <b></b></div> <center><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_Germany.svg" class="image"><img alt="Flag of Germany.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg/195px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png" decoding="async" width="195" height="117" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg/293px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg/390px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /></a></center> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>Demographics</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by population" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by population">Population</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>83,190,556 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by GDP (nominal)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by GDP (nominal)">GDP (million)</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>3,780,553 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita">GDP p/cap.</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>45,466 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by life expectancy" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by life expectancy">Life expectancy</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>81.7 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by Human Development Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by Human Development Index">Development Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>0.947 </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>Government</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Democracy Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Democracy Index">Democracy Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>8.67 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Corruption Perceptions Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Corruption Perceptions Index">Corruption Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>80 </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>More</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Education Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Education Index">Education Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>0.914 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Importance_of_religion_by_country" class="extiw" title="wp:Importance of religion by country" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Importance of religion by country">Religiosity</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>40 </td></tr></tbody></table> </div> <p><b>Germany</b> (German: <i>Deutschland</i>), officially known as the <b>Federal Republic of Germany</b> (<i>Bundesrepublik Deutschland</i>), is a country in Central <a href="/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a> that has, in many ways, been the primary engine of that continent's tumultuous modern history. The country is famous internationally for being the economic powerhouse of the <a href="/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union">European Union</a> bloc and is one of its most influential members.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> Germany's gifts to the world are its excellent <a href="/wiki/Beer" title="Beer">beer</a>, sausages, automobiles, classical <a href="/wiki/Music" title="Music">music</a>, and picturesque castles.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> Unfortunately, the country wasn't always so nice, and it's thus also known for its violent history, rife with savage, horrific brutality, <a href="/wiki/Imperialism" title="Imperialism">imperialism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Religious" class="mw-redirect" title="Religious">religious</a> wars, and not to mention the myriad crimes of the <a href="/wiki/Nazi" class="mw-redirect" title="Nazi">Nazi</a> regime, the <a href="/wiki/Holocaust" title="Holocaust">Holocaust</a>, and the tense national division during the <a href="/wiki/Cold_War" title="Cold War">Cold War</a>. Today, however, Germany is a <a href="/wiki/Democratic" class="mw-redirect" title="Democratic">democratic</a> republic with its capital located in its largest city, Berlin. Thankfully, Germans of today are much more likely to smoke a <a href="/wiki/Marijuana" class="mw-redirect" title="Marijuana">joint</a> than a Jew.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup> The country is strongly <a href="/wiki/Secular" title="Secular">secular</a>, with 55% of the population identifying as <a href="/wiki/Christian" class="mw-redirect" title="Christian">Christian</a> but only 10% saying they are sure <a href="/wiki/God" title="God">God</a> exists.<sup id="cite_ref-relstat_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-relstat-5">[5]</a></sup> About 6% of its people are <a href="/wiki/Muslim" class="mw-redirect" title="Muslim">Muslim</a>, and 28% are <a href="/wiki/Atheist" class="mw-redirect" title="Atheist">atheist</a> or <a href="/wiki/Agnostic" class="mw-redirect" title="Agnostic">agnostic</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-relstat_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-relstat-5">[5]</a></sup> </p><p>During <a href="/wiki/Classical_antiquity" title="Classical antiquity">classical antiquity</a>, Germany was inhabited by various tribes noted for their violent warrior culture. They became persistent thorns in the side of the <a href="/wiki/Roman_Empire" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>, eventually helping to bring about the downfall of the western half in 476 CE. The Germans remained divided and largely <a href="/wiki/Pagan" class="mw-redirect" title="Pagan">pagan</a> until the Frankish ruler <a href="/wiki/Charlemagne" title="Charlemagne">Charlemagne</a> completed the bloody process of conquering them in 800 CE. Upon his death, the empire split, and the eastern half went on as East Francia, eventually evolving into the <a href="/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire" title="Holy Roman Empire">Holy Roman Empire</a> under the rule of Otto the Great in 962 CE. </p><p>As suggested by its name, the Holy Roman Empire had a close institutional relationship with the <a href="/wiki/Catholic_Church" class="mw-redirect" title="Catholic Church">Catholic Church</a>, and its politics were dominated by struggles between the emperors and the <a href="/wiki/Pope" title="Pope">popes</a> who wanted to control or dick them over. Political struggles naturally escalated into violence, plunging the empire into frequent <a href="/wiki/Civil_war" title="Civil war">civil wars</a> and allowing ambitious local nobles to accumulate power for themselves at the expense of the empire's cohesion. Not a recipe for long-term success. Despite the empire's decentralization, it remained a significant force in European politics. German nobles and knights participated in various events in the <a href="/wiki/Crusades" title="Crusades">Crusades</a>, which helped Germany's borders spread further eastward. Over time, the Hapsburgs of <a href="/wiki/Austria" title="Austria">Austria</a>, one of the empire's noble families, came to dominate the empire's politics and consistently placed their rulers on its throne. </p><p>In 1517, German theologian <a href="/wiki/Martin_Luther" title="Martin Luther">Martin Luther</a> started the <a href="/wiki/Protestant_Reformation" title="Protestant Reformation">Protestant Reformation</a> by criticizing the Catholic Church. Local nobles saw the movement as an excuse to further distance themselves from the empire's central authority. Conflicts between <a href="/wiki/Protestant" title="Protestant">Protestant</a> princes and the Catholic empire were just as inevitable, bloody, and ultimately pointless as religious wars always are. They culminated in 1618 with the <a href="/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Thirty Years' War">Thirty Years' War</a>, a horrifying shit hurricane that killed millions, devastated Germany's economy, and destroyed most remaining elements of imperial authority and papal influence over imperial politics. Afterward, Austria focused on growing its own domains outside of the empire while various German states started to grow unchecked. </p><p>From 1740, the Kingdom of Prussia, which ruled from Berlin, became the dominant power in northern Germany thanks to its extreme militarism. It repeatedly clashed with Austria before teaming up with them against <a href="/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte" title="Napoleon Bonaparte">Napoleon Bonaparte</a>. However, they were unsuccessful in stopping him, and the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806. After Napoleon's downfall, Austria and Prussia remained great powers and grappled with each other because that's just what powerful countries do. </p><p>Amid the modern trends of the early 19th century, the question of German unification arose: the <a href="/wiki/Nationalist" class="mw-redirect" title="Nationalist">nationalist</a> idea that the various independent German states left behind by the old empire should be united into a single German state. Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck eventually made it happen, first by beating up Austria to control southern Germany and exclude Austria from unification, then by waging a short and brutal war against <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> in 1870 to solidify Prussia's status as a superpower and convince the German states to accept annexation. Over the defeated French in Versailles, Bismarck and the Prussian king proclaimed the <a href="/wiki/German_Empire" title="German Empire">German Empire</a>, which charted a <a href="/wiki/Conservative" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservative">conservative</a> path under Bismarck, establishing <a href="/wiki/Universal_healthcare" class="mw-redirect" title="Universal healthcare">universal healthcare</a> to keep the population pacified. It eventually joined the <a href="/wiki/Scramble_for_Africa" title="Scramble for Africa">Scramble for Africa</a> while throwing in some native <a href="/wiki/Genocide" title="Genocide">genocides</a> for extra measure. </p><p>The German Empire was ultimately dismantled after <a href="/wiki/World_War_I" title="World War I">World War I</a>, leading to a period of political and economic crisis and a failed democracy called the Weimar Republic. The Austrian-born <a href="/wiki/Adolf_Hitler" title="Adolf Hitler">Adolf Hitler</a> rose to prominence during this period after participating in a dumb failed coup and writing a shitty book, eventually seizing power and turning Germany into <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a> while annexing a bunch of its neighbors. He then launched Germany into <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a>, devastating Europe and committing genocide against <a href="/wiki/Jews" class="mw-redirect" title="Jews">Jews</a>, <a href="/wiki/Roma" title="Roma">Roma</a>, and other groups of people he hated for existing. Hitler's stupid war backfired, leaving Germany stripped of its eastern possessions and split between the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>'s puppet of <a href="/wiki/East_Germany" title="East Germany">East Germany</a> and the Western-aligned democracy of West Germany. </p><p>Some nerve-wracking brinksmanship and hostile relations later, and East Germany reunified with the west in 1990 after the general collapse of the <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Bloc" title="Eastern Bloc">Eastern Bloc</a>. Since then, modern Germany has focused on reintegrating its eastern regions while building its economy. Unfortunately, it's been challenged by a resurgent far-right and problems associated with accepting Muslim refugees from the <a href="/wiki/Middle_East" title="Middle East">Middle East</a>. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#History"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">History</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#Antiquity"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Antiquity</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-3"><a href="#Germanic_tribes"><span class="tocnumber">1.1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Germanic tribes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-4"><a href="#Migration_period"><span class="tocnumber">1.1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Migration period</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#Early_Middle_Ages"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Early Middle Ages</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-6"><a href="#Under_the_Franks"><span class="tocnumber">1.2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Under the Franks</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#The_First_Reich"><span class="tocnumber">1.3</span> <span class="toctext">The First Reich</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-8"><a href="#Formation_and_papal_conflicts"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Formation and papal conflicts</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-9"><a href="#Crusades_and_expansionism"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Crusades and expansionism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-10"><a href="#Early_Hapsburg_era"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.3</span> <span class="toctext">Early Hapsburg era</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-11"><a href="#Protestant_Reformation"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.4</span> <span class="toctext">Protestant Reformation</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-12"><a href="#Lower_class_uprisings"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.5</span> <span class="toctext">Lower class uprisings</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-13"><a href="#Escalating_religious_conflicts"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.6</span> <span class="toctext">Escalating religious conflicts</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-14"><a href="#Thirty_Years_War"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.7</span> <span class="toctext">Thirty Years War</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-15"><a href="#Prussian_ascendance"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.8</span> <span class="toctext">Prussian ascendance</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-16"><a href="#Enlightenment_absolutism"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.9</span> <span class="toctext">Enlightenment absolutism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-17"><a href="#French_Revolution_and_Napoleon"><span class="tocnumber">1.3.10</span> <span class="toctext">French Revolution and Napoleon</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-18"><a href="#German_disunity"><span class="tocnumber">1.4</span> <span class="toctext">German disunity</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-19"><a href="#Post-Napoleonic_order"><span class="tocnumber">1.4.1</span> <span class="toctext">Post-Napoleonic order</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-20"><a href="#Rising_nationalism"><span class="tocnumber">1.4.2</span> <span class="toctext">Rising nationalism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-21"><a href="#Revolutions_of_1848"><span class="tocnumber">1.4.3</span> <span class="toctext">Revolutions of 1848</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-22"><a href="#Socialism_and_industry"><span class="tocnumber">1.4.4</span> <span class="toctext">Socialism and industry</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-23"><a href="#The_German_Question"><span class="tocnumber">1.4.5</span> <span class="toctext">The German Question</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-24"><a href="#German_unification"><span class="tocnumber">1.5</span> <span class="toctext">German unification</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-25"><a href="#Bringing_in_Bismarck"><span class="tocnumber">1.5.1</span> <span class="toctext">Bringing in Bismarck</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-26"><a href="#Beating_up_Denmark"><span class="tocnumber">1.5.2</span> <span class="toctext">Beating up Denmark</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-27"><a href="#The_brother.27s_war"><span class="tocnumber">1.5.3</span> <span class="toctext">The brother's war</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-28"><a href="#Beating_up_France"><span class="tocnumber">1.5.4</span> <span class="toctext">Beating up France</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-29"><a href="#The_Second_Reich"><span class="tocnumber">1.6</span> <span class="toctext">The Second Reich</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-30"><a href="#Three_hurrahs_for_Germany.21"><span class="tocnumber">1.6.1</span> <span class="toctext">Three hurrahs for Germany!</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-31"><a href="#Social_developments"><span class="tocnumber">1.6.2</span> <span class="toctext">Social developments</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-32"><a href="#Colonialism"><span class="tocnumber">1.6.3</span> <span class="toctext">Colonialism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-33"><a href="#Enmity_with_France_.28and_nearly_everybody_else.29"><span class="tocnumber">1.6.4</span> <span class="toctext">Enmity with France (and nearly everybody else)</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-34"><a href="#World_War_I"><span class="tocnumber">1.7</span> <span class="toctext">World War I</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-35"><a href="#Outbreak_and_deceit"><span class="tocnumber">1.7.1</span> <span class="toctext">Outbreak and deceit</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-36"><a href="#Bloodbath"><span class="tocnumber">1.7.2</span> <span class="toctext">Bloodbath</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-37"><a href="#German_Revolution"><span class="tocnumber">1.7.3</span> <span class="toctext">German Revolution</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-38"><a href="#Treaty_of_Versailles"><span class="tocnumber">1.7.4</span> <span class="toctext">Treaty of Versailles</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-39"><a href="#Weimar_Republic"><span class="tocnumber">1.8</span> <span class="toctext">Weimar Republic</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-40"><a href="#Interwar_misery"><span class="tocnumber">1.8.1</span> <span class="toctext">Interwar misery</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-41"><a href="#A_sabotaged_democracy"><span class="tocnumber">1.8.2</span> <span class="toctext">A sabotaged democracy</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-42"><a href="#Rise_of_evil"><span class="tocnumber">1.8.3</span> <span class="toctext">Rise of evil</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-43"><a href="#The_Third_Reich"><span class="tocnumber">1.9</span> <span class="toctext">The Third Reich</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-44"><a href="#Consolidation_of_power"><span class="tocnumber">1.9.1</span> <span class="toctext">Consolidation of power</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-45"><a href="#Nazification"><span class="tocnumber">1.9.2</span> <span class="toctext">Nazification</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-46"><a href="#Rearmament_and_expansionism"><span class="tocnumber">1.9.3</span> <span class="toctext">Rearmament and expansionism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-47"><a href="#Persecution_of_Jews"><span class="tocnumber">1.9.4</span> <span class="toctext">Persecution of Jews</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-48"><a href="#War_without_honor_or_humanity"><span class="tocnumber">1.9.5</span> <span class="toctext">War without honor or humanity</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-49"><a href="#Having_fucked_around.2C_Germany_finds_out"><span class="tocnumber">1.9.6</span> <span class="toctext">Having fucked around, Germany finds out</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-50"><a href="#Cold_War_division"><span class="tocnumber">1.10</span> <span class="toctext">Cold War division</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-51"><a href="#Occupation_and_de-Nazification"><span class="tocnumber">1.10.1</span> <span class="toctext">Occupation and de-Nazification</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-52"><a href="#West_Germany"><span class="tocnumber">1.10.2</span> <span class="toctext">West Germany</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-53"><a href="#East_Germany"><span class="tocnumber">1.10.3</span> <span class="toctext">East Germany</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-54"><a href="#The_Berlin_Wall"><span class="tocnumber">1.10.4</span> <span class="toctext">The Berlin Wall</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-55"><a href="#1968_cultural_revolution"><span class="tocnumber">1.10.5</span> <span class="toctext">1968 cultural revolution</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-56"><a href="#Reunification"><span class="tocnumber">1.11</span> <span class="toctext">Reunification</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-57"><a href="#Modern_Germany"><span class="tocnumber">1.12</span> <span class="toctext">Modern Germany</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-58"><a href="#Government_and_politics"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Government and politics</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-59"><a href="#Structure"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Structure</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-60"><a href="#Political_parties"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Political parties</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-61"><a href="#Foreign_relations"><span class="tocnumber">2.3</span> <span class="toctext">Foreign relations</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-62"><a href="#Ban_against_Nazism"><span class="tocnumber">2.4</span> <span class="toctext">Ban against Nazism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-63"><a href="#Resurgent_far-right"><span class="tocnumber">2.5</span> <span class="toctext">Resurgent far-right</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-64"><a href="#States_of_Germany"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">States of Germany</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-65"><a href="#Gallery"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Gallery</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-66"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-67"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="History">History</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: History">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Antiquity">Antiquity</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Antiquity">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:GunkelHermannsschlacht.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/GunkelHermannsschlacht.jpg/275px-GunkelHermannsschlacht.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="155" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/GunkelHermannsschlacht.jpg/413px-GunkelHermannsschlacht.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/GunkelHermannsschlacht.jpg/550px-GunkelHermannsschlacht.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="562" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:GunkelHermannsschlacht.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Germanic warriors slaughter Roman legionnaires at Teutoberg Forest</div></div></div> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Germanic_tribes">Germanic tribes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Germanic tribes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <p>The Germanic tribes, probably from along the Baltic coast, spread throughout central Europe during the classical era. By the time of <a href="/wiki/Julius_Caesar" class="mw-redirect" title="Julius Caesar">Julius Caesar</a>, they had reached the frontiers of the <a href="/wiki/Roman_Empire" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>, divided from it by the Rhine and Danube rivers.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> The Romans reviled the Germans as warlike barbarians (probably a mostly fair assessment), and Caesar clashed several times with the Suebi tribe during his campaigns in France (then known as Gaul).<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:217px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_3.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_3.JPG/215px-Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_3.JPG" decoding="async" width="215" height="143" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_3.JPG/323px-Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_3.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_3.JPG/430px-Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_3.JPG 2x" data-file-width="3433" data-file-height="2287" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_3.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Roman colonial outpost in Trier</div></div></div> <p>The Romans repeatedly launched campaigns against the Germanic tribes, putting a great deal of effort into dominating them and keeping them divided while attempting to colonize the Rhineland. This proceeded bloodily but successfully for centuries until the effort was passed to Roman governor Publius Quinctilius Varus, a tyrant. He demanded heavy <a href="/wiki/Tax" title="Tax">taxes</a> from the Germans and punished dissent harshly.<sup id="cite_ref-armin_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-armin-8">[8]</a></sup> As tends to happen, the oppressed people decided that they'd had enough of that shit and rebelled against the leadership of Romanized Germanic noble Arminius.<sup id="cite_ref-armin_8-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-armin-8">[8]</a></sup> In 9 CE, Arminius' rebel force lured Varus and his Romans into the deep Teutoburg Forest, massacring the Romans completely despite being heavily outnumbered.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[9]</a></sup> Although the Romans launched multiple punitive attacks against the Germans, they never again tried to conquer Germany. </p><p>The Romans had such a hard time with the Germans for many reasons. Germanic warfare focused on the love of the art, with multiple pagan gods exalting war and warriors.<sup id="cite_ref-migrat_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-migrat-10">[10]</a></sup> In contrast to the Roman concept of pitched battles, Germans focused on raids to capture resources and show off their fighting skills. Germanic tribal chieftains were expected to be warriors with lots of <a href="/wiki/Conservapedia:Machismo" title="Conservapedia:Machismo">machismo</a>, and their followers fought for them in exchange for a share of loot and land.<sup id="cite_ref-migrat_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-migrat-10">[10]</a></sup> This militant relationship eventually went on to become the basis of the more complex system of <a href="/wiki/Feudalism" title="Feudalism">feudalism</a>. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Migration_period">Migration period</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Migration period">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png/250px-Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="177" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png/375px-Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png/500px-Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png 2x" data-file-width="1954" data-file-height="1382" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Invasions_of_the_Roman_Empire_1.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire</div></div></div> <p>Under pressure from many sides, the Western Roman Empire slid into a period of decline in the fourth and fifth centuries. The Germans, meanwhile, came under attack from migrating groups from Central <a href="/wiki/Asia" title="Asia">Asia</a> and their own population growth, which pushed the Germans to seek new homes in different regions of Europe.<sup id="cite_ref-migrat_10-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-migrat-10">[10]</a></sup> This generally caused chaos across Europe, as them damn German <a href="/wiki/Illegal_immigrant" class="mw-redirect" title="Illegal immigrant">illegal immigrants</a> caused trouble wherever they went. The Frankish tribe conquered Gaul, Vandals and Visigoths pushed into Hispania, Saxons moved to Great Britain, and the Alamanni took over the Rhineland.<sup id="cite_ref-migrat_10-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-migrat-10">[10]</a></sup> In all places, the Western Roman Empire was hacked apart by Germanic warriors who seized lands and built permanent settlements upon them. </p><p>This process spelled doom for the Western Roman Empire. This was especially true when the Franks took over Roman-held Gaul, which had been the primary agricultural production breadbasket of the empire.<sup id="cite_ref-romgaul_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-romgaul-11">[11]</a></sup> Its loss wrecked the Roman economy and destroyed the empire's remaining ability to defend itself. In 476 CE, German chief Odoacer deposed the child emperor Romulus Augustulus, declaring himself the new leader of Italy and formally ending the Western Roman Empire.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> Oh, those Germans. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Early_Middle_Ages">Early Middle Ages</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Early Middle Ages">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Aachen_Cathedral_seen_from_the_Rathaus_-_Aachen_-_Germany_2017.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Aachen_Cathedral_seen_from_the_Rathaus_-_Aachen_-_Germany_2017.jpg/275px-Aachen_Cathedral_seen_from_the_Rathaus_-_Aachen_-_Germany_2017.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="181" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Aachen_Cathedral_seen_from_the_Rathaus_-_Aachen_-_Germany_2017.jpg/413px-Aachen_Cathedral_seen_from_the_Rathaus_-_Aachen_-_Germany_2017.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Aachen_Cathedral_seen_from_the_Rathaus_-_Aachen_-_Germany_2017.jpg/550px-Aachen_Cathedral_seen_from_the_Rathaus_-_Aachen_-_Germany_2017.jpg 2x" data-file-width="5126" data-file-height="3372" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Aachen_Cathedral_seen_from_the_Rathaus_-_Aachen_-_Germany_2017.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Aachen Cathedral, Charlemagne's old seat of power and current resting place</div></div></div> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Under_the_Franks">Under the Franks</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Under the Franks">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <p>Over in France, the Germanic Franks founded the first true Germanic state. Clovis I, the founder of the Frankish kingdom, converted to Christianity in 496 CE and began the conquest of central Europe by defeating the Alemanni.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> Clovis attributed the victory to divine intervention, becoming a zealous Catholic. He and his successors sent priests from the church into Germany, most notably Winfrid, who became known as Saint Boniface for shaping the nature of German Catholicism and establishing a political alliance between the Franks and the Catholic Church.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup> </p><p>In 768 CE, <a href="/wiki/Charlemagne" title="Charlemagne">Charlemagne</a> inherited the Frankish crown and used much of his reign to extend the borders of the Frankish kingdom outwards to encompass most of Germany. Charlemagne's conquests were brutal, especially against the pagans of northern Saxony, many of whom he had massacred in retaliation for resisting him.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup> What a guy. For his service to the Catholic Church, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Franks by the pope himself in 800 CE, choosing to rule his empire from the German city of Aachen. He commissioned one of the world's oldest cathedrals in that city, which formed part of his palace and became his final resting place.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a></sup> </p><p>After Charlemagne's death, his empire was divided among his son, as was the custom of the era and known to all <i>Crusader Kings</i> players who've had their games ruined by a bad succession. The heirs promptly warred against each other until 843 CE, when the empire was finally divided for good between West Francia (which would become <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a>) and East Francia (which would become the Holy Roman Empire).<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_First_Reich">The First Reich</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: The First Reich">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire" title="Holy Roman Empire">Holy Roman Empire</a></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither <a href="/wiki/Holy" title="Holy">holy</a>, nor Roman, nor an <a href="/wiki/Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="Empire">empire</a>.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—The obligatory <a href="/wiki/Voltaire" title="Voltaire">Voltaire</a> quote<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <center><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Mitteleuropa_zur_Zeit_der_Staufer.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Mitteleuropa_zur_Zeit_der_Staufer.svg/142px-Mitteleuropa_zur_Zeit_der_Staufer.svg.png" decoding="async" width="142" height="185" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Mitteleuropa_zur_Zeit_der_Staufer.svg/213px-Mitteleuropa_zur_Zeit_der_Staufer.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Mitteleuropa_zur_Zeit_der_Staufer.svg/284px-Mitteleuropa_zur_Zeit_der_Staufer.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="8291" data-file-height="10793" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>The empire at its height around 1200 CE, showing imperial states </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:46px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_(1430-1806).svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_%281430-1806%29.svg/250px-Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_%281430-1806%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="123" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_%281430-1806%29.svg/330px-Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_%281430-1806%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_%281430-1806%29.svg/500px-Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_with_haloes_%281430-1806%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Imperial banner from 1430 </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:32px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:HRR_1648.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/HRR_1648.png/185px-HRR_1648.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="151" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/HRR_1648.png/278px-HRR_1648.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/HRR_1648.png/370px-HRR_1648.png 2x" data-file-width="4857" data-file-height="3959" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>The empire in 1648, showing imperial states </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Greater_Coat_of_Arms_of_Joseph_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Greater_Coat_of_Arms_of_Joseph_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor.svg/250px-Greater_Coat_of_Arms_of_Joseph_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor.svg.png" decoding="async" width="134" height="185" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Greater_Coat_of_Arms_of_Joseph_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor.svg/330px-Greater_Coat_of_Arms_of_Joseph_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="919" data-file-height="1271" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Arms of Emperor Joseph II from 1765 </p> </div> </div></li> </ul></center> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Formation_and_papal_conflicts">Formation and papal conflicts</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Formation and papal conflicts">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:237px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Henry_IV_Stauf.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Henry_IV_Stauf.jpg/235px-Henry_IV_Stauf.jpg" decoding="async" width="235" height="199" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Henry_IV_Stauf.jpg/353px-Henry_IV_Stauf.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Henry_IV_Stauf.jpg/470px-Henry_IV_Stauf.jpg 2x" data-file-width="624" data-file-height="529" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Henry_IV_Stauf.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Emperor Henry IV in battle during the investiture crisis</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>The <a href="/wiki/Pope" title="Pope">Pope</a> is ready to make some more emperors, of the <a href="/wiki/Roman_Empire" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a>. The Holy Roman Empire. It's actually Germany, but don't worry about it.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Bill Wurtz<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>For usual dynastic reasons, the Liudolfing dynasty replaced the Carolingians as the rulers of East Francia. King Otto I married the widowed Queen Adelaide of Italy, folding most of northern Italy into his German realm.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup> Since they had a good relationship, the pope crowned Otto as the first Holy Roman Emperor since Charlemagne, establishing Germany as the successor to the Western Roman Empire and ensuring that the papacy would be in charge of the succession of its rulers. </p><p>That last part was to be the problem. Since Holy Roman Emperors were elected from among a few choice members of the German nobility per Germanic tradition, the empire passed to the Salian dynasty, which didn't quite get along with the popes and had the Liudolfingers. The Salian emperors clashed with the papacy over investiture, whether the popes or royal rulers had the right to appoint bishops. Investiture was serious business since the bishops would hold church estates and the massive wealth and power that came with them. To maintain authority over church wealth, the popes wanted to ensure that only they could appoint bishops.<sup id="cite_ref-invest_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-invest-21">[21]</a></sup> </p><p>In 1075, Pope Gregory VII composed the "<i>Dictatus Papae</i>", which declared that the papacy was the sole universal authority and had the legal power to remove the Holy Roman Emperor.<sup id="cite_ref-invest_21-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-invest-21">[21]</a></sup> Emperor Henry IV didn't like that, and the pope retaliated by calling supporters from among the German faithful and starting a civil war in the Holy Roman Empire that lasted for decades. The bloodshed continued until 1122, when emperor Henry V signed the Concordat of Worms, effectively agreeing to leave the pope's power alone.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup> The wars, largely carried out by nobility against the emperor, permanently ensured that the empire would remain a decentralized and hollow shell. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Crusades_and_expansionism">Crusades and expansionism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Crusades and expansionism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:227px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Peter_Janssen,_Kaiser_Friedrich_II.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Peter_Janssen%2C_Kaiser_Friedrich_II.jpg/225px-Peter_Janssen%2C_Kaiser_Friedrich_II.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="223" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Peter_Janssen%2C_Kaiser_Friedrich_II.jpg/338px-Peter_Janssen%2C_Kaiser_Friedrich_II.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Peter_Janssen%2C_Kaiser_Friedrich_II.jpg 2x" data-file-width="369" data-file-height="366" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Peter_Janssen,_Kaiser_Friedrich_II.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Frederick II meets with Teutonic Knights</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Crusades" title="Crusades">Crusades</a></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>[We swear] to go on this journey only after avenging the blood of the crucified one by shedding Jewish blood and completely eradicating any trace of those bearing the name 'Jew'.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Godfrey of Bouillon, one of the leaders of the First Crusade<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:227px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg/225px-Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="142" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg/338px-Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg/450px-Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1300" data-file-height="822" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Zesp%C3%B3%C5%82_Zamku_Krzy%C5%BCackiego_MALBORK_01.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Mariensburg Castle, built by the Teutonic Order, now in <a href="/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a></div></div></div> <p>Despite that minor issue of intentionally tearing their country apart with a civil war, the Holy Roman Emperors remained loyal to Catholicism. They joined the Catholic Crusade effort to take <a href="/wiki/Jerusalem" title="Jerusalem">Jerusalem</a> and the Holy Land from the Muslims who lived there. Emperor Conrad III went forth in person during the Second Crusade, although his entire army was almost immediately destroyed in a massive flood on the way there.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup> Ouch. His successor, Frederick Barbarossa, managed to win a few battles during the Third Crusade, eventually losing against the Kurdish ruler Saladin and dying while trying to cross a river.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup> Water was the bane of German crusaders, apparently. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:377px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Nuremberg_chronicles_-_MONACUM.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Nuremberg_chronicles_-_MONACUM.png/375px-Nuremberg_chronicles_-_MONACUM.png" decoding="async" width="375" height="156" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Nuremberg_chronicles_-_MONACUM.png/563px-Nuremberg_chronicles_-_MONACUM.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Nuremberg_chronicles_-_MONACUM.png/750px-Nuremberg_chronicles_-_MONACUM.png 2x" data-file-width="2068" data-file-height="862" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Nuremberg_chronicles_-_MONACUM.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Depiction of Medieval Munich</div></div></div> <p>The Crusades and the general idea of Christian holy war became good ideological justifications for pushing the empire's frontiers eastwards. German princes used offers of reduced taxes and manorial obligations to encourage peasants to colonize much of what is now Pomerania, Saxony.<sup id="cite_ref-saxpomeas_26-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-saxpomeas-26">[26]</a></sup> When this inevitably started conflicts, the empire overpowered the Slavic rulers with their more organized military might, bringing areas like <a href="/wiki/Bohemia" class="mw-redirect" title="Bohemia">Bohemia</a>, Pomerania, and Silesia into the empire's fold. </p><p>German Crusaders also targeted the Baltic Coast, most significantly under the banners of the Teutonic Order. Beginning in 1233 CE, the Teutonic Order conquered Slavic pagans in Prussia, all but exterminating the native population, then built a shitload of castles to rule the region as their personal property.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup> From that point, the region of Prussia became a militarized German stronghold, which would have massive consequences later on. </p><p>While the Germans benefited from the Crusader craze, another group of people living in the empire did not. Jews, who had long been the target of <a href="/wiki/Antisemitism" title="Antisemitism">antisemitism</a> from Medieval Europeans, were targeted with <a href="/wiki/Pogroms" class="mw-redirect" title="Pogroms">pogroms</a> by German and French Crusader wannabes who decided to wage holy war against their neighbors.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup> These events are considered the first expression of the deep European hatred towards Jews that would culminate in the Nazi <a href="/wiki/Genocide" title="Genocide">genocide</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Early_Hapsburg_era">Early Hapsburg era</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Early Hapsburg era">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Innenstadt,_L%C3%BCbeck,_Germany_-_panoramio_(24).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Innenstadt%2C_L%C3%BCbeck%2C_Germany_-_panoramio_%2824%29.jpg/275px-Innenstadt%2C_L%C3%BCbeck%2C_Germany_-_panoramio_%2824%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="206" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Innenstadt%2C_L%C3%BCbeck%2C_Germany_-_panoramio_%2824%29.jpg/413px-Innenstadt%2C_L%C3%BCbeck%2C_Germany_-_panoramio_%2824%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Innenstadt%2C_L%C3%BCbeck%2C_Germany_-_panoramio_%2824%29.jpg/550px-Innenstadt%2C_L%C3%BCbeck%2C_Germany_-_panoramio_%2824%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2048" data-file-height="1536" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Innenstadt,_L%C3%BCbeck,_Germany_-_panoramio_(24).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Lübeck, one of the major Hanseatic cities</div></div></div> <p>The Golden Bull of 1356 made the empire's decentralized nature official, formalizing the tradition of having seven electors from the nobility choose the next emperor and granting extensive rights to local princes.<sup id="cite_ref-hansa_30-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hansa-30">[30]</a></sup> With the empire so broken up amongst largely autonomous local nobles, the emperor became more of a first-among-equals than anything else. It was this situation that the Hapsburg dynasty of Austria inherited. As a result of the empire's fragmentation, the Hapsburgs tended to look elsewhere to grow their power, placing relatives on the thrones of countries like <a href="/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hungary" title="Hungary">Hungary</a>. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:187px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Printer_in_1568-ce.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Printer_in_1568-ce.png/250px-Printer_in_1568-ce.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="238" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Printer_in_1568-ce.png/330px-Printer_in_1568-ce.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Printer_in_1568-ce.png/500px-Printer_in_1568-ce.png 2x" data-file-width="754" data-file-height="972" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Printer_in_1568-ce.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Depiction of an early printing press</div></div></div> <p>Still, the empire prospered during this time, even after the <a href="/wiki/Black_Death" class="mw-redirect" title="Black Death">Black Death</a>. Its location at the center of Europe ensured that its rivers and coasts hosted a vibrant international trade between northern and southern Europe and the east and the west. The wealth that this trade brought made Germany an early center for manufacturing, and its population began to urbanize and form cities along major routes. The wealthiest cities were dominated by an oligarchic merchant elite, and many of these cities grouped together in the Hanseatic League because rich assholes got to stick together.<sup id="cite_ref-hansa_30-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hansa-30">[30]</a></sup> The league became a serious military power, able to take down <a href="/wiki/Denmark" title="Denmark">Denmark</a> in a war, and its existence threatened the traditional dominance of landed hereditary nobility. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a href="/wiki/File:BremenCityHall.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/BremenCityHall.JPG/250px-BremenCityHall.JPG" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/BremenCityHall.JPG/330px-BremenCityHall.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/BremenCityHall.JPG/500px-BremenCityHall.JPG 2x" data-file-width="2592" data-file-height="1944" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:BremenCityHall.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Bremen City Hall, built during the German Renaissance</div></div></div> <p>Germany's growing wealth and population also brought it into the German <a href="/wiki/Renaissance" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a>, a cultural and artistic movement focused on classical knowledge that spread from Italy.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup> Principalities and cities of the empire used their wealth to undergo a construction spree, building castles and buildings all over the damn place. This was especially true of the Hanseatic Cities, which wanted to demonstrate their wealth to impress the landed nobles and gain some political status. Along with culture and art, many German thinkers started to embrace the ideals of <a href="/wiki/Humanism" title="Humanism">humanism</a>, a similar consequence of the Renaissance. </p><p>Economic and population growth was soon combined with intellectual development as well. In 1436, German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg began designing a machine that used mobile, reusable type blocks in a printing press, allowing for the rapid production of different pages of text to produce <a href="/wiki/Books" class="mw-redirect" title="Books">books</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup> Until then, European texts had to be written by hand, a massive carpal tunnel syndrome-inducing pain in the wrist/ass. Of course, this being Medieval Europe, the printing press was primarily used to print <a href="/wiki/Bible" title="Bible">Bibles</a> and religious works but would eventually pave the way for the rapid spread of information and <a href="/wiki/Propaganda" title="Propaganda">propaganda</a>. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Protestant_Reformation">Protestant Reformation</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Protestant Reformation">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:267px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Wartburg-1.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Wartburg-1.jpg/330px-Wartburg-1.jpg" decoding="async" width="265" height="199" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Wartburg-1.jpg/500px-Wartburg-1.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Wartburg-1.jpg/960px-Wartburg-1.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4608" data-file-height="3456" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Wartburg-1.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Wartburg Castle, Martin Luther's hideout</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Protestant_Reformation" title="Protestant Reformation">Protestant Reformation</a></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>All of Germany is in an uproar. Nine-tenths shout out the battle cry 'Luther,' and the remaining ten percent, if they are indifferent to Luther, express the slogan 'Death to Rome.'