German history and responsibility

Part 1 of 5

From the Empire to the Weimar Republic

Germany became a national state only in 1871, under the Emperor. After the First World War, it became a republic.

In 1871 the German Empire (Kaiserreich) was founded, with Otto von Bismarck as the first Chancellor. The Emperor ruled until the end of the First World War (1914–1918).
In 1918 the Emperor left, and the first German democracy, the Weimar Republic, was founded. Its constitution was adopted in Weimar on 11 August 1919. Women could vote for the first time in 1919.
The republic was weak: inflation in 1923, the world economic crisis of 1929 and mass unemployment made many people turn to extremist parties.
The Basic Law of 1949 was written with the lessons of Weimar in mind: stronger fundamental rights, a constitutional court, and a five percent hurdle for parties.

Part 2 of 5

On 30 January 1933 Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. In a few months, the National Socialists abolished democracy and built a dictatorship.

Parties, unions and free newspapers were banned or forced into line; people who thought differently were persecuted, arrested and killed. This system is called the Nazi dictatorship (NS-Diktatur).
Jews were deprived of their rights, beginning with the Nuremberg Laws (1935). On 9 November 1938, synagogues were burned and Jewish shops were destroyed in the November pogroms (Novemberpogrome).
On 1 September 1939 Germany attacked Poland and began the Second World War. During the war, the National Socialists murdered about six million Jews and millions of other people. This crime is called the Holocaust or the Shoah.
There was resistance, for example the White Rose student group (Weiße Rose) and the attempted assassination of Hitler on 20 July 1944 by Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and others.
The war ended on 8 May 1945 with the German capitulation. 8 May is remembered as the day of liberation from National Socialism.

Exam tip: Dates to know: 30 January 1933, 9 November 1938, 1 September 1939, 8 May 1945.

Part 3 of 5

After 1945 Germany was occupied by the four Allies, and it became two states in the Cold War.

The United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France each had an occupation zone; Berlin was divided in four sectors too. In 1948–1949 the Soviet Union blocked West Berlin, and the Western Allies supplied it by the Airlift (Luftbrücke, “Rosinenbomber”).
On 23 May 1949 the Basic Law was proclaimed and the Federal Republic of Germany (West) was founded; on 7 October 1949 the GDR (DDR, East) was founded, with a one-party dictatorship (the SED). Bonn was the capital of the Federal Republic.
Many people left the GDR, so on 13 August 1961 the GDR began to build the Berlin Wall. It divided Berlin until 1989, and many people died trying to cross it. The Stasi, the secret police, watched the citizens.
The Federal Republic became a democracy and an economic success (the “Wirtschaftswunder”). It joined NATO in 1955 and, with others, founded the European Economic Community in 1957 (Treaties of Rome).
Workers were invited from Italy, Turkey and other countries from 1955 (Gastarbeiter, “guest workers”) and many stayed, so that Germany became a country of immigration.

Part 4 of 5

In 1989 the people of the GDR demonstrated for freedom, and the dictatorship ended without a war.

Peaceful demonstrations, such as the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig, forced the GDR leadership to give way. On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, and the borders opened.
On 3 October 1990 Germany was reunified (die Deutsche Einheit). 3 October is the Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit), the national holiday.
The GDR territory joined the Federal Republic with five new Länder (Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia), and Berlin became the capital; the government moved to Berlin in 1999.
Helmut Kohl was the Chancellor of the reunification. In 2002 the euro replaced the Deutsche Mark. Germany is a founding member of the European Union.

Part 5 of 5

Germany accepts its responsibility for the crimes of National Socialism, and the remembrance is part of the identity of the Federal Republic.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, the concentration camp memorials such as Dachau and Buchenwald, and the Stolpersteine (small brass “stumbling stones” set in front of the homes of victims) keep the memory alive.
27 January is the Remembrance Day for the victims of National Socialism, because Auschwitz was liberated on that day in 1945. 9 November is also a day of memory and joy: the pogroms of 1938 and the fall of the Wall in 1989.
Antisemitism and right-wing extremism have no place in Germany, and the security of Jewish life is a task of the state. Denying the Holocaust is a crime.
Schools teach this history. Citizens who want to be naturalised commit to the free democratic basic order (freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung) and acknowledge the special responsibility of Germany.