Two of Germany's most famous writers, Goethe and Schiller,
identified the central aspect of most of Germany's history with
their poetic lament, "Germany? But where is it? I cannot find that
country." Until 1871, there was no "Germany." Instead, Europe's
German-speaking territories were divided into several hundred
kingdoms, principalities, duchies, bishoprics, fiefdoms and
independent cities and towns.
Finding the answer to "the German question"--what form of statehood
for the German speaking lands would arise, and which form could
provide central Europe with peace and stability--has defined most of
German history. This history of many independent polities has found
continuity in the F.R.G.'s federal structure. It is also the basis
for the decentralized nature of German political, economic, and
cultural life that lasts to this day.
The Holy Roman Empire
Between 962 and the beginning of the 19th Century, the German
territories were loosely organized into the Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation. The initially non-hereditary Emperor, elected by the
many princes, dukes, and bishops of the constituent lands and
confirmed by the Pope, nominally governed over a vast territory, but
had very limited ability to intervene in the affairs of the hundreds
of entities that made up the Empire, many of which would often wage
war against each other. The Empire was never able to develop into a
centralized state.
Beginning in 1517 with Martin Luther's posting of his 95 Theses on
the door of the Wittenberg Castle church, the German-speaking
territories bore the brunt of the pan-European struggles unleashed
by the Reformation. The leaders of the German kingdoms and
principalities chose sides, leading to a split of the Empire into
Protestant and Catholic regions, with the Protestant strongholds
mostly in the North and East, the Catholic in the South and West.
The split along confessional lines also laid the groundwork for the
later development of the most powerful German states--Prussia and
Austria--as the Prussian Hohenzollern line adopted Protestantism and
the Hapsburgs remained Catholic.
The tension culminated in the 30 Years War (1618-1648), a
combination of wars within the Empire and between outside European
states that were fought on German land. These wars, which ended in a
rough stalemate, devastated the German people and economy,
definitively strengthened the rule of the various German rulers at
the cost of the (Habsburg) Emperor (though Habsburg Austria remained
the dominant single German entity within the Empire), and
established the continued presence of both Catholics and Protestants
in German territories.
The Rise of Prussia
The 18th and 19th Centuries were marked by the rise of Prussia as
the second powerful, dominant state in the German-speaking
territories alongside Austria, and Austrian-Prussian rivalry became
the dominant political factor in German affairs. Successive Prussian
kings succeeded in modernizing, centralizing, and expanding the
Prussian state, creating a modern bureaucracy and the Continent's
strongest military. Despite Prussia's emphasis on militarism and
authority, Prussia also became a center of the German Enlightenment
and was known for its religious tolerance, with its western regions
being predominantly Catholic and Jews being granted complete legal
equality by 1812. After humiliating losses to Napoleon's armies,
Prussia embarked on a series of administrative, military, economic,
and education reforms that eventually succeeded in turning Prussia
into the Continent's strongest state.
Following Napoleon's defeat, the 1814-1815 Congress of Vienna
replaced the Holy Roman Empire with the German Confederation, made
up of 38 independent states. A loose confederation, this construct
had no common citizenship, legal system, or administrative or
executive organs. It did, however, provide for a Federal Diet that
met in Frankfurt--a Congress of deputies of the constituent states
who would meet to discuss issues affecting the Confederation as a
whole.
The Path to Unification: The Customs Union and the 1848 Revolutions
Prussia led a group of 18 German states that formed the German
Customs Union in 1834, and the Prussian Thaler eventually became the
common currency used in this region. The Customs Union greatly
enhanced economic efficiency, and paved the way for Germany to
become a single economic unit during the 19th Century's period of
rapid industrialization. Austria chose to remain outside the German
Customs Union, preferring instead to form its own customs union with
the Hapsburg territories--a further step down the path of a unified
Germany that did not include Austria.
France's 1848 February Revolution that overthrew King Louis Phillipe
sparked a series of popular uprisings throughout the German states.
Panicking local leaders provided several political, social, and
economic concessions to the demonstrators, including agreeing to a
national assembly that would discuss the constitutional form of a
united Germany, individual rights, and economic order. The assembly
rapidly devolved into competing factions; meanwhile, the
conservative leaders of the German states reconstituted their power.