</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Aleander, papal legate, 1520<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:177px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Luther_95_Thesen.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Luther_95_Thesen.png/250px-Luther_95_Thesen.png" decoding="async" width="175" height="250" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Luther_95_Thesen.png/330px-Luther_95_Thesen.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Luther_95_Thesen.png/500px-Luther_95_Thesen.png 2x" data-file-width="3228" data-file-height="4611" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Luther_95_Thesen.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Print of the <i>Ninety-Five Theses</i></div></div></div> <p>The Holy Roman Empire was a hotbed of discontent on the eve of the Reformation. The wealthy bourgeoisie in northern Germany was discontented with how little respect their riches earned, and regional princes wanted to strengthen their noble rights and further decentralize the empire.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup> Rural peasants, meanwhile, were starting to feel the effects of sustained population growth, with food becoming more expensive and wages starting to stagnate. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:172px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Martin_Luther_by_Cranach-restoration.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Martin_Luther_by_Cranach-restoration.jpg/170px-Martin_Luther_by_Cranach-restoration.jpg" decoding="async" width="170" height="183" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Martin_Luther_by_Cranach-restoration.jpg/255px-Martin_Luther_by_Cranach-restoration.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Martin_Luther_by_Cranach-restoration.jpg/340px-Martin_Luther_by_Cranach-restoration.jpg 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="645" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Martin_Luther_by_Cranach-restoration.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Martin Luther, no King.</div></div></div> <p>In 1517, <a href="/wiki/Martin_Luther" title="Martin Luther">Martin Luther</a>, a professor of theology at Wittenberg University in Saxony, began publishing some pamphlets expressing disillusionment with the growing wealth and resulting corruption within the Catholic Church. The event which pushed him over the edge was the announcement that the Church hoped to sell a shitload of indulgences (a note that says "don't worry about that <a href="/wiki/Sin" title="Sin">sin</a> you just did, bro")<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a></sup> to finance the construction of St. Peter's Basilica in the <a href="/wiki/Vatican_City" title="Vatican City">Vatican City</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-luther_36-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-luther-36">[36]</a></sup> To Luther, it seemed pretty fucked up to twist theology to raise money for a kickass new building in a religion that was supposed to prize moderate living and charity. The <i>Ninety-Five Theses</i>, his first pamphlet on the matter, laid out a thorough critique of the practice of indulgences as corrupting both the faith of the people and the integrity of the church. This message resonated with the discontent people of northern Germany, and the printing press helped spread it all over the place. It was basically a perfect storm. </p><p>As you might expect, Church authorities told Luther to shut his fucking mouth or else be excommunicated. Luther refused to shut up and was immediately met with horrible consequences. After his excommunication, the Holy Roman Emperor declared Luther an outlaw, banned his writings, and called for either his arrest or <a href="/wiki/Murder" class="mw-redirect" title="Murder">murder</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37">[37]</a></sup> However, Luther's ideas had won some support from the Holy Roman Empire's princes, especially those who wanted to use them as an excuse to push back against the emperor's authority. In a stunt worthy of a heist movie, Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony, arranged for Luther to be intercepted by agents disguised as highway robbers and secreted away to Wartburg Castle for safekeeping.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38">[38]</a></sup> From his hideout there, Luther translated the <a href="/wiki/New_Testament" title="New Testament">New Testament</a> into German and distributed more writings attacking the Church on matters including veneration of saints, <a href="/wiki/Relic" title="Relic">relics</a>, and priestly celibacy.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39">[39]</a></sup> But Luther also published a shitload of <a href="/wiki/Antisemitism" title="Antisemitism">antisemitism</a>, most notably "On the Jews and their Lies", which called for the expulsion of Jews and the burning of synagogues.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40">[40]</a></sup> Oh boy, what bad things could German antisemitism cause? </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Lower_class_uprisings">Lower class uprisings</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Lower class uprisings">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Page077_Die_letzte_Bauernschlacht_bei_Frankenhausen_am_25._Mai_1525.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Page077_Die_letzte_Bauernschlacht_bei_Frankenhausen_am_25._Mai_1525.jpg/330px-Page077_Die_letzte_Bauernschlacht_bei_Frankenhausen_am_25._Mai_1525.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="216" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Page077_Die_letzte_Bauernschlacht_bei_Frankenhausen_am_25._Mai_1525.jpg/500px-Page077_Die_letzte_Bauernschlacht_bei_Frankenhausen_am_25._Mai_1525.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Page077_Die_letzte_Bauernschlacht_bei_Frankenhausen_am_25._Mai_1525.jpg/960px-Page077_Die_letzte_Bauernschlacht_bei_Frankenhausen_am_25._Mai_1525.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2608" data-file-height="1875" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Page077_Die_letzte_Bauernschlacht_bei_Frankenhausen_am_25._Mai_1525.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Defeating peasant rebels, 1525</div></div></div> <p>The revolutionary nature of Luther's ideas tipped the tenuous balance of German society. In 1522, the Knights' Revolt broke out, pitting impoverished lower nobles who had accepted <a href="/wiki/Protestantism" class="mw-redirect" title="Protestantism">Protestantism</a> against the emperor and Church they resented.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41">[41]</a></sup> The uprising was short and put down within a year, but it was a bad sign of violence yet to come. </p><p>In 1524, the German Peasants' War exploded. Remember those peasants who were having a hard time affording their food? Yeah, a hungry person is only a step away from becoming a rebellious person. The peasants were most angry at the Catholic Church, which Luther had exposed as corrupt and thrived by taxing local nobility, which in turn imposed heavier taxes on the peasants.<sup id="cite_ref-pezwar_42-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-pezwar-42">[42]</a></sup> Peasant demands were myriad, including lower taxes, allowing congregations to choose their pastors, stopping land enclosures that cut off fish and game access, ending <a href="/wiki/Serfdom" class="mw-redirect" title="Serfdom">serfdom</a>, and establishing a fairer justice system.<sup id="cite_ref-pezwar_42-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-pezwar-42">[42]</a></sup> Pretty reasonable demands, but the nobles and Church weren't going to have any of that shit. The rebels seized the town of Heilbronn, where they formed a parliament, and Würtzburg, the seat of a Catholic bishop.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43">[43]</a></sup> </p><p>Ultimately, the peasants could not overcome the military superiority of the much wealthier and more connected nobility. Luther also opposed the movement, writing that the peasants had a religious obligation to stay nice and obedient and that the nobles had every right to kill them in retribution.<sup id="cite_ref-pezwar_42-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-pezwar-42">[42]</a></sup> And kill them the nobles did, massacring some 100,000 people and punishing them with even more repressive laws.<sup id="cite_ref-pezwar_42-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-pezwar-42">[42]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Escalating_religious_conflicts">Escalating religious conflicts</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Escalating religious conflicts">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Inname_van_Godesberg_-_Capture_and_destruction_of_Godesburg_in_1583_(Frans_Hogenberg).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Inname_van_Godesberg_-_Capture_and_destruction_of_Godesburg_in_1583_%28Frans_Hogenberg%29.jpg/275px-Inname_van_Godesberg_-_Capture_and_destruction_of_Godesburg_in_1583_%28Frans_Hogenberg%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="193" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Inname_van_Godesberg_-_Capture_and_destruction_of_Godesburg_in_1583_%28Frans_Hogenberg%29.jpg/413px-Inname_van_Godesberg_-_Capture_and_destruction_of_Godesburg_in_1583_%28Frans_Hogenberg%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Inname_van_Godesberg_-_Capture_and_destruction_of_Godesburg_in_1583_%28Frans_Hogenberg%29.jpg/550px-Inname_van_Godesberg_-_Capture_and_destruction_of_Godesburg_in_1583_%28Frans_Hogenberg%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="844" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Inname_van_Godesberg_-_Capture_and_destruction_of_Godesburg_in_1583_(Frans_Hogenberg).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Destruction of Godesburg fortress during the Cologne War; its Protestant defenders were <a href="/wiki/Capital_punishment" title="Capital punishment">put to death</a>.</div></div></div> <p>With increasing numbers of German princes and peasants joining the Protestant movement, religious conflict in Germany became inevitable. After all, when you think you have the only correct interpretation of God's word, surely everyone else must be brought to the truth by force. The various emperors during this time were furious that their imperial authority was being defied by the growing alliance of Protestant princes. To protect themselves, the Protestant nobles formed a military pact called the Schmalkaldic League, the first genuine military threat posed by the Protestants.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44">[44]</a></sup> However, its members' competing personalities and goals meant that the alliance was unstable, and it was predictably smashed by the emperor in a short war in 1546.<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45">[45]</a></sup> The Catholics presumably thought things were over at this point, but the fact that religious tensions had caused an actual war between rulers only inflamed hatred even more. Sure enough, the Second Schmalkaldic War blew up in 1552, although the Protestants could force the emperor to negotiate with them this time.<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46">[46]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:HolyRomanEmpire_1618.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/HolyRomanEmpire_1618.png/250px-HolyRomanEmpire_1618.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="247" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/HolyRomanEmpire_1618.png/375px-HolyRomanEmpire_1618.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/HolyRomanEmpire_1618.png/500px-HolyRomanEmpire_1618.png 2x" data-file-width="4005" data-file-height="3964" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:HolyRomanEmpire_1618.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Religious landscape of the Holy Roman Empire, 1618. Also gives an idea of the empire's eye-melting internal borders.</div></div></div> <p>To their credit, the various rulers in Germany realized that the constant religious wars weren't going to end well for anyone. The Holy Roman Diet assembled at the command of the emperor. It proclaimed the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, allowing German princes to choose Catholicism or Lutheranism as their faith in the hopes of everyone getting the fuck along.<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47">[47]</a></sup> Unfortunately, people couldn't just get the fuck along. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:317px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Spinola_laat_de_muren_van_M%C3%BClheim_afbreken,_1614,_RP-P-1896-A-19368-1380.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Spinola_laat_de_muren_van_M%C3%BClheim_afbreken%2C_1614%2C_RP-P-1896-A-19368-1380.jpg/330px-Spinola_laat_de_muren_van_M%C3%BClheim_afbreken%2C_1614%2C_RP-P-1896-A-19368-1380.jpg" decoding="async" width="315" height="224" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Spinola_laat_de_muren_van_M%C3%BClheim_afbreken%2C_1614%2C_RP-P-1896-A-19368-1380.jpg/500px-Spinola_laat_de_muren_van_M%C3%BClheim_afbreken%2C_1614%2C_RP-P-1896-A-19368-1380.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Spinola_laat_de_muren_van_M%C3%BClheim_afbreken%2C_1614%2C_RP-P-1896-A-19368-1380.jpg/960px-Spinola_laat_de_muren_van_M%C3%BClheim_afbreken%2C_1614%2C_RP-P-1896-A-19368-1380.jpg 2x" data-file-width="6362" data-file-height="4524" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Spinola_laat_de_muren_van_M%C3%BClheim_afbreken,_1614,_RP-P-1896-A-19368-1380.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Catholic forces attacking Mülheim during the Jülich War</div></div></div> <p>The peace almost immediately came apart when Catholic prince-bishops started converting to Protestantism. That was a major problem because they generally refused to give up their Church-given land and wealth, which was an enormous problem for the Church and faithful Catholics. When the prince-bishop of Cologne tried to do that in 1583, Catholic princes attacked him to keep Cologne in Catholic hands.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48">[48]</a></sup> During the fighting, the Catholic forces surrounded the city of Neuss. They destroyed it with artillery fire, destructive house-to-house fighting, and plundering, killing an estimated 4,000 civilians.<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49">[49]</a></sup> Catholic forces also massacred hundreds of men, women, and children after seizing the fortress of Godesberg.<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50">[50]</a></sup> It also didn't help that <a href="/wiki/Calvinist" class="mw-redirect" title="Calvinist">Calvinists</a> were explicitly left out of the peace. </p><p>In 1608, in response to further inter-religious violence, many of the Protestant powers led by the Palatinate and Brandenburg formed the Protestant Union, an even larger coalition of both Lutheran and <a href="/wiki/Calvinist" class="mw-redirect" title="Calvinist">Calvinist</a> states, to protect against the Catholics.<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51">[51]</a></sup> A year later, it intervened in the War of the Jülich Succession, pitting them against both the emperor and <a href="/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a> in the question of which religion's candidate would inherit the empty throne of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg.<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-52">[52]</a></sup> Another bloody round of fighting later, Catholics and Protestants hated each other more than ever. Germany settled into an atmosphere of religious <a href="/wiki/Paranoia" title="Paranoia">paranoia</a> in which princes carefully monitored their populations for signs of religious dissent.<sup id="cite_ref-gregcal_53-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gregcal-53">[53]</a></sup> For an example of how absurd things got, German Protestants refused to accept the Gregorian calendar for decades because they were afraid that the Catholics were somehow plotting to steal time.<sup id="cite_ref-gregcal_53-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gregcal-53">[53]</a></sup> The Holy Roman Diet also couldn't get anything done because the Calvinists and Protestants liked to storm out whenever they didn't get their way, and the Catholics were morally opposed to working with them. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Thirty_Years_War">Thirty Years War</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Thirty Years War">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Sack_of_Magdeburg_1631.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Sack_of_Magdeburg_1631.jpg/275px-Sack_of_Magdeburg_1631.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="161" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Sack_of_Magdeburg_1631.jpg/413px-Sack_of_Magdeburg_1631.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Sack_of_Magdeburg_1631.jpg/550px-Sack_of_Magdeburg_1631.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2604" data-file-height="1527" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Sack_of_Magdeburg_1631.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Destruction of Magdeburg by Catholic forces, 1631</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Thirty_Years_War" title="Thirty Years War">Thirty Years War</a></div> <p>Germany's religious troubles occurred against a backdrop of general chaos in Europe. <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> endured the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion" class="extiw" title="wp:French Wars of Religion" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: French Wars of Religion">French Wars of Religion</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> against the Huguenots, decades of conflict, and mass murder which cost the lives of three million people.<sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-54">[54]</a></sup> Spain and the Netherlands duked it out over Dutch independence, a conflict aggravated by their religious differences and escalating into the total destruction of multiple cities. <a href="/wiki/England" title="England">England</a> was also about to fall into the <a href="/wiki/English_Civil_War" title="English Civil War">English Civil War</a>, which would draw in the rest of the British Isles. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Sebastiaan_Vrancx_(studio)_-_A_landscape_with_travellers_ambushed_outside_a_small_town.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Sebastiaan_Vrancx_%28studio%29_-_A_landscape_with_travellers_ambushed_outside_a_small_town.jpg/300px-Sebastiaan_Vrancx_%28studio%29_-_A_landscape_with_travellers_ambushed_outside_a_small_town.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="186" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Sebastiaan_Vrancx_%28studio%29_-_A_landscape_with_travellers_ambushed_outside_a_small_town.jpg/450px-Sebastiaan_Vrancx_%28studio%29_-_A_landscape_with_travellers_ambushed_outside_a_small_town.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Sebastiaan_Vrancx_%28studio%29_-_A_landscape_with_travellers_ambushed_outside_a_small_town.jpg/600px-Sebastiaan_Vrancx_%28studio%29_-_A_landscape_with_travellers_ambushed_outside_a_small_town.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1995" data-file-height="1240" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Sebastiaan_Vrancx_(studio)_-_A_landscape_with_travellers_ambushed_outside_a_small_town.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Refugees being massacred by mercenaries.</div></div></div> <p>In this atmosphere of religious crisis, Ferdinand II became the new Holy Roman Emperor and was widely known as a zealous Catholic and an oppressor of Protestants.<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-55">[55]</a></sup> When he tried to oppress Protestants in Bohemia, a general Protestant uprising against his rule began in 1618, beginning the Thirty Years War. Although the emperor's armies smashed the initial revolt, just about every other Protestant state started jumping in. The Protestant states in northern Germany felt they had to join the revolt, but they were smashed by a Spanish army coming over from the Low Countries.<sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-56">[56]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Denmark" title="Denmark">Denmark</a> also tried to intervene on behalf of the Protestants, but they too fell to defeat. Emboldened by this military success, Ferdinand issued the Edict of Restitution, effectively confiscating most Protestant-held land in the empire.<sup id="cite_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-57">[57]</a></sup> The edict undermined the Catholic faction's victories by ensuring permanent opposition to them. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg/250px-Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg/330px-Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg/400px-Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg 2x" data-file-width="405" data-file-height="304" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bondi_brennandi_hus.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Farmer begs for mercy in front of his burning home.</div></div></div> <p>In 1630, <a href="/wiki/Sweden" title="Sweden">Sweden</a> also jumped in under its king Gustavus Adolphus, who sincerely wanted to protect the Protestants and seize some Baltic German land.<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58">[58]</a></sup> The Swedes and their allies were also bolstered by French funds. France, despite being a Catholic nation, hated the Hapsburg powers and hoped to undermine their power. After Gustavus' death, France joined the war directly and fought Spain and Austria for more than ten years before both sides finally agreed to a peace of exhaustion. </p><p>Throughout this fighting, the <a href="/wiki/Mercenary" title="Mercenary">mercenary</a> armies of the various belligerents constantly committed hideous crimes by pillaging everywhere they could and murdering anyone who resisted, regardless of which religion or which prince controlled the places they were destroying.<sup id="cite_ref-59" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-59">[59]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-60" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-60">[60]</a></sup> The armies moving back and forth resulted in vast swathes of Germany being totally razed, and the huge numbers of peasants being killed undermined Germany's ability to produce food. This caused a devastating famine, and the starving people became susceptible to numerous epidemics. The war ultimately killed five to ten million people through warfare, murder, disease, and famine.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61">[61]</a></sup> Such human suffering was brought about by religious conflict. </p><p>The war lasted until 1648, when the exhausted parties finally came to the table and negotiated the Peace of Westphalia, which guaranteed limited religious freedoms for religious minorities in the empire, curbed the emperor's power even further, and allowed the various princes of the empire to choose their own state religions.<sup id="cite_ref-westpeace_62-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-westpeace-62">[62]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Prussian_ascendance">Prussian ascendance</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Prussian ascendance">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:227px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Brandenburg_1600.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Brandenburg_1600.png/225px-Brandenburg_1600.png" decoding="async" width="225" height="139" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Brandenburg_1600.png/338px-Brandenburg_1600.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Brandenburg_1600.png/450px-Brandenburg_1600.png 2x" data-file-width="499" data-file-height="308" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Brandenburg_1600.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Expansion of Prussia within the defunct empire up to 1688.</div></div></div> <p>Thankfully, the Peace of Westphalia ended the empire's constant religious wars. On the other hand, the empire was dead, its central authority destroyed in the fires of war. From this point forward, the Austrian Hapsburg emperors largely neglected the empire's affairs in favor of growing the lands they held directly as the rulers of Austria.<sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63">[63]</a></sup> Between the end of the Thirty Years' War and about 1740, the empire became a kickball to be hurled back and forth between the more centralized powers surrounding it, like France, Sweden, and the <a href="/wiki/Ottoman_Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a>. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:177px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Friedrich2_jung.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Friedrich2_jung.jpg/175px-Friedrich2_jung.jpg" decoding="async" width="175" height="233" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Friedrich2_jung.jpg/263px-Friedrich2_jung.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Friedrich2_jung.jpg/350px-Friedrich2_jung.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2631" data-file-height="3508" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Friedrich2_jung.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Frederick the Great of Prussia.</div></div></div> <p>Amid this chaos, several German imperial states grew more powerful without imperial limitations. The state of Brandenburg in northern Germany, ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty, expanded significantly by merging with the lands of the old Teutonic Order in Prussia and taking northern territories from Sweden to gain a coastline on the Baltic Sea.<sup id="cite_ref-prusi_64-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-prusi-64">[64]</a></sup> In 1701, Brandenburg's ruler declared himself King Frederick I of Prussia. The Kingdom of Prussia benefited from a long string of competent rulers, starting when Frederick I invested much time and money in expanding the podunk little town of Berlin into a modern capital that he hoped would rival Versailles.<sup id="cite_ref-65" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-65">[65]</a></sup> To grow its population, Prussia invited religious refugees from other parts of the empire.<sup id="cite_ref-66" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-66">[66]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Hohenfriedeberg_-_Attack_of_Prussian_Infantry_-_1745.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Hohenfriedeberg_-_Attack_of_Prussian_Infantry_-_1745.jpg/275px-Hohenfriedeberg_-_Attack_of_Prussian_Infantry_-_1745.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="192" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Hohenfriedeberg_-_Attack_of_Prussian_Infantry_-_1745.jpg/413px-Hohenfriedeberg_-_Attack_of_Prussian_Infantry_-_1745.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Hohenfriedeberg_-_Attack_of_Prussian_Infantry_-_1745.jpg/550px-Hohenfriedeberg_-_Attack_of_Prussian_Infantry_-_1745.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1019" data-file-height="713" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Hohenfriedeberg_-_Attack_of_Prussian_Infantry_-_1745.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Prussian infantry attack during the War of the Austrian Succession.</div></div></div> <p>Frederick William I succeeded him in 1713, having spent much of his life in the military. The new king's military background completely transformed Prussia, modernizing the tax system and stripping down the government to the point where Prussia became less a country and more, like the Teutonic Order before it, a military that happened to control a patch of land.<sup id="cite_ref-67" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-67">[67]</a></sup> </p><p>In 1740, Frederick the Great took the Prussian throne. He gained that title by starting the War of the Austrian Succession as soon as he came to power, although he did it in a pretty shitty way. 1740 was also the year that the Hapsburg Austrian crown went to a woman, Maria Theresa. This was originally super illegal under traditional German law. When Maria Theresa was born, the then-reigning emperor enacted the "Pragmatic Sanction" to ensure that she could inherit the empire.<sup id="cite_ref-68" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-68">[68]</a></sup> This was still broadly unpopular, and various anti-Hapsburg princes of the empire and abroad considered it a nice excuse to attack Austria. Frederick the Great roped France into the effort and then invaded. Prussia hit hard and fast, stole the large and rich province of Silesia from Austria, then quit the war early to leave France holding the bag.<sup id="cite_ref-69" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-69">[69]</a></sup> Slick. As a result, the war ended in a stalemate with Maria Theresa still mostly in control, but Prussia had grown much bigger than before. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Enlightenment_absolutism">Enlightenment absolutism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Enlightenment absolutism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:327px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Adolph_Menzel_-_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert_Friedrichs_des_Gro%C3%9Fen_in_Sanssouci_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Adolph_Menzel_-_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert_Friedrichs_des_Gro%C3%9Fen_in_Sanssouci_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/325px-Adolph_Menzel_-_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert_Friedrichs_des_Gro%C3%9Fen_in_Sanssouci_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" decoding="async" width="325" height="223" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Adolph_Menzel_-_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert_Friedrichs_des_Gro%C3%9Fen_in_Sanssouci_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/488px-Adolph_Menzel_-_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert_Friedrichs_des_Gro%C3%9Fen_in_Sanssouci_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Adolph_Menzel_-_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert_Friedrichs_des_Gro%C3%9Fen_in_Sanssouci_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/650px-Adolph_Menzel_-_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert_Friedrichs_des_Gro%C3%9Fen_in_Sanssouci_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3543" data-file-height="2433" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Adolph_Menzel_-_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert_Friedrichs_des_Gro%C3%9Fen_in_Sanssouci_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Frederick the Great shows off his flute skills.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Enlightenment" class="mw-redirect" title="Enlightenment">Enlightenment</a></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Let us admit the truth: the arts and philosophy extend to only the few; the vast mass, the common peoples and the bulk of nobility, remain what nature has made them, that is to say savage beasts.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Frederick the Great to <a href="/wiki/Voltaire" title="Voltaire">Voltaire</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-enlgabs_70-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-enlgabs-70">[70]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Frederick and his nemesis Maria Theresa might have hated each other's guts, but they did have many ideas in common. Both embraced many ideas of the Enlightenment, a continental intellectual movement aimed at promoting <a href="/wiki/Reason" title="Reason">reason</a>, <a href="/wiki/Secularism" class="mw-redirect" title="Secularism">secularism</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">science</a> that gained much influence in the late eighteenth century. However, both rulers were also determined to use these ideas to bolster their own power rather than give any more say to the people. They both essentially believed themselves to be <a href="/wiki/Benevolent_dictatorship" title="Benevolent dictatorship">benevolent dictators</a>. </p><p>Both Prussia and Austria reformed their administrations to make them as efficient as possible, and both Prussia and Austria strove to extend religious tolerance as much as possible in the era to attract migration and keep society harmonious.<sup id="cite_ref-71" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-71">[71]</a></sup> Frederick became a close friend of French <i>philosophe</i> Voltaire and was generally enamored with French intellectual life.<sup id="cite_ref-enlgabs_70-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-enlgabs-70">[70]</a></sup> On top of this, he allowed for the freedom of the press, encouraged the arts, and favored scientific and philosophical endeavors. Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II modernized the state by dramatically reducing the power of the Catholic Church over secular affairs and abolishing many of the old harsh punishments for crimes.<sup id="cite_ref-enlgabs_70-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-enlgabs-70">[70]</a></sup> </p><p>Many of Germany's smaller states followed their example in the Enlightenment or went even further, such as the almost-democratic government adopted by Württemberg.<sup id="cite_ref-smallstate_72-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-smallstate-72">[72]</a></sup> As a result, Germany was fairly well governed during this era despite the lack of democracy. All rulers hoped to avoid the religious chaos of the old ways. When the Catholic ecclesiastical state of Salzburg decided to expel Protestants in 1731, most German rulers, regardless of religion, were disgusted.<sup id="cite_ref-smallstate_72-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-smallstate-72">[72]</a></sup> With the German states recovering from the religious wars, there was another great building spree following the Baroque tradition by German rulers wanting to demonstrate their expanded wealth and power.<sup id="cite_ref-73" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-73">[73]</a></sup> </p> <center><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 235px"><div style="width: 235px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 230px;"><div style="margin:40px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:4_Neues_Palais_Sanssouci_Potsdam_Steffen_Heilfort.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/4_Neues_Palais_Sanssouci_Potsdam_Steffen_Heilfort.JPG/200px-4_Neues_Palais_Sanssouci_Potsdam_Steffen_Heilfort.JPG" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/4_Neues_Palais_Sanssouci_Potsdam_Steffen_Heilfort.JPG/300px-4_Neues_Palais_Sanssouci_Potsdam_Steffen_Heilfort.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/4_Neues_Palais_Sanssouci_Potsdam_Steffen_Heilfort.JPG/400px-4_Neues_Palais_Sanssouci_Potsdam_Steffen_Heilfort.JPG 2x" data-file-width="2560" data-file-height="1920" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Palace of Potsdam. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 235px"><div style="width: 235px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 230px;"><div style="margin:48.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:South_facade_of_the_Wurzburg_Residence_14.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/South_facade_of_the_Wurzburg_Residence_14.jpg/200px-South_facade_of_the_Wurzburg_Residence_14.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="133" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/South_facade_of_the_Wurzburg_Residence_14.jpg/300px-South_facade_of_the_Wurzburg_Residence_14.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/South_facade_of_the_Wurzburg_Residence_14.jpg/400px-South_facade_of_the_Wurzburg_Residence_14.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3011" data-file-height="2006" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Würzburg Palace. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 235px"><div style="width: 235px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 230px;"><div style="margin:48.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Dresden_-_Semperoper_-_2013.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Dresden_-_Semperoper_-_2013.jpg/200px-Dresden_-_Semperoper_-_2013.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="133" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Dresden_-_Semperoper_-_2013.jpg/300px-Dresden_-_Semperoper_-_2013.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Dresden_-_Semperoper_-_2013.jpg/400px-Dresden_-_Semperoper_-_2013.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2048" data-file-height="1366" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Opera House of Dresden, Saxony. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 235px"><div style="width: 235px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 230px;"><div style="margin:48.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Sanssouci_03.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Sanssouci_03.JPG/200px-Sanssouci_03.JPG" decoding="async" width="200" height="133" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Sanssouci_03.JPG/300px-Sanssouci_03.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Sanssouci_03.JPG/400px-Sanssouci_03.JPG 2x" data-file-width="3504" data-file-height="2336" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Sanssouci palace and gardens, summer residence of Frederick the Great. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 235px"><div style="width: 235px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 230px;"><div style="margin:55.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:DD-Schloss-gp.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/DD-Schloss-gp.jpg/200px-DD-Schloss-gp.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="119" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/DD-Schloss-gp.jpg/300px-DD-Schloss-gp.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/DD-Schloss-gp.jpg/400px-DD-Schloss-gp.jpg 2x" data-file-width="7231" data-file-height="4294" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Dresden Castle. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 235px"><div style="width: 235px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 230px;"><div style="margin:40px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bl%C3%BChendes_Barock_Ludwigsburg_-_panoramio.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Bl%C3%BChendes_Barock_Ludwigsburg_-_panoramio.jpg/200px-Bl%C3%BChendes_Barock_Ludwigsburg_-_panoramio.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Bl%C3%BChendes_Barock_Ludwigsburg_-_panoramio.jpg/300px-Bl%C3%BChendes_Barock_Ludwigsburg_-_panoramio.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Bl%C3%BChendes_Barock_Ludwigsburg_-_panoramio.jpg/400px-Bl%C3%BChendes_Barock_Ludwigsburg_-_panoramio.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3804" data-file-height="2853" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Ludwigsburg Palace, the "Versailles of Swabia". </p> </div> </div></li> </ul></center> <p>All of that being said, probably the greatest expression of rising German power during this period was the repeated partitions of <a href="/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a>. In 1772, 1793, and 1795 Prussia, Austria, and <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a> set aside their differences to gleefully seize Polish territory until there was nothing left.<sup id="cite_ref-74" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-74">[74]</a></sup> Poor Poland, previously a major power, realized the consequences of being wedged between an increasingly powerful Germany and Russia. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="French_Revolution_and_Napoleon">French Revolution and Napoleon</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: French Revolution and Napoleon">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main articles on this topic: <a href="/wiki/French_Revolution" title="French Revolution">French Revolution</a> and <a href="/wiki/Napoleon_Bonaparte" title="Napoleon Bonaparte">Napoleon Bonaparte</a></div> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Gros_-_Entrevue_-_1812.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Gros_-_Entrevue_-_1812.jpg/300px-Gros_-_Entrevue_-_1812.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="215" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Gros_-_Entrevue_-_1812.jpg/450px-Gros_-_Entrevue_-_1812.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Gros_-_Entrevue_-_1812.jpg/600px-Gros_-_Entrevue_-_1812.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2000" data-file-height="1436" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Gros_-_Entrevue_-_1812.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Napoleon and the last Holy Roman Emperor at Austerlitz.</div></div></div> <p>Meanwhile, in France, the Enlightenment combined with longstanding societal resentment towards the king to create the French Revolution in 1789, in which the French people forcefully created first a constitutional monarchy and then an outright republic. The Enlightenment had been powerful in Germany, so the initial stages of the <a href="/wiki/French_Revolution" title="French Revolution">French Revolution</a> were well-received by German intellectuals and the educated class.<sup id="cite_ref-75" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-75">[75]</a></sup> However, things took a turn sharply for the worse when the Jacobins took over and created the First French Republic since they imprisoned France's queen Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette just so happened to be the Holy Roman Emperor's sister.<sup id="cite_ref-76" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-76">[76]</a></sup> Oh shit. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:187px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Napoleon_HRE_cleanup.jpeg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/f/f9/Napoleon_HRE_cleanup.jpeg/185px-Napoleon_HRE_cleanup.jpeg" decoding="async" width="185" height="216" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/f/f9/Napoleon_HRE_cleanup.jpeg/278px-Napoleon_HRE_cleanup.jpeg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/f/f9/Napoleon_HRE_cleanup.jpeg/370px-Napoleon_HRE_cleanup.jpeg 2x" data-file-width="827" data-file-height="966" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Napoleon_HRE_cleanup.jpeg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Napoleon cleans up southwest Germany.</div></div></div> <p>In a rare show of unity, Frederick William II of Prussia and Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II issued the Declaration of Pillnitz in 1791 to support the French monarchy.<sup id="cite_ref-77" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-77">[77]</a></sup> The French revolutionary government interpreted that as a threat and preemptively declared war on both parties, beginning the War of the First Coalition when the rest of the Holy Roman Empire rallied to defend the <a href="/wiki/Conservative" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservative">conservative</a> order. In the hopes of threatening the revolutionary government into submission, Prussia and Austria promised to raze Paris and slaughter its inhabitants if anything bad happened to the king or Marie Antoinette.<sup id="cite_ref-78" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-78">[78]</a></sup> The problem was that this promise came right after the royal family was guillotined, and the fear that the threat caused helped motivate the French armies into victory over the empire. </p><p>France also benefited from the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, the brilliant general who seized power in France in a 1799 <a href="/wiki/Coup" class="mw-redirect" title="Coup">coup</a>. When Napoleon declared himself emperor in 1801, Austria wouldn't stand for it since they were supposed to be the leaders of the Holy Roman Empire, which was supposed to be Europe's only Catholic empire.<sup id="cite_ref-79" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-79">[79]</a></sup> Sometimes you just wanna feel special. These tensions over titles contributed to Austria's entry into the War of the Third Coalition in 1805. Unfortunately for Leopold, Prussia chose to remain neutral, meaning that much of the empire's military strength was sidelined.<sup id="cite_ref-80" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-80">[80]</a></sup> </p><p>Austria and its remaining German allies got smashed easily by Napoleon, culminating in the Battle of Austerlitz, in which Napoleon defeated a much larger joint German-Russian force.<sup id="cite_ref-81" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-81">[81]</a></sup> With the empire totally defeated, Napoleon decided to mercifully put the ill-begotten entity out of its misery. In the Peace of Pressburg, he reorganized it into a series of Napoleonic <a href="/wiki/Puppet_state" class="mw-redirect" title="Puppet state">puppet states</a>, grouping them into the "Confederation of the Rhine".<sup id="cite_ref-82" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-82">[82]</a></sup> It also just so happened that Germany's internal borders looked much nicer. The Confederation of the Rhine then jointly seceded from the Holy Roman Empire, leaving it a hollow shell.<sup id="cite_ref-83" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-83">[83]</a></sup> With Prussia not interested in preserving the empire either, Austrian emperor Francis II finally acknowledged reality and gave up on it. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="German_disunity">German disunity</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: German disunity">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Map-GermanConfederation.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Map-GermanConfederation.svg/250px-Map-GermanConfederation.svg.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="211" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Map-GermanConfederation.svg/375px-Map-GermanConfederation.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Map-GermanConfederation.svg/500px-Map-GermanConfederation.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="9031" data-file-height="7615" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Map-GermanConfederation.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Central Europe after the Congress of Vienna. You might see some familiar shapes now.</div></div></div> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Post-Napoleonic_order">Post-Napoleonic order</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Post-Napoleonic order">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <p>Although Napoleon eventually met his downfall in 1815, his conquests left a broad legacy of change. He had improved public administration, greatly weakened the institutions of <a href="/wiki/Feudalism" title="Feudalism">feudalism</a> and trade guilds, and largely abolished ecclesiastical territories.<sup id="cite_ref-84" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-84">[84]</a></sup> He had also broken the hopeless tangle of imperial disunity, reducing Germany from 300 states to a much more manageable 40. Germany had been dragged kicking and screaming into something resembling modernity. </p><p>These changes were largely maintained by the Congress of Vienna, a continental peace conference assembled to figure out what the fuck to do after the European order had been so thoroughly shattered by Napoleon<sup id="cite_ref-85" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-85">[85]</a></sup> (it should be noted that in German, this had the amusing name of <i>Wiener Congress</i>). The primary agenda was to figure out how to restore the conservative tradition of monarchies. </p><p>Rather than reestablish the HRE, which would have been a colossal pain in the ass, the delegates at Vienna decided that Germany would be grouped into an entity called the German Confederation. The states within it would technically be sovereign, but the confederal government (which would always be led by an Austrian) would have some say in their internal affairs. Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich promptly used the Confederation to suppress any further revolutionary threat by imposing <a href="/wiki/Censorship" title="Censorship">censorship</a> regulations and keeping a close eye on German universities.<sup id="cite_ref-86" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-86">[86]</a></sup> This did much to suppress German intellectual and cultural life. </p><p>Although not the leader of the Confederation, Prussia benefited <i>greatly</i> from the Congress of Vienna and its new European order. In exchange for handing some relatively low-population Polish territories to Russia, Prussia gained the Rhineland and Westphalia, densely-populated regions rich in natural resources like coal and iron.<sup id="cite_ref-87" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-87">[87]</a></sup> These parts of Germany quickly became at the forefront of the <a href="/wiki/Industrial_Revolution" title="Industrial Revolution">Industrial Revolution</a> in continental Europe, thus turning Prussia into a European superpower. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Rising_nationalism">Rising nationalism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Rising nationalism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>The first, original, and truly natural boundaries of states are beyond doubt their internal boundaries. Those who speak the same language are joined to each other by a multitude of invisible bonds by nature herself, long before any human art begins; they understand each other and have the power of continuing to make themselves understood more and more clearly; they belong together and are by nature one and an inseparable whole.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Johann Gottlieb Fichte, <i>To the German Nation</i>, 1806.<sup id="cite_ref-88" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-88">[88]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Alongside Napoleon's administrative and civil reforms, there was also a much greater societal push toward <a href="/wiki/Nationalism" title="Nationalism">nationalism</a>, specifically focused on German unification. Napoleon's easy victories over the disunited Holy Roman Empire convinced many Germans of the need for strength through unity. In northern Germany, nationalism gained a religious component, with intellectuals claiming Martin Luther as the first German nationalist and festivals being held burning works by Austrian Catholics as reactionary bunk.<sup id="cite_ref-89" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-89">[89]</a></sup> (Germans do like their book-burnings). Nationalism also gained traction with wealthy business owners, who spent the 1820s pushing for a customs union in the Confederation and hoped that an economically integrated Germany could match the industrial might of the <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-90" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-90">[90]</a></sup> On the other hand, poor farmers were generally left out of discussions, as they were considered too stupid. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Revolutions_of_1848">Revolutions of 1848</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Revolutions of 1848">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Ereignisblatt_aus_den_revolution%C3%A4ren_M%C3%A4rztagen_18.