The birth and development of the German state. Modern history of Germany Brief history of Germany
Germany is a state in Central Europe, which got its name from the Romans after the people who lived in it. In the VIII century, it became part of the empire of Charlemagne, in 843 it separated from it into a separate kingdom. In the middle of the 9th century, the kings of Germany became emperors Holy Roman Empire , and this designation of Germany lasted until the start XIX century. WITH XIII century, the fragmentation of Germany into separate principalities began, which was especially intensified due to the Thirty Years' War XVII century. IN XVIII century Germany consisted of 350 principalities and free cities. In the second half of the 19th century, it was united by Bismarck, since 1871 - an empire.
Essay on the history of the XVI - XVII centuries
Germany (German: Deutschland) is a state in the Center. Europe. Beginning 16th century was marked in G. by the strengthening of the reformers. movements in the church. life: Martin Luther published (1517) his 95 theses, and in 1519 entered into an open struggle with Rome. In 1519, the grandson of the emperor was elected to the throne. Maximilian I Charles V of Spain (1519-1556), on whom G. had high hopes. However, he found himself at the center of events that were completely alien to Germany. In 1531, hoping for support in the fight against France, Charles decided to rely on Roman Catholicism. Church and at the Diet of Worms laid disgrace on Luther. Immediately after this, the war with France began. During it, Charles lost German-Austrian. the possessions of G. to his brother Ferdinand, and the management of G. handed over to the imp. pr-va, which did not prevent the spread of the new doctrine. However, the attempts of the petty chivalry and the peasantry to take advantage of Luther's reform activities for their own purposes did not justify their hopes of changing their plight. At the Diet in Speyer (1529), the Catholics succeeded in canceling a large number of concessions to the reformers. Supporters of church reforms protested against this decision, after which they began to be called Protestants. Charles, in alliance with Rome, decided to deal with the Protestants, but at the Sejm in Augsburg (1530) it turned out that the emperor did not have the forces necessary for this. In addition, relations with France and the Turks did not contribute to Karl's undertaking, and he resigned himself. Moreover, when the Protestants formed the Schmalkaldic League and protested together with Bavaria against the election of Ferdinand to Rome. kings, after which they began to draw closer to France, Hungary and Denmark, Karl was forced (1532) to go to religion in Nuremberg. a peace that guaranteed freedom of religion for Protestants until the next council. Busy French. and tour. campaigns, Charles no longer had the opportunity to influence the course of events in Georgia, where Protestantism was rapidly gaining strength and even helped the emperor conclude a profitable peace with France after the victory at Crepi. After that, however, Charles entered into an agreement with Rome to eradicate Protestantism in Georgia, which again turned the whole city against him. His own project for the transformation of the church forced not only Rome, but also allies inside the country to turn away from him. Meanwhile, France took away 3 Lorraine from him. duchies, which prompted Charles to transfer control of the country to his brother, who in 1555 concluded the so-called. Augsburg Relig. world. During the reign of Ferdinand I (1555-1564), the Turks captured most of Hungary, France continued to hold the Germans. territories; trade was dealt a severe blow in connection with the discovery and the beginning of the development of America; German the Hanseatic cities lost the championship to Scand. cities; The Netherlands were first captured by Spain, and then completely independent; Balt. provinces fell under the glory. influence. His son, Maximilian II (1564-1576), who succeeded him, tried to maintain peace between the warring parties, which only contributed to the strengthening of the internal. strife and the spread of Protestantism in Bohemia and Austria. Entered the imp. the throne, the son of Maximilian Rudolf II (1576-1612), who was under the influence of the Jesuits, decided to put an end to the Reformation with one blow and created an alliance of Catholics. princes in order to fight the Protestants. Those, in turn, united in a union and successfully resisted the efforts of the emperor, and only death saved him from the loss of all his crowns. His brother and successor, Matthew (1612-1619), who was still in opposition to the emperor, proved unable to curb the mutual bitterness of the parties or gain influence even on one of them. The violation of the “letter of majesty” caused a revolution in Bohemia (in the spring of 1618), which served as an external. cause for the 30 Years' War. Shortly thereafter, Matthew died, leaving as his successor in the hereditary lands a friend of the Jesuits - Ferdinand of Styria. Ferdinand II (1619-1637), whom the Czechs recognized as deposed from the throne, managed, however, in the most difficult circumstances, not only to establish himself in Austria, but also to become German. emperor. Supported Catholic. league, he pacified the uprising of the Czechs, defeated the cor. Frederick (Elector of the Palatinate) and achieved the disintegration of the Protestants. union. Following this, both in Bohemia and Austria, as well as in many other parts of Germany, the merciless eradication of the Reformation began, which gave the foreign. goswam - first of Denmark (1625- 1629), and then of Sweden and France - an occasion for intervention in it. affairs. Ferdinand II, meanwhile, was able to throw off his dependence on the league and, with the help of Wallenstein, create independent empires. military force. However, he had the imprudence to dismiss Wallenstein at the very moment when, on the one hand, he quarreled with the leaders of the league, and on the other hand, he issued a highly untimely restoration edict (1629), which aroused the deep hatred of the Protestants. It helped the Swede. box Gustav II Adolf to support the perishing Protestantism and at the same time to approve the Swede. dominance in Germany coast of the Baltic Sea. With great difficulty, Gustav-Adolf made his way to Saxony, defeated the supporters of the league at Breitenfeld (1631), victoriously marched to the Rhine, Swabia and Bavaria, and defeated imp. troops under the command of the newly appointed Wallenstein. Death of a Swede The king was saved by the Habsburgs. After the victory at Nordlingen (1634), the emperor succeeded, according to the Prague Peace Treaty (1635), to win over at least part of the Protestants; but, until the foundations of the "restorative edict" were finally eliminated, foreign. it was easy for the powers to continue the war. Indeed, the war continued to rage after the death of Ferdinand, under his son Ferdinand III (1637-1667). Means. part of Germany was completely ruined; the most flourishing areas on the Rhine, Main and Neckar turned into deserts. Finally, the peace congress that opened in Münster and Osnabrück ended after years of negotiations with the Peace of Westphalia (1648). Protestants were given a religion. equality, the exiled princes were restored in their rights. However, this peace was achieved at the cost of full political. atrophy of the empire. The mediating powers, Sweden and France, received a generous reward from him. lands, and germ. sovereign princes acquired the rights of independence. sovereigns. With the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia, the authority of the imp. power existed only nominally; the empire turned into a union of states, barely connected with each other. At the permanent Diet in Regensburg, which opened in 1663, German. the sovereigns participated no longer personally, but through their representatives. Meetings were conducted with such pedantic painstakingness that the Diet was completely useless for the urgent needs of the nation. The emperor lived almost without a break in his hereditary lands and became more and more a foreign element in the empire; in parallel with this, the influence of foreign powers. The very education and spiritual development of the people became dependent on foreigners, primarily the French. The empire, constrained on all sides by the Turks, French and Swedes, played a completely passive role in the events that soon followed. Many Zap.-German. the sovereigns directly took the side of France, so that after the death of Ferdinand III it was very difficult to elect his son Leopold I (1658-1705) as emperor. Even the aggressive policy of the French. box Louis XIV could not inspire him. people to a united resistance. At first, only the leader stood up for the interests of G.. the elector of Brandenburg and under Ferbelin (1675) inflicted a sensitive defeat on the allies of France, the Swedes. When, finally, the emperor and the empire decided to take part in the war, then the rivalry of individual him. state-in at every turn interfered with the success of military operations. Needing troops against the Hungarians. rebels and Turks, the emperor accepted the Peace of Nimvegen (1678) and forced Friedrich Wilhelm to return the Balts conquered from them to the Swedes. provinces. Taking advantage of the complete lack of unity, Louis XIV, with the help of his "attaching chambers" (Chambres de Reunion), weakened the empire in the West and annexed Strasbourg to France (1681). Finally, his claims to the Palatinate inheritance forced him to. state-wa to stick to a new coalition against France. According to the Peace of Ryswick (1697), however, Georgia did not get back the provinces taken from her. Louis returned only Freiburg and Breisach. War for Spain inheritance again took place mainly on the territory. G., sev. and east. the border lands of the swarm at the same time were devastated as a result of the Northern War, which Russia waged with Sweden.
Vladimir Boguslavsky
Material from the book: "Slavic Encyclopedia. XVII century". M., OLMA-PRESS. 2004.
Not immediately Germany was built
In 843, as a result of the division of the vast Frankish Empire between the three grandsons of Charlemagne, the territory of modern Germany - the East Frankish kingdom - went to Louis the German. This is how the Germanic, or, as it was later officially called, the Roman kingdom arose. Initially, it consisted of only four duchies: Saxony, Franconia, Swabia and Bavaria. Later, the Duchy of Lorraine was added to them. In 939, King Otto I liquidated the Duchy of Franconia and annexed its lands to the royal domain. Later, as a result of a centuries-old offensive to the east, several more large German possessions were formed on the lands inhabited by Slavs, Lithuanians and Prussians.
In 961, King Otto I of Germany crossed the Alps and defeated the Italian king Berengari II. In 962 he entered Rome and was crowned imperial there by the Pope. The empire, in addition to Germany, included Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic (Bohemia), and from 1032 the Burgundian kingdom of Arelat.
Until 1125, the king of Germany, if the throne remained vacant, was elected at a congress of spiritual and secular nobility. But then the election procedure was changed - from that time on, the electors received the right to choose the king (the elector is a prince, spiritual or secular, who has the right to vote in the election of the king). The right to vote was granted not to a certain prince or dynasty, but to the territory - the subject of the empire. Initially, there were seven Electors: the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier, Cologne, the Duke of Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the Palatine Count of the Rhine (Palatinate), the King of Bohemia. In 1692, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg received the electoral dignity of Hanover. In 1723, instead of the King of Bohemia, the Duke of Bavaria became elector. In 1803, the Imperial Diet redrawn the map of Germany. The spiritual electors were deprived of the right to choose a king, and instead of them, the rulers of Baden, Württemberg, Hesse-Kassel, Salzburg (in 1805, instead of Salzburg - Würzburg) and Regensburg, the ruler of which became the archchancellor of the empire, Archbishop of Mainz Karl Theodor von Dahlberg, presiding over the Sejm, became electors. Elected to the throne received the title of King of Germany (officially - King of Rome). However, in order to receive the imperial crown, he had to be crowned in Rome by the Pope. And this was not always possible to do, since the relationship of many kings of Germany with the Popes was often not the best. Therefore, the list of kings of Germany (Roman) does not quite coincide with the list of emperors of the Holy Roman Empire.
Germanic (Roman) Kingdom
Suppression of the Carolingian dynasty in Germany. At the congress of princes, the majority was ready to elect the Duke of Saxony Otto as king, but he, citing old age, renounced the throne and advised to elect the Duke of Franconian Conrad, which was done.
Conrad I of Franconia 911-918
Conrad III 1138-1152
Frederick I Barbarossa 1152-1190
Ludwig IV Wittelsbach 1314-1347
Dynasty Luxembourg, 1347-1437
Luxembourg since 1310 were the kings of the Czech Republic. About the Luxembourg dynasty - in the chapter "Benelux".
Charles IV 1347-1378
Wenceslas 1378-1400
Ruprecht of the Palatinate 1400-1410
Sigismund 1410-1437
After the death of Sigismund, there were no male heirs. His son-in-law Albrecht of Habsburg was elected king, who, during the life of his father-in-law, was recognized as the king of Hungary and the governor of the Czech Republic.
Dynasty Habsburg, 1438-1806
More about the Habsburg dynasty - in the section "Austria".
Albrecht II 1438-1439
Friedrich III 1440-1486
Maximilian I 1486-1519
Charles V 1519-1531
Ferdinand I 1531-1562
Maximilian II 1562-1575
Rudolf II 1575-1612
Matthias 1612-1619
Ferdinand II 1619-1636
Ferdinand III 1636-1653
Ferdinand IV 1653-1654
Ferdinand III (secondary) 1654-1657
Leopold I 1658-1690
Joseph I 1690-1711
Charles VI 1711-1740
Charles VII of Bavaria 1742-1745
Franz I 1745-1764
Joseph II 1764-1790
Leopold II 1790-1792
Franz II 1792-1806
Napoleon I Bonaparte 1811-1814
Used materials of the book: Sychev N.V. Book of dynasties. M., 2008. p. 192-231.
German states and their rulers:
Holy Roman Empire(this state formation included Germany, and the German kings became its emperors).
Austria, in the 10th century, the Bavarian Eastern Mark arose, which later became a duchy and received the name Austria. Since 976, the Babenberg dynasty, a side branch of the Bavarian Wittelsbachs, has established itself there.
Prussia and Brandenburg, the German state in 1525-1947.
Saxony. The ancient Saxon duchy occupied large areas in the northern part of Germany. This is mainly the modern state of Lower Saxony, but Magdeburg was also included there.
Meissen(margraviate). In 928/29 Emperor Henry I established the Margraviate of Meissen.
Hanover- a historical region in the north-west of Germany.
Bavaria(Duchy of Bavaria) - a medieval kingdom, later a duchy in southwestern Germany, which took its name from the Germanic people of the Bavarians.
Rhenish Palatinate. County Palatinate of the Rhine, since 1356 - Electorate of the Palatinate.
Swabia, duchy 920-1268
Württemberg, before 1495 - county, 1495-1803 - Duchy, 1803-1806 - Electorate, 1806-1918 - kingdom.
Baden, margraviate, from 1803 - electorate, from 1806 - grand duchy.
Hesse, from 1265 Hessian landgraviate, and from 1292 an imperial principality.
Lorraine. As a result of the division of the Frankish Empire between the grandchildren of Charlemagne, Lothar I, in addition to the imperial title, got: Italy, Provence, the Burgundian lands, the border region between France and Germany, later known as Lorraine, the lands of the Frisians. Later, Lothair I divided his possessions between his sons, giving each of them a royal title. He proclaimed Charles the king of Provence, Louis II - the king of Italy, Lothair II - the king of Lorraine.
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), is a state in Central Europe. Borders with Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, , Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. In the north, the natural border is formed by the North and Baltic Seas. The Russian name comes from lat. Germany. (currency sign - €, bank code: EUR) - the official currency of 17 countries of the Eurozone.
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The capital is the city of Berlin (the seat of the Bundestag and the government, some ministries are located in Bonn). The form of government is a parliamentary republic, the form of government is a symmetrical federation of 16 autonomous lands. Germany is a member of the European Union and NATO, is a member of the G8, and claims to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council. The Russian name of the state Germany comes from the Latin name Germania, which goes back to the writings of Latin authors of the 1st century AD and is formed from the ethnonym Germans (lat. Germanus). It was first used by Julius Caesar in his "Notes on the Gallic War" regarding the tribes living beyond the Rhine. The word itself probably has non-Latin roots and comes from the Celtic gair ("neighbor"). In German, the state is called Deutschland. The modern name comes from pragerms. Eudiskaz. The name Deutsch (derived from the Proto-German Þeodisk) originally meant "related to the people" and meant primarily the language. Land means "country". The modern form of writing the name of the state has been used since the 15th century. |
In the USSR, the name Federal Republic of Germany was used in Russian. This form, for example, is used in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. After the accession of the German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990, it was decided, by mutual agreement between the governments of Germany and Russia, not to decline the word Germany in the official name of the state. Correct: the Federal Republic of Germany (and not the Federal Republic of Germany).
