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Mayra Castro
Mr. Snape
English II Honors
24 April 2012
The Fatherland
Germany’s reoccurring turbulent past will always haunt people worldwide, but
Germany’s present day situations might give people a chance to view Germany today as a more
stabilized nation. Today Germany has one of the most promising economies. They also have a
very resolute government with a sound military to keep them on their feet. Germany’s very
involved foreign relationships have also brought stability to the fatherland. Germany’s past
didn’t emerge from thin air, but from the beginning of one of the world’s boldest nations.
The early formation of Germany took place during the emergence of the Holy Roman
Empire. King Charlemagne became ruler of the Franks, known as present day France. During his
ruling he expanded his kingdom into present day Germany and northern Italy. In A.D. 814
Charlemagne died and the empire began to break down. In the process, the kingdoms of
Germany, Burgundy and Italy were created. The German kingdom included modern Austria and
Switzerland. They were ruled by a loose federation and an emperor. For 500 years the Habsburg
family took control over the Holy Roman Empire of the German people. Then the black plague
hit Europe. Thirty percent to fifty percent of the population died, but then came the renaissance
(Horne 27-29).
During the reformation Germany was lucky to recover their population to an outstanding
sixteen million. The renaissance also brought the discovery of the Americas. The economic
power shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Spain, France and England grew, but
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Germany declined. The economic depression brought poor harvest and much of these
misfortunes were blamed on the Jewish people. There was a thirty year internal war between the
Holy Roman Empire and the princes of Germany. The princes demanded more independence
which led to a devastating war that took Germany a century to recover from. The Treaty of
Westphalia ended the war and reduced the power of the Hapsburg family (Horne 29-33).
During the Napoleonic era Germany/Prussia gained land in the Rhineland and Westphalia
and gave up some territory in Poland. Then the actual country of Germany was formed when
Otto von Bismarck became prime minister of Germany/Prussia. In 1864 he was set to enlarge the
boundaries of Germany/Prussia through war with Denmark. In 1870 their war with France
helped Germany regain their lost land, Alsace and Lorraine. The German federation became the
German confederation. When Bismarck became chancellor he turned Germany to an empire.
Then the Russia, Austria and Italy alliance broke in 1887 which led to Bismarck’s resignation in
1890 (Horne 36-37).
In 1907 Germany’s major rivals, France, Great Britain and Russia, formed an alliance.
Germany felt threatened. When Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, World War one broke
out. The Treaty of Versailles ended the war on June 28, 1919. The treaty left Germany in
economic disarray and left them to depend on the United States. In 1933 Adolf Hitler made the
Nazi Party and was soon elected as Germany’s chancellor. He took control of all aspects of
society and abolished the parliament. When Germany’s president, Hindenburg, died Hitler took
over his place. The Third Reich was born. Hitler rebuilt Germany’s army, navy, and air force. He
sent troops to Rhineland to take back their lost land. Germany then annexed Austria and claimed
Sudetenland. After the invasion of Poland World War two erupted. Luckily in June 6, 1944
Germany was pushed back to their previous borders. That day will forever be remembered as D-
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Day. The Allies were never able to capture Hitler because he ended up committing suicide
(Horne 37-42).
When Germany was defeated it was broken up into four zones by the victors France,
Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union,
planned to take over the capital of Berlin. He had Walter Ulbricht to go into Berlin and gain
control by free election, but he failed to do so. So Stalin tried to force the western sector of
Berlin into submission by closing off land access. This caused Germany to split into a western
democratic side and an eastern communist side led by Stalin. The eastern side was quite
prosperous, but soon enough it began to demoralize and go bankrupt. Their natural resources
were short and they were desperately inefficient. In a desperate act of salvation West Berlin
relaxed their old travel restrictions and brought down the Berlin Wall. Germany was reunified
(Horne 37-42) (Rise).
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany has become the Federal Republic of Germany
with a parliamentary system of a democratic government. Germany is divided into länds which
are similar to states. Each länd has their own constitution and laws that must fall within
Germany’s constitution. They have their own parliament called ländtag consisting of a minister
and a president. The cabinet manages state affairs. Each land is responsible for healthcare,
education, public communications and cultural affairs. They also have their own police force that
enforces local and federal laws. Each land also receives a portion of federal tax. Germany has
something called a Bundestag and a Bundesrat who act as the parliament. The Bundestag is a
federal assembly below the ranking of the Bundesrat. Each member is elected for a four year
term. They have the power to elect a chancellor. The Bundesrat is the upper house to the
Bundestag. They are a federal council consisting of sixty-nine appointed members. They have
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the power to veto. Germany, just like the United States, has a judicial branch. The highest court
of appeal in Germany is the federal constitutional court. The Bundesrat and Bundestag appoint
half of the members. In Germany there are five types of lower courts. The ordinary court is for
civil criminals, labor court is for labor relations, administrative court is for disputes between
citizens and the state, social court is for social programs and fiscal court is for tax matters.