-19._M%C3%A4rz_1848_mit_einer_Barrikadenszene_aus_der_Breiten_Strasse,_Berlin_01.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Ereignisblatt_aus_den_revolution%C3%A4ren_M%C3%A4rztagen_18.-19._M%C3%A4rz_1848_mit_einer_Barrikadenszene_aus_der_Breiten_Strasse%2C_Berlin_01.jpg/250px-Ereignisblatt_aus_den_revolution%C3%A4ren_M%C3%A4rztagen_18.-19._M%C3%A4rz_1848_mit_einer_Barrikadenszene_aus_der_Breiten_Strasse%2C_Berlin_01.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="196" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Ereignisblatt_aus_den_revolution%C3%A4ren_M%C3%A4rztagen_18.-19._M%C3%A4rz_1848_mit_einer_Barrikadenszene_aus_der_Breiten_Strasse%2C_Berlin_01.jpg/500px-Ereignisblatt_aus_den_revolution%C3%A4ren_M%C3%A4rztagen_18.-19._M%C3%A4rz_1848_mit_einer_Barrikadenszene_aus_der_Breiten_Strasse%2C_Berlin_01.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="899" data-file-height="705" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Ereignisblatt_aus_den_revolution%C3%A4ren_M%C3%A4rztagen_18.-19._M%C3%A4rz_1848_mit_einer_Barrikadenszene_aus_der_Breiten_Strasse,_Berlin_01.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>The revolutionary flag in Berlin.</div></div></div> <p>Rising nationalist sentiment hit a boiling point in 1846 when the European potato crop failed, causing food prices to skyrocket and causing the economy to do the opposite.<sup id="cite_ref-csrev_91-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-csrev-91">[91]</a></sup> As tends to happen, hungry people became the breeding ground for revolution. In 1848, an uprising among the famously restless French forced French king Louis Philippe I to abdicate and flee to the UK. The success there inspired similar movements in Germany. </p><p>Revolts broke out in Vienna and Berlin, initially with little organization or goal. However, they eventually solidified around the goal of German unification when <a href="/wiki/Liberal" class="mw-redirect" title="Liberal">liberal</a> activists created the Frankfurt Assembly in Frankfurt am Main to create a nationally-elected parliament.<sup id="cite_ref-92" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-92">[92]</a></sup> In 1849, the assembly produced a democratic <a href="/wiki/Constitution" title="Constitution">constitution</a> and offered to help crown King Frederick William IV of Prussia as the emperor of a united Germany. Unfortunately, the king was far too conservative to accept a crown from anyone save the noble princes of Germany. </p><p>The Prussian king instead created his own constitution based on the principle of absolute monarchy, and he used military force to roll back the revolutionary tide and shut down the Frankfurt Assembly.<sup id="cite_ref-93" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-93">[93]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Socialism_and_industry">Socialism and industry</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Socialism and industry">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Marx_and_Engels.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Marx_and_Engels.jpg/200px-Marx_and_Engels.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="175" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Marx_and_Engels.jpg/300px-Marx_and_Engels.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Marx_and_Engels.jpg/400px-Marx_and_Engels.jpg 2x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="438" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Marx_and_Engels.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Marx and Engels.</div></div></div> <p>Remember how Prussia got the Rhineland, a region they then started exploiting for industry? Well, in 1818, a certain <a href="/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Karl Marx</a> was born there, in the city of Trier. His upbringing in an industrial area, combined with the experience of having one of his liberal mentors subjected to surveillance and arrest, caused him to embrace the ideals of <a href="/wiki/Socialism" title="Socialism">socialism</a> and then <a href="/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">communism</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-marx_94-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-marx-94">[94]</a></sup> Marx eventually went into exile, living in Paris and then Brussels, <a href="/wiki/Belgium" title="Belgium">Belgium</a>. In Brussels, he studied <a href="/wiki/History" title="History">history</a> and outlined what came to be known as the materialist conception of history. He then met close collaborator <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Engels" title="Friedrich Engels">Friedrich Engels</a>, formed an organization to link socialist-minded thinkers around Europe, and helped found the Communist League in London.<sup id="cite_ref-marx_94-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-marx-94">[94]</a></sup> The League then asked Marx to write its manifesto, which he wrote and published with Engels in 1848 as the <i><a href="/wiki/Communist_Manifesto" title="Communist Manifesto">Communist Manifesto</a></i>. </p><p>Engels, meanwhile, took part in the 1848 uprisings and was exiled to <a href="/wiki/Switzerland" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a> for his trouble.<sup id="cite_ref-engels_95-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-engels-95">[95]</a></sup> After Marx died, Engels helped edit <i><a href="/wiki/Das_Kapital" title="Das Kapital">Das Kapital</a></i>, and he became a leading figure in international socialism. Engels helped preserve the socialist movement in Germany during the post-revolutionary period, where conservative rulers cracked down on political dissent. Marxist thought remained relevant in large part due to Germany's rapid industrialization and deteriorating social conditions that came with it. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="The_German_Question">The German Question</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: The German Question">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Neuschwanstein_Castle.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Neuschwanstein_Castle.jpg/250px-Neuschwanstein_Castle.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="181" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Neuschwanstein_Castle.jpg/500px-Neuschwanstein_Castle.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="3189" data-file-height="2313" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Neuschwanstein_Castle.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Neuschwanstein Castle, begun in 1869 to flaunt the wealth of Bavaria.</div></div></div> <p>The Revolution of 1848 also brought about the German Question, as the Frankfurt Assembly had toyed with the idea of having Austria's ruler unite Germany instead. Supporters of the <i>Großdeutsche Lösung</i> ("Greater German solution") favored unifying all German peoples, while supporters of the <i>Kleindeutsche Lösung</i> ("Little German solution") believed instead that German unification should exclude Austria entirely.<sup id="cite_ref-96" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-96">[96]</a></sup> The latter option was favored by Prussia, who wanted to dominate any potential German state and viewed excluding Austria as the easiest way to ensure that would happen.<sup id="cite_ref-97" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-97">[97]</a></sup> The German Question would shape the entire effort to unite Germany. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="German_unification">German unification</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: German unification">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>There is, in political geography, no Germany proper to speak of. There are Kingdoms and Grand Duchies, and Duchies and Principalities, inhabited by Germans, and each separately ruled by an independent sovereign with all the machinery of State. Yet there is a natural undercurrent tending to a national feeling and toward a union of the Germans into one great nation, ruled by one common head as a national unit.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<i><a href="/wiki/The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a></i>, July 1, 1866<sup id="cite_ref-98" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-98">[98]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Bringing_in_Bismarck">Bringing in Bismarck</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: Bringing in Bismarck">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:152px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Otto_vBismark.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Otto_vBismark.jpg/150px-Otto_vBismark.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="208" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Otto_vBismark.jpg/225px-Otto_vBismark.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Otto_vBismark.jpg/300px-Otto_vBismark.jpg 2x" data-file-width="860" data-file-height="1195" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Otto_vBismark.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Otto von Bismarck.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>The great questions of the time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions – that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 – but by iron and blood.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Otto von Bismarck, speech to the Budget Committee of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, 1862.<sup id="cite_ref-99" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-99">[99]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>After the 1848 revolution, the Prussian public became far more in favor of the concept of a Prussian-led German unification. In 1862, the process began when King Wilhelm I of Prussia chose the relatively obscure nationalist diplomat Otto von Bismarck to lead the government. A staunch Protestant conservative, Bismarck hated the ideals of <a href="/wiki/Democracy" title="Democracy">democracy</a>, socialism, and Catholicism.<sup id="cite_ref-100" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-100">[100]</a></sup> That being said, Bismarck was wise enough to realize that at least some of those popular concepts needed to be mobilized on his side if his dream of a powerful Germany would become a reality. Luckily for him, the hated state of Austria would prove to be a useful target to unite the German states against. </p><p>German unification was going to be a formidable task. The princes of the small German states quite liked being independent. Some of them, like Bavaria in the south, were fairly powerful in their own right. Bavaria also presented the problem of having the vast majority of its population follow the Catholic faith, which made it and the other southern German states reluctant to follow the leadership of the Protestant north. Not surprising given the, uh, history between them. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Beating_up_Denmark">Beating up Denmark</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: Beating up Denmark">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:D%C3%BCpplerSchanzen1.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/D%C3%BCpplerSchanzen1.jpg/250px-D%C3%BCpplerSchanzen1.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="157" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/D%C3%BCpplerSchanzen1.jpg/500px-D%C3%BCpplerSchanzen1.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="3329" data-file-height="2085" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:D%C3%BCpplerSchanzen1.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Prussian victory over Denmark at Dybbøl, 1864.</div></div></div> <p>In 1864, poor little Denmark became the first victim of Bismarck's aspirations after the King of Denmark's death sparked dispute over the succession.<sup id="cite_ref-101" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-101">[101]</a></sup> Denmark had expanded south along the Jutland peninsula and gained control of two small German states, Schleswig and Holstein.<sup id="cite_ref-slesg_102-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-slesg-102">[102]</a></sup> They had been assigned to Denmark by the British (who stuck their grubby noses into everything), but in an awkward manner that kept them mostly autonomous. When Denmark tried to tie them closer, Prussia and Austria both objected and jumped into a war on the claim that Denmark had violated the agreement and planned to begin oppressing the German minority population.<sup id="cite_ref-slesg_102-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-slesg-102">[102]</a></sup> </p><p>As you might expect, Denmark didn't stand much of a chance. The real issue arose when Prussia and Austria sat down to decide who would get the spoils. Schleswig and Holstein happened to sit at a geographically important spot since a canal could be cut through the peninsula at the city of Kiel to bypass Denmark and link the Baltic to the Atlantic.<sup id="cite_ref-103" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-103">[103]</a></sup> Austria and Prussia eventually agreed to take one state each. The question of resolving the Danish war raised the much broader question of which power would become the master of Germany.<sup id="cite_ref-104" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-104">[104]</a></sup> Unable to talk it out, Austria and Prussia decided to have their final showdown. </p> <h4><span id="The_brother's_war"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="The_brother.27s_war">The brother's war</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=27" title="Edit section: The brother's war">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:227px;"><a href="/wiki/File:NB_1866-1871.99.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/NB_1866-1871.99.svg/225px-NB_1866-1871.99.svg.png" decoding="async" width="225" height="208" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/NB_1866-1871.99.svg/338px-NB_1866-1871.99.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/NB_1866-1871.99.svg/450px-NB_1866-1871.99.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="971" data-file-height="899" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:NB_1866-1871.99.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Prussia rebranded as the North German Confederation.</div></div></div> <p>This is where Austria's vast empire fucked them a little since Prussia managed to rope <a href="/wiki/Italy" title="Italy">Italy</a> into attacking Austria simultaneously to regain the Italian land that Austria had held for the last few decades.<sup id="cite_ref-105" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-105">[105]</a></sup> Prussia began its war against Austria at the same time, in 1866, facing a pretty powerful alliance of Austria along with Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Württemberg, Hesse, and Baden.<sup id="cite_ref-106" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-106">[106]</a></sup> The Austrian alliance had Prussia badly outnumbered. </p><p>Bismarck's diplomacy, however, won the day. By getting Italy into the fray, he could divert much of Austria's resources southwards, leaving Prussia free to deal with Austria's smaller allies.<sup id="cite_ref-107" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-107">[107]</a></sup> Prussia's superior military, backed by industrial war production and rigid discipline, could overwhelm the divided allies. Prussia then invaded Austria, conducting a rapid campaign through <a href="/wiki/Bohemia" class="mw-redirect" title="Bohemia">Bohemia</a> and winning a short series of victories over a handful of weeks to force Austria to the negotiating table.<sup id="cite_ref-108" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-108">[108]</a></sup> </p><p>Bismarck kept his demands relatively light, excluding Austria from German affairs, taking control of Schleswig-Holstein, and folding all northern Germany into Prussia's sphere of influence.<sup id="cite_ref-frnzjoi_109-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-frnzjoi-109">[109]</a></sup> Austrian ruler Franz Joseph was apparently not too upset by that, being totally disgusted with the shoddy performance of his German allies.<sup id="cite_ref-frnzjoi_109-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-frnzjoi-109">[109]</a></sup> He said little when Prussia annexed its north German neighbors to become the North German Confederation. This dramatically boosted Prussian power and brought it one step closer to unification. Some states were annexed directly into Prussia, but others, like Saxony, were preserved as semi-autonomous units of the Confederation. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Beating_up_France">Beating up France</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=28" title="Edit section: Beating up France">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:BismarckundNapoleonIII.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/BismarckundNapoleonIII.jpg/330px-BismarckundNapoleonIII.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="191" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/BismarckundNapoleonIII.jpg/500px-BismarckundNapoleonIII.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/BismarckundNapoleonIII.jpg/960px-BismarckundNapoleonIII.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1516" data-file-height="1053" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:BismarckundNapoleonIII.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Bismarck with the captured Napoleon III</div></div></div> <p>With all that accomplished, though, Bismarck had only finished the easy part. The hard part would be to get the stubborn Catholic southerners to willingly join Germany as well, as their cultural and religious differences were still significant.<sup id="cite_ref-110" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-110">[110]</a></sup> </p><p>Bismarck's solution was to unite them with Prussia against a common foe. France proved to be a uniquely advantageous candidate, ruled by the impulsive and ill-tempered Emperor Napoleon III and already on unfriendly terms with most of the German states. In 1870, Bismarck decided to engineer a war by <a href="/wiki/Cherry_picking" title="Cherry picking">editing</a> and leaking an internal message from the Prussian king, making it seem like he had insulted a French diplomat.<sup id="cite_ref-111" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-111">[111]</a></sup> He (correctly) believed it would incite the French "like a red rag to a bull".<sup id="cite_ref-112" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-112">[112]</a></sup> The edited telegram had exactly the result intended, as fiercely <a href="/wiki/Nationalist" class="mw-redirect" title="Nationalist">nationalist</a> French crowds gathered in Paris to demand a war of honor against Prussia. Napoleon III was also assured by his advisers that the war would be quick and bolster his popularity with the French people.<sup id="cite_ref-fpwar_113-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-fpwar-113">[113]</a></sup> </p><p>France thus declared war on Prussia over a diplomatic slight, thus casting France as the big meanie and Prussia as the put-upon defender forced into an unwanted war. Poor Prussia! With France launching a reckless attack on a German state, the southern Germans did as Bismarck hoped and rallied to support Prussia. </p><p>What followed was an unmitigated disaster for France, as while the war had been reckless on their part, it had been coldly calculated by Bismarck. Prussia used railroads and efficient organization to deliver 380,000 troops to the front lines in just over two weeks, while the French troops reached the front much later and were poorly equipped.<sup id="cite_ref-fpwar_113-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-fpwar-113">[113]</a></sup> They completely overwhelmed the inferior French military and thoroughly defeated it in just two months. At the Battle of Sedan, France suffered a devastating loss, and Napoleon III was actually captured by the Prussian army.<sup id="cite_ref-114" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-114">[114]</a></sup> The Germans then occupied much of northern France and laid siege to Paris, blowing a lot of shit up with their artillery. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Second_Reich">The Second Reich</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=29" title="Edit section: The Second Reich">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/German_Empire" title="German Empire">German Empire</a></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>There is only one person who is master in this Empire and I am not going to tolerate any other.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Wilhelm II, 1891.<sup id="cite_ref-willyquotesii_115-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-willyquotesii-115">[115]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <center><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:22px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Deutsches_Reich_(1871-1918)-de.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Deutsches_Reich_%281871-1918%29-de.svg/185px-Deutsches_Reich_%281871-1918%29-de.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="171" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Deutsches_Reich_%281871-1918%29-de.svg/278px-Deutsches_Reich_%281871-1918%29-de.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Deutsches_Reich_%281871-1918%29-de.svg/370px-Deutsches_Reich_%281871-1918%29-de.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="992" data-file-height="917" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>The German Empire with constituent states. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:46px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/e/ec/Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg/185px-Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="123" srcset="/w/images/thumb/e/ec/Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg/278px-Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/e/ec/Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg/370px-Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="800" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>The German imperial flag. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsadler_1889.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsadler_1889.svg/149px-Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsadler_1889.svg.png" decoding="async" width="149" height="185" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsadler_1889.svg/223px-Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsadler_1889.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsadler_1889.svg/297px-Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsadler_1889.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1286" data-file-height="1600" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>German imperial arms. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:67px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:GermanColonialEmpire1914.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/GermanColonialEmpire1914.png/185px-GermanColonialEmpire1914.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="81" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/GermanColonialEmpire1914.png/278px-GermanColonialEmpire1914.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/GermanColonialEmpire1914.png/370px-GermanColonialEmpire1914.png 2x" data-file-width="1425" data-file-height="625" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>German colonial empire at its height in 1914. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:52px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:War_Ensign_of_Germany_(1903%E2%80%931919).svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/War_Ensign_of_Germany_%281903%E2%80%931919%29.svg/185px-War_Ensign_of_Germany_%281903%E2%80%931919%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="111" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/War_Ensign_of_Germany_%281903%E2%80%931919%29.svg/278px-War_Ensign_of_Germany_%281903%E2%80%931919%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/War_Ensign_of_Germany_%281903%E2%80%931919%29.svg/370px-War_Ensign_of_Germany_%281903%E2%80%931919%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>German naval war ensign. </p> </div> </div></li> </ul></center> <h4><span id="Three_hurrahs_for_Germany!"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Three_hurrahs_for_Germany.21">Three hurrahs for Germany!</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=30" title="Edit section: Three hurrahs for Germany!">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:A_v_Werner_-_Kaiserproklamation_am_18_Januar_1871_(3._Fassung_1885).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/A_v_Werner_-_Kaiserproklamation_am_18_Januar_1871_%283._Fassung_1885%29.jpg/250px-A_v_Werner_-_Kaiserproklamation_am_18_Januar_1871_%283._Fassung_1885%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="185" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/A_v_Werner_-_Kaiserproklamation_am_18_Januar_1871_%283._Fassung_1885%29.jpg/375px-A_v_Werner_-_Kaiserproklamation_am_18_Januar_1871_%283._Fassung_1885%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/A_v_Werner_-_Kaiserproklamation_am_18_Januar_1871_%283._Fassung_1885%29.jpg/500px-A_v_Werner_-_Kaiserproklamation_am_18_Januar_1871_%283._Fassung_1885%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1482" data-file-height="1097" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:A_v_Werner_-_Kaiserproklamation_am_18_Januar_1871_(3._Fassung_1885).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Proclaiming the empire in Versailles.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>It's hard to be emperor under such a chancellor.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Wilhelm I, German Emperor, about Bismarck.<sup id="cite_ref-116" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-116">[116]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>After Paris surrendered in the Franco-Prussian War, the final step in Bismarck's plan became a reality. Prussian troops paraded through Paris to rub salt in the wound while partaking in one of Germany's favorite activities. Prussian King Wilhelm I arrived at the Palace of Versailles, where the various German princes waited for him. Having hashed things out through 1870, the princes all participated in an 1871 ceremony in the Hall of Mirrors where they recognized Wilhelm I as the first Emperor of the German Empire.<sup id="cite_ref-117" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-117">[117]</a></sup> </p><p>The empire became an aristocratic federation, with German princely states represented by an upper parliamentary house called the <i>Bundesrat</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-118" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-118">[118]</a></sup> An elected <i>Reichstag</i> served as the lower house, representing the commoners with universal male suffrage and elections every five years.<sup id="cite_ref-119" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-119">[119]</a></sup> Unfortunately, the Reichstag had little real power, lacking the right to draft legislation, dismiss the chancellor, or act as a check on the government's actions.<sup id="cite_ref-gergov_120-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gergov-120">[120]</a></sup> On the other hand, the emperor appointed the chancellor to lead the government, and he had the power to threaten the Reichstag into compliance because he had the right to call for snap elections. Bismarck was, as you would expect, the first appointed chancellor. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Social_developments">Social developments</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=31" title="Edit section: Social developments">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Krupp_works.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Krupp_works.JPG/330px-Krupp_works.JPG" decoding="async" width="275" height="170" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Krupp_works.JPG/500px-Krupp_works.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Krupp_works.JPG 2x" data-file-width="549" data-file-height="339" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Krupp_works.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Building naval artillery in the Krupp factory, 1905.</div></div></div> <p>Bismarck became the champion of conservatism within the German Empire, and he championed universal male suffrage out of a belief that the rural poor would reliably vote conservative.<sup id="cite_ref-bis_121-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bis-121">[121]</a></sup> That didn't happen. Instead, the poor voted more in line with their interests, favoring either the Center Party (which supported Catholic issues) or the <a href="/wiki/Social_democrats" class="mw-redirect" title="Social democrats">social democrats</a>. Bismarck angrily denounced them as "<i>Reichsfeinde</i>" or "enemies of the empire".<sup id="cite_ref-bis_121-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bis-121">[121]</a></sup> This was probably most directed at the Catholics since, as mentioned, Bismarck didn't trust the loyalty of Catholic Germans. His suspicions were seemingly confirmed when <a href="/wiki/The_Vatican" class="mw-redirect" title="The Vatican">The Vatican</a> declared in 1870 the doctrine of "<a href="/wiki/Papal_infallibility" title="Papal infallibility">papal infallibility</a>", which he feared would make the Catholics even more likely to be loyal to the <a href="/wiki/Pope" title="Pope">pope</a> before the emperor. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:217px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Essen_a54_v_Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Essen_a54_v_Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg/215px-Essen_a54_v_Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg" decoding="async" width="215" height="172" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Essen_a54_v_Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg/323px-Essen_a54_v_Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Essen_a54_v_Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg/430px-Essen_a54_v_Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1280" data-file-height="1024" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Essen_a54_v_Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Huge iron factory complex in Essen.</div></div></div> <p>Thus began the <i>Kulturkampf</i>, a political clash between Bismarck, his liberal allies of convenience, and the church.<sup id="cite_ref-kk_122-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-kk-122">[122]</a></sup> Bismarck forbade priests from preaching politics at the pulpit in 1871; in 1872, he made all religious schools subject to state inspection.<sup id="cite_ref-kk_122-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-kk-122">[122]</a></sup> To Americans, this just sounds like a basic <a href="/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state" title="Separation of church and state">separation of church and state</a>, but these policies were strongly resisted by Germany's Catholics. Bismarck redoubled his efforts, dissolving the <a href="/wiki/Jesuit" class="mw-redirect" title="Jesuit">Jesuit</a> order, severing diplomatic relations with the Vatican, and making the Church's ecclesiastical appointments subject to state authority.<sup id="cite_ref-kk_122-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-kk-122">[122]</a></sup> </p><p>Although some major policies came out of it, the culture war completely backfired when the Center Party just kept winning more seats in the Reichstag. After tiring of the enterprise, Bismarck broke off his alliance with the liberals and instead focused his efforts on trying to limit the appeal of socialism. As before, the heavy-handed approach didn't work, as Bismarck discovered when he banned socialism from the press in 1874 and then more desperately banned social democracy and socialism outright.<sup id="cite_ref-123" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-123">[123]</a></sup> </p><p>When that didn't stop socialists from winning seats as independent candidates, Bismarck focused on co-opting the socialist platform, hoping to bribe workers away from them. In 1883, Bismarck forced the Health Insurance Law, which created the first <a href="/wiki/Universal_health_care" title="Universal health care">national healthcare system</a> in the world.<sup id="cite_ref-reform_124-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-reform-124">[124]</a></sup> Employers and employees paid into insurance funds, and the German government verified workers' enrollment by comparing employer records with fund membership lists, threatening employers of uninsured workers with fines. Bismarck followed that up with an accident insurance law in 1884. In 1889, Germany became the first country to implement an old-age social insurance program, which even the United States <a href="/wiki/Social_Security" title="Social Security">Social Security</a> Administration acknowledges as one of its primary models.<sup id="cite_ref-125" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-125">[125]</a></sup> Still, most socialists and social democrats recognized the ruse as a ruse. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Colonialism">Colonialism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=32" title="Edit section: Colonialism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:317px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Herero_and_Nama_prisoners.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Herero_and_Nama_prisoners.jpg/330px-Herero_and_Nama_prisoners.jpg" decoding="async" width="315" height="189" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Herero_and_Nama_prisoners.jpg/500px-Herero_and_Nama_prisoners.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Herero_and_Nama_prisoners.jpg/960px-Herero_and_Nama_prisoners.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1920" data-file-height="1151" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Herero_and_Nama_prisoners.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Herero men in chains.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Scramble_for_Africa" title="Scramble for Africa">Scramble for Africa</a></div> <p>Germany came late to colonialism due to, y'know, not existing before 1871. However, it was still a major power, and there was still time to edge it into the game. Germany's status was confirmed when Bismarck got to host the Berlin Conference in 1884 to ensure that the intense competition over <a href="/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">African</a> land wouldn't cause a European war that Germany would get sucked into. In Berlin, diplomats from the major colonial powers arrived to hash out who would get what chunks of Africa.<sup id="cite_ref-Impafrica_126-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Impafrica-126">[126]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-127" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-127">[127]</a></sup> They effectively drew lines on a map. </p><p>Still, most of the best chunks of Africa, like <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a>, <a href="/wiki/Nigeria" title="Nigeria">Nigeria</a>, or <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo" title="Democratic Republic of the Congo">the Congo</a>, were taken already. Some regions they did get, like Cameroon and <a href="/wiki/Togo" title="Togo">Togo</a>, became giant plantations where Africans were forced to labor under deadly harsh conditions.<sup id="cite_ref-128" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-128">[128]</a></sup> The German Empire also tried to eliminate local languages by banning them from schools and ordering that all official business be conducted in the German language.<sup id="cite_ref-129" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-129">[129]</a></sup> </p><p>In German Southwest Africa, known today as Namibia, the Germans outright committed <a href="/wiki/Genocide" title="Genocide">genocide</a> against the Herero and Namaqua tribes, who had committed the crime of rising up to protest the Germans' use of all of the arid region's scarce <a href="/wiki/Water" title="Water">water</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-namibwar_130-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-namibwar-130">[130]</a></sup> German colonial troops drove the tribes out of their homes and into the unlivable Namibian desert before confining them to <a href="/wiki/Concentration_camps" class="mw-redirect" title="Concentration camps">concentration camps</a> where the survivors were either worked or beaten to death.<sup id="cite_ref-131" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-131">[131]</a></sup> It is estimated that about 80% of the Herero and Nama population were exterminated.<sup id="cite_ref-132" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-132">[132]</a></sup> In terms of hard numbers, that was about 100,000 people murdered.<sup id="cite_ref-gergenocide_133-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gergenocide-133">[133]</a></sup> German scientist Eugen Fischer set up shop in the concentration camps to conduct evil medical experiments on the helpless prisoners.<sup id="cite_ref-gergenocide_133-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gergenocide-133">[133]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span id="Enmity_with_France_(and_nearly_everybody_else)"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Enmity_with_France_.28and_nearly_everybody_else.29">Enmity with France (and nearly everybody else)</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=33" title="Edit section: Enmity with France (and nearly everybody else)">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:First_and_second_battleship_squadrons_and_small_cruiser_of_the_-_NARA_-_533188-2_restored.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/First_and_second_battleship_squadrons_and_small_cruiser_of_the_-_NARA_-_533188-2_restored.jpg/300px-First_and_second_battleship_squadrons_and_small_cruiser_of_the_-_NARA_-_533188-2_restored.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="191" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/First_and_second_battleship_squadrons_and_small_cruiser_of_the_-_NARA_-_533188-2_restored.jpg/450px-First_and_second_battleship_squadrons_and_small_cruiser_of_the_-_NARA_-_533188-2_restored.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/First_and_second_battleship_squadrons_and_small_cruiser_of_the_-_NARA_-_533188-2_restored.jpg/600px-First_and_second_battleship_squadrons_and_small_cruiser_of_the_-_NARA_-_533188-2_restored.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2956" data-file-height="1881" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:First_and_second_battleship_squadrons_and_small_cruiser_of_the_-_NARA_-_533188-2_restored.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Part of the massive Imperial German Navy.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>That young man wants war with Russia, and would like to draw his sword straight away if he could. I shall not be a party to it.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Bismarck comments on Wilhelm II's foreign policy ideas.<sup id="cite_ref-134" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-134">[134]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Bismarck had recognized that Germany's position in the world was precarious due to its central location in Europe. France, for instance, would be an implacable enemy forever because of the humiliation they suffered in 1870 and the empire's annexation of the formerly French border region of Alsace-Lorraine.<sup id="cite_ref-135" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-135">[135]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Irredentism" title="Irredentism">France wanted that shit back, really bad</a>. As a result, Bismarck's foreign policy focused on appeasing everyone and ensuring that the various powers of Europe were more friendly to Germany than they were to France.<sup id="cite_ref-136" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-136">[136]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:167px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Kaiser_Wilhelm_II_of_Germany_-_1902.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Kaiser_Wilhelm_II_of_Germany_-_1902.jpg/250px-Kaiser_Wilhelm_II_of_Germany_-_1902.jpg" decoding="async" width="165" height="238" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Kaiser_Wilhelm_II_of_Germany_-_1902.jpg/330px-Kaiser_Wilhelm_II_of_Germany_-_1902.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2431" data-file-height="3508" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Kaiser_Wilhelm_II_of_Germany_-_1902.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Kaiser Wilhelm II.</div></div></div> <p>Then the old emperor died in 1888, followed just 3 months later by his son Friedrich III's death from cancer, and the throne went to his grandson Wilhelm II. Initially this was a relief to Bismarck, because Friedrich III had been a vehement liberal who wanted to establish a British-style constitutional monarchy. But Kaiser Wilhelm II, perpetually jealous of his cousins who reigned in other European monarchies, wanted to chart an aggressive and "glorious" path, and he quickly fired Bismarck when the old chancellor objected. His toxic and abrasive personality clashed with his cousin <a href="/wiki/Tsar" title="Tsar">Tsar</a> Nicholas II of Russia, and Wilhelm then impulsively decided to terminate the non-aggression treaty between them in 1890.<sup id="cite_ref-137" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-137">[137]</a></sup> With Russia and France in the "fuck Germany" camp, the two powers signed an alliance in 1894.<sup id="cite_ref-138" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-138">[138]</a></sup> Bismarck's worst fear of Germany being sandwiched between two enemies had been realized. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:167px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Revanche_Carte_Postale.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Revanche_Carte_Postale.jpg/165px-Revanche_Carte_Postale.jpg" decoding="async" width="165" height="223" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Revanche_Carte_Postale.jpg/248px-Revanche_Carte_Postale.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Revanche_Carte_Postale.jpg/330px-Revanche_Carte_Postale.jpg 2x" data-file-width="474" data-file-height="640" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Revanche_Carte_Postale.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>France celebrates Russia's addition to the "fuck Germany" club.</div></div></div> <p>Wilhelm then ordered a vast expansion of the imperial German navy, explicitly stating that his intention was to compete with the British. In typically impulsive Wilhelm II fashion, this wasn't because Germany stood to gain from it but because he was jealous of his other cousin King George V's powerful navy. As you might expect, the British weren't a fan of this idea, and the two powers thus entered into an increasingly bitter naval arms race.<sup id="cite_ref-139" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-139">[139]</a></sup> And just to make things even more dangerous, Wilhelm kicked off the Morocco Crises by interfering with French influence in the area in 1904, beginning a diplomatic fiasco that increased France's hatred and made the British even warier of Germany.<sup id="cite_ref-140" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-140">[140]</a></sup> In the same year, France and the UK signed the "Entente Cordiale", promising to support each other's colonial ventures against Germany.<sup id="cite_ref-141" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-141">[141]</a></sup> In other words, Wilhelm II was such an asshole that he managed to reverse about a thousand years of constant Anglo-French hostility. </p><p>Germany did, however, have a scarce few friends left in Europe. Bismarck had managed to repair relations with Austria and forge an alliance with them, an initiative that Wilhelm had not managed to screw up.<sup id="cite_ref-142" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-142">[142]</a></sup> Wilhelm, for his part, had drawn closer to the <a href="/wiki/Ottoman_Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a>, expanding political and economic ties by funding the Berlin–Baghdad railway to help integrate the Ottoman Empire and help Germany reach its eastern colonies.<sup id="cite_ref-143" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-143">[143]</a></sup> The two powers were not quite allied, but they weren't acting all pissy with each other as Germany had been with almost everybody else. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="World_War_I">World War I</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=34" title="Edit section: World War I">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:167px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R43302,_Kaiser_Wilhelm_II._und_Zar_Nikolaus_II..jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R43302%2C_Kaiser_Wilhelm_II._und_Zar_Nikolaus_II..jpg/250px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R43302%2C_Kaiser_Wilhelm_II._und_Zar_Nikolaus_II..jpg" decoding="async" width="165" height="261" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R43302%2C_Kaiser_Wilhelm_II._und_Zar_Nikolaus_II..jpg/330px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R43302%2C_Kaiser_Wilhelm_II._und_Zar_Nikolaus_II..jpg 2x" data-file-width="1099" data-file-height="1741" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R43302,_Kaiser_Wilhelm_II._und_Zar_Nikolaus_II..jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Wilhelm II with his cousin Tsar Nicholas II, back when they were friends. Each wears the other's uniform.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/World_War_I" title="World War I">World War I</a></div> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Outbreak_and_deceit">Outbreak and deceit</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=35" title="Edit section: Outbreak and deceit">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>To try and avoid such a calamity as a European war I beg you in the name of our old friendship to do what you can to stop your allies from going too far.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Tsar Nicholas II telegram to Wilhelm II on the eve of the war.<sup id="cite_ref-fhistel_144-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-fhistel-144">[144]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Thanks for your telegram. I yesterday pointed out to your government the way by which alone war may be avoided. Although I requested an answer for noon today, no telegram from my ambassador conveying an answer from your Government has reached me as yet. I therefore have been obliged to mobilize my army.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Wilhelm II to the Tsar, several hours before declaring war.<sup id="cite_ref-fhistel_144-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-fhistel-144">[144]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Wilhelm and Germany fucked things even harder in the crisis leading up to the Great War. After the infamous assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, a diplomatic scramble-fest ensued among various European powers in the hopes of avoiding war. Although much has been made of the fact that Austria was the first to open the festivities, Germany was far from blameless in helping to begin the bloodbath. Despite knowing that all of Austria's actions were posturing in the hopes of manufacturing a further reason to attack <a href="/wiki/Serbia" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> over the assassination, Germany repeatedly assured the rest of Europe that it had things under control and that Austria wouldn't do anything rashly.<sup id="cite_ref-countdown_145-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-countdown-145">[145]</a></sup> All of this <a href="/wiki/Bullshit" title="Bullshit">bullshit</a> was meant to give Austria cover in the hopes that if the war began unexpectedly, the allies would lack the resolve to immediately jump in. </p><p>The plan did not fall into place. Austria declared war on Serbia on the 28<sup>th</sup> of July, and when Germany immediately backed them, it became apparent that the Germans' talk of trying to keep the peace and restrain its ally had all been lies. The other powers of Europe, especially Russia, were <i>pissed.</i> The German ambassador to Russia recounted that the Russian Foreign Minister "now saw through our whole deceitful policy, he no longer doubted that we had known the Austro-Hungarian plans and that it was all a well-laid scheme between us and the Vienna Cabinet."<sup id="cite_ref-146" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-146">[146]</a></sup> </p><p>The dominoes quickly fell into place after that, as each great power honored their alliances and joined the war. Germany found itself in the unenviable position of fighting a resentful Russia on one side and hated France on the other. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Bloodbath">Bloodbath</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=36" title="Edit section: Bloodbath">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_104-0669,_%C3%9Cbung_deutscher_Soldaten_mit_Flammenwerfer.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Bundesarchiv_Bild_104-0669%2C_%C3%9Cbung_deutscher_Soldaten_mit_Flammenwerfer.jpg/300px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_104-0669%2C_%C3%9Cbung_deutscher_Soldaten_mit_Flammenwerfer.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="174" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Bundesarchiv_Bild_104-0669%2C_%C3%9Cbung_deutscher_Soldaten_mit_Flammenwerfer.jpg/450px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_104-0669%2C_%C3%9Cbung_deutscher_Soldaten_mit_Flammenwerfer.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Bundesarchiv_Bild_104-0669%2C_%C3%9Cbung_deutscher_Soldaten_mit_Flammenwerfer.jpg/600px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_104-0669%2C_%C3%9Cbung_deutscher_Soldaten_mit_Flammenwerfer.jpg 2x" data-file-width="794" data-file-height="461" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_104-0669,_%C3%9Cbung_deutscher_Soldaten_mit_Flammenwerfer.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>German troops firing a flamethrower in the trenches.</div></div></div> <p>German leaders realized that being caught between two powers was a bad place to be. Their plan to avoid this had been proposed in 1905 by Alfred von Schlieffen, chief of the German general staff.<sup id="cite_ref-147" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-147">[147]</a></sup> The Schlieffen Plan called for a rapid and overwhelming attack to defeat France while token forces held the line against Russia. Once France was out of the picture, the Germans could turn east. Instead of invading the German-French border, the Germans would advance through <a href="/wiki/Belgium" title="Belgium">Belgium</a> and turn south to catch France by surprise and capture Paris, forcing them to make peace.<sup id="cite_ref-148" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-148">[148]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:The_Battle_of_the_Somme,_July-november_1916_Q4218.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4218.jpg/250px-The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4218.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="202" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4218.jpg/375px-The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4218.