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Tell briefly about German history quite difficult, because it is full of various events, but we will try.

The history of the lands of modern Germany goes back almost three millennia, when the tribes of the Germans lived on these lands. Ethnic Germans were divided into several groups, depending on their habitat. By the beginning of our era, alliances of various tribes began to actively take shape. This unification process turns the Germans into a powerful military force, which is increasingly active, especially in the 2nd century AD, invading the territories of the mistress of the world of that time - the Roman Empire.

By the 5th century AD, the first states of the Vandals, Goths and other tribes were created. The most important from a historical point of view were the tribes of the Franks. Starting from the reign of King Clovis I (481) and until 800, large territories were conquered, including Aquitaine, Provence, parts of Italy and Spain. Actually, the current territory of Germany became the basis of the state of the Franks, which collapsed in 843 and completely ceased to exist in 924. This moment in history was the beginning of German statehood.

Treaty of Verdun

This agreement, concluded in 843, becomes fundamental in German history like states. According to him, the entire territory of the kingdom of the Franks was divided into three parts, one of which was Germany, headed by Louis the German. The East Frankish state was considered the first name. In 936, Otho I became king and in 962 was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, which lasted until 1806. The Confederation of the Rhine replaced the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. This event was preceded by peasant wars of the 16th century and the invasion of Napoleon. The existence of this association turned out to be extremely short, only 7 years.

German Confederation

In 1848, a new state formation appeared - the German Confederation, which was headed by Austria and included 38 German states. But this union was short-lived. Already in 1866, the Austro-Prussian-Italian war led to its collapse.

On August 18, 1866, a new alliance of 21 German states was proclaimed, called the North German Confederation. This formation already possessed all the attributes familiar in our time - the president, the chancellor, the Reichstag, the army, the national one, and many others.

Formation of the German Empire

On January 18, 1871, the German Empire was formed on the basis of the union. This state had very progressive laws and economic policies. All this led to the fact that the country was rapidly developing in scientific, cultural and technological directions. The military machine did not stand aside either. The colossal expenditure on the army made it the best in the world by the beginning of World War I. But luck was not on Germany's side. The war ended with its defeat, the signing of a peace agreement and huge reparations, which brought countries to the brink of complete collapse. The economy was on its knees, the number of unemployed was enormous.

On the basis of this, fascism began to raise its head in the 1920s. On January 30, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. It was a terrible period in the history of the country, which led to the Second World War, the most terrible and bloody in the history of mankind. The end of the existence of the III Reich was put in 1945 by the Allied forces.

After the end of the war, Germany was divided into eastern and western parts. In this form, it existed until 1990, when Germany became united - the famous fall of the Berlin Wall took place.

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The history of Germany is doubly interesting in that this state played a huge role in the life of all of Europe. Many decisions of the German rulers still have an impact on the lives of Europeans.

Antiquity and the era of the barbarian kingdoms

People have lived on the territory of modern Germany since ancient times. The barbarian tribes that gave rise to modern Germans and Scandinavians came here in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e.

The warlike Germans quickly subjugated the neighboring tribes. If initially they lived in the Baltic region, then by the beginning of our era, the Germans moved to Central and Southern Europe. However, their further advance was stopped at the border of the Roman Empire. Both sides were aggressive towards each other, and skirmishes between Roman and German troops regularly took place on the outskirts of the empire.

The official date for the beginning of German history is 9 AD. e., when the German prince Armiriy defeated three Roman legions at once in the battle in the Teutoburg Forest. Thanks to the success of Armirius, the Romans had to abandon the continuation of the conquest of Central and Northern Europe. From the 2nd century, the Germanic raids on the Roman Empire became more and more frequent and successful. Two centuries later, after the beginning of the Great Migration of Nations, the Germans began a fierce struggle for Roman territories. At the end of the 5th century, Rome fell and barbarian kingdoms began to emerge on the territory of the former empire:

• Burgundian;
• Svevskoe;
• Lombard;
• Ostrogothic;
• Anglo-Saxon;
• Kingdom of Vandals and Alans;
• Visigothic;
• and played a key role in the region - the Frankish.

At the end of the 5th century, the Franks inhabited the north of modern Germany, but, conquering their neighbors, they constantly expanded their possessions. By the beginning of the 9th century, under Charlemagne, the Frankish kingdom had reached the peak of its power. Its territory stretched from the North Sea to the central part of the Apennine Peninsula and from the Carpathians to the Pyrenees. At the same time, modern Germany remained the core of the kingdom. However, the descendants of Charlemagne failed to preserve their inheritance, the state of the Franks began to disintegrate. In 843, the kingdom of the Franks was divided into three parts between the grandsons of Charles:

• Lothair I received the Middle Kingdom (the historical core of the Frankish state and Northern Italy), which was considered the most desirable piece. However, this kingdom did not last long and after the death of Lothair was divided into parts;
• The West Frankish kingdom, on whose territory France later arose, went to Charles II the Bald;
• Ludwig I of Germany became the master of the East Frankish kingdom, which later became a new strong state - Germany.

Holy Roman Empire and the era of fragmentation

Early years of the empire

In 936, Otto I became king of East Francia. The new king sincerely believed in his exclusivity and that God had entrusted him with a special mission. Indeed, Otto I, later, like his famous ancestor - Emperor Charles, nicknamed the Great, managed to seriously influence the entire subsequent history of Europe. A brilliant commander and staunch defender of Christian values, after the conquest of northern Italy in 962, he was crowned by the Pope himself, becoming the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the spiritual heir to the Roman rulers.

But most empires sooner or later begin to experience a crisis. The German emperors constantly had to contend with the growing appetites of the bishops and the local nobility. Under Frederick I Barbarossa Hohenstaufen, who ruled in the 12th century, the first signs of feudal fragmentation appeared in the Holy Roman Empire. During the life of Frederick I and his son, Henry VI, the country still remained united and even expanded its borders. Two talented emperors managed to restrain those centrifugal forces that threatened to split the empire. The Hohenstaufens created a developed bureaucratic system and did a lot to strengthen the vertical of power.

Feudal fragmentation

After the death of Henry VI in 1197, an internecine war for power and an uprising of Italians began in the empire, who did not want to obey the Hohenstaufen. Only in 1220 did the son of Henry VI, Frederick II, become emperor. He managed to subjugate Italy again and made a successful crusade, as a result of which he was proclaimed king of Palestine. However, due to the constant need to attend to Italian affairs, Frederick II could not follow the German bishops and nobles. In order not to conflict once again with his subjects, the emperor was forced to recognize their sovereign rights within the boundaries of the possessions of each of the lords. These concessions led to the formation of many independent principalities on the territory of the empire, many of which lasted until the end of the 19th century.

The Hohenstaufen dynasty came to an end after the death of Frederick II. The era of interregnum lasted for about 20 years, during which chaos reigned in the empire and alliances of strong independent cities began to emerge. In 1273, a new dynasty came to the imperial throne - the Habsburgs. The first representatives of this dynasty no longer had such influence as the Hohenstaufen. They depended on the decisions of the Reichstag, Electors (local princes who had the right to choose the emperor) and other noble German families, such as Luxembourg and Wittelsbach.

The empire entered a period of crisis. Italy was out of German control, and the Duchy of Burgundy became a vassal of France. However, despite the deepening of the internal political crisis, Germany continued to be one of the strongest states in Europe.

The era of rise came under Emperor Charles IV (1346-1378), who belonged to the Luxembourg dynasty. The emperor issued the Golden Bull, which legislated the rights of the electors. They could:

• choose an emperor;
• wage war among themselves within the empire (but not against the emperor);
• mint your coin.

On the one hand, the document strengthened the positions of regional rulers, but on the other hand, it excluded the intervention of the Pope in internal affairs. In fact, the Holy Roman Empire became a union of independent principalities. At the same time, the emperors actively fought against the emergence of coalitions of cities that could resist the supreme power.

From the second quarter of the 15th century, the imperial throne began to be permanently occupied by representatives of the Habsburg dynasty. The Habsburgs of this era had little influence on politics, while individual principalities created their own financial, judicial and tax systems, as well as full-fledged armies. At the end of the 15th century, thanks to a series of dynastic marriages, the core of the Habsburg patrimonial possessions took shape. This area included Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria, the latter being the center of the entire empire. Very soon, the Habsburgs began to understand that it was no longer possible to pursue a unified policy throughout the entire empire, so the emperors began to take care, first of all, of their possessions, and secondly, of the good of all Germany. In the same period, the official name of the state began to sound like the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation."

Peasant War and Reformation

The reason for the beginning of the reform movement in Germany was the famous "95 Theses" (1517) by Martin Luther, where he condemned the practice of selling indulgences and the abuse of the Catholic clergy. Luther's ideas resonated with all segments of the population, as many were dissatisfied with the status quo:

• huge wealth accumulated in monasteries and churches;
• fortress oppression;
• the high cost of religious rites;
• condemnation of banking and trading by the church.

By the 16th century, the inhabitants of Germany needed a new bourgeois ideology and wanted to abandon the old feudal orders imposed by the Catholic Church. Humanism also played an important role in the reform movement. The Reformation was supported by the best minds of that time - Erasmus of Rotterdam, Ulrich von Hutten, Philip Melanchthon and others.

Among people with prosperity, the ideas of Luther and his associates were popular. Among the peasants, however, their own reformers appeared, who focused not on dogmatic subtleties, but on the need for social transformations. Under the slogans of the liberation of the peasants from serfdom and the establishment of universal equality, the Peasant War (1524-26) began. However, due to the lack of military training, supplies, weapons and disorderly actions, the peasants were defeated.

Emperor Charles V was opposed to the Reformation. He sought to return his subjects under the authority of the Pope. However, many counties and cities were ready to oppose the king and the Catholic faith. They even turned to Germany's longtime rival, France, for support and, together with the French king, began a war against their emperor.

The result of the Reformation was the signing of the Peace of Augsburg (1555), according to which freedom of religion was proclaimed in the empire.

Thirty Years' War (1618-48) and its aftermath

For about 50 years after the signing of the Peace of Augsburg, Catholics and Protestants managed to coexist peacefully, but at the beginning of the 17th century the established balance was upset. In the Protestant Czech Republic, an uprising began against the staunch Catholic Ferdinand of Styria, who was supposed to first become the Czech king, and then the ruler of the entire empire.

The regional religious and political conflict very quickly developed into a pan-European war of progressive national states against the hegemony of the conservative Habsburgs. The struggle against the Habsburgs rallied France, Denmark, the Czech Republic, a number of German principalities, Russia, England, Sweden and many others. On the side of the Austrian emperors were the powers where the positions of the Catholic clergy were strong - Poland, Spain and Portugal, as well as Bavaria, Saxony and Prussia.

The Thirty Years' War went on with varying degrees of success. Many historians consider it the first real world war, since all European countries and many colonies were drawn into it. During the hostilities, 5 million people died. Many died from typhus, plague and dysentery, which raged at that time in Europe. The war ended with the Peace of Westphalia, according to which:

• many areas broke away from the Holy Roman Empire;
• Protestants received equal rights with Catholics;
• church lands were secularized;
• the financial, tax and judicial systems of the empire were restructured;
• the rights of the Reichstag and German princes were significantly expanded. The latter even got the opportunity to conclude international treaties with other powers.

After the defeat of the Holy Roman Empire, France began to play the main role in the life of Europe. But the new hegemon also soon fell during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). The Habsburgs played a key role in the victory of the anti-French forces. Thanks to this, the Austrian rulers again began to enjoy great authority and influence. The 18th century was a new golden age for the Habsburgs. Emperors waged successful wars, patronized the sciences and arts, annexed new territories to their possessions, and acted as international arbitrators. But despite this temporary rise, the empire slowly crumbled.

Rise of Prussia

In 1701, on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia arose with its capital in Berlin. The first Prussian kings managed to accumulate considerable wealth and create a powerful army, which was considered the strongest in Europe in the 18th century. Very quickly, the young kingdom became a full-fledged rival of Austria. The Prussian King Frederick II in 1740-45 conducted a series of successful military operations against the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa. The Prussian rulers began to declare themselves the defenders of German freedoms from the encroachments of the despotic Habsburgs, who at that time united about 350 different states and principalities under their rule.

Many representatives of the German nobility, burdened by outdated orders, were convinced of the need to get rid of the Habsburgs. The empire experienced its final collapse in the era of the Napoleonic wars. The French army occupied the heart of the empire - the city of Vienna. Many German princes not only failed to defend their ruler, but also supported Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1805, Emperor Franz II was forced to agree to the terms of the Treaty of Pressburg, according to which extensive possessions in Italy, Austria and Germany departed France, and Bavaria and Württemberg became sovereign kingdoms. A year later, the pro-French Confederation of the Rhine arose on the territory of the empire, uniting 39 independent states and several free cities. Soon the members of the union announced their withdrawal from the empire. Francis II had no choice but to agree with the decision of his subjects and abdicate the title of emperor. Thus ended the history of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation.

Despite the fact that during the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia also failed, the kingdom continued to grow stronger and stronger. At the beginning of the 19th century, a series of reforms were carried out here, as a result of which serfdom was eliminated, Prussian industry began to develop, and the management system was improved. The Prussian kings never joined the Confederation of the Rhine and continued to pursue an independent policy.

Formation of a unified German state

The collapse of the empire, however, did not mean a complete rupture of relations between its former parts. The rivalry between Prussia and Austria did not prevent them from joining forces to revive a single state. After the defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig in 1813, the Confederation of the Rhine collapsed. Its members began to join the confederation of German states, which functioned until 1866 under the auspices of Austria.

During the revolution of 1848-49, an attempt was made to create a single state. However, neither the Austrian nor the Prussian emperors were ready to cooperate with the revolutionaries. Meanwhile, relations between the two largest states of the confederation became more and more aggravated. In 1866, the Austro-Prussian War began, from which Prussia emerged victorious. After the end of the war, the North German Confederation arose, the center of which was Berlin. But the real triumph of Prussia was the Franco-Prussian war, which ended in 1871. As a result of the war, a number of large southern principalities were forced to join the North German Union. After that, King Wilhelm I of Prussia and Minister-President Otto von Bismarck were able to solemnly announce the revival of the German Empire.

Germany in the era of two World Wars

First World War (1914-18)

The German emperors were the most powerful rulers of Europe. But in 1888, Wilhelm II ascended the throne - a staunch supporter of an aggressive foreign policy and German rule over all of Europe. The new emperor removed Bismarck from his post as Chancellor and very soon set the English and Russian crowns against him. In 1914 the First World War began. Germany and its allies made great progress on the Russian front, but were defeated on the western one. Despite a powerful economy and Russia's withdrawal from the war, Germany could no longer resist England and France. In November 1918, a revolution broke out in Germany. The population could no longer endure the hardships of the war and demanded the resignation of the emperor. Wilhelm II was forced to leave the throne and flee to the Netherlands.

Weimar Republic

The First World War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), according to which Germany lost a huge part of its territories, was transformed into the Weimar Republic and was forced to pay indemnities.

As early as the autumn of 1918, hyperinflation broke out in Germany, almost completely devaluing the national currency. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles made the situation even more difficult. Although the Weimar Republic was nominally considered a democratic state, radical parties, both right and left, rapidly increased their influence in Germany. The centrist democratic parties had practically no weight, and the poorer the population became, the fewer supporters the democrats had. Governments were constantly replacing each other, chaos and poverty reigned in the country. The world economic crisis, which began in the United States in the late 1920s, finally undermined the people's confidence in the authorities.

The Germans dreamed of the revival of the former empire and a "strong hand". At that time, the NSDAP party, headed by the former Corporal Adolf Hitler, began to enjoy the greatest sympathy among the population at that time. In 1932, Hitler's party won the majority of votes in the parliamentary elections. Support for the NSDAP is beginning to be provided not only by workers, but by many large industrialists, as well as the army elite. In 1933, Hitler becomes Chancellor of the Reich. He immediately introduces severe censorship of the press, outlaws the Communist Party, sets a course for the militarization of all life and begins to create concentration camps for his political opponents.

In addition, Hitler began to strengthen the federal ruling apparatus. Germany became a unitary state, and the rights of individual lands were eliminated.

World War II (1939-45)

In the fall of 1939, World War II began. In just two years, the German army managed to occupy almost all of Central and Eastern Europe. A policy of terror was carried out in the occupied territories, many nationalities were physically destroyed, and representatives of the rest of the population were used as cheap labor. But on the territory of the USSR, Hitler failed, already in 1941 the offensive plan "Barbarossa" was thwarted, and in the second half of 1943, the German units rapidly retreated to the west. The position of Germany was aggravated by the fact that the military factories did not have enough raw materials and workers. In May 1945, the Red Army and Allied troops occupied Berlin.

Postwar Germany

After the victory and the holding of a military tribunal in Nuremberg, the victorious countries took up the design of a new political system in Germany. This is how it came about:

• in the west - Germany with its capital in Bonn;
• in the east - the GDR with its capital in East Berlin.

Germany joined NATO and, in general, developed along the capitalist path. A strong economic base was quickly established here, and a number of social reforms of a democratic order were carried out.

The GDR was part of the socialist camp. However, Soviet financial assistance also allowed eastern Germany to create a developed infrastructure and industry. In order to stop anti-communist sentiments among East Germans, which, according to the Soviet leadership, were cultivated by the West, the Berlin Wall was built between the GDR and West Berlin.

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and a year later, the FRG and the GDR united.

06/09/2009 TUESDAY 00:00

HISTORY OF GERMANY

BIRTH

And

DEVELOPMENT

GERMAN STATE

Written German history began: in 9 AD. e. In that year, Arminius, prince of the Germanic tribe of the Cherusci, won a victory in the Teutoburg Forest over three Roman legions under the command of Varus. Arminius, about whom there are no details, is considered the first Germanic national hero. In 1838-1875. in Detmold, a huge monument was erected to him.

The German nationality has been formed over the centuries. The word "German" probably appeared only in the 8th century and meant at first only the language spoken by people in the eastern part of the Frankish state. This state, which became powerful under Charlemagne, included peoples who spoke partly Germanic, partly Romance dialects. Shortly after the death of Charles (814), his empire collapsed. In the course of various divisions of inheritance, the Western and Eastern states arose, and the political border approximately coincided with the border of the German and French languages. Only gradually did the inhabitants of the Eastern state develop a sense of community. The name "German" was transferred from the language to the speakers of it and, finally, to the area of ​​\u200b\u200btheir residence

The German western frontier was established relatively long ago and remained fairly stable. The eastern frontier, by contrast, has been fluid for centuries. Around 900, it passed approximately along the rivers Elbe and Saale. In the centuries that followed, either peacefully or by force, the German settlement area was moved far to the east. This movement was suspended in the middle of the 14th century. The borders between Germans and Slavs reached by that time were preserved until the Second World War.

Middle Ages

It is generally believed that the transition from the East Frankish to the German empire took place in 911, when, after the death of the last Carolingian, the Frankish duke Conrad I was elected king. He is considered the first German king. (The official title read "Frankish King", later "Roman King", the empire was called "Roman" from the 11th century, from the 13th "Holy Roman Empire", in the 15th century "Germanic nation" was added to this name). The empire was an elective monarchy, the king was elected by the highest nobility. In addition, there was a "tribal law": the king had to be related to his predecessor. This principle has been repeatedly violated. Double elections were often held. The medieval empire did not have a capital. The king ruled by raids. There were no imperial taxes. The king received his maintenance primarily from the "imperial possessions", which he ruled as a guardian. He could force the powerful family dukes to respect himself only by resorting to military force and pursuing a skillful allied policy. This skill was shown by the successor of Conrad I, the Saxon duke Henry I the Fowler (919-936), and even more so by his son Otto I (936-973). Otto became the real ruler of the empire. His power was manifested in the fact that in 962 he forced Rome to crown himself emperor.

Since then, the German king was entitled to bear the title of Kaiser. In theory, this gave him the right to rule over the entire West. Of course, this idea was never fully realized politically. To be crowned emperor, the king had to go to Rome to the pope. This determined the Italian policy of the German kings. They held their dominance in Upper and Central Italy for 300 years, but this robbed them of their strength to carry out important tasks in Germany. The empire experienced a new rise under the next dynasty of the Salian Franks. Under Henry III (1039-1056), the German kingdom and empire reached the height of their power. First of all, the imperial power resolutely asserted its superiority over the papacy. Henry IV (1056-1106) was unable to hold these positions. In the struggle for the right to appoint bishops, he, however, outwardly defeated Pope Gregory VII. But his public repentance in Canossa (1077) meant an irreparable infringement of imperial power. The Kaiser and the Pope have since confronted each other as equal rulers.

1138 marked the beginning of the century of the Staufen dynasty. Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190) brought the empire to new heights by fighting the papacy, the Upper Italian cities, and his archrival in Germany, the Saxon duke Henry the Lion. But under him, territorial fragmentation began, which, ultimately, weakened the central government. Under Barbarossa's successors Henry VI (1190-1197) and Frederick II (1212-1250), this development continued despite the enormous imperial power. Spiritual and temporal princes became semi-sovereign "owners of the lands".

With Rudolph I (1273-1291), a representative of the Habsburgs ascended the throne for the first time. The material basis of imperial power now became not the lost imperial, but the "ancestral possessions" of the corresponding dynasty. And the policy of the royal house became the main business of any emperor.

The Golden Bull of Charles IV of 1356, a kind of Fundamental Law of the Empire, recognized the seven elected princes, electors, the exclusive right to elect the king and granted them other privileges in relation to other high-ranking persons. While the importance of petty counts, sovereign princes and knights gradually fell, the cities strengthened their influence, relying on their economic power. The association of cities into unions further strengthened their position. One of the most important of these alliances, the Hansa, became the leading power in the Baltic.

Since 1438, despite the fact that the empire remained elective, power was transferred to the Habsburg family practically by inheritance, since by that time it had received the strongest territorial power. In the 15th century, more demands were made for imperial reforms. Maximilian I (1493-1519), who was the first to assume the title of emperor without being crowned by the pope, unsuccessfully attempted such a reform. The representative institutions created by him or newly introduced - the Reichstag, the imperial districts, the Supreme Imperial Court, although they survived until the end of the empire (1806), could not restrain its further fragmentation. There was a dualism of "emperor and empire": the head of the empire was opposed by the imperial estates - electors, princes and cities. The power of the emperors was limited and more and more emasculated by the "capitulations" that they entered into during their elections with the electors. The princes significantly expanded their rights at the expense of imperial power. And yet the empire did not disintegrate: the glory of the imperial crown had not yet faded, the idea of ​​the empire continued to live, and the imperial alliance took small and medium-sized territories under its protection from the attacks of powerful neighbors.

Cities became centers of economic power. This was facilitated primarily by growing trade. In the textile industry and mining, forms of management appeared that went beyond the scope of the guild organization of the work of artisans and, like out-of-town trade, had signs of early capitalism. At the same time, changes took place in the spiritual sphere, bearing the imprint of the Renaissance and humanism.

Reformation

The latent dissatisfaction with the church that had accumulated spilled out mainly in 1517 after the speech of Martin Luther, who opened the period of the Reformation, which quickly became widespread and went beyond the bounds of religiosity. The whole social structure was set in motion. In 1522/23. the uprising of the imperial chivalry began, in 1525 - the Peasants' War, the first major revolutionary movements in German history, which united political and social aspirations. Both uprisings failed or were brutally suppressed. Only petty princes benefited from this. According to the Augsburg Religious Peace of 1555, they received the right to determine the religion of their subjects. The Protestant religion became equal in rights with the Catholic. Thus ended the religious split in Germany. Charles V (1519-1556) sat on the imperial throne during the Reformation, who by inheritance became the ruler of the largest empire in the world since the time of Charlemagne. He was too busy defending his interests in world politics and therefore could not prove himself in Germany. After his abdication, the division of the world empire was carried out. Out of the German territorial and Western European nation-states arose a new system of European states.