Story
The first mention of the ancient Germans appeared in the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. One of the first mentions of the Germans refers to the year 98. It was made by the Roman chronicler Tacitus (lat. Tacitus). The entire territory of modern Germany east of the Elbe (Slavic Laba) until the 10th century was inhabited by Slavic tribes. (see more details: Polabian Slavs). By the XII-XIV centuries, these lands gradually became part of various German state formations that made up the so-called Holy Roman Empire. As these territories were part of the German states, over several centuries, the local Slavs gradually, almost completely Germanized. This process dragged on until the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the new time, and in some places, with the last, not yet completely Germanized Slavic people of Germany - the Lusatians, continues to this day.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, the Frankish state was formed, which three centuries later, under Charlemagne, turned into an empire (800). Charles's empire covered the territories of a number of modern states, in particular Germany. However, the empire of Charlemagne did not last long - the grandchildren of this emperor divided it among themselves, as a result of which three kingdoms were formed - West Frankish (later France), East Frankish (later Germany) and the Middle Kingdom (soon disintegrated into Italy, Provence and Lorraine).
Traditionally, the founding date of the German state is considered to be February 2, 962: on this day, the East Frankish king Otto I was crowned in Rome and became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite the attempts of the emperors to unite the Holy Roman Empire, it broke up into numerous independent states and cities. After the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, the emperor's power was still nominal.
This situation continued until 1806, when, under the pressure of Napoleon I, the existence of the Holy Roman Empire was terminated and its emperor began to bear only the title of emperor. . The number of German states was significantly reduced. The Congress of Vienna contributed to the further unification of the German states, as a result of which the German Confederation was formed from 38 German states under the leadership of Austria.
After the revolution of 1848, a conflict began to brew between the growing influence of Prussia and Austria. This led to the war of 1866, in which Prussia won and annexed a number of German principalities. The German Confederation collapsed.
In 1868, the North German Confederation was created, headed by the President - the King of Prussia. On December 10, 1870, the Reichstag of the North German Confederation renamed the North German Confederation into the German Empire (German das Deutsche Reich), the constitution of the North German Confederation into the constitution of the German Empire, and the President of the North German Confederation into the German Emperor (German der Deutsche Kaiser). Count Otto von Bismarck was appointed Chancellor of Germany.
In 1914, Germany entered the First World War, the loss of which led to the end of the monarchy and the proclamation of the republic.
In 1933, the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, Adolf Hitler, was appointed Chancellor of Germany, under which Germany pursued an aggressive expansionist and revanchist policy, which in 1939 led to World War II.
After Germany was defeated in World War II in May 1945, its statehood was terminated, vast territories were separated from Germany, and the rest was divided into 4 zones of occupation: Soviet, American, British and French. In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was created on the territories of the American, British and French zones of occupation, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) on the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation.
On October 3, 1990, the German Democratic Republic and West Berlin were incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany. It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation, which were established by the USSR in 1955 (with the GDR in 1949).
State structure
Berlin is the capital of Germany. Meanwhile, in the course of lengthy negotiations regarding the terms of transferring the capital from Bonn to Berlin, Bonn managed to keep most of the federal ministries on its territory, as well as a number of the main important federal departments (for example, the federal audit chamber).
Germany is a democratic, social, legal state. It consists of 16 lands. The state structure is regulated by the Basic Law of Germany. The form of government in Germany is a parliamentary republic.
Germany is a democratic state: “All state power comes from the people (Volke). It is carried out by the people through elections and voting, as well as through special bodies of legislation, executive power and justice.
The head of state is the federal president, who performs rather representative functions and appoints the federal chancellor. The Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany takes the following oath: “I swear to devote my energies to the good of the German people (deutschen Volkes), to increase their wealth, protect it from damage, observe and protect the Basic Law and the laws of the Federation, conscientiously fulfill my duties and observe justice in relation to everyone . God help me.” The Federal Chancellor is the head of the German Government. He directs the activities of the Federal Government. Therefore, the form of government in Germany is often also called chancellor democracy.
Germany has a federal structure. This means that the political system of the state is divided into two levels: the federal level, at which national decisions of international importance are made, and the regional level, at which the tasks of the federal lands are solved. Each level has its own executive, legislative and judicial authorities. Although the states have unequal representation in the Bundesrat, legally they have equal status, which characterizes the German federation as symmetrical.
The German Bundestag (parliament) and the Bundesrat (organ of representation of the states) carry out legislative and legislative functions at the federal level and are authorized by a two-thirds majority in each of the bodies to amend the constitution. At the regional level, lawmaking is carried out by the parliaments of the lands - Landtags and Burgerschafts (parliaments of the cities-lands of Hamburg and Bremen). They make laws that apply within the lands. Parliaments in all states except Bavaria are unicameral.
Executive power at the federal level is represented by the Federal Government, headed by the Chancellor. The head of the executive authorities at the level of the subjects of the federation is the prime minister (or mayor of the city-land). The federal and state administrations are led by ministers who are at the head of the administrative bodies.
The Federal Constitutional Court enforces the constitution. The supreme courts of justice also include the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, the Federal Labor Court, the Federal Social Court and the Federal Financial Court in Munich. Most of the litigation is the responsibility of the Länder. Federal courts are mainly engaged in review cases and check the decisions of the courts of the Länder for formal legality.
German "hidden" federalism
Speaking about the form of government, the term "hidden" federal state is often applied to Germany. Although the Basic Law establishes the distribution of powers at the level of the federal states and the federation as a whole, at the same time it combines the advantages of a centralized state with the advantages of a federal state. For example, citizens most often resolve issues through the land authorities and local administrations, which carry out their activities on behalf of the lands (according to the principle of subsidiarity).
However, public life is regulated for the most part by federal laws. The point is that, according to the Basic Law, it is necessary to strive for equalization of living conditions in all federal states of Germany, which are determined by the social and economic policy of the state. For example, the police is a federal agency with a single federal leadership(there is no police of the federal states, like the police of the states in ).
So, the social and economic spheres of public life are regulated mainly by federal laws. In this aspect, the German federal state is similar to the centralized one.
On the one hand, the land administrations execute the laws of the given federal land, which is typical for a federal state. On the other hand, they enforce most federal laws, which is not typical for a federal government.
Stages of reforming the federal system
After the adoption of the Basic Law in 1949, the German authorities repeatedly made attempts to improve the federal system. The first large-scale reform was carried out by the "grand coalition" government (CDU/CSU-SPD) under Chancellor KG. Kiesinger in 1966-1969. As a result of the reform, the interweaving of the interests of the lands and the federal center received a new dimension. In the financial sector, the principle of "cooperative federalism" was introduced, which will become one of the stumbling blocks at the present stage of the history of Germany.
Under the Schroeder government (1998-2005), the goal was to carry out a large-scale constitutional reform of federalism in order to simplify the political processes in the country, make them more transparent to the population and less dependent on momentary party calculations. The reform was designed to redistribute powers between the center and the subjects of the federation, clarify the legislative competence between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, and ultimately increase the viability of the state as a whole.
The number of laws requiring the mandatory approval of the Bundesrat was planned to be reduced to 35-40% by removing laws on the principles of administration of all lands from the coordination mechanism with the Bundesrat. That is, in the future, the Länder will have to proceed from federal regulations, which implies giving the Landtags more responsibility.
In March 2003, the Federalism Convention (composed of the heads of state parliaments and the leaders of the factions of the parties represented in them) approved the "Lübeck Declaration", containing specific measures to modernize the federal system.
On October 17, 2003, the Commission on Federalism was created, which included the then Secretary General of the SPD F. Müntefering and the Chairman of the CSU and Prime Minister of Bavaria E. Stoiber.
On November 18, 2005, a coalition agreement between the CDU / CSU and the SPD (“Together for Germany - with courage and humanity”) was signed, which stipulated the proposals of these parties on the division of powers and responsibilities between the lands and the center.
The innovation package covers the following areas:
1. Education Now the current issues of education are within the competence of the Länder, and they will be directly transferred funds from the federal budget. This excludes misuse of the received funds.
2. Distribution of income. Federal laws cannot set tasks for cities and communities that require additional material expenses from local governments. If federal laws interfere with the competence of the Länder, these laws must necessarily obtain the consent of the Bundesrat.
3. High school. Completely relegated to the jurisdiction of the lands. The Federation may participate in the financing of scientific research, but only with the consent of the Länder.
4. Environmental protection The federation can develop framework legislation, but the Länder can make decisions deviating from it. In doing so, the EU environmental regulations must also be taken into account.
5. Budget Introduction of the EU-style Stability Pact. In connection with the problem of land debts, eventual debt sanctions will be 65% on the shoulders of the federation, and 35% on the shoulders of the lands.
6. Land legislation The jurisdiction of the Länder included housing law, issues of meetings, associations and the press, the penitentiary system, hunting legislation, opening hours of shops, rules for opening restaurants.
7. Combating terrorism The exclusive competence of the federation (Federal Office of the Criminal Police), along with nuclear energy, the registration of citizens, the regulation of arms and explosives.
8. Public service Competence of the Länder.
On December 15, 2006, a new stage of federalism reform started. The main issues unresolved at the 1st stage were: the reduction of land debts, distortions in financial relations between the federation and the lands and the lands themselves.
The essence of the problem is that all the lands must carry out federal tasks, but their possibilities for this are very different.
Therefore, the German Constitution (paragraph 2, article 107) states that “the law must ensure a commensurate equalization of differences in the financial capabilities of the lands; at the same time, the financial capabilities and needs of the communities should be taken into account ”For this, there was a procedure for equalizing the budgetary provision of the regions, that is, part of the funds of the“ rich lands ”are redistributed in favor of the“ poor ”, sometimes with infusions from the federal budget.
Formally, the federal state structure in Germany has two levels: the federation as a whole state and the states as members of this state. But in reality, there is also a "third", informal level of relations between the federation and the lands - "cooperative federalism"; that is, along with the horizontal self-coordination of the lands, the practice of vertical coordination along the federation-Land axis has developed: the participation of the federation in land financing. Within the framework of vertical coordination, commissions are created from representatives of the federation and the states.
The main problems of horizontal and vertical relations in Germany are related to the distribution of financial resources between rich and poor federal states and the implementation of the principle of "equivalence" of living conditions.
"Horizontal" alignment allows you to help underdeveloped regions by redistributing the income that the federation and the states receive jointly (corporate and income tax). This situation causes a lot of criticism, primarily from the liberals (FDP, O. Lambsdorf), who are in favor of reducing the "charitable" role of the state.
Politicians of other parties also agree with similar proposals. For example, the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Stoiber (CSU), calls for increased regionalization, and the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Teufel (CDU), calls for a reduction in the number of lands and an increase in legislative (legislative) terms.
Briefly, their ideas for reforming federalism can be formulated as follows:
Assignment to each level of its tax powers; the transition of all lands to the status of "solid financial units";
Reducing the "horizontal alignment" of land budgets;
Cancellation of mixed financing;
Reducing the legislative competence of the federation in favor of the lands by limiting the powers of the center to such areas as defense, law and order, human rights, foreign policy and "framework" regulation of environmental, economic and social policy issues;
Significant limitation of the Bundesrat's veto power. The general principles of administration in the Länder were removed from the topics of the bills requiring the mandatory approval of the Bundesrat.
The search for a more effective model of federalism is complicated in Germany by three factors: the aggravation of contradictions between poor and rich lands, the presence of competing projects of large political parties, and the needs of European federalism, which is forced to take into account both the experience of states with centralized government (England and France) and the experience of federations (Germany). )
Foreign policy
In foreign policy, the West-oriented German Chancellor K. Adenauer (1949-1963) acted in accordance with the slogan of the ideologist of South German liberalism K. von Rottek: "Freedom without unity is better than unity without freedom." German European Policy 1949-1963 how the relationship between ends and means is divided into two stages.
In its first phase (from 1949 to the mid-1950s), it was the means by which West Germany planned to rebuild its economy, build up its own armed forces, and achieve recognition by world powers. Foreign policy was pursued for the sake of domestic.
At the second stage (from the mid-1950s to 1963), now domestic policy was carried out for the sake of foreign policy: Germany sought to become not just an independent, but also a strong state. European military policy of Germany in 1958-63. was based on rapprochement with France (Berlin-Paris axis) and the rejection of the plan of "multilateral nuclear forces" proposed by the United States. The signing of an agreement on German-French cooperation drew a line under the centuries-old confrontation between these states.
Adenauer recognized the international management of Ruhr industry established by the Petersberg Accords, considering this as the basis for future Western European integration. In 1950, Adenauer adopted the plan developed by R. Schuman to create the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). Adenauer also supported the idea of creating a European Defense Community (EDC) proposed by W. Churchill.
In 1952, the Bonn Treaty was signed, which abolished the occupation statute and granted the Federal Republic of Germany state sovereignty.
On May 5, 1955, the Paris Agreements came into force, the most important of which was the agreement on Germany's entry into NATO. However, at that time, Germany's sovereignty could not be called complete: foreign troops remained on its territory, Germany was deprived of the right to possess many types of strategic weapons.
In 1959, a conference of four powers was held in Geneva: the USA, Great Britain, the USSR and France, which ended with the actual recognition of the existence of two German states: the FRG and the GDR.
One of the important priorities of Germany's foreign policy is to deepen the integration of the EU states. Germany plays a decisive role in the construction and organization of European structures. At the same time, from the very beginning, the goal was to dispel the post-war fear of the neighboring countries of Germany and to make redundant the restrictions imposed by the Soviet occupying forces. Since 1950, Germany has become a member of the Council of Europe, and in 1957 signed the Rome Agreements, which became the foundation for the creation of the European Union: Germany joined the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
So, the important results of the European policy of Germany in 1949-63. became: the recognition of Germany's sovereignty and its status as an important European partner and the beginning of the formation of the foundations of Germany's economic power.
Germany has been a member of the Group of Ten since 1964.
During the Cold War, Germany's foreign policy was severely limited. One of its main tasks was the reunification of West Germany with East Germany. Military-politically, Germany was closely connected with the NATO bloc. American nuclear warheads were stationed in West Germany.
Modern Germany is rightfully considered a nodal center both between East and West, and between the Scandinavian and Mediterranean regions, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
With the accession of the GDR to the FRG, the threat of using the GDR as a base for the deployment of foreign troops was eliminated, the risk of turning Germany into an object of the use of nuclear weapons, as well as the dangerous game of "third countries" on the contradictions between the GDR and the FRG, was eliminated.
