German History

The name Germany is used in three senses: first, it refers to the region in Central Europe commonly regarded as constituting Germany, even when there was no central German state, as was the case for most of Germany’s history; second, it refers to the unified German state established in 1871 and existing until 1945; and third, since October 3, 1990, it refers to the united Germany, formed by the accession on this date of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany). The name Federal Republic of Germany refers to West Germany from its founding on May 23, 1949, until German unification on October 3, 1990. After this date, it refers to united Germany. For the sake of brevity and variety, the Federal Republic of Germany is often called simply the Federal Republic.

The Federal Republic of Germany consists of sixteen states (Laender; sing., Land ). Five of these Laender date from July 1990, when the territory of the German Democratic Republic was once again divided into Laender. For this reason, when discussing events since unification, Germans frequently refer to the territory of the former East Germany as the new or eastern Laender and call that of the former West Germany the old or western Laender. For the sake of convenience and variety, the text often follows this convention to distinguish eastern from western Germany.

Spellings of place-names used here are in most cases those approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Exceptions are the use of the conventional English names for a few important cities, rivers, and geographic regions.

German History Timeline

Early German History

Medieval Germany (dynasties):

• the Merovingian,
• the Carolingian,
• the Saxon,
• the Salian,
• the Hohenstaufen, etc.

The Protestant Reformation:

• Martin Luther,
• Resistance to Lutheranism,
• The Peace of Augsburg

The Thirty Years’ War, 1618-48:

• The Counter-Reformation,
• Military Campaigns,
• The Peace of Westphalia

The Age of Enlightened Absolutism, 1648-1789:

• Austria and Prussia,
• The Smaller States

The French Revolution and Germany

The German Confederation, 1815-66:

• Major Trends Toward Unification,
• The Revolutions of 1848,
• The Restoration

Bismarck and the Unification of Germany

Imperial Germany:

• Political Parties,
• The Economy and Population Growth,
• The Tariff Agreement of 1879 and Its Social Consequences,
• Bismarck’s Foreign Policy,
• Foreign Policy in the Wilhelmine Era,
• World War I, etc.

The Weimar Republic, 1918-33:

• Problems of Parliamentary Politics in The Weimar Republic,
• The Stresemann Era,
• Hitler and the Rise of National Socialism

The Third Reich, 1933-45:

• The Consolidation of Power,
• The Third Reich Foreign Policy,
• The Outbreak of World War II,
• Total Mobilization, Resistance, and the Holocaust,
• Defeat

Postwar Occupation and Division:

• The Nuremberg Trials and Denazification,
• Postwar Political Parties in Germany,
• The Birth of the Federal Republic of Germany,
• The Birth of the German Democratic Republic,
• The Creation of the Bizone, etc.

West Germany and the Community of Nations:

• Rearmament,
• Social Market Economy in Germany,
• Ludwig Erhard and the Grand Coalition

The Ulbricht Era, 1949-71:

• Consolidation of the New State,
• Planned Economy,
• The Warsaw Pact and the National People’s Army,
• The Berlin Wall,
• The “Socialist State of the German Nation”

The Social Democratic-Free Democratic Coalition, 1969-82:

• Willy Brandt,
• Ostpolitik,
• Helmut Schmidt,
• The Student Movement and Terrorism,
• The Green Movement (Greens) in Germany

The Christian Democratic/Christian Socialist-Free Democratic Coalition, 1983-

The Honecker Era, 1971-89:

• The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
• The New East German Constitution and the Question of Identity,
• Relations Between the Two Germanys, The Peace Movement and Internal Resistance in GDR,
• The Last Days of East Germany

Opening of the Berlin Wall and Unification

All Facts About GERMANY (geography, society, education system, economy, politics, mass media, armed forces)

The information is provided by the Library of Congress. This study attempts to review Germany and treat its dominant social, political, economic, and military aspects in a concise and objective manner.

“Aryanization” of Germany in 1933 and mass book burning
Here are some behind-the-scene personal experiences from the 1930’s that might be of interest.

Bombings and air-raids during WWII
I would like to share with you one more episode of my life. Let’s fast-forward to Berlin. The year is 1944.

Nazi Nightmares – Nazi Doctors
Nazi deeds – deathly human experiments on concentration camp prisoners and direct medical killings in Nazi Germany.

Nazi Gold
Here you’ll find the uncovered secrets of the Nazi Gold from Germany.

World War Memories
Life in Germany before and after the Versailles Treaty, and Hitler’s rise to power