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4218.jpg/500px-The_Battle_of_the_Somme%2C_July-november_1916_Q4218.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3543" data-file-height="2862" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:The_Battle_of_the_Somme,_July-november_1916_Q4218.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Dead Germans in the trenches of the Somme.</div></div></div> <p>Although Belgium fell and German armies advanced through northern France, the promised knockout blow never materialized. Instead, France halted the German advance before they reached Paris in the First Battle of the Marne.<sup id="cite_ref-149" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-149">[149]</a></sup> Both sides attempted to outflank each other before reaching the sea,<sup id="cite_ref-150" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-150">[150]</a></sup> an unsuccessful maneuvering fest that left everybody staring at each other over a line of fortifications. You know where this is going. The advent of the machine gun and modern artillery meant that attacking an enemy formation with conventional 19<sup>th</sup>-century tactics (like everybody had been doing) was tantamount to <a href="/wiki/Suicide" title="Suicide">suicide</a>. Soldiers dug into the ground for safety against each other's deadly firepower, rapidly developing into the infamous trench warfare system.<sup id="cite_ref-151" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-151">[151]</a></sup> By October 1914, none of the armies could make any meaningful advances, and by the end of the year, about 475 miles of trenches had been built across the entire length of the Western Front.<sup id="cite_ref-152" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-152">[152]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316,_Westfront,_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316%2C_Westfront%2C_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg/250px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316%2C_Westfront%2C_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="173" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316%2C_Westfront%2C_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg/375px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316%2C_Westfront%2C_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316%2C_Westfront%2C_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg/500px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316%2C_Westfront%2C_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="552" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-P1013-316,_Westfront,_deutscher_Panzer_in_Roye.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>German tank in an occupied French town.</div></div></div> <p>Invading Belgium also gave Britain (by treaty the guarantor of Belgian neutrality) a sufficient excuse to rally the already anti-German populace to support war. From late 1914 onwards, the British Royal Navy blockaded the English Channel and the North Sea entrances, hoping to starve Germany and Austria into submission.<sup id="cite_ref-153" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-153">[153]</a></sup> The impacts on the Central Powers were immediate, and civilians started to suffer food shortages as early as 1916. Both sides used submarines against merchant shipping, as submarines were undetectable but too fragile to compete with surface warships.<sup id="cite_ref-154" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-154">[154]</a></sup> British shipping defended itself by flying the flags of neutral countries, which caused Germany to declare its policy of allowing its submarines to sink neutral shipping. Foreign reaction to unrestricted German warfare was very negative, especially after the Germans sank the <i>RMS Lusitania</i>, (which seemed to be) a passenger ship.<sup id="cite_ref-155" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-155">[155]</a></sup> </p><p>Meanwhile, Germany steamrolled the Russians, causing horrific suffering and an enormous refugee crisis. German scientists also introduced <a href="/wiki/Chemical_weapons" class="mw-redirect" title="Chemical weapons">chemical weapons</a> in the form of poison gas, further increasing the suffering of trench warfare. Germany's African colonies were quickly overrun by France and the UK. The British blockade of Germany's ports, which Germany's great navy had been unable to breach, made matters much worse. The winter of 1916-1917 was horrific; German civilians called it the "Turnip Winter" as the potato crop had failed, and they were forced to eat rutabagas instead.<sup id="cite_ref-156" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-156">[156]</a></sup> The entry of the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> into the war, brought about by anger against the German submarine campaign, made victory seem impossible. Starvation and hopelessness combined with the deaths of 2,037,000 German soldiers created a demographic, political, and humanitarian emergency for Germany.<sup id="cite_ref-157" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-157">[157]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="German_Revolution">German Revolution</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=37" title="Edit section: German Revolution">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Spartakusaufstand_Barrikaden.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Spartakusaufstand_Barrikaden.jpg/250px-Spartakusaufstand_Barrikaden.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="187" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Spartakusaufstand_Barrikaden.jpg/500px-Spartakusaufstand_Barrikaden.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="3098" data-file-height="2323" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Spartakusaufstand_Barrikaden.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Spartacist rebels in Berlin.</div></div></div> <p>Things came to a head in 1918 when sailors in Kiel refused to take part in a planned final strike.<sup id="cite_ref-158" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-158">[158]</a></sup> When the mutineers were arrested, this spiraled into a massive protest involving sailors and civilians. Protests quickly spread across the country. By November, the revolutionaries had bagged themselves a monarch, forcing the king of Bavaria to flee Germany and proclaiming a "People's State" in his absence.<sup id="cite_ref-159" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-159">[159]</a></sup> On the 9th of November, the new German Chancellor Max von Baden announced the Kaiser's abdication, entirely to the Kaiser's surprise.<sup id="cite_ref-germanrevolution_160-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-germanrevolution-160">[160]</a></sup> On the advice of Paul von Hindenburg, however, the Kaiser accepted that the loss of his crown was inevitable, and he left for exile in the Netherlands.<sup id="cite_ref-germanrevolution_160-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-germanrevolution-160">[160]</a></sup> </p><p>After the armistice, Max von Baden found himself unable to negotiate a lasting peace. He resigned and illegally handed the reins to Friedrich Ebert.<sup id="cite_ref-germanrevolution_160-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-germanrevolution-160">[160]</a></sup> Ebert's colleague from the German Social Democratic Party, Philipp Scheidemann, went behind his back to declare Germany a republic. </p><p>Meanwhile, the more radical elements of the Social Democratic Party created the "Spartacus League", led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg. This kicked off about a year of <a href="/wiki/Communist" class="mw-redirect" title="Communist">communist</a> uprisings in Germany, featuring warfare between the Spartacists and the <i>Freikorps</i> of right-wing war veterans assembled by the government in response.<sup id="cite_ref-161" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-161">[161]</a></sup> The <i>Freikorps</i>, battle-hardened and armed with modern rifles and machine guns, were ruthlessly effective and merciless in putting down the uprising and summarily executing Luxembourg and Liebknecht. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Treaty_of_Versailles">Treaty of Versailles</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=38" title="Edit section: Treaty of Versailles">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:German_losses_after_WWI.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/German_losses_after_WWI.svg/330px-German_losses_after_WWI.svg.png" decoding="async" width="275" height="233" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/German_losses_after_WWI.svg/500px-German_losses_after_WWI.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/German_losses_after_WWI.svg/960px-German_losses_after_WWI.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="848" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:German_losses_after_WWI.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>German loss of territory under the Treaty of Versailles.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles" title="Treaty of Versailles">Treaty of Versailles</a></div> <p>After the Kaiser was gone, the German diplomatic corps simply agreed to whatever terms the allies wanted for an armistice.<sup id="cite_ref-162" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-162">[162]</a></sup> The Germans, now with a new government and the old warmongers tossed out, expected peace would be relatively lenient for them, probably taking place within the framework of <a href="/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson" title="Woodrow Wilson">Woodrow Wilson</a>'s "Fourteen Points" plan. The other European powers promptly tossed out Wilson's plan and proceeded with harsh terms against Germany, as most of the Entente not only demanded compensation from Germany for their wartime suffering but had also made secret treaties with other countries about how Germany would be split up.<sup id="cite_ref-versailles_163-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-versailles-163">[163]</a></sup> </p><p>The Germans were shocked by the treaty's terms, as they had been assured a relatively soft peace in return for the truce.<sup id="cite_ref-versailles_163-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-versailles-163">[163]</a></sup> Germany was forced to cede Alsace-Lorraine back to France, allow the Saarland to be placed under military occupation, cede some areas to Belgium, cede northern Schleswig to Denmark, cede parts of Silesia and West Prussia to the resurrected Poland, and lose its colonial holdings to France, the UK, and Japan.<sup id="cite_ref-versailles_163-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-versailles-163">[163]</a></sup> Germany was then forced to demilitarize. A "war guilt" clause also declared Germany the primary aggressor in the war and made them responsible for paying reparations to the Entente powers. This last part caused much anger among the Germans, although the Entente powers subsequently agreed to lessen and indefinitely postpone the payments.<sup id="cite_ref-versii_164-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-versii-164">[164]</a></sup> </p><p>In the end, the treaty was neither lenient nor harsh enough to prevent another war. Germany was not pacified by a light-handed peace nor weakened enough by the territorial losses inflicted upon it. The Entente powers themselves realized that the agreement had problems. British representative <a href="/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes" title="John Maynard Keynes">John Maynard Keynes</a> predicted that the treaty's reparations clause would inflame German revanchism, while French Marshal Ferdinand Foch criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently.<sup id="cite_ref-versii_164-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-versii-164">[164]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Weimar_Republic">Weimar Republic</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=39" title="Edit section: Weimar Republic">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R1215-506,_Berlin,_Reichsbank,_Geldauflieferungsstelle.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R1215-506%2C_Berlin%2C_Reichsbank%2C_Geldauflieferungsstelle.jpg/330px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R1215-506%2C_Berlin%2C_Reichsbank%2C_Geldauflieferungsstelle.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="174" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R1215-506%2C_Berlin%2C_Reichsbank%2C_Geldauflieferungsstelle.jpg/500px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R1215-506%2C_Berlin%2C_Reichsbank%2C_Geldauflieferungsstelle.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R1215-506%2C_Berlin%2C_Reichsbank%2C_Geldauflieferungsstelle.jpg/550px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R1215-506%2C_Berlin%2C_Reichsbank%2C_Geldauflieferungsstelle.jpg 2x" data-file-width="778" data-file-height="492" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R1215-506,_Berlin,_Reichsbank,_Geldauflieferungsstelle.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Stacks of worthless German money in 1923.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Now we have a Republic, the problem is we have no Republicans.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Walter Rathenau, first Foreign Minister of the Weimar Republic.<sup id="cite_ref-165" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-165">[165]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Interwar_misery">Interwar misery</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=40" title="Edit section: Interwar misery">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <p>Born out of revolution and wartime carnage, the Weimar Republic was perpetually unstable from the beginning. The republic gets its name because its <a href="/wiki/Constitution" title="Constitution">constitution</a> had to be adopted in the city of Weimar rather than Berlin, as Berlin was occupied by the Spartacists at the time.<sup id="cite_ref-166" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-166">[166]</a></sup> Alongside the <a href="/wiki/Communist" class="mw-redirect" title="Communist">communist</a> uprisings, conservatives attempted to overthrow the government in 1919 in the hopes of re-establishing the monarchy and reversing the revolution.<sup id="cite_ref-167" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-167">[167]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:217px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R09876,_Ruhrbesetzung.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R09876%2C_Ruhrbesetzung.jpg/215px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R09876%2C_Ruhrbesetzung.jpg" decoding="async" width="215" height="148" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R09876%2C_Ruhrbesetzung.jpg/323px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R09876%2C_Ruhrbesetzung.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R09876%2C_Ruhrbesetzung.jpg/430px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R09876%2C_Ruhrbesetzung.jpg 2x" data-file-width="791" data-file-height="544" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R09876,_Ruhrbesetzung.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>French troops threaten a German man in the occupied Ruhr.</div></div></div> <p>The new republic's constitution had a powerful president, seen by many as a substitute Kaiser. The president was elected by popular direct ballot to a seven-year term and could be reelected. He appointed the chancellor and cabinet ministers, and could dissolve the Reichstag and govern without its consent.<sup id="cite_ref-168" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-168">[168]</a></sup> You should remember that last bit since it would cause some major problems down the road. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-062-01,_Berlin,_bettelnder_Kriegsinvalide.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-062-01%2C_Berlin%2C_bettelnder_Kriegsinvalide.jpg/200px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-062-01%2C_Berlin%2C_bettelnder_Kriegsinvalide.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="150" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-062-01%2C_Berlin%2C_bettelnder_Kriegsinvalide.jpg/300px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-062-01%2C_Berlin%2C_bettelnder_Kriegsinvalide.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-062-01%2C_Berlin%2C_bettelnder_Kriegsinvalide.jpg/400px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-062-01%2C_Berlin%2C_bettelnder_Kriegsinvalide.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="768" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-062-01,_Berlin,_bettelnder_Kriegsinvalide.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>A disabled veteran in the streets of Berlin.</div></div></div> <p>Compounding the republic's political instability was the problem of hyperinflation, which plagued Germany due to the government's short-sighted policy of printing money to make reparations payments.<sup id="cite_ref-169" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-169">[169]</a></sup> Even then, Germany had issues meeting the requirements, so France sent angry troops to occupy Germany's industrial Rhineland to take control of the factories and confiscate goods.<sup id="cite_ref-170" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-170">[170]</a></sup> German passive resistance to this was met with gunfire and expulsions. Hyperinflation caused a total collapse in Germany's currency, to the point where by 1923, the US dollar was worth an absurd 4,210,500,000,000 German marks.<sup id="cite_ref-171" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-171">[171]</a></sup> </p><p>Germany's reconstruction began under chancellor Gustav Stresemann, who was the architect of its foreign policy for much of the early republic. Stresemann successfully negotiated reduced reparations payments and managed to get the French occupation forces withdrawn from the Rhineland by promising to keep the region demilitarized.<sup id="cite_ref-172" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-172">[172]</a></sup> This was some truly skilled statesmanship, but it pissed off the rightists who thought that Germany should take everything by force because the world owed it. To them, the republic's diplomacy, as well as its very existence, was an unacceptable betrayal of everything it was to be German. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="A_sabotaged_democracy">A sabotaged democracy</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=41" title="Edit section: A sabotaged democracy">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13681,_Berlin,_Stresemannstra%C3%9Fe_bei_Nacht.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13681%2C_Berlin%2C_Stresemannstra%C3%9Fe_bei_Nacht.jpg/300px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13681%2C_Berlin%2C_Stresemannstra%C3%9Fe_bei_Nacht.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="204" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13681%2C_Berlin%2C_Stresemannstra%C3%9Fe_bei_Nacht.jpg/450px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13681%2C_Berlin%2C_Stresemannstra%C3%9Fe_bei_Nacht.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13681%2C_Berlin%2C_Stresemannstra%C3%9Fe_bei_Nacht.jpg/600px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13681%2C_Berlin%2C_Stresemannstra%C3%9Fe_bei_Nacht.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="544" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13681,_Berlin,_Stresemannstra%C3%9Fe_bei_Nacht.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Nightlife in Berlin.</div></div></div> <p>The republic quickly became a failed government, with most of the population having no faith in it. The far-left, for instance, regarded the republic as a tool of the moneyed bourgeois to keep the poor under control, bitterly remembering the republic's role in putting down the Spartacist uprising.<sup id="cite_ref-nodem_173-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nodem-173">[173]</a></sup> The left, however, was too disorganized and weak to pose a real threat to the republic. </p><p>No, the real threat came from the right, who hated the republic's democratic principles and longed for a return to the old conservatism and comfort of an absolute monarchy. Or, failing that, an absolute <a href="/wiki/Dictatorship" title="Dictatorship">dictatorship</a>. The right was so dangerous because it enjoyed the support of most of Germany's establishment: the military, the financial elites, the state bureaucracy, the educational system, and much of the press.<sup id="cite_ref-nodem_173-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nodem-173">[173]</a></sup> Right-wing parties in the Reichstag openly hoped to dismantle democracy and place Germany back on a path of militarism. Political violence and assassinations were prevalent, mainly acts perpetrated by the far-right.<sup id="cite_ref-174" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-174">[174]</a></sup> Right-wing parties managed to influence judicial appointments and said judges would promptly let right-wing <a href="/wiki/Terrorists" class="mw-redirect" title="Terrorists">terrorists</a> off with negligible sentences while harshly punishing leftists.<sup id="cite_ref-nodem_173-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nodem-173">[173]</a></sup> </p><p>On the other hand, the republic did allow a brief flourishing of German cultural life. After the chaos of the postwar period settled down, Germany had its own modest version of the "Roaring Twenties." Social liberals in the big cities could live freely, with sexual liberation movements, <a href="/wiki/Homosexual" class="mw-redirect" title="Homosexual">homosexual</a> establishments, and a thriving nightlife being notable.<sup id="cite_ref-weisex_175-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-weisex-175">[175]</a></sup> The <i>Institut für Sexualwissenschaft</i>, run by Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, produced large volumes of work analyzing and humanizing homosexual and <a href="/wiki/Transgender" title="Transgender">transgender</a> people.<sup id="cite_ref-176" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-176">[176]</a></sup> This also somewhat extended to social life, with cabaret dancer Anita Berber becoming popular and scandalous due to her androgynous acts and her public admission of being <a href="/wiki/Bisexual" class="mw-redirect" title="Bisexual">bisexual</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-177" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-177">[177]</a></sup> Women also experienced a brief liberation era, being given the right to vote for the first time in German history. </p><p>Sadly, the liberalization of Germany in the cities only further fueled right-wing fury, who were disgusted with what they saw.<sup id="cite_ref-weisex_175-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-weisex-175">[175]</a></sup> Much of the progress made during this era, especially that promoted by Dr. Hirschfeld's institute, was viciously attacked by the Nazis. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Rise_of_evil">Rise of evil</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=42" title="Edit section: Rise of evil">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-10541,_Weimar,_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-10541%2C_Weimar%2C_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg/300px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-10541%2C_Weimar%2C_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="206" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-10541%2C_Weimar%2C_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg/450px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-10541%2C_Weimar%2C_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-10541%2C_Weimar%2C_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg/600px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-10541%2C_Weimar%2C_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="550" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-10541,_Weimar,_Aufmarsch_der_Nationalsozialisten.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Hitler leading a Nazi rally in Weimar, 1930.</div></div></div> <p>Meanwhile, a little Austrian-born fuckhead named <a href="/wiki/Adolf_Hitler" title="Adolf Hitler">Adolf Hitler</a>, lacking any real-life skills, stayed with the army and joined the subversive and <a href="/wiki/Fascist" class="mw-redirect" title="Fascist">fascist</a> German Worker's Party (DAP) to spy on it on behalf of the German government.<sup id="cite_ref-dap_178-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dap-178">[178]</a></sup> He very quickly became enchanted by its message of antisemitism and expansionist nationalism. He joined it and led it to rebrand as the National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP), which would be better known as the <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Party" class="mw-redirect" title="Nazi Party">Nazi Party</a>. Hitler designed the party's <a href="/wiki/Swastika" title="Swastika">swastika</a> emblem, which has been used as a symbol by and for shitheads in the West ever since.<sup id="cite_ref-hrisei_179-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hrisei-179">[179]</a></sup> He then left the army and became notorious for giving rowdy and angry speeches to any group of people who would listen. By 1921, the Nazi Party recognized Hitler as one of their most influential public figures, and he was elected Party Chairman.<sup id="cite_ref-hrisei_179-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hrisei-179">[179]</a></sup> In late 1923, Hitler tried to launch the laughably failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, which landed him in prison for a few months.<sup id="cite_ref-180" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-180">[180]</a></sup> From there, he wrote his shitty book <i>Mein Kampf</i>, which, along with the <a href="/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a> and the resultant misery, caused the Nazi Party's popularity to explode. He presented a deranged fantasy world in which Germany was at war with the Jews <a href="/wiki/International_Jewish_conspiracy" title="International Jewish conspiracy">running the capitalist system</a> and <i>simultaneously</i> <a href="/wiki/Cultural_Marxism" title="Cultural Marxism">running</a> the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>. According to him, it had also been the Jews who had <a href="/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_legend" title="Stab-in-the-back legend">sabotaged Germany in the last war</a>. </p><p>Eventually, the increasingly popular Nazi Party started to win enough votes to cause deadlock in the Reichstag. Germany held presidential elections in 1932, and <a href="/wiki/Conservative" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservative">conservative</a> Paul von Hindenburg ran against Adolf Hitler and the communist Ernst Thälmann. Hindenburg received broad support due to Hitler's extremism; traditional conservatives backed him, and <a href="/wiki/Liberals" class="mw-redirect" title="Liberals">liberals</a> endorsed him as the lesser of two evils.<sup id="cite_ref-181" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-181">[181]</a></sup> As a result, Hindenburg handily won the election. Unfortunately, more political deadlock set in, leading Hindenburg's conservatives to take the extraordinary step of encouraging the president to appoint Hitler as chancellor. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Third_Reich">The Third Reich</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=43" title="Edit section: The Third Reich">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Every national voluntary association, and every local club, was brought under Nazi control, from industrial and agricultural pressure groups to sports associations, football clubs, male voice choirs, women's organizations — in short, the whole fabric of associational life was Nazified. Rival, politically oriented clubs or societies were merged into a single Nazi body. Existing leaders of voluntary associations were either unceremoniously ousted, or knuckled under of their own accord. Many organizations expelled leftish or liberal members and declared their allegiance to the new state and its institutions. The whole process... went on all over Germany... By the end, virtually the only non-Nazi associations left were the army and the Churches with their lay organizations.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Richard Evans, <i>The Third Reich in Power.</i>,<sup id="cite_ref-182" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-182">[182]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <center><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:20.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:World_War_II_in_Europe,_1942.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/World_War_II_in_Europe%2C_1942.svg/250px-World_War_II_in_Europe%2C_1942.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="174" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/World_War_II_in_Europe%2C_1942.svg/330px-World_War_II_in_Europe%2C_1942.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/World_War_II_in_Europe%2C_1942.svg/500px-World_War_II_in_Europe%2C_1942.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="519" data-file-height="488" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Nazi Germany and its influence at its maximum extent during the war. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:52px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_NSDAP_(1920%E2%80%931945).svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Flag_of_the_NSDAP_%281920%E2%80%931945%29.svg/185px-Flag_of_the_NSDAP_%281920%E2%80%931945%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="111" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Flag_of_the_NSDAP_%281920%E2%80%931945%29.svg/278px-Flag_of_the_NSDAP_%281920%E2%80%931945%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Flag_of_the_NSDAP_%281920%E2%80%931945%29.svg/370px-Flag_of_the_NSDAP_%281920%E2%80%931945%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Flag of Nazi Germany. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:47px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Reichsadler_Deutsches_Reich_(1935%E2%80%931945).svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Reichsadler_Deutsches_Reich_%281935%E2%80%931945%29.svg/185px-Reichsadler_Deutsches_Reich_%281935%E2%80%931945%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="121" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Reichsadler_Deutsches_Reich_%281935%E2%80%931945%29.svg/278px-Reichsadler_Deutsches_Reich_%281935%E2%80%931945%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Reichsadler_Deutsches_Reich_%281935%E2%80%931945%29.svg/370px-Reichsadler_Deutsches_Reich_%281935%E2%80%931945%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1297" data-file-height="846" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>State emblem. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Standarte_Adolf_Hitlers.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Standarte_Adolf_Hitlers.svg/185px-Standarte_Adolf_Hitlers.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="185" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Standarte_Adolf_Hitlers.svg/278px-Standarte_Adolf_Hitlers.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Standarte_Adolf_Hitlers.svg/370px-Standarte_Adolf_Hitlers.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="670" data-file-height="670" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Personal standard of Adolf Hitler. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:46px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Schutzstaffel.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Flag_of_the_Schutzstaffel.svg/185px-Flag_of_the_Schutzstaffel.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="123" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Flag_of_the_Schutzstaffel.svg/278px-Flag_of_the_Schutzstaffel.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Flag_of_the_Schutzstaffel.svg/370px-Flag_of_the_Schutzstaffel.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="341" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Flag of the <a href="/wiki/Waffen-SS" class="mw-redirect" title="Waffen-SS">Waffen-SS</a>. </p> </div> </div></li> </ul></center> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Consolidation_of_power">Consolidation of power</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=44" title="Edit section: Consolidation of power">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:317px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_152-01-26,_Dachau,_Konzentrationslager.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Bundesarchiv_Bild_152-01-26%2C_Dachau%2C_Konzentrationslager.jpg/315px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_152-01-26%2C_Dachau%2C_Konzentrationslager.jpg" decoding="async" width="315" height="201" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Bundesarchiv_Bild_152-01-26%2C_Dachau%2C_Konzentrationslager.jpg/473px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_152-01-26%2C_Dachau%2C_Konzentrationslager.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Bundesarchiv_Bild_152-01-26%2C_Dachau%2C_Konzentrationslager.jpg/630px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_152-01-26%2C_Dachau%2C_Konzentrationslager.jpg 2x" data-file-width="792" data-file-height="506" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_152-01-26,_Dachau,_Konzentrationslager.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><a href="/wiki/Slave" class="mw-redirect" title="Slave">Slave</a> labor in Dachau, 1933.</div></div></div> <p>With so few people willing to defend the republic's institutions, Hitler had no trouble turning Germany into a <a href="/wiki/Totalitarian" class="mw-redirect" title="Totalitarian">totalitarian</a> dictatorship. Shortly after Hitler became chancellor, the Reichstag building burned down under mysterious circumstances. Hitler and the Nazis promptly pinned the crime on a random communist and used it to justify the passage of the Reichstag Fire Decree.<sup id="cite_ref-rfire_183-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-rfire-183">[183]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Enabling_Act_in_colour.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Enabling_Act_in_colour.jpg/250px-Enabling_Act_in_colour.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="172" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Enabling_Act_in_colour.jpg/375px-Enabling_Act_in_colour.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Enabling_Act_in_colour.jpg/500px-Enabling_Act_in_colour.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="551" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Enabling_Act_in_colour.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Hitler addressing the Reichstag in 1933.</div></div></div> <p>The decree suspended essential parts of Germany's <a href="/wiki/Constitution" title="Constitution">constitution</a>, removing the right to assembly, <a href="/wiki/Freedom_of_speech" title="Freedom of speech">freedom of speech</a> and freedom of the press and giving the German police the power to do whatever they wished.<sup id="cite_ref-184" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-184">[184]</a></sup> It also gave Hitler the power to dissolve and overrule local governments, <a href="/wiki/Censorship" title="Censorship">ban publications</a>, and jail people without charge (removing the right of <i><a href="/wiki/Habeas_corpus" title="Habeas corpus">habeas corpus</a></i>). Hitler then mobilized Nazi Party paramilitaries inside the Reichstag itself to force the parliament to pass the Enabling Act,<sup id="cite_ref-enabling_185-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-enabling-185">[185]</a></sup> which granted Hitler the power to pass laws without consulting anyone else. </p><p>Hitler almost immediately ordered his subordinates to start creating the infamous <a href="/wiki/Concentration_camps" class="mw-redirect" title="Concentration camps">concentration camps</a>. Some were "temporary" detention centers for political opponents in empty warehouses, factories, and other convenient locations.<sup id="cite_ref-nazicc_186-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nazicc-186">[186]</a></sup> Over the next few years, these hastily constructed camps would be phased out and replaced with more secure and centrally-organized facilities under the watch of the <a href="/wiki/Waffen-SS" class="mw-redirect" title="Waffen-SS">Waffen-SS</a>. Dachau, established in March 1933 south of Munich, became the model of this new kind of concentration camp,<sup id="cite_ref-nazicc_186-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nazicc-186">[186]</a></sup> mostly housing political opponents of the Nazi regime.<sup id="cite_ref-dachau_187-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dachau-187">[187]</a></sup> Dachau was quickly followed by many other concentration camps: Sachsenhausen (built 1936) north of Berlin, Buchenwald (1937) near Weimar, Neuengamme (1938) near Hamburg, Flossenbürg (1938), Mauthausen (1938), and Ravensbrück (1939). </p><p>After President Hindenburg died in 1934, Hitler had no more checks on his power. While the man was on his deathbed, Hitler forced the Reichstag to implement a law dissolving the office of the presidency after his death and merging it with the office of the chancellor.<sup id="cite_ref-188" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-188">[188]</a></sup> He immediately granted himself the title <i>Führer und Reichskanzler</i> but subsequently amended it to <i>Führer</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-189" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-189">[189]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Nazification">Nazification</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=45" title="Edit section: Nazification">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:1933-may-10-berlin-book-burning.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/1933-may-10-berlin-book-burning.JPG/250px-1933-may-10-berlin-book-burning.JPG" decoding="async" width="250" height="199" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/1933-may-10-berlin-book-burning.JPG/500px-1933-may-10-berlin-book-burning.JPG 1.5x" data-file-width="1507" data-file-height="1200" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:1933-may-10-berlin-book-burning.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Nazi book burning in Berlin.</div></div></div> <p>With his absolute power, Hitler completely transformed Germany into his own little playground. This was a program called <i><a href="/wiki/Gleichschaltung" class="mw-redirect" title="Gleichschaltung">Gleichschaltung</a></i>, or "standardization", which sought to eliminate all independent institutions in Germany, whether political or otherwise.<sup id="cite_ref-gl_190-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gl-190">[190]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2005-0157,_Geheimer_Funkmeldedienst_des_OKW.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2005-0157%2C_Geheimer_Funkmeldedienst_des_OKW.jpg/250px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2005-0157%2C_Geheimer_Funkmeldedienst_des_OKW.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="241" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2005-0157%2C_Geheimer_Funkmeldedienst_des_OKW.jpg/500px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2005-0157%2C_Geheimer_Funkmeldedienst_des_OKW.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="797" data-file-height="767" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-2005-0157,_Geheimer_Funkmeldedienst_des_OKW.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>A portrait of Hitler looms over a workstation.</div></div></div> <p>First, the Nazis declared themselves the only legal political party in Germany.<sup id="cite_ref-191" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-191">[191]</a></sup> German civil servants were carefully screened for loyalty to Hitler, first with a 1933 law stipulating that officials "who were of non-<a href="/wiki/Aryan" title="Aryan">Aryan</a> descent" should be removed, then with other laws removing communists and later anyone the Nazi authorities didn't like.<sup id="cite_ref-gl_190-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gl-190">[190]</a></sup> Judges were removed from the bench for racial and political reasons, and those who remained were ordered to join the Nazi Party.<sup id="cite_ref-gl_190-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gl-190">[190]</a></sup> Hitler got around the German Supreme Court by having the Reichstag pass a law to remove much of its jurisdiction and establish a "People's Court" comprising Nazi Party officials. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:287px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft_-_Bibliothek_1933.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft_-_Bibliothek_1933.jpg/285px-Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft_-_Bibliothek_1933.jpg" decoding="async" width="285" height="207" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft_-_Bibliothek_1933.jpg/428px-Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft_-_Bibliothek_1933.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft_-_Bibliothek_1933.jpg/570px-Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft_-_Bibliothek_1933.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1651" data-file-height="1200" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft_-_Bibliothek_1933.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Nazis plunder the library of the <i>Institut für Sexualwissenschaft</i>.</div></div></div> <p>The Nazis then established the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda under the leadership of <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels" title="Joseph Goebbels">Joseph Goebbels</a>. This government ministry had complete control over magazines, newspapers, films, books, radio, television, public meetings, and even the arts.<sup id="cite_ref-192" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-192">[192]</a></sup> As part of their propaganda effort, the Nazis ensured that their citizens would have no other source of information and would always be exposed to the Nazi Party's <a href="/wiki/Prejudice" class="mw-redirect" title="Prejudice">prejudices</a> and ideals. As British historian Richard Evans, author of <i>The Third Reich in Power</i>, explains,<sup id="cite_ref-193" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-193">[193]</a></sup> </p><p>Part of this program was the infamous spree of Nazi <a href="/wiki/Book_burning" title="Book burning">book burnings</a>, which sought to destroy works written by Jews, liberals, antiwar activists, socialists, communists, you name them. Among the causes most harmed by this was <a href="/wiki/Equal_rights" class="mw-redirect" title="Equal rights">equal rights</a> for LGBT people. Nazis destroyed the entire works of the <i>Institut für Sexualwissenschaft</i>, which had produced a great volume of work arguing for equal rights, gay acceptance, and understanding of transgenderism.<sup id="cite_ref-194" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-194">[194]</a></sup> </p><p>The Nazis introduced several compulsory Nazi Party organizations for the entire German youth to replace what they destroyed. Once reaching the age of 10, would join the <i>Deutsches Jungvolk</i> to be indoctrinated in Nazi ideology until the age of 14, at which point they would join the Hitler Youth (<i>Hitlerjugend</i>) until reaching adulthood.<sup id="cite_ref-195" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-195">[195]</a></sup> Girls joined the <i>Jungmädelbund</i> as young children before moving on to the League of German Girls later, learning skills and doing activities the Nazis considered essential for women, such as household chores, physical exercise, and the importance of avoiding "racial defilement".<sup id="cite_ref-196" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-196">[196]</a></sup> </p><p>To shore up loyalty to Hitler, the Nazi Party built a <a href="/wiki/Personality_cult" title="Personality cult">personality cult</a> around him. Nazi propaganda effectively cast Hitler as a soldier at the ready, a father figure, and a messianic leader to redeem Germany from the interwar era's miseries. Hitler portrayed himself as the infallible embodiment of the German nation, and the Nazi Party assisted in this by mass-producing Hitler memorabilia like paintings, posters, busts, and millions of copies of Hitler's shitty <i>Mein Kampf</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-culti_197-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-culti-197">[197]</a></sup> The German people were also legally required to greet each other with "Heil Hitler!" to the point that it became known as the "German greeting".<sup id="cite_ref-culti_197-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-culti-197">[197]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-198" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-198">[198]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Rearmament_and_expansionism">Rearmament and expansionism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=46" title="Edit section: Rearmament and expansionism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:287px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-774-0011-34,_Produktion_von_Flugzeug_Heinkel_He_111_P-4.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-774-0011-34%2C_Produktion_von_Flugzeug_Heinkel_He_111_P-4.jpg/330px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-774-0011-34%2C_Produktion_von_Flugzeug_Heinkel_He_111_P-4.jpg" decoding="async" width="285" height="184" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-774-0011-34%2C_Produktion_von_Flugzeug_Heinkel_He_111_P-4.jpg/500px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-774-0011-34%2C_Produktion_von_Flugzeug_Heinkel_He_111_P-4.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-774-0011-34%2C_Produktion_von_Flugzeug_Heinkel_He_111_P-4.jpg/570px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-774-0011-34%2C_Produktion_von_Flugzeug_Heinkel_He_111_P-4.jpg 2x" data-file-width="792" data-file-height="510" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-774-0011-34,_Produktion_von_Flugzeug_Heinkel_He_111_P-4.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Production of the Heinkel He 111 medium bomber. During its design, German authorities pretended that it was a civilian aircraft to avoid Treaty of Versailles restrictions.<sup id="cite_ref-199" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-199">[199]</a></sup></div></div></div> <p>By the mid-1930s, Hitler had set Germany back on the path toward war, having reversed much of the short-lived progress made under the Weimar Republic. In 1933, Hitler announced to German military leaders the "conquest for <i>Lebensraum</i> in the East and its ruthless Germanisation" as his ultimate foreign policy objective.<sup id="cite_ref-200" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-200">[200]</a></sup> Hitler also chose to prioritize military spending over <a href="/wiki/Welfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Welfare">welfare</a> and unemployment relief.<sup id="cite_ref-201" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-201">[201]</a></sup> </p><p>Germany's quest to regain its status as a military power proceeded rapidly. In 1935, Hitler took back the Saarland, and just a year later, he moved his armies into the Rhineland and ended its demilitarized status. Although the international community protested, most people reasoned that Germany was only recovering sovereignty over its territory.<sup id="cite_ref-rearm_202-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-rearm-202">[202]</a></sup> Hitler then sent weapons and soldiers to fight in the <a href="/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War" title="Spanish Civil War">Spanish Civil War</a>, using the conflict as a giant proving ground for Germany's latest weaponry. During this time, he directed Hermann Göring to devise and execute a "Four Year Plan" to refocus Germany's economic potential towards industries useful for war production, like <a href="/wiki/Aluminum" title="Aluminum">aluminum</a> plants, synthetic <a href="/wiki/Oil" title="Oil">oil</a> refineries, and chemical plants.<sup id="cite_ref-203" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-203">[203]</a></sup> Hitler's government managed to hide these efforts by funding them through a deferred payment scheme using promissory notes called "Mefo bills".<sup id="cite_ref-204" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-204">[204]</a></sup> Economic efforts were also funded with property and capital confiscated from Jews.<sup id="cite_ref-205" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-205">[205]</a></sup> Germany also saw great improvements in its infrastructure, especially the autobahn system. All was not well, though. Although unemployment had fallen dramatically, the average cost of living rose by 25%, and wages were stagnant.<sup id="cite_ref-206" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-206">[206]</a></sup> The average German workweek also rose to 50 hours a week. </p><p>Internationally, Hitler eventually felt emboldened to pursue a dangerously aggressive foreign policy. In 1936, he forged an alliance with the fascist dictator <a href="/wiki/Benito_Mussolini" title="Benito Mussolini">Benito Mussolini</a> of <a href="/wiki/Italy" title="Italy">Italy</a> and reached out to the Empire of <a href="/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-207" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-207">[207]</a></sup> In 1938, German armies marched into Austria, annexing it to much Austrian joy.<sup id="cite_ref-208" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-208">[208]</a></sup> Hitler then threatened war over the issue of claiming German-majority regions in <a href="/wiki/Czechoslovakia" class="mw-redirect" title="Czechoslovakia">Czechoslovakia</a>, managing to get Britain and France to cave on the issue in the Munich Conference.<sup id="cite_ref-209" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-209">[209]</a></sup> He violated the agreement less than six months later and sent troops to occupy the rest of Czechoslovak territory.<sup id="cite_ref-210" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-210">[210]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Persecution_of_Jews">Persecution of Jews</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=47" title="Edit section: Persecution of Jews">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Le_M%C3%A9morial_aux_juifs_assassin%C3%A9s_dEurope_(Berlin)_(2704805986).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Le_M%C3%A9morial_aux_juifs_assassin%C3%A9s_dEurope_%28Berlin%29_%282704805986%29.jpg/250px-Le_M%C3%A9morial_aux_juifs_assassin%C3%A9s_dEurope_%28Berlin%29_%282704805986%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="179" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Le_M%C3%A9morial_aux_juifs_assassin%C3%A9s_dEurope_%28Berlin%29_%282704805986%29.jpg/500px-Le_M%C3%A9morial_aux_juifs_assassin%C3%A9s_dEurope_%28Berlin%29_%282704805986%29.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="839" data-file-height="600" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Le_M%C3%A9morial_aux_juifs_assassin%C3%A9s_dEurope_(Berlin)_(2704805986).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>A smashed storefront in Berlin after <i>Kristallnacht</i>.