Until recently, one of the most controversial was the question of the possibility of using the German armed forces outside the sphere of joint responsibility of NATO.
According to the constitution, Germany has no right to take part in wars of conquest. This limitation is the subject of ongoing controversy. Its armed forces stand to protect the sovereignty and integrity of Germany and the NATO countries.
Only recently has the Bundeswehr taken part in various activities aimed at maintaining peace. This became possible after the decision of the Constitutional Court, which allowed the use of the German Armed Forces for UN peacekeeping missions, and for each specific case, the consent of the Bundestag is required, which until now was given only with temporary restrictions. In this case, the use of weapons only for self-defense is allowed. All attempts by various parties to get the Constitutional Court to review this issue have so far been rejected. German troops took and are taking part in resolving the following conflict situations:
1992 - 1996: Operation SHARP GUARD using warships and reconnaissance aircraft in the Adriatic Sea against Yugoslavia;
1993 - 1995: UN Force Operation in Somalia UNOSOM II;
1999 - present: NATO war against Yugoslavia, operation KFOR;
2002 - present: NATO war in Afghanistan, operation ISAF;
2002 - present: Operation Enduring Freedom with the participation of the naval contingent in the coastal waters of East Africa and the Mediterranean Sea;
2003 - present: With AWACS reconnaissance aircraft, with the right to cross Iraqi airspace, but without the right of occupation.
2005 - present: Maintaining peace in Sudan as part of Operation UNMIS.
2006 - 2008: Participation in the armed mission of the EU to ensure elections in the Congo
2006 - present: Protection of the coastal waters of Lebanon in order to suppress the smuggling of weapons (as part of the UNIFIL mission)
2008 - present: Somali Coastal Patrol under Operation ATLANTA (Counter Piracy).
Administrative division
Germany is a state with a federal structure; consisting of 16 equal subjects - lands (Länder; see the lands of the Republic of Germany), three of them are cities (Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg).
| 1. Baden-Württemberg | Stuttgart |
| 2. Free State of Bavaria | Munich |
| 3. Berlin | Berlin |
| 4. Brandenburg | Potsdam |
| 5. Free Hanseatic City of Bremen | Bremen |
| 6. Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg | Hamburg |
| 7. Hesse | Wiesbaden |
| 8. Mecklenburg - Vorpommern | Schwerin |
| 9. Lower Saxony | Hanover |
| 10. North Rhine-Westphalia | Dusseldorf |
| 11. Rhineland-Palatinate | Mainz |
| 12. Saarland | Saarbrücken |
| 13. Free State of Saxony | Dresden |
| 14. Saxony-Anhalt | Magdeburg |
| 15. Schleswig-Holstein | Keel |
| 16. Free State of Thuringia | Erfurt |
Geography
 |
The northern part of Germany is a low-lying plain formed during the ice age (North German Plain, the lowest point is the Neuendorf-Saxenbande in Wilstermarsh, 3.54 m below sea level). In the central part of the country, forested foothills adjoin the lowlands from the south, and the Alps begin to the south (the highest point in Germany is Mount Zugspitze, 2,968 meters). Rivers and lakes A large number of rivers flow through Germany, the largest of which are the Rhine, Danube, Elbe, Weser and Oder, the rivers are connected by canals, the most famous canal is the Kiel Canal, which connects the Baltic and North Seas. The Kiel Canal begins in the Bay of Kiel and ends at the mouth of the Elbe River. The largest lake in Germany is Lake Constance, with an area of 540 sq. km, and a depth of 250 meters. The weather is often changeable. In the middle of summer it can be warm and sunny, but the very next day it can get cold and rainy. Truly extreme natural events (severe droughts, tornadoes, storms, severe frost or heat waves) are relatively rare. This is also due to the fact that Germany is located in a temperate climate zone. Over the past few years, Germany, as well as throughout Europe, has experienced several large-scale floods, but given the long history of Germany, these are rather rare natural phenomena. Many tend to see this as evidence of climate warming. In the summer of 2003, Germany was hit by a drought: the “summer of the century,” as the media dubbed it, was one of the hottest in decades. The consequences of the drought, among other things, were significant crop failures. Earthquakes with severe consequences in Germany have not occurred so far. This can be explained by the fact that Germany is located on the Eurasian plate. Since there are no boundaries between tectonic plates inside Germany, earthquakes are relatively rare. The average temperature in July is from +16 to +22 degrees Celsius. The average temperature in January is from +2 to -5 degrees Celsius. The average annual temperature is +5-+10 degrees Celsius. |
| topography of germany |
Cities
The largest cities in Germany are Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. The next most important is the fifth most populated city in Germany and the financial metropolis of Frankfurt am Main, Germany's largest airport. It is the third largest airport in Europe and the first in terms of revenue from air cargo. The Ruhr Basin is the region with the highest population density.
Economy
With a GDP of $2 trillion 811 billion (PPP), Germany was in fifth place in the world in 2009 (after the US, China, Japan and India). In addition, Germany occupies one of the leading places in the world in terms of export volumes. Exported products are known all over the world under the trademark Made in Germany. In terms of living standards, the country ranks 10th in the world, according to the Human Development Index.
The share of Germany in world GDP is 3.968%
The share of Germany in the GDP of the EU countries is almost 30%
GDP per capita - about 35 thousand dollars
State budget deficit for 2006 - 1.7%
Government spending in Germany is up to 50% of the country's GDP.
SMEs in Germany account for approximately 70% of jobs and 57% of GDP generated.
In general, industry accounts for 38% of GDP, 2% for agriculture, and 60% for services.
The shadow sector of the economy is approximately 15% of GDP
According to official According to data, in 2011 the average number of unemployed was 3.0 million (7% of the German working-age population).
Industry
Germany is an industrialized country. The main industries are mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical, automotive and shipbuilding, coal mining.
Germany does not have large reserves of any minerals. A rare exception to this rule, which applies to the entire Central European region, is coal, both hard (Ruhr basin) and brown. Therefore, its economy is concentrated mainly in the industrial production and service sectors.
Germany is far from the last place in terms of volume and quality of watches and watch movements produced in the country. The center of the German watch industry is the small town of Glashütte. Most of the factories producing watches and mechanisms for them are concentrated here. Also an important link in the watch industry are manufacturers of interior clocks and mechanisms for them. The most famous of them: Hermle and Kieninger.
In Germany, the production of children's toys, goods and products for modeling is developed. The main companies in this industry are Auhagen GmbH, Gebr. Marklin & Cie. GmbH, Gebr. Fleischmann GmbH, PIKO Spielwaren GmbH.
Agriculture
Germany has highly productive agriculture. About 70% of the marketable output of agriculture comes from animal husbandry, the needs of which are largely subordinated to crop production: the area under fodder crops is much larger than under food crops. Large quantities of feed grains, especially maize, are imported.
Germany is a country of predominantly small family farms. In the period 1994-1997. the share of land plots of agricultural enterprises exceeding 50 hectares increased from 11.9 to 14.3%. Larger farms are located mainly in Schleswig-Holstein and in the east of Lower Saxony. Small farms predominate in Central and Southern Germany. At the same time, there was a sharp decline in the number of people employed in agriculture, from 24% of the total number of the economically active population in 1950 to 2.4% in 1997. income in other sectors of the economy.
In areas with high natural soil fertility, the main crops are wheat, barley, corn and sugar beets. The poorer soils of the North German lowlands and mid-altitude mountains are traditionally used for crops of rye, oats, potatoes and natural fodder crops. The traditional nature of German agriculture has been significantly altered by technological progress. Today, the so-called light soils are valued more because of their suitability for mechanical processing, using artificial fertilizers; for example, corn is now widely cultivated also in the North German Plain, where it is replacing the potato.
Of the total grain production in the European Union, Germany accounts for slightly more than 1/5, but it stands out mainly in the production of rye (3/4 of the harvest), oats (about 2/5) and barley (more than ¼). The areas of cultivation of sugar beet largely coincide with the areas of wheat crops.
Of the fodder grains, barley is the most important; some varieties of spring barley are grown specifically for use in the production of beer, which is considered the national drink in Germany (consumption per capita is about 145 liters per year). The world's largest hop-growing area Hallertau is located in Bavaria.
Of great importance is the cultivation of fodder root crops (fodder beets, etc.), corn for green fodder and silage, alfalfa, clover, and other fodder grasses. Of the oilseeds, rapeseed is the most important, the crops of which are more than 10 times higher than the crops of sunflower.
The warm climate of the river valleys, intermountain basins, and lowlands of southwestern Germany favors the cultivation of crops such as tobacco and vegetables; the latter are also grown in the area of the Elbe marches below Hamburg and in the Spreewald region south of Berlin. Fruit plantations are especially characteristic of the mountain slopes of southern Germany, the lower reaches of the Elbe near Hamburg, the region of the Havel lakes near Potsdam and the vicinity of Halle.
Viticulture is superior in marketable products to fruit and vegetable growing combined. Vineyards are located mainly in the valleys of the Rhine, Moselle and other rivers in southern Germany, as well as in the Elbe valley near Dresden.
The valleys of the Upper Rhine, Main, Neckar and Lower Elbe are famous for their gardens.
Cattle breeding is the main branch of animal husbandry in Germany, it provides more than 2/5 of all marketable agricultural products, with milk accounting for the bulk (about ¼). The second place in importance is occupied by pig breeding. The country's self-sufficiency in milk and beef systematically exceeds 100%, but in pork it is less than 4/5.
Dairy and beef cattle breeding is most typical for well-moisturized coastal, alpine and pre-alpine regions rich in meadows and pastures, as well as for the periphery of urban agglomerations. Due to the rather cold winters, stall keeping of livestock is common. Pig breeding is developed everywhere, but especially in areas close to ports of entry of imported feed, areas of cultivation of sugar beets, potatoes and fodder root crops. In the agro-industrial complex, agriculture plays a subordinate role. 95% of livestock is slaughtered at industrial slaughterhouses, milk is processed at dairies, which are usually part of the systems of either industrial and industrial and commercial concerns, or owned on shares by cooperative associations of the farmers themselves.
Broiler production, production of eggs, veal, as well as pig breeding are concentrated in large livestock farms, the location of which is little dependent on natural factors.
In terms of agricultural production, grain production and livestock production, Germany is second only to France, and in terms of milk production it ranks first within the EU. The efficiency of agricultural production in Germany is significantly higher than the EU average. At the same time, Germany lags behind in the average yield of corn and sugar beets.
The competence of state bodies in the field of agriculture includes: resolving issues of changing the agrarian structure, lending and financing of agriculture, and regulating the markets of agricultural products. The German government is providing financial assistance in the complex process of adaptation and integration of East German agriculture into the European Community. Assistance is also being provided in the transformation of former agricultural cooperatives into competitive firms, which is already bearing fruit: many sole proprietorships have made significant profits, in particular due to large cultivated areas.
In addition to food production in Germany, agriculture performs additional tasks, the importance of which is constantly growing. This is the preservation and protection of the natural foundations of life, the protection of attractive landscapes for residential areas, resettlement, economic location and recreation, the supply of agricultural raw materials to industry.
Infrastructure industries
Transport
The basis of the transport system is made up of railways, carrying about 2 billion passengers a year. Their length is more than 39 thousand km. Some roads are adapted for the movement of high-speed Intercity-Express trains. At the beginning of 2003, 53 million cars (including passenger cars) were registered in Germany. Motor roads of all classes make up more than 230 thousand km, autobahns - about 12 thousand km. The German merchant fleet has 2,200 modern ships.
Energy
Germany is the world's fifth largest energy consumer. In 2002, Germany was Europe's largest consumer of electricity at 512.9 terawatt-hours. Government policy involves the conservation of non-renewable sources and the use of energy from renewable sources such as solar energy, wind energy, biomass, hydropower and geothermal energy. Energy-saving technologies are also being developed. The German government plans that by 2050, half of the electricity demand will be covered by energy from renewable sources.
As of 2009, the following types of energy carriers dominated the structure of electricity consumption in Germany: brown coal (24.6% of net electricity consumption), nuclear energy (22.6%), hard coal (18.3%), renewable energy sources ( 15.6%) and gas (12.9%). In 2000, the government and the German nuclear industry announced the decommissioning of all nuclear power plants by 2021. In 2010, the government abandoned the previous cabinet's plans to shut down the country's nuclear power plants until 2021 and decided to extend the operation of nuclear power plants until the 2030s.
Population
The Federal Republic of Germany is only slightly larger in area than neighboring Poland, but twice as large in population. As of January 1, 2009, 82,002,356 inhabitants live in Germany.
As in many developed countries of the world, the birth rate in Germany is below the replacement level. Since 1972, the birth rate in Germany has been lower than the death rate. In 2008, 8 people were born per 1,000 inhabitants and 10 died.
Annual population growth for 2007 - 0.12%
Annual population growth for 2008 - -0.2%
The rural population is less than 10%, almost 90% of the German population lives in cities and urban areas adjacent to them.
The population of large cities (as of 2008): Berlin - 3424.7 thousand people; Hamburg - 1773.2 thousand people; Munich - 1315.4 thousand people; Cologne - 1000.3 thousand people; Frankfurt am Main - 670.6 thousand people
Immigration
In recent years, the number of immigrants has been growing rapidly. The number of immigrants from India, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Jordan, Israel, Brazil, Ukraine, Belarus, Congo, South Africa and other African and Maghreb countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Korea, Serbia, Mongolia is increasing. At the same time, the Germans themselves are migrating to Australia and Canada. Thus, the ratio of indigenous people to migrants has changed dramatically over the past decades. The proportion of immigrants from the traditional is large (the second largest ethnic group).
Population structure
The overwhelming majority are Germans (92%). Lusatian Serbs (60,000) live in the lands of Brandenburg and Saxony, and Danes (50,000) live in the northern regions of Schleswig-Holstein. There are 6.75 million foreign citizens in the country, of which 1.749 million are Turks, 930 thousand are citizens of the republics of the former Yugoslavia, 187.5 thousand are citizens of the Russian Federation and 129 thousand are citizens of Ukraine.
Since 1988, 2.2 million migrants of German origin and 220 thousand contingent refugees (including members of their families) have arrived in Germany from the post-Soviet states for permanent residence, thus making up one of the largest Russian diasporas in the world.
The Muslim population in Germany is between 3.2 and 3.5 million, although this figure is sometimes disputed. According to some other data, 4.3 million Muslims live permanently in Germany, of which approximately 63.2 percent are of Turkish origin.
Languages
The official literary and business language is German. Along with this, the population uses Low, Middle and High German dialects (10 main and more than 50 local), which are also spoken by residents of the border regions of neighboring states; the dialects themselves are often very different from the literary language. There are mixed dialects. The recognized minority languages include Danish, Frisian and Lusatian, as well as the regional language Low Saxon (Low German), which has been recognized by the EU since 1994.