When the assembly finally determined that there should be a united,
federal Germany (excluding Austria) with universal male suffrage,
organized as a constitutional monarchy under an Emperor--and offered
that emperor title to the King of Prussia--there was no longer any
interest or political reason (least of all in absolutist, powerful
Prussia) for the leaders to listen. The Prussian monarch rejected
the assembly's offer, and the assembly was forcefully disbanded
without achieving any of the stated goals of the 1848
revolutionaries.
Nevertheless, the 1848 Revolutions did leave a lasting legacy. The
factions of the ill-fated national assembly went on to develop into
political parties. Certain economic and social reforms, such as the
final abolition of feudal property structures, remained. The idea of
German unity was firmly established. And the revolutionaries'
colors--black, red, and gold--became firmly ensconced as the colors
of German democratic and liberal aspirations.
Unification and Imperial Germany
German nationalism developed into an important unifying and
sometimes liberalizing force during this time, though it became
increasingly marked by an exclusionary, racially-based definition of
nationhood that included anti-Semitic tendencies. However, eventual
unification of Germany was essentially the result of Prussian
expansionism rather than the victory of nationalist sentiment.
Prussia's economic growth outstripped Austria's during the latter
half of the 19th Century and Prussia-controlled Germany became one
of Europe's industrial powerhouses. Under Chancellor Otto von
Bismarck, Prussia defeated Austria (1866) and France (1870) in wars
that paved the way for the formation of the German Empire under
Emperor Wilhelm I in 1871. Germany became a federal state, with
foreign and military policy determined at the national level, but
most other policies remained the purview of the states.
Internally, Bismarck waged a struggle against Catholicism, which he
viewed as an agent of Austria (ironically, this anti-Catholic
move--which eventually failed--actually ended up consolidating a
lasting political role for Germany's Catholics), and tried to both
co-opt and repress the emerging socialist movement by passing the
age's most progressive social insurance and worker protection
legislation while clamping down on Socialist activities. Externally,
Bismarck then moved to consolidate the stability of the new Empire,
launching a string of diplomatic initiatives to form a complex web
of alliances with other European powers to ensure that Germany did
not become surrounded by hostile powers and avoid Germany's
involvement in further wars.
However, Emperor William II disagreed vehemently with Bismarck,
sacking him in 1890. Wilhelm II had ambitious aspirations for
Germany, including acquisition of overseas colonies. His dynamic
expansion of military power and confrontational foreign policies
contributed to tensions on the continent. The fragile European
balance of power, which Bismarck had helped to create, broke down in
1914. World War I and its aftermath, including the Treaty of
Versailles, ended the German Empire.
The Weimar Republic and Fascism's Rise and Defeat
The postwar Weimar Republic (1919-33) was established as a broadly
democratic state, but the government was severely handicapped and
eventually doomed by economic problems and the rise of the political
extremes. The dozens of political parties represented in the federal
parliament never allowed stable government formation, creating
political chaos. (This lesson led to the decision by the creators of
the F.R.G. to limit parliamentary representation to parties that
garner at least 5% of the vote.) The hyperinflation of 1923, the
world depression that began in 1929, and the social unrest stemming
from resentment toward the conditions of the Versailles Treaty
worked to destroy the Weimar government.
The National Socialist (Nazi) Party, led by Adolf Hitler, stressed
nationalist and racist themes while promising to put the unemployed
back to work. The party blamed many of Germany's ills on the alleged
influence of Jewish and non-German ethnic groups. The party also
gained support in response to fears of growing communist strength.
In the 1932 elections, the Nazis won a third of the vote. In a
fragmented party structure, this gave the Nazis a powerful
parliamentary caucus, and Hitler was asked to form a government. He
quickly declined. The Republic eroded and Hitler had himself
nominated as Reich Chancellor in January 1933. After President Paul
von Hindenburg died in 1934, Hitler assumed that office as well.
Once in power, Hitler and his party first undermined and then
abolished democratic institutions and opposition parties. The Nazi
leadership immediately jailed many Jewish citizens and opposition
figures and withdrew their political rights. Hitler's Nuremburg Laws
subsequently deprived all of Germany's Jews of their political
rights and also of their economic assets and professional licenses,
foreshadowing the systematic plundering of Jewish assets throughout
Nazi-occupied territory. The Nazis implemented a program of
genocide, at first through incarceration and forced labor and then
by establishing death camps. In a catastrophe generally known as the
Holocaust or Shoah, roughly six million European Jews from Germany
and Nazi-occupied countries were murdered in these death camps and
in the killing fields set up behind military lines on the Eastern
Front. Hitler's henchmen also carried out a campaign of ethnic
extermination against Europe's Roma/Sinti and murdered thousands of
homosexuals, mentally disabled people, and opposition figures.