</div></div></div> <p>Nazi Germany also infamously began brutalizing its Jewish population even before the outbreak of the inevitable war. In September of 1935, the Reichstag passed the first anti-Jewish legislation, which would later be termed the "Nuremberg Laws" because they were announced during the Nazi Party's annual rally in Nuremberg. The first round of legislation banned marriage and <a href="/wiki/Sex" title="Sex">sex</a> between Jews and ethnic Germans.<sup id="cite_ref-nli_211-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nli-211">[211]</a></sup> Jews also had to wear insignia distinguishing themselves as Jews. Finally, Jews were stripped of their citizenship and reclassified as state subjects with no political rights.<sup id="cite_ref-nli_211-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nli-211">[211]</a></sup> In November, a subsequent amendment clarified who was considered a Jew with the infamous clause, "A Jew is an individual who is descended from at least three grandparents who were, racially, full Jews."<sup id="cite_ref-nli_211-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nli-211">[211]</a></sup> November also saw the Reichstag expand the laws to include <a href="/wiki/Romani" class="mw-redirect" title="Romani">Romani</a> and black people.<sup id="cite_ref-nlii_212-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-nlii-212">[212]</a></sup> </p><p>In 1937, the Nazis started requiring Jews to register all of their property with the government, thus making it available for arbitrary confiscation by the authorities. Once confiscated, these businesses would be "Aryanized" with the expulsion of Jewish owners and employees and the subsequent takeover by ethnic Germans. In late 1938, German authorities encouraged a massive <a href="/wiki/Pogrom" title="Pogrom">pogrom</a> against the country's Jewish population. Rioters attacked Jewish businesses, synagogues, schools, and even hospitals.<sup id="cite_ref-knt_213-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-knt-213">[213]</a></sup> About 30,000 Jews were then arrested and carted off to concentration camps. Firefighters and emergency services were ordered not to intervene even in the many cases in which synagogues and other Jewish buildings burned.<sup id="cite_ref-214" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-214">[214]</a></sup> This massive pogrom became known as <i>Kristallnacht</i> after the broken glass from the windows of synagogues, homes, and Jewish-owned businesses plundered and destroyed during the violence. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="War_without_honor_or_humanity">War without honor or humanity</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=48" title="Edit section: War without honor or humanity">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:The_Bochnia_massacre_German-occupied_Poland_1939.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/The_Bochnia_massacre_German-occupied_Poland_1939.jpg/300px-The_Bochnia_massacre_German-occupied_Poland_1939.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="208" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/The_Bochnia_massacre_German-occupied_Poland_1939.jpg/450px-The_Bochnia_massacre_German-occupied_Poland_1939.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/The_Bochnia_massacre_German-occupied_Poland_1939.jpg/600px-The_Bochnia_massacre_German-occupied_Poland_1939.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1536" data-file-height="1065" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:The_Bochnia_massacre_German-occupied_Poland_1939.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>German soldiers execute Polish civilians during the invasion.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main articles on this topic: <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a> and <a href="/wiki/Holocaust" title="Holocaust">Holocaust</a></div> <p>In September 1939, Hitler declared war on <a href="/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a>, citing a bogus border incident.<sup id="cite_ref-215" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-215">[215]</a></sup> Britain and France had finally had enough of Hitler's bullshit and stood up to him. Unfortunately, they did little to interfere with Hitler's invasion of Poland, allowing the German Wehrmacht to commit horrific atrocities. German atrocities in Poland began very quickly, and they had been explicitly ordered by Hitler in his August Obersalzberg Speech.<sup id="cite_ref-216" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-216">[216]</a></sup> Hitler, during that speech, explained to his military brass that the goal of the war in Poland was not just conquest but outright <a href="/wiki/Genocide" title="Genocide">extermination</a>. The Nazi takeover and occupation of Poland featured indiscriminate <a href="/wiki/Extrajudicial_execution" class="mw-redirect" title="Extrajudicial execution">extrajudicial executions</a>, bombing raids on civilian areas, deportations, concentration camps, sending people into slave labor, and <a href="/wiki/Ethnic_cleansing" title="Ethnic cleansing">ethnic cleansing</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-217" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-217">[217]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:177px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Polish_victim_of_German_Luftwaffe_action_1939.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Polish_victim_of_German_Luftwaffe_action_1939.jpg/175px-Polish_victim_of_German_Luftwaffe_action_1939.jpg" decoding="async" width="175" height="262" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Polish_victim_of_German_Luftwaffe_action_1939.jpg/263px-Polish_victim_of_German_Luftwaffe_action_1939.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Polish_victim_of_German_Luftwaffe_action_1939.jpg/350px-Polish_victim_of_German_Luftwaffe_action_1939.jpg 2x" data-file-width="627" data-file-height="939" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Polish_victim_of_German_Luftwaffe_action_1939.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>A Polish girl cries over the body of her murdered sister.</div></div></div> <p>Nazi Germany then turned to the west, doing the classic move of invading <a href="/wiki/Belgium" title="Belgium">Belgium</a> (and the <a href="/wiki/Netherlands" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a>) to reach Paris quicker. The Luftwaffe mercilessly bombed the Dutch city of Rotterdam flat<sup id="cite_ref-218" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-218">[218]</a></sup> and used their occupation forces to send Jews into concentration camps.<sup id="cite_ref-219" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-219">[219]</a></sup> The Nazis also had no compunctions about committing atrocities against the British and French, even though they considered them fellow Aryans. The Le Paradis massacre saw the SS murder 97 surrendered British soldiers,<sup id="cite_ref-220" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-220">[220]</a></sup> and the Wormhoudt massacre saw SS soldiers murder 80 British and French POWs.<sup id="cite_ref-221" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-221">[221]</a></sup> After France fell to the onslaught, the Nazis set up <a href="/wiki/Vichy_France" title="Vichy France">Vichy France</a> as a puppet government and used it to deport tens of thousands of Jews to concentration camps, resulting in the deaths of 77,000 people.<sup id="cite_ref-222" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-222">[222]</a></sup> During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe launched mass air attacks against British cities, resulting in perhaps 40,000 civilian deaths.<sup id="cite_ref-223" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-223">[223]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:German_officer_executes_Jewish_women_who_survived_a_mass_shooting_outside_the_Mizocz_ghetto,_14_October_1942.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/German_officer_executes_Jewish_women_who_survived_a_mass_shooting_outside_the_Mizocz_ghetto%2C_14_October_1942.jpg/250px-German_officer_executes_Jewish_women_who_survived_a_mass_shooting_outside_the_Mizocz_ghetto%2C_14_October_1942.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="159" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/German_officer_executes_Jewish_women_who_survived_a_mass_shooting_outside_the_Mizocz_ghetto%2C_14_October_1942.jpg/500px-German_officer_executes_Jewish_women_who_survived_a_mass_shooting_outside_the_Mizocz_ghetto%2C_14_October_1942.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="1800" data-file-height="1145" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:German_officer_executes_Jewish_women_who_survived_a_mass_shooting_outside_the_Mizocz_ghetto,_14_October_1942.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><i>Einsatzgruppen</i> massacre naked women and children forced to lie face-down on the ground.</div></div></div> <p>Hitler then invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 per his <i>Generalplan Ost</i>, which called for exterminating hundreds of millions of Slavic Europeans and colonizing all of eastern Europe with Germans.<sup id="cite_ref-224" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-224">[224]</a></sup> Since the Germans planned to commit genocide on the Slavic ethnicities, they had no problem committing various hideous war crimes. Hitler issued the Barbarossa Decree, explaining that the war against the Soviet Union would be a war of extermination, calling for the murder of all Russian leaders and legalizing all war crimes committed by German soldiers.<sup id="cite_ref-barbd_225-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-barbd-225">[225]</a></sup> German soldiers were ordered to deliberately mistreat women and children to ensure they didn't see the enemy as human.<sup id="cite_ref-barbd_225-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-barbd-225">[225]</a></sup> Rape, murders, and beatings were thus commonplace. There were also incidents like the Khatyn massacre, where German soldiers destroyed entire villages.<sup id="cite_ref-226" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-226">[226]</a></sup> The Germans abducted millions of people from occupied Poland and the Soviet Union to serve as slaves for German industry.<sup id="cite_ref-227" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-227">[227]</a></sup> Despite their claims of upholding racial purity, the Nazis still went ahead and created camps for their soldiers to visit enslaved Slavic women to rape.<sup id="cite_ref-228" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-228">[228]</a></sup> So many pregnancies occurred due to rape that Germany had to make "birthing centers" to dispose of the unwanted children, in which about 90% of the handled infants died due to neglect.<sup id="cite_ref-229" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-229">[229]</a></sup> </p><p>Worst of all, Germany set about implementing the so-called Final Solution, in which it would exterminate all of Europe's undesirable populations, especially the Jews. As German troops advanced into the Soviet Union, specialized murder squads called the <i>Einsatzgruppen</i> followed the frontline troops to find and kill Jews and communists by the hundreds of thousands.<sup id="cite_ref-230" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-230">[230]</a></sup> Beginning in late 1941, the Nazi government established "killing centers" across occupied Eastern Europe, based on the facilities the Nazis had previously built at home for <a href="/wiki/Aktion_T4" title="Aktion T4">Aktion T4</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-holocaust_231-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-holocaust-231">[231]</a></sup> Initially, some of these killing centers used trucks that had been refitted to gas the people inside with their exhaust fumes.<sup id="cite_ref-232" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-232">[232]</a></sup> However, the infamous gas chambers were soon introduced as a more efficient alternative.<sup id="cite_ref-233" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-233">[233]</a></sup> </p><p>The Nazis built many death camps designed solely to murder their inmates. Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka came first in occupied Poland, being built early in 1942 and having murdered collectively about 1.5 million people by the end of 1943.<sup id="cite_ref-holocaust_231-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-holocaust-231">[231]</a></sup> These camps usually used exhaust to gas people in the chambers. Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland was the largest of all the death camps, with four gas chambers using Zyklon B.<sup id="cite_ref-holocaust_231-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-holocaust-231">[231]</a></sup> This camp brought about the deaths of more than a million people by itself. To keep these camps secret, the Nazis used <i>Sonderkommandos</i> to process the corpses. These unfortunate souls were also death camp inmates, and with few exceptions, they were eventually murdered themselves to prevent them from talking.<sup id="cite_ref-234" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-234">[234]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span id="Having_fucked_around,_Germany_finds_out"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Having_fucked_around.2C_Germany_finds_out">Having fucked around, Germany finds out</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=49" title="Edit section: Having fucked around, Germany finds out">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Koeln_1945.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Koeln_1945.jpg/300px-Koeln_1945.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="215" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Koeln_1945.jpg/450px-Koeln_1945.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Koeln_1945.jpg/600px-Koeln_1945.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2919" data-file-height="2092" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Koeln_1945.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Ruins of Cologne after Allied bombing.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Hitler was the driving force behind the war. It was Hitler that provided its ideological basis and its strategic direction; his generals merely went along, however willingly. Hitler also had a hand in nearly all the major operational decisions concerning Germany's running of the war, and his was the leadership that took Germany and Europe into the greatest catastrophe of modern times.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Geoffrey P. Megargee, American WWII historian.<sup id="cite_ref-hleader_235-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hleader-235">[235]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>It ended up not being such a good idea to declare war on three continent-spanning empires while scrounging resources from within your own borders. By 1944, Germany had effectively lost the war, being broadly pushed back along the Eastern Front by a very pissed-off Soviet bear. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Hitler_with_child_soldiers.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/4/40/Hitler_with_child_soldiers.png/250px-Hitler_with_child_soldiers.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="177" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/4/40/Hitler_with_child_soldiers.png/375px-Hitler_with_child_soldiers.png 1.5x, /w/images/4/40/Hitler_with_child_soldiers.png 2x" data-file-width="413" data-file-height="292" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Hitler_with_child_soldiers.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Hitler's child soldiers, whom he hid behind in his bunker.</div></div></div> <p>Although the war was lost, Hitler wasn't about to go out without ordering just a few more heinous atrocities and war crimes. After D-Day, the Western Allies had to face Germany on an open battlefield, and the Germans retaliated with their typical inhumanity. Examples include the Malmedy massacre, when Waffen-SS troops shot down 84 American POWs with machine guns,<sup id="cite_ref-236" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-236">[236]</a></sup> or the Ardenne Abbey massacre when Hitler Youth child soldiers murdered 20 POWs from <a href="/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-237" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-237">[237]</a></sup> Nazi wrath was also intensified against occupied France. Shortly after D-Day, SS troops destroyed the village of Tulle, killing 117 people and sending 149 others to Dachau, where 101 did not survive.<sup id="cite_ref-238" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-238">[238]</a></sup> The SS did it again a few days later to the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, killing 642 French civilians.<sup id="cite_ref-239" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-239">[239]</a></sup> Nazi occupation of northern Italy also came with a heavy civilian toll; they killed tens of thousands of innocent people native to their one-time ally.<sup id="cite_ref-240" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-240">[240]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:2._GTA_Porta_di_Brandenburgo.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/2._GTA_Porta_di_Brandenburgo.jpg/250px-2._GTA_Porta_di_Brandenburgo.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="167" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/2._GTA_Porta_di_Brandenburgo.jpg/375px-2._GTA_Porta_di_Brandenburgo.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/2._GTA_Porta_di_Brandenburgo.jpg/500px-2._GTA_Porta_di_Brandenburgo.jpg 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:2._GTA_Porta_di_Brandenburgo.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Soviet tanks in a ruined Berlin.</div></div></div> <p>German desperation in the war's latter stages led to crimes against their own people. The Nazi government started using child soldiers to defend itself, largely drawn from the ranks of the Hitler Youth. Those young boys were not spared from summary execution as punishment for desertion or disobedience.<sup id="cite_ref-cps_241-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cps-241">[241]</a></sup> The more fanatical child soldiers went with Hitler into the grave. One of Hitler's last acts, occurring the day before he killed himself, was to decorate the Hitler Youth members defending his bunker, some as young as 11 or 12.<sup id="cite_ref-cps_241-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cps-241">[241]</a></sup> </p><p>Meanwhile, the Allies pounded Germany, hoping to drive it into submission. Strategic bombing by the Allies, targeted at cities with large industrial war production, ended up killing some 410,000 German civilians.<sup id="cite_ref-242" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-242">[242]</a></sup> Unfortunately, even in the war's closing months, Germany's armies continued to inflict heavy losses on the Allies, and their own strategic bombing efforts still killed many thousands in the UK and France.<sup id="cite_ref-243" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-243">[243]</a></sup> </p><p>The war ultimately became an apocalyptic battle within Berlin, with the German government refusing to surrender to spare their people further suffering. The massive battle left Germany's capital in ruins, while Soviet soldiers committed endless atrocities upon the German people in retaliation for the suffering their own people had gone through.<sup id="cite_ref-244" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-244">[244]</a></sup> The battle ended with Hitler dead by cowardly <a href="/wiki/Suicide" title="Suicide">suicide</a> and the Nazi government capitulating. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Cold_War_division">Cold War division</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=50" title="Edit section: Cold War division">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Cold_War" title="Cold War">Cold War</a></div> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:German_woman_reacts_to_exhumed_victims_of_a_death_march_in_Nammering.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/German_woman_reacts_to_exhumed_victims_of_a_death_march_in_Nammering.jpg/300px-German_woman_reacts_to_exhumed_victims_of_a_death_march_in_Nammering.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="233" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/German_woman_reacts_to_exhumed_victims_of_a_death_march_in_Nammering.jpg/450px-German_woman_reacts_to_exhumed_victims_of_a_death_march_in_Nammering.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/German_woman_reacts_to_exhumed_victims_of_a_death_march_in_Nammering.jpg/600px-German_woman_reacts_to_exhumed_victims_of_a_death_march_in_Nammering.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1403" data-file-height="1091" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:German_woman_reacts_to_exhumed_victims_of_a_death_march_in_Nammering.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>A German girl sees corpses of death march victims.</div></div></div> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Occupation_and_de-Nazification">Occupation and de-Nazification</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=51" title="Edit section: Occupation and de-Nazification">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>German civilians, 1200 of them, were brought from the neighbouring city of Weimar today to see for themselves the horror, brutality and human indecency perpetrated against the 'neighbours' at the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp. They saw sights that brought tears to their eyes and scores of them, including German nurses, just fainted away... Those who didn't weep were ashamed. They said they didn't know about it, and maybe they didn't, because the camp was restricted to army personnel. But there it was right at their back doors for eight years...</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<i><a href="/wiki/New_York_Times" class="mw-redirect" title="New York Times">New York Times</a></i> report, 18 April, 1945.<sup id="cite_ref-245" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-245">[245]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Germans refer to the immediate aftermath of the war as the <i>Stunde Null</i> (Zero Hour), the period during which Germany ceased to exist.<sup id="cite_ref-246" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-246">[246]</a></sup> Germany had been dragged into oblivion by the Nazi regime; its cities were rubble, and millions of refugees streamed in from the east. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Swastika_blasted_from_the_Nazi_party_rally_grounds_-_Nuremberg_(1945).gif" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Swastika_blasted_from_the_Nazi_party_rally_grounds_-_Nuremberg_%281945%29.gif" decoding="async" width="200" height="149" class="thumbimage" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="149" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Swastika_blasted_from_the_Nazi_party_rally_grounds_-_Nuremberg_(1945).gif" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>A satisfying gif.</div></div></div> <p>With the German government effectively gone, the allies split Germany into four occupation zones and similarly split Berlin. The zones were governed by the Allied Control Council (ACC), consisting of the four supreme commanders of the Allied Forces. Its decisions had to be unanimous, or else nothing could happen. For instance, France vetoed the plan to create a central German-governed administration for the country, which made the country's division between east and west much easier.<sup id="cite_ref-247" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-247">[247]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:227px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Map-Germany-1945.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Map-Germany-1945.svg/250px-Map-Germany-1945.svg.png" decoding="async" width="225" height="191" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Map-Germany-1945.svg/500px-Map-Germany-1945.svg.png 1.5x" data-file-width="3492" data-file-height="2966" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Map-Germany-1945.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Allied occupation zones.</div></div></div> <p>While all Allied powers agreed that Germany had to be rid of its Nazi ideology, implementing "de-Nazification" was inconsistent at best. France and the Soviet Union focused on exploiting its occupation zones for resources and reparations, while the US took the effort seriously but struggled to distinguish between who was to blame and who was merely dragged along.<sup id="cite_ref-248" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-248">[248]</a></sup> A major part of the effort was the Nuremberg Trials, a series of Allied military tribunals that put German leaders on trial for their myriad war crimes.<sup id="cite_ref-ntrials_249-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ntrials-249">[249]</a></sup> The proceedings and <a href="/wiki/Evidence" title="Evidence">evidence</a> were widely publicized in Germany and abroad. Another prong of the effort saw British and American commanders force German civilians to tour the concentration camps and see for themselves the victims of German inhumanity. </p><p>Sadly, the onset of the Cold War distracted the Allies from the necessary process of destroying Nazism, meaning that the efforts made by all parties were largely over by 1948.<sup id="cite_ref-ntrials_249-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ntrials-249">[249]</a></sup> As a result, numerous Nazi criminals were able to escape justice. </p><p>While this happened, the US and the UK decided it would be more cost-effective if Germany could sustain itself. They merged their German territories into the "Bizone" and then invested in it to rebuild infrastructure.<sup id="cite_ref-bizone_250-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bizone-250">[250]</a></sup> Although France didn't want to see a revitalized Germany, they eventually joined their occupation zone, creating the "Trizone" in 1949. Trizone Germany benefited significantly from US Marshall Plan aid, which sent over $12 billion (equivalent to $130 billion in 2019) in economic recovery assistance to Western Europe.<sup id="cite_ref-251" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-251">[251]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="West_Germany">West Germany</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=52" title="Edit section: West Germany">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bonn-Bundesviertel,_Luftaufnahme_2010.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Bonn-Bundesviertel%2C_Luftaufnahme_2010.jpg/250px-Bonn-Bundesviertel%2C_Luftaufnahme_2010.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="188" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Bonn-Bundesviertel%2C_Luftaufnahme_2010.jpg/375px-Bonn-Bundesviertel%2C_Luftaufnahme_2010.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Bonn-Bundesviertel%2C_Luftaufnahme_2010.jpg/500px-Bonn-Bundesviertel%2C_Luftaufnahme_2010.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3648" data-file-height="2736" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bonn-Bundesviertel,_Luftaufnahme_2010.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Federal government complex in Bonn.</div></div></div> <p>Angered by the increasing and unilateral integration of the Western Allies' portions of Germany, the Soviets attempted to blockade Berlin.<sup id="cite_ref-252" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-252">[252]</a></sup> Rather than halting political unity in West Germany, the blockade accelerated it. All three western powers consented to a series of conventions that drafted a constitution and created the Federal Republic of Germany in the spring of 1949.<sup id="cite_ref-253" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-253">[253]</a></sup> Its capital was in the city of Bonn, in the Rhineland. The relatively minor city of Bonn was chosen instead of one of West Germany's largest cities (Hamburg, Munich or Cologne) precisely because its previous lack of importance made it clear this was meant to be only a temporary capital; it was assumed at the time that reunification of Germany would happen relatively soon and Berlin would again become the capital. </p><p>The Federal Republic, or "West Germany", was designed specifically to avoid the pitfalls of the old Weimar Republic. The powers of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, and the federal chancellor were enhanced considerably at the expense of the federal president, who was reduced to a figurehead.<sup id="cite_ref-bonnrep_254-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bonnrep-254">[254]</a></sup> Germany also got a Federal Constitutional Court, which had the power to ban any political party aiming to obstruct or abolish the system of democracy.<sup id="cite_ref-bonnrep_254-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bonnrep-254">[254]</a></sup> Again, this provision was inspired by the many anti-democratic political parties active in the Weimar era. In 1952, the Socialist Reich Party, a direct successor to the Nazi Party, became the first German political party to be banned under the new laws.<sup id="cite_ref-255" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-255">[255]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="East_Germany">East Germany</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=53" title="Edit section: East Germany">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_East_Germany.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Flag_of_East_Germany.svg/200px-Flag_of_East_Germany.svg.png" decoding="async" width="200" height="120" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Flag_of_East_Germany.svg/300px-Flag_of_East_Germany.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Flag_of_East_Germany.svg/400px-Flag_of_East_Germany.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_East_Germany.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Flag of East Germany.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/East_Germany" title="East Germany">East Germany</a></div> <p>In response to the West German state, the Soviets held sham elections in their occupation zone. Voters used non-secret ballots and could only choose among various communist-controlled parties.<sup id="cite_ref-256" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-256">[256]</a></sup> Within the Soviet zone, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was the dominant political force, naturally governing along Marxist-Leninist principles.<sup id="cite_ref-257" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-257">[257]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Berlin,_Palast_der_Republik_--_um_1990_--_2.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Berlin%2C_Palast_der_Republik_--_um_1990_--_2.jpg/200px-Berlin%2C_Palast_der_Republik_--_um_1990_--_2.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="132" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Berlin%2C_Palast_der_Republik_--_um_1990_--_2.jpg/300px-Berlin%2C_Palast_der_Republik_--_um_1990_--_2.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Berlin%2C_Palast_der_Republik_--_um_1990_--_2.jpg/400px-Berlin%2C_Palast_der_Republik_--_um_1990_--_2.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4980" data-file-height="3283" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Berlin,_Palast_der_Republik_--_um_1990_--_2.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Seat of the Volkskammer in Berlin.</div></div></div> <p>The SED, with Soviet consent, created the German Democratic Republic, or "East Germany". Its parliament, the Volkskammer (People's Chamber), was an empty shell meant only for mock debates and grand speechifying.<sup id="cite_ref-gdr_258-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gdr-258">[258]</a></sup> In reality, all policy matters were decided by the Politburo of the SED, a body organized to mirror the Politburo of the Soviet Union.<sup id="cite_ref-gdr_258-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-gdr-258">[258]</a></sup> </p><p>East Germany became a model dictatorship in the <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Bloc" title="Eastern Bloc">Eastern Bloc</a>. Its rule was enforced by a <a href="/wiki/Secret_police" title="Secret police">secret police</a> organization called the Ministry for State Security, or the "Stasi." The Stasi turned East Germany into an enormous surveillance state through a web of informants, a web so huge that it's estimated that there was one informant for every 6 citizens.<sup id="cite_ref-stasip_259-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stasip-259">[259]</a></sup> They were so stupidly <a href="/wiki/Paranoid" class="mw-redirect" title="Paranoid">paranoid</a> that they sent agents to investigate things like footballs kicked over fences or trash tossed on the street.<sup id="cite_ref-stasip_259-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stasip-259">[259]</a></sup> The Stasi also created the <i>Zersetzung</i>, a method of psychological warfare that involved intentionally damaging the mental health of suspected dissidents through harassment and gaslighting.<sup id="cite_ref-260" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-260">[260]</a></sup> Failing that, there was always the Hohenschönhausen, a sophisticated <a href="/wiki/Torture" title="Torture">torture</a> facility and state prison.<sup id="cite_ref-261" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-261">[261]</a></sup> </p><p>Soviet forces remained in East Germany throughout the Cold War. Russian language and Marxist-Leninist thought were mandatory in East German schools.<sup id="cite_ref-262" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-262">[262]</a></sup> Emigration to the West became a significant problem, as Germans surprisingly didn't want to stick around inside a country that watched their every move and didn't let them participate in government. Who woulda guessed? </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Berlin_Wall">The Berlin Wall</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=54" title="Edit section: The Berlin Wall">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:317px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Berlin_Wall_Potsdamer_Platz_November_1975_looking_east.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Berlin_Wall_Potsdamer_Platz_November_1975_looking_east.jpg/315px-Berlin_Wall_Potsdamer_Platz_November_1975_looking_east.jpg" decoding="async" width="315" height="184" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Berlin_Wall_Potsdamer_Platz_November_1975_looking_east.jpg/473px-Berlin_Wall_Potsdamer_Platz_November_1975_looking_east.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Berlin_Wall_Potsdamer_Platz_November_1975_looking_east.jpg/630px-Berlin_Wall_Potsdamer_Platz_November_1975_looking_east.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3024" data-file-height="1766" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Berlin_Wall_Potsdamer_Platz_November_1975_looking_east.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>East Germany: A society so glorious they had to turn their whole country into a prison to force people to stay.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Berlin_Wall" title="Berlin Wall">Berlin Wall</a></div> <p>In response to the massive human exodus out of East Germany (around 2.7 million people left the GDR and East Berlin between 1949 and 1961<sup id="cite_ref-bwalli_263-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bwalli-263">[263]</a></sup>), East German leaders decided that the people needed to be forced to stay. In 1961, East Germany closed its border with West Germany and West Berlin. The GDR's Council of Ministers announced that "in order to put a stop to the hostile activity of West Germany’s and West Berlin’s revanchist and militaristic forces, border controls of the kind generally found in every sovereign state will be set up at the border of the German Democratic Republic, including the border to the western sectors of Greater Berlin."<sup id="cite_ref-bwalli_263-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bwalli-263">[263]</a></sup> This heralded the construction of the Berlin Wall, an infamous symbol of communist tyranny. </p><p>The interesting part was that the Soviet Union opposed the move, arguing that it would be too logistically difficult and make the Eastern Bloc look bad in front of the world.<sup id="cite_ref-264" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-264">[264]</a></sup> It took several years of constant East German bitching to convince the Soviets to greenlight the project. </p><p>The Berlin Wall sealed off West Berlin, that small part of the city that had been under the jurisdiction of the Western powers and had been handed off to West Germany. The wall repeatedly expanded in scope, eventually becoming a vast series of layered fortifications, kill towers, minefields, and electric fences.<sup id="cite_ref-265" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-265">[265]</a></sup> Border fortifications were not enough to deter would-be escapees, so the border guards had orders to kill anyone trying to cross illegally if they could not be prevented by other means.<sup id="cite_ref-266" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-266">[266]</a></sup> About 90 people were murdered in this way between 1961 and 1989. Including those who died by accident or committed <a href="/wiki/Suicide" title="Suicide">suicide</a> rather than return to communist tyranny, the number increases to 101.<sup id="cite_ref-267" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-267">[267]</a></sup> </p><p>While more famous, the Berlin wall wasn't the only fortification guarding the East German prison. There was also a less intense set of fortifications along the "inner German border", the border between East and West Germany that stretched for about 1,400 kilometers.<sup id="cite_ref-268" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-268">[268]</a></sup> </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="1968_cultural_revolution">1968 cultural revolution</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=55" title="Edit section: 1968 cultural revolution">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.0148_(17076461192).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.0148_%2817076461192%29.jpg/300px-Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.0148_%2817076461192%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="226" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.0148_%2817076461192%29.jpg/450px-Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.0148_%2817076461192%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.0148_%2817076461192%29.jpg/600px-Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.0148_%2817076461192%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="772" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.0148_(17076461192).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Student protester hauled away by West Berlin police.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>What the anti-<a href="/wiki/Authoritarian" class="mw-redirect" title="Authoritarian">authoritarian</a> revolution of the 1960s achieved has a lot of significance. Back then, the Nazis' authoritarian way of thinking was still strongly anchored in people's minds. The concept of total obedience was still prevalent. That has changed enormously. People today are far more critical; they're capable of thinking independently and there's more room for creativity. The population has widely adopted the concept of democratization of society.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Gretchen Dutschke, widow of the late protest leader Rudi Dutschke.<sup id="cite_ref-269" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-269">[269]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In same year that cultural and workers' protests shook France to the core, a similar movement took hold in (primarily West) Germany. The preceding decades had brought renewed prosperity to Germany, but many liberal and leftist students resented that the greatest share of that wealth was only for the rich.<sup id="cite_ref-stuproti_270-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stuproti-270">[270]</a></sup> It took off even further when students protested against a state visit from the Shah of <a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a>, sparking a violent police response that left a student killed.<sup id="cite_ref-shah_271-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-shah-271">[271]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Ostermarsch_1968_-_Kampagne_f%C3%BCr_Demokratie_und_Abr%C3%BCstung_(Kiel_21.482).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ostermarsch_1968_-_Kampagne_f%C3%BCr_Demokratie_und_Abr%C3%BCstung_%28Kiel_21.482%29.jpg/250px-Ostermarsch_1968_-_Kampagne_f%C3%BCr_Demokratie_und_Abr%C3%BCstung_%28Kiel_21.482%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="163" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ostermarsch_1968_-_Kampagne_f%C3%BCr_Demokratie_und_Abr%C3%BCstung_%28Kiel_21.482%29.jpg/375px-Ostermarsch_1968_-_Kampagne_f%C3%BCr_Demokratie_und_Abr%C3%BCstung_%28Kiel_21.482%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ostermarsch_1968_-_Kampagne_f%C3%BCr_Demokratie_und_Abr%C3%BCstung_%28Kiel_21.482%29.jpg/500px-Ostermarsch_1968_-_Kampagne_f%C3%BCr_Demokratie_und_Abr%C3%BCstung_%28Kiel_21.482%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="970" data-file-height="634" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Ostermarsch_1968_-_Kampagne_f%C3%BCr_Demokratie_und_Abr%C3%BCstung_(Kiel_21.482).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Marchers in Kiel.</div></div></div> <p>As in France, the movement took on a broader context in the growing tensions between the younger generations and the older. Young Germans had come of age and entered universities and were enraged to discover just how influential the old Nazi and militarist ways still were among much of the older generation.<sup id="cite_ref-stuprotdw_272-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-stuprotdw-272">[272]</a></sup> They were especially enraged that Kurt Georg Kiesinger was chancellor despite being a former member of the Nazi Party (albeit very inactive).<sup id="cite_ref-273" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-273">[273]</a></sup> Frustration towards him was beautifully expressed in 1968 when German woman and hunter of war criminals Beate Klarsfeld slapped Kiesinger in the face during a Christian Democratic Union party congress.<sup id="cite_ref-274" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-274">[274]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:227px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4252_(16466146463).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4252_%2816466146463%29.jpg/225px-Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4252_%2816466146463%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="170" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4252_%2816466146463%29.jpg/338px-Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4252_%2816466146463%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4252_%2816466146463%29.jpg/450px-Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4252_%2816466146463%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="775" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4252_(16466146463).jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Putting out the flames of unrest in West Berlin.</div></div></div> <p>One of the movement's leaders, the Marxist Rudi Dutschke, suffered an assassination attempt by a far-right bitch who had apparently been inspired by the successful killing of <a href="/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr." title="Martin Luther King Jr.">Martin Luther King Jr.</a><sup id="cite_ref-275" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-275">[275]</a></sup> Dutschke survived but suffered health effects from the bullet he took to the head for the rest of his shortened life. The protests intensified as students blamed the German media for inciting the attack. </p><p>West German police often responded violently, especially since former Nazis were often in uniform (of <i>course</i>), and they didn't hesitate to beat the shit out of protesters.<sup id="cite_ref-shah_271-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-shah-271">[271]</a></sup> While most students stayed peaceful, a radical splinter group that called itself the "Red Army Faction" committed acts of <a href="/wiki/Terrorism" title="Terrorism">terrorism</a>, including kidnapping and murdering a famous German businessman who they revealed had actually been an organizer of the Nazi Student Organization.<sup id="cite_ref-protconv_276-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-protconv-276">[276]</a></sup> </p><p>Despite the suppressed protests, they had a broad cultural impact on Germany. Students got more influence over university direction, women were given more educational opportunities, and the government committed to more <a href="/wiki/Education" title="Education">education</a> efforts.<sup id="cite_ref-protconv_276-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-protconv-276">[276]</a></sup> However, the real legacy was the harsh exposure of longstanding societal ills like income inequality, gender inequality, and Germany's struggle to come to terms with its past. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Reunification">Reunification</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=56" title="Edit section: Reunification">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg/250px-West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="188" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg/500px-West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="661" data-file-height="498" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:West_and_East_Germans_at_the_Brandenburg_Gate_in_1989.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>West and East Berliners meet at the Berlin Wall.</div></div></div> <p>Back in the Eastern Bloc, economic and cultural stagnation had taken a hard toll on all communist nations. Poland and <a href="/wiki/Hungary" title="Hungary">Hungary</a> fell first in 1989, with the Soviet Union refusing to intervene due to the overextension concerns of <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a>. During Hungary's transition from communism, its government dismantled its electric border fence with Austria. This punched a huge hole in the no-longer-Iron Curtain that East Germans immediately started to exploit.<sup id="cite_ref-277" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-277">[277]</a></sup> The border walls had only suppressed their desire to get the fuck out of commie land, not removed it. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1003-008,_Berlin,_Brandenburger_Tor,_Vereinigungsfeier,_Feuerwerk.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1003-008%2C_Berlin%2C_Brandenburger_Tor%2C_Vereinigungsfeier%2C_Feuerwerk.jpg/250px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1003-008%2C_Berlin%2C_Brandenburger_Tor%2C_Vereinigungsfeier%2C_Feuerwerk.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="147" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1003-008%2C_Berlin%2C_Brandenburger_Tor%2C_Vereinigungsfeier%2C_Feuerwerk.jpg/375px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1003-008%2C_Berlin%2C_Brandenburger_Tor%2C_Vereinigungsfeier%2C_Feuerwerk.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1003-008%2C_Berlin%2C_Brandenburger_Tor%2C_Vereinigungsfeier%2C_Feuerwerk.jpg/500px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1003-008%2C_Berlin%2C_Brandenburger_Tor%2C_Vereinigungsfeier%2C_Feuerwerk.jpg 2x" data-file-width="782" data-file-height="459" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1003-008,_Berlin,_Brandenburger_Tor,_Vereinigungsfeier,_Feuerwerk.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Celebrating reunification.</div></div></div> <p>This created a massive refugee crisis as hundreds of thousands of East Germans fled into their neighboring countries, either hoping to reach Austria or else reach a Western Bloc embassy.<sup id="cite_ref-278" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-278">[278]</a></sup> At the request of East Germany's leadership, Czechoslovakia closed its borders to East Germans to stop East Germans from reaching Hungary.<sup id="cite_ref-279" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-279">[279]</a></sup> East Germany also shut down its border with Poland. However, by bottling up the East German population inside their own country, the East German leadership made it clear that they would not be following the path of reform that Poland and Hungary took. And that pissed the East Germans right off. East Germans started staging a series of large protests called the Monday demonstrations that the government repeatedly tried and failed to suppress.<sup id="cite_ref-280" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-280">[280]</a></sup> The government began to consider conducting a mass crackdown in the style of the <a href="/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_Massacre" title="Tiananmen Square Massacre">Tiananmen Square Massacre</a> but decided against this due to East Germany's reliance on loans from the West and the lack of military support from the Soviet Union.<sup id="cite_ref-281" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-281">[281]</a></sup> </p><p>During a press conference, an abrupt gaffe from party functionary Günter Schabowski caused East Germans to think that the government's policy would change and that the border would be opened imminently.<sup id="cite_ref-282" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-282">[282]</a></sup> Seemingly the entire population of East Berlin and its surrounding areas shat a brick at the news. People mobbed the Berlin Wall security checkpoints, and none of the officials or soldiers were willing to take responsibility for acting on the spot. Thus, they had little choice but to start letting people through.<sup id="cite_ref-283" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-283">[283]</a></sup> East German civilians held an impromptu celebration there, and the situation was too chaotic for the East German authorities to regain control. </p><p>With absent Soviet support and total loss of control over their population, the East German government collapsed in short order. East Germany held free elections in March 1990, and the Christian Democratic Union won on a platform of speedy reunification with West Germany.<sup id="cite_ref-284" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-284">[284]</a></sup> One abrupt integration process later, Germany was made whole again in October 1990. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Modern_Germany">Modern Germany</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=57" title="Edit section: Modern Germany">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span> Germany is a strong country.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Chancellor Angela Merkel, 2015.<sup id="cite_ref-285" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-285">[285]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <center><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:52px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_Germany.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg/185px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="111" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg/278px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg/370px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Flag of the Federal Republic. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg/144px-Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg.png" decoding="async" width="144" height="185" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg/216px-Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg/287px-Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="396" data-file-height="510" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>German coat of arms. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 220px"><div style="width: 220px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 215px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Bundeswehr_Kreuz_Black.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Bundeswehr_Kreuz_Black.svg/250px-Bundeswehr_Kreuz_Black.svg.png" decoding="async" width="185" height="185" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Bundeswehr_Kreuz_Black.svg/330px-Bundeswehr_Kreuz_Black.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Bundeswehr_Kreuz_Black.svg/370px-Bundeswehr_Kreuz_Black.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="400" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Iron Cross emblem of the Bundeswehr. </p> </div> </div></li> </ul></center> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Skyline_Frankfurt_am_Main_2015.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Skyline_Frankfurt_am_Main_2015.jpg/250px-Skyline_Frankfurt_am_Main_2015.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="176" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Skyline_Frankfurt_am_Main_2015.jpg/375px-Skyline_Frankfurt_am_Main_2015.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Skyline_Frankfurt_am_Main_2015.jpg/500px-Skyline_Frankfurt_am_Main_2015.jpg 2x" data-file-width="8003" data-file-height="5622" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Skyline_Frankfurt_am_Main_2015.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Frankfurt am Main, a leading European business center and symbol of German economic power.</div></div></div> <p>Reunification proved to be a bit of a problem after reality set in. After stagnating for decades on both an economic and cultural level, East Germany proved to be a bitter pill for the progressive West German democracy to swallow. One big issue was property rights, as the Soviets had appropriated a shitload of material and many West Germans still thought they were entitled to old family holdings in the east.<sup id="cite_ref-reinteg_286-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-reinteg-286">[286]</a></sup> Lawsuits ensued and tied up German courts, making investors nervous and creating an atmosphere of confusion. East Germany also had shitty power stations, almost no telephone coverage, and horribly maintained roads and railroads.<sup id="cite_ref-reinteg_286-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-reinteg-286">[286]</a></sup> But the biggest challenge was transitioning the east into a market economy after so many decades of command markets, with all of these issues costing Germany the equivalent of $2 trillion.<sup id="cite_ref-287" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-287">[287]</a></sup> God<i>damn</i>. (This also should to raise some uncomfortable questions about the viability of Korean reunification). </p><p>Despite these challenges, Germany has emerged as a global leader. It spearheaded the formation of the <a href="/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union">European Union</a> and still serves as one of, if not the, most important members of the economic bloc.<sup id="cite_ref-288" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-288">[288]</a></sup> Germany also maintains its ties with <a href="/wiki/NATO" title="NATO">NATO</a>, sending troops to keep the peace in <a href="/wiki/Bosnia" class="mw-redirect" title="Bosnia">Bosnia</a> after the <a href="/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars" title="Yugoslav Wars">Yugoslav Wars</a> and maintaining a longstanding presence in the <a href="/wiki/Afghanistan_War" title="Afghanistan War">Afghanistan War</a> alongside their American allies.<sup id="cite_ref-289" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-289">[289]</a></sup> </p><p>Germany currently focuses on promoting European integration, energy transition to renewables, and attempting to integrate a massive wave of migrants from the <a href="/wiki/Middle_East" title="Middle East">Middle East</a>. Under its chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany became a European leader in accepting refugees, and so far, the migrants seem to be integrating well, according to international observers.<sup id="cite_ref-290" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-290">[290]</a></sup> Unfortunately, the crisis did cause an upsurge in far-right and xenophobic politics that Germany is still struggling to deal with. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Government_and_politics">Government and politics</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=58" title="Edit section: Government and politics">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:317px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Berlin_reichstag_CP.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Berlin_reichstag_CP.jpg/315px-Berlin_reichstag_CP.jpg" decoding="async" width="315" height="210" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Berlin_reichstag_CP.jpg/473px-Berlin_reichstag_CP.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Berlin_reichstag_CP.jpg/630px-Berlin_reichstag_CP.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4368" data-file-height="2912" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Berlin_reichstag_CP.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>The old Reichstag building in Berlin, current seat of the German Bundestag.</div></div></div> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Structure">Structure</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=59" title="Edit section: Structure">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>The Federal Republic was explicitly constructed to avoid the pitfalls that doomed the Weimar Republic. A pretty smart thing to do. The German <a href="/wiki/Constitution" title="Constitution">constitution</a>, written in 1949, first outlines some basic <a href="/wiki/Human_rights" title="Human rights">human rights</a> all Germans are entitled to, including equality before the law, <a href="/wiki/Freedom_of_speech" title="Freedom of speech">freedom of speech</a>, assembly, the news media, and worship.<sup id="cite_ref-const_291-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-const-291">[291]</a></sup> However, the constitution also explicitly states that any political activities that endanger German democracy are <i>not</i> entitled to those rights. This is to ensure that, unlike Weimar, the current German republic can actually defend itself from those assholes who would see it end (primarily meaning <a href="/wiki/Neo-Nazis" class="mw-redirect" title="Neo-Nazis">neo-Nazis</a>). </p><p>The true power in Germany rests with the Bundestag, its parliament. Again, this is a major difference from the Weimar Republic, which vested most of its power in the president. The German parliament is bicameral, with the 709-seat Bundestag as its lower house<sup id="cite_ref-292" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-292">[292]</a></sup> and the 69-seat Bundesrat as the upper house, representing the German states.<sup id="cite_ref-293" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-293">[293]</a></sup> The Bundestag is elected every four years by German citizens over 18 using a mixed-member proportional representation system. Members of the Bundesrat are appointed by state governments. </p><p>The German president has relatively few powers, almost to the point of being a figurehead. This is intentional, as the German president played a major role with his extensive powers in helping Adolf Hitler dismantle the Weimar Republic.<sup id="cite_ref-294" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-294">[294]</a></sup> Real power rests with the German chancellor, who is elected by the Bundestag.<sup id="cite_ref-295" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-295">[295]</a></sup> The current chancellor is Olaf Scholz, who has been in office since December 2021. </p><p>Finally, it is important to note that Germany, somewhat unusually for a European country, has a federal system, which dates back to the federal nature of the German Empire in 1871. State governments hold significant authority, and the federal government can only wield those powers that were explicitly given to it by the constitution.<sup id="cite_ref-296" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-296">[296]</a></sup> States manage such affairs as law enforcement, education, welfare programs, and <a href="/wiki/Tax" title="Tax">tax</a> collection. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Political_parties">Political parties</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=60" title="Edit section: Political parties">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:152px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Olaf_Scholz_2021_cropped.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Olaf_Scholz_2021_cropped.jpg/150px-Olaf_Scholz_2021_cropped.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="202" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Olaf_Scholz_2021_cropped.jpg/225px-Olaf_Scholz_2021_cropped.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Olaf_Scholz_2021_cropped.jpg/300px-Olaf_Scholz_2021_cropped.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1602" data-file-height="2157" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Olaf_Scholz_2021_cropped.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Chancellor Olaf Scholz, current head of the German government.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Political_parties_of_Germany" title="Political parties of Germany">Political parties of Germany</a></div> <p>Germany has a bunch of political parties, although relatively few have any major impact on the country's politics. Still, unlike in the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a>, more than two are capable of making their way into the legislature. </p><p>The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, represents moderate right-wing interests and has been in power for most of the time since World War II.<sup id="cite_ref-297" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-297">[297]</a></sup> Their sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), runs candidates solely in the state of Bavaria.<sup id="cite_ref-298" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-298">[298]</a></sup> Both parties support <a href="/wiki/Capitalism" title="Capitalism">capitalism</a> with a <a href="/wiki/Welfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Welfare">welfare</a> system but tend to be socially conservative.<sup id="cite_ref-299" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-299">[299]</a></sup> </p><p>Germany's oldest party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), is on the other end of the spectrum. Once an outright <a href="/wiki/Social_democratic" class="mw-redirect" title="Social democratic">social democratic</a> organization, the SPD moderated itself significantly to continue being viable in an environment where Germany became fairly prosperous and built a decent welfare state; it now focuses on expanding those welfare programs and doesn't want to rock the boat too much.<sup id="cite_ref-300" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-300">[300]</a></sup> In fact, it may have compromised too much for its own good, as before 2021, the party had suffered increasingly disastrous results in German elections due to many of its voters defecting to the Green Party to focus on <a href="/wiki/Climate_change" title="Climate change">climate change</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-301" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-301">[301]</a></sup> </p><p>On the fringes are the Left Party (Die Linke), which has effectively inherited supporters and platforms from the old East Germany (albeit without the dictatorship bit), and the <a href="/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany" title="Alternative for Germany">Alternative for Germany</a> Party (AFD), a far-right populist, <a href="/wiki/Eurosceptic" class="mw-redirect" title="Eurosceptic">Eurosceptic</a>, climate science-denying, and anti-immigrant group of reactionaries.<sup id="cite_ref-302" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-302">[302]</a></sup> </p><p>And then there's the supposedly market-liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP). While being very prominent in the early Federal Republic, their popularity dwindled to the point of being just another populist shitshow. These days, they're trying to lure possible fat-cat voters with promises of a much less regulated laissez-faire market in contrast to Germany's current system of a <a href="/wiki/Social_market_economy" title="Social market economy">social market economy</a>. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Foreign_relations">Foreign relations</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=61" title="Edit section: Foreign relations">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:267px;"><a href="/wiki/File:President_and_First_Lady_Obama_with_Chancellor_Merkel.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/President_and_First_Lady_Obama_with_Chancellor_Merkel.jpg/265px-President_and_First_Lady_Obama_with_Chancellor_Merkel.jpg" decoding="async" width="265" height="177" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/President_and_First_Lady_Obama_with_Chancellor_Merkel.jpg/398px-President_and_First_Lady_Obama_with_Chancellor_Merkel.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/President_and_First_Lady_Obama_with_Chancellor_Merkel.jpg 2x" data-file-width="525" data-file-height="350" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:President_and_First_Lady_Obama_with_Chancellor_Merkel.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Merkel and her husband with the <a href="/wiki/Obama" class="mw-redirect" title="Obama">Obamas</a> in Baden.</div></div></div> <p>After destroying much of the world during World War II, Germany successfully rebuilt its global image to a large degree. Germany and France, for instance, are on excellent terms now and, in 2019, teamed up to promote multilateralism in an era of selfish nationalism.<sup id="cite_ref-303" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-303">[303]</a></sup> They also function as the power couple driving much of the <a href="/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union">European Union</a>'s agenda. <a href="/wiki/Greece" title="Greece">Greece</a>, for instance, discovered this fact to its chagrin during the <a href="/wiki/Greece-baiting" title="Greece-baiting">Greek debt crisis</a> when Germany stuck to an <a href="/wiki/Austerity" class="mw-redirect" title="Austerity">austerity</a> policy and refused to adjust fiscal policy to help the Greeks.<sup id="cite_ref-304" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-304">[304]</a></sup> Merkel was, understandably, not very popular in Greece at the time. Germany has also historically pushed for greater integration of Europe, both through deepening ties that already exist and drawing more countries into the EU.<sup id="cite_ref-305" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-305">[305]</a></sup> Hopefully, they're not playing the long game to create the Fourth Reich. </p><p>Germany is also a loyal partner in <a href="/wiki/NATO" title="NATO">NATO</a>, although it was criticized by US President <a href="/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a> during his first term in office for failing to meet the alliance's 2% of GDP spending on defense matters.<sup id="cite_ref-306" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-306">[306]</a></sup> Despite Trump being his usual piece of shit self, Germany actually answered by hiking up its defense budget by a significant degree, even apparently planning to stick to it after Trump departed from office.<sup id="cite_ref-307" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-307">[307]</a></sup> The US' treatment of its stalwart ally was remarkably ungrateful, considering that 57 Germans gave their lives in Afghanistan in the fight against the <a href="/wiki/Taliban" title="Taliban">Taliban</a> and <a href="/wiki/Al_Qaeda" class="mw-redirect" title="Al Qaeda">Al Qaeda</a> in a war that the US called them on.<sup id="cite_ref-308" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-308">[308]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Ban_against_Nazism">Ban against Nazism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=62" title="Edit section: Ban against Nazism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:177px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Anti-nazi_logo.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Anti-nazi_logo.svg/175px-Anti-nazi_logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="175" height="219" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Anti-nazi_logo.svg/263px-Anti-nazi_logo.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Anti-nazi_logo.svg/350px-Anti-nazi_logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="250" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Anti-nazi_logo.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Do your part to keep our communities clean from trash!</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Whoever fights against the basic values of our free society will get to feel the resolute reaction of our government. There’s no place in this country for an association that sows hatred and and works on the resurrection of a Nazi state.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, December 2020.<sup id="cite_ref-wolfsbrig_309-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-wolfsbrig-309">[309]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The German government has the power to ban anti-democratic organizations, and every now and then, it sees fit to use that power. As recently as December of 2020, German police were sent to raid homes across three German states to root out a far-right group called Wolfsbrigade 44.<sup id="cite_ref-wolfsbrig_309-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-wolfsbrig-309">[309]</a></sup> The group reportedly wanted to reestablish the Nazi dictatorship and named itself after SS officer Oskar Dirlewanger, a strong candidate for one of the evilest people ever. In other words, Germany has a pretty damn good reason for banning certain groups and symbols. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Swastika" title="Swastika">swastika</a>, meanwhile, has been banned in Germany since the Allied occupation, as was <i>Mein Kampf</i>, the phrase "Heil Hitler!", and the Nazi Party itself.<sup id="cite_ref-310" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-310">[310]</a></sup> Amid more problems with hate crimes, Germany broadened its laws against any speech targeting hatred at a population, making <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denial" title="Holocaust denial">Holocaust denial</a> illegal. Unfortunately, there was a temporary absurdity where German authorities started cracking down on <i>anti</i>-Nazi symbols since the law failed to distinguish between a swastika and a swastika that was crossed out or dumped in the trash.<sup id="cite_ref-311" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-311">[311]</a></sup> </p><p>This grew into a German concept called "defensive democracy", the idea that the republic should use all methods at its disposal to ensure that human rights and democracy survive in Germany, even to the extent that the methods become un-democratic. In Germany, this mission is left up to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BFV), a domestic-intelligence agency to root out neo-Nazis and Islamic terrorists.<sup id="cite_ref-312" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-312">[312]</a></sup> </p><p>Still, hateful fucks find a way, even in Germany. In the absence of the swastika, far-rightists have taken to flying the American <a href="/wiki/Confederate_flag" title="Confederate flag">Confederate flag</a> as a replacement symbol, realizing where many American conservatives don't that the flag stands for <a href="/wiki/Racism" title="Racism">racism</a> and <a href="/wiki/White_supremacy" title="White supremacy">white supremacy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-313" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-313">[313]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Resurgent_far-right">Resurgent far-right</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=63" title="Edit section: Resurgent far-right">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:267px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Rudolf_Hess-Gedenkmarsch.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Rudolf_Hess-Gedenkmarsch.jpg/330px-Rudolf_Hess-Gedenkmarsch.jpg" decoding="async" width="265" height="177" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Rudolf_Hess-Gedenkmarsch.jpg/500px-Rudolf_Hess-Gedenkmarsch.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Rudolf_Hess-Gedenkmarsch.jpg/530px-Rudolf_Hess-Gedenkmarsch.jpg 2x" data-file-width="640" data-file-height="427" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Rudolf_Hess-Gedenkmarsch.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Far-right scumbags in Bavaria claim Rudolf Hess as a "martyr".</div></div></div> <p>Sadly, the above measures haven't prevented the German far-right from gaining power. The National Democratic Party of Germany, for instance, is a neo-Nazi party that has been a headache for decades. An effort to ban them failed in 2003 because the German government had infiltrated them, and its agents had written much of the material being presented against them in court.<sup id="cite_ref-314" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-314">[314]</a></sup> Fucking oops. The party never got into the national Bundestag, but it did gain some seats in state legislatures. Those states were in the former East Germany, which raises a much bigger issue. </p><p>East Germany, with its lagging economy and rough adjustment to capitalism, became a stronghold for the radical right after reunification, to the point where violent fuckhead mobs have attacked asylum seekers and immigrants.<sup id="cite_ref-315" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-315">[315]</a></sup> The problem has only gotten worse too. In 2019, the city of Dresden declared a "Nazi Emergency" (no, really) due to years of right-wing extremist violence and rallying.<sup id="cite_ref-316" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-316">[316]</a></sup> It's no coincidence that Dresden was the birthplace of <a href="/wiki/PEGIDA" title="PEGIDA">PEGIDA</a>. </p><p>The AfD Party's rising popularity has also primarily taken place in the east, a situation related to the rise in neo-Nazism. AfD's leader in the state of Thuringia, Bjorn Hoecke, was under investigation for questioning Germany’s culpability in World War II and using the term lebensraum.<sup id="cite_ref-317" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-317">[317]</a></sup> Hoecke also said that Germany's efforts to acknowledge the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes were somehow bad.<sup id="cite_ref-318" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-318">[318]</a></sup> The AfD as a whole is now under nationwide surveillance by German intelligence agencies fearing that they threaten democracy.<sup id="cite_ref-319" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-319">[319]</a></sup> </p><p>Meanwhile, Germany must investigate its police forces for rampant racism and far-right views.<sup id="cite_ref-320" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-320">[320]</a></sup> The country has also seen an alarming rise in far-right terrorist attacks.<sup id="cite_ref-321" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-321">[321]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="States_of_Germany">States of Germany</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=64" title="Edit section: States of Germany">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div style="position: relative; float:right"><div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:628px;"><img alt="Reliefkarte Deutschland.png" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Reliefkarte_Deutschland.png/626px-Reliefkarte_Deutschland.png" decoding="async" width="626" height="800" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Reliefkarte_Deutschland.png/939px-Reliefkarte_Deutschland.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Reliefkarte_Deutschland.png/1252px-Reliefkarte_Deutschland.png 2x" data-file-width="3638" data-file-height="4647" /> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Reliefkarte_Deutschland.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div></div></div></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:189px; top:655px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Lesser coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/40px-Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="56" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/60px-Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/120px-Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="422" data-file-height="590" /></div></div> <small><center>Baden-Württemberg</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:379px; top:605px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Bayern Wappen.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Bayern_Wappen.svg/40px-Bayern_Wappen.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="53" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Bayern_Wappen.svg/60px-Bayern_Wappen.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Bayern_Wappen.svg/80px-Bayern_Wappen.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="684" /></div></div> <small><center>Bayern</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:230px; top:445px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Coat of arms of Hesse.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg/40px-Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="48" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg/60px-Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg/80px-Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="617" /></div></div> <small><center>Hessen</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:345px; top:415px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Coat of arms of Thuringia.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg/40px-Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="47" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg/60px-Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg/120px-Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="596" /></div></div> <small><center>Thüringen</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:491px; top:395px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Coat of arms of Saxony.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg/40px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="45" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg/60px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg/80px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="576" /></div></div> <small><center>Sachsen</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:98px; top:585px;"><div class="floatright"><img alt="Wappen des Saarlands.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg/40px-Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="49" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg/60px-Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg/80px-Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="630" /></div></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:46px; top:600px;"><small><center>Saarland</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:92px; top:518px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Coat of arms of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/40px-Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="49" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/60px-Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/80px-Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="472" data-file-height="580" /></div></div> <small><center>Rheinland-Pfalz</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:82px; top:368px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/40px-Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="46" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/60px-Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/80px-Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="461" data-file-height="532" /></div></div> <small><center>Nordrhein-Westfalen</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:375px; top:309px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Wappen Sachsen-Anhalt.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg/40px-Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="48" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg/60px-Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg/80px-Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="147" data-file-height="178" /></div></div> <small><center>Sachsen-Anhalt</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:530px; top:300px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="DEU Brandenburg COA.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg/40px-DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="48" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg/60px-DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg/80px-DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="611" /></div></div> <small><center>Brandenburg</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:275px; top:269px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Coat of arms of Lower Saxony.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/40px-Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="46" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/60px-Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/80px-Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="593" data-file-height="680" /></div></div> <small><center>Niedersachsen</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:505px; top:265px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="DEU Berlin COA.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/DEU_Berlin_COA.svg/40px-DEU_Berlin_COA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="66" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/DEU_Berlin_COA.svg/60px-DEU_Berlin_COA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/DEU_Berlin_COA.svg/80px-DEU_Berlin_COA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="450" data-file-height="739" /></div></div> <small><center><b>Berlin</b></center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:213px; top:200px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Bremen Wappen.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Bremen_Wappen.svg/40px-Bremen_Wappen.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="49" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Bremen_Wappen.svg/60px-Bremen_Wappen.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Bremen_Wappen.svg/80px-Bremen_Wappen.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="446" data-file-height="548" /></div></div> <small><center>Bremen</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:285px; top:159px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="DEU Hamburg COA.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg/40px-DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="49" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg/60px-DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg/120px-DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="225" data-file-height="315" /></div></div> <small><center>Hamburg</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:378px; top:129px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="Coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (great).svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg/40px-Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="43" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg/60px-Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg/80px-Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="507" data-file-height="548" /></div></div> <small><center>Mecklenburg-Vorpommern</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:249px; top:89px;"><div class="center"><div class="floatnone"><img alt="DEU Schleswig-Holstein COA.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg/40px-DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="46" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg/60px-DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg/120px-DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="402" data-file-height="462" /></div></div> <small><center>Schleswig-Holstein</center></small></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:79px; top:685px;"><center><a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:165px; top:785px;"><center><a href="/wiki/Switzerland" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:565px; top:725px;"><center><a href="/wiki/Austria" title="Austria">Austria</a></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:555px; top:535px;"><center><a href="/wiki/Czechia" title="Czechia">Czechia</a></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:35px; top:478px;"><center><a href="/wiki/Belgium" title="Belgium">BE</a></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:32px; top:278px;"><center><a href="/wiki/Netherlands" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:54px; top:540px;"><center><span title="Luxembourg">LU</span></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:595px; top:228px;"><center><a href="/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:229px; top:10px;"><center><a href="/wiki/Denmark" title="Denmark">Denmark</a></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:130px; top:99px;"><center><span style="color:steelblue"><small><i>North Sea</i></small></span></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:559px; top:49px;"><center><span style="color:steelblue"><small><i>Baltic Sea</i></small></span></center></div> <div style="position: absolute; left:39px; top:29px;"><center><a href="/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean" class="mw-redirect" title="Atlantic Ocean"><span style="color:steelblue"><i>Atlantic<br />Ocean</i></span></a></center></div> </div> <table class="wikitable"> <caption>States of Germany </caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Arms</th> <th>State (<i>English name</i>)</th> <th>Capital (<i>English name</i>)</th> <th>Other notable cities (<i>English name</i>) </th></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Lesser coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/40px-Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="49" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/60px-Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/120px-Lesser_coat_of_arms_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="422" data-file-height="590" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Baden-Württemberg.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/50px-Flag_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/75px-Flag_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg/100px-Flag_of_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="300" /> Baden-Württemberg</td> <td>Stuttgart</td> <td>Heidelberg<br />Heilbronn<br />Karlsruhe<br />Ulm </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Bayern Wappen.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Bayern_Wappen.svg/35px-Bayern_Wappen.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="47" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Bayern_Wappen.svg/53px-Bayern_Wappen.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Bayern_Wappen.svg/70px-Bayern_Wappen.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="684" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Flag_of_Bavaria_%28lozengy%29.svg/60px-Flag_of_Bavaria_%28lozengy%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Flag_of_Bavaria_%28lozengy%29.svg/120px-Flag_of_Bavaria_%28lozengy%29.svg.png 1.5x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /> Bayern (<i>Bavaria</i>)</td> <td>München (<i>Munich</i>)</td> <td>Augsburg<br />Ingolstadt<br />Nürnberg (<i>Nuremberg</i>)<br />Regensburg<br />Würzburg </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="DEU Berlin COA.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/DEU_Berlin_COA.svg/35px-DEU_Berlin_COA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="57" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/DEU_Berlin_COA.svg/53px-DEU_Berlin_COA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/DEU_Berlin_COA.svg/70px-DEU_Berlin_COA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="450" data-file-height="739" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Berlin.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Flag_of_Berlin.svg/50px-Flag_of_Berlin.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Flag_of_Berlin.svg/75px-Flag_of_Berlin.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Flag_of_Berlin.svg/100px-Flag_of_Berlin.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /> <b>Berlin</b></td> <td><b>Berlin</b></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="DEU Brandenburg COA.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg/35px-DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="42" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg/53px-DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg/70px-DEU_Brandenburg_COA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="611" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Brandenburg.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Flag_of_Brandenburg.svg/60px-Flag_of_Brandenburg.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Flag_of_Brandenburg.svg/120px-Flag_of_Brandenburg.svg.png 1.5x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /> Brandenburg</td> <td>Potsdam</td> <td>Brandenburg an der Havel<br />Cottbus<br />Frankfurt an der Oder </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Bremen Wappen.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Bremen_Wappen.svg/35px-Bremen_Wappen.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="43" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Bremen_Wappen.svg/53px-Bremen_Wappen.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Bremen_Wappen.svg/70px-Bremen_Wappen.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="446" data-file-height="548" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Bremen.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Flag_of_Bremen.svg/60px-Flag_of_Bremen.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="33" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Flag_of_Bremen.svg/120px-Flag_of_Bremen.svg.png 1.5x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="400" /> Bremen</td> <td>Bremen</td> <td>Bremerhaven </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="DEU Hamburg COA.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg/40px-DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="49" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg/60px-DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg/120px-DEU_Hamburg_COA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="225" data-file-height="315" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Hamburg.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Flag_of_Hamburg.svg/50px-Flag_of_Hamburg.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="33" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Flag_of_Hamburg.svg/75px-Flag_of_Hamburg.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Flag_of_Hamburg.svg/100px-Flag_of_Hamburg.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="400" /> Hamburg</td> <td>Hamburg</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Coat of arms of Hesse.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg/35px-Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="42" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg/53px-Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg/70px-Coat_of_arms_of_Hesse.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="617" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Hesse.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Hesse.svg/50px-Flag_of_Hesse.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Hesse.svg/75px-Flag_of_Hesse.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Hesse.svg/100px-Flag_of_Hesse.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /> Hessen (<i>Hesse</i>)</td> <td>Wiesbaden</td> <td><span title="There is another Frankfurt in Germany, namely Frankfurt an der Oder, in the state of Brandenburg" style="border-bottom:1px dotted">Frankfurt am Main</span> </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Coat of arms of Lower Saxony.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/35px-Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="40" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/53px-Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/70px-Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="593" data-file-height="680" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Lower Saxony.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Flag_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/50px-Flag_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="33" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Flag_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/75px-Flag_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Flag_of_Lower_Saxony.svg/100px-Flag_of_Lower_Saxony.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1150" data-file-height="750" /> Niedersachsen (<i>Lower Saxony</i>)</td> <td>Hannover (<i>Hanover</i>)</td> <td>Braunschweig (<i>Brunswick</i>)<br />Oldenburg </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Coat of arms of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (great).svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg/35px-Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="38" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg/53px-Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg/70px-Coat_of_arms_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_%28great%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="507" data-file-height="548" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Flag_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania.svg/50px-Flag_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Flag_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania.svg/75px-Flag_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Flag_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania.svg/100px-Flag_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /> Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (<i>Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania</i>)</td> <td>Schwerin</td> <td>Rostock<br />Rügen </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/35px-Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="40" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/53px-Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/70px-Coat_of_arms_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="461" data-file-height="532" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Flag_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/50px-Flag_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Flag_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/75px-Flag_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Flag_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg/100px-Flag_of_North_Rhine-Westphalia.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="480" /> Nordrhein-Westfalen (<i>North Rhine-Westphalia</i>)</td> <td>Düsseldorf</td> <td>Aachen<br />Bonn<br />Köln (<i>Cologne</i>)<br />Dortmund<br />Essen<br />Münster </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Coat of arms of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/35px-Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="43" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/53px-Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/70px-Coat_of_arms_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="472" data-file-height="580" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Rhineland-Palatinate.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Flag_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/50px-Flag_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="33" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Flag_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/75px-Flag_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Flag_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg/100px-Flag_of_Rhineland-Palatinate.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" /> Rheinland-Pfalz (<i>Rhineland-Palatinate</i>)</td> <td>Mainz</td> <td>Trier </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Wappen des Saarlands.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg/35px-Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="43" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg/53px-Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg/70px-Wappen_des_Saarlands.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="630" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Saarland.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Saarland.svg/50px-Flag_of_Saarland.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Saarland.svg/75px-Flag_of_Saarland.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Flag_of_Saarland.svg/100px-Flag_of_Saarland.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="307" /> Saarland</td> <td>Saarbrücken</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Coat of arms of Saxony.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg/35px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="39" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg/53px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg/70px-Coat_of_arms_of_Saxony.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="576" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Saxony.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Flag_of_Saxony.svg/50px-Flag_of_Saxony.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Flag_of_Saxony.svg/75px-Flag_of_Saxony.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Flag_of_Saxony.svg/100px-Flag_of_Saxony.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="300" /> Sachsen (<i>Saxony</i>)</td> <td>Dresden</td> <td>Chemnitz <s>(<i>Karl Marx Stadt</i>)</s> <br />Leipzig </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Wappen Sachsen-Anhalt.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg/35px-Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="42" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg/53px-Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg/70px-Wappen_Sachsen-Anhalt.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="147" data-file-height="178" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Saxony-Anhalt (state).svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Flag_of_Saxony-Anhalt_%28state%29.svg/50px-Flag_of_Saxony-Anhalt_%28state%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Flag_of_Saxony-Anhalt_%28state%29.svg/75px-Flag_of_Saxony-Anhalt_%28state%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Flag_of_Saxony-Anhalt_%28state%29.svg/100px-Flag_of_Saxony-Anhalt_%28state%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="307" /> Sachsen-Anhalt (<i>Saxony-Anhalt</i>)</td> <td>Magdeburg</td> <td>Halle </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="DEU Schleswig-Holstein COA.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg/40px-DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="40" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg/60px-DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg/120px-DEU_Schleswig-Holstein_COA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="402" data-file-height="462" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Schleswig-Holstein.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Flag_of_Schleswig-Holstein.svg/60px-Flag_of_Schleswig-Holstein.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Flag_of_Schleswig-Holstein.svg/120px-Flag_of_Schleswig-Holstein.svg.png 1.5x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="600" /> Schleswig-Holstein</td> <td>Kiel</td> <td>Lübeck<br />Flensburg </td></tr> <tr> <td><img alt="Coat of arms of Thuringia.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg/40px-Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg.png" decoding="async" width="35" height="41" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg/60px-Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg/120px-Coat_of_arms_of_Thuringia.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="596" /></td> <td><img alt="Flag of Thuringia.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Flag_of_Thuringia.svg/60px-Flag_of_Thuringia.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="25" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Flag_of_Thuringia.svg/120px-Flag_of_Thuringia.svg.png 1.5x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="250" /> Thüringen (<i>Thuringia</i>)</td> <td>Erfurt</td> <td>Jena<br />Weimar </td></tr></tbody></table> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Gallery">Gallery</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=65" title="Edit section: Gallery">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <center><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Aerial_view_of_Berlin_(32881394137).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Aerial_view_of_Berlin_%2832881394137%29.jpg/225px-Aerial_view_of_Berlin_%2832881394137%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Aerial_view_of_Berlin_%2832881394137%29.jpg/338px-Aerial_view_of_Berlin_%2832881394137%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Aerial_view_of_Berlin_%2832881394137%29.jpg/450px-Aerial_view_of_Berlin_%2832881394137%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4026" data-file-height="2679" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>View of Berlin. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:ICE_3_Oberhaider-Wald-Tunnel.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/ICE_3_Oberhaider-Wald-Tunnel.jpg/225px-ICE_3_Oberhaider-Wald-Tunnel.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/ICE_3_Oberhaider-Wald-Tunnel.jpg/338px-ICE_3_Oberhaider-Wald-Tunnel.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/ICE_3_Oberhaider-Wald-Tunnel.jpg/450px-ICE_3_Oberhaider-Wald-Tunnel.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3456" data-file-height="2304" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Train on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Abiaktion-Spenden%C3%BCbergabe_an_%22Strahlenm%C3%A4nnchen%22_2020.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Abiaktion-Spenden%C3%BCbergabe_an_%22Strahlenm%C3%A4nnchen%22_2020.jpg/250px-Abiaktion-Spenden%C3%BCbergabe_an_%22Strahlenm%C3%A4nnchen%22_2020.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Abiaktion-Spenden%C3%BCbergabe_an_%22Strahlenm%C3%A4nnchen%22_2020.jpg/500px-Abiaktion-Spenden%C3%BCbergabe_an_%22Strahlenm%C3%A4nnchen%22_2020.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="800" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Germans donating to fight pediatric cancer. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:53px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Hofbr%C3%A4uhaus_2011_0626_Weisswurst_Brezen_Weissbier.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Hofbr%C3%A4uhaus_2011_0626_Weisswurst_Brezen_Weissbier.jpg/225px-Hofbr%C3%A4uhaus_2011_0626_Weisswurst_Brezen_Weissbier.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="149" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Hofbr%C3%A4uhaus_2011_0626_Weisswurst_Brezen_Weissbier.jpg/338px-Hofbr%C3%A4uhaus_2011_0626_Weisswurst_Brezen_Weissbier.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Hofbr%C3%A4uhaus_2011_0626_Weisswurst_Brezen_Weissbier.jpg/450px-Hofbr%C3%A4uhaus_2011_0626_Weisswurst_Brezen_Weissbier.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1920" data-file-height="1272" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Meal in Bavaria: weisswurst, pretzels, and beer. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Zugspitze_2.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Zugspitze_2.JPG/225px-Zugspitze_2.JPG" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Zugspitze_2.JPG/338px-Zugspitze_2.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Zugspitze_2.JPG/450px-Zugspitze_2.JPG 2x" data-file-width="3888" data-file-height="2592" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Mount Zugspitze in southern Germany. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:43px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Black_Forest_gateau.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Black_Forest_gateau.jpg/250px-Black_Forest_gateau.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="169" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Black_Forest_gateau.jpg/500px-Black_Forest_gateau.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="3072" data-file-height="2304" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Black Forest cake. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:K%C3%B6ln_-_panoramio_(3).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/K%C3%B6ln_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg/225px-K%C3%B6ln_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/K%C3%B6ln_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg/338px-K%C3%B6ln_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/K%C3%B6ln_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg/450px-K%C3%B6ln_-_panoramio_%283%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="5102" data-file-height="3401" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Skyline of Cologne with its iconic cathedral. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Schiltach_Ufer.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Schiltach_Ufer.jpg/225px-Schiltach_Ufer.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="151" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Schiltach_Ufer.jpg/338px-Schiltach_Ufer.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Schiltach_Ufer.jpg/450px-Schiltach_Ufer.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3872" data-file-height="2592" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>A small town in the Black Forest of Baden-Württemberg. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:69px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Germany_champions_2014_FIFA_World_Cup.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Germany_champions_2014_FIFA_World_Cup.jpg/225px-Germany_champions_2014_FIFA_World_Cup.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="117" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Germany_champions_2014_FIFA_World_Cup.jpg/338px-Germany_champions_2014_FIFA_World_Cup.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Germany_champions_2014_FIFA_World_Cup.jpg/450px-Germany_champions_2014_FIFA_World_Cup.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3101" data-file-height="1611" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Germany's national football team celebrates winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup. </p> </div> </div></li> </ul></center> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=66" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iX_hoacyqA">Why are so many European royal families German?</a> a short video by <i>History Matters</i> on <a href="/wiki/Youtube" class="mw-redirect" title="Youtube">Youtube</a>. Also, <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uVmogHmmWw">What Happened to Prussia?</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3HWfvmIt7M">How did the World React to the Unification of Germany?</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8T-NO2HQQo">Why did the Weimar Republic Fail?</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XKSYhODeLE">Why was Germany allowed to rearm after World War 2?</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6UXMUbsiT8">Who opposed German Reunification?</a></li></ul></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Germany&action=edit&section=67" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Germany">Germany</a>. <i>Wikiquote.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://apnews.com/article/b37b17c0f78d7ee5de5aca1b3888949a">Germany takes EU hot seat with big challenges, expectations</a>. <i>Associated Press.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.kiwireport.com/22-things-no-one-does-better-than-the-germans/">22 Things No One Does Better Than The Germans</a>. <i>Kiwi Report.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/5-facts-about-cannabis-laws-in-germany/a-42709969">5 facts about cannabis laws in Germany</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-relstat-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-relstat_5-0">5.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-relstat_5-1">5.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Germany" class="extiw" title="wp:Religion in Germany" rel="nofollow">Religion in Germany</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Germanic-peoples">Germanic peoples</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Brown, Robert D. (2013). "Caesar's Description of Bridging the Rhine (Bellum Gallicum 4.16–19): A Literary Analysis". <i>Classical Philology.</i> 108: 41–53. doi:10.1086/669789. S2CID 162278924.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-armin-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-armin_8-0">8.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-armin_8-1">8.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ancient.eu/Arminius/">Arminius</a>. <i>Ancient History Encyclopedia.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ancient.eu/article/1010/battle-of-teutoburg-forest/">Battle of Teutoburg Forest</a>. <i>Ancient History Encyclopedia.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-migrat-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-migrat_10-0">10.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-migrat_10-1">10.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-migrat_10-2">10.2</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-migrat_10-3">10.3</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-germanic-tribes/">The Germanic Tribes</a>. <i>Lumen Learning.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-romgaul-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-romgaul_11-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Gaul/">Roman Gaul</a>. <i>Ancient History Encyclopedia.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ancient.eu/Odoacer/">Odoacer</a>. <i>Ancient History Encyclopedia.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ancient.eu/Franks/">Franks</a>. <i>Ancient History Encyclopedia.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Boniface" class="extiw" title="wp:Saint Boniface" rel="nofollow">Saint Boniface</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/was-charlemagne-a-mass-murderer/">Was Charlemagne a Mass Murderer?</a> <i>Medievalists.net</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen_Cathedral" class="extiw" title="wp:Aachen Cathedral" rel="nofollow">Aachen Cathedral</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/6.htm">The Carolingian Dynasty, 752-911</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/31361.html">Quotation Details</a>. <i>The Quotations Page.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-19">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c15axBQyQ_U">history of the entire world, i guess</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-20">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Cantor, Norman F. (1994). <i>The Civilization of the Middle Ages</i>. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-092553-6. 214–15</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-invest-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-invest_21-0">21.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-invest_21-1">21.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory/chapter/the-investiture-controversy/">The Investiture Controversy</a>. <i>Lumen Learning.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-22">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concordat_of_Worms" class="extiw" title="wp:Concordat of Worms" rel="nofollow">Concordat of Worms</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-23">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">John, Simon (2017). <i>Godfrey of Bouillon: Duke of Lower Lotharingia, Ruler of Latin Jerusalem</i>, c.1060-1100. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-12630-0. p. 186-187.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-24">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Freed, John (2016). <i>Frederick Barbarossa: The Prince and the Myth</i>. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-122763. p. 51–53</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-25">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Loud, G. A. (2010). <i>The Crusade of Frederick Barbarossa: The History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick and Related Texts</i>. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 9780754665755. p. 64.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-saxpomeas-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-saxpomeas_26-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/9.htm">The Hohenstaufen Dynasty, 1138-1254</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-27">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Teutonic-Order">Teutonic Order</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-28">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland_massacres" class="extiw" title="wp:Rhineland massacres" rel="nofollow">Rhineland massacres</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-29">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Richard S. Levy. <i>Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia Of Prejudice And Persecution</i>, ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 9781851094394. p. 153.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-hansa-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-hansa_30-0">30.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-hansa_30-1">30.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/10.htm">The Empire under the Early Habsburgs</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-31">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.hisour.com/german-renaissance-2932/">The German Renaissance</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-32">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/mcdonald/incunabula/gutenberg/">The Gutenberg Press</a>. <i>Oregon State University.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-33">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.crossway.org/articles/the-day-martin-luther-was-excommunicated/">The Day Martin Luther Was Excommunicated</a> Herman Selderhuis, <i>Crossway</i>, January 03, 2018</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-34">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/11.htm">Germany: The Protestant Reformation</a>. <i>Country Studies</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-35">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/indulgence">Indulgence</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-luther-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-luther_36-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.biography.com/religious-figure/martin-luther">Martin Luther</a>. <i>Biography.com</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-37">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.crivoice.org/creededictworms.html">The Edict of Worms (1521)</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-38">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Reformation Europe: 1517–1559, London: Fontana, 1963, 53; Diarmaid MacCulloch, Reformation: Europe's House Divided, 1490–1700, London: Allen Lane, 2003, 132.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-39">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Luther, Martin. "Letter 82," in Luther's Works. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann (eds), Vol. 48: Letters I, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999, c1963, 48:246; Mullett, 133.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-40">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot">Anti-Semitism: Martin Luther - “The Jews & Their Lies”</a>. <i>Jewish Virtual Library.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-41">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights%27_Revolt" class="extiw" title="wp:Knights' Revolt" rel="nofollow">Knights' Revolt</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-pezwar-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-pezwar_42-0">42.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-pezwar_42-1">42.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-pezwar_42-2">42.2</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-pezwar_42-3">42.3</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/german-peasants-war-4150166">German Peasants War (1524 – 1525): Uprising of the Poor</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-43">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/modern-europe/german-history/peasants-war">Peasants War</a>. <i>Encyclopedia.com</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-44">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Schmalkaldic-League">Schmalkaldic League</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-45">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmalkaldic_War" class="extiw" title="wp:Schmalkaldic War" rel="nofollow">Schmalkaldic War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-46">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Schmalkaldic_War" class="extiw" title="wp:Second Schmalkaldic War" rel="nofollow">Second Schmalkaldic War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-47">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Peace-of-Augsburg">Peace of Augsburg</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-48">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_War" class="extiw" title="wp:Cologne War" rel="nofollow">Cologne War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-49">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_Neuss" class="extiw" title="wp:Destruction of Neuss" rel="nofollow">Destruction of Neuss</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-50">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Godesberg" class="extiw" title="wp:Siege of Godesberg" rel="nofollow">Siege of Godesberg</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-51">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Union" class="extiw" title="wp:Protestant Union" rel="nofollow">Protestant Union</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-52">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_J%C3%BClich_Succession" class="extiw" title="wp:War of the Jülich Succession" rel="nofollow">War of the Jülich Succession</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-gregcal-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gregcal_53-0">53.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gregcal_53-1">53.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/16.htm">Germany: The Counter-Reformation and Religious Tensions</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-54">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/frenchreligiousw00knec_0/page/91/mode/2up">The French Religious Wars 1562-1598 (Essential Histories)</a> Robert Knecht.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-55">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/persecutor-protestants-ferdinand-ii?language=en">Persecutor of the Protestants: Ferdinand II</a> <i>World of the Habsburgs</i>. ND.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-56">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Wedgwood, CV (1938). <i>The Thirty Years War</i> (2005 ed.). New York Review of Books. ISBN 978-1590171462. p. 137</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-57">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Restitution" class="extiw" title="wp:Edict of Restitution" rel="nofollow">Edict of Restitution</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-58">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Wedgwood, CV (1938). <i>The Thirty Years War</i> (2005 ed.). New York Review of Books. ISBN 978-1590171462. p. 385-386</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-59">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.honourandthesword.com/pages/background/30yearswar.htm">The Thirty Years' War</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-60">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-thirty-years-war/military-developments-in-the-thirty-years-war/">Military developments in the Thirty Years' War</a> C N Trueman "Military Developments In The Thirty Years' War" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 25 Mar 2015. </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-61">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">White, Matthew. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://necrometrics.com/pre1700a.htm#30YrW">"The Thirty Years' War (1618-48)".</a> Necrometrics. ND.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-westpeace-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-westpeace_62-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e739">Westphalia, Peace of</a> Bardo Fassbender, <i>Oxford Public International Law</i>, Feb. 2011 (section B10) </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-63">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/19.htm">Germany: The Age of Enlightened Absolutism, 1648-1789</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-prusi-64"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-prusi_64-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/20.htm">Germany: Austria and Prussia</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-65"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-65">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/kingdom-prussia-founded">The Kingdom of Prussia is Founded</a>. <i>History Today.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-66"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-66">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.heritage-history.com/index.php?c=read&author=finnemore&book=germany&story=prussia">Rise of Prussia</a>. <i>Heritage History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-67"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-67">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/german-history-biographies/frederick-william-i">Frederick William I (Prussia) (1688–1740; Ruled 1713–1740)</a>. <i>Encyclopedia.com</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-68"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-68">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatic_Sanction_of_1713" class="extiw" title="wp:Pragmatic Sanction of 1713" rel="nofollow">Pragmatic Sanction of 1713</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-69"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-69">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.heritage-history.com/index.php?c=read&author=finnemore&book=germany&story=frederick">Frederick the Great</a>. <i>Heritage History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-enlgabs-70"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-enlgabs_70-0">70.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-enlgabs_70-1">70.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-enlgabs_70-2">70.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.albert.io/blog/ultimate-guide-enlightened-absolutists-ap-euro-history/">The Ultimate Guide to Enlightened Absolutists for AP® European History</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-71"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-71">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/20.htm">Germany: Austria and Prussia</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-smallstate-72"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-smallstate_72-0">72.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-smallstate_72-1">72.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/21.htm">Germany: The Smaller States</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-73"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-73">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_architecture" class="extiw" title="wp:Baroque architecture" rel="nofollow">Baroque architecture</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-74"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-74">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Partitions-of-Poland">Partitions of Poland</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-75"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-75">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Sheehan, James J. (1989). <i>German History: 1770–1866</i>. pp. 75, 207–291, 291–323, 324–371, 802–820.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-76"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-76">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette" class="extiw" title="wp:Marie Antoinette" rel="nofollow">Marie Antoinette</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-77"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-77">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Pillnitz" class="extiw" title="wp:Declaration of Pillnitz" rel="nofollow">Declaration of Pillnitz</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-78"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-78">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/french-revolutionary-wars-1221703">War of the First Coalition in 1790s France</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-79"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-79">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Wilson, Peter H. (2009). "The Meaning of Empire in Central Europe around 1800". In Forrest, Alan; Wilson, Peter H. (eds.). <i>The Bee and the Eagle: Napoleonic France and the End of the Holy Roman Empire, 1806</i>. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-00893-9. p. 26.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-80"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-80">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/articles/prussia-the-third-coalition-and-the-battle-of-austerlitz/">Prussia – the Third Coalition and the Battle of Austerlitz</a>. <i>Foundation Napoleon.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-81"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-81">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Austerlitz" class="extiw" title="wp:Battle of Austerlitz" rel="nofollow">Battle of Austerlitz</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-82"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-82">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Pressburg_(1805)" class="extiw" title="wp:Peace of Pressburg (1805)" rel="nofollow">Peace of Pressburg (1805)</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-83"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-83">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/end-holy-roman-empire">The End of the Holy Roman Empire</a>. <i>History Today.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-84"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-84">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/22.htm">The French Revolution and Germany</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-85"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-85">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Vienna" class="extiw" title="wp:Congress of Vienna" rel="nofollow">Congress of Vienna</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-86"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-86">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/23.htm">The German Confederation, 1815-66</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-87"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-87">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/Results-of-the-Congress-of-Vienna">Germany: Results of the Congress of Vienna</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-88"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-88">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1806fichte.asp">Johann Gottlieb Fichte: To the German Nation, 1806</a>. Internet History Sourcebooks, <i>Fordham University.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-89"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-89">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/german-unification/#:~:text=Unification%20of%20Germany,Palace%20of%20Versailles%20in%20France.">German Unification</a>. <i>Lumen Learning.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-90"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-90">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/24.htm">Germany: Economic and Political Trends Toward Unification</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-csrev-91"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-csrev_91-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/25.htm">The Revolutions of 1848</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-92"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-92">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Frankfurt-National-Assembly">Frankfurt National Assembly</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-93"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-93">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-german-revolutions-of-1848/">The German Revolutions of 1848</a>. <i>Lumen Learning.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-marx-94"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-marx_94-0">94.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-marx_94-1">94.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.biography.com/scholar/karl-marx">Karl Marx</a>. <i>Biography.com</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-engels-95"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-engels_95-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-revolutionary-socialist-200-years-of-friedrich-engels/a-55718299">The revolutionary socialist: 200 years of Friedrich Engels</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-96"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-96">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Question" class="extiw" title="wp:German Question" rel="nofollow">German Question</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-97"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-97">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z8r8d2p/revision/7">Grossdeutschland or Kleindeutschland</a>. <i>BBC History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-98"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-98">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1866/07/01/79809602.pdf">The Situation of Germany</a>". (<a href="/w/index.php?title=Portable_Document_Format&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Portable Document Format (page does not exist)">PDF</a>) <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_York_Times" title="The New York Times">The New York Times</a></i>, July 1, 1866.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-99"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-99">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Hollyday, F. B. M. (1970). <i>Bismarck</i>. Great Lives Observed. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-077362-3. pp. 16–18.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-100"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-100">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/27.htm">Germany: Bismarck and Unification</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-101"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-101">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/misc/57jnvu.htm#:~:text=In%20November%201863%2C%20the%20death,and%20Prussian%20armies%20invaded%20Denmark">https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/misc/57jnvu.htm#:~:text=In%20November%201863%2C%20the%20death,and%20Prussian%20armies%20invaded%20Denmark</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-slesg-102"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-slesg_102-0">102.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-slesg_102-1">102.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2018/03/1864-a-history-of-the-second-schleswig-war.html">1864: A History of the Second Schleswig War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-103"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-103">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiel_Canal" class="extiw" title="wp:Kiel Canal" rel="nofollow">Kiel Canal</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-104"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-104">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/German-Danish-War/War-and-the-final-settlement-of-the-Schleswig-Holstein-question">German-Danish War</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-105"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-105">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Italian_War_of_Independence" class="extiw" title="wp:Third Italian War of Independence" rel="nofollow">Third Italian War of Independence</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-106"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-106">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austro-Prussian_War" class="extiw" title="wp:Austro-Prussian War" rel="nofollow">Austro-Prussian War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-107"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-107">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Seven-Weeks-War">Seven Weeks War</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-108"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-108">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austro-Prussian_War" class="extiw" title="wp:Austro-Prussian War" rel="nofollow">Austro-Prussian War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-frnzjoi-109"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-frnzjoi_109-0">109.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-frnzjoi_109-1">109.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_austro_prussian.html">Austro-Prussian/ Seven Weeks War, June-August 1866</a>. <i>History of War.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-110"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-110">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">James Minahan. One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups. Greenwood Publishing Group, Ltd., 2000. P. 106.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-111"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-111">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ems_Dispatch" class="extiw" title="wp:Ems Dispatch" rel="nofollow">Ems Dispatch</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-112"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-112">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Howard, Michael. <i>The Franco-Prussian War</i>. New York: Dorset Press. 1990 (originally published in 1961). ISBN 0-88029-432-9 p. 55.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-fpwar-113"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-fpwar_113-0">113.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-fpwar_113-1">113.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Franco-German-War">Franco-German War</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-114"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-114">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.napoleon.org/en/young-historians/napodoc/napoleon-iii-emperor-of-the-french-1808-1873/">Napoleon III, Emperor of the French</a>. <i>Napoleon.org</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-willyquotesii-115"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-willyquotesii_115-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor">Wilhelm II, German Emperor.</a> <i>Wikiquote.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-116"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-116">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_I,_German_Emperor">William I, German Emperor</a>. <i>Wikiquote.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-117"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-117">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/key-dates/proclamation-german-empire-1871">Proclamation of the German Empire, 1871</a>. <i>Chateau de Versailles.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-118"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-118">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_German_Empire" class="extiw" title="wp:Constitution of the German Empire" rel="nofollow">Constitution of the German Empire</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-119"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-119">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/governments_parliaments_and_parties_germany">Governments, Parliaments and Parties (Germany)</a>. <i>International Encyclopedia of the First World War.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-gergov-120"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-gergov_120-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/28.htm">Imperial Germany</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-bis-121"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-bis_121-0">121.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-bis_121-1">121.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/Germany-from-1871-to-1918#ref58193">Germany: Domestic concerns</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-kk-122"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-kk_122-0">122.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-kk_122-1">122.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-kk_122-2">122.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Kulturkampf">Kulturkampf</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-123"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-123">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1843">Anti-Socialist Law (October 21, 1878)</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-reform-124"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-reform_124-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/bismarck-tried-end-socialisms-grip-offering-government-healthcare-180964064/">Bismarck Tried to End Socialism’s Grip—By Offering Government Healthcare</a>. <i>Smithsonian Magazine.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-125"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-125">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ssa.gov/history/ottob.html">Otto von Bismarck</a>. US Social Security Administration.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Impafrica-126"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-Impafrica_126-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195337709.001.0001/acref-9780195337709-e-0467">Berlin Conference of 1884–1885</a> Oxford Reference</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-127"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-127">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dw.com/en/130-years-ago-carving-up-africa-in-berlin/a-18278894">130 years ago: carving up Africa in Berlin</a> Fischer, Hilke. <i>Deutsche Welle</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-128"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-128">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cameroon/German-Kamerun-1884-1916">German Kamerun (1884–1916)</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-129"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-129">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-review/article/they-handle-negroes-just-like-us-german-colonialism-in-cameroon-in-the-eyes-of-poles-18851914/8DCAC307DE211913841C181F474BC33E">‘They Handle Negroes Just Like Us’: German Colonialism in Cameroon in the Eyes of Poles (1885–1914)</a>. Cambridge.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-namibwar-130"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-namibwar_130-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/German-Herero-conflict-of-1904-1907">German-Herero conflict of 1904–07</a> <i>Britannica</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-131"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-131">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/25/germany-moves-to-atone-for-forgotten-genocide-in-namibia">Germany moves to atone for 'forgotten genocide' in Namibia</a> Burke, Jason. <i>The Guardian</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-132"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-132">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/world/africa/germany-genocide-namibia-holocaust.html">Germany Grapples With Its African Genocide</a> Onishi Norimitsu. <i>New York Times</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-gergenocide-133"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gergenocide_133-0">133.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gergenocide_133-1">133.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/telling-truth-about-germans-colonial-history/">Ending the silence around German colonialism</a>. <i>Open Democracy.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-134"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-134">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Röhl, John C.G. (2014). <i>Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise Life</i>. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP. p. 44. ISBN 9781107072251.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-135"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-135">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Alsace-Lorraine">Alsace-Lorraine</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-136"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-136">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> Taylor, A.J.P. (1988). <i>Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman</i>. Hamish Hamilton. p. 133. ISBN 0-241-11565-5.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-137"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-137">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=778">Terminating the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia (1890)</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-138"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-138">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.csmonitor.com/1984/1203/120313.html">How an ill-considered pact brought war, </a><a href="/wiki/Dictatorship" title="Dictatorship">dictatorship</a>, and the bomb; The Fateful Alliance: France, Russia, and the Coming of the First World War. <i>Christian Science Monitor.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-139"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-139">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/naval_race_between_germany_and_great_britain_1898-1912">Naval Race between Germany and Great Britain, 1898-1912</a>. <i>International Encyclopedia of the First World War.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-140"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-140">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Moroccan-crises">Moroccan crises</a>. <i>Britannica</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-141"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-141">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Entente-Cordiale">Entente Cordiale</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-142"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-142">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Gvosdev, Nikolas; Marsh, Christopher (2013). <i>Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors, and Sectors</i>. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press. p. 241. ISBN 9781452234847.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-143"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-143">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin%E2%80%93Baghdad_railway" class="extiw" title="wp:Berlin–Baghdad railway" rel="nofollow">Berlin–Baghdad railway</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-fhistel-144"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-fhistel_144-0">144.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-fhistel_144-1">144.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-3/last-ditch-effort-prevent-war">A Last-Ditch Effort to Prevent a War</a>. <i>Facing History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-countdown-145"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-countdown_145-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/58008/wwi-centennial-austria-hungary-rejects-serbias-response">Austria-Hungary Rejects Serbia’s Response</a>. <i>Mentalfloss.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-146"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-146">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/58047/wwi-centennial-austria-hungary-declares-war-serbia">Austria-Hungary Declares War on Serbia</a>. <i>Mentalfloss.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-147"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-147">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-von-Schlieffen">Alfred von Schlieffen</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-148"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-148">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Schlieffen-Plan">Schlieffen Plan</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-149"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-149">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_the_Marne" class="extiw" title="wp:First Battle of the Marne" rel="nofollow">First Battle of the Marne</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-150"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-150">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_to_the_Sea" class="extiw" title="wp:Race to the Sea" rel="nofollow">Race to the Sea</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-151"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-151">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/trench-warfare">Trench warfare</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-152"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-152">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/trenches-in-world-war-i-1779981">History of Trench Warfare in World War I</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-153"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-153">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-british-naval-blockade-of-the-first-world-war">What You Need To Know About The British Naval Blockade Of The First World War</a>. Imperial War Museum.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-154"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-154">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/submarines_and_submarine_warfare">Submarines and Submarine Warfare</a>. By Mark D. Karau. <i>International Encyclopedia of the First World War.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-155"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-155">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lusitania-British-ship">Lusitania</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-156"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-156">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnip_Winter" class="extiw" title="wp:Turnip Winter" rel="nofollow">Turnip Winter</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-157"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-157">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war_losses_germany">War Losses (Germany)</a>. <i>International Encyclopedia of the First World War.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-158"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-158">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">[<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/kiel_mutiny">https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/kiel_mutiny</a> Kiel Mutiny]. <i>International Encyclopedia of the First World War</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-159"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-159">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_State_of_Bavaria" class="extiw" title="wp:People's State of Bavaria" rel="nofollow">People's State of Bavaria</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-germanrevolution-160"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-germanrevolution_160-0">160.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-germanrevolution_160-1">160.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-germanrevolution_160-2">160.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/german-revolution/">The German Revolution</a>. <i>Alpha History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-161"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-161">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/spartacist-uprising/">The Spartacist uprising</a>. <i>Alpha History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-162"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-162">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Rudin, Harry Rudolph (1967). <i>Armistice, 1918</i>. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 389.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-versailles-163"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-versailles_163-0">163.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-versailles_163-1">163.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-versailles_163-2">163.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919">Treaty of Versailles</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-versii-164"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-versii_164-0">164.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-versii_164-1">164.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles" class="extiw" title="wp:Treaty of Versailles" rel="nofollow">Treaty of Versailles</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-165"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-165">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.facinghistory.org/weimar-republic-fragility-democracy/readings/why-study-weimar-germany">Why Study Weimar Germany?</a> <i>Facing History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-166"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-166">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Weimar-Republic">Weimar Republic</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-167"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-167">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapp_Putsch" class="extiw" title="wp:Kapp Putsch" rel="nofollow">Kapp Putsch</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-168"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-168">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/35.htm">The Weimar Republic, 1918-33</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-169"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-169">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weimar-germany-hyperinflation-explained-2013-9#the-inflations-roots-were-in-world-war-one-which-germany-financed-with-outsized-budget-deficits-1">WEIMAR: The Truth About History's Most Infamous Hyperinflation Horror Story</a>. <i>Business Insider.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-170"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-170">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9y64j6/revision/5">The Weimar Republic 1918-1929</a>. <i>BBC.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-171"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-171">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_the_Weimar_Republic" class="extiw" title="wp:Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic" rel="nofollow">Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-172"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-172">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/37.htm">Germany: The Stresemann Era</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-nodem-173"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-nodem_173-0">173.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-nodem_173-1">173.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-nodem_173-2">173.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/36.htm">Germany: Problems of Parliamentary Politics</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-174"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-174">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/political-violence-in-weimar-germany/">Political violence in Weimar Germany</a>. <i>Alpha History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-weisex-175"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-weisex_175-0">175.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-weisex_175-1">175.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-weimar-republic">The Weimar Republic</a>. <i>US Holocaust Memorial Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-176"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-176">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft" class="extiw" title="wp:Institut für Sexualwissenschaft" rel="nofollow">Institut für Sexualwissenschaft</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-177"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-177">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Berber" class="extiw" title="wp:Anita Berber" rel="nofollow">Anita Berber</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-dap-178"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-dap_178-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/joins.htm">Hitler Joins German Workers' Party</a>. <i>The History Place.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-hrisei-179"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-hrisei_179-0">179.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-hrisei_179-1">179.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z98gxsg/revision/1">The Nazi Party 1919-1929</a>. <i>BBC</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-180"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-180">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch" class="extiw" title="wp:Beer Hall Putsch" rel="nofollow">Beer Hall Putsch</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-181"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-181">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_German_presidential_election" class="extiw" title="wp:1932 German presidential election" rel="nofollow">1932 German presidential election</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-182"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-182">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Evans, Richard J. (2005). <i>The Third Reich in Power.