According to estimates, about 6 million people in Germany speak Russian to some extent, including more than 3 million immigrants from the countries of the former USSR (and their descendants), mainly from Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. Also in Germany they speak Turkish (2.1 million), the languages of the peoples of the former Yugoslavia (720,000), Italian (612,000). Migrants who do not speak German often find themselves in an information vacuum and/or become dependent on sources of information.
Religion and worldview
Freedom of conscience and freedom of religion are guaranteed by the German constitution.
The majority of Germans are Christians, while Catholics make up 32.4%, Lutherans - 32.0%, Orthodox - 1.14%. A small part of believers belong to Christian denominations - Baptists, Methodists, believers of the New Apostolic Church - 0.46% and adherents of other religious movements.
Part of the believers are Muslims (from 3.8 million to 4.3 million or from 4.5% to 5.2%), Jehovah's Witnesses (about 164,000 or 0.2%) and members of the Jewish communities (about 100,000 or 0.12 %). About 31% of the German population, mainly in the territory of the former GDR, are atheists (70% there).
Germany was converted to Christianity during the time of the Franks. The Baptist of Germany is considered to be Saint Boniface, who was the Bishop of Mainz and converted a significant part of modern Germany to Christianity (he suffered martyrdom from the pagans in 754). At the beginning of the 16th century, the Church Reformation began in Germany and Switzerland, based on the teachings of Ulrich Zwingli and Martin Luther. As a result of the Reformation and the religious wars that accompanied it (the main of which was the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648), Germany was divided into Catholic and Protestant (Lutheran) regions. The main principle enshrined in the Augsburg religious world (1555) was the principle of “cuius regio euius religio” (“whose power, that is the faith”), that is, the subjects of one or another feudal lord were obliged to accept his faith: Catholic or Protestant.
Holidays
Many holidays have a long history based on ancient rites and religious holidays. A number of holidays are reflected in the calendars as a holiday and therefore a non-working day. All-German holidays include: New Year (January 1); Day of the Three Kings (Magi, in the Orthodox tradition) (January 6); Labor Day (May 1); German Unity Day (October 3); St. Nicholas Day (December 6, see Nikolaustag); Christmas (December 25-26). In addition, each land and administrative unit with appropriate powers can also celebrate a local memorial day. These include Oktoberfest (Munich), Christkindlmarkt (Nuremberg), Rosenmontag (Düsseldorf, Cologne, Mainz, Nuremberg).
Trade unions in Germany
Among the European models of social partnership, one of the most successful and stable is the German one.
The formation of a social partnership system in Germany dates back to the end of the 19th century. An important role in Germany is played by the traditions of interaction between social partners, the experience of conflict-free problem solving, and high civic consciousness. By the middle of the 20th century, a system was developed that included unemployment insurance, government measures to promote employment, a negotiating mechanism between trade unions and employers' unions (tariff autonomy), and the like.
The "German" model provides for the conclusion of a large number of industry agreements, which practically neutralizes negotiations at the enterprise level. According to the Basic Law "The Federal Republic of Germany is a democratic and social state" and through the adoption of relevant laws, the state largely determines the framework conditions in the field of social and labor relations.
So, the State contributes to the creation of the necessary conditions for resolving conflicts, and legally extends collective agreements to "non-unified" employees.
Labor legislation in Germany is also at a high level of development. One of the features of German trade unions is that there is no primary trade union organization at German enterprises, but there is a representative of the trade union. He is a member of the works council of the enterprise. The production council of the enterprise establishes contacts between the administration and trade unions. In relations between employers and employees, these councils have no right to take sides. They cannot organize strikes, and are called upon to defend the interests of the company as a whole. There are such works councils in all sectors of the economy.
In Germany, 85% of all workers who are members of some trade union are members of the German Trade Union Association (DGB).
The Association of German Trade Unions is the largest (6.6 million members) and influential trade union organization in Germany, created back in 1949.
The association of German trade unions represents the interests of workers in the private and public sector, employees and officials. It consists of eight branch trade unions:
Industrial Union "Construction-Agriculture-Ecology" (IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt);
Industrial Trade Union "Mining, Chemical Industry, Energy" (IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energy);
Trade Union "Education and Science" (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft);
Industrial Union "IG Metall" (IG Metall);
Trade Union "Food-Delicatessen-Restaurants" (Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten);
Police Union (Gewerkschaft der Polizei);
Trade Union of Railway Workers TRANSNET
United Service Workers Union (Verdi)
In its program, the Association of German Trade Unions adheres to the idea of social solidarity, that is, it advocates a fair distribution of jobs and incomes, social subsidies, benefits, the development of accumulation funds, the fight against unemployment, equal chances for success regardless of origin, skin color and gender - the share of women in the SNP - 31.9%.
In the economy, the SNPs support the concept of a socially oriented market economy that meets the interests of established social structures.
The UNP is a member of the European Trade Union Confederation, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the Advisory Committee to the OECD and represents the German trade union movement in the EU, UN, IMF, WTO and ILO.
Their slogan is "Save the welfare state through reform." Other priorities include the development of infrastructure and public sector utilities, maintaining a high quality of life. A special role in this, according to the UNP, belongs to the state: active state intervention serves as a guarantor of social order and justice.
The UNP opposes general privatization and deregulation and calls for a redistribution of responsibility for regulating markets between trade unions and the state. It is necessary to limit privatization so that citizens do not pay for the state's mistakes related to the sale of highly profitable business areas to private hands.
The public sector must also address environmental issues and set the norm in the economic and social spheres.
Particular emphasis is placed on the role of local self-government in public life as a form of citizen participation in politics. Creating an affordable housing market that takes into account the opportunities of people with low incomes is one of the main tasks of the state "social construction".
Key tasks of social policy:
Job Opportunity Guarantee
Prevention of poverty and related social exclusion
Integration of disabled people, prevention of their social and professional exclusion
development of affordable health care, family support, school education.
protection of the elderly, development of a system of social insurance funds (accumulation funds), increase in social payments (increase in federal pension subsidies), benefits, accumulation funds, fight against unemployment.
German Bureau of Officials and Tariff Union (DBB)
(Federal Chairman - Peter Hazen)
“Proximity is our strength,” says the German Confederation of Officials. The DBB represents the tariff-political interests of public sector and private sector employees. The trade union has more than 1.25 million members. This trade union is supported by 39 other trade unions and 16 state organizations.
The title of the union's recent program is "Challenging the Future - Creating Opportunities". The DBB says it puts "People First" and calls for a fight against job cuts. The trade union position itself as an association of reformers. “Reforms are not through cost savings… First of all, the rights of the people. Every individual matters." The DBB, like the UNP, advocates equal opportunities for all, especially in matters of gender equality (for example, the DBB has 320,000 women and 150,000 youth aged 16-27).
The DBB expresses its concern about the emerging deficit of public funding.
In 2003, the DBB Congress of the Union in Leipzig presented the program "Reformist model of the 21st century". It contains proposals for a long-term, citizen-friendly reconstruction of public administration.
DBB proposes a "new career model":
According to education and experience, everyone can take a proper post.
Flexible working hours
Reform of labor legislation on wages and working hours
Against slogans like "we will increase working hours, we will refuse public holidays"
Preservation of jobs for workers and employees
Protection of the income of the population in accordance with the economic situation in the country
Extending the working conditions of the West German states to the East German ones (high wages, social guarantees, fixed working week, etc.)
Organization of the work of employees in accordance with the job law that contributes to the success and productivity of labor
Performance related pay
Autonomy in negotiating wage increases and comprehensive labor contracts nationwide
High performance and humane management of recruited employees.
The union works closely with the EU on labor law issues. In 1991 DBB participated in the creation of the European Trade Union Confederation (8 million members).
German Christian Trade Union Association
This trade union represents the interests of religious workers and officials. The German Christian Trade Union Association (CGB) is the third largest trade union association in Germany. Under his leadership are 16 separate tariff negotiators in a wide variety of industries such as railways, hospitality or agriculture. The CGB advocates for the extension of Christian values to working life. In its program, the CGB emphasizes that the CGB is a voluntary association of independent trade unions. The main priorities of the CGB:
Implementation of Christian social values in work, economy, public life and society
Protection of socially vulnerable segments of the population, public unity.
Freedom of association/union in accordance with the Basic Law (workers can choose any representative to protect their interests)
Promoting trade union pluralism in Europe and Germany
Human rights and freedoms are the main value of the rule of law, against all types of extremism
The trade union also advocates the development of a social market economy model that combines the advantages of a competitive economy with social responsibility. The CGB encourages the development of social partnership between employees and employers. Personal performance is the basis for fair job evaluation. Particular attention should be paid to people with limited working capacity.
As far as Christian values are concerned, Sunday should remain a day of rest as an important foundation for the Christian way of life.
The CGB advocates minimal government intervention in tariff autonomy. The task of a Christian-social tariff policy is to ensure a fair participation in social production for workers.
The family is the basis of society, it is necessary to intensify social policy to support the institution of the family.
Preservation and creation of jobs determine the tariff policy of the CGB. The CGB excludes political strikes as a means of defending the interests of workers, and advocates for the rights of workers to participate in the management of the enterprise and for a fair tax system "burdening all social groups according to their ability to pay."
The expansion of the European Community poses great challenges to Germany, primarily in economic and social policy. The CGB stands for the equalization of the living conditions of all EU countries, taking into account the characteristics of the Member States.
United Trade Union of Service Workers
It has over 2 million members. Employee representation was brought to life in 2001 by the merger of five separate trade unions from the economic sectors: financial services, municipal services, logistics, trade and media. Consists of 13 industry divisions and extensive network organizations.
The system of social protection of the population
The model of social protection that existed in Germany (called "corporate", "continental", "conservative" or "Bismarckian") is considered one of the most effective among European countries. Germany was the first country to introduce a social insurance system. As early as the 1890s, under Bismarck, three laws were adopted that formed the basis of this system: the law on sickness insurance for industrial workers, the law on insurance against industrial accidents, and the law on disability and old-age insurance (1891).
At the beginning of the 20th century, the development of social insurance led to a reduction in the retirement age to 65 with 35 years of insurance experience. Early retirement pension (from the age of 60) was assigned to miners with many years of work experience.
The modern model of social protection in Germany was formed under the influence of the changes that took place in the country in the 50-60s of the XX century, and changed as a result of the coming to power of each new party.
The concept of the social market economy was developed to rebuild the German economy after World War II. Its political implementation is associated with the personalities of L. Erhard and A. Müller-Armak. The term "social market economy" was introduced by Müller-Armac. L. Erhard was the first Minister of Economics, and then became the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Under his leadership, the concept of a social market economy was developed and then implemented in Germany. The social task of the state was not the redistribution of social benefits, but the provision of framework conditions for the activities of individuals, encouraging their consciousness, independence and responsibility for their own well-being. The result of the implementation of these principles was an "economic miracle". According to L. Erhard, the state should provide social assistance in accordance with the moral principles of society (the most vulnerable and low-income segments of the population - the disabled, orphans, large families, pensioners), but support competition and fight dependency. After the resignation of Chancellor L. Erhard, in domestic policy priority was given to Keynesian methods of economic stimulation; the state assumed the role of distributor of the national income.
During the rapid economic growth, due to a shortage of workers, guest workers from southeastern Europe were allowed to enter the country. In the mid-1970s, about 4 million people lived in the country (11% of the workforce). This was the reason for the increase in state social spending, which, after the oil crises, became a heavy burden on the state treasury. The state took measures to restrict immigration, which provoked an increase in taxes. Layoff protection and tariff autonomy laws were passed to restore economic stability. This led to the fact that only three major players remained on the market: the state, trade unions and employers. This weakened competition and made it possible for trade unions to demand higher wages, a reduction in the working week, etc. Another feature of this period can be the desire of the state to redistribute income not vertically (to reduce the differentiation of society), but horizontally (within the middle class).
The modern model of social protection in Germany has the main characteristics: the principle of professional solidarity, the principle of redistribution, the principle of assistance and the principle of self-government of insurance institutions.
The principle of professional solidarity
Insurance funds are being created, managed on an equal footing by employees and employers. These funds receive deductions from salaries in accordance with the “principle of insurance”. The system establishes a strong link between the level of social protection and the success and duration of employment. This model assumes the development of a system of social insurance benefits differentiated by types of labor activity. In contrast to the social-democratic model, the corporate model is based on the principle of personal responsibility of each member of society for their own destiny and the position of their relatives. Therefore, here self-defense, self-sufficiency play a significant role.
The principle of redistribution
This principle applies to a small part of the low-income strata of society. Social assistance is provided regardless of previous contributions and is financed from tax revenues to the state budget. The right to receive such assistance belongs to persons who have special merits before the state, for example, civil servants or victims of war.
Assistance principle
This principle is an indispensable element of the social protection system, since the previous principles do not take into account all insurance risks. According to the principle of assistance, social assistance can be received by anyone in need of the amount necessary for him, if he does not have the opportunity to improve his financial situation on his own.
The principle of self-government of insurance institutions
The management of the social insurance system is carried out directly by interested persons-employers and employees, which ensures the most complete representation of the interests of both parties. There are three main actors involved in social protection at the regional and local levels: national or local business associations, trade unions and the state. It is interesting to note that the German social protection system is characterized by the division of institutions providing social insurance by areas of competence: organizations for pensions, sickness and accidents at work function separately. Unemployment insurance is not included in the general system of social protection, but falls within the competence of the federal department for labor, that is, it is carried out within the framework of the policy of promoting employment of the population. The financing of the compulsory social insurance system (in addition to it, there is private, of course) is carried out according to a mixed system: from the contributions of insured workers and their employers (medical, pension and unemployment insurance) and from general tax revenues to the state budget. A special position is occupied only by accident insurance, which is financed by contributions from the employer. In the event of financial difficulties for social insurance bodies, the state acts as a guarantor of the fulfillment of their obligations, which indicates the special role of social protection bodies in maintaining stability and social justice.
At the present stage of history, the former model of socio-economic development of Germany is in crisis. The tax burden reaches 80% of the income of the population, there is a high level of unemployment, which is chronic, the distribution of income is inefficient and non-transparent, the quality of public services does not meet the requirements of the time. Due to the aging of the population (its growth in 2000 was only 0.29%), social security spending is steadily increasing. The high level of benefits for the unemployed generates dependency in society. Against the backdrop of falling economic growth rates, unemployment has become an acute problem in Germany (at the beginning of 2002, more than 4 million unemployed people were registered).
Large companies, skillfully using loopholes in the law to reduce taxes, often seek privileges for themselves. In the pension sector, the policy of the "contract of generations" was unofficially proclaimed, when pension contributions are made from the income of the working population. Given the aging of the German population, the tax burden is increasing sharply, and there are not enough funds for payments from the pension fund. Problems arise in relation to those segments of the population who do not have a permanent job and, accordingly, are not entitled to receive insurance benefits, while the level of state assistance is extremely low. Therefore, these categories are forced to rely on local charitable organizations and public assistance. Accordingly, the corporate model of social policy leads to the emergence of a "dual society".
culture
The culture of Germany includes the culture of both the modern Federal Republic of Germany and the peoples that make up modern Germany, before its unification: Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, etc. A broader interpretation of "German culture" also includes the culture of Austria, which is politically independent of Germany, but inhabited by Germans and belongs to the same culture. German (Germanic) culture has been known since the 5th century. BC e.