Nazi revanchism and expansionism led to World War II, which resulted
in the destruction of Germany's political and economic
infrastructures and led to its division.
After Germany's unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, the United
States, the United Kingdom, the U.S.S.R. and, later, France occupied
the country and assumed responsibility for its administration. The
commanders in chief exercised supreme authority in their respective
zones and acted in concert on questions affecting the whole country.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union agreed
at Potsdam in August 1945 to treat Germany as a single economic unit
with some central administrative departments in a decentralized
framework. However, Soviet policy turned increasingly toward
dominating the part of Europe where Soviet armies were present,
including eastern Germany. In 1948, the Soviets, in an attempt to
abrogate agreements for Four-Power control of the city, blockaded
Berlin. Until May 1949, the Allied-occupied part of Berlin was kept
supplied only by an Allied airlift. The "Berlin airlift" succeeded
in forcing the Soviets to accept, for the time being, the Allied
role and the continuation of freedom in a portion of the city, West
Berlin.
Political Developments in West Germany
The United States and the United Kingdom moved to establish a
nucleus for a future German government by creating a central
Economic Council for their two zones. The program later provided for
a constituent assembly, an occupation statute governing relations
between the Allies and the German authorities, and the political and
economic merger of the French with the British and American zones.
The western portion of the country became the Federal Republic of
Germany.
On May 23, 1949, the Basic Law, which came to be known as the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, was promulgated.
Konrad Adenauer became the first federal Chancellor on September 20,
1949. The next day, the occupation statute came into force, granting
powers of self-government with certain exceptions.
As part of an ongoing commitment to deal with its historic
responsibility, the Federal Republic of Germany took upon itself a
leading role in the field of Holocaust education and support for
research into this dark period of history. It has also paid out
nearly 63 billion Euros as a measure of compensation to Jewish
survivors and heirs of the Holocaust and other victims of Nazism,
such as forced laborers from many European countries.
The F.R.G. quickly progressed toward fuller sovereignty and
association with its European neighbors and the Atlantic community.
The London and Paris agreements of 1954 restored full sovereignty
(with some exceptions) to the F.R.G. in May 1955 and opened the way
for German membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) and the Western European Union (WEU).
The three Western Allies retained occupation powers in Berlin and
certain responsibilities for Germany as a whole, including
responsibility for the determination of Germany's eastern borders.
Under the new arrangements, the Allies stationed troops within the
F.R.G. for NATO defense, pursuant to stationing and status-of-forces
agreements. With the exception of 45,000 French troops, Allied
forces were under NATO's joint defense command. (France withdrew
from NATO's military command structure in 1966.)
Political life in the F.R.G. was remarkably stable and orderly.
After Adenauer's chancellorship (1949-63), Ludwig Erhard (1963-66)
and Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1966-69) served as Chancellor. Between
1949 and 1966 the united caucus of the Christian Democratic Union
(CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), either alone or with the
smaller Free Democratic Party (FDP), formed the government.
Kiesinger's 1966-69 "Grand Coalition" included the F.R.G.'s two
largest parties, CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
After the 1969 election, the SPD, headed by Willy Brandt, formed a
coalition government with the FDP. Brandt resigned in May 1974,
after a senior member of his staff was uncovered as an East German
spy.
Helmut Schmidt (SPD) succeeded Brandt, serving as Chancellor from
1974 to 1982. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a leading FDP official, became
Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister, a position he would hold until
1992.
In October 1982, the FDP joined forces with the CDU/CSU to make CDU
Chairman Helmut Kohl the Chancellor. Following national elections in
March 1983, Kohl emerged in firm control of both the government and
the CDU. He served until the CDU's election defeat in 1998. In 1983,
a new political party, the Greens, entered the Bundestag for the
first time.
Political Developments in East Germany
In the Soviet zone, the Communist Party forced the Social Democratic
Party to merge in 1946 to form the Socialist Unity Party (SED).
