The ancient Romans used the name “Germany” for all the tribes that spoke Germanic languages or dialects. This is where the English word “German” comes from. Deutsch, which is what the Germans call themselves, comes from the root “theodisk,” which meant “the people.” When the Romans ruled the western world, they built fortress towns for their military. From their period of domination in what is now Germany, remnants of Roman architecture remain, especially in cities like Augsburg, Regensburg, Trier and Cologne.
In the Middle Ages, Germany was a patchwork of small states ruled by kings, princes and dukes. These rulers built castles that can still be found all over Germany, especially along the Rhine and Saale rivers. The common people lived in villages that were built outside the castle walls; as in other European countries, the majority were poor peasants who did not own land and had no rights Over the centuries more and more towns were built up and these became flourishing cities. Their citizens were merchants, crafts people, artisans and trades people. Many peasants moved to the towns, too, because they were granted rights there. This movement still lives on in German proverbs such as “Stadtluft macht frei” (urban air frees you).
The 19th century brought industrialization and unification to the German states. In 1871, the German Emperor Wilhelm I and his chancellor Otto von Bismarck unified Germany for the first time. The imperialism of Germany and the other European powers led to the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 At the western front in France, battles soon turned into trench warfare, with enormous losses on both sides. The United States’ entry into the war in 1917 brought the final military defeat of Germany and its ally Austria.
WWI brought about many political changes in Europe. For Germany, it meant becoming a republic (the so-called Weimar Republic of 1919-1933), which resulted in disorder due to conflicting interests and hostile opposition to democracy by parliamentary parties and popular forces as well as severe economic conditions (i.e., high unemployment and hyperinflation). Despite domestic instability, arts and sciences flourished in the “golden twenties,” with Berlin as the nation’s cultural center. During this time, the anti-democratic and anti-Semitic National Socialist movement of Adolf Hitler grew ever stronger. By 1932, it had become the largest single party in Germany and took over the government on January 30, 1933.
Immediately after taking power, Hitler’s regime began to carry out its anti-Semitic program, stripping the Jews first of their civic, then their human rights, later resulting in the deaths of an estimated six million Jews in Europe. With his attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, Hitler unleashed World War II, which lasted five and a half years, and ultimately devastated much of Europe. With total capitulation on May 8, 1945, ultimately brought about by U.S. involvement in the war, the 12 darkest years in Germany’s history ended.
| Workers protest in front of the Brandenburg Gate on June 16, 1953 |  |
For many years following World War II, there were two German states. The Cold War led to the division of Germany into an eastern part, the German Democratic Republic (GDR, also called East Germany), and a western part, the Federal Republic of Germany; a border divided the two sections. The GDR was a product of the Soviet Union. Under its strict system, people made several attempts to gain more freedom: The uprising in June 17, 1953 was especially remarkable and is still seen as central to German postwar history. It was a courageous, vital expression of yearning for freedom, democracy and basic workers’ rights felt throughout East Germany. In 1954, the date was declared the “Day of German Unity,” a national holiday in West Germany and served as an occasion for commemorations of the uprising and hopeful speeches about reunification.
But it was not until 1989 that the mass demonstrations triggered the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the autumn of that year, tens of thousands of East German citizens fled to the West through other countries. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was opened; one year later, on October 3, 1990, East Germany joined West Germany to become one country. Since then October 3 has been Germany’s official national holiday, the “Day of Unity.”
Today, all Germany is a democratic republic. It has a house of representatives,
called the Bundestag and a second chamber, called the Bundesrat, which
represents Germany's 16 federal states. Unlike the U.S., however, the
Federal Republic has both a president, who acts as head of state, and
a chancellor, who runs the federal government.
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In school, we learn a lot about the history of
Germany and the world. I find it very interesting, because it
makes me understand many things – e.g. where traditions
come from and why our politics are the way they are. |
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