</i> Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-303790-0. p. 14</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-rfire-183"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-rfire_183-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-reichstag-fire-and-nazis-rise-power-180962240/">The True Story of the Reichstag Fire and the Nazi Rise to Power</a>. <i>Smithsonian Magazine.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-184"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-184">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/reichstag-fire-decree">Reichstag Fire Decree</a>. <i>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-enabling-185"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-enabling_185-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-enabling-act">The Enabling Act</a>. <i>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-nazicc-186"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-nazicc_186-0">186.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-nazicc_186-1">186.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/political-prisoners">Political prisoners</a>. <i>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-dachau-187"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-dachau_187-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/dachau">Dachau</a>. <i>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-188"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-188">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Overy, Richard (2005). <i>The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia</i>. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-393-02030-4. p. 63</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-189"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-189">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Evans, Richard J. (2005). <i>The Third Reich in Power</i>. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-303790-3. p. 44</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-gl-190"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gl_190-0">190.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gl_190-1">190.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gl_190-2">190.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/de-gleichschaltung.htm">Gleichschaltung [coordination</a>.] <i>GlobalSecurity.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-191"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-191">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Benz, Wolfgang (2007). <i>A Concise History of the Third Reich</i>. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52025-383-4. p. 34</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-192"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-192">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleichschaltung" class="extiw" title="wp:Gleichschaltung" rel="nofollow">Gleichschaltung</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-193"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-193">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Evans, Richard J. (2005). <i>The Third Reich in Power.</i> Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-303790-0. p. 14</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-194"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-194">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lgbtq-institute-in-germany-was-burned-down-by-nazis">LGBTQ Institute in Germany Was Burned Down by Nazis</a>. <i>Teen Vogue.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-195"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-195">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Jungvolk" class="extiw" title="wp:Deutsches Jungvolk" rel="nofollow">Deutsches Jungvolk</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-196"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-196">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_German_Girls" class="extiw" title="wp:League of German Girls" rel="nofollow">League of German Girls</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-culti-197"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-culti_197-0">197.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-culti_197-1">197.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/making-a-leader">Making a Leader</a>. <i>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-198"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-198">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_salute" class="extiw" title="wp:Nazi salute" rel="nofollow">Nazi salute</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-199"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-199">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinkel_He_111" class="extiw" title="wp:Heinkel He 111" rel="nofollow">Heinkel He 111</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-200"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-200">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Weinberg, Gerhard (1970). <i>The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Diplomatic Revolution in Europe 1933–1936</i>. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-88509-4. p. 26-27</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-201"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-201">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Carr, William (1972). <i>Arms, Autarky and Aggression.</i> London: Edward Arnold. ISBN 978-0-7131-5668-3. p. 23</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-rearm-202"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-rearm_202-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-7/rearming-germany">Rearming Germany</a>. <i>Facing History and Ourselves.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-203"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-203">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Year_Plan" class="extiw" title="wp:Four Year Plan" rel="nofollow">Four Year Plan</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-204"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-204">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mefo_bills" class="extiw" title="wp:Mefo bills" rel="nofollow">Mefo bills</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-205"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-205">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Shirer, William L. (1960). <i>The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich</i>. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0. p. 259–260</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-206"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-206">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Shirer, William L. (1960). <i>The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich</i>. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0. p. 262</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-207"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-207">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-we-call-axis-powers-axis-powers-180960980/">Why We Call the Axis Powers the 'Axis Powers'</a> by Jason Daley. <i>Smithsonian.com</i> 2016 Nov 1</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-208"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-208">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/anschluss">Anschluss</a>. US Holocaust Memorial Museum.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-209"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-209">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Agreement">Munich Agreement</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-210"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-210">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Czechoslovakia" class="extiw" title="wp:German occupation of Czechoslovakia" rel="nofollow">German occupation of Czechoslovakia</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-nli-211"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-nli_211-0">211.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-nli_211-1">211.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-nli_211-2">211.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-nuremberg-laws/">The Nuremberg Laws</a>. <i>My Jewish Learning.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-nlii-212"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-nlii_212-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Laws" class="extiw" title="wp:Nuremberg Laws" rel="nofollow">Nuremberg Laws</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-knt-213"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-knt_213-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht" class="extiw" title="wp:Kristallnacht" rel="nofollow">Kristallnacht</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-214"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-214">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht">Kristallnacht</a>. <i>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-215"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-215">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ww2today.com/the-gleiwitz-incident-and-the-first-man-to-die-in-world-war-ii">The Gleiwitz incident: the ‘first man to die’ in the War</a>. <i>World War Two Today</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-216"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-216">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler%27s_Obersalzberg_Speech" class="extiw" title="wp:Hitler's Obersalzberg Speech" rel="nofollow">Hitler's Obersalzberg Speech</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-217"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-217">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_in_occupied_Poland_during_World_War_II" class="extiw" title="wp:War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II" rel="nofollow">War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-218"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-218">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/8-things-need-know-1940-rotterdam-terror-bombing-m.html">The WW2 Bombing That Flattened The Heart Of Rotterdam</a>. <i>War History Online.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-219"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-219">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Loyd E. Lee and Robin D. S. Higham, eds. (1997). <i>World War II in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with General Sources: A Handbook of Literature and Research</i>. Greenwood. p. 277. ISBN 9780313293252.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-220"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-220">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Paradis_massacre" class="extiw" title="wp:Le Paradis massacre" rel="nofollow">Le Paradis massacre</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-221"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-221">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wormhoudt_massacre" class="extiw" title="wp:Wormhoudt massacre" rel="nofollow">Wormhoudt massacre</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-222"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-222">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005429">Holocaust Encyclopedia: France</a> <i>US Holocaust Memorial Museum</i> ND</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-223"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-223">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz" class="extiw" title="wp:The Blitz" rel="nofollow">The Blitz</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-224"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-224">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalplan_Ost" class="extiw" title="wp:Generalplan Ost" rel="nofollow">Generalplan Ost</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-barbd-225"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-barbd_225-0">225.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-barbd_225-1">225.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarossa_decree" class="extiw" title="wp:Barbarossa decree" rel="nofollow">Barbarossa decree</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-226"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-226">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khatyn_massacre" class="extiw" title="wp:Khatyn massacre" rel="nofollow">Khatyn massacre</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-227"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-227">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Alexander von Plato, Almut Leh, Christoph Thonfeld (2010). <i>Hitler's Slaves: Life Stories of Forced Labourers in Nazi-Occupied Europe.</i> Berghahn Books. ISBN 1845459903.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-228"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-228">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080513113925/http://www.wprost.pl/ar/105285/Seksualne-niewolnice-III-Rzeszy/">Sexual slaves of the Third Reich</a>. <i>Wprost 24.</i> Archived.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-229"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-229">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_birthing_centres_for_foreign_workers" class="extiw" title="wp:Nazi birthing centres for foreign workers" rel="nofollow">Nazi birthing centres for foreign workers</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-230"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-230">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/einsatzgruppen">Einsatzgruppen</a>. <i>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-holocaust-231"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-holocaust_231-0">231.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-holocaust_231-1">231.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-holocaust_231-2">231.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/killing-centers-an-overview">Killing Centers</a>. <i>United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-232"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-232">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_van" class="extiw" title="wp:Gas van" rel="nofollow">Gas van</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-233"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-233">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Black, Jeremy (2016). <i>The Holocaust: History and Memory</i>. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-02214-1.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-234"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-234">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonderkommando" class="extiw" title="wp:Sonderkommando" rel="nofollow">Sonderkommando</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-hleader-235"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-hleader_235-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/hitler_commander_01.shtml">Hitler's Leadership Style</a>. <i>BBC.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-236"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-236">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmedy_massacre" class="extiw" title="wp:Malmedy massacre" rel="nofollow">Malmedy massacre</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-237"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-237">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardenne_Abbey_massacre" class="extiw" title="wp:Ardenne Abbey massacre" rel="nofollow">Ardenne Abbey massacre</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-238"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-238">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulle_massacre" class="extiw" title="wp:Tulle massacre" rel="nofollow">Tulle massacre</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-239"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-239">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane_massacre" class="extiw" title="wp:Oradour-sur-Glane massacre" rel="nofollow">Oradour-sur-Glane massacre</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-240"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-240">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_war_crimes_in_Italy" class="extiw" title="wp:Axis war crimes in Italy" rel="nofollow">Axis war crimes in Italy</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-cps-241"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-cps_241-0">241.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-cps_241-1">241.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ultimatehistoryproject.com/child-soldiers.html">Child Soldiers in WWII</a>. <i>The Ultimate History Project.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-242"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-242">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/research/centres/warstateandsociety/projects/bombing/germany/">Bombing, States and Peoples in Western Europe 1940-1945</a>. <i>University of Exeter.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-243"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-243">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/bombing-berlin-biggest-wartime-raid-hitlers-capital">Bombing Berlin: The Biggest Wartime Raid on Hitler's Capital</a>. <i>National World War II Museum.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-244"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-244">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.military-history.org/cover-feature/the-battle-of-berlin.htm">The Battle of Berlin</a>. <i>Military History Matters.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-245"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-245">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://alphahistory.com/holocaust/german-civilians-buchenwald-1945/">German Civilians are Forced to Tour Buchenwald</a>. <i>Alpha History.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-246"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-246">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/3.htm#1945">1945 to 1990</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-247"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-247">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/44.htm">Postwar Occupation and Division</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-248"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-248">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/denazification-2">World War II: Denazification</a>. <i>Jewish Virtual Library.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-ntrials-249"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-ntrials_249-0">249.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-ntrials_249-1">249.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/45.htm">Germany: The Nuremberg Trials</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-bizone-250"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-bizone_250-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/47.htm">Germany: The Bizone</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-251"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-251">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan" class="extiw" title="wp:Marshall Plan" rel="nofollow">Marshall Plan</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-252"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-252">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Berlin-blockade">Berlin blockade</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-253"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-253">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/Formation-of-the-Federal-Republic-of-Germany">Formation of the Federal Republic of Germany</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-bonnrep-254"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-bonnrep_254-0">254.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-bonnrep_254-1">254.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/48.htm">The Federal Republic of Germany</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-255"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-255">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Reich_Party" class="extiw" title="wp:Socialist Reich Party" rel="nofollow">Socialist Reich Party</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-256"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-256">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/Formation-of-the-German-Democratic-Republic">Formation of the German Democratic Republic</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-257"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-257">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany" class="extiw" title="wp:Socialist Unity Party of Germany" rel="nofollow">Socialist Unity Party of Germany</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-gdr-258"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gdr_258-0">258.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-gdr_258-1">258.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/49.htm">The German Democratic Republic</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-stasip-259"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-stasip_259-0">259.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-stasip_259-1">259.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/20/enemies-everywhere-photos-show-absurdity-life-under-stasi-east-germany">Enemies everywhere: photos show absurdity of life under the Stasi</a>. <i>The Guardian.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-260"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-260">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zersetzung" class="extiw" title="wp:Zersetzung" rel="nofollow">Zersetzung</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-261"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-261">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.wired.com/2010/10/phillip-lohoefener/">House of Horror: Inside the Infamous Stasi Prison</a>. <i>Wired.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-262"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-262">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Grix, Jonathan; Cooke, Paul (2003). <i>East German Distinctiveness in a Unified Germany</i>. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-902459-17-2.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-bwalli-263"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-bwalli_263-0">263.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-bwalli_263-1">263.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.berlin.de/mauer/en/history/construction-of-the-berlin-wall/">The construction of the Berlin Wall</a>. <i>Berlin.de</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-264"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-264">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-the-berlin-wall/2014/10/30/f6cf1bc4-5df7-11e4-9f3a-7e28799e0549_story.html">Five myths about the Berlin Wall</a>. <i>Washington Post.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-265"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-265">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Berlin-Wall">Berlin Wall</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-266"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-266">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/order-to-shoot-50.html">Order to Shoot</a>. <i>Berlin Wall Memorial.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-267"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-267">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/todesopfer-240.html">Fatalities at the Berlin Wall</a>. <i>Berlin Wall Memorial.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-268"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-268">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.kfw.de/stories/society/social-cohesion/30-years-iron-curtain/">The inner-German border</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-269"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-269">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/why-germanys-1968-movement-has-not-failed/a-42956603">Why Germany's 1968 movement has not failed</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-stuproti-270"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-stuproti_270-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~schen20m/classweb/ulrikemeinhof/68.htm">Germany in 1968</a>. <i>Mount Holyoke College</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-shah-271"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-shah_271-0">271.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-shah_271-1">271.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/1968-the-year-of-cultural-revolution-in-postwar-germany/a-43643818">1968: The year of cultural revolution in postwar Germany</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-stuprotdw-272"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-stuprotdw_272-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/68-movement-brought-lasting-changes-to-german-society/a-3257581">'68 Movement brought lasting changes to German society</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-273"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-273">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Georg_Kiesinger" class="extiw" title="wp:Kurt Georg Kiesinger" rel="nofollow">Kurt Georg Kiesinger</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-274"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-274">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/nazi-hunter-beate-klarsfeld-to-receive-top-german-honor/a-18449565">'Nazi hunter' Beate Klarsfeld to receive top German honor</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-275"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-275">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Bachmann" class="extiw" title="wp:Josef Bachmann" rel="nofollow">Josef Bachmann</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-protconv-276"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-protconv_276-0">276.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-protconv_276-1">276.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://theconversation.com/organizing-a-student-protest-have-a-look-at-1970s-germany-52424">Organizing a student protest? Have a look at 1970s Germany</a>. <i>The Conversation.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-277"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-277">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_Hungary%27s_border_fence_with_Austria" class="extiw" title="wp:Removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria" rel="nofollow">Removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-278"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-278">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Childs, David (2001). 'The fall of the GDR<i>. London: Pearson Education Ltd. ISBN 0-582-31568-9. p. 67</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-279"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-279">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Meyer, Michael (2009). <i>The Year that Changed the World</i>. New York City: Scribner. ISBN 978-1-4165-5845-3. p. 122</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-280"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-280">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_demonstrations_in_East_Germany" class="extiw" title="wp:Monday demonstrations in East Germany" rel="nofollow">Monday demonstrations in East Germany</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-281"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-281">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Childs, David (2001). 'The fall of the GDR<i>. London: Pearson Education Ltd. ISBN 0-582-31568-9. p. 75</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-282"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-282">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter_Schabowski" class="extiw" title="wp:Günter Schabowski" rel="nofollow">Günter Schabowski</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-283"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-283">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Berlin_Wall" class="extiw" title="wp:Fall of the Berlin Wall" rel="nofollow">Fall of the Berlin Wall</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-284"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-284">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_East_German_general_election" class="extiw" title="wp:1990 East German general election" rel="nofollow">1990 East German general election</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-285"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-285">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/30/angela-merkel-great-migrant-gamble-paid-off">How Angela Merkel’s great migrant gamble paid off</a>. <i>The Guardian.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-reinteg-286"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-reinteg_286-0">286.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-reinteg_286-1">286.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://germanculture.com.ua/germany-history/the-reunification-of-germany-and-its-aftermath/">The Reunification of Germany and Its Aftermath</a>. <i>German Culture.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-287"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-287">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.marketplace.org/2019/11/05/itemizing-germanys-2-trillion-bill-for-reunification/">Itemizing Germany’s $2 trillion bill for reunification</a>. <i>Marketplace.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-288"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-288">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Lemke, Christiane (2010). "Germany's EU Policy: The Domestic Discourse". <i>German Studies Review</i>. 33 (3): 503–516. JSTOR 20787989.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-289"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-289">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-to-extend-afghanistan-military-mission/a-47501552">Germany to extend Afghanistan military mission</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-290"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-290">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-08-31/five-years-after-migrant-crisis-integration-germany-succeeding-policy-analyst">Five years after migrant crisis, integration in Germany is succeeding, policy analyst says</a>. <i>Public Radio International.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-const-291"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-const_291-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/150.htm">Germany: The Constitution</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-292"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-292">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundestag" class="extiw" title="wp:Bundestag" rel="nofollow">Bundestag</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-293"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-293">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesrat_of_Germany" class="extiw" title="wp:Bundesrat of Germany" rel="nofollow">Bundesrat of Germany</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-294"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-294">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/152.htm">Germany: The President</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-295"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-295">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_of_Germany" class="extiw" title="wp:Chancellor of Germany" rel="nofollow">Chancellor of Germany</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-296"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-296">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/germany/151.htm">Germany: Federalism</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-297"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-297">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/cdu-christian-democratic-union/t-17351950">CDU, Christian Democratic Union</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-298"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-298">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-Social-Union">Christian Social Union</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-299"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-299">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-Democratic-Union-political-party-Germany">Christian Democratic Union</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-300"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-300">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Social-Democratic-Party-of-Germany">Social Democratic Party of Germany</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-301"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-301">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-spds-simmering-identity-crisis-erupts/a-49038032">Germany: SPD's simmering identity crisis erupts</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-302"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-302">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/cdu-csu-spd-afd-fdp-left-greens/a-38085900">Germany's political parties — what you need to know</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-303"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-303">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-france-to-launch-multilateralism-alliance/a-48172961">Germany, France to launch multilateralism alliance</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-304"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-304">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_government-debt_crisis#Germany.27s_role_in_Greece" class="extiw" title="wp:Greek government-debt crisis" rel="nofollow">Greek government-debt crisis § Germany's role in Greece</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-305"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-305">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/germany-and-europe/advocate-european-integration">Advocate of European integration</a>. <i>Facts About Germany.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-306"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-306">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/08/06/germany-floats-a-new-nato-spending-yardstick-10-percent/">Germany floats a new NATO spending yardstick: 10 percent</a>. <i>Defense News.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-307"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-307">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-reports-record-53-billion-in-nato-defense-spending/a-56491017">Germany reports record €53 billion in NATO defense spending</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-308"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-308">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_casualties_in_Afghanistan" class="extiw" title="wp:Coalition casualties in Afghanistan" rel="nofollow">Coalition casualties in Afghanistan</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-wolfsbrig-309"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-wolfsbrig_309-0">309.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-wolfsbrig_309-1">309.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://apnews.com/article/germany-bans-far-right-pro-nazi-group-2129b08825bbc2a60d23059a4f36ee28">Germany bans far-right, pro-Nazi group; Police raid homes</a>. <i>Associated Press.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-310"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-310">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/8/16/16152088/nazi-swastikas-germany-charlottesville">Why you see swastikas in America but not Germany</a>. <i>Vox.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-311"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-311">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a#Anti-fascism_symbols" class="extiw" title="wp:Strafgesetzbuch section 86a" rel="nofollow">Strafgesetzbuch section 86a § Anti-fascism symbols</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-312"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-312">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://psmag.com/news/neo-nazis-and-defensive-democracy-37955">Neo-Nazis and "Defensive Democracy".</a> <i>Pacific Standard.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-313"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-313">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confederate-flag-europe-trump-poland_n_5968a317e4b017418626ab5e">This Is Why You’re Seeing The Confederate Flag Across Europe</a>. <i>Huffington Post.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-314"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-314">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Democratic_Party_of_Germany" class="extiw" title="wp:National Democratic Party of Germany" rel="nofollow">National Democratic Party of Germany</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-315"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-315">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/9/29/how-east-germany-became-a-stronghold-of-the-far-right">How East Germany became a stronghold of the far right</a>. <i>Al Jazeera.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-316"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-316">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/02/europe/nazi-emergency-dresden-grm-intl/index.html">German city of Dresden declares ‘Nazi emergency’</a>. <i>CNN.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-317"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-317">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/30-years-fall-berlin-wall-wing-extremism-rise/story?id=66670250">30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, right-wing extremism is on the rise as the East lags behind</a>. <i>ABC News.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-318"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-318">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/far-right-german-politician-slams-country-s-culture-of-remembering-nazi-crimes-1.5487340">Far-right German Politician Slams Country's 'Culture of Remembering Nazi Crimes'</a>. <i>Haaretz.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-319"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-319">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56250460">Germany to spy on far-right AfD party, reports say</a>. <i>BBC News.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-320"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-320">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.npr.org/2020/12/10/943823021/with-far-right-extremism-on-the-rise-germany-investigates-its-police">With Far-Right Extremism On The Rise, Germany Investigates Its Police</a>. <i>NPR.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-321"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-321">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.dw.com/en/right-wing-terror-in-germany-a-timeline/a-52451976">Right-wing terror in Germany: A timeline</a>. <i>Deutsche Welle.</i></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div role="navigation" aria-labelledby="Nations_of_the_world-navigationbox" class="toccolours" style="clear:both; margin:0.5em 3.5%; text-align:center;"> <div style="margin:0.15em; padding:0.1em; background:#ccccff; font-weight:bold;"><span id="Nations_of_the_world-navigationbox"><a href="/wiki/Nation" title="Nation">Nations</a> of the world</span> </div> <div class="hlist" style="font-size: 90%; margin: 0.15em 1.425em;"><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Africa" title="Africa"><b>Africa</b></a>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Algeria" title="Algeria">Algeria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo" title="Democratic Republic of the Congo">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Eritrea" title="Eritrea">Eritrea</a> — <a href="/wiki/ESwatini" title="ESwatini">eSwatini</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ethiopia" title="Ethiopia">Ethiopia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Guinea" title="Guinea">Guinea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kenya" title="Kenya">Kenya</a> — <a href="/wiki/Liberia" title="Liberia">Liberia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Libya" title="Libya">Libya</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mali" title="Mali">Mali</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nigeria" title="Nigeria">Nigeria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Somalia" title="Somalia">Somalia</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sudan" title="Sudan">Sudan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Togo" title="Togo">Togo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uganda" title="Uganda">Uganda</a> — <a href="/wiki/Zimbabwe" title="Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</a> <p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Asia" title="Asia"><b>Asia</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Afghanistan" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Armenia" title="Armenia">Armenia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Azerbaijan" title="Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bahrain" title="Bahrain">Bahrain</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bangladesh" title="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a> — <a href="/wiki/Brunei" title="Brunei">Brunei</a> — <a href="/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burma</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> — <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cyprus" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Georgia_(country)" title="Georgia (country)">Georgia</a> — <a href="/wiki/India" title="India">India</a> — <a href="/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> — <a href="/wiki/Israel" title="Israel">Israel</a> — <a href="/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Jordan" title="Jordan">Jordan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kazakhstan" title="Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kuwait" title="Kuwait">Kuwait</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kyrgyzstan" title="Kyrgyzstan">Kyrgyzstan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a> — <a href="/wiki/Lebanon" title="Lebanon">Lebanon</a> — <a href="/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Maldives" title="Maldives">Maldives</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mongolia" title="Mongolia">Mongolia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nepal" title="Nepal">Nepal</a> — <a href="/wiki/North_Korea" title="North Korea">North Korea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Oman" title="Oman">Oman</a> — <a href="/wiki/Pakistan" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Palestine" title="Palestine">Palestine</a> — <a href="/wiki/Philippines" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> — <a href="/wiki/Qatar" title="Qatar">Qatar</a> — <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Saudi_Arabia" title="Saudi Arabia">Saudi Arabia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Singapore" title="Singapore">Singapore</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Korea" title="South Korea">South Korea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Syria" title="Syria">Syria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Tajikistan" title="Tajikistan">Tajikistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Timor-Leste" title="Timor-Leste">Timor-Leste</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkmenistan" title="Turkmenistan">Turkmenistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates" title="United Arab Emirates">United Arab Emirates</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uzbekistan" title="Uzbekistan">Uzbekistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> — <a href="/wiki/Yemen" title="Yemen">Yemen</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Europe" title="Europe"><b>Europe</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Albania" title="Albania">Albania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Austria" title="Austria">Austria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belarus" title="Belarus">Belarus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belgium" title="Belgium">Belgium</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina" title="Bosnia and Herzegovina">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bulgaria" title="Bulgaria">Bulgaria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Channel_Islands" title="Channel Islands">Channel Islands</a> — <a href="/wiki/Croatia" title="Croatia">Croatia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cyprus" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Czechia" title="Czechia">Czechia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Denmark" title="Denmark">Denmark</a> — <a href="/wiki/Estonia" title="Estonia">Estonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Finland" title="Finland">Finland</a> — <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> — <a class="mw-selflink selflink">Germany</a> — <a href="/wiki/Greece" title="Greece">Greece</a> — <a href="/wiki/Hungary" title="Hungary">Hungary</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iceland" title="Iceland">Iceland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland">Ireland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Isle_of_Man" title="Isle of Man">Isle of Man</a> — <a href="/wiki/Italy" title="Italy">Italy</a> — <a href="/wiki/Latvia" title="Latvia">Latvia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Lithuania" title="Lithuania">Lithuania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Moldova" title="Moldova">Moldova</a> — <a href="/wiki/Netherlands" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> — <a href="/wiki/North_Macedonia" title="North Macedonia">North Macedonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Norway" title="Norway">Norway</a> — <a href="/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Portugal" title="Portugal">Portugal</a> — <a href="/wiki/Romania" title="Romania">Romania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Serbia" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Slovenia" title="Slovenia">Slovenia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sweden" title="Sweden">Sweden</a> — <a href="/wiki/Switzerland" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ukraine" title="Ukraine">Ukraine</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> (<a href="/wiki/England" title="England">England</a>, <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland" title="Northern Ireland">Northern Ireland</a>, <a href="/wiki/Scotland" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a>) — <a href="/wiki/Vatican_City" title="Vatican City">Vatican City</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/North_America" title="North America"><b>North America</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a> — <a href="/wiki/Costa_Rica" title="Costa Rica">Costa Rica</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba">Cuba</a> — <a href="/wiki/El_Salvador" title="El Salvador">El Salvador</a> — <a href="/wiki/Grenada" title="Grenada">Grenada</a> — <a href="/wiki/Haiti" title="Haiti">Haiti</a> — <a href="/wiki/Jamaica" title="Jamaica">Jamaica</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mexico" title="Mexico">Mexico</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nicaragua" title="Nicaragua">Nicaragua</a> — <a href="/wiki/Panama" title="Panama">Panama</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> (<a href="/wiki/Puerto_Rico" class="mw-redirect" title="Puerto Rico">Puerto Rico</a>) <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Oceania" title="Oceania"><b>Oceania</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kiribati" title="Kiribati">Kiribati</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nauru" title="Nauru">Nauru</a> — <a href="/wiki/New_Zealand" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea" title="Papua New Guinea">Papua New Guinea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Pitcairn_Islands" title="Pitcairn Islands">Pitcairn Islands</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/South_America" title="South America"><b>South America</b></a>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Argentina" title="Argentina">Argentina</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Brazil" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> — <a href="/wiki/Chile" title="Chile">Chile</a> (<a href="/wiki/Rapa_Nui" title="Rapa Nui">Rapa Nui</a>) — <a href="/wiki/Colombia" title="Colombia">Colombia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ecuador" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a> — <a href="/wiki/Falkland_Islands" title="Falkland Islands">Falkland Islands</a> (<a href="/wiki/Falkland_Islands" title="Falkland Islands"><small>Malvinas</small></a>)— <a href="/wiki/Paraguay" title="Paraguay">Paraguay</a> — <a href="/wiki/Peru" title="Peru">Peru</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uruguay" title="Uruguay">Uruguay</a> — <a href="/wiki/Venezuela" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><b>Separatist or disputed</b>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Abkhazia" title="Abkhazia">Abkhazia</a> —<a href="/wiki/Catalonia" title="Catalonia">Catalonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Greenland" title="Greenland">Greenland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kashmir" title="Kashmir">Kashmir</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kosovo" title="Kosovo">Kosovo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kurdistan" title="Kurdistan">Kurdistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Micronation" title="Micronation">Micronation</a> — <a href="/wiki/Northern_Cyprus" title="Northern Cyprus">Northern Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sealand" class="mw-redirect" title="Sealand">Sealand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Somaliland" title="Somaliland">Somaliland</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Ossetia" title="South Ossetia">South Ossetia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Taiwan" title="Taiwan">Taiwan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Tibet" title="Tibet">Tibet</a> — <a href="/wiki/Transnistria" title="Transnistria">Transnistria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Western_Sahara" title="Western Sahara">Western Sahara</a> </p> <span style="float:left;"><big><b>Historical</b>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Ancient_Egypt" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belgian_Congo" title="Belgian Congo">Belgian Congo</a> — <a href="/wiki/British_Empire" title="British Empire">British Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America" title="Confederate States of America">Confederate States of America</a> — <a href="/wiki/East_Germany" title="East Germany">East Germany</a> — <a href="/wiki/French_colonial_empire" title="French colonial empire">French colonial empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/German_Empire" title="German Empire">German Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire" title="Holy Roman Empire">Holy Roman Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Imperial_China" title="Imperial China">Imperial China</a> — <a 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