During the Peace of Augsburg, Germany was four-fifths Protestant. But the religious struggle is not over yet. In the following decades, the Catholic Church again managed to conquer many areas (anti-reformation). The irreconcilability of beliefs has become aggravated. Religious parties were created, the Protestant Union (1608) and the Catholic League (1609). The local conflict in Bohemia gave rise to the Thirty Years' War, which over the years turned into a pan-European one, where both political and confessional contradictions clashed. Meanwhile, between 1618 and 1648, large parts of Germany were devastated and depopulated. In the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, France and Sweden seized a number of territories from Germany. He confirmed the withdrawal of Switzerland and Holland from the imperial alliance. He granted the imperial estates all basic sovereign rights in spiritual and temporal matters and allowed them to enter into alliances with foreign partners.

Almost sovereign territorial states, following the French model, adopted absolutism as a form of government. He gave the ruler unlimited power and ensured the creation of a strict administrative administration, the introduction of an orderly financial economy and the formation of a regular army. Many princes were so ambitious that they turned their residences into centers of culture. Some of them - representatives of "enlightened absolutism" - developed science and critical thinking, of course, within the framework of their sovereign interests. The economic policy of mercantilism also contributed to the economic strengthening of states. States such as Bavaria, Brandenburg (later Prussia), Saxony and Hanover became independent centers of power. Austria, which conquered Hungary as well as parts of the former Turkish Balkan countries, became a great power. In the 18th century, this power faced a rival in the person of Prussia, which under Frederick the Great (1740-1786) became the leading military power. Parts of the territories of both states were not part of the empire, and both of them pursued a great power policy in Europe.

French revolution

The building of the empire collapsed from the jolt in the West. In 1789 a revolution broke out in France. The feudal relations that had existed since the early Middle Ages were eliminated under the pressure of the burghers. The division of power and human rights were to ensure the freedom and equality of all citizens. The attempt of Prussia and Austria by armed intervention to change relations in the neighboring country suffered a complete failure and led to a retaliatory strike by the revolutionary armies. Under the onslaught of Napoleon's troops, the empire finally disintegrated. France captured the left bank of the Rhine. In order to compensate for the damage of the former owners of these areas, a large-scale "elimination of striped stripes" was undertaken at the expense of small principalities: on the basis of a decision of a special imperial deputation of 1803, almost four million subjects were replaced by sovereign princes. The middle states have won. Most of them united in 1806. under the French protectorate in the "Confederation of the Rhine". In the same year, Emperor Franz II renounced the crown, as a result of which the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation ceased to exist.

The French Revolution did not spread to Germany. A spark could not ignite here, if only because, in contrast to neutralist France, the federal structure of the empire prevented the spread of new ideas. In addition, it should be taken into account that it was the birthplace of the revolution, France, that confronted the Germans as an enemy and occupying power. Therefore, the struggle against Napoleon developed into a new national movement, which finally resulted in wars of liberation. The forces of social transformation did not bypass Germany either. First, in the states of the Confederation of the Rhine, and then in Prussia (there it is associated with such names as Stein, Hardenberg, Scharnhorst, W. Humboldt), reforms began to be carried out that were finally to eliminate feudal barriers and create a free, responsible bourgeois society: abolition of serfdom, freedom of trade, city self-government, equality before the law, general military duty. True, many reform plans remained unfulfilled. Citizens were mostly denied participation in legislation. The princes, especially in the south of Germany, only with delay allowed their states to adopt constitutions.

After the victory over Napoleon at the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815. an act on the reorganization of Europe was adopted. The hopes of many Germans for the creation of a free, unified national state did not come true. The German Confederation, which replaced the old empire, was a free association of individual sovereign states. The only body was the Bundestag in Frankfurt, not an elected parliament, but a congress of ambassadors. The union could operate only in the event of unanimity of the two major powers - Prussia and Austria. In subsequent decades, the union saw its main task in curbing all aspirations for unity and freedom. The press and journalism were subjected to the most severe censorship, universities were under control, political activity was almost impossible.

Meanwhile, the development of a modern economy began, which counteracted these reactionary tendencies. In 1834, the German Customs Union was created and thus the single internal market. In 1835, the first section of the German railway was put into operation. Industrialization has begun. With the factories came a new class of factory workers. Rapid population growth soon led to a labor surplus in the labor market. Since there was no social legislation, the masses of factory workers lived in great need. Tense situations were resolved with the use of force, as, for example, in 1844, when the Prussian military clique suppressed the uprising of the Silesian weavers. Only gradually did the sprouts of the labor movement begin to appear.

Revolution of 1848

The French February Revolution of 1848, in contrast to the revolution of 1789, immediately received a response in Germany. In March, popular unrest swept through all the federal lands, which forced the frightened princes to make some concessions. In May, at the Frankfurt Church of St. Paul (Paulskirche), the National Assembly elected the Austrian Archduke Johann as imperial regent and established an imperial ministry, which, however, had no power and did not enjoy authority. The determining factor in the National Assembly was the liberal center, which sought to establish a constitutional monarchy with limited suffrage. The adoption of the constitution was difficult due to the fragmentation of the National Assembly, which represented the whole spectrum from conservatives to radical democrats. But even the liberal center could not eliminate the contradictions characteristic of all groupings between the adherents of the "Great German" and "Little German" solutions, that is, the German Empire with or without Austria. After a difficult struggle, a democratic constitution was drafted, which attempted to link the old with the new, and which provided for a government accountable to parliament. However, when Austria insisted on including its entire state territory, which included more than a dozen nationalities, into the future empire, the Little German plan won, and the National Assembly offered the Prussian king Frederick William IV the hereditary German crown. The king refused it: he did not want to receive his imperial title as a result of the revolution. In May 1849 failed popular uprisings in Saxony, the Palatinate and Baden, the purpose of which was to force "from below" to accept the constitution. This led to the final defeat of the German revolution. Most of the conquests were canceled, the constitutions of individual states were revised in a reactionary spirit. In 1850 the German Confederation was restored.

Bismarck Empire

The 1950s were characterized by rapid economic growth. Germany becomes an industrial country. Although it still lagged behind England in terms of industrial volume, it overtook it in terms of growth rates. The pace was set by heavy industry and engineering. Economically, Prussia dominated Germany. Economic power strengthened the political self-consciousness of the liberal bourgeoisie. The German Progressive Party, which arose in 1861, became the strongest parliamentary party in Prussia and refused the government funds when it was about to change the structure of the ground forces in a reactionary spirit. An appointed new prime minister, Otto von Bismarck (1862), ruled for several years, disregarding the budgetary powers of Parliament, as required by the constitution. The Progressive Party in its resistance did not risk going beyond the actions of the parliamentary opposition.

Bismarck was able to strengthen his unstable domestic political position through foreign policy successes. In the Danish War (1864), Prussia and Austria wrested Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark, which they initially ruled jointly. But Bismarck from the very beginning sought to annex both duchies and went into conflict with Austria. In the Austro-Prussian War (1866), Austria was defeated and had to leave the German scene. The German Confederation was dissolved. It was replaced by the North German Confederation, which was headed by Federal Chancellor Bismarck, uniting all the German states north of the Main.

Bismarck now concentrated his activities on the completion of German unity in the Lesser German plan. He broke French resistance in the Franco-Prussian War (1870/1871), which broke out as a result of a diplomatic conflict over the succession to the throne in Spain. France had to give up Alsace and Lorraine and pay a large amount of reparations. In patriotic military enthusiasm, the South German states united with the North German Confederation, creating the German Empire. At Versailles on January 18, 1871. King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor. German unity did not come about by the will of the people, "from below", but on the basis of an agreement between the princes, "from above". Prussian dominance was oppressive. To many, the new empire was presented as "Great Prussia". The Reichstag was elected on the basis of general and equal suffrage. True, he did not influence the formation of the government, but he participated in imperial legislation and had the right to approve the budget. Although the Imperial Chancellor answered only to the Emperor and not to Parliament, he still needed to have a majority in the Reichstag in order to carry out his policy. There was not yet a single suffrage for popular representations in individual lands. In eleven of the German federal states there still existed class suffrage dependent on tax revenues, in four others the old estate structure of popular representations was preserved. The South German states, with their great parliamentary tradition, reformed the suffrage at the end of the century, and Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria brought it into line with the suffrage of the Reichstag. The transformation of Germany into a modern industrial country strengthened the influence of the bourgeoisie, which successfully developed the economy. Nevertheless, the tone in society continued to be set by the nobility and mainly the officer corps, consisting mainly of nobles.

Bismarck, as Imperial Chancellor, ruled for nineteen years. Consistently pursuing a peaceful and allied policy, he tried to strengthen the position of the empire in the new alignment of forces that had developed on the European continent. His domestic policy was the exact opposite of his farsighted foreign policy. He did not understand the democratic trends of his time. He considered the political opposition "hostile to the empire." He waged a fierce, but ultimately unsuccessful struggle against the left wing of the liberal bourgeoisie, political Catholicism and especially against the organized labor movement, which was banned by an exceptional law against the socialists for twelve years (1878-1890). Despite progressive social laws, the powerfully growing working class thus began to alienate itself from the state. In the end, Bismarck became a victim of his own system and was replaced in 1890 by the young Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Wilhelm II wanted to rule himself, but for this he had neither the knowledge nor constancy. More by speech than by action, he created the impression of a tyrant who posed a threat to the world. Under him, the transition to "world politics" was carried out. Germany tried to catch up with the big imperialist powers and in doing so found itself increasingly isolated. In domestic politics, Wilhelm II soon began to pursue a reactionary course, after his attempt to win over the workers to a "social empire" did not produce the desired quick results. Its chancellors relied on alternating coalitions drawn from the conservative and bourgeois camps. The Social Democracy, although the most powerful party with millions of voters, was still out of work.

World War I

The assassination of the Austrian heir to the throne on June 28, 1914 served as a pretext for the First World War. Of course, neither Germany and Austria, on the one hand, nor France, Russia and England, on the other, consciously wanted it, but they were ready to take a certain risk. From the very beginning, everyone had clear military goals, for the implementation of which a military clash at least was not undesirable. It was not possible to achieve the defeat of France, provided for by the German operational plan. On the contrary, after the German defeat in the Battle of the Marne, the war in the west froze, turning into a positional one, which ended in militarily senseless battles with huge material and human losses on both sides. From the very beginning of the war, the Kaiser kept a low profile. Weak imperial chancellors in the course of the war increasingly succumbed to pressure from the Supreme High Command of the troops, led by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg as formal commander and General Erich Ludendorff as actual commander. The entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Entente in 1917 predetermined the long-planned outcome, which neither the revolution in Russia nor peace in the east could change. Although the country was completely drained of blood, Ludendorff, unconscious of the situation, insisted on a "victorious peace" until September 1918, but then unexpectedly demanded an immediate truce. The military collapse was accompanied by a political one. Without resisting, the emperor and princes in November 1918 left their thrones. Not a single hand moved in defense of the monarchy that had lost its confidence. Germany became a Republic.

Weimar Republic

Power passed to the Social Democrats. Most of them had long ago departed from the revolutionary aspirations of earlier years and considered it their main task to ensure an orderly transition from the old state form to the new one. Private property in industry and agriculture remained intact. Officials and judges remained in their posts, mostly opposed to the republic. The imperial officer corps retained command power in the army. Attempts by the left radical forces to turn the revolution into a socialist channel were thwarted by military measures. In the National Assembly elected in 1919, which met in Weimar and adopted a new imperial constitution, the majority was formed by three clearly republican parties: the Social Democrats, the German Democratic Party and the Center. But in the 1920s, forces prevailed among the people and in parliament that regarded the democratic state with more or less deep distrust. The Weimar Republic was a "republic without republicans" that was fiercely opposed by its opponents and very inadequately defended by its supporters. Skepticism about the republic was fueled primarily by the need of the post-war period and the difficult conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which Germany had to sign in 1919. The result was growing internal political instability. In 1923, the unrest of the post-war period reached its peak (inflation, the occupation of the Ruhr, the Hitler putsch, attempts at a communist coup). Then, after some economic recovery, a political equilibrium was established. Thanks to the foreign policy of Gustav Stresemann, defeated Germany, having concluded the Treaty of Locarno (1925) and joined the League of Nations (1926), regained political equality. Art and science in the "golden twenties" experienced a short but magnificent flowering. After the death of the first imperial president, the Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert, in 1925 the former field marshal Hindenburg was elected head of state. Although he strictly adhered to the constitution, he did not have an internal commitment to the republican state. The fall of the Weimar Republic began with the global economic crisis in 1929. Left and right radicals took advantage of unemployment and general poverty. There was no longer a majority in the Reichstag that could govern the country. The cabinets depended on the support of the Reich President (who had strong constitutional power). The previously minor National Socialist movement of Adolf Hitler, which combined extremely anti-democratic tendencies and vicious anti-Semitism with pseudo-revolutionary propaganda, gained in weight dramatically from the 1930s. , and in 1932 was the largest party. On January 30, 1933, Hitler became Reich Chancellor. In addition to members of his party, some politicians from the right camp, as well as ministers who did not belong to any political parties, entered the cabinet, so that there was still a glimmer of hope for preventing the exclusive dominance of the National Socialists.

Dictatorship of the National Socialists

Hitler quickly freed himself from his allies, invested himself with almost unlimited powers thanks to the law on granting emergency powers to the government, adopted with the approval of all bourgeois parties, banned all parties except his own. Trade unions were dispersed, fundamental rights were virtually abolished, and freedom of the press was eliminated. The regime subjected unwanted persons to ruthless terror. Thousands of people were thrown into urgently built concentration camps without trial or investigation. Parliamentary bodies at all levels were abolished or deprived of power. When Hindenburg died in 1934, Hitler, in his own person, united the offices of Chancellor and President. Thanks to this, he, as the supreme commander, received power over the Wehrmacht, which has not yet lost its independence.

During the short period of the Weimar Republic, the understanding of the structure of free democracy could not take root among the majority of Germans. Confidence in state power has been greatly shaken, primarily as a result of internal political confusion, violent clashes of political opponents up to bloody street fights and mass unemployment caused by the global economic crisis. Hitler, however, was able to revive the economy with employment and armaments programs and quickly reduce unemployment. His position was strengthened thanks to great foreign policy successes: in 1935, the Saarland, which had until then been under the protectorate of the League of Nations, was returned to Germany, and in the same year the right to create a regular army was restored. In 1936 the German army entered the demilitarized Rhineland. In 1938, the empire swallowed up Austria, and the Western powers allowed Hitler to annex the Sudetenland. All this played into his hands in the rapid implementation of his political goals, although in all sections of the population there were people who courageously opposed the dictator.

Immediately after the seizure of power, the regime began to implement its anti-Semitic program. Gradually the Jews were deprived of all human and civil rights. Because of the persecution and suppression of free thought, thousands of people were forced to leave the country. Many of the best German writers, artists and scientists emigrated.

The Second World War

It was not enough for Hitler to dominate Germany. From the very beginning, he prepared for the war he was ready to wage in order to gain dominance in Europe. On September 1, 1939, by attacking Poland, he unleashed the Second World War, which lasted five and a half years, devastated large areas of Europe and cost the lives of 55 million people.

Initially, the German armies won victories over Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France, Yugoslavia and Greece. In the Soviet Union, they came close to Moscow, and in North Africa they were going to capture the Suez Canal. A brutal occupation regime was established in the occupied countries. The resistance movement fought against him. In 1942, the regime began the "final solution of the Jewish question": all Jews who could be captured were thrown into concentration camps in occupied Poland and killed there. The total number of victims is estimated at six million. The year when this unthinkable crime began was a turning point in the war. From that time on, Germany and its allies Italy and Japan suffered setbacks on all fronts. With the terror and military failures of the regime, a wave of resistance against Hitler at home spread. On July 20, 1944, the uprising, organized mainly by officers, failed. Hitler survived the assassination attempt at his main headquarters, where a bomb was detonated, and bloodily avenged it. In the following months, more than four thousand members of the Resistance, representatives of all walks of life, were executed. Colonel-General Ludwig Beck, Colonel Count Staufenberg and former Mayor of Leipzig Karl Goerdeler should be named as outstanding personalities of the Resistance movement.

The war continued. Suffering heavy losses, Hitler did not stop the war until the enemy occupied the entire territory of the empire. On April 30, 1945, he committed suicide. And eight days later, his successor in the will, Grand Admiral Dönitz, signed an act of unconditional surrender.

Germany after World War II

After the unconditional surrender of the German army on May 8-9, 1945, the imperial government headed by Admiral Dönitz performed its duties for another 23 days. Then it was arrested. Later, members of the government, along with other high-ranking officials of the National Socialist dictatorship, were put on trial on charges of crimes against peace and humanity.

On June 5, supreme power passed to the victorious countries: the USA, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and France. The main goal of the London Protocol (September 12, 1944) and subsequent agreements based on it was to exercise complete control over Germany. The basis of this policy was the division of the country into three occupation zones, the capital Berlin divided into three parts and the joint Control Council of the three commanders-in-chief.

The division of Germany into occupation zones was to forever discourage her desire for world domination, after failed attempts in 1914 and 1939. It was important to put an end to the Teutonic aspirations of conquest in the future, to eliminate Prussia as a stronghold of militarism, to punish the Germans for the destruction of peoples and war crimes, and to instill in them a democratic consciousness.

At the Yalta Conference (Crimea) in February 1945, France entered the circle of allies as the fourth controlling power and received its own occupation zone. In Yalta, it was decided to deprive Germany of its statehood, but not to allow its territorial fragmentation. In particular, Stalin was interested in preserving Germany as a single economic entity. For the huge sacrifices of the Soviet Union as a result of the German attack, Stalin put forward such colossal demands for reparations that one zone could not satisfy them. In addition to $20 billion, Moscow demanded the complete transfer to the Soviet Union of 80 percent of all German industrial enterprises.

In accordance with plans that pursued other goals, the British and French also advocated for the preservation of the viability of the rest of Germany, but not because of the desire to receive reparations, but because without Germany's participation, the restoration of Europe would have been slower. Around the autumn of 1944, the president US Roosevelt also advocated a stable central Europe within a global equilibrium system. This could not have been achieved without economic stability in Germany. Therefore, relatively quickly, he rejected the notorious Morgenthau plan, according to which the German nation in the future was to be engaged only in agriculture and be divided into North German and South German states.

The victorious countries were soon united only by the common goal of the disarmament and demilitarization of Germany. The faster its dismemberment became "recognition of a dying idea only in words" (Charles Bolin), when the Western powers saw in amazement that Stalin, immediately after the military liberation of Poland and southeastern Europe, began the mass sovietization of these countries.

On May 12, 1945, Churchill telegraphed US President Truman that an "iron curtain" had descended in front of the front of the Soviet troops. "What's going on behind it, we don't know." Since then, a concerned West has been speculating about what the consequences would be if Stalin were allowed to take part in decision-making in the conduct of reparations policy on the Rhine and Ruhr. As a result, it so happened that at the Potsdam Conference (July 17 to August 2, 1945), the original purpose of which was a post-war settlement in Europe, agreements were adopted that fixed rather than solved the tensions that had arisen: unanimity was achieved only in questions of denazification, demilitarization and economic decentralization, as well as the education of Germans in a democratic spirit. Further, the West gave its fraught consent to the expulsion of Germans from Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In clear contradiction to Western reservations about the "humane" implementation of this eviction was the brutal expulsion in the subsequent time of about 6.75 million Germans. So they paid for the German guilt, and for the transfer of the Polish western border as a result of the Soviet occupation of Koenigsberg and Eastern Poland. The minimum consensus was reached only on the preservation of the four occupation zones in the form of economic and political units. Meanwhile, each occupying power had to satisfy its reparation demands first at the expense of its own occupation zone.

But, as time has shown, this set the main direction: not only the settlement of reparations, but also the linking of the four zones to different political and economic systems led to the fact that the Cold War manifested itself more sharply in Germany than anywhere else in the world. In the meantime, the formation of German parties and administrative bodies began in the individual occupation zones. This happened very quickly and with strict regulation in the Soviet zone. Already in 1945, central administrative bodies were allowed and formed there.

In the three western zones, political life developed from the bottom up. Political parties existed at first only in the localities, after the formation of the lands they were allowed at this level as well. It was only later that there were amalgamations at the scale of the zones. At the zone level, there were only the beginnings of administrative bodies. But since the material poverty of the country lying in ruins could be overcome only with the help of broad planning covering all zones and lands, and the administration of the four powers did not act, in 1947 the United States and Great Britain decided to carry out the economic unification of both zones (Bieonia).

The duel of the ruling systems in the East and West, as well as the very different implementation of the reparation policy in individual zones, led to the blockade of the all-German financial, tax, raw materials and production policy, which resulted in a completely different development of the regions. Initially, France was not interested in the interzonal economic administration (Bizonia/Trizonia). Stalin put forward a demand for participation in the control of the Ruhr area and at the same time isolated his zone. Thus, he did not allow any Western interference in the communist-oriented policy of establishing official institutions in the Soviet Occupation Zone (SOZ). The West was helpless against Soviet arbitrariness, as, for example, in April 1946, when the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) were forcibly merged into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).

In connection with this development, the British and Americans in their zones also began to pursue their interests. Socialism was perceived with disgust by the high military ranks of the conservative persuasion. Therefore, in the western zones, the old property structures and societies have been preserved. The disastrous economic situation forced, moreover, not to continue denazification, but to use good German specialists in an urgently needed restoration.

Transition to partnership with the West

A speech by US Foreign Secretary Byrnes on 6 September 1946 in Stuttgart marked a turn in West Germany. The Stalinist occupation and the borders of Poland were only described as temporary. According to his concept, the military presence of the Western allies in West Germany changed: the occupation and control power was replaced by a protective power. Only a "soft" reparations policy should have kept the Germans from nationalist revanchism and encouraged them to cooperate. At the initiative of Great Britain and the United States, after overcoming the resistance of France, Trizonia was finally created as a single western economic region. The danger of a further Soviet advance to the West after the state putsch in Prague on February 25, 1948, ultimately led France to adhere to allied interests. Byrnes's ideas were clearly reflected in the creation of the Brussels Pact (March 17, 1948), and then in the North Atlantic Treaty (April 4, 1949).

Such a contractual community could only function if West Germany were a single political and economic entity. In accordance with this, France, Great Britain and the USA agreed at the London Conference (February 23 - March 3, April 20 - June 1, 1948) on the joint state settlement of the western occupation zones. On March 20, 1948, at a meeting of the Control Council, the Soviet representative, Marshal Sokolovsky, demanded information about the London talks. When his Western colleagues rejected this, Sokolovsky left the meeting of the Control Council in order not to return here anymore.

While the Western powers were busy working out their recommendations to the West German prime ministers for the convening of a constitutional assembly, the introduction of the German mark in the west (currency reform on June 20, 1948) served as an excuse for Stalin to try to annex West Berlin to the Soviet zone by blockade. On the night of June 23-24, 1948, all land communications between the Western zones and West Berlin were blocked. The supply of the city with electricity from the eastern sector and food products from POPs has ceased. On August 3, 1948, Stalin demanded that Berlin be recognized as the capital of the GDR, which also received its own government on October 7, 1949. However, US President Truman remained adamant and true to his July 20 motto: neither West Berlin ("do not repeat Munich") nor the founding of a Western state should be abandoned. Until May 12, 1949, the supply of West Berlin was provided by an air bridge organized by the Allies. This apparent attachment to Berlin as an outpost of Western politics and way of life, as well as America's display of its strength, contributed to the development of cooperation with the occupying authorities.