Modern Germany is characterized by diversity and wide dissemination of culture. There is no centralization of cultural life and cultural values in one or several cities - they are dispersed literally throughout the country: along with the famous Berlin, Munich, Weimar, Dresden or Cologne, there are many small, not so widely known, but culturally significant places: Rothenburg Obder -Tauber, Naumburg, Bayreuth, Celle, Wittenberg, Schleswig, etc. In 1999 there were 4570 museums, and their number is growing. They receive almost 100 million visits per year. The most famous museums are the Dresden Art Gallery, the Old and New Pinakotheks in Munich, the Deutsches Museum in Munich, the Historical Museum in Berlin and many others. There are also many palace museums (the most famous is Sanssouci in Potsdam) and castle museums.
Sport
Germany is a state where physical culture and sports have been widely developed on the basis of the sports traditions of the German nation. According to the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), in 2009, about 25-30% of the German population (24-27 million people) were members of various sports organizations. Every year the number of people involved in sports in the country increases by 5-6%. The German national football team is one of the strongest teams in the world. The Germans have 11 world championship medals: 3 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze; 7 medals of the European championships: 3 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze. The German national football team is one of the most successful national teams in the history of international tournaments. One of the most successful and famous Formula 1 drivers, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher is German.
Education in Germany
Preschool education in Germany
Pre-school education is provided by institutions (mainly kindergartens (German: Kindergärten)), which work with children aged 3-6 until they usually start school. Children who have not reached the level appropriate for their age or are behind in development have the opportunity to catch up in preschool classes (German: Vorklassen) and kindergartens at schools (German: Schulkindergärten).
These institutions adjoin either the pre-school sector or the primary education sector, depending on the rules of the individual Länder. Attendance is usually optional, although in most Länder it is the responsibility of the authorities to make schooling compulsory for children of the appropriate age who are retarded.
The transition from primary education to one of the types of junior secondary, where pupils study before they have completed the entire course of compulsory education, depends on the legislation of individual states. The recommendations of the school in which the child studied is a kind of guideline in determining further professional orientation. This is agreed with the parents. The final decision, in principle, is made by the parents, but for certain types of schools it also depends on the student's abilities in the area in which the school specializes, where the parents want to send the child, and / or on the decision made by the school management.
School education
School education in Germany is free and universal. A 9 year education is required. In general, the school education system is designed for 12-13 years. To date, there are about 50 thousand schools in Germany, in which more than 12.5 million students study. The school system is divided into three levels: primary, secondary I and secondary II.
All children who have reached the age of six begin their education in primary school (Grundschule). Education in primary school lasts four years (four classes), the load is from 20 to 30 hours a week. In 2008, there were approximately 3 million students in primary school.
Secondary education
Education of the second stage (secondary I) continues until the 10th grade.
After elementary school, children are divided, mainly by ability, into three different groups.
The weakest students are sent for further education in the so-called "main school" (German: Hauptschule), where they study for 5 years. The main goal of this school is to prepare for low-skilled professional activities. This is where basic education comes in. The average workload is 30-33 hours per week. After graduating from the main school, a young German can start working or continue his studies in the vocational education system. Students with average results go to a "real school" (German: Realschule) and study there for 6 years. After graduating from a real school, you can get a job, and the most capable can continue their education in the 11th and 12th grades of the gymnasium.
In the gymnasium, the student receives a classical education. After graduating from the gymnasium, a matriculation certificate is given, giving the right to enter the university.
Secondary education of the second stage (secondary II) is carried out only in the gymnasium in the 11th and 12th grades. Students in the thirteenth grade of the gymnasium are considered applicants. In the thirteenth grade of the gymnasium, students are preparing to study at higher educational institutions. At the end of the thirteenth grade of the gymnasium, students take exams in basic school subjects (German: Abitur). The level of education in the 12th and 13th grades and the level of final exams in the gymnasium is very high and, according to the UNESCO ISCED International Classification of Education Standards, corresponds to the level of 1-2 courses of higher educational institutions of countries with a ten-year or eleven-year school education system (for example, Russia). The average score of all entrance exams is the most important criterion for obtaining a place to study at a higher education institution. There are no entrance exams to higher educational institutions in Germany. Admission is carried out in accordance with the average mark in the certificate, as well as taking into account some social factors. If there are more applicants for study at a higher educational institution than there are places, then the best ones are accepted, and the rest are enrolled in the queue; they can get a place to study next year.
Secondary education in Germany is represented by vocational schools, special vocational schools and higher specialized schools.
Germany is subject to constant criticism from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for its education policy. The government has not yet taken measures to eliminate the identified problems in the education system. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany's spending on education is below average. At the same time, there is an imbalance in the financing of educational institutions. While the cost of primary school is relatively low, a lot of money is invested in higher education institutions. According to experts, Germany may suffer losses in the future if educational reform is not carried out.
Higher education
The German system of higher education is characterized by a variety of types of universities. In total, there are 383 universities in Germany, of which 103 are universities and 176 universities of applied sciences. Getting the first higher education in almost all universities until recently was free for both Germans and foreigners. Since 2007, students of some universities have been required to pay approximately 500 euros per semester plus the regular fee (which has existed much longer and everywhere), about 150 euros, which includes a ticket, use of libraries, etc. [source not specified 865 days] In the Western federal states under the control of the CDU party, students who exceed the prescribed study period by several semesters are usually required to pay tuition fees. These reforms in the education system are regulated by the relevant law. The number of students is almost 2 million, of which 48% are women, 250,000 are foreign students. The teaching staff is about 110 thousand people. Approximately 69,000 Germans study abroad. Until 2010, in the course of the Bologna process, German universities must restructure their curricula according to a new model.
A significant number of universities are state-owned and are subsidized by the government. There are relatively few private universities - 69.
When entering a university, entrance exams are not provided, and the most important thing for an applicant is to successfully pass the final exams at a school or gymnasium. When enrolling in prestigious specialties, the average score of the applicant's school certificate is of decisive importance.
The distribution of places for prestigious specialties at universities is not carried out by universities, but by a special department - "Zentralstelle für die Vergabe von Studienplätzen". In addition to the average score, ZVS also takes into account social and personal reasons, such as disability, marital status, etc. If the average score is insufficient, then the applicant is put on a waiting list. After several semesters of waiting, he is granted a place at the university.
Those wishing to study at institutes (Fachhochschule) apply directly there. There is also a selection based on certificates.
Parents of all students under the age of 25 in Germany are entitled to receive so-called "children's money" (Kindergeld) in the amount of 184 euros. Students, taking into account their own income and the income of their parents, can receive a student loan (“BaFöG”). Half of this loan must then be returned to the state.
In addition to the usual scholarship, in Germany there are many scholarships assigned by various foundations - there are party foundations and the German People's Foundation, foundations of churches, state governments, departments of the German government, as well as small regional organizations. Scholarships are usually designed for a certain category of students, for example, especially gifted ones. Scholarships are available for both German students and students from other countries. The main organization issuing scholarships for foreigners is the German Academic Exchange Service. The following major foundations: the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation, the Friedrich Erbert Stiftung Foundation, the NaFög (Each Lands Foundation) grant scholarships only for writing a Dissertation (Promotionsstudium).
The science
Scientific research in Germany is carried out in universities and scientific associations, as well as in corporate research centers. Scientific research at universities is financed from the federal budget, from the state budget and from funds allocated by enterprises. 9.2 billion euros are spent annually on research at universities.
Scientific research in Germany is also carried out by four large scientific associations: the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Society, the Fraunhofer Society and the Leibniz Society.
The Max Planck Society has about 13 thousand employees, including 5 thousand scientists, the annual budget of the society is 1.4 billion euros.
The Helmholtz Society has about 26.5 thousand employees, including 8 thousand scientists, the annual budget is 2.35 billion euros.
The Fraunhofer Society has about 12.5 thousand employees, the budget is 1.2 billion euros.
The Leibniz Society has 13,700 employees and a budget of 1.1 billion euros.
Large German and foreign companies also maintain research centers in Germany.
mass media
Newspapers and magazines
The German newspaper market is characterized by a small number of national newspapers and a well-developed local press. The reason for this development of the press market was that the modern German media landscape is rooted in the post-war years, when the Western Allies, having closed all the media that existed in Nazi Germany, began to create their own media system, naturally focusing on the development of media within their own occupation zones. That is why there are relatively few nationwide newspapers in Germany, and most of them appeared after 1949, that is, after the end of the formal occupation status of West Germany and the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany. Conventionally, the German press can be divided into three categories:
national newspapers (distributed throughout Germany);
supra-regional newspapers (überregionale Zeitungen) - distributed in more than one region, but not throughout the country;
local press - newspapers of one region, one district, city, and so on.
Separately, it must be emphasized that many small local newspapers are included in the “publishing chains”: since a small newspaper with a circulation of several hundred or thousands of copies, of course, cannot afford to buy good photographs, send a correspondent on business trips, or subscribe to news feeds , she enters into an associated relationship with a certain publishing concern. This concern provides dozens of local newspapers with unified content - articles on domestic and foreign policy, sports reviews, etc., leaving only local news at the discretion of the editors. In this way, the local newspaper survives economically and readers can continue to buy the newspaper they are used to. Meanwhile, in this case, of course, we cannot talk about an independent publication, and German media researchers prefer to talk about "editorial publications" (German: redaktionelle Ausgabe) and "journalistic units" (German: publizistische Einheit).
National dailies:
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, FAZ (Frankfurt General Newspaper) is a liberal-conservative and the most widely read newspaper in Germany, to the left than "Welt", but to the right than "taz". Published in Frankfurt am Main. Circulation: 387,064 copies.
"Süddeutsche Zeitung", SZ (South German newspaper) - a serious newspaper, left, closer to the "FAZ", a liberal direction, published in Munich. / Concern Süddeutscher Verlag /. Despite its name, it is a national newspaper. Circulation: 444,000 copies.
The Frankfurter Rundschau (Frankfurt Review) is a newspaper close to the Social Democrats. Circulation: 150,000 copies.
Die Welt (Peace) is a right-wing, most conservative newspaper owned by the largest German publishing concern Springer-Verlag, which specializes in the production of mass periodicals. Circulation: 264,273 copies.
"Bild" (Picture) - tabloid newspaper, the most popular "yellow" newspaper, the flagship of the Springer-Verlag publishing house, the most circulated newspaper in Germany. Unlike all other national newspapers, the vast majority of Bild's circulation is retail, not subscription. Circulation: 3,445,000 copies.
Handelsblatt (Trade Newspaper) is Germany's leading financial newspaper. Published since 1946. Circulation: 148,000 copies.
Financial Times Deutschland (Financial Times Germany) is a financial and political newspaper that has been published since 2000. Circulation: 100,000 copies.
Die Tageszeitung (Daily) is a far-left, independent of concerns and political forces, founded in 1978 as a mouthpiece for the radical left movement. Today it has rather a left-liberal orientation. In addition to the Berlin edition, there are several regional editions. Known for her provocative, anti-war and anti-nationalist articles. Circulation: 60,000 copies. Published in Berlin.
"Junge Welt" (Young World) is a small-circulation left-wing newspaper. It was created as the mouthpiece of the youth organization of the GDR, the Union of Free German Youth. Circulation: below 20,000 copies.
"Express" Tale newspaper: Cologne-Bonn /M. DuMont & Schauberg Verlag/.
Supra-regional dailies:
The Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, WAZ (West German General Newspaper) is a conservative publication distributed in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, the umbrella newspaper of the WAZ-Gruppe publishing group.
Neues Deutschland (New Germany) is the former mouthpiece of the SED, the ruling party of the GDR. Today, she is close to her successor, the Left Party. Popular mainly in the eastern lands. Circulation: 45,000 copies.
Other German daily newspapers:
"Sächsische Zeitung" (Saxon newspaper) - the largest newspaper in East Germany, with an editorial office in Dresden, the flagship publication of the newspaper group Sächsische Zeitung
"Berliner Zeitung" (Berlin newspaper)
"Tagesspiegel" (Mirror of the Day)
"Stuttgarter Zeitung" (Stuttgart newspaper)
etc.
Weekly socio-political magazines:
"Der Spiegel" (The Mirror) left-wing weekly, criticism, analysis - Hamburg / Bertelsmann AG concern /
"Focus" (Focus) left-wing weekly, Munich / Hubert Burda Media concern
"Stern" (Star)
Weekly Newspapers:
Die Zeit (Time) is the most influential liberal weekly newspaper. Circulation: 480.000 copies
Freitag (Friday) is a small-circulation newspaper that finds its readers among the left-wing intellectuals. Circulation: 13.000 copies.
"Junge Freiheit" (Young Freedom) is a small-circulation newspaper of a national conservative orientation. Circulation: 16,000 copies (according to own instructions).
Russian-language newspapers and magazines:
Russian-language press of Germany - Library online.
Review of the "Russian" press of Germany (Article).
"We are in Hamburg." The main content of the editorial part is articles on the history of Hamburg and its famous people, museums, the Hanseatic traditions of the metropolis on the Elbe, economic and other aspects of life in the districts of modern Hamburg, and the cities of Northern Germany. Distributed for free. Circulation 10,000 copies.
Also in Germany, local versions of international magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Maxim, Newsweek, Businessweek, etc. are published.
Television and radio
Today, the system of German audiovisual media is called the "dual" system. This means that there are only two forms of media ownership in Germany:
a) public-legal form of ownership;
b) private ownership.
The public legal form of ownership dates back to the post-war period, when, as part of the denazification policy, all the media that existed in Nazi Germany were closed down by the Western allies, and the press and radio, completely controlled by the occupying military authorities, were created to ensure information broadcasting. Between 1945 and 1949 The radio stations created by the Allies were gradually transferred to the management of German personnel, but the question arose before the occupying authorities how these companies should be managed. The Allies immediately rejected the idea of transferring the media to the hands of the German state (the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the local governments of the federal states are still forbidden to have any media), but the idea of transferring radio stations to private hands was also rejected (despite the fact that newspapers, created by the allies were transferred to private editors). As the main form of ownership, the allies chose the public-legal form of ownership.
This form of ownership is typical for the British BBC and means that the company is not owned by either private persons or the state, but is in the "community ownership". The strategic management of the company is carried out by a special supervisory board, formed from representatives of large parties, significant public organizations, churches, trade unions, etc., which should ensure the most balanced program policy. The Supervisory Board appoints a management board, which is engaged in "tactical planning" of the company's actions and appoints an intendant - the general director of the company, who directly manages the company. Such a complex management system, borrowed from the same BBC, was also designed to ensure the democratic development of the German media. The first public law company in West Germany was NWDR (Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk), broadcasting in the British occupation zone and created by the Englishman Hugh Carlton Green, a BBC employee who later received the post of BBC General Director. Also, the public-legal form of ownership was chosen by the Americans and the French - for their occupation zones.