Under Soviet direction, a constitution was drafted on May 30, 1949,
and adopted on October 7 when the German Democratic Republic was
proclaimed. On October 11, 1949, a SED government under Wilhelm
Pieck was established. The Soviet Union and its East European allies
immediately recognized the G.D.R. The United States and most other
countries did not recognize the G.D.R. until a series of agreements
in 1972-73.
The G.D.R. established the structures of a single-party,
centralized, communist state. On July 23, 1952, the G.D.R. abolished
the traditional Laender and established 14 Bezirke (districts).
Formally, there existed a "National Front"--an umbrella organization
nominally consisting of the SED, four other political parties
controlled and directed by the SED, and the four principal mass
organizations (youth, trade unions, women, and culture). However,
control was clearly and solely in the hands of the SED. Balloting in
G.D.R. elections was not secret. On July 17, 1953, East Germans
revolted against totalitarian rule. The F.R.G. marked the bloody
revolt by making the date the West German National Day, which
remained until reunification.
Inter-German Relations
During the 1950s, East Germans fled to the West by the millions. The
Soviets made the inner German border increasingly tight, but
Berlin's Four-Power status countered such restrictions. Berlin thus
became an escape point for even greater numbers of East Germans. On
August 13, 1961, the G.D.R. began building a wall through the center
of Berlin, slowing down the flood of refugees and dividing the city.
The Berlin Wall became the symbol of the East's political debility
and the division of Europe.
In 1969, Chancellor Brandt announced that the F.R.G. would remain
firmly rooted in the Atlantic Alliance but would intensify efforts
to improve relations with Eastern Europe and the G.D.R. The F.R.G.
commenced this "Ostpolitik" by negotiating nonaggression treaties
with the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and
Hungary. Based upon Brandt's policies, in 1971 the Four Powers
concluded a Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin to address practical
questions the division posed, without prejudice to each party's view
of the city's Four Power status.
The F.R.G.'s relations with the G.D.R. posed particularly difficult
questions. Though anxious to relieve serious hardships for divided
families and to reduce friction, the F.R.G. under Brandt was intent
on holding to its concept of "two German states in one German
nation." Relations improved, however, and in September 1973, the
F.R.G. and the G.D.R. were admitted to the United Nations. The two
Germanys exchanged permanent representatives in 1974, and, in 1987,
G.D.R. head of state Erich Honecker paid an official visit to the
F.R.G.
Berlin
Shortly after World War II, Berlin became the seat of the Allied
Control Council, which was to have governed Germany as a whole until
the conclusion of a peace settlement. In 1948, however, the Soviets
refused to participate any longer in the quadripartite
administration of Germany. They also refused to continue the joint
administration of Berlin and drove the government elected by the
people of Berlin out of its seat in the Soviet sector and installed
a communist regime in its place. From then until unification, the
Western Allies continued to exercise supreme authority--effective
only in their sectors--through the Allied Kommandatura. To the
degree compatible with the city's special status, however, they
turned over control and management of city affairs to the Berlin
Senat (executive) and House of Representatives, governing bodies
established by constitutional process and chosen by free elections.
The Allies and German authorities in the F.R.G. and West Berlin
never recognized the communist city regime in East Berlin or G.D.R.
authority there.
During the years of Berlin's isolation--176 kilometers (110 mi.)
inside the former G.D.R.--the Western Allies encouraged a close
relationship between the Government of West Berlin and that of the
F.R.G. Representatives of the city participated as non-voting
members in the F.R.G. parliament; appropriate West German agencies,
such as the supreme administrative court, had their permanent seats
in the city; and the governing mayor of Berlin took his turn as
President of the Bundesrat. In addition, the Allies carefully
consulted with the F.R.G. and Berlin Governments on foreign policy
questions involving unification and the status of Berlin.
Between 1948 and 1990, major events such as fairs and festivals took
place in West Berlin, and the F.R.G. encouraged investment in
commerce by special concessionary tax legislation. The results of
such efforts, combined with effective city administration and the
Berliners' energy and spirit, were encouraging. Berlin's morale
remained high, and its industrial production considerably surpassed
its prewar level.
German Unification
During the summer of 1989, rapid changes took place in the G.D.R.