Founding of the Federal Republic of Germany

Germany received foreign aid from America already in 1946. But only the program to combat "hunger, poverty, despair and chaos" (Marshall Plan) allowed it to make a decisive shift in the restoration of its economy (1.4 billion dollars in the period 1948- 1952) While the socialization of industry continued in the Soviet occupation zone, in West Germany, after the currency reform, more and more supporters were won by the model of the "Social Market Economy" (Alfred Müller-Armak, 1947). The new economic structure, on the one hand, was supposed to prevent the "bogging of capitalism" (Walter Eiken), on the other hand, to prevent the transformation of a centrally planned economy into a brake on creative activity and initiative. This economic goal was supplemented in the Bonn Basic Law by the principle of a legal and social state, as well as the federal structure of the republic. Moreover, the constitution was deliberately called the Basic Law in order to emphasize its temporary nature. The final constitution was to be adopted only after the restoration of German unity.

This Fundamental Law, of course, included many of the plans of the Western occupation authorities, who on July 1, 1948 (Frankfurt Documents) entrusted the drafting of the constitution to the West German prime ministers. At the same time, it reflected the experience of the Weimar Republic and the "legal" establishment of the Nazi dictatorship. The Constitutional Assembly at Herrenheim See (August 10-23, 1948) and the Parliamentary Council in Bonn (65 members delegated by the Landtag met on September 1, 1948) in the Basic Law (May 8, 1949) prescribed future governments, parties and other political forces to adhere to the principles of preventive legal protection. All aspirations to liquidate the free democratic system, all attempts to replace it with a right or left dictatorship have since been considered worthy of punishment and prohibition. The legality of parties is determined by the Federal Constitutional Court.

These commitments were a direct reaction to the lessons learned during the National Socialist dictatorship. Many politicians who survived the troubles and oppressions of this dictatorship, immediately after 1945, became involved in active political activity and now brought the democratic traditions of the period of 1848 and 1919, as well as the "Rebellion of Conscience" on July 20, 1944, into the new building of Germany.

all over the world they personified the "other Germany" and enjoyed the respect of the occupying authorities. The new party landscape in West Germany was shaped by figures such as the first federal president Theodor Heuss (FDP), the first federal chancellor Konrad Adenauer (CDU), Ludwig Erhard (CDU), this "engine of the economic miracle", as well as such major opposition leaders from the SPD like Kurt Schumacher and Erich Ollenhauer, or world citizen Carlo Schmid. Step by step they expanded the German rights of participation in world politics and political influence. In July 1951, Great Britain, France and the United States declared the end of the state of war with Germany. The USSR followed this on January 25, 1955.

The foreign policy of the new Germany

Western integration and European understanding became its basis. For Federal Chancellor Adenauer, who until 1963 personally

had a great influence on the foreign and domestic policy pursued by Germany ("chancellor democracy"), the highest

the political goal was the reunification of Germany while maintaining peace and freedom. The indispensable condition for this was the inclusion of West Germany in the Atlantic Community. Therefore, with the acquisition of sovereignty by the Federal Republic of Germany on May 5, 1955, its entry into NATO was also carried out. The Union was supposed to be a reliable shield, after the European Defense Community (EDC) project could not be implemented due to the French refusal. In parallel, the formation of the European Communities was going on (the Rome Accords, 1957). Adenauer's distrust of Moscow was so ingrained that in 1952 he Together with the West, he rejected Stalin's proposal to reunite Germany up to the border along the Oder-Neisse and give it the status of neutrality. The chancellor considered it necessary to have American troops on German soil for protection purposes. His suspicion turned out to be fully justified when, on June 17, 1953. tanks suppressed a popular uprising in the GDR, caused by captivity and "inflating norms" (Hans Mayer).

A sober state calculation prompted the establishment of diplomatic relations with the USSR, the largest power in Europe. During his visit to Moscow in September 1955, Adenauer, in addition to this goal, achieved the release of the last 10,000 German prisoners of war and about 20,000 civilians.

The suppression by the Soviet troops of the popular uprising in Hungary in November 1956 and the "satellite shock" (October 4, 1957) testified to a great increase in the power of the USSR. This was expressed in the implementation of further coercive measures as part of the construction of a socialist society in the GDR, and above all in the Berlin ultimatum of Stalin's successor Nikita Khrushchev, who demanded that the Western allies vacate West Berlin within six months. The decisive refusal prompted Khrushchev to try to advance the Berlin question with bait. Indeed, Khrushchev's trip to the United States in 1959 led to a significant détente ("the spirit of Camp David"). In any case, US President Eisenhower, to the displeasure of the Bonn government, believed that the violations of rights on the Soviet side in Berlin were not so significant that they could serve as a pretext for a violent conflict outside Germany.

Bonn's concern about Berlin's security increased when the election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency of the United States brought about a generational change that greatly diminished Adenauer's influence on American politics in Europe. Kennedy did guarantee the presence of the Western powers and the security of West Berlin on July 25, 1961, but ultimately the Allied reaction to the erection of the Berlin Wall (August 13, 1961) did not go beyond diplomatic protests and symbolic threats. Once again, Moscow managed to secure its protectorate. The "voting with the feet" against the GDR regime was suppressed with the help of barriers, death strips and harassment. Before the construction of the wall, more than 30,000 people left the GDR in July alone.

With this "wall" both superpowers "stake out their possessions." The German question was not resolved, but seemed settled. The process of mutual understanding between the two superpowers, caused by the atomic stalemate, continued even after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In accordance with this, Bonn had to intensify his search for his own path, and the temporary cooling of relations with Washington was compensated by the "summer of French friendship." By concluding the Élysée Treaty in January 1963, Adenauer and De Gaulle gave German-French friendship a special significance. To emphasize the new quality of bilateral relations, De Gaulle, during his triumphant visit to Bonn (1962), delivered a speech in which he spoke of the "great German people." As the general said, World War II should be viewed more in terms of tragedy than guilt. The policy of mutual understanding with the West echoed the clarification of the situation in relations with Eastern Europe. NATO gave the signal in December 1963 in Athens by adopting a new strategy of flexible response instead of massive retaliation.

In order to somehow move from the established positions, the Federal Republic of Germany sought to improve relations at least with the states located on the outskirts of the USSR. Without officially abandoning the Hallstein Doctrine as a brake on the diplomatic recognition of the GDR, Adenauer's successors Ludwig Erhard and Kurt Georg Kiesinger based their policies on the harsh realities of Central Europe. Last but not least, this was also a response to the new line in foreign policy pursued by the SPD opposition, which on July 15, 1963, Egon Bahr characterized by the formula "Turn by change."

The establishment of German trade missions in Bucharest and Budapest was considered an encouraging start. In the West, work was intensively carried out to create the European Community (EC), the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community (EEC).

The establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel in spite of the pan-Arab protest was an important step in the German policy of mutual understanding. In early 1967, Bonn established diplomatic relations with Romania. In June 1967 trade missions were established in Bonn and Prague. In 1967 Bonn and Belgrade re-established diplomatic relations, interrupted earlier due to Belgrade's recognition of the GDR. Poland joined the diplomatic discussion with proposals to conclude an agreement on the non-use of force.

In addition to reconciliation with European neighbors and integration into the community of Western states, Adenauer attached great importance to the correction of crimes against the Jewish people. The systematic extermination campaign waged by the Nazis took the lives of six million Jews. A significant influence on the beginning reconciliation between Jews and Germans was, not least, the good personal relations of the first Federal Chancellor with Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion. The meeting of both statesmen on March 14, 1960 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York will always be remembered. In 1961, in parliament, Adenauer stressed that the Federal Republic of Germany would confirm the complete break of the Germans with the National Socialist past, only by compensating for material damage. Back in 1952, an agreement was signed in Luxembourg on the payment of aid to Jewish refugees to set up a life in Israel. In general, Israel and Jewish organizations, in particular, received one third of approximately 90 billion marks for reimbursement. Jewish Claims Conference , a fund created to support persecuted Jews anywhere in the world.

Germany and East Germany

The process of detente that had begun did not undergo any significant changes, despite the "Brezhnev doctrine" of the indivisibility of socialist territories, under which the GDR carried out further measures to delimit (for example, the obligation to have a passport and a visa in transit between the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin), and despite the fact that the Warsaw Pact stopped the Prague policy of reforms ("Prague Spring"). In April 1969, Bonn announced its readiness for agreements with the GDR without proceeding to its recognition on the basis of international law. |

Without prior agreement with Moscow, however, it was difficult to achieve German-German agreements. When Bonn received a proposal from Moscow to conclude an agreement on the renunciation of the use of force, the outlines of the so-called "new eastern policy" of the government of the social-liberal coalition began to emerge quickly;

formed on October 21, 1969 A few months earlier, Gustav Heinemann, who had been a strong supporter of mutual understanding between East and West since the time of Adenauer, had become federal president. Willy Brandt, a representative of the active resistance to Hitler's dictatorship, stood next to him at the head of the federal government, which directed its energies towards the creation of a pan-European peace order. The general conditions of world politics were favorable. Moscow and Washington were negotiating on the limitation of strategic arms (START), and NATO proposed to negotiate a bilateral weighted reduction of troops. On November 28, 1969, the Federal Republic of Germany acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement. In general, having begun to pursue its policy of mutual understanding, the new government sought to achieve success, bypassing the internal political frictions of the Grand Coalition.

While negotiations began in Moscow and Warsaw on an agreement on the renunciation of the use of force, Bonn and East Berlin were also looking for ways to better understand each other. On March 19, 1970, Brandt and Stoff, the heads of government of both German states, met for the first time in Erfurt. The meeting was continued on May 21, 1970 in Kassel. In August 1970, the Treaty on the Mutual Non-Use of Force and Recognition of the Status Quo was signed in Moscow. Both sides assured that they had no territorial claims "to anyone". Germany noted that the Treaty was not inconsistent with the aim of promoting a state of peace in Europe "in which the German people would regain unity by the right of freedom of self-determination."

On December 7 of the same year, the Warsaw Agreement was signed, which confirmed the inviolability of the existing border (along the Oder-Neisse line). Warsaw and Bonn assured that they have no territorial claims to each other, and announced their intention to improve cooperation between the two countries. In "Information" on humanitarian measures, Warsaw agreed to the resettlement of Germans from Poland and the unification of their families with the help of the "Red Cross".

To ensure the ratification of the agreement, France, Great Britain, the USA and the USSR signed the Berlin Agreement, according to which Berlin was not a constitutional part of the Federal Republic of Germany, but at the same time recognized representative powers for West Berlin for Bonn. In addition, ties between West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany should have been improved and relations between East Berlin and West Berlin should have been expanded. The German desire for peace and détente was recognized throughout the world when Willy Brandt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1971).

But the CDU / CSU, which is in opposition for the first time, the results of the negotiations seemed insufficient. But the constructive vote of no confidence in Brandt did not pass, and on May 17, 1972, the German Bundestag approved the treaties with the Soviet Union and Poland. The majority of CDU/CSU deputies abstained from voting. The Bundestag, in an "interpretative resolution" on the treaties, confirmed that they are not in conflict with the restoration of German unity by peaceful means.

The Eastern Treaties were finally supplemented and completed by the German-German Treaty on the Fundamentals of Relations, on which meetings and negotiations had been held since June 1972. With the re-election of Willy Brandt as Federal Chancellor on December 14, 1972, the way was opened for the signing of the treaty in December of that year. The parties recorded in the agreement the renunciation of both parties from the threat and use of force, as well as the inviolability of the German-German border and respect for the independence and independence of both states. Further, they confirmed their readiness to resolve humanitarian issues. Due to the special quality of their relationship, they agreed to establish "representations" instead of regular embassies. And here, at the conclusion of the treaty, a letter was handed over from the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, in which the will to unity was emphasized. That the treaty was not in conflict with this purpose was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court at the request of the government of the Bavarian Republic. At the same time, the court stated that, under international law, the German Empire continues to exist and is partially identical with the Federal Republic of Germany, and the GDR is not considered a foreign country, but part of the country.

In 1973, the Prague Treaty was signed between Czechoslovakia and the Federal Republic of Germany. It says that "according to the present treaty" the Munich Agreement of 1938 is recognized

Invalid. The provisions of the treaty also included the inviolability of borders and the renunciation of the use of force.

Relations between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany did not change significantly with the start of the Vienna talks on a balanced mutual reduction of armed forces, and during the conclusion of the Soviet-American agreement on the prevention of nuclear war, and during the Helsinki meeting of 35 states on security and cooperation in Europe ( CSCE). On the one hand, East Berlin benefited materially and financially from separate agreements subsequently concluded on the basis of the Treaty on the Basic Relations, on the other hand, it scrupulously followed the ideological demarcation. With the change in the constitution of the GDR, the concept of the "socialist state of the German nation" disappeared. It was replaced by a "socialist state of workers and peasants". Helmut Schmidt also sought to continue the balancing act. On May 16, 1974, he succeeded Willy Brandt as Federal Chancellor. Until 1981, the "swing" settlement was extended, under which the GDR was allowed to regularly overspend up to 850 million marks on a loan received from the Federal Republic of Germany.

As before, the GDR benefited greatly from various Western-funded transit settlements, while remaining a politically closed country in turn. The final act of the Helsinki CSCE (1975), which proclaimed freedom of movement in border traffic and greater respect for human and civil rights, was a cause of disappointment not only for the citizens of the GDR. The nit-picking in border traffic, the arbitrariness with the ban on entry, the rejection of visitors to the Leipzig fair did not stop. Critical reporting on the GDR was punishable by the expulsion of Western journalists. By stripping the citizenship of songwriter Wolf Biermann, the SED regime lost its prestige throughout the world. However, for the sake of the people in the GDR, the Federal Republic of Germany continued its policy of mutual understanding and unity. Thus, in 1978, an agreement was concluded with East Berlin on the construction of the Berlin-Hamburg motorway and the repair of transit waterways to West Berlin with a high share in the costs of the Federal Republic of Germany. In addition, the ransom of political prisoners from the GDR continued. As a result, Bonn paid the GDR over 3.5 billion marks for the release of 33,755 people and the reunification of 250,000 families.

Escalation of the Cold War

While unification was making good progress in Western Europe, in Eastern Europe the end of the decade of détente and the beginning of the 1980s were marked by new conflicts. The invasion of Soviet troops into Afghanistan and the declaration of martial law in Poland led to a deterioration in the climate in relations between East and West, as did the installation of new medium-range missiles (SS 20) in the GDR and Czechoslovakia. NATO reacted to this dangerous destabilization of the security balance by deciding to begin, in its turn, rearmament with missiles from 1983. The USSR was offered arms control talks (NATO's double decision). The USA, Great Britain, Canada, Norway and the Federal Republic of Germany refused to participate in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow in protest against the intervention in Afghanistan.

Everything began to move again after the proposal put forward by the Americans for the so-called "zero" solution, which provided for the elimination of Soviet medium-range missiles while NATO refused to install Pershing missiles II and new cruise missiles. In order to eliminate gaps in the security system, Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt insisted on rearmament as an alternative and at the same time tried to contain the deterioration of relations between the two German states as much as possible. Despite the demand of the head of state and party, Erich Honecker, to have his own citizenship and a sharp increase in the minimum exchange rate for visitors to the GDR from the West, Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt paid a visit to the GDR without obtaining any significant concessions from Honecker. The increasing ideological toughening of the regime was not least a response to the rising wave of protests from growing sections of the population in neighboring Poland, where people demanded reforms in the economy, freedom and disarmament.

On October 1, 1982, Helmut Kohl became head of the new CDU/CSU/FDP coalition government. At the same time, he continued the policy of security and close cooperation with Paris and Washington, seeking to expand and secure a united Europe. Despite the protests of the peace movement, parts of the SPD and the Greens, which entered parliament for the first time in the Bundestag elections in 1983, the German Bundestag in November 1983 approved the deployment of medium-range missiles, "as there is a threat due to the superiority of the Warsaw pact in conventional arms" (Federal Chancellor Kohl).

German unification

The GDR, founded on October 7, 1949, was the brainchild of Moscow. However, based on the experience of the National Socialist dictatorship, many Germans were initially willing to participate in the construction of their model of an anti-fascist state. The command economy, the secret police, the omnipotence of the SED and strict censorship led over time to a growing alienation of the population from the ruling apparatus. At the same time, the very low cost of providing basic material and social needs gave the closed system the flexibility that allowed it to organize life in various ways, for example, the so-called existence in niches. The compensation was the great international success of the GDR in the field of sports, as well as the satisfaction of the "workers" that, despite the payment of extremely high reparations to the Soviets, they achieved the highest volume of industrial production and the highest standard of living within the Eastern bloc. People withdrew into their private lives as soon as they began to feel instructive spiritual and cultural control and pressure.

Despite the propaganda of yearly overachievement and productivity battles won, behind the façade of instilling hatred for the imperialists in school, industry, and the military, there was a growing awareness that the original economic goal of overtaking the West would remain a sham. The depletion of resources, the aggressive destruction of the environment by industrial production, and the decline in productivity due to centralism and planned economy forced the SED regime to dilute its promises. Increasingly, he had to turn to the West for large financial loans. The standard of living was declining, the infrastructure (housing, transport, nature protection) was being destroyed. As a result of a wide network of surveillance arranged for the entire people, psychological manipulation and convulsive calls for solidarity, the claim to the leading role of the "working class and its Marxist-Leninist party" (Article 1 of the Constitution of the GDR) turned into empty rhetoric, especially for the younger generation. People demanded more rights of self-determination and participation in government, more freedom of the individual, and more goods of better quality. Often such wishes were combined with the hope that socialism, mired in bureaucracy and rejection of the West, would be able to reform itself.

The deployment of missiles, which prompted the US government to create a space defense system (SDI program), and the continued policy of jabs by the GDR, led to an ever greater chill in diplomatic relations. And here the citizens of the GDR themselves put their own government in a difficult position. This included, for example, the refusal of citizens who intended to leave the GDR to leave the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany in East Berlin until they were explicitly promised to leave for the West. In order to achieve relief for the people, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany has repeatedly facilitated the provision of large bank loans to the GDR. Moscow's fears, which saw this as a erosion of socialism, were dispelled by Erich Honecker in 1984 in Neues Deutschland, the central organ of the SED: "Socialism and capitalism cannot be combined like fire and water." Official self-confidence, however, was no longer able to hide the fact that the reform movements that had begun in the Eastern European countries were increasingly forcing the socialist bloc to take a defensive position. Honecker's rejection of the CSCE conference in Ottawa (1985) that people in the Eastern Bloc were denied freedom of speech and movement was a propaganda lie.

From the beginning of 1985, more and more people came to the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany in East Berlin, as well as to the German Embassy in Prague. Soon, the new General Secretary of the CPSU, Mikhail Gorbachev, will embody the highest hopes both for freedom-hungry citizens of the GDR and for new cooperation in the future international security policy.

In 1986, Gorbachev declared the destruction of atomic weapons before the end of the century to be the most important political task. The readiness to engage in dialogue in a new way manifested itself in personal meetings of the Secretary General with US President Reagan in Geneva and Reykjavik, at the Stockholm Conference on Confidence-Building Measures and Disarmament in Europe, as well as in preparation for negotiations on the reduction of conventional forces in Europe. Thanks to this readiness, German-German agreements in the field of culture, art, education and science were made possible. A general agreement on cooperation in the field of environmental protection was also signed. In 1986, the cities of Saar-Louis and Eisenhüttenstadt concluded the first partnership agreement between East and West Germany. Gorbachev became a spokesman for hopes in East and West. But the new upsurge caused by Gorbachev's mottos "perestroika" and "glasnost" was treated with coolness by the SED regime. The wave of democratic transformation of society carried out in the USSR should not have reached the GDR. Kurt Hager, a member of the Politburo and the supreme ideologue of the SED, stubbornly repeated that in your apartment there is no need to change the wallpaper just because the neighbor does it.

How far the leadership of the GDR ignored the aspirations of its people in this way was shown by the protest demonstrations in East Berlin on August 13, the day the wall was erected. The words of Helmut Kohl, expressed by him to the guest, Erich Honecker, during his visit to Bonn (1987) were aimed against the German split: "We respect the existing borders, but we will try to overcome the division in a peaceful way on the basis of mutual understanding" ... " We have a joint responsibility to preserve the vital foundations of our people."

Progress in providing these foundations of life was achieved by the conclusion of the INF treaty between Reagan and Gorbachev. According to this agreement, within three years, all American and Soviet missiles deployed in Europe with a range of 500-5000 km were to be removed and destroyed. In turn, the Federal Republic of Germany declared its readiness to destroy its 72 Pershing 1A missiles.

Thanks to the general détente in the GDR, the demands for greater freedoms and reforms were growing. In early 1988, during demonstrations in East Berlin, 120 supporters of the "Church Below" peace movement were arrested. An intercessory service was held in the Getsemane-Kirche for the sake of the arrested. More than 2000 people took part in it. Two weeks later, their number rose to 4,000. In Dresden, the police broke up a demonstration for human rights, freedom of speech and the press. In May, a visit by Soviet Defense Minister Yaeov provided Honecker with an occasion to warn against the dangers of imperialism. He called for the strengthening of the Warsaw Pact.

Although Federal Chancellor Kohl welcomed some travel relief, in December 1988, in his report to the German Bundestag on the State of the Nation, he could not help condemning the suppression of reformist aspirations in the GDR. For Honecker's head of state and party, the new civil rights movements were nothing more than "extremist attacks." To a call to remove the wall, he replied in January 1989 that "the anti-fascist protective rampart will remain until the conditions that led to its construction are changed. It will stand in 50 and even 100 years."

The dissatisfaction of the population of the GDR grew in the face of the pesky stubbornness of the leadership of the GDR at a time when Gorbachev was talking about the contours of a "common European home" and Helmut Kohl, full of hope, noted "a break in the stagnancy that has developed over decades in Europe." Sometimes it was necessary to close the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany in East Berlin under the onslaught of those wishing to leave the GDR.

In September 1989 Hungary opened its borders to citizens of the GDR who wished to leave, and thousands of people left via Austria for the West. Such a gap in the discipline of the Warsaw Pact encouraged more and more people in the GDR to protest, already outside the churches. In early October 1989, the leadership of the GDR celebrated the 40th anniversary of the founding of the state with great pomp, which caused mass demonstrations, mainly in Leipzig ("We are the people").

Finally, Honecker, in order to save the foundations of the SED regime, resorted to the last resort of resigning. His successor as general secretary of the SED and head of state of the GDR was Egon Krenz, whose promises of a "turn" were drowned in distrust of him as a person. Further developments forced the entire Council of Ministers and the Politburo of the SED to resign. The non-violent, "velvet revolution" caused a kind of paralysis of state organs. As it happened, the vague announcement of a new free movement law by SED district secretary Shabowski triggered a massive border crossing in Berlin on the evening of November 9, 1989. The authorities remained indifferent observers, having lost the reins of power. The wall collapsed. Soon they began to break it up and offer it in pieces as a souvenir all over the world.

The announcement of the opening of the wall caught Federal Chancellor Kohl in Warsaw. He interrupted his visit for one day and hurried to Berlin to address 20,000 people from the balcony of the Berlin City Hall in Schöneberg. He appealed to the minds of the people at this happy hour and thanked Gorbachev and friends in the West for their support. The spirit of freedom has permeated all of Europe, the chancellor proclaimed. In Warsaw, he signed a statement on the expansion and deepening of German-Polish cooperation in the cause of peace, security and stability in Europe.

