The paper aims to comprehend and document the history of Germany and delve deep into the possibilities and capacity of the nation to dominate the European continent. It requires our understanding that Germany has the potential and power to emerge as the omnipotent force in the continent and an insight into the national history would only reiterate the claim with testimonials and evidences to supplement the view.
The country was hit by the March Revolution in 1848 which ended up in being a failed attempt at establishing the German state. However, this called for more liberal state policies, nationalism and democracy. In 1862, Otto von Bismarck was appointed as the Minister President of Prussia and he started preparing the Prussian army for war. Two years later, in 1864, he formed an alliance with Austria and attacked Denmark. Then again in 1866, Bismarck provoked Austria to engage in warfare and he took over Holstein during the Seven Weeks War. Later, on 7th February, 1867, the North German Confederation was formed which established several laws that were adopted by the German Empire. After the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the Unification of Germany was accomplished on 21st January, 1871.
When Kaiser Wilheim II came to power in Germany, his policy was to consolidate the supreme power of the nation state by imperial expansions. He envisaged to have Germany’s position “under the sun” and embarked upon ambitious territorial expansions. He was greatly encouraged by his naval minister Admiral von Tirpitz and this finally led to the establishment of a large navy to rival that of Britain. The imperialistic expansion led to establishment of colonies all over which included German South West Africa and German New Guinea in 1884, German East Africa in 1885, German West Africa in 1896 and German Samoa in 1899.
On the cultural and political sphere prior to World War I, Germany had bore the remnants of the Holy Roman Empire in the beginning. The people believed in Protestant Reformation across the land. Martin Luther’s influence was evident in the nation and the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 was of immense political importance for the country. Bismarck’s success in the unification of Germany (1871) under Prussia marked a pivotal time for the development of the nation. However, it was Wilheim II’s ambitious expansionism which triggered the World War I. During his time, the aristocrats and conservatives had allied to limit the influence of democracy in Germany. All this led to an un-unified nation state which eventually marred the paramount strength of Germany.
Geographically, Germany is located between 45⁰-47⁰ Latitude and just below 60⁰ Latitude. The land has a temperate climate and the population experiences mild to warm summers with cool wet winters. The average elevation is 488m, with the highest and lowest points being 2962m and -3.53m respectively. The nation has a coastline of 2389km and the land in the country is tough to farm. However, there are good amount of resources underground which enrich the country.
In the preface of the World War I, Bismarck wanted to maintain the stability of the nation, while France was concerned about European stability. After the alliance that was made in 1873 among Germany, Russia and Hungary broke, a new Dual Alliance was formed with Austria-Hungary in 1879. This alliance promised of aid in case of Russian attack and neutrality if Germany was attacked by other nation states. In 1881, a Triple Alliance was formed among Italy, Germany and Austria Hungary where it was promised that aid would be lent if France attacked, military support would be provided if any of them were at war with 2+ powers. Also, if one of them launched a “preventive war”, they would stay neutral.
In 1887, the Reinsurance Treaty was signed between Russia and Germany whose purpose was to prevent war on two-fronts. The treaty ensured that both powers would stay neutral if one was at war with a third. The treaty also mentioned that if that third was France fighting Germany then Russia wouldn’t have to provide assistance. The same was applicable for Russia and Austria-Hungary. The treaty was allowed to expire in 1890. Next, in the Franco-Russian Agreements of 1891, France and Russia agreed to consult one another if they were at war with another country or if the stability of Europe was endangered. After a few years, in 1904, the Entente Cordial between France and Britain resolved colonial disputes and offered closer diplomatic cooperation, namely in times of war. In the year 1907, Russia joined these two nations in the Triple Entente.
The World War I started as a chain of events that revolved around several alliances made between countries. In 1913, on June 28th, assassination of Arch duke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Serb Nationalist shook the world. As a result, on June 28th, Austria declared war on Serbia. On August 1st, Germany declared war on Russia and on the 3rd Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium. On the very next day, Britain declared war on Germany, while Turkey joined on Germany’s side on 29th October. In 1915, on May 23rd, Italy declared war on Germany and Austria. After a span of two years, in 1917, on April 6th, USA declared war on Germany. However, on 5th December, armistice was declared between Germany and Russia. In the following year, 1918, on November 11th, Germany signed armistice with the Allies and thus the war ended. In 1919, on April 28th, League of Nations was founded and on 28th of June the Treaty of Versailles was signed.
The war brought enormous loss of lives. Also, the Treaty of Versailles was unfair for Germany and the nation lost territory to France (Alsace-Lorraine), Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium. Apart from being compelled to give £6.6 billion as reparations, the military was greatly restricted. Also, Rhineland had to be kept free of German military and weapons.
In August 1919, when the New Constitution became official, extensive powers were given to the German President. A few years after joining the German Worker’s Party (1920), Hitler became the chancellor in 1933. After the demise of the former President in July, 1934, Hitler assumed his role and abolished the title of President.
As far as the sphere of the post World War culture and politics was concerned, the collapse of the government was devastating. In 1918, the armistice was initiated to stop the collapse. The Weimar Republic was an attempt at parliamentary democratic system, but it was torn apart in 1929 by depression and political tensions. The Nazi Communist Party took over the reign and under Hitler the expansionist theory brought about conflict and the World War II. The Jews were persecuted and the eventual Holocaust left the world stunned. The act of shame and guilt still haunts the history of the nation.
During the World War I, the German economy was the largest economy in Europe, next to America. Northern Germany was rich in natural resources, while the Southern part excelled in small industries and crafts. The pillars of the national economy were industry, manufacture, chemicals and machinery. However, after the Treaty of Versailles, the economy was ravaged owing to the enormous reparations which Germany had to pay.
The history of World War II started with German invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939. Only two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany, while days after Poland surrendered. Germany continued its invasion of Eastern Europe with Belgium, France, Netherlands, Luxemburg, The Channel Islands, Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, Serbia, and Crete. Following this, the Wannsee Conference led by Reinhard Heydrich on January 20th, 1942, formulated a plan to deport the Jews and established “Extermination camps” to systematical kill Jews known as “The Final Solution”. Thus Poland was robbed of their national identity.
Losing out on resources, Germany failed to conquer the Russian city Stalingrad, which began the retreat. 91,000 soldiers surrendered to the Soviet forces and finally in the Battle of Berlin Germany surrendered.
After the World War II, demilitarization, decartelization along with denazification and democratization ways the ways ahead for the nation. Parliamentary democracy was established in Federal Republic of Germany and “People’s Democracy” was founded in German Democratic Republic in 1949.
After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles had resulted in inflation in the early 1920s and the government printed more money. The Jewish people were great contributors to the economy of the state at that time. In contrast, during the Hitler era, he brought down the number of unemployment. However, women were no longer included in the statistics and the Jews lost their citizenship, thus were not included in the statistics. Chua’s arguments does hold true on the nation as Jewish entrepreneurship played a key role in the development of the German economy from the age of early industrialization to the rise of Hitler.
After the World War II, the Potsdam Conference divided Germany and sanctioned the transfer of ethnic Germans and cut down on industry production apart from stripping the nation of an army. It was in 1947, when President Truman reconstructed the industrial base. The Petersburg Agreement (1949), Treaty of Paris and Marshal Plan along with the invitation to join NATO in 1954 and the Berlin Crisis and Building of the Berlin Wall 1961 are major events in the history of the state. Chancellor Willy Brandt’s Ostpolitik and the chronological events paved the way for the reunification of Germany. The Treaty of Final Settlement sealed the decision with respect to Germany. On October 3rd, 1990, the unification was made official.
Germany is the Land of Poets and Thinkers. The nation has given birth to stalwarts in music like Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Germany excels in architecture, science and technology with icons like Einstein and Guttenberg.
The Marshall Plan was implemented during 1948-51 to assist in the restoration process of 16 European nations after the World War II. Germany received cumulatively $ 1,448 million during this time. Through the unification in 1989-90, the first time in history had a capitalist and a socialist economy suddenly become one. This led to massive confusion about property rights, insufficient infrastructures along with an increase in unemployment.
However, Germany’s social market economy has highly qualified labor force, capital, infrastructure and innovation. The service sector contributes around 70% of the total GDP, industry 29.1%, and agriculture 0.9%. Germany has a land area of 350,261 sq km of which arable land is 33.25% and irrigated land is 5,151sq km. Also, the freshwater withdrawal is 32.3 cu km/yr. the country has 7467 km waterways and has ample resources of coal, natural gas, iron ore, copper, nickel, timber. There are ten ports and one oil terminal. Roadways stretch for 644480 km and railways cover 41981 km across the nation.
Works Cited
Economy References
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/german-economic-miracle.asp
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/1920s/Econ20s.htm
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GermanEconomicMiracle.html