Germany’s executive branch includes the parliament, president and the chancellor. The federal
president is elected by a secret ballot while the chancellor is elected through a more public
election. The president may not serve more than two consecutive five-year terms, but the
chancellor may be re-elected an unlimited number of times. The German President, whose
powers are largely ceremonial and very limited, is the official head of the German state, but he or
she does not exercise political power and acts instead more as a figurehead. Today, the
Chancellor is widely considered to be the country's effective leader with actual power, but the
chancellor may be removed from office if the Bundestag vote on it. All those officials aren’t the
only ones protecting Germany; there is Germany’s army too. After World War two Germany
was completely demoralized, but in 1955 West Germany was allowed to establish the
Bundeswehr or the federal defense force. When Germany reunified in 1990, West Germany and
East Germany consolidated. Now Germany has joint support services, central medical services,
an army, a navy and an air force (Hamen 95-98) (Blashfield 63-68).
With such a stable government it is no surprise that Germany’s economy has been able to
prosper too. Germany manufactures iron, steel, chemicals and textiles. Even though coal mines
have closed down, employment in the service industries have grown. They produce machinery,
ships and optics along with large quantities of cement, electrical equipment, processed foods and
beverages. They are the leading producers of wind turbines and solar technology. Germany is
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also the third largest automobile manufacturer. They produce some of the world’s top cars such
as Benz, Volkswagen, BMW, and Porsche. The service industry makes up about seventy-four
percent of Germany’s GDP per capita, while the farming business makes up one percent of it.
Agricultural jobs employ 2.4 of the labor force as cooperatives have emerged and family-run
farms slowly dwindle down. This makes Germany one of the world’s largest importers of
agricultural goods. The only thing they produce is barley, potatoes, rye, sugar, beets and milk,
but still there are crops that vary based on the area of farming. Near the Rhine and Mosel rivers,
grapes are grown for wine production. Towards the northern coast dairy farming is most
common. Germany has been doing well for a country that to this day is still paying war
reparations from the First World War. The only struggle they have really encountered is the cost
of modernizing the former East Communist Germany. With only an unemployment rate of five
percent, Germany is flourishing quite fairly (Hamen 105-110) (Economy).
Germany has also been able to get a better rap by establishing some good relationships
with foreign countries. Germany has sought to improve its relationship with the countries of
Eastern Europe. They have established trading agreements and diplomatic relations. Germany
also continues to be active economically in the states of Central and Eastern Europe. They also
continue to be active supporters of the development of democratic institutions. Germany is
involved in a joint postwar effort aimed closer to political, economic and defense cooperation
among the countries of Western Europe. They are also a large net contributor to the European
Union budget. Some of their foreign relations include their membership in the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and their two year term as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security
Council. Germany is a key partner in the U.S. relations with Europeans in NATO and the
European Union where they work side by side to maintain peace and freedom. The U.S. and
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Germany are friends and trading partners, but also allies sharing common institutions. Germany
has extended their cooperation into military cooperation by maintaining peacekeeping efforts in
the Balkans and working together with the U.S. to encourage the evolution of an open and
democratic state. Following September 11, 2001, Germany has been a reliable U.S. ally in efforts
against terrorism. Germany is an integral part of the U.N.-Mandated International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan. They are the third largest troop contributor with five thousand
plus soldiers. They also run the largest training program to train and mentor the Afghan National
Army. (Turner 509-543)
For a country to have such an uneasy past, making a better future is harder than one may
think. Yet, Germany was able to rebuild itself from the ashes of two great world wars. They hold
a stable government that pleases its citizens and they have established a virtuous economy to
bring money into their country, but most importantly they have won the trust of nations
worldwide.
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Works Cited Page
Blashfield, Jean F. Germany. New York: Children's, 2003. Print.
"Economy::Germany." Cia World Factbook. CIA, 3 Apr. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html>.
Horne, William R. Germany. New York: Infobase, 2007. Print.
The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall. U.S. News. U.S. News, 13 Nov. 2008. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.news.com/opinion/articles/2008/11/13/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-berlin-wall>.
Susan Ehamen. Germany. Edina: ABDO, 2012. Print.
Turner, Barry. The Statesman's Yearbook 2012: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the
World. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.