With the coup in the GDR, there was a chance for the long-awaited reunification of Germany. But caution was required. For Paris and London, this "was not the topic of the day", at a meeting with US President Bush on a ship off Malta (December 1989) Gorbachev warned against artificially speeding up the solution of the German question, and in the GDR itself, the new government of Modrov linked the desire to quickly carry out reforms with the demand to preserve their own statehood. Therefore, Federal Chancellor Kohl tried to achieve unity with a ten-point program that would ensure the creation of a contractual community based on a confederal structure and, as a condition, provided for a fundamental change in the political and economic system of the GDR. Chancellor Kohl sought to include direct negotiations with the GDR within the framework of a pan-European development defined by the EU and the CSCE. At the same time, he did not name a specific date for the negotiations in order not to give food to rumors about the possible role of a great Germany, which were already caught on the world stage at the very beginning of the unification process. It seemed that the path to the unification of both states would still be a long one, after Gorbachev assured at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU back in December 1989 that Moscow "would not leave the GDR to its fate. It is a strategic ally in the Warsaw Pact. One should always proceed from the existence of two German states, between which peaceful co-operation may well develop.” Federal Chancellor Kohl took up the subject, first of all, the citizens of the GDR themselves must decide what its pace and content should be.

But politicians have not kept pace with the times. The population of the GDR did not trust their new government, the outflow of masses to the West grew, and general destabilization progressed. And Gorbachev still hesitated, especially since Poland and Hungary were increasingly coming out of Moscow's influence, the overthrow of Ceausescu was nearing in Romania, and the withdrawal of the GDR from the Warsaw Pact would lead to an imbalance in security policy. In the West, there were also calls for unification "to take into account the legitimate concerns of Germany's neighboring countries. Finally, the unification process was continued only after Bonn's assurances that the issue of unification would not change the existing borders, that in the event of unification, NATO structures would not be expanded into the territory of the former German Democratic Republic and as compensation for strategic gains, the reduction of the German armed forces will be offered.US President Bush approved the unification provided that the Federal Republic of Germany remains a member of NATO.In order to have democratically legitimized negotiating partners from the GDR, March 18, 1990 in the free elections were held in 40 years.A grand coalition of the CDU, NSS, DP, SPD and FDP was led by Lothar de Maizieret, with whom Bonn agreed on the implementation of the economic, monetary and social union on July 1, 1990, after it became clear that in order to continue the existence of the GDR as an independent state and there was no longer an economic base, and the majority of the citizens of the GDR were in favor of joining the Federal Republic of Germany. In August 1990 The chamber voted for the speedy accession of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany. On August 31 of the same year, the State Secretary of the GDR, Krause, and the Federal Minister of the Interior, Schäuble, signed the corresponding "Unification Treaty". On October 3, 1990, the GDR was annexed to the Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of Article 2303. The states of the GDR Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia became the states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Berlin was declared the capital. The Basic Law, with certain changes, began to operate in the annexed territory.

Unity became possible after in July 1990, in his conversations with Chancellor Kohl in Moscow and Stavropol, Gorbachev gave his consent to the unification of both German states. The Federal Republic of Germany first had to agree to the renunciation of weapons of mass destruction, to the reduction of the number of troops to 370,000 people, and also to the refusal to transfer NATO structures to the territory of the GDR while Soviet troops were stationed there. An agreement was reached on their withdrawal before the end of 1994, and Federal Chancellor Kohl agreed to provide financial assistance for the arrangement of the military at home. Thanks to Gorbachev's approval, the signing of the so-called "Two plus four" treaty was made possible. In it, the USSR, the USA, France and Great Britain, as well as representatives of both German states, confirmed the creation of a united Germany, the territory of which includes the territories of the GDR, the Federal Republic of Germany and Berlin. The external borders of Germany are recognized as final. Given Poland's special, historically determined need for security, Bonn and Warsaw assured each other in an additional agreement that each side respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty, respectively, of the other side.

With the ratification of the Unification Treaty and the Two Plus Four Treaty, the rights and obligations of the four victorious powers "in relation to Berlin and Germany as a whole" ended. In this way, Germany regained full sovereignty in its domestic and foreign policy, which was lost with the collapse of the National Socialist dictatorship 45 years ago.

United Germany

After the establishment of the unity of Germany and major geopolitical changes in the system of Eastern states, Germany and its partners faced completely new tasks. It was necessary to promote construction in the new lands and complete the actual unification of Germany. It was necessary to continue the development of Europe into an economic and political union. A global architecture of peace and security should have been created.

An enlarged Germany sought to match its increased responsibility through close ties with its European and Atlantic partners. .To serve the cause of peace in a united Europe", this is how Germany understands its role, according to President Richard von Weizsächner. Chancellor Helmut Kohl stressed that the country will continue to fulfill this role within the framework of the Western alliance: "An alliance that has ensured us peace for decades and freedom, can rely on our solidarity." And within the framework of the United Nations measures, the German government expressed its readiness for expanded German cooperation.

The extent to which Germany was ready to cooperate both bilaterally and multilaterally is already illustrated by German assistance to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the former Soviet Union. In order to promote reforms in Central and Eastern Europe, Germany has allocated 37.5 billion since 1989. stamps. Aid to Russia and other post-Soviet countries amounted to DM 87.55 billion over the same period, more than all other Western countries combined. In addition, Germany contributed 28 per cent of the assistance provided by the European Community to the former Yugoslavia and received almost half of all refugees from the territories where the civil war is going on. The proportion of asylum seekers who arrived in Germany in 1992 was - compared to other Western European countries - over 70 per cent. The cost of their accommodation and maintenance alone amounted to eight billion marks. Germany's assistance to stabilization in Central and Eastern Europe and its assistance to the Newly Independent States is not limited to financial assistance. Great efforts are also being made to promote democratization and market and economic reforms. In addition to financial assistance, a large number of experts and proposals for retraining are sent to these countries. In providing assistance to developing countries, Germany also monitors the improvement not only of the economic, but also of the socio-political conditions of life of the population of these countries. Respect for human rights is one of the German government's highest criteria for allocating funds for development assistance.

European Union

Despite major turmoil in the European Monetary System, the German government continued to advocate monetary union. At the beginning of 1993, a common internal market of the twelve EU countries was formed. It unites 360 million Europeans in the economic region of the Earth with the greatest purchasing power. The states of the European Free Trade Area EFTA (Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Liechtenstein), except for Switzerland, have united with the European Community to form the European Economic Region. Since the middle of 1990, the first stage of the monetary union has been implemented, which ensured the free circulation of capital between the EU states, broad coordination of the economic policies of partners and the development of cooperation between central banks. The last stage of monetary union is the introduction of a new monetary unit, the Euro, since 1999.

For the German government, it was especially important that in 1991 the heads of state and government worked out in Maastricht not only an agreement on economic and monetary union, but, in addition, agreed on the creation of the European Union, the joint roof of the European community that would be deepened in the future. This should be ensured by a common foreign and security policy, as well as cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs. The deepening of the community should go hand in hand with its expansion, not only through the accession of the EFTA states, but also - in the long term - through the involvement of the states of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe into the EU.

The economic unification of Germany takes place within the framework of European unification and in parallel with the global change in the political and economic structure due to the transformation of the system of Eastern states. The transformation of the planned economy structures of the former GDR into a functioning market economy system is a task that history has never known before. To do this, it was necessary to carry out not only a huge transfer of finance from the west of Germany to the east, but also the reorganization of the entire management. It was necessary to develop new markets, re-create supply chains, retrain and improve the skills of employees. Many of the enterprises of the GDR were in such a poor state of ecological and technical conditions that it would be irresponsible to put them back into operation. The restructuring of the economy hurt not only employment. Without large layoffs, it is impossible to create economical production. And gaining competitiveness is one of the conditions for the economic survival of enterprises in the long term. Using huge financial resources, the German government contributed to the creation of new jobs. Yet it could not be prevented that at the beginning unemployment in East Germany was almost twice as high as in the old federal states. The privatization of state enterprises, which were still worth saving, was carried out by the Board of Trustees with the use of large financial resources. After the privatization of 128,000 and the closure of almost 3,000 enterprises, by the end of August 1993, another 1,500 were under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees. But the owners of the privatized enterprises promised that they would keep or create 1.5 million . work places.

According to the German Federal Bank, the economy in eastern Germany has left behind the lowest point in its development and the process of economic growth will now develop more on its own. In many sectors of the economy, for example, in the construction industry, crafts and some service and industrial sectors, there is a tangible recovery. However, in many industrial sectors, as before, there are still major problems, which can not least be attributed to the low productivity of enterprises in the new states. Since 1995, new lands have been included in the overall financial balance. Their financial performance was provided by the German Unity Foundation. This is the main aspect in the settlement on the basis of the solidarity pact adopted by the federation and the states. Related to the solidarity pact laws are also significant improvements in East German housing construction, development measures in the areas of transport and postal services, and research. Since the beginning of the 1990s, economic development in Germany has been characterized not only by the problems associated with construction in the east of the country. More and more, especially since 1992, Germany has been feeling the consequences of a severe global crisis, which has long been observed in other industrial states.

The government of the country, pursuing a policy of austerity, embarked on the path of consolidating state budgets. This should lead to a significant reduction in new debt in subsequent years. According to statistics from the International Monetary Fund, Germany's new debt level is below the average level of other Western countries. The austerity, consolidation and growth program, with its very large cuts in government spending, is just one of many different measures by which the German government intends to keep the country attractive as an industrial host. Maintaining a high level of the economy in the country is not only the task of the state, but equally a requirement for the innovative potential of firms and the flexibility of tariff partners.

Article material courtesy of EXRUS magazine

History of Germany

© "Knowledge is power"

History of Germany in the period 58 BC - 16th century.

And now we will continue the story of the history of Germany. Let us dwell, of course, only on the main events that determined the fate of Germany. A detailed presentation of German history cannot be part of our task, because even the electronic memory of a powerful computer may not be enough for material of such a volume.

The Germanic tribes were neighbors of the slave-owning Roman Empire and were in constant economic relations with it. This contributed to the decomposition of the tribal layer and the gradual social differentiation of the ancient Germans.

In 58 BC Caesar conquered Gaul, which was owned by the Suevian tribal union of the Germans. Later, under Emperor Augustus, the Romans conquered the lands between the Rhine and the Weser. But in 9 A.D. The German tribe of the Cherusci, under the leadership of their leader Arminus, defeated the Roman troops in the Teutoburg Forest, and the Romans went over to the defense of the northern and western borders of the empire. The "Roman Wall" was built - a chain of fortifications between the upper reaches of the Rhine and Danube. A period of peaceful relations began between the Germans and Rome. There was a lively trade with the border tribes. Leaders with squads, and sometimes entire Germanic tribes settled in Roman territory as warriors. Many Germans penetrated into the Roman army and partly into the state apparatus. There were many Germans among the slaves in the Roman Empire.

Although nothing is known about Arminus other than his name and the fact of fighting in the Teutoburg Forest, he is considered the first German national hero. Arminus in the period in 1838 - 1875. a monument was erected near the city of Detmold (North Rhine-Westphalia). As the productive forces of the Germans grew, their onslaught on the Roman Empire intensified. The invasion of the Quads, Marcomanni and other Germanic tribes (the Marcomannic War of 165-180), and then the invasion in the 3rd century of a number of Germanic tribes (Goths, Franks, Burgundians, Alemanni) became one of the reasons for the so-called migration of peoples in 4-6 centuries. The subsequent campaigns of the Germans, Slavs and other tribes and the simultaneous uprisings of slaves and columns contributed to the fact that in the 5th century the slave system of the Roman Empire collapsed. German kingdoms appeared on the territory of Western Europe, in which a new, more progressive social mode of production, feudalism, gradually took shape.

Beginning of German history

9 AD conventionally considered the beginning of German history. The formation of the German people began, which lasted for many centuries. The word "deutsch" ("Deutsch") appeared, apparently, only in the eighth century. At first, this word denoted the language spoken in the eastern part of the Frankish Empire, which in the 6th century included the duchies of the Germanic tribes of the Alemanni, Thuringians, Bavarians and some others conquered by the Franks. Later than other tribes, by the beginning of the 9th century, the Saxons were subjugated and included in the Frankish Empire. Soon, however, after the death of the founder of the Frankish Empire, Charlemagne (814), this empire began to disintegrate and ceased to exist by the end of the 9th century. From the eastern part of the collapsed Frankish Empire arose the kingdom of Germany, which later became an empire. The formal date of the emergence of the German kingdom is usually considered the year 911, when, after the death of the last representative of the Carolingians, Louis the Child, Duke of the Franks Conrad I was elected king. He is considered the first German king.

Gradually, the Germanic tribes developed a sense of identity, and then the word "deutsch" began to mean not only the language, but also those who spoke it, and then the territory of their residence - Germany. The Germanic western frontier was fixed early, around the middle of the 10th century, and remained fairly stable. The eastern frontier changed as German territory expanded to the east. The eastern border was fixed in the middle of the 14th century and remained until the outbreak of World War II.

Officially, the title of the King of Germany was first called "Frankish King", later - "Roman King". The empire was called the "Roman Empire" from the 11th century, the "Holy Roman Empire" from the 13th century, and the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" in the 15th century. The king was elected by the highest nobility, along with this, the "right of consanguinity" ("Geblütsrecht"), i.e. the king had to be related to his predecessor. There was no capital in the medieval empire. The king ruled the country by constantly visiting different areas. There were no state taxes in the empire. Treasury revenues came from public property, which the king managed through proxies. It was not easy for the king to earn the authority and respect from the powerful dukes of the tribes: military strength and skillful politics were required. Only the successor of Conrad I, the Saxon duke Henry I (919 - 936), succeeded in this. And to an even greater extent to the son of the latter, Otto I (936 - 973) - in German Otto I, who became the real ruler of the empire. In 962, Otto I was crowned in Rome and became Kaiser (emperor). According to the plan, the imperial power was universal and gave the right to its bearer to dominate all of Western Europe. It is known, however, that such a plan could never be realized.

By the beginning of the 10th century, the kingdom of Germany included the duchies of Swabia, Bavaria, Franconia, Saxony and Thuringia. In the first half of the 10th century, Otto I added Lorraine to them, and in 962 Otto I added Northern Italy. In this way, an empire was created, which later became known as the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation". Conrad II (the first king of the Frankish dynasty) annexed the kingdom of Burgundy to the empire in 1032.

The created empire fought for a long time and to no avail with the power of the Pope. Under Henry V, a compromise agreement was concluded - the Concordat of Worms in 1122.

11th - 12th century

In the 70s of the 11th century in Germany, a powerful movement of Saxon peasants was noted against the increase in corvee in the Crown Lands (i.e., on the lands of the king). The onslaught of large landowners in Germany was vigorously resisted by the peasant community - the mark. This was the main reason why the feudal system in Germany developed slowly. It was only in the twelfth century that the formation of feudal relations in Germany was basically completed. This was the period of formation of the so-called princely territories. Let's explain what these areas are. There is a rapid growth of cities, but the weak imperial power is not able to use for its own purposes the new source of funds that has opened up - income from urban crafts and trade - and create support for itself in the growing social stratum of the townspeople, as was the case in England, France and other countries . The owners of independent principalities (or duchies), having subjugated the cities of their regions and seizing the income from crafts and trade, sought to obtain the rights of sovereign sovereigns over the territories subject to them. This was the process of formation of princely territories.

In the twelfth century, the hierarchy of the class of feudal lords took shape, representing by the end of this century three groups: princes, counts and knights. The dominating position was gradually occupied by the princes. The exploitation of the peasants intensified as commodity-money relations developed. In 1138, the century of the Staufen dynasty began, one of whose representatives was Frederick I Barbarossa (1152 - 1190). This king fought against the Pope, as well as against his main rival in Germany - the Saxon Duke Henry the Lion. In search of material resources, Frederick I turned his eyes to the flourishing cities of Northern Italy. Formally subject to the German emperor, these cities were in fact completely independent of him. Relying on knighthood and on the former servants of the king and on major lords who had political influence and created a mercenary army, Frederick I decided to turn fictitious imperial rights (collection of taxes and duties, judicial law) into real ones. Barbarossa moved to northern Italy. Having met the resistance of individual cities, he took them by storm. It is known that his troops in 1162 during the assault almost completely destroyed Milan. To repel the German invasion, the northern Italian cities in 1167 united in the Lombard League. Pope Alexander III entered into an alliance with the Lombard League. At the Battle of Legnano in 1176, Barbarossa's troops were completely defeated. Barbarossa capitulated to the papacy, and then, according to the peace concluded in Constance in 1183, he was forced to renounce the rights to the Lombard cities.

13th - 15th century

Neither Frederick I Barbarossa nor his heirs from the Staufen dynasty, which ended in 1268, were able to achieve the establishment of an effective centralized imperial power. By the 13th century, Germany had not yet become a single nation-state, but consisted of a number of separate principalities, economically and politically separate. Moreover, the political and economic fragmentation of Germany intensified, and by the end of the 13th century, the territorial princes acquired the rights of supreme jurisdiction over the principalities subject to them, close to the rights of royal power: the right to tax, mint coins, control the troops of the principality, etc. And under the emperor Charles IV, the princes in 1356 achieved the publication of the so-called Golden Bull, which recognized the right of the princes to elect the emperor. For this, a board of seven princes-electors was approved. These princes were called Electors. All princes received confirmation of all the rights they acquired as a sovereign sovereign, with the exception of the right to independently wage war with foreign states and conclude peace. At the same time, a central authority was established - the Reichstag (Imperial Diet), which was a congress of imperial princes and some imperial cities. But the Reichstag did not have an apparatus of executive power and therefore was not and could not be to any extent an organ for the unification of Germany. In some principalities, the estate-representative bodies were landtags (land diets). By the beginning of the 16th century, Germany was a collection of many virtually independent states.

In connection with the later, in comparison with England, France and other states, the unification of Germany into one centralized national state, the term "belated nation" pertaining to the Germans. This term seems to us not entirely successful if we take into account the contribution of the German nation to world science and culture, as well as the results achieved in the socio-economic development of modern Germany.

Speaking about the events of the German history of the 13th century, it is impossible not to mention Battle on the Ice. So in history they call the battle that took place in April 1242 on the ice of Lake Peipsi between the knights of the Teutonic Order and the army of the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky and ended in the complete defeat of the German knights. The Teutonic Order was forced to withdraw its troops from the borders of the Russian lands. The further fate of this order was deplorable for him. In the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the combined Polish-Lithuanian-Russian troops defeated the Teutonic Order, after which he recognized his vassal dependence on Poland.

Late 15th - 16th century

The end of the 15th and the first half of the 16th centuries entered the history of Germany as period of the Reformation and the Peasants' War. The Reformation was a broad social movement against the Catholic Church. It all started with a speech by Professor Luther of Wittenberg University on October 31, 1517 with theses against the trade in indulgences. Luther denounced the abuses of the Catholic clergy and spoke out against the all-powerful papal authority. He put forward a whole program of church reform. Each opposition class interpreted this program in accordance with its aspirations and interests. The burghers wanted the church to become "cheap", the princes and knights wanted to seize church lands, and the oppressed masses understood the reformation as a call to fight against feudal oppression. The leader of the plebeian-peasant masses was Thomas Müntzer. He openly called for the overthrow of the feudal system and its replacement by a system based on social equality and community of property. Luther, as a representative of the burghers, could not share such radical views and opposed the revolutionary understanding of his teaching. Although the ideas of the Reformation to some extent pushed the Peasants' War of 1525, Luther's movement nevertheless took on a one-sided character in Germany: purely religious struggle, questions of religion overshadowed the broader tasks of transforming social life and culture for many years. After the suppression of peasant uprisings, the Reformation reveals ever greater narrowness and, no less than the Catholic Counter-Reformation, intolerance for free thought, for reason, which Luther declared "the harlot of the devil." In the words of Erasmus of Rotterdam, the sciences died wherever Lutheranism was established.

Luther's reform eventually became an instrument of princely absolutism, which manifested itself, in particular, in the alienation of church lands in favor of secular princes, carried out in some principalities.

© Vladimir Kalanov,
"Knowledge is power"

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The section consists of separate essays:

Germany in antiquity

The Germans (Germanen) were the closest neighbors of the Celts who inhabited Central and Western Europe. The first mention of them is found in the 4th century. BC e. However, archeological evidence suggests that the formation of the Proto-Germanic ethnic and linguistic substratum, dating back to the Indo-European community, in northern Europe can be attributed to the period ca. 1000 BC e. By the 1st century BC e. The Germans occupied a region that roughly coincided with the territory of modern Germany. The etymology of the word "Germanen" itself is still unclear.
Geographically, the Germans were divided into several tribes. The Batavs, Bructers, Hamavs and others belonged to the tribes that lived between the Rhine, Main and Weser. The Alemanni inhabited the southern part of the Elbe basin. The Bavarians lived in the mountains in the south. Hawks, Cimbri, Teutons, Ambrons, Angles, Varins and Frisians settled on the coast of the North Sea. From the middle and upper Elbe to the Oder, the tribes of the Suebi, Marcomanni, Quadi, Lombards and Semnons settled; and between the Oder and the Vistula, the Vandals, Burgundians, and Goths. Svions and Gauts settled in southern Scandinavia.
In the 1st century BC e. The Germans lived in a tribal system. The supreme power in the tribe belonged to the people's assembly. Cattle breeding played an important role in the economy. Land ownership was collective. Social contradictions began to emerge between the community members and the nobility, who had more slaves and land. Internecine wars were the main industry.
The first contacts between the Germans and Rome date back to 58 BC e. Then Julius Caesar defeated the Suevi, at the head of which was Ariovistus. This happened on the territory of Northern Gaul - modern Alsace. Three years later, Caesar drove two more Germanic tribes across the Rhine. At about the same time, descriptions of the Germans as a separate ethnic group appear in the literature, including in Caesar's Notes on the Gallic War. In 12 BC A large-scale German campaign was launched by Nero Claudius Drusus, who received the title of Germanicus. The borders of the empire were expanded to Albis (Elbe) and by 7 BC. e. most of the tribes were subjugated. The territory between the Rhine and the Elbe was under the rule of the Romans for a short time - until uprisings of Arminius. Arminius, the son of the leader of the Cherusci, was sent to Rome as a hostage, received an education there, and served in the Roman army. He later returned to his tribe and served the Roman governor Varus. When in 9 Var with an army and a baggage train moved to winter quarters, Arminius lagged behind with his army from the main one and attacked separate detachments in the Teutonic Forest. In three days, the Germans destroyed all the Romans (from 18 to 27 thousand people). The Rhine became the border of the Roman possessions. A line of fortifications "limes" was built from the Rhine to the Danube, traces of which have survived to this day.
At the beginning of the first millennium, the Germanic tribes gradually began to form alliances that were stable. The unions of the Alemans, Saxons, Franks, Goths became known from history. The most significant tribal union of the Germans was the union of the Marcomanni under the leadership of Marobodu. In the 2nd century the Germans intensified the onslaught on the borders of the Roman Empire, the result of which in 166 was Marcomannic War. In 174, Emperor Aurelius managed to stop the onslaught of the Marcomanni and other Germanic tribes.
The invasions of the Germanic tribes into the territory of the Roman Empire continued throughout the 4th-7th centuries. During this period, there is great migration of peoples Europe. These processes had important socio-economic and political consequences for the Western Roman Empire. Changes in the social structure of the tribes, as well as the crisis in the empire itself, contributed to the fall of Rome.