Broadcasting
Public law broadcasting remained the only broadcast in Germany until the late 1980s, when legislation was amended to allow the creation of private radio and television companies. Private companies subsist by advertising and producing their own films and shows, which they can sell to third parties. Public law companies can only place a limited amount of advertising in their broadcasts (in particular, advertising on public law channels is completely prohibited on weekends and holidays, and on weekdays it is prohibited after 8 pm), but they receive the so-called. "subscription fee" (Gebühren) from all German citizens who have a TV or radio at home. The subscription fee for a TV station is about 17 euros per month, for a radio receiver - about 9 euros per month. All Germans who have a TV or radio are required to pay a subscription fee, regardless of whether they watch broadcasts of public legal channels - this causes fierce discussions in German society. The largest public law company in Germany and the largest television and radio company in Europe is the public law television and radio company ARD (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland - the Commonwealth of Public Law Television and Radio Companies of the Federal Republic of Germany).
Within the framework of ARD, the first German television channel is broadcast: ARD Das Erste, about a dozen local television channels produced respectively by members of the Commonwealth, local public broadcasters and radio broadcasters, as well as over fifty local radio programs.
The members of the ARD are (in alphabetical order):
Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)
Hessischer Rundfunk (HR)
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR)
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR)
Radio Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB)
Radio Bremen (RB)
Südwestfunk (SWR)
Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR)
Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)
ARD also broadcasts radio and television Deutsche Welle - Deutsche Welle. Deutsche Welle performs the functions of foreign broadcasting, therefore, for its creation, ARD receives a separate budget, subsidized by the federal government. Deutsche Welle is presented on television (DW-TV) and radio (DW-Radio), as well as on the DW-WORLD Internet. Broadcasting is carried out in 30 languages. Radio programs and a website are published in Russian.
The second public television channel in Germany is ZDF - Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (Second German Television), headquartered in Mainz. The history of the creation of the ZDF goes back to the 1950s, when Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer tried to bring the media under state control. One of the directions of the federal government's offensive against the media was an attempt to create a state second channel. Faced with serious opposition from both the ARD functionaries, who did not want to tolerate state competitors, and the governments of the federal states, who did not want to strengthen the federal center, Adenauer tried to realize his project until the early 1960s, when in 1962 the verdict of the federal constitutional court recognized the very possibility of creating a state-owned television was illegal and banned the federal center from any attempts to create such media. As an alternative, a second, also public-legal channel, ZDF, was created, which differed from ARD in that ARD was a decentralized structure, a commonwealth of many local companies, and ZDF was originally created as a vertically organized, centralized project.
The following private channels also broadcast in Germany:
RTL, RTL2, Super RTL, Sat1, Pro7, Kabel1, VOX, Eurosport, DSF, MTV, VIVA, VIVA PLUS
news channels: n-tv, N24, EuroNews
other German TV channels:
KinderKanal (KiKa) is a joint project of ARD and ZDF
Phoenix (a political information channel, almost all of whose content is made up of live broadcasts from political events, lengthy speeches by politicians, etc.)
ARTE (French-German cultural and information channel, created on the German side with the participation of ARD and ZDF)
3Sat is a joint German-language channel broadcasting in the territories of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
R1 - Russian-language channel. broadcasting Russian programs.
Armed forces
On November 10, 2004, German Defense Minister Peter Struck announced plans to reform the armed forces, according to which the number of military personnel and civilians employed in servicing parts of the Bundeswehr will be reduced by a third (35 thousand military personnel and 49 thousand civilians will be fired), and 105 permanent military garrisons on German territory will be disbanded.
Along with the reduction, reforms will be carried out in the system of recruiting the army and the basic principles of its application.
On July 1, 2011, the mandatory military conscription into the German army was discontinued. Thus, the Bundeswehr moved to a fully professional army.
The reform of the principles of the use of the army means the reduction of the Bundeswehr's strongholds from a total of 600 to 400. First of all, this will affect the bases of the ground forces in the country. The Ministry of Defense sees no point in keeping heavily armed units within German borders. Since the whole world is now considered the area of possible operations of the Bundeswehr, it was decided that it would be more correct to maintain military bases outside of Germany, on the territory of NATO countries in Eastern Europe, where the main NATO strike groups will soon be redeployed.
At the same time, the terminology is changing - it is supposed to place here not “military bases”, but “rapid deployment strongholds” and “security cooperation zones”, that is, bridgeheads that will become the basis for “rapid deployment of armed forces against terrorists and hostile states”.
Germany is one of the most active NATO countries, providing the military-political alliance during all peacekeeping operations (Afghanistan, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Somalia, and so on) with a significant proportion of personnel. German troops were also part of the UN multinational force in Central and West Africa.
Since 2000, the foreign operations of the Bundeswehr annually cost the country's budget about 1.5 billion euros.
In the course of the reform, by 2010, German troops will be divided into 3 types:
rapid reaction forces (55 thousand people), which are intended for combat operations anywhere in the world;
peacekeeping contingent (90 thousand);
base forces (170 thousand), stationed in Germany and consisting of command and control units, logistics and support services.
Another 10,000 servicemen will make up an emergency reserve stock under the direct control of the Chief Inspector of the Bundeswehr. Each of the three corps will include units of the ground, air force, naval forces, joint support forces and medical and sanitary service.
In connection with the above, heavy armored vehicles and artillery systems will no longer be purchased for the armament of the army. This is due to the increased mobility requirements for the rapid reaction forces. At the same time, Germany will buy 180 Eurofighter Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft.
CHRONOLOGICAL CHART
VIII-II centuries. BC e. - Jastorfsky archaeological culture, the main ethnic component of which was the ancient Germans.
OK. 350 BC e. - the first mention in ancient sources of the Germanic tribal ethnonym "Tutons" ("Teutons").
120-101 AD BC e. - the invasion of the Roman Empire by the Cimbri, Teutons, Ambrons, Gouds - the first clash between the Romans and the Germans.
OK. 70 BC e. - the creation of an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Suev Ariovistom.
59 BC e. - the Roman Senate grants the title of "ruler and friend", that is, the political ally of Rome, to the head of the Suevian-Garuda tribal union Ariovistus, and calls him rex Germanorum.
58 BC e. - Gaius Julius Caesar defeated the Germans in Gaul.
15 BC e. - the foundation of the Roman military camp Augusta Vindelicorun (modern Augsburg).
8 BC e. - the emergence of military-tribal unions: Marcomanni and Suebi, led by Marobod in Bohemia; the Cherusskians and Chavs, led by Arminius, in the lands between the Weser and the Elbe.
9 AD e. - the defeat of the Cherussko-Hava alliance of the Romans in the Teutoburg Forest.
17 AD e. - a war between two Germanic tribal unions led by Arminius and Marobod.
1st century n. e. - the foundation of Roman colonies in the Rhine basin Colonia Agrippina (modern Cologne) and Aquae Grani (modern Aachen).
1st-4th centuries n. e. - Lubsov culture - the archaeological culture of the Germans of the era of the Great Migration of Nations.
98 AD e. - "On the origin and residence of the Germans" ("Germany") Cornelius Tacitus.
OK. 150 - the first mention of the Saxons by Claudius Ptolemy.
166-180 AD - Marcomannic Wars.
180 - peace treaty between the Roman emperor Commodus and the Marcomanni and Quadi.
Con. II - beg. 3rd century - formation of a union of the Alamanni in the interfluve of the Danube, Main and Rhine.
213 - the defeat of the Alamanni by the Roman emperor Caracalla.
Per in. floor. 3rd century - the formation of military-tribal unions of the Franks, Alamanni and Goths.
242.257 - the first Frankish raids on the Roman Empire.
248,251,255 AD - Invasion of the Visigoths and Ostrogoths in the Roman Empire.
269 - the defeat of the Gothic alliance by the Romans near the city of Naissus.
297 - conclusion of an agreement between the Roman Empire and a part of the Goths on their status as federates.
323 - Goths invade Thrace and Moesia.
355 - the capture of the Roman colony of Agrippina by the Franks.
357 - Emperor Julian defeated the Franks and Alemanni at Argentorate (modern Strasbourg).
361 - proclamation in Lutetia (modern Paris) of the usurper Julian as Roman Augustus according to the German custom - raising on a shield.
OK. 341 - baptism ready according to the Arian rite.
375 - the invasion of the Huns in South-Eastern Europe, the resettlement of the Visigoths to the territory of the Roman Empire as federates.
378 - defeat of the Roman army near Andrianople by the Visigoths.
382 - conclusion of an agreement between the Roman Empire and the Visigoths.
OK. 400 - the first mention of the Thuringians.
401 - the invasion of the Visigoths led by Alaric into Italy.
405-406 - breakthrough of Limes by Vandals, Alans and Suebi and their invasion of the territory of the Western Roman Empire.
409 - the capture of the Moselle basin by the Franks, the upper reaches of the Rhine valley by the Burgundians, the Roman province of Rezia II by the Alamanni.
410 - the capture of Rome by the Visigoths.
418 - formation by the Visigoths of the first barbarian kingdom centered in Toulouse.
431 - the defeat of the Franks by Aetius and their settlement as federates on the left bank of the Rhine.
436 Settlement of the Salic Franks in the lower Rhine as federates.
451 - Battle of the Catalaunian Fields.
476 - Fall of the Western Roman Empire.
OK. 479 - Frankish conquest of Trier and the Moselle valley.
482-511 - The reign of Clovis, king of the Franks.
486 - the conquest of the state of Siagri by the Franks, the foundation of the Frankish kingdom.
486-751 - the reign of the Merovingian dynasty in the Frankish state.
491-492 - the conquest of the left-Rhein Thuringians by the Salic Franks.
493 - Ostrogoths conquer Italy.
496 - inclusion of part of the Alamanni lands into the Frankish kingdom.
496/498 - baptism of Clovis and 300 warriors.
OK. 500 - the folding of the early state formation of the Thuringians in the Unstrut-Saale basin (the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Weimar and Erfurt).
Beginning 6th century - the establishment by the Franks of the payment of annual tribute from the Saxons.
6th century - the formation of ethnic communities of the Germans (Alamanni, Bavarians, etc.).
507 - the defeat of the Visigoths and the conquest of Aquitaine by the Franks.
508 - the arrival of the Byzantine embassy in Tours and the presentation of signs of royal dignity and the consular title to Clovis.
511 - proclamation at the synod in Orleans of the Merovingian "state" church.
511 - the division of the Frankish kingdom between the sons of Clovis into four parts, among which Austrasia stands out, which included the Germanic lands beyond the Rhine.
531-534 - the inclusion of Thuringia in the Frankish kingdom.
537 - creation of a dukat (border district) on the territory of Alamannia and Bavaria.
537 - Ostrogoths hand over Provence and Southern Rezia to the Franks.
539 - Theudebert of Austrasia begins minting a gold coin with his own image.
558-561 - temporary unification of the Frankish state by Chlothar I.
568 - conquest of Italy by the Lombards.
585-602 - missionary work of St. Columban in the Frankish state.
613 - founding by the "Apostle of Alamannia" St. Gallus of the Saint-Gallen monastery.
614 - Chlothar II publishes the Edict of Paris.
631 - the defeat of the Franks from the Slavic principality of Samo, the termination of the payment of tribute by the Saxons and the receipt of turi ngam and independence.
687 - establishment of the power of Pepin II of Gerestal over the entire Frankish kingdom.
OK. 716 - subjugation of Franconia and Thuringia by Karl Martell.
717-754 - activities of St. Boniface ("Apostle of Germany") to spread and strengthen Christianity in the German lands.
732 - Charles Martel's victory over the Arabs at Poitiers.
739 - establishment in Regensburg of St. Boniface bishopric and Benedictine abbey.
742-746 - suppression of rebellions by Carloman and Pepin in Alamannia, Bavaria, Thuringia.
OK. 744 Founding of the Fulda Monastery.
745 - approval by the church council of the system of the state church, headed by the metropolis in Cologne.
751-843 - rule of the Carolingian dynasty in the Frankish Empire
768-814 - reign of Charlemagne
768-798 - construction of the Palace Chapel of Charlemagne in Aachen (architect Odo from Metz)
772-804 - Conquest of the Saxons by Charlemagne
782 edition of the Capitulary for Saxon Affairs (Saxon Capitulary).
785 - formation of the archbishop's residence in Cologne
794 - the first mention of Frankfurt am Main
End of VIII - beginning. 9th century - "Carolingian Revival"
End of VIII - beginning. 9th century - construction of the imperial palatine in Aachen
800 Charlemagne proclaimed emperor
OK. 810 - the foundation of the burg, named in the sources of 834 as Hamburg
817 - edition of the "Organization of the Empire" by Louis I the Pious
OK. 822 - founding of the New Corvey Monastery on the Weser
834 Establishment of an archbishopric in Hamburg
841 Battle of Fontenoy-en-Puis between the sons of Louis I the Pious
842 - the conclusion of the Strasbourg oath between Charles the Bald and Ludwig (Louis) the German.
843 - Verdun division of the Carolingian Empire between Charles the Bald, Ludwig the German and Lothar Establishment of the East Frankish Kingdom (Germany).
843-911 - Carolingian rule in the East Frankish Kingdom (Germany)
844 - translation into Old Saxon of the "Book of Genesis" in the Fulda Monastery.
848 Establishment of an archbishopric in Bremen
899 - the beginning of the Hungarian raids on the German lands
910 - Foundation of the Cluniac monastery in Burgundy, which became the center of the Cluniac movement.
911 - Duke of Franconia Conrad was elected king of Germany at a congress in Forchheim.
915 Battle of Ehresburg between Franks from Franconia and Saxons
919-1024 - the reign of the Saxon (Ottonian) dynasty in Germany.
919-936 - the reign of Henry I Ptitselov "King of Germany.
925 - accession of Lorraine to Germany.
928-929 - the conquest of the Polabian Slavs by Henry I.
936-973 - reign of Otto I.
Second floor. 10th century - Ottonian Revival.
955 - the defeat of the Hungarians by Otto I on the river. Lech near Augsburg.
962 - Proclamation of the German "Roman Empire".
973-980 - internecine struggle in Germany.
982-983 - the uprising of the Polabian Slavs and the destruction of Hamburg.
985-987 - Campaigns of German troops against the Polabian Slavs in alliance with the Czech and Polish princes.
991-997 - Campaigns of the German troops against the Lyutichs.
1003-1018 - wars of Henry II with the Polish king Bolesław the Brave.
1004,1013,1021-1022 - Campaigns of Henry II in Italy.
1024-1125 - the rule of the Franconian (Salic) dynasty in Germany.
1026-1029,1037-1038 - Campaigns of Conrad II in Italy.