Pressures for political opening throughout Eastern Europe had not
seemed to affect the G.D.R. regime. However, Hungary ended its
border restrictions with Austria, and a growing flood of East
Germans began to take advantage of this route to West Germany.
Thousands of East Germans also tried to reach the West by staging
sit-ins at F.R.G. diplomatic facilities in other East European
capitals. The exodus generated demands within the G.D.R. for
political change, and mass demonstrations in several
cities--particularly in Leipzig--continued to grow. On October 7,
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev visited Berlin to celebrate the 40th
anniversary of the establishment of the G.D.R. and urged the East
German leadership to pursue reform.
On October 18, Erich Honecker resigned and was replaced by Egon
Krenz. The exodus continued unabated, and pressure for political
reform mounted. Finally, on November 9, the G.D.R. allowed East
Germans to new-world-travel freely. Thousands poured through the Berlin Wall
into the western sectors of Berlin. The Wall was opened.
On November 28, F.R.G .Chancellor Kohl outlined a 10-point plan for
the peaceful unification of the two Germanys. In December, the
G.D.R. Volkskammer eliminated the SED's monopoly on power. The SED
changed its name to the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), and
numerous political groups and parties formed. The communist system
had been eliminated. A new Prime Minister, Hans Modrow, headed a
caretaker government that shared power with the new, democratically
oriented parties.
In early February 1990, Chancellor Kohl rejected the Modrow
government's proposal for a unified, neutral Germany. Kohl affirmed
that a unified Germany must be a member of NATO. Finally, on March
18, the first free elections were held in the G.D.R., and Lothar de
Maiziere (CDU) formed a government under a policy of expeditious
unification with the F.R.G. The freely elected representatives of
the Volkskammer held their first session on April 5, and the G.D.R.
peacefully evolved from a communist to a democratically elected
government.
Four Power Control Ends
In 1990, as a necessary step for German unification and in parallel
with internal German developments, the two German states and the
Four Powers--the United States, U.K., France, and the Soviet
Union--negotiated to end Four Power reserved rights for Berlin and
Germany as a whole. These "Two-plus-Four" negotiations were mandated
at the Ottawa Open Skies conference on February 13, 1990. The six
foreign ministers met four times in the ensuing months in Bonn (May
5), Berlin (June 22), Paris (July 17), and Moscow (September 12).
The Polish Foreign Minister participated in the part of the Paris
meeting that dealt with the Polish-German borders.
Of key importance was overcoming Soviet objections to a united
Germany's membership in NATO. The Alliance was already responding to
the changing circumstances, and, in NATO, issued the London
Declaration on a transformed NATO. On July 16, after a bilateral
meeting, Gorbachev and Kohl announced an agreement in principle to
permit a united Germany in NATO. This cleared the way for the
signing of the "Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to
Germany" in Moscow on September 12. In addition to terminating Four
Power rights, the treaty mandated the withdrawal of all Soviet
forces from Germany by the end of 1994. This made it clear that the
current borders were final and definitive, and specified the right
of a united Germany to belong to NATO. It also provided for the
continued presence of British, French, and American troops in Berlin
during the interim period of the Soviet withdrawal. In the treaty,
the Germans renounced nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and
stated their intention to reduce German armed forces to 370,000
within 3 to 4 years after the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
(CFE) Treaty, signed in Paris on November 19, 1990, entered into
force.
German unification could then proceed. In accordance with Article 23
of the F.R.G.'s Basic Law, the five Laender (which had been
reestablished in the G.D.R.) acceded to the F.R.G. on October 3,
1990. The F.R.G. proclaimed October 3 as its new national day. On
December 2, 1990, all-German elections were held for the first time
since 1933.
The Final Settlement Treaty ended Berlin's special status as a
separate area under Four Power control. Under the terms of the
treaty between the F.R.G. and the G.D.R., Berlin became the capital
of a unified Germany. The Bundestag voted in June 1991 to make
Berlin the seat of government. The Government of Germany asked the
Allies to maintain a military presence in Berlin until the complete
withdrawal of the Western Group of Forces (ex-Soviet) from the
territory of the former G.D.R. The Russian withdrawal was completed
August 31, 1994. On September 8, 1994, ceremonies marked the final
departure of Western Allied troops from Berlin.
In 1999, the formal seat of the federal government moved from Bonn
to Berlin. Berlin also is one of the Federal Republic's 16 Laender. |
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