Formation of the first German states

In 395, after the death of Emperor Theodosius, the united Roman Empire was divided between his sons into Western and Eastern (Byzantium), the rulers of which used the Germanic barbarians to resolve their conflicts. In 401, the Visigoths, under the command of Alaric, left the Eastern Empire for the Western, where, after a series of unsuccessful battles in Italy, they were forced to conclude a peace treaty with the Romans and settle in Illyricum. In 410, the Goths, under the command of Alaric, captured and sacked Rome. Also during this period, the Vandals, Suebi, Alans, Burgundians and Franks invaded the territory of Gaul.
The first kingdom was founded in Aquitaine, the Burgundian kingdom in Gaul, kingdoms in Spain and North Africa, England.
AT 476 German mercenaries, who made up the army of the Western Empire, led by Odoacer, deposed the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus. Emperors in Rome in 460-470. the commanders from the Germans were appointed, first the Sev Ricimer, then the Burgundian Gundobad. In fact, they ruled on behalf of their henchmen, overthrowing those if the emperors tried to act independently. Odoacer decided to become head of state, for which he had to sacrifice the title of emperor in order to maintain peace with the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium). This event is formally considered the end of the Roman Empire.
In the 460s. Franks under King Childeric formed their own state at the mouth of the Rhine. The Frankish kingdom became the third German state in the lands of Gaul (after the Vezegots and Burgundians). Under Clovis, Paris became the capital of the Frankish state, and the king himself with an army adopted Christianity in the form of Catholicism, which ensured the support of the Roman clergy in the fight against other Germans who professed Arianism. The expansion of the Frankish state led to the creation in 800 of the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, which for a short time united the possessions of all Germanic peoples with the exception of England, Denmark and Scandinavia.

East Frankish kingdom

The Kingdom of the Franks was founded by King Clovis 1 of the Merovingian family. The starting point in the formation of the Frankish state was the conquest of the last Roman possessions in Gaul by the Salian Franks, led by Clovis I, in 486. 507) and the Franks who lived along the middle reaches of the Rhine. Under the sons of Clovis, the king of the Burgundians Godomar (534) was defeated, and his kingdom was included in the kingdom of the Franks. In 536 the Ostrogothic king Vitigis renounced Provence in favor of the Franks. In the 30s. 6th c. the Alpine possessions of the Alemanni and the lands of the Thuringians between the Weser and the Elbe were also conquered, and in the 50s. - the lands of the Bavarians on the Danube. Power Merovingian represented an ephemeral political entity. It did not have not only an economic and ethnic community, but also political and judicial-administrative unity (immediately after the death of Clovis, his 4 sons divided the Frankish state among themselves, only sometimes uniting for joint conquest campaigns). As a result of civil strife among representatives of the house of the ruling dynasty - the Merovingians, power gradually passed into the hands of the mayors, who once held the positions of administrators of the royal court. In 751, Major Pepin the Short, the son of the famous major and commander Charles Martel, deposed the last Merovingian king and became king, founding a dynasty Carolingian.
In 800 the Frankish king Charlemagne, son of Pepin the Short, was declared Roman emperor. Under him, the Frankish state reached its highest peak. The capital was in Aachen. The son of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, became the last sovereign ruler of the unified Frankish state. Louis successfully continued his father's policy of reform, but the last years of his reign were spent in wars against his own sons and external enemies. The state found itself in a deep crisis, which a few years after his death led to the collapse of the empire and the formation in its place of several states - the predecessors of modern Germany, Italy and France. By Treaty of Verdun, which in 843 was concluded between the grandchildren of Charlemagne, the French part (the West-Frankish kingdom) went to Charles the Bald, the Italian-Lorraine (Middle Kingdom) - to Lothair, the German - to Louis the German.
The East Frankish state is traditionally considered to be the first German state. During the 10th century the unofficial name "Reich of the Germans" (Regnum Teutonicorum) appeared, which after several centuries became generally recognized (in the form "Reich der Deutschen"). The state included territories east of the Rhine and north of the Alps. The territory of the state was relatively stable and tended to expansion: the eastern part of Lorraine, including the Netherlands, Alsace and Lorraine proper, was annexed in 870, the colonization of the lands inhabited by Slavs along the Elbe began.The border with the West Frankish kingdom, established in 890, lasted until the 14th century. kingdom under Louis the German became Regensburg.
The kingdom actually consisted of five semi-independent large tribal duchies: Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia and Thuringia (later Lorraine was added). The power of the king turned out to be quite limited and dependent on the largest feudal lords. The process of enslaving the peasants in the kingdom was still in its initial stage, and in many regions a fairly wide layer of free peasantry remained (Swabia, Saxony, Tyrol). By the end of the 9th c. the principle of the inseparability of the state was formed, the power in which was to be inherited by the eldest son of the deceased monarch. The termination of the German line of the Carolingians in 911 did not lead to the transfer of the throne to the French Carolingians: the East Frankish nobility elected the Franconian Duke Conrad I as their ruler, thus securing the right of the German princes to elect a successor to the king in the absence of a direct heir from the deceased monarch.
A serious threat to the state was the regular raids of the Vikings. In 886 the Vikings reached Paris. The Carolingian Empire at this time was united under the rule of Charles the Fat, who was a weak ruler and lost his power. At the beginning of the 10th c. the situation was complicated by continuous wars with the Hungarians. During the reign of Conrad 1, the central government practically ceased to control the state of affairs in the duchies. In 918, after the death of Conrad, the duke of Saxony was elected king. Heinrich 1 Birder(918-936). Heinrich successfully fought the Hungarians and Danes and created a line of fortifications protecting Saxony from the attacks of the Slavs and Hungarians.

Holy Roman Empire

Heinrich's successor is his son Otto 1 the Great(936-973). Otto took the title "Emperor of the Romans and Franks" - the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation was founded. Soon after accession to the throne, Otto had to fight the dukes of Bavaria, Franconia and Lorraine and their own brothers who joined them and at the same time repel the attacks of the Danes and Slavs. After many years of struggle, Otton was helped by a chance - two of his opponents died in one of the battles, and his younger brother Henry, who tried to send assassins to him, was pardoned and remained faithful to him in the future. Henry received the duchy of Bavaria, Otto's son Liudolf - the duchy of Swabia, Otto himself ruled Saxony and Franconia.
In 950, Otto made the first trip to Italy under the pretext of rescuing the young widow of the Italian king Adelheida, who was kept in captivity and forced into a new marriage. The queen, however, managed to escape on her own and asked for Otto's help. The following year, Otto himself married Adelgeide. After the birth of Adelgeida's son, an internecine war began, which was started by the son of Otto from his first marriage, Liudolf and the Duke of Lorraine. They called on the help of the Hungarians. Otto managed to cope with this uprising. After that, the Hungarians suffered a crushing defeat on the Lech River (955), and then the Slavs were also defeated.
In 961, Otto made a second trip to Italy, where he was called by Pope John 12, who was oppressed by the Duke of Lombardy. Otto easily reached Rome with his army, where he was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Otto had to pacify the Duke of Lombardy and the pope, who had started the turmoil, several more times and insist on choosing a new pope.
With the death of the grandson of Otto 1, Otto 3, the male line of the Saxon dynasty was cut short. became king Heinrich 2 Saint(1002-1024), great-grandson of Heinrich 1 Ptitselov, son of the Bavarian duke, the last representative of the Saxon dynasty. Henry had to fight with the Slavs, Greeks, pacify internal unrest, make campaigns in Italy in order to establish popes loyal to him. However, at the same time, Henry was devoted to the church and canonized after his death. After Henry 2, Conrad 2, the son of Count Speyer, a descendant of Henry 1 the Bird-catcher (Salic, or Franconian, dynasty) was chosen as king. He was succeeded by his son Henry 3 the Black.
The title adopted by Otto 1 allowed him to fully control the ecclesiastical institutions in his domains. The church became one of the main pillars of imperial power. The integration of the church into the state structure reached its apogee under Conrad II (1024-1039) and Henry III (1039-1056), when the classical imperial church system took shape.
The state institutions of the empire in the early period remained rather weakly differentiated. The emperor was at the same time the king of Germany, Italy, and after the death in 1032 of the last Burgundian king Rudolph 3 - and of Burgundy. The main political unit in Germany was the tribal duchies: Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia, Lorraine (the latter was divided into Lower and Upper in 965) and, from 976, Carinthia. A system of stamps was created along the eastern border (Northern, Saxon Eastern, Bavarian Eastern, later Meissen, Brandenburg, Lusatian). In the 980s. the Slavs for some time again threw back the Germans over the Elbe and captured Hamburg, but at the beginning of the 11th century. the empire regained its position in the region, although further progress stopped the entry of Poland and Hungary as independent kingdoms into the European Christian community. In Italy, stamps were also formed (Tuscany, Verona, Ivrea), but by the beginning of the 12th century. this structure collapsed. The main problem for the emperors was to maintain power both north and south of the Alps. Otto 2, Otto 3 and Conrad 2 were forced to stay in Italy for a long time, where they fought against the offensive of the Arabs and Byzantines, and also periodically suppressed the unrest of the Italian patriciate, but they did not succeed in finally establishing imperial power on the Apennine Peninsula. With the exception of the short reign of Otto III, who moved his residence to Rome, Germany has always remained the core of the empire. The reign of Conrad 2 (1024-1039), the first monarch of the Salian dynasty, includes the formation of an estate of petty knights (including ministerials), whose rights the emperor guaranteed in his decree “Constitutio de feudis” of 1036, which formed the basis of imperial fief law . The heredity and inalienability of fiefs was recognized. Small and medium chivalry later became one of the main bearers of integration trends in the empire. Conrad 2 and his successor Henry 3 controlled most of the German regional principalities, independently appointing counts and dukes, and completely dominated the territorial aristocracy and clergy. This made it possible to introduce into imperial law the institute of "God's peace" - the prohibition of internecine wars and military conflicts within the empire.
The apogee of imperial power, achieved under Henry 3, turned out to be short-lived: already during the minority of his son Henry 4(1056-1106) the fall of the influence of the emperor began. The ideas of the Gregorian reform were developed, asserting the supremacy of the Pope and the complete independence of church authority from secular. Pope Gregory 7 tried to eliminate the possibility of the emperor's influence on the process of filling church positions and condemned the practice of secular investiture. However, Henry 4 resolutely stood up for the prerogatives of the emperor, which led to a long fight for investment between the emperor and the pope. In 1075, the appointment of a bishop to Milan by Henry 4 became the reason for the excommunication of the emperor by Gregory 7 from the church and the release of his subjects from the oath of allegiance. Under pressure from the German princes, in 1077 the emperor was forced to make a penitential "walk to Canossa" and beg the pope for forgiveness. The struggle for investiture ended only in 1122 with the signing of the Concordat of Worms, which secured a compromise between secular and spiritual authorities: the election of bishops had to take place freely and without simony (buying a position for money), but secular investiture for land holdings, and thus the opportunity imperial influence on the appointment of bishops and abbots remained. In general, the struggle for investiture significantly weakened the emperor's control over the church, brought the papacy out of imperial dependence and contributed to the rise of the influence of territorial secular and spiritual princes.
The reign of Henry 4 passed in a constant struggle with the popes and their own vassals and sons, who tried to deprive him of power. Henry was excommunicated. To maintain power, Henry relied on ministerials loyal to him (service people who received flax for their own merits, petty chivalry, who owed military service to the emperor or feudal lord) and large cities. Henry 4 was engaged in the construction of new castles and cathedrals, consecrated the cathedral in Speyer, which he wanted to make imperial. Henry 4 also took Jewish communities under his protection and legislated their rights. After his death, the reign passed to his son Henry 5, with whose death the Salic dynasty ended. After his death, the family property passed to the Hohenstaufen, in whose possessions by that time were Franconia and Swabia. After the death of Henry, Lothair 2 of Saxony (1125-1137) was elected king. The Hohenstaufen tried to fight him, but failed and were forced to recognize his authority. In 1138 Konrad 3 Hohenstaufen was elected emperor.
During the reign of Lothair 2, a struggle began between the two large princely families of Germany - the Hohenstaufen (Swabia, Alsace, Franconia) and the Welfs (Bavaria, Saxony, Tuscany). From this confrontation began the struggle of the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy. The Guelphs (on behalf of the Welfs) advocated limiting the power of the empire in Italy and strengthening the role of the pope. The Ghibellines (from the name of the Hohenstaufen castle Waiblingen near Stuttgart) were adherents of the imperial power.
After the death of Conrad 3 in 1152, his nephew became emperor Friedrich 1 Barbarossa(Italian "red-bearded", 1152-1190), whose reign was a period of significant strengthening of central power in Germany. Even as the Duke of Swabia, he participated in the Second Crusade, in which he became famous. The main direction of the policy of Frederick 1 was the restoration of imperial power in Italy. Frederick made six campaigns in Italy, during the first of which he was crowned in Rome with the imperial crown. At the Ronkal Diet of 1158, an attempt was made to legalize the emperor's omnipotence in Italy and Germany. The strengthening of the emperor on the Apennine Peninsula provoked resistance from both Pope Alexander 3 and the Kingdom of Sicily, and the northern Italian urban communes, which in 1167 united in the Lombard League. The Lombard League managed to organize an effective rebuff to the plans of Frederick 1 in relation to Italy and in 1176 inflict a crushing defeat on the imperial troops at the battle of Legnano, which forced the emperor in 1187 to recognize the autonomy of the cities. In Germany itself, the position of the emperor was significantly strengthened due to the division of the Welf possessions in 1181 and the formation of a rather large Hohenstaufen domain. Frederick Barbarossa created a large European army for his time, the main force of which was a heavy knightly cavalry clad in steel armor, and improved its organization. At the end of his life, Frederick I went on the Third Crusade, during which he died in 1190, drowning while crossing the river.
Frederick Barbarossa's successor was his son Henry 6(1169 - 1197). He managed to expand the territorial power of the emperor, subjugating the Sicilian kingdom. It was in this state that the Hohenstaufen were able to create a centralized hereditary monarchy with strong royal power and a developed bureaucratic system, while in the German lands proper the strengthening of regional princes did not allow not only to consolidate the autocratic system of government, but also to ensure the transfer of the imperial throne by inheritance. After the death of Henry 6 in 1197, two Roman kings Philip of Swabia and Otto 4 of Brunswick were elected at once, which led to an internecine war in Germany.
In 1220 he was crowned emperor Friedrich 2 Hohenstaufen(1212-1250), son of Henry 6 and king of Sicily, who resumed the Hohenstaufen policy of establishing imperial rule in Italy. He went into a tough conflict with the Pope, was excommunicated and declared the Antichrist, but nevertheless undertook a crusade to Palestine and was elected king of Jerusalem. During the reign of Frederick 2 in Italy, the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines developed with varying success, but on the whole it was quite successful for Frederick 2: his troops controlled most of Northern Italy, Tuscany and Romagna, not to mention the emperor's hereditary possessions in Southern Italy. The focus on Italian politics, however, forced Frederick 2 to make significant concessions to the German princes. According to the Agreement with the princes of the church of 1220 and the Decree in favor of the princes of 1232, sovereign rights were recognized for the bishops and secular princes of Germany within the territory of their possessions. These documents became the legal basis for the formation of semi-independent hereditary principalities within the empire and the expansion of the influence of regional rulers to the detriment of the emperor's prerogatives.

Late Middle Ages

With the death of the sons of Frederick II, the Hohenstaufen dynasty ended and the period of interregnum (1254-1273) began. But even after his overcoming and accession to the throne in 1273, Mr. Rudolf I of Habsburg the importance of the central government continued to decline, and the role of the rulers of regional principalities - to increase. Although the monarchs made attempts to restore the former power of the empire, dynastic interests came to the fore: the elected kings, first of all, tried to expand the possessions of their families as much as possible: the Habsburgs entrenched themselves in the Austrian lands, the Luxembourgs in the Czech Republic, Moravia and Silesia, the Wittelsbachs in Brandenburg, Holland and Gennegau. It was in the late Middle Ages that the principle of the election of the emperor acquired a real embodiment: during the second half of the 13th - the end of the 15th century. the emperor was really selected from several candidates, and attempts to transfer power by inheritance usually failed. The influence of large territorial princes on the policy of the empire increased sharply, with the seven most powerful princes arrogating to themselves the exclusive right to elect and dismiss the emperor. This was accompanied by the strengthening of the middle and petty nobility, the disintegration of the imperial domain of the Hohenstaufen and the growth of feudal strife.
In 1274, in Nuremberg, Rudolf 1 of Habsburg (1273-1291) convened the Reichstag - a meeting of representatives of the lands. They took part in the discussions, but the decisions were left to the emperor. It was decided to return the property and rights of the empire seized after Frederick II. They could be returned back with the consent of the king and electors. This decision was directed against Ottokar 2, who created a large state from the Czech Republic, Moravia, Austria, Styria, Carinthia. Ottokar tried to fight for these possessions, but was defeated. The resulting lands Rudolf secured as a hereditary possession for the Habsburgs.
At the same time, Guelphism finally triumphed in Italy, and the empire lost its influence on the Apennine Peninsula. On the western borders, France strengthened, which managed to withdraw the lands of the former Burgundian kingdom from the influence of the emperor. Some revival of the imperial idea during the reign of Henry 7 (the first representative of the Luxembourg dynasty, 1308-1313), who committed in 1310-1313. expedition to Italy and for the first time after Frederick 2 crowned the imperial crown in Rome, however, was short-lived: starting from the end of the 13th century. The Holy Roman Empire was more and more limited exclusively to the German lands, turning into a national state formation of the German people. At the same time, the process of liberation of imperial institutions from the power of the papacy was also going on: during the period of the Avignon captivity of the popes, the role of the pope in Europe sharply decreased, which allowed the German king Ludwig of Bavaria, and after him the major regional German princes, to withdraw from subordination to the Roman throne.
Into the reign Carla 4(1346-1378, Luxembourg dynasty) the center of the empire moved to Prague (Charles was also a Czech king). The reign of Charles is considered the golden age of Czech history. Charles 4 managed to carry out an important reform of the constitutional structure of the empire: the Golden Bull of the Emperor of 1356 established a 7-member college of electors, which included the archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, Trier, the King of the Czech Republic, the Elector of the Palatinate, the Duke of Saxony and the Margrave of Brandenburg. Members of the college of electors received the exclusive right to elect the emperor and actually determine the direction of the policy of the empire, the electors were also recognized the right of internal sovereignty, which consolidated the fragmentation of the German states. At the same time, any influence of the pope on the election of the emperor was eliminated.
Crisis moods in the empire intensified after the plague of 1347-1350, which led to a sharp drop in population and dealt a significant blow to the German economy. At the same time, the second half of the 14th century. was marked by the rise of the North German union of Hansa trading cities, which has become an important factor in international politics and has gained significant influence in the Scandinavian states, England and the Baltic states. In southern Germany, the cities also turned into an influential political force that opposed the princes and knights, however, in a series of military conflicts of the late 14th century. The Swabian and Rhine unions of cities were defeated by the troops of the imperial princes.
In 1438, Albrecht 2 Habsburg was elected king of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and Germany. Since that year, representatives of this dynasty have constantly become emperors of the empire.
By the end of the 15th century the empire was in a deep crisis caused by the inconsistency of its institutions with the requirements of the time, the collapse of the military and financial organization and the actual liberation of the regional principalities from the power of the emperor. In the principalities, the formation of their own administrative apparatus, military, judicial and tax systems began, and class representative bodies of power (landtags) arose. At Friedrich 3(1440-1493), the emperor was drawn into protracted and unsuccessful wars with Hungary, while in other areas of European politics, the influence of the emperor tended to zero. At the same time, the fall of the emperor's influence in the empire contributed to a more active involvement of the imperial estates in the management processes and the formation of an all-imperial representative body - the Reichstag.
In the 1440s, Gutenberg invented printing.
During the reign of Frederick 3, the weakness of the imperial power manifested itself especially strongly, he took little part in church affairs. In 1446, Frederick concluded the Vienna Concordat with the Holy See, which settled relations between the Austrian monarchs and the Pope of Rome and remained in force until 1806. By agreement with the Pope, Frederick received the right to distribute 100 church benefices and appoint 6 bishops. In 1452 Frederick 3 traveled to Italy and was crowned in Rome by Pope Nicholas 5.
The transformation of the empire in accordance with the requirements of the new time was carried out during the reign of Maximilian I (1486-1519) and Charles 5.
Maximilian 1 married the heiress of the Duchy of Burgundy Mary, which brought the Habsburgs possessions in Burgundy and the Netherlands. Soon the war for the Burgundian succession began. Maximilian's son, Philip, married a Spanish princess, causing his son Charles to become the Spanish king. Maximilian himself, after the death of his first wife, was betrothed in absentia to Anna of Brittany, and his daughter to the French king Charles 8. However, Charles 8 went to Brittany and forced Anna to marry him, which caused condemnation throughout Europe. At this time, Maximilian had to fight the Hungarians, who even took Vienna for a while. Maximilian was able to defeat the Hungarians after the sudden death of the Hungarian king. The dynastic marriages of Maximilian's granddaughter with the son of the King of Hungary and Bohemia Vsevolod 2, and the grandson of Maximilian with the daughter of Vsevolod 2 subsequently made it possible to annex these two states to the Habsburg possessions. Maximilian created a new, centralized system of state administration in Austria and laid the foundation for the unification of the ancestral Habsburg possessions into a single Austrian state.
In 1495, Maximilian I convened the General Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire in Worms, for whose approval he submitted a draft reform of the state administration of the empire. As a result of the discussion, the so-called "Imperial Reform" (German: Reichsreform) was adopted. Germany was divided into six imperial districts (four more were added in 1512). The governing body of the district was the district assembly, in which all state formations on the territory of the district had the right to participate: secular and spiritual principalities, imperial knights and free cities. Each state formation had one vote (in some districts, this ensured the predominance of imperial knights, small principalities and cities, which constituted the main support of the emperor). The districts resolved the issues of military construction, organization of defense, recruitment of the army, as well as the distribution and collection of imperial taxes. Of great importance was also the creation of the Supreme Imperial Court - the supreme body of the judiciary in Germany, which became one of the main instruments of the emperor's influence on the territorial princes and a mechanism for pursuing a unified policy in all state formations of the empire. A system was developed for financing general imperial expenses, which, although it faltered due to the unwillingness of the electors to contribute their share to the general budget, nevertheless gave the emperors the opportunity to pursue an active foreign policy and made it possible to repel the Turkish threat at the beginning of the 16th century.
However, Maximilian's attempts to deepen the reformation of the empire and create unified executive authorities, as well as a unified imperial army, failed: the princes of the empire strongly opposed and did not allow these proposals of the emperor to be passed through the Reichstag. Moreover, the imperial estates refused to finance the Italian campaigns of Maximilian 1, which sharply weakened the position of the emperor in the international arena and in the empire itself. Maximilian's military campaigns were unsuccessful, but he created a new type of mercenary army, which was further developed in Europe, and the practice of selling German soldiers to other armies began under him.
Realizing the institutional weakness of imperial power in Germany, Maximilian I continued the policy of his predecessors to isolate the Austrian monarchy from the empire: as Archduke of Austria, he refused to participate in the financing of imperial institutions, did not allow imperial taxes to be collected on Austrian lands. The Austrian duchies did not participate in the work of the Imperial Reichstag and other general bodies. Austria was actually placed outside the empire, its independence was expanded. Practically all the policy of Maximilian I was carried out primarily in the interests of Austria and the Habsburg dynasty, and only secondarily in Germany.
In 1499, Maximilian suffered a crushing defeat from the Swiss Union and, under the Treaty of Basel, the independence of Switzerland was actually recognized not only from the Habsburgs, but also from the empire.
Of great importance for the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire was also the rejection of the principle of the need for the coronation of the emperor by the pope in order to legitimize his rights to the title of emperor. In 1508, Maximilian tried to make an expedition to Rome for his coronation, but was not let through by the Venetians, who controlled the routes from Germany to Italy. On February 4, 1508, at a festive ceremony in Trient, he was proclaimed emperor. Pope Julius 2, who needed Maximilian 1 to create a broad coalition against Venice, allowed him to use the title of "Elect Emperor". Subsequently, the successors of Maximilian 1 (except for Charles V) no longer aspired to the coronation, and the provision entered into imperial law that the very election of the German king by the electors makes him emperor. From that time on, the empire received its new official name - the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation".
During the reign of Maximilian 1 in Germany, the flourishing of the humanist movement was observed. The ideas of Erasmus of Rotterdam, the Erfurt circle of humanists gained European fame. The emperor supported the arts, sciences and new philosophical ideas.