1031 - campaign of Conrad II to Hungary.
1033 - Polish king Mieczysław II takes a vassal oath to Konrad II.
1034 - the annexation of Burgundy (the Kingdom of Arelat) and the final consolidation of the name "Roman" for the German Empire.
1037 - Decree of Conrad II "On Benefits in the Kingdom of Italy" ("Pavia Constitution").
1040-1041 - Bringing the vassal oath by the Czech Republic and Poland and the annexation of part of the Moravian lands to Germany.
1044 Henry III divided Lorraine into two parts.
1044 - the defeat of Henry III of the Hungarian troops near Menfe.
1050 - the first mention of Nuremberg.
1056-1106 - Reign of Henry IV, German Emperor.
1069 - campaign of Henry IV against the Luticians and suppression of the uprising in Thuringia.
1073-1075 - Saxon uprising.
OK. 1075 - writing by Adam of Bremen "The Acts of the Pontiffs of the Hamburg Church".
1075 - publication by Gregory VII of the Dictate of the Popes.
1076-1122 - the struggle for investment.
1076 - Council of German bishops in Worms, who supported Henry IV and refused to take the oath to Pope Gregory VII.
1076 - excommunication of Henry IV.
1076 - appeal of Pope Gregory VII to the vassals of Henry IV with a proposal not to observe the oath to the emperor.
1077 - "walking to Canossa" by Henry IV.
1077 - Deposition of Henry IV by the German nobility and election of Duke Rudolf of Swabia as king.
1080 - Death of Rudolf of Swabia, second excommunication of Henry IV.
1081-1084 - Campaign of Henry IV in Italy.
1081 - Count Herman of Luxembourg is elected king by the Saxon nobility.
1083 Henry IV captures Rome.
1084 - Proclamation of Henry IV as emperor.
1084-1090 - pacification of Germany by Henry IV.
1096-1099 - The First Crusade.
1103 - proclamation by Henry IV of a universal zemstvo peace.
1104-1106 - rebellion against the emperor of the Bavarian nobility, led by Henry V.
1110-1111 - the campaign of Henry V in Italy, the proclamation of his emperor.
1122 Concordat of Worms.
1138-1254 - the reign of the Hohenstaufen (Staufen) dynasty.
Between 1143 and 1146 - the writing of the "Chronicle" by Otto of Freising.
1147-1149 - The Second Crusade.
1150 Margraviate of Brandenburg formed.
1152-1190 - the reign of Frederick I Barbarossa.
1154-1155, 1158-1162, 1163-1164, 1166-1168, 1174-1178 - Campaigns of Frederick I Barbarossa in Italy.
1157 - the final assignment of the name "Holy Empire" to the German Empire.
1158 - decision of the Roncal Reichstag to transfer the emperor's supreme power over Italian cities.
1158 - Frederick I Barbarossa grants city rights to Munich.
1162 - Destruction of Milan by Frederick I Barbarossa.
1167 Lombard League of Cities formed.
1170-1190 - construction of the imperial palatine in Gelnhausen.
1176 - defeat of the troops of Frederick I Barbarossa at Legnano.
1177 - conclusion of peace between Frederick I Barbarossa and Pope Alexander III.
1180 - deprivation of the Duke of Bavaria and Saxony Henry the Lion of all possessions and his expulsion from Germany.
1183 Peace is concluded between Frederick I Barbarossa and the Lombard League.
1189-1192 - The Third Crusade.
1198 - formation of the Teutonic Order in Palestine.
OK. 1200 - the first dated case of the city carnival.
1201 - the foundation of Riga, the military-political center of Livonia.
1202 - formation of the Order of the Swordsmen and the beginning of aggressive campaigns in the Baltic states.
Beginning 13th century - the foundation of the fishing settlement of Berlin on the river. Spree.
1212-1250 - the reign of Friedrich II Staufen.
1216 - the first mention of Dresden.
1220 - coronation of Frederick II Staufen as emperor, granting privileges to the German clergy.
1226 - the transfer of the Teutonic Order from Palestine to the Baltic states and the beginning of the conquest of the Prussians.
1228-1229 - The Fourth Crusade, led by Frederick II Staufen.
1232 - deprivation of German cities of rights and liberties by the Reichstag in Ravenna.
1237 - the campaign of Friedrich II Staufen in Italy, the defeat of the troops of the Lombard League at Kortenovo.
1237 - unification of the Order of the Sword and the Teutonic Order into the Livonian Order.
1237 - compilation of the Saxon Mirror.
OK. 1240-1273 - the construction of the late Gothic church Sebalduskirche in Nuremberg.
1241 - the conclusion of an agreement between Lübeck and Hamburg on the joint protection of trade routes in the Baltic.
1241 - the defeat of the united army of Czechs, Poles and German knights by the Mongols at Liegnitz.
1242 - the defeat of the Livonian Order in the battle on Lake Peipus.
1248-1560 - construction of the Cologne Dome Cathedral (completed in 1842-1880).
1254 - assignment of the name "Holy Roman Empire" to the German Empire.
1254 Creation of a union of Rhine towns.
1256 - formation of the union of the coastal cities of Lübeck, Hamburg, Lüneburn, Wismar, Rostock, which became the basis of the future Great Hansa.
1273-1291 - Rule of Rudolph I of Habsburg.
1282 - the inclusion of Austria in the dominal possessions of the Habsburgs.
1288 - the final victory of the inhabitants of Cologne over their lord, Cologne receiving the status of a free imperial city.
1291 - Formation of the Swiss Union.
1304-1454 - Construction of the Gothic Cathedral of St. Stephen in Vienna.
1307 - formation of the city of Berlin.
1336-1339 Peasant uprising in southeast Germany.
1347-1378 - reign of Charles IV of Luxembourg.
1356 - "Golden Bull" of Charles IV of Luxembourg.
1356 - obtaining by the union of coastal German cities the name "German Hansa", or "Great Hansa".
1365 - Foundation of the University of Vienna.
1367-1370 - War of the Great Hansa against Denmark.
1370 - Peace of Stralsund between the Great Hansa and Denmark.
1381 - union of the Swabian and Rhine unions of cities.
1386 Heidelberg University founded.
1387-1389 - "urban" war of the German aristocracy against free cities.
1388 - Foundation of the University of Cologne.
The end of the XIV - XV century. - the New Piety movement in Germany.
1409 - Foundation of the University of Leipzig.
1410 - Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg).
1420-1431 - participation of German knights led by Emperor Sigismund I of Luxembourg in the crusades against the Czech Hussites.
1440-1493 - the reign of Friedrich III of Habsburg.
1431 - creation of the altar of St. Magdalene in the Tiefenbronn Church in Baden by the German painter L. Moser.
1439-1445 - peasant uprising "Bashmak" in South-West Germany.
Mid 15th century - the invention of printing by J. Gutenberg.
1466 - The Teutonic Order becomes a vassal of Poland.
1466-1492 - construction of the late Gothic Frauenkirche church in Munich.
1472 - foundation of the university in Ingolstadt (in 1826 moved to Munich).
1476 - peasant movement led by G. Beheim.
1480s - the beginning of the use of a new name for the empire - "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation".
1485 - division of the unified Saxon electorate (the Saxon possessions of the Wettins) into the Saxon electorate and the Duchy of Saxony.
1485 - capture of Austria by the Hungarian king Matthias Hunyadi.
OK. 1486 - Creation of the first landsknecht corps.
1488 - Formation of the Swabian League.
1489 - final constitution of the Reichstag.
1491 - Reconquest of Austria from the Hungarians by Archduke Maximilian.
1493-1519 - the reign of Maximilian I of Habsburg.
1494 - publication of the poem "The Ship of Fools" by S. Brant.
1495.1500 - Decisions of the Worms and Augsburg Reichstags on the implementation of imperial reforms.
OK. 1497-1511 - creation by A. Durer of the cycle of engravings "Great Passions".
OK. 1498 - A. Dürer created a series of woodcuts "Apocalypse".
1501-1504 - Creation of the "Holy Blood" altar in the Jacobskirche Church (Rothenburg) by the German sculptor T. Riemenschneider.
1502 - "Shoe" conspiracy in the Speyer bishopric.
1502 - Foundation of the University of Wittenberg.
1505 - unification of Bavaria (capital - Munich).
1508-1519 - creation of bronze figurative decorations of the shrine of St. Sebald Church of the Sebalduskirche in Nuremberg by German masters G. Fischer the Younger and P. Fischer the Younger.
1509 - Erasmus of Rotterdam's "Eulogy of Stupidity" ("Praise of Stupidity") published.
1512-1515 - painting of the Isenheim altar by M. Nithardt (Grunewald).
1514 - publication of "Letters of Famous People" by I. Reuchlin.
1514 - creation of the engraving "Melancholia" by A. Dürer.
1515 - publication of the bull of Pope Leo X on the distribution of indulgences in the territory of Mainz, Magdeburg and Brandenburg.
1515.1517 - publication of the 1st and 2nd parts of the "Letters of dark people" Erfurt humanists.
1517, October 18 - publication by Pope Leo X of a bull on the sale of indulgences in order to "assist in the construction of the church of St. Peter and the salvation of souls.
1517, October 31 - M. Luther's speech with 95 theses against the sale of indulgences. Beginning of the Reformation.
1519 - holding a dispute between M. Luther and J. Eck in Leipzig.
1519-1556 - Reign of Emperor Charles V.
1520 - M. Luther's message "To the Christian nobility of the German nation about the improvement of the Christian state" to Charles V.
1520 - excommunication of M. Luther from the church.
1520-1521 - W. von Hutten's writing of the anti-papal Dialogues.
1521 - formation of the imperial government.
1521 - compilation by the estates of the Reichstag "Complaints of the German nation against the papal throne."
1521 - speech by M. Luther at the Reichstag of Worms.
1521 issuance of the Edict of Worms persecuting Luther and his followers.
1521-1526 - the first war of Charles V with the French king Francis I.
1522 Anabaptist attempt to bring about the Reformation in Wittenberg.
1522 - the beginning of the Reformation in the cities of Southwestern Germany.
1522-1523 - the uprising of the knights under the leadership of F. von Sikkinghenn.
1522-1532 - the creation by L. Cranach the Elder of a cycle of portraits of M. Luther.
1523 - the release of the first program work by W. Zwingli "67 theses".
1523 - writing a portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam X. Holbein the Younger.
1524 - Edict of Burgos issued by Charles V.
1524-1525 - Peasants' War in Germany.
1524-1526 - creation by X. Holbein the Younger of a series of drawings "Dance of Death".
1525 - Secularization of the Teutonic Order, proclamation of the secular Duchy of Prussia.
1526 - decision of the Speyer Reichstag on the recognition of the right to the existence of the Reformation doctrine and the implementation of the Reformation.
1526 - first visitations in Saxony.
1526 - the inclusion of the Czech Republic and Hungary into the possessions of the Austrian Habsburgs.
1526-1527 - Reformation in the Principality of Lüneburg.
1526-1529 - the second war of Charles V with the French king Francis I.
1528 - Reformation in the Principality of Hesse.
1528 - preparation of the "Saxon School Plan" by F. Melanchthon.
1529 Protest by 5 princes and 14 cities against the attempts of Charles V and the Catholics to reverse the decision of the Speyer Reichstag (1526).
1529 - publication of the "Small Catechism" by M. Luther.
1530 - "The Augsburg Confession of Faith" - a code of Lutheran theology by F. Melanchthon.
1531 - Zwingli's Exposition of the Christian Faith was published.
1531 - Creation of the Schmalkaldic Union of Protestants.
1532 - the conclusion by Charles V of the Nuremberg religious peace with the participants of the Schmalkalden Union.
1534 - Reformation in the principalities of Württemberg, Anhalt, the beginning of the Reformation in Pomerania.
1534-1535 - Münster commune.
1536 - the approval of Lutheranism in the cities of Southwestern Germany on the basis of the "Wittenberg consent" by F. Melanchthon.
1536 - the first edition of "Instruction in the Christian Faith" by J. Calvin.
1536-1538 - the third war of Charles V with the French king Francis I.
1538-1539 - Reformation in the electorate of Brandenburg.
1538 - the decision of the Brandenburg Landtag on the prohibition of peasants to leave the land without the permission of the masters.
1539 - Reformation in the Duchy of Saxony.
1542-1544 - the fourth war of Charles V with the French king Francis I.
1545-1563 - Cathedral of Trent.
1546-1647 - Schmalkaldic War. Defeat of the Protestants.
1548 - "interim" treaty.
1548 - Creation of the first zemstvo government in Saxony.
1552 Protestant alliance with France. French capture of Metz, Verdun, Tul.
1552 - Protestant princes war against the emperor. Treaty of Passau.
1554 - publication in German of the "Bavarian Chronicle" by I. Aventin.
1553 - Creation of the first commodity exchanges in Cologne and Hamburg.
1555 - Religious peace of Augsburg.
1559 - publication of the final version of "Instruction in the Christian Faith" by J. Calvin.
1559-1574 - writing "Magdeburg centuries".
1561-1663 - the transition to Calvinism of the Palatinate Elector Frederick III.
1563 Compilation of the Calvinist "Heidelberg Catechism".
1563 - compilation of the Catholic "Trentent Catechism".
1570s - the beginning of the transition to Calvinism of small German principalities.
1576-1612 - Rule of Rudolph II of Habsburg.
1577 - development by the Lutherans of the "formula of consent" (concordia).
1583 - prevention of the secularization of the electorate of Cologne by the Bavarian Duke Albrecht V and the implementation of the re-Catholicization there.
1607 - occupation of the imperial city of Donauwert by the Bavarian Duke Maximilian I.
1608 - Creation of the Evangelical Union.
1609 - Creation of the Catholic League.
1614 - the transition to Calvinism of the Elector of Brandenburg and his courtiers.
1618 Unification of Brandenburg and Prussia.
1618 Establishment of the first deposit bank in Hamburg.
1618-1648 - Thirty Years' War.
1618-1624 - Czech-Palatinate period of the Thirty Years' War.
1619 - the election of the head of the Evangelical Union, Frederick of the Palatinate, as the Czech king.
1619-1637 - reign of Ferdinand II.
1620 - victory of the imperial troops over the Czech Protestants at Bela Hora.
1623 - deprivation of Friedrich of the Palatinate of the Electoral title and its transfer to Maximilian of Bavaria.
1625-1629 - Danish-Low Saxon period of the Thirty Years' War.
1629 Restorative Edict.
1630-1634 - Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
1631 - victory of the Swedish army over the imperial at Breitenfeld.
1632 - victory of the Swedish army over the imperial at Lütsen.
1634 - victory of the imperial army over the Swedish at Nördlingen.
1635 Peace of Prague between the empire and Saxon elector Johann George I
1635 - entry into the Thirty Years' War of England and Holland.
1635-1648 - Swedish-French period of the Thirty Years' War.
1646 - withdrawal from the war of Spain, the conclusion of peace between Spain and France.
