The history of Germany
100 BC – the germanic tribes came to the territory of contemporary Germany
5th-9th century –The Empire of Franks
772 to 814 king and emperor Charlemagne – Charles the Great – the first emperor of future Holy Roman Empire
919 – 1517 – building of the First German Empire, the first new Emperor after Charles the Great was Otto I, who became Emperor in Rome in 962
In the middle ages, Germany was not united. The Holy Roman Empire was often just a concept without real power. There were a number of individual states in the territory of the Empire. The medieval rulers over Germany include: the King of Bohemia-Charles the IV, Archbishop of Cologne, Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop of Trier, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Brandenburg .
1517 – THE REFORMATION – Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg
| Martin Luther - source |
1588 – The Peace in Augsburg – after the war between Catholics and Protestants – the Protestant Church was accepted. The territory of Germany is divided into catholic and protestants states - after church orientation of the ruler – the principle was: Cuius regio, eius religio
1618-1648 - Thirty Years War – a new war between Protestants and Catholics, after the Peace of Westphalia Germany was divided into about 300 independent states
1740-1763 – new Power between German states - Prussia – defeated Austria – „Prussia became a European great power. This gave the start to the rivalry between Prussia and Austria for the leadership of Germany - History of Germany
1806 – the end of medieval Holy Roman Empire, it was replaced by the Austrian Empire in the central Europe
1866 – Prussian armies defeated Austrian Empire – another step to unification of Germany
1871 – The Second German Empire was born by the effort of chancellor Otto von Bismarck after victory of the German troops against France
1914-1918 – the First World War – in the beginning Belgium and later France were attacked by Germany, in the end Germany was defeated and had to pay substantial war reparations which crippled its economy
1919–1933 - Weimar Republic was a week state, with unhealthy economy, high inflation and high unemployment.
1933-1945 – Hitler’s Period – „The Third German Empire"
1938-1939 ¬– Hitler’s armies occupied Austria and later Czechoslovakia.
1939-1945 – the Second World War – in September 1939 German army attacked Poland, then states in the west and north of Europe and Soviet Union. In the conflict that ensued, Germany caused enormous damage to Europe, both economic and social. Hitler’s anti-Semitic policy led to extermination of some 6 million people of Jewish background in the German concentration camps
In the end Germany was defeated and was divided into 4 sectors (American, British, French and Soviet)
| German soldiers in the Invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941. - source |
1949 – two German states were created by the winners of the Second World War – The Federal Republic of Germany (from USA, British and French Sectors) with capital city of Bonn, and The German Democratic Republic (Soviet sector). The former capital of Germany - Berlin was divided into West Berlin (free state) and East Berlin, the capital of the German Democratic Republic (DDR).
1989 – the end of communist regime in DDR - fall of the Berlin Wall (between West and East Berlin)
| Berlin Wall - source |
1990 – unification of Germany – with old-new capital city of Berlin