Reformation and Thirty Years' War

Maximilian 1's successor was his grandson Carl 5(King of Germany 1519-1530, Holy Roman Emperor 1530-1556). Huge lands were under his control: Holland, Zeeland, Burgundy, Spain, Lombardy, Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, Roussillon, Canaries, West Indies, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Istria. He himself annexed Tunisia, Luxembourg, Artois, Piacenza, New Granada, New Spain, Peru, the Philippines and others. Charles 5 was the last emperor crowned by the pope in Rome. Under him, a single criminal code was approved for the entire empire. During his reign, Charles waged successful wars with France for Italian possessions and less successful ones with Turkey. In 1555, disillusioned with the idea of ​​a pan-European empire, Charles gave the Dutch and Spanish possessions to his son Philip. In Germany and Austria, from 1531, his brother Ferdinand 1 ruled. In 1556, the emperor renounced the title of emperor and retired to a monastery. Ferdinand I became emperor.
At the end of the reign of Maximilian, 1517, in Wittenberg, Martin Luther nailed to the door of the church the "95 Theses" in which he spoke out against the existing abuses of the Catholic Church. This moment is considered the beginning reformation, which ended in 1648 with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia.
The reasons for the Reformation were the emergence of centralized states, the economic crisis after the appearance of a huge amount of American gold, the ruin of banks, the dissatisfaction of various segments of the European population with the moral decay of the Catholic Church, which was accompanied by economic and political monopolization. Throughout the Middle Ages, the church ideally fit into the existing feudal system, used the hierarchy of feudal society, owned up to a third of all cultivated land and formed an ideology. The stratum of the bourgeoisie that appeared in the Renaissance needed a new ideology and a new church. In addition, new humanistic ideas appeared at this time, the intellectual environment changed. Back in the 14th century. in England, the first protests against the Catholic Church (John Wyclif) began, they were adopted in the Czech Republic, where they became the basis for the ideas of Jan Hus.
In Germany, which by the beginning of the 16th century. still remained a politically fragmented state, dissatisfaction with the church was shared by almost all classes. Martin Luther, Doctor of Theology, opposed the sale of indulgences, proclaimed that the Church and the clergy are not mediators between man and God, and refuted the authority of church ordinances and papal decrees, declaring that the only source of truth is Holy Scripture. In 1520, with a huge gathering of people, Luther burned a papal bull condemning his views. Charles V summoned Luther to the Imperial Diet in Worms in order to convince him to renounce his views, but Luther replied: “I stand on that. I can't do otherwise. God help me." According to the Edict of Worms, Luther was outlawed in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire. From that moment began the persecution of Luther's supporters. Luther himself was kidnapped on his way from Worms by the people of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, who decided to protect Luther. He was placed in the Wartburg castle and only the Elector's secretary knew about his whereabouts. In the Wartburg, Luther began translating the Bible into German. Luther's speech at Worms caused a spontaneous burgher movement, and then the actions of the imperial chivalry. Soon (1524) the peasant uprising began. The peasants perceived Luther's reform as a call for social transformation. In 1526 the uprising was crushed. After the Peasant War at the Reichstag in Speyer, the Edict of Worms was suspended, but three years later it was renewed, for which the Speyer protest was filed. By its name, the supporters of the Reformation began to be called Protestants. The protest was signed by six princes (including the Elector of Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the Landgrave of Hesse) and free cities (including Augsburg, Ulm, Konstanz, Lindau, Heilbronn, etc.).
In 1530, the opposing parties made attempts to reach an agreement at the Augsburg Reichstag. Luther's friend Melanchthon presented there a document called the Augsburg Confession. After the Reistag, the Protestant princes formed the defensive Schmalkaldic League.
In 1546 Luther died, Emperor Charles 5, after victories over the French and Turks, decided to deal with the internal affairs of Germany. As a result, the Protestant troops were defeated. At the Reichstag in Augsburg in 1548, an interim was announced - an agreement between Catholics and Protestants, according to which the Protestants were forced to make significant concessions. However, Karl failed to implement the plan: Protestantism managed to take deep roots on German soil and had long been a religion not only of princes and merchants, but also of peasants and miners, as a result of which interim met with stubborn resistance. Many large principalities (Saxony, Brandenburg, Electoral Council, Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Hesse, Württemberg) adopted Protestantism, as well as the most important imperial cities - Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Lübeck. The church electors of the Rhine, Braunschweig-Wolfenbuttel, Bavaria, Austria, Lorraine, Augsburg, Salzburg and some other states remained Catholic. In 1552, the Protestant Schmalkaldic Union, together with the French King Henry II, launched a second war against the emperor, which ended in their victory. After the second Schmalkaldic War, the Protestant and Catholic princes concluded the Augsburg religious peace (1555) with the emperor, which established guarantees of religious freedom for the imperial estates (electors, secular and spiritual princes, free cities and imperial knights). But despite the demands of the Lutherans, the Treaty of Augsburg did not grant the right to choose a religion to subjects of imperial princes and knights. It was understood that each ruler himself determines the religion in his possessions. Later, this provision was transformed into the principle of "whose power, that is faith." The concession of the Catholics regarding the confession of their subjects was the fixation in the text of the agreement of the right to emigrate for the inhabitants of the principalities who did not wish to accept the religion of their ruler, and they were guaranteed the inviolability of the person and property.
The abdication of Charles 5 and the division of the possessions of the Habsburgs in 1556, as a result of which Spain, Flanders and Italy went to son Philip 2, and the Austrian lands and the post of emperor to brother Ferdinand 1, also contributed to the stabilization of the situation in the empire, as it eliminated the danger of coming to power uncompromising Catholic Philip 2. Ferdinand 1, one of the authors of the Augsburg Religious World and a consistent guide to strengthening the empire through a close alliance with the princes and increasing the efficiency of the functioning of imperial institutions, is rightfully considered the actual founder of the modern empire. The successor of Ferdinand 1, Emperor Maximilian 2, himself sympathized with Protestantism, and during his reign (1564-1576) he managed, relying on the imperial princes of both confessions, to maintain territorial and religious order in the empire, resolving emerging conflicts using exclusively the legal mechanisms of the empire. The main development trend in the second half of the 16th - early 17th century was the dogmatic and organizational formation and isolation of three confessions - Catholicism, Lutheranism and Calvinism, and the confessionalization of all aspects of the social and political life of the German states associated with this. In modern historiography, this period has been called the "Confessional era".
By the end of the 16th century the period of relative stability is over. The Catholic Church wanted to win back its lost influence. Censorship and the Inquisition intensified, the Jesuit order strengthened. The Vatican in every possible way pushed the remaining Catholic rulers to eradicate Protestantism in their possessions. The Habsburgs were Catholics, but their imperial status obliged them to adhere to the principles of religious tolerance. Therefore, they gave way to the main place in counter-reformation Bavarian rulers. For an organized rebuff to the growing pressure, the Protestant princes of South and West Germany united in the Evangelical Union, created in 1608. In response, the Catholics united in the Catholic League (1609). Both alliances were immediately supported by foreign states. Under these conditions, the activities of the all-imperial bodies - the Reichstag and the Judicial Chamber - were paralyzed.
In 1617, both branches of the Habsburg dynasty entered into a secret agreement - the Treaty of Oñate, which settled the existing differences. Under its terms, Spain was promised lands in Alsace and northern Italy, which would provide a land connection between the Spanish Netherlands and the Italian possessions of the Habsburgs. In return, the Spanish king Philip III renounced his claims to the crown of the empire and agreed to support the candidacy of Ferdinand of Styria. The reigning emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King Matthew of Bohemia had no direct heirs, and in 1617 he forced the Czech Sejm to recognize as his successor his nephew Ferdinand of Styria, an ardent Catholic and a pupil of the Jesuits. He was extremely unpopular in the predominantly Protestant Czech Republic, which was the reason for the uprising, which escalated into a long conflict - Thirty Years' War.
On the side of the Habsburgs were: Austria, most of the Catholic principalities of Germany, Spain, united with Portugal, the Holy See, Poland. On the side of the anti-Habsburg coalition - France, Sweden, Denmark, the Protestant principalities of Germany, the Czech Republic, Transylvania, Venice, Savoy, the Republic of the United Provinces, supported by England, Scotland and Russia. In general, the war turned out to be a clash of traditional conservative forces with growing nation-states.
The Evangelical Union was headed by the Elector of the Palatinate Frederick 5. However, the army of the Catholic League under the command of General Tilly pacified upper Austria, and the imperial troops - lower Austria. After uniting after that, they crushed the Czech uprising. Having finished with the Czech Republic, the Habsburg troops went to the Palatinate. In 1622, Mannheim and Heidelberg fell. Frederick 5 lost his possessions and was expelled from the Holy Roman Empire, the Evangelical Union collapsed. Bavaria received the Upper Palatinate and Spain captured the Palatinate.
The defeat at the first stage of the war forced the Protestants to rally. In 1624, France and Holland concluded the Treaty of Compiègne, which was joined by England, Sweden, Denmark, Savoy, and Venice.
In the second stage of the war, the Habsburg troops attacked the Netherlands and Denmark. An army was created under the command of the Czech nobleman Albrecht von Wallenstein, who offered to feed the army by plundering the occupied territories. The Danes were defeated, Wallenstein occupied Mecklenburg and Pomerania.
Sweden was the last major state capable of changing the balance of power. Gustav 2 Adolf, King of Sweden, sought to stop Catholic expansion, as well as establish his control over the Baltic coast of northern Germany. He was generously subsidized by Cardinal Richelieu, the first minister of Louis 13. Until then, Sweden had been kept out of the war by the war with Poland in the struggle for the Baltic coast. By 1630, Sweden had ended the war and secured Russian support. The Catholic League was defeated by the Swedes in several battles. In 1632, first General Tilly died, then King Gustavus Adolphus. In March 1633 Sweden and the German Protestant principalities formed the Heilbronn League; all military and political power in Germany passed to an elected council headed by the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. But the absence of a single authoritative commander began to affect the Protestant troops, and in 1634 the previously invincible Swedes suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Nördlingen. The emperor and princes concluded the Peace of Prague (1635), which ended the Swedish phase of the war. This treaty provided for the return of possessions to the framework of the Peace of Augsburg, the unification of the army of the emperor and the armies of the German states into the army of the Holy Roman Empire, and the legalization of Calvinism.
However, this agreement did not suit France, so in 1635 she entered the war herself. In 1639, France managed to break through to Swabia, in 1640 Brandenburg left the war, in 1642 Saxony was defeated, in 1647 Bavaria capitulated, Spain was forced to recognize the independence of the Netherlands. In this war, all the armies have exhausted their forces. The war brought the greatest damage to Germany, where up to 5 million people died. Epidemics of typhus, plague and dysentery took place throughout Europe. As a result, in 1648 the Peace of Westphalia was concluded. Under its terms, Switzerland gained independence, France received South Alsace and Lorraine, Sweden - the island of Rügen, Western Pomerania, the Duchy of Bremen. Only the war between Spain and France remained unsettled.
The secularization of church holdings in Northern Germany was recognized. Adherents of all religions (Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism) gained equal rights in the empire, the transition of the ruler to another faith ceased to mean a change in the faith of his subjects. Religious problems were separated from administrative and legal issues, and for their solution in the Reichstag and the imperial court, the principle of confessional parity was introduced: each denomination was given an equal number of votes, which restored the efficiency of the Reichstag and the court. The Peace of Westphalia also redistributed powers between the institutions of power within the empire: current issues, including legislation, the judiciary, taxation, ratification of peace treaties, were transferred to the competence of the Reichstag, which became a permanent body. This significantly changed the balance of power between the emperor and the estates in favor of the latter and established the status quo, contributed to the national unity of the German people. The rights of German specific princes expanded. Now they received the right to vote in matters of war and peace, the amount of taxes and laws relating to the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. They were allowed to enter into alliances with foreign powers, as long as they did not endanger the interests of the emperor and the empire. Thus, the German specific principalities became subjects of international law. The strengthening of the power of the specific princes marked the beginning of the federal structure of present-day Germany.

Germany after the Peace of Westphalia

After the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia, the role of the leading power passed to France, so the rest of the countries began to draw closer to fight it. The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) was the emperor's revenge Leopold 1 of Habsburg(1658-1705) during the Thirty Years' War: French hegemony in Western Europe collapsed, the Southern Netherlands, Naples and Milan came under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgs. In the northern direction, a partnership of Habsburgs, Poland, Hanover and Brandenburg developed in opposition to Sweden, as a result of which, after the Dutch War (1672-1678) and the Second Northern War (1700-1721), Swedish dominance in the Baltic region came to an end, and most of its possessions in the territories of the empire (Western Pomerania, Bremen and Verden) were divided between Brandenburg and Hanover. The Habsburgs achieved their main success in the southeast direction: in a series of military campaigns against the Ottoman Empire in the last quarter of the 17th century. Hungary, Transylvania and northern Serbia, which became part of the Habsburg Monarchy, were liberated, which dramatically increased the political prestige and economic base of the emperors. Wars with France and Turkey in the late 17th - early 18th century. caused a revival of imperial patriotism and once again turned the imperial throne into a symbol of the national community of the German people.
The establishment in the Palatinate in 1685 of the Catholic line of the Wittelsbach dynasty allowed Emperor Leopold I to restore positions in the west of the country and rally the Rhine states around the imperial throne. The main allies of the imperial throne in this region were the electorate of the Palatinate, Hesse-Darmstadt, Mainz and the imperial knights of Westphalia, the Middle Rhine and Swabia. In the southern sector of Germany in the late 17th - early 18th century. completely dominated by Bavaria, the elector of which competed in its influence with the emperor himself. In the northern part of the empire, in the conditions of the strengthening of Brandenburg, Saxony, whose ruler converted to Catholicism in 1697, as well as Hanover, which achieved the ninth title of elector in 1692, passed into a closer alliance with the Habsburgs. Brandenburg was also included in the processes of imperial integration: orientation on the emperor became the basis of the policy of the "Great Elector", and in 1700 his son received the consent of Leopold I to accept the title of king of Prussia.
Since 1662, the Reichstag has become a permanent body that met in Regensburg. His work was quite effective and contributed to the preservation of the unity of the empire. Emperor Leopold I took an active part in the work of the Reichstag, who consistently pursued a policy of restoring the role of the imperial throne and further integrating the estates. The representative function of the imperial court in Vienna began to play an important role, which turned into a center of attraction for nobles from all over Germany, and the city itself became the main center of the imperial baroque. The strengthening of the position of the Habsburgs in hereditary lands, the successful policy of dynastic marriages and the distribution of titles and positions also significantly contributed to the rise of the emperor's influence. At the same time, the processes of consolidation at the imperial level were superimposed on regional integration: the largest German principalities formed their own branched state apparatus, a magnificent princely court that rallied the local nobility, and armed forces that allowed the electors to pursue a more independent policy from the emperor. During the wars with France and Turkey, the role of the imperial districts significantly increased, which since 1681 took over the function of recruiting an army, collecting imperial taxes and maintaining permanent military contingents in the empire. Later, associations of imperial districts were formed, which made it possible to organize a more effective defense of the imperial borders.
Under the successors of Leopold 1, a desire for absolutism arose. The emperors again began to claim Italian territories, to interfere in the internal affairs of the German principalities, which caused their resistance. At the same time, the power of large principalities (Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony, Hanover) was growing, which sought to pursue their own independent policy in Europe, little considering the interests of the empire and the emperor. By the middle of the 18th century. the unity of the empire turned out to be significantly undermined, the large German principalities practically got out of the control of the emperor, the tendencies of disintegration clearly prevailed over the emperor’s weak attempts to maintain a balance of power in Germany.

Kingdom of Prussia

According to the Peace of Westphalia, the Electorate of Brandenburg received a number of territories, and as early as 1618, the Duchy of Prussia ceded to it. In 1701 Frederick 3, Elector of Brandenburg, with the consent of Emperor Leopold 1, was crowned King Frederick 1 of Prussia.
After the death of Friedrich 1 in 1713, Friedrich Wilhelm 1, nicknamed the Soldier King, ascended the Prussian throne. During his reign, the Prussian army became the strongest army in Europe. From 1740 to 1786 King of Prussia was Frederick II the Great. During this period, Prussia participated in numerous wars. The economic recovery, the creation under Frederick I and Friedrich Wilhelm I of an effective bureaucratic system of government and the formation of a strong army brought Prussia to the fore among the German states, which led to an intensification of rivalry with Austria. Prussia actually ceased to take part in general imperial issues: norms protecting the interests of the estates did not operate on its territory, the decisions of the imperial court were not enforced, the army did not take part in the emperor’s military campaigns, and the work of the Upper Saxon imperial district was paralyzed. As a result of the growing divergence between the actual military and political power of Prussia and other large German principalities and the outdated imperial hierarchy, by the middle of the 18th century. an acute systemic crisis of the Holy Roman Empire is ripe. After the death of Emperor Charles 6 in 1740 and the suppression of the direct male line of the House of Habsburg, the Austro-Prussian confrontation resulted in open war. The Silesian Wars (1740-1745) between the Prussian King Frederick II and the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa ended in the defeat of Austria and the loss of Silesia. The attempts of the Habsburgs to restore the efficiency of the imperial structures and put them at the service of the interests of Austria ran into the decisive resistance of the principalities, led by Prussia, which assumed the role of defender of German freedoms from the "absolutist" claims of the Habsburgs.
In 1756-1763. Prussia participated in the Seven Years' War, in which it won, but suffered heavy losses. In this war, Prussia had to fight in alliance with England against Austria, France and Russia.
Friedrich 2 died in 1786 in Potsdam, leaving no direct heir. His nephew Friedrich Wilhelm 2 became his successor. Under him, the system of government created by Frederick began to collapse, and the decline of Prussia began. Under Friedrich Wilhelm II, during the French Revolution, Prussia, together with Austria, formed the core of the 1st anti-French coalition, however, after a series of defeats, it was forced to sign a separate Treaty of Basel with France in 1795. In 1797, after the death of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm 2 on the throne was taken by his son, Friedrich Wilhelm 3. Friedrich Wilhelm turned out to be a weak and indecisive ruler. In the Napoleonic wars, for a long time he could not decide which side he was on. As a result, according to the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Prussia lost about half of its territories.
To bring the country out of the crisis in which it found itself after the defeat, reforms were undertaken, which subsequently yielded rich results. A small group of officials represented by the head of the Prussian government, Baron Heinrich Friedrich Karl Stein and Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, generals Gerhard von Scharnhorst and August Wilhelm Nidhardt Grisenau, official and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt, developed the largest reform project in German history, a package of so-called "Prussian reforms" started in 1807. The education system was reformed, general rules for entering the university were created, and an exam for teachers was introduced. The reformers abolished the monopoly of the shops and allowed citizens to engage in any economic activity. In 1811, serfdom was abolished, the peasants received the right to have private property and choose a profession, the right to buy land. Ministries were created, the post of chancellor was introduced - the chairman of the State Council (a body that gives advice to the king). In addition, the army and communal self-government were reformed, and an income tax was introduced, replacing the poll tax. As a result of reforms over the next few decades, the Prussian economy revived and a free labor market emerged. Industry began to develop, and this laid the foundation for the further industrialization of the economy. Many components of the modern German economy, social structure and education were laid down two centuries ago.

Napoleonic Wars and the end of the empire

In 1785, under the leadership of the Prussian king Frederick 2 the Great, the German Princes' Union was created as an alternative to the imperial institutions controlled by the Habsburgs. The Austro-Prussian rivalry deprived the rest of the German states of the opportunity to exert any influence on the internal affairs of the empire and made it impossible to carry out reforms. This led to "empire fatigue" of secular and ecclesiastical principalities, knights and free cities, which historically were the main pillar of the construction of the Holy Roman Empire. The stability of the empire was finally lost.
The outbreak of the French Revolution initially led to the consolidation of the empire. In 1790, the Reichenbach Alliance was concluded between the emperor and Prussia, which temporarily ended the Austro-Prussian confrontation, and in 1792 the Pillnitz Convention was signed, according to which both states pledged to provide military assistance to the French king. However, the goals of the new Austrian emperor Franz 2 were not to strengthen the empire, but to implement the foreign policy plans of the Habsburgs, expand the Austrian monarchy, including at the expense of the German principalities, and expel the French from Germany. The Prussian king had similar aspirations. On March 23, 1793, the Reichstag declared imperial war on France.
By this time, the left bank of the Rhine and the Austrian Netherlands were occupied by the French, and Frankfurt was burned. The imperial army was extremely weak. The subjects of the empire sought to limit as much as possible the participation of their military contingents in hostilities outside their own lands, refused to pay military contributions and tried to conclude a separate peace with France as soon as possible. Already in 1794, the imperial coalition began to disintegrate. In 1795, having concluded the Treaty of Basel, Prussia withdrew from the war, followed by the North German states, and in 1796 by Baden and Württemberg. The Austrian army, which continued to conduct hostilities, suffered defeats on all fronts. Finally, in 1797, the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded from Italy into the territory of the hereditary possessions of Austria. In the spring of 1797, the Peace of Campoformia was concluded. The emperor transferred Belgium and Lombardy to France and agreed to cede the left bank of the Rhine, and in return received the continental possessions of Venice and the right to increase Austrian possessions in the empire at the expense of the church principalities of southeastern Germany.
The war of the Second Coalition (1799-1801), which broke out in 1799, in which Austria tried to achieve revenge, ended in the complete defeat of the allies. The Treaty of Luneville in 1801 recognized the annexation by France of the left bank of the Rhine, including the lands of the three spiritual electors - Cologne, Mainz and Trier. The decision on the issue of territorial compensation to the affected German princes was submitted to the imperial deputation for consideration. After lengthy negotiations, under pressure from France and Russia, and in fact ignoring the position of the emperor, the final project for the reorganization of the empire was adopted, which was approved in 1803.
Church possessions in Germany were secularized and for the most part became part of large secular states. Almost all (with the exception of six) imperial cities also ceased to exist as subjects of imperial law. In total, not counting the lands annexed by France, more than 100 state entities within the empire were abolished, and the population of the secularized lands reached three million people. Moreover, the largest increments in terms of territory and population were received by the French satellites of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria, as well as Prussia, under whose authority most of the possessions of the church in Northern Germany passed. After the completion of the territorial delimitation by 1804, about 130 states remained in the Holy Roman Empire, not counting the possessions of the imperial knights.
Territorial changes led to radical changes in the composition of the Reichstag and the College of Electors. The titles of the three church electors were abolished, and instead of them, electoral rights were granted to the rulers of Baden, Württemberg, Hesse-Kassel and the Archchancellor of the Empire, Karl-Theodor von Dahlberg. As a result, in the college of electors, as well as in the chamber of princes of the imperial Reichstag, the majority went over to the Protestants and a strong pro-French party was formed. The liquidation of free cities and church principalities - traditionally the main pillar of the empire - led to the loss of stability by the empire and the complete fall of the influence of the imperial throne. The Holy Roman Empire finally turned into a conglomerate of virtually independent states and lost the prospect of its survival as a single political entity.
In 1805 the War of the Third Coalition began. The army of Franz II was utterly defeated in the battle of Austerlitz, and Vienna was captured by the French. On the side of Napoleon in this war, the troops of Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg fought, which did not cause any negative reaction in the empire. Franz II was forced to conclude the Treaty of Pressburg with France, according to which the emperor not only renounced possessions in Italy, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Western Austria in favor of Napoleon and his satellites, but also recognized the titles of kings for the rulers of Bavaria and Württemberg, which legally removed these states from under any authority of the emperor and gave them almost complete sovereignty. Austria was finally pushed to the periphery of Germany, and the empire turned into a fiction.
In 1806, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau (both lines), Berg, Archchancellor Dalberg and eight other German principalities signed an agreement in Paris on the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine under the auspices of Napoleon. On August 1, these states announced their withdrawal from the Holy Roman Empire. Franz 2 announced the resignation of the title and powers of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, explaining this by the impossibility of fulfilling the duties of emperor after the establishment of the Confederation of the Rhine. The Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist.