1640-1688 - the reign of the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm in Brandenburg.
1656 - publication of the book "The German Princely State" by V. L. Seckendorf.
1657 - termination of Prussia's vassal dependence on the Commonwealth and the final accession of Prussia to Brandenburg.
1658-1705 - The reign of Leopold I of Habsburg.
1658-1668 - formation and activities of the Confederation of the Rhine.
1663 - Acquisition of permanent status by the Reichstag (in Regensburg).
1663-1664 - the war of Austria, the emperor and the Confederation of the Rhine with the Ottoman Empire.
1663-1728 - construction of the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich.
1664 French capture of Erfurt in the archbishopric of Mainz.
1667 - publication of S. Pufendorf's work "On the Status of the German Empire".
1668 - Leopold I signed a secret agreement with Louis XIV on neutrality in the Spanish-French conflict and the further division of the Spanish inheritance.
1670 - Anti-Habsburg uprising in Hungary.
1672 - the execution of the head of the noble opposition of Prussia, K. L. Kalkstein.
1678-1679 - Nimwegen peace treaties between France, the emperor and a number of German principalities.
1679 - the beginning of the policy of reuniting (occupation) of the German principalities by France.
1681 - Occupation of Strasbourg by the French.
1681 - adoption by the Reichstag of the "Defensive Charter".
1682-1699 - Austrian war with the Ottoman Empire.
1683 - the siege of Vienna by the Turks. The defeat of the Turks by the Polish and imperial armies.
1684 - formation of the Holy League, led by Leopold I.
1684 - French capture of Luxembourg.
1684 - conclusion of the Treaty of Regensburg.
1685 - "Potsdam Edict" of the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm.
1686 - Creation of the League of Augsburg.
1688-1697 - War of France with the League of Augsburg (War of the Palatinate Succession).
1688-1713 - the reign of the Elector of Brandenburg Frederick III, from 1701 - the first Prussian king Frederick I.
1692 - obtaining the electoral status of Hanover.
1694 - opening of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
1695-1706 - Construction of the Zeughaus in Berlin.
1695-1749 - creation of the Schönbrunn palace and park complex (architects F. von Erlach, N. Pacassi).
1696-1703 - the creation by A. Schluter of the equestrian monument to the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm.
1697 Peace of Ryswick.
1697 - the erection of the Saxon elector Frederick Augustus the Strong to the throne of the Commonwealth.
1698-1706 - the creation by A. Schluter of the courtyard and interiors of the City Palace in Berlin.
1701 - Proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia, coronation of Frederick I in Konigsberg.
1701-1714 - War of the Spanish Succession.
1705 - Foundation of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin.
1710 Founding of a porcelain manufactory in Meissen.
1711-1740 - Reign of Emperor Charles VI Joseph Franz.
1711-1722 - the creation by M. D. Pöppelman of the Zwinger Palace Ensemble in Dresden.
1713 - Peace of Utrecht.
1713 - adoption in Austria of the Pragmatic sanction of succession.
1713-1716, 1721-1722 - construction of I. L. Hildebrand of the Lower and Upper Belvedere in Vienna.
1713-1740 - the reign of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I.
1714 - entry of Prussia into the Northern War.
1714 - Treaty of Rastatt.
September 7, 1714 - approval by the Baden Congress of German States of the terms of the Rastatt peace treaty.
1715 - anti-Swedish alliance treaty between Hanover and Russia.
1715-1718 - War of the Holy Roman Empire against Turkey.
1718 - Pozharevatsky peace treaties.
1719-1753 - the construction of the episcopal residence in Würzburg by IB Neumann.
1720 - Treaty of Stockholm between Prussia and Sweden, according to which Stettin and Western Pomerania went to Prussia.
1723 - creation of the General Directorate in Prussia.
1731 - adoption of the imperial "Craft Regulations".
1737 - adoption of the imperial "Coin Charter".
1740-1786 - reign of Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia.
1740-1792 - the period of Enlightened absolutism in Germany.
1740-1748 - War of the Austrian Succession.
1740-1742 - First Silesian War between Prussia and Austria.
1741-1743 - the construction of the Opera House in Berlin by G. V. von Knobelsdorff.
1742 - Treaty of Berlin between Prussia and Austria.
1744-1745 - The Second Silesian War between Prussia and Austria.
1745 Peace of Dresden between Prussia and Austria.
1745-1762 - the construction of the Sanssouci Palace and Park Ensemble in Potsdam by GW von Knobelsdorff.
1745-1765 - reign of Emperor Franz I Stephen.
1748 Peace of Aachen following the War of the Austrian Succession.
1756, January 16 - the conclusion of the Whitehall (Westminster) union treaty between England and Prussia.
1756, 1758 - Versailles allied treaties, which formalized the anti-Prussian coalition consisting of France, Austria and Russia.
1756-1763 - Seven Years' War (Third Silesian War).
1757 - Frederick II's victory over French troops at Rosbach. The defeat of the Austrians by the army of Frederick II at Leuthen.
1763 - adoption of the Prussian school charter.
1765-1790 - reign of Emperor Joseph II.
1773 - the release of the drama Goetz von Berlichingen by J. W. Goethe.
1774 - the creation of I. B. Bazedov "Philanthropium" in Dessau.
1774 - publication of the novel by I. W. Goethe "The Suffering of Young Werther".
1774-1830 - writing and publishing in separate parts of the tragedy "Faust" by I. V. Goethe.
last quarter of the 18th century - "Storm and Drang" movement.
1778-1779 - War of the Bavarian Succession.
1781 - publication of I. Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.
1786 - premiere in Vienna of W. A. Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro".
1787 - A. Kaufman, a representative of German classicism, painted a portrait of I. V. Goethe.
1787 - premiere of W. A. Mozart's opera The Punished Libertine, or Don Giovanni.
1788 - the conclusion of the Anglo-Prussian alliance, which meant the actual exit of Prussia from the Empire.
1788-1791 - construction of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin by K. G. Langhans.
1789 - the beginning of the Great French bourgeois revolution.
1790-1792 - The reign of Leopold II of Habsburg.
1791 - premiere of W. A. Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.
1792 - the conclusion of the Austro-Prussian anti-French treaty.
1792-1797 - the first anti-French coalition.
1795 - publication of I. Kant's work "On Eternal Peace".
1797-1840 - the reign of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm III.
1797 Treaty of Campoformia.
1798-1801 - participation of Austria in the second anti-French coalition.
1801 - the creation of the oratorio "The Seasons" by F. J. Haydn.
1801 - writing by L. van Beethoven of the sonata in C-sharp minor (the so-called "Lunar").
1803 - writing by L. van Beethoven of the "Kreutzer Sonata".
1804 - writing by L. van Beethoven of the 3rd symphony ("Heroic").
1805 - participation of Austria in the third anti-French coalition.
August 6, 1806 - the addition of the imperial crown by Franz II and the cessation of the existence of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation.
1806-1807 - Participation of Prussia in the fourth anti-French coalition.
1807 - "October Edict" in Prussia on the abolition of the personal dependence of the peasants.
1807 - publication of the Phenomenology of Spirit by G.W.F. Hegel.
1807 - Napoleon's approval of the constitution of Westphalia.
1808 - the emergence of a secret anti-French union Tugendbund in Koenigsberg.
1808 - the abolition of the personal dependence of the peasants in Berg.
1808 - adoption of the Bavarian constitution.
1808 - urban self-government reform in Prussia.
1809 - participation of Austria in the fifth anti-French coalition.
1809 - complete abolition of the personal dependence of the peasants in Bavaria.
1810 - Opening of the University of Berlin.
1810-1811 - adoption of laws on freedom of industrial activity in Prussia.
1811 - complete abolition of the personal dependence of the peasants in Hesse.
1811-1812 - Prussian laws on the redemption of peasant duties.
1812 - participation of the military contingent of the German states (Saxony, Bavaria, Austria, Prussia, etc.) in Napoleon's war against Russia.
1812 - publication of the Science of Logic by G.W.F. Hegel.
1815 - creation of the German Confederation.
1815 - Creation of the first German student corporation in Jena, which marked the beginning of the Bursch movement.
1816-1860 - construction by the architect L. von Klenze of museums in Munich (Glyptothek, Alte Pinakothek and Propylaea).
1817, October 18-19 - proclamation of a unified German student organization at a student holiday in Wartburg.
1818 - adoption of the Customs Law in Prussia.
1818-1821 - construction of Drama Theater in Berlin by K. F. Schinkel.
1819 Carlsbad Decisions.
1819 - adoption of the constitution in Württemberg.
1822 - the appearance of the first steamboat on the Rhine.
1823-1824 - Creation of provincial Landtags in Prussia.
1824 - creation of the 9th symphony by L. van Beethoven.
1826 - creation of the Prussian-Rhine Shipping Society.
1827 - publication of the "Book of Songs" by G. Heine.
1830 - revolutions in France and Belgium, national liberation movements in Italy and Poland.
1830-1834 - the introduction of constitutions in Saxony, the electorate of Hesse, Braunschweig, Hanover.
1830s - 1840s - the emergence of political parties in Germany.
1832, May - Hambach "holiday" - a mass action of the opposition from various German states.
1833 - founding by G. Bruchner of the "Society of Human Rights" in Hesse.
1835 - Construction of the first Nuremberg-Fürth railway in Germany.
1837 - Abolition of the constitution in Hanover.
November 18, 1837 - professors of the University of Göttingen (the Göttingen Seven) speak out against the abolition of the Hanoverian constitution.
1838 - Foundation of the "Berlin Political Yearbook" - the ideological center of the Catholic political movement in Germany.
1840-1861 - the reign of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV.
1841 - Creation of the "Kamphausen Society" in Cologne.
1841 - creation of the opera "The Flying Dutchman" by V. R. Wagner.
1843 - Prussian law on the formation of joint-stock companies in the steamship and railway business.
1845-1847 - agrarian crisis in the German states.
1845-1847 - the creation of the opera "Lohengrin" by V. R. Wagner.
1847 - industrial crisis in the German states.
1847, September - the development of a program for the democratic movement at a meeting in Offenburg (Baden).
1847-1849 - construction of the building of the Art Gallery in Dresden by G. Semper.
1848-1849 - revolutions in European states.
1848, May 18 - the beginning of the work of the German National Assembly in Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt Assembly).
1848-1850 - Danish-Prussian war.
October 27, 1848 - adoption by the Frankfurt National Assembly of a project to create an all-German union of states.
November 2, 1848 - Abdication of the throne by Ferdinand I and accession to the throne by Franz Joseph I.
1848 December 5 - Dissolution of the National Assembly in Prussia. Publication of a new version of the constitution.
April 28, 1849 - Dissolution of the Prussian National Assembly and refusal of Friedrich Wilhelm IV to head the imperial state.
May 4, 1849 - Decree of the Frankfurt National Assembly to hold elections to the lower house of the Reichstag.
1849, May-July - uprisings in support of the constitution in the cities of Germany and their suppression by Prussian troops.
1850 - agrarian reform in Prussia.
1850 - Creation of the "Union of the Four Kingdoms" (Bavaria, Württemberg, Hannover, Saxony).
1850 - publication of a new constitution in Prussia.
November 29, 1850 - the signing of the "Olmutz points" on the right of Austria to send troops to the electorate of Hesse.
1850 December - Dresden conference of representatives of the German states on the restoration and reform of the German Confederation.
1852 - publication of a new constitution in the electorate of Hesse.
1852 - publication of the academic "Dictionary of the German Language".
1852-1874 - creation of V, -R. Wagner's opera tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen.
1854 - the release of the law of the German Union on the press, the revival of censorship.
1857-1859 - the creation of the opera "Tristan and Isolde" by V. R. Wagner.
1859 - Austro-Italian-French War.
1859 September - founding congress of the German National Confederation in Frankfurt am Main.
1861-1888 - the reign of the Prussian King Wilhelm I.
1861-1869 - Construction of the Vienna Opera.
1861 - adoption of the constitution in Austria.
1861 - Formation of the Progressive Party in Prussia.
1862 - The beginning of the publication of the series "Historical Monuments of Germany".
1862-1866 - constitutional conflict in Prussia.
1864 - Prussian and Austrian war with Denmark.
1866 - Austro-Prussian War.
1866 August 23 - Treaty of Prague between Prussia and Austria Abolition of the German Confederation.
1867 - Formation of the North German Confederation.
1867 - appointment of O. von Bismarck as Chancellor of the North German Union.
1867 Transformation of Austria into Austria-Hungary.
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HISTORY OF GERMANY
BIRTH
AND
DEVELOPMENT
GERMAN STATE
Written German history began: in 9 AD. e. In that year, Arminius, prince of the German Cherusci tribe, 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 following centuries, either peacefully or by force, the area of German settlements 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 the striped strip" was undertaken at the expense of the small principalities: on the basis of the 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 (where this is associated with such names as Stein, Hardenberg, Scharnhorst, W. Humboldt), reforms began to be carried out that were supposed to finally 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 denied 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 stage. 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 bitter, 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 give 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, until September 1918 insisted on a "victorious peace", 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 a lot of weight 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, over four thousand members of the Resistance were executed, representatives of all walks of life. 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 happened that at the Potsdam Conference (from 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 Deutsche Mark in the West (currency reform on June 20, 1948) served as an excuse for Stalin to attempt 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 demonstration of its strength, contributed to the development of cooperation with the occupying authorities.
Founding of the Federal Republic of Germany
Germany has been receiving foreign aid from America since 1946. But only the program to combat "hunger, poverty, despair and chaos" (the 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 over by the "Social Market Economy" model (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 naturally 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 grew 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 detente process 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 Ostpolitik" 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 the Nazi 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 Bonn was recognized as representative authority over West Berlin. 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 responded 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. 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 requirement 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 tightening 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 in 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 "working people" 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 elimination 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 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, filled with hope, noted "a break in Europe's stagnancy that had developed over decades." 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 led to 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 the 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 "will 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 picked up the topic, first of all, the citizens of the GDR themselves must decide what should be its pace and content.
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 the countries neighboring Germany. 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 the strategic benefit, 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 GDR free elections were held in 40 years.The Grand Coalition of the CDU, NSS, DP, SPD and FDP was led by Lothar de Mezieret. that there was no longer an economic basis for the continued existence of the GDR as an independent state, 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. Considering 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 to the aid 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 mark 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 noticeable 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 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
The emergence of the German state - the territory of Germany in the YI - YIII centuries. was part of the Frankish state. With the collapse of the Carolingian empire (843), the territory of Germany became part of the East Frankish kingdom, which marked the beginning of the state isolation of the German regions;
The completion of the formation of an independent German early feudal state occurred after the election in 919 of the German king of the Saxon duke Henry I, the founder of the Saxon dynasty;
Initially, Germany included four tribal duchies (Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Allemania) and Bavaria; later Lorraine and Frisia (Friesland - French, Italian and Slavic lands) were annexed.
The