Unification of the German states

The defeat of Napoleon in 1813-1814. opened the way for the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire. However, the restoration of the Old Empire was no longer possible. In accordance with the Austro-Prussian treaties of 1807 and 1813, the agreements on the accession of the former members of the Confederation of the Rhine to the anti-French coalition of 1814, and, finally, according to the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1814, Germany was to become a confederate entity. An attempt to revive the empire threatened a military conflict between Austria and Prussia and other major German states. At the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815, Franz II renounced the imperial crown and prevented the project of restoring the empire under the control of an emperor elected from among the German princes. Instead, the German Confederation was established, a confederation of 38 German states, including the hereditary possessions of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, within borders roughly corresponding to the former Holy Roman Empire. The Emperor of Austria remained the chairman of the German Confederation until 1866. The German Union was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, it was replaced by the North German Union, and since 1871 - the German Empire under the leadership of Prussia.
The German Union included the Austrian Empire, the kingdoms of Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Hanover, Württemberg, duchies, principalities and 4 city-republics (Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck). The undisputed military and economic superiority of Austria and Prussia gave them a clear political priority over other members of the alliance, although formally it proclaimed the equality of all participants. At the same time, a number of lands of the Austrian Empire (Hungary, Slovenia, Dalmatia, Istria, etc.) and the Kingdom of Prussia (East and West Prussia, Poznan) were completely excluded from union jurisdiction. The governing body of the German Confederation was the Federal Diet. It consisted of representatives from 34 German states (including Austria) and 4 free cities and met in Frankfurt am Main. The chairmanship in the union belonged to Austria, as the largest state of the German Union in terms of territory and population. Each of the states united in the union had sovereignty and its own system of government. In some, autocracy was preserved, in others the semblance of parliaments (landtags) functioned, and only in seven constitutions were adopted that limited the power of the monarch (Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Braunschweig and Saxe-Weimar).
In March 1848, a wave of demonstrations swept across Germany, as well as in France and Austria, including street fighting in Berlin, demanding political freedoms and a united Germany. On May 18, 1848, at the initiative of the liberal intelligentsia, the National All-German Assembly met in Frankfurt am Main, which went down in history as the Frankfurt Parliament. The Frankfurt parliament adopted an imperial constitution, according to which the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm 4 was to become the constitutional monarch of the German Empire. The constitution was recognized by 29 German states, but not by the largest members of the German Confederation (Prussia, Austria, Bavaria, Hanover, Saxony). Friedrich Wilhelm 4 refused to accept the imperial crown from the hands of the revolutionary Frankfurt Parliament, Austria and Prussia withdrew delegates from there. Deprived of political support from the top amid the fading of the revolution, the parliament collapsed. Part of the delegates voluntarily left it, the other extreme left part was dispersed by the Württemberg troops in Stuttgart in June 1849. The unrest that broke out in some states was suppressed by the Prussian troops.
The desire of Austria and Prussia to unite all German lands under their auspices led to the beginning in 1866 of the Austro-Prussian War, the results of which were the annexation by Prussia of the territories of Hanover, Kurgessen, Nassau, Schleswig-Holstein, Frankfurt am Main, achieved as a result of these annexations the territorial connection of the Rhine provinces of Prussia with the main territory of the kingdom and the formation of the North German Confederation, which united 21 German states north of the Main.
In 1870-1871. Prussia waged war against France, as a result of which the South German lands - Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria - were annexed to the North German Union. On January 18, 1871, before the end of the war, at Versailles, Prussian Minister-President Bismarck and Prussian King Wilhelm I announced the creation of the German Empire. France, in addition to losing a number of lands, paid a large indemnity following the war.

German Empire

Bismarck's new empire became one of the most powerful states in continental Europe. Prussian dominance in the new empire was almost as absolute as it had been in the North German Confederation. Prussia had three-fifths of the area of ​​the empire, and two-thirds of its population. The imperial crown became the hereditary Hohenzollern dynasty. From the mid-1880s, Germany joined the process of colonization and in a short time acquired quite extensive colonies.
According to the constitution, the presidency belonged to the Prussian king, who used the title of German emperor. The emperor had the right to participate in legislative matters only in his capacity as King of Prussia. The emperor had the right to promulgate laws; but since he did not constitutionally enjoy even a withholding veto, this right is a simple duty of the executive power. The emperor was given, however, a fairly broad right to issue his own orders. The emperor was given the right, in cases threatening public safety, both in wartime and in peacetime, to declare any part of the empire (with the exception of Bavaria) in a state of siege. The emperor had the right to appoint and dismiss all the main imperial officials, starting with the chancellor. The Imperial Chancellor was the main organ of executive power and, at the same time, the only person responsible to the Federal Council and the Reichstag for all the actions of this power. Apart from the Chancellor himself, there were no ministers in the German Empire. Instead, there were state secretaries subordinate to the Reich Chancellor, who presided over the imperial departments (railroads, postal, legal, treasury, administration of Alsace-Lorraine, foreign and domestic political departments, maritime and, finally, colonial).
Wilhelm 1 died in 1888, and was succeeded on the throne by the crown prince - Frederick 3. The new emperor was an Anglophile and planned to implement broad liberal reforms. But he died 99 days after his ascension to the throne. His heir was the 29-year-old Wilhelm 2.
The new Kaiser quickly spoiled relations with the British and Russian royal families (although he was related to them), became their rival and finally enemy. Wilhelm II removed Bismarck from office in 1890 and launched a campaign of militarization and adventurism in foreign policy that eventually led Germany into isolation and the First World War.
In 1914 the First World War began. Germany was in a coalition with Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria. The beginning of the war was successful for Germany: Russian troops were defeated in East Prussia, the German army occupied Belgium and Luxembourg, and invaded Northeast France. Paris was saved, but the threat remained. Germany's allies fought worse: the Austrians were utterly defeated in Galicia, the Turks suffered many defeats on the Caucasian front. Italy betrayed its allies and declared war on Austria-Hungary. Only with the help of the German army, the Austrians and Turks returned some positions, the Italians were defeated at Caporetto. Germany won many victories in the course of active hostilities, but by 1915 a positional war began on all fronts, which was a mutual siege - for attrition. Despite its industrial potential, Germany could not defeat the enemy in a positional war. The German colonies were occupied. The Entente had an advantage in resources, and on November 11, 1918, two days after the start of the revolution, Germany surrendered. After the war, the country lay in ruins, absolutely exhausted. As a result, Germany was gripped by an economic crisis. In four months, the price of a paper stamp fell 382,000 times.
The post-war Treaty of Versailles made Germany fully responsible for the war. The treaty was signed at Versailles, in the Hall of Mirrors, where the German Empire was created. Under this peace treaty, Prussia lost a number of territories that were previously part of it (Upper Silesia, Poznan, part of the provinces of East and West Prussia, Saarland, Northern Schleswig and some others).
Even before the end of the war, the November Revolution of 1918 broke out in Germany, forcing Wilhelm II to abdicate both the Prussian throne and the title of German emperor associated with it. Germany became a republic, the Kingdom of Prussia was renamed the Free State of Prussia.

Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic (1919-1934) in Germany lasted most of the peace period between the two world wars. After the March Revolution of 1848, it was the second (and first successful) attempt to establish a liberal democracy in Germany. It ended with the coming to power of the NSDAP, which created a totalitarian dictatorship. Even during the period of its existence, the Weimar state was given the definition of “democracy without democrats”, which was only partially correct, but indicated a significant problem in its structure: in the Weimar Republic there was no strong constitutional consensus that could bind the entire spectrum of political forces - from the right to left. The wave of democratization did not touch the institutions of government, justice, and, above all, the military apparatus inherited from the Kaiser's empire. In the end, the parliamentary majority in the Reichstag was won by parties that rejected the values ​​of parliamentary democracy: the National Socialist German Workers' Party and the German National People's Party on the one hand, and the Communist Party of Germany on the other. The parties of the Weimar Coalition (SPD, Center Party and German Democratic Party), which received this name, formed a government coalition in the Weimar Constituent Assembly, lost their absolute majority already in the first elections to the Reichstag in 1920 and never returned it again. For 14 years, 20 government offices have changed. Eleven minority cabinets operated with the permission of the parliamentary majority, and at the end of the Weimar Republic already with the Reichstag suspended, only at the discretion of the Reich President and on the basis of emergency decrees issued instead of laws in accordance with Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The number of parties in the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic often reached 17, and only rarely dropped to 11.
From the moment of its inception, the young republic was forced to fight against the attacks of radicalists from both the right and the left. Left forces accused the Social Democrats of collaborating with the old elite and betraying the ideals of the labor movement. The rightists blamed the supporters of the republic - the "November criminals" - for the defeat in the First World War, reproaching them for having stuck a knife in the back of the "invincible on the battlefield" German army with their revolution.
The Kapp putsch in March 1920 was the first serious test of strength for the republic. Freikorps (paramilitary patriotic formations), which under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles Germany was obliged to disband, under the leadership of General Baron Walther von Lütwitz, captured the government quarter in Berlin and appointed Wolfgang Kapp, the former head of the regional government in Prussia, as Chancellor. The legal government first withdrew to Dresden, and then to Stuttgart, and from there called for a general strike against the conspirators. The putschists were soon defeated, the decisive role in this was played by the refusal of the ministerial officials to obey Kapp's orders. The army remained neutral. The government could no longer rely on the support of the Reichswehr. Almost simultaneously with the Kapp Putsch, the Ruhr region was shaken by an attempted workers' uprising. Its suppression by the forces of the Reichswehr and Freikorps ended in bloodshed. The uprisings in the central part of Germany, in Thuringia and Hamburg (the March uprising of 1921) also ended.
Despite all the tension of the situation and the abundance of conflicts that the young republic had to cope with, democracy began to bear its first fruits. The monetary reform and the flow of loans from the United States under the Dawes plan gave rise to a new phase, characterized by relative stabilization in the economy and politics, the so-called "golden twenties". The fact that, despite numerous changes of governments, Gustav Stresemann remained at the helm of foreign policy, who, together with his French colleague Aristide Briand, took the first steps towards rapprochement between the two countries, also worked to stabilize. Stresemann consistently sought to revise the Treaty of Versailles and recognize Germany as an equal member of the international community. Germany's entry into the League of Nations and the Locarno Accords marked the first successes in this direction. With the Berlin Treaty with the USSR, which confirmed friendly relations and mutual obligations to maintain neutrality, the Reich Foreign Minister tried to dispel fears about a unilateral conclusion of an alliance with the West, which took place not only in the USSR, but also in Germany itself. The next milestones on the path of reconciliation with former opponents were the signing of the Briand-Kellogg Pact, which proclaimed the rejection of war as an instrument of politics, as well as the consent to the Young Plan, given by Germany despite serious opposition from the right, expressed in the creation of a popular initiative. The Young Plan finally settled the issues of reparations and became a prerequisite for the early withdrawal of the allied occupying forces from the Rhineland.
On the whole, these years brought only relative, but not absolute, stabilization. And during these years, only two governments were supported by a parliamentary majority, and the majority coalitions were constantly in danger of disintegration. No government lasted its entire term of office. The parties served the interests not so much of the people as of certain narrow circles or were aimed at their own political success. At this time, there were the first signs of an economic crisis caused by the lack of balance in foreign trade, which was leveled off by short-term loans from abroad. With the withdrawal of credit funds, the collapse of the economy began.
The global economic crisis, which affected Germany much more severely than other European countries, played a decisive role in the radicalization of politics. The outbreak of mass unemployment exacerbated the already difficult social and economic situation. All this was accompanied by a prolonged government crisis. In successive elections and government crises, the radical parties, and above all the NSDAP, gained more and more votes.
Faith in democracy and the republic was rapidly declining. The deteriorating economic situation was already imputed to the republic, and the imperial government during 1930 also introduced several new taxes to cover state needs. The voices of those yearning for a “strong hand” that could restore the German Empire to its former greatness grew louder and louder. First of all, the National Socialists responded to the requests of this part of society, who, in their propaganda, concentrated on the personality of Hitler, purposefully created such a “strong” image for him. But not only the right, but also the left forces were getting stronger. The Republican Social Democrats, unlike the liberal ones, went through the elections with virtually no losses, and the Communist Party of Germany even improved its results and turned into a serious force both in parliament and on the streets, where the struggle of the militant organizations of the NSDAP (SA) and the KKE has long moved ( Rot Front)), which looked more and more like a civil war. The militant organization of the republican forces, the Reichsbanner, also took part in the street struggle. Ultimately, all these chaotic armed clashes, often initiated by the National Socialists themselves, played into the hands of Hitler, who was increasingly seen as a "last resort" to restore order.

Third Reich and World War II

The global economic crisis that began in 1929, the rise in unemployment, and the burden of reparations still pressing on the Weimar Republic put the Weimar Republic in front of serious problems. In March 1930, having failed to agree with Parliament on a common financial policy, President Paul Hindenburg appointed a new Reich Chancellor, who no longer relies on the support of the parliamentary majority and depends only on the president himself.
The new chancellor, Heinrich Brüning, puts Germany on austerity. The number of dissatisfied is growing. In the elections to the Reichstag in September 1930, the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (NSDAP), led by Hitler, manages to increase the number of its mandates from 12 to 107, and the communists from 54 to 77. Thus, right and left extremists together win almost a third seats in parliament. Under these conditions, any constructive policy becomes practically impossible. In the 1932 elections, the National Socialists receive 37 percent of the vote and become the strongest faction in the Reichstag.
The NSDAP receives support from influential representatives of the business community. Relying on big capital and on his own electoral successes, in August 1932, Hitler turned to Hindenburg with a demand to appoint him Reich Chancellor. Hindenburg initially refuses, but already on January 30, 1933, he succumbs to pressure. However, in the first Nazi cabinet, the NSDAP held only three ministerial posts out of eleven. Hindenburg and his advisers hoped to use the brown movement for their own ends. However, these hopes turned out to be illusory. Hitler quickly seeks to consolidate his power. Just a few weeks after his appointment as Reichschancellor, Germany was effectively in a continuous state of emergency. After becoming Chancellor, the first thing Hitler asks Hindenburg is to dissolve the Reichstag and call new elections. Meanwhile, the Nazi Minister of the Interior is empowered to ban newspapers, magazines, and meetings that he dislikes at his own discretion. On February 27, 1933, the Reichstag was set on fire. Who is behind the crime is unclear to this day. In any case, Nazi propaganda profited greatly from the incident by attributing the arson to the Communists. The next day, the so-called Decree on the Protection of the People and the State is issued, abolishing the freedoms of the press, assembly and opinion. The NSDAP is conducting the election campaign almost alone. All other parties are half or completely driven underground. All the more surprising are the results of the elections in March 1933: the Nazis fail to gain an absolute majority of votes. Hitler is forced to create a coalition government.
Having failed to get his way through elections, Hitler takes a different path. At his direction, the Law on Emergency Powers is being drafted and implemented. It allows the National Socialists to rule bypassing Parliament. The process of the so-called "attachment to the dominant ideology" of all socio-political forces in the country begins. In practice, this is expressed in the fact that the NSDAP places its people in key positions in the state and society and establishes control over all aspects of public life. The NSDAP becomes a state party. All other parties are either banned or cease to exist on their own. The Reichswehr, the state apparatus and justice practically do not resist the course of initiation to the dominant ideology. Falls under the control of the National Socialists and the police. Almost all power structures in the country obey Hitler. Opponents of the regime are monitored by the Gestapo secret state police. Already in February 1933, the first concentration camps for political prisoners appeared. Paul Hindenburg died on August 2, 1934. The Nazi government decides that henceforth the post of President is combined with the post of Reich Chancellor. All previous powers of the President are transferred to the Reich Chancellor - Fuhrer. Hitler's course for a sharp increase in armaments at first wins him the sympathy of the army elite, but then, when it becomes clear that the Nazis are preparing for war, the generals begin to express dissatisfaction. In response, in 1938, Hitler made a radical change in the military leadership.
The Weimar constitution established a federal structure in Germany, the country's territory was divided into regions (lands), which had their own constitutions and authorities. Already on April 7, 1933, the Second Law “On the unification of lands with the Reich” was adopted, according to which the institution of imperial governors (Reichsstathalters) was introduced in the lands of Germany. The task of the governors was to lead local authorities, for which they were granted emergency powers (including the right to dissolve the Landtag, dissolve and form a land government headed by a minister-president). The law "On the new structure of the Reich" of January 30, 1934, the sovereignty of the lands was eliminated, the Landtags in all the lands were dissolved. Germany became a unitary state. In January 1935, the imperial governors became permanent representatives of the government in the states.
On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany. During 1939-1941, Germany defeated Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, Yugoslavia. In June 1941, Germany invaded the territory of the Soviet Union and occupied part of its territory. In Germany, there was a growing shortage of labor. In all the occupied territories, civilian workers were recruited. In the Slavic territories, a mass export of the able-bodied population was forcibly carried out. France also carried out forced recruitment of workers, whose position in Germany was intermediate between that of civilians and prisoners.
A regime of intimidation was established in the occupied territories. The mass extermination of Jews immediately began, and in some areas (mainly on the territory of the USSR) the extermination of the local non-Jewish population as a preventive measure against the partisan movement. In Germany and some occupied territories, the number of concentration camps, death camps and prisoner-of-war camps grew. In the latter, the situation of Soviet, Polish, Yugoslav and French prisoners of war differed little from the situation of concentration camp prisoners. The position of the British and Americans, as a rule, was better. The methods of terror used by the German administration in the occupied territories ruled out the possibility of cooperation with the local population and caused the growth of the partisan movement in Poland, Belarus and Serbia. Gradually, a guerrilla war also unfolded in other occupied territories of the USSR and Slavic countries, as well as in Greece and France. In Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, the occupation regime was softer, so there were fewer anti-Nazi speeches. Separate underground organizations also operated in Germany and Austria.
On July 20, 1944, a group of Wehrmacht generals made an unsuccessful attempt at an anti-Nazi coup with an assassination attempt on Hitler. This plot was later called the "Conspiracy of the Generals". Many officers were executed, even those who had only a tangential connection to the conspiracy.
In 1944, the Germans also began to feel the shortage of raw materials. Aviation of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition bombed the city. The aviation of England and the USA almost completely destroyed Hamburg and Dresden. Due to the heavy losses of personnel in October 1944, a Volkssturm was created, in which local residents, including old people and young men, were mobilized. The Werewolf detachments were prepared for future partisan and sabotage activities.
On May 7, 1945, an act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed in Reims, duplicated the next day by the Soviet side in Berlin (Karlshorst). May 9 was declared the day of the cessation of hostilities. Then, on May 23 in Flensburg, the government of the Third Reich was arrested.

Germany after World War II

After the termination of the state existence of Germany on May 23, 1945, the territory of the former Austria (divided into 4 zones of occupation), Alsace and Lorraine (returned to France), the Sudetenland (returned to Czechoslovakia), the region of Eupen and Malmedy (returned part of Belgium), the statehood of Luxembourg was restored, the territories of Poland annexed in 1939 (Posen, Wartaland, part of Pomerania) were separated. The Memel (Klaipeda) region was returned to the Lithuanian SSR. East Prussia is divided between the USSR and Poland. The rest is divided into 4 occupation zones - Soviet, American, British and French. The USSR transferred part of its occupation zone east of the Oder and Neisse rivers to Poland.
In 1949, from the American, British and French zones, Federal Republic of Germany. Bonn became the capital of Germany. The first Federal Chancellor of Germany (1949-1963) was Konrad Adenauer, who put forward the concept of a social market economy. Adenauer was one of the founders (1946) and since 1950 the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union party.
Thanks to US assistance under the Marshall Plan, as well as as a result of the implementation of the economic development plans of the country, developed under the leadership of Ludwig Erhard, rapid economic growth was achieved in the 1950s (German economic miracle), which lasted until 1965. To meet the need for cheap labor, Germany supported the influx of guest workers, mainly from Turkey.
In 1955 Germany joined NATO. In 1969, the Social Democrats came to power. They recognized the inviolability of post-war borders, weakened emergency legislation, and carried out a number of social reforms. During the reign of Federal Chancellors Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, there was a significant improvement in relations between the FRG and the USSR, which was further developed in the policy of detente. The Moscow Treaty between the USSR and the FRG of 1970 fixed the inviolability of borders, the renunciation of territorial claims (East Prussia) and declared the possibility of uniting the FRG and the GDR. In the future, the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats alternated in power.
In the Soviet zone in 1949 was formed German Democratic Republic(GDR). In 1952, a course was proclaimed to build socialism in the GDR. On June 17, 1953, a "popular uprising" took place. As a result, instead of collecting reparations, the USSR began to provide economic assistance to the GDR. In the context of the aggravation of the foreign policy situation around the German issue and the mass exodus of qualified personnel from the GDR to West Berlin, on August 13, 1961, the construction of a system of barrier structures between the GDR and West Berlin began - the "Berlin Wall". In the early 1970s began a gradual normalization of relations between the two German states. In June 1973, the Treaty on the Fundamentals of Relations between the GDR and the FRG came into force. In September 1973 the GDR became a full member of the UN and other international organizations. On November 8, 1973, the GDR officially recognized the FRG and established diplomatic relations with it. In the second half of the 1980s, economic difficulties began to increase in the country, in the fall of 1989 a socio-political crisis arose, as a result, the leadership of the SED resigned (October 24 - Erich Honecker, November 7 - Willy Shtof). The new Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED on November 9 decided to allow citizens of the GDR to travel abroad privately without good reason, resulting in the spontaneous fall of the "Berlin Wall". After the victory of the CDU in the elections on March 18, 1990, the new government of Lothar de Maizière began intensive negotiations with the government of the Federal Republic of Germany on issues of German unification. In May and August 1990, two Treaties were signed containing the conditions for the accession of the GDR to the FRG. On September 12, 1990, the Treaty on the Final Settlement with regard to Germany was signed in Moscow, which contained decisions on the entire range of issues of German unification. In accordance with the decision of the People's Chamber, the GDR joined the FRG on October 3, 1990.

Ludwig 2. Biography

The material is taken from the site www.opera-news.ru "I want to remain an eternal mystery for myself and for others," Ludwig once said to his governess. The poet Paul Verlaine called Ludwig II the only real king of this century. The prince did not have a carefree childhood. He and his brother Otto, 2 years his junior, had to get used to royal duties from an early age. They were not allowed to communicate with other children, and contact with parents was kept to a minimum, as it was believed, this fosters independence. The princes spent most of their childhood away from the capital in Hohenschwangau. Here the prince grew up under the influence of the romantic landscape, architecture, German fairy tales and sagas. The prince was especially interested in the theater, opera librettos and literature.
When Ludwig was 16 years old, an event occurred in his life that largely determined his fate - on February 2, 1861, he attended the performance of Wagner's opera Lohengrin. Wagner's music shocked him. He saw in her the embodiment of his romantic dreams. From that time on, he became a passionate admirer of Wagner and a collector of his works.
When he became king, the first thing he ordered was to find and bring Wagner to him in Munich. Their meeting took place on May 4, 1864, and had far-reaching consequences for both. In the evening of the same day, Wagner wrote to his friend, Dr. Ville: “Unfortunately, he (the king) is so brilliant, so noble, so emotional and amazing that I fear that his life might be lost like a stream in the sand, in this cruel world. I'm so lucky that I'm just crushed; if only he lived ... "Ludwig made him his protégé, built him a luxurious house and took on all material concerns. From now on, Wagner could fully engage in creativity, without being distracted by getting his daily bread. But Wagner, alas, turned out to be a prophet...
The king created a music school in Munich and decided to build a new opera house, equipped in accordance with the requirements of Wagner operas. He saw Munich as the musical capital of Germany, something like the German Vienna. But then the king's plans ran into opposition from the government, his own relatives and the inhabitants of Munich.
For a year and a half, Ludwig bravely resisted the indignation of parliament and the masses. In the end, the king was forced to give in and ask Wagner to leave Munich, which cost him untold moral anguish. It was then that the mutual alienation of the king and parliament began, which deepened over the years and led to disaster. Ludwig hated Munich so much that he wanted to move the capital to Nuremberg.
The king could not be married in any way: he stubbornly avoided the bonds of Hymen and was not seen in adultery. His engagement to his cousin, Princess Sofia, was called off after 8 months without explanation. It became obvious to the royal relatives that they could not wait for the heir to the throne.
In 1866, a war with Prussia was ripe, which Ludwig, a purely peaceful person, tried his best to avoid. He was even ready to give up the throne in the name of this. Not trusting his government, he secretly left Munich and, without telling anyone, went to Wagner in Switzerland for advice. What was the advice can be judged by the fact that two days later the king returned, refused to abdicate and announced a mobilization. In this war, which lasted only three weeks, Bavaria was utterly defeated by the Prussian army, suffered heavy losses and had to pay reparations to Prussia in the amount of 154 million marks. Against the background of this national catastrophe, Ludwig began to realize the romantic dream of his life - the construction of castles in the Bavarian Alps.
In total, three of them were built during his life, but only one turned out to be completed - in Linderhof.
In 1869, Ludwig laid the first stone on the site of an ancient fortress on the slopes of the Alps. Neuschwanstein Castle was built in the form of a medieval castle with a fortress wall, towers and passages. Its construction took 17 years, but was never completed. By an evil twist of fate, in this romantic castle, Ludwig II experienced the greatest humiliation of his life.
His favorite castle was Linderhof - a real little Versailles. Ludwig took Louis XIV as a model of his life and followed him in everything. Even the bedroom at Linderhof, like the bedroom of the "sun king", was located and arranged so that the sun never set in the windows. The defiant luxury of rococo amazes even seasoned tourists. An abundance of gold, mirrors, vases, of which Ludwig was a great connoisseur and collector; life-size peacocks made of precious Meissen porcelain, an ivory chandelier, a bouquet of porcelain flowers indistinguishable from real ones; a huge crystal chandelier with 108 candles, never lit for fear of fire, a lifting table from the kitchen to the dining room - all this testified not only to unlimited funds, but also to the refined taste of their owner. A white piano covered with gold ornaments was commissioned especially for Wagner, but the composer never touched its keys. All the excess, pretentious luxury of Lindenhof was designed for one single person - Richard Wagner, but he never visited Lindenhof. The king spent his days in complete solitude, with the exception of a few servants, listening to Wagner's music performed by first-class orchestras and opera groups in a grotto theater specially carved into the rock, or riding a boat on an artificial lake nearby. He more and more departed from state affairs, plunging into the ideal romantic world created for himself.
Meanwhile, in 1870, a second war broke out, which Ludwig wanted to avoid just as passionately as the first, and was just as compelled to take part in it. Bavaria, under the terms of the peace treaty, was to fight against France on the side of Prussia. This war ended with the defeat of France. The Prussian king Wilhelm I was declared emperor of the united German Empire. The entire German aristocracy was present at this solemn event in the Mirror Hall of the Palace of Versailles. Only the King of Bavaria was missing. Rampant construction and the funds spent on it did not contribute to the popularity of the once adored monarch. He poured his own annual income of 5.5 million marks into his projects and dug deep into the public pocket. By the time of Ludwig's death, his debt to the state was 21 million marks. The wealth of the country, acquired over 800 years by many generations of Bavarian monarchs, was wasted in just 20 years.
As a result of a successful conspiracy led by Prime Minister Lutz, the king was declared incompetent. His uncle, the Bavarian Prince Lutpold, was declared ruler. Lutz was interested in isolating the king because, as head of government, he was aware of the exorbitant expenses, but kept them secret from the king, who was poorly versed in economics. The court physician von Gudden saw Ludwig into exile at Berg Castle near Lake Starnberg. He also informed him of the decision of a council of four physicians on the need for isolation and treatment.
- How can you declare me mentally ill if you never examined me? Ludwig asked. To which the court physician replied:
“Your Majesty, this is not necessary. We have information that gives us enough evidence.
On June 13, 1886, at six o'clock in the evening, Ludwig and his doctor Gudden went for a short walk in the park without bodyguards - the doctor refused their services at the last minute. A few hours later, their bodies were found in the lake. Was it murder or suicide, the investigation has not established. Both were in frock coats, hats and umbrellas, which ruled out the intention to swim. Ludwig was an excellent swimmer, which made the version of an accident unlikely. The autopsy also did not shed light on the reasons for the death of the king. It was beneficial for official sources to support the version of madness and suicide. After Ludwig's death, the rule passed to his mentally handicapped brother Otto under the guardianship of his uncle Liutpold.
After the reign of Ludwig, in addition to his palaces, there remained the Academy of Fine Arts and the Institute of Technology in Munich, the Bavarian Red Cross. From the funds he created, the development of musical culture was supported, which led to the construction of the Palais des Festivals in Bayreuth.

Füssen

The area where Füssen is located was shaped by various ice ages, mainly under the influence of the Lech glacier. Numerous moraine hills and most of the lakes are a legacy of this period.
People began to settle in these places from the end of the Paleolithic. At first these were the tribes of the Celts, who were Romanized ca. 15 BC during the campaigns of the stepsons of August - Tiberius and Drus. The area became part of the Roman province of Raetia, which during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD) was divided into Raetia 1 (capital Chur) and Raetia 2 (with Augsburg as capital). To connect the new territories, the Roman emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) built the military road of Claudius Augustus, which began in Altinum (now a place near Venice) and at the river. By and reached the Danube through Füssen and Augsburg. At the end of the 3rd c. on the hill where the palace is located, a Roman camp was set up to protect against the attacks of the Germanic tribes, which began at the beginning of the century. In the 4th century the territory was inhabited by Germanic tribes, first under the rule of the Ostrogoths, then - the Franks.
There are different versions about the origin of the name Füssen. This word first appeared on a Roman tombstone of the 4th century BC. (fotensium) And at the beginning of the 5th c. appeared in the official papers of the Romans (in the form of foetibus). It is not clear whether this word appeared in pre-Roman times and was Latinized, or whether it was originally a Latin word meaning "a place near a gorge" (the mouth of the Lech in the rocks was called Lusaltenfelsen). On the other hand, it could be a Roman military term: "praepositus Fotensium" - the commander of Fussen's troops. The monks of St. Mungo called the place of their monastery "ad fauces" (near the gorge) and in 1175 the German word Fozen was recorded.
By the time the settlement received city status, it was called Fuezzen, and this name was associated with the word for feet (fuesse), so the city's coat of arms shows three legs. Seals with a coat of arms appeared from 1317. Three legs are associated with three sources of power to which the city is subject: the prince-archbishop of Augsburg (or the duchy of Swabia), the county of Tyrol and the duchy of Bavaria).
St. Magnus was born c. 700. He worked in this area not so much as a missionary, but rather as a teacher of ordinary people, helping them. In 750 or 772 he died and the monastery of St. Mungo was later built on his grave.
In the 12th century the city was first under the rule of the Guelphs, then the Duke of Bavaria built a palace here in 1298, thus trying to establish his power. But the archbishops of Augsburg have had power over Füssen since ancient times. In the 13th century Füssen gained independence and was governed by its own municipal laws, although it was under the authority of an archbishop until secularization in 1802, when it came under the rule of Bavaria.
Since the time of the Romans and the construction of the road, Füssen has become an important trading center, goods came from the south and north, and were rafted down the Lech.
In the 16th century The first European luten and violin maker's guild was founded. Violin makers from Füssen spread throughout Europe, especially many of them settled in Vienna, thanks to which Vienna became the largest city for the manufacture of musical instruments, along with Paris and London. From the 16th century the tradition of making organs also develops. Füssen now has two tool workshops that supply products to the international market.
After the wars of the 16th-18th centuries. Fussen has lost its significance. Only in the 19th century with the construction of a textile factory, and then with the development of alpine tourism, the city's economy began to recover.
In 1995 Fussen celebrated its 700th anniversary.
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Neuschwanstein

Construction began in 1869 by order of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, known as the "Mad King Ludwig". The castle stands on the site of two fortresses - front and rear Schwangau. The king ordered at this place to lower the plateau by about 8 meters by blasting the rock and thereby create a place for construction.
The castle was conceived as a giant stage where the world of German mythology comes to life, especially the image of the legendary swan knight Lohengrin from Wagner's opera of the same name (see libretto). The name of the castle in German means "new swan stone".
The castle was not built as quickly as the king wanted. The gate building was built first and Ludwig lived here for several years. He moved to the palace in 1884. Moving more and more away from society, Ludwig changed the purpose of the rooms. The guest rooms were replaced in the plan by a Moorish Hall with a fountain, but this was never built. The office in 1880 was turned into a small grotto. The audience room turned into a huge Throne Room. It was no longer intended for audiences, but embodied royal majesty and was a copy of the legendary Grail Hall.
The medieval appearance of the castle hides the most modern technical innovations at that time: the castle was heated with central heating, there is water on each floor, hot and cold water in the kitchen, toilets have an automatic cleaning system, servants were called by an electric bell system. There were even telephones on the third and fourth floors. The food did not go up the stairs, but in the elevator. One of the innovations is large windows. Windows of this size were still uncommon in Ludwig's time.
The construction of the castle was not completed during the life of the king. Shortly after his mystical death in 1886, the castle and its magnificent interior were opened to the general public. It took 17 years to complete its construction.
At the end of the Second World War, the gold reserves of the German Reich were kept in the castle, but in the last days of the war it was taken out in an unknown direction.

Castle halls

The walls of the halls are painted according to the plots of medieval legends and Wagner's operas. The main characters are kings, knights, poets and lovers. The main figures are the poet Tannhäuser (Singing Hall) (see the plot of Wagner's opera "Tannhäuser"), the swan knight Lohengrin (see the plot of Wagner's opera "Lohengrin") and his father, the Grail King Parsifal (see the plot of Wagner's opera "Parzival") .
The royal staircase made of Salzburg marble, above which a stylized dragon and hunting scenes are depicted, leads to the passage to the royal chambers on the 4th floor. On the vault are the coats of arms of Schwangau, Bavaria and Wittelsbach.
Since the castle was built in the style of a medieval fortress, and in the 12th century. there were no glass windows, the king wanted to give the impression of open window arches. Therefore, the glass of the vaults, as well as the glass between the columns, was built directly into the stone wall.
Next to the door leading to the front staircase are oak doors leading to the servants' staircase. At the time of the presence of the king, the servants had no right to use the main staircase.
The servants lived on the first upper floor. Five servants' rooms are being shown today. They have simple oak furniture. Two people slept in each room. When the king was absent, 10-15 people lived in the castle, looking after him. When he returned, the number of workers more than doubled.
The main staircase leads to the hall on the third floor. To the west of it is the Throne Room, to the east are the royal apartments. The paintings on the walls depict scenes from the legend of Sigurd, based on the Elder Edda. It served as the basis for the legend of Siegfried from the medieval German Nibelungenlied, which formed the basis of Wagner's cycle of operas Ring of the Nibelungen. The treasures of the Nibelungen are cursed. Sigurd killed the dragon and took possession of the treasure, but a curse fell on him and he was killed. The wall paintings in the hall show scenes from the prediction of Sigurd's fate to his death. The fate of Sigurd's wife Gudrun is shown in the next tier in the hall.
Throne room reminiscent of a Byzantine basilica. Ludwig wanted it to be similar to the Cathedral of All Saints in Munich and St. Sophia in Constantinople. The throne, which was supposed to stand in the place of the altar, was never built. Ludwig 2 had his own ideas about the role of the king and the monarchy, which are vividly illustrated in the Throne Room with paintings: the throne is the source of law, royal power is given by the grace of God.
The wall paintings depict Christ in glory with Mary and St. John, surrounded by angels, and below - 6 canonized kings, among which is Saint Louis 9 of France, the patron of the king. On the opposite wall - St. Archangel Michael (above) and St. George, patron of the Bavarian order of knights. Ludwig did not want state receptions to be held in the Throne Room. He considered this hall the holy of holies, the place of embodiment of his fantasies. The mosaic floor is especially beautiful in this hall. A celestial globe depicting animals and plants is visible on the surface. Above it is a heavenly dome, the sun and stars, and between heaven and earth, the symbol of the royal crown is a huge chandelier, emphasizing the mediating role of the king between God and people. The chandelier is made of gilded copper, decorated with glass stones and 96 candles. With the help of a special spiral, the chandelier (weighing 900 kg) can be lowered to the floor.
On canvases Canteen scenes of the legendary competitions of minnesinger singers (which became the basis of Wagner's opera "Tannhäuser") are depicted. All the paintings of the royal chambers are painted on coarse linen, so they give the impression of tapestries. This was also done at the request of the king, as tapestries were expensive and took a long time to make. Food in the dining room was lifted with the help of a lift.
Bedroom king is designed in neo-gothic style, with luxurious oak carvings. The wall paintings show scenes from the saga of Tristan and Iseult. It was in this room that on June 12, 1886, the king was announced that he was recognized as mentally ill and incompetent. The next day he died.
Next room - court chapel. It is also designed in neo-gothic style.
Next is the royal hall, living room king. It consists of a large salon and a so-called swan corner separated by columns. The theme of the wall paintings is the saga of Lohengrin. In the bay window there is a large swan-shaped vase made of Nympheburg majolica.
Between the living room and the office was created artificial grotto in a romantic style. The walls are made of simple materials such as tow and gypsum, there is an artificial waterfall, and a passage on the right leads to the winter garden.
Study king is designed in the Romanesque style. As in the living room, there is carved oak, gilded copper lamps. The walls are decorated with paintings on the theme of the Tannhäuser saga. Then the group is taken to the adjutant room and to the 5th floor - to Singing Hall. Numerous wall paintings illustrate scenes from the legend of Parzival (see the legend of Parzival). The painting, which serves as the backdrop for the stage - the singing arbor, depicts the garden of the wizard Klingsor and is designed to create the most reliable illusion that the listener sees a real garden in front of him. Concerts are held in the Singing Hall every year in September.
The tour ends at the landing of the stairs, which only the king could walk on.
Palace kitchen, which has been completely preserved since the time of the king, visitors inspect on their own. The kitchen was equipped with the latest innovations of the time: it has a built-in installation with hot and cold water, automatic skewers for roasts. Furnace heat served at the same time to heat dishes.
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Hohenschwangau

At the core is the Schwanstein Fortress. It was built in the 12th century. and immediately became a meeting place for minnesinger singers. The knights of Schwangau received these lands in fief possession from the Welfs, then they were subordinate to the Hohenstaufens. Hitpold von Schwangau, one of the first known knights of this name, went down in history as a well-known minnesinger and was immortalized in the Heidelberg Songbook and the Manes Manuscript.
In the 16th century the family of the knights of Schwangau died out, the fortress began to gradually fall apart. In 1538-41. it was reconstructed by the Italian architect Licio de Spari for the then owner of the Augsburg aristocrat Paumgarten. The building was the main seat of the government of Schwangau.
After several owners changed, the castle in the form of ruins was bought by Crown Prince Maximilian of Bavaria, the future king Maximilian 2 and father of Ludwig 2. Restoration began in 1833. King Maximilian 2 used the castle as a summer residence. Ludwig 2 lived here as a child and later also spent a lot of time, and here he received Wagner.
The lack of interiors of the castle is made up for by countless murals that tell about the deeds of prominent personalities from German legends and history, as well as about the generations of the Wittelsbach family: about the swan knight Lohengrin (the swan was the heraldic animal of the knights of Schwangau), about the life of the Wittelsbach family, Hohenstaufen (to which Friedrich belonged Barbarossa), the kind of knights of Schwangau, Charlemagne, etc.
The castle has been open to the public as a museum since 1913. During the Second World War, the castle was not damaged, today it still belongs to the members of the royal house of Bavaria, the Wittelsbach family.
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Linderhof

The first plan of Linderhof was made by Ludwig in 1868. The new building was erected on the basis of a forest house belonging to Ludwig's father Maximilian 2. The palace turned out to be the only completed of all Ludwig's projects, and he spent a lot of time here alone.
In 1869, Ludwig began the reconstruction of the forest house, calling it the Royal Cottage. In 1870, under the supervision of the palace builder Georg Dollmann, a wing was added and the original plan was changed: a second wing was added to balance the first, and a bedroom to link the two wings. In 1873 the final design of the palace was made. The original wooden structure was replaced with stone and covered with a new roof. In 1874 the cottage was moved 200 meters to where it is now. Now the appearance of the facade has acquired its current form. By 1876, the creation of the interiors of the palace was completed. In 1874 the plans for the park were completed.

Palace halls

The tour starts at lobby, they give out brochures with text in different languages ​​if the visitor does not understand English or German. In the center of the room is a bronze statue of the French king Louis 14, whom Ludwig 2 admired and who was for him a symbol of absolute royal power. From the vestibule a staircase leads to the living rooms.
AT Western Tapestry Room, otherwise called Musical, is striking in the multicolored wall paintings and seating furniture. The paintings, reminiscent of tapestries, depict scenes from social and shepherd life in the Rococo style. Next to a richly decorated musical instrument - a combination of piano and harmonium, typical of the 19th century - stands a life-sized peacock made of painted Sèvres porcelain. A similar peacock stands in the oriental tapestry room. This bird is considered, like the swan, the favorite animal of the king.
Through the yellow office, which overlooks the western terraces, visitors enter the reception area. This room was originally supposed to be the throne room. In precious wall cladding audience rooms two marble fireplaces with equestrian figurines of kings Louis XV and Louis XVI are inscribed. Between the fireplaces is the king's desk with a gilded writing set. Above the work table is a canopy, embroidered with gold thread. Round malachite tables - a gift from the Russian Empress.
Royal bedroom- this is the central and most spacious room of the castle, illuminated by 108 candles of a crystal candelabra. Marble sculptures, stucco and ceiling paintings pay tribute to the heroes of ancient mythology.
pink cabinet- This is the dressing room of the king, one of the four small rooms that connect the main rooms. She leads to the dining room.
Aged in vibrant red dining room has an oval shape. In the middle of the room is a retractable table adorned with a Meissen porcelain vase. It was served in the lower rooms and raised to the king, so that even the presence of the servants did not bother him.
AT oriental tapestry room dominated by motives of Greek mythology. It leads to the Hall of Mirrors.
Fabulous mirror hall was created in 1874. Mirror cabinets are typical of German palaces of the 18th century, but in Linderhof this found its highest embodiment. Huge mirrors, white and gilded panels between the mirrors create endless rows of rooms.

Park and park pavilions

The park occupies 80 hectares and includes Renaissance-style terraces, strict baroque parterres and a landscape English park, gradually turning into forest and mountains.
Directly behind the palace is a flower bed with the image of a Bourbon lily. The creators of the park successfully used natural conditions, the fact that the castle stands at the foot of steep slopes. Along the cascade, ending at the palace with a fountain with the figure of Neptune, linden pergolas go up, stone figures symbolize the four continents. Upstairs - a gazebo, from there a beautiful view of the palace, the cascade, terraces and the temple of Venus on a hill on the other side of the palace.
To the right and left of the palace are the eastern and western parterres, respectively. Eastern parterre- This is a three-tiered garden in the style of French regular gardens with ornamented flower beds and figures allegorically depicting the 4 elements: fire, water, earth and air. In the center - a stone sculpture of Venus and Adonis, a fountain with a gilded figure of Cupid with an arrow and a stone bust of King Louis 16 of France. Western parterre was the first palace garden. In the center - flower beds with two fountains with gilded figures of the goddess of glory Fama and Cupid. Along the perimeter are the symbolic figures of the four seasons.
In front of the palace - a geometric garden surrounded by a hornbeam hedge, in the center - fountain(22 m) with a gilded group "Flora and putti", which is switched on for 5 minutes every half hour. Nearby is a huge linden tree (about 300 years old), which originally gave the name to the farm located here, and then to the palace. Three Italian-style terraces rise up the Linderbichl hill. terraced gardens decorated with 2 lions and a Naiad fountain. In the center of the terrace is a complex of niche grottoes with a bust of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. The terraces end with a platform with a round Greek temple with the figure of Venus. Initially, a theater was planned on this site.
All other pavilions are located along the perimeter of the arc, in the center of which is the palace.
Closest to park entrance Moroccan pavilion. It was purchased at the world exhibition in Paris in 1878, the interior was changed at the request of Ludwig. The house originally stood outside Linderhof near the German-Austrian border, not far from the hunting lodge. After the death of Ludwig, it was bought by a private person and returned back, now to the park, only in 1982.
The next building on the way to the palace is royal loggia. The construction dates back to 1790. It was already used by Maximilian as a hunting lodge. Ludwig often lived here until the palace was completed, and after the king's death it was often used by Prince Regent Luitpold.
To the right of the palace Chapel of St. Anne. The oldest building in the Linderhof complex, built in 1684 by the abbot of Ettal. The interiors were changed under the direction of Ludwig 2.
Farthest from the palace, at the exit (closed to visitors) leading to Ettal and Oberammergau, is hunting lodge. It was built in 1876 and was located in the Ammertal valleys, burned down already in 1884 and immediately restored. It burned down again in 1945 and was rebuilt in 1990 at Linderhof. The interior of the house serves as a scenery for Wagner's opera "Valkyrie". In the center is an ash tree, a symbol of the World Tree of Scandinavian myths.
Perhaps the most interesting Moorish Pavilion. Ludwig was particularly interested in oriental architecture, and by the time he purchased the Moorish Pavilion he had already built the Indian Pavilion at his Munich residence. The Mauritanian pavilion was built in 1867 in Prussia for the World Exhibition in Paris. In the twilight light of colored glass windows and colored lamps, the splendor of an exotic interior is revealed. In the curvature of the apse, a peacock throne made for the king in 1877 in Paris was installed: three peacocks are made of bright enameled cast metal, and the tails are made of polished Bohemian glass. The decor is complemented by a Moorish fountain, stylized lamps, smoking tables and coffee tables.
Grotto of Venus was built in 1877. The cave with a lake and a waterfall was created to represent the first act of Wagner's opera Tannhäuser. Electricity was provided for lighting. Stone doors were opened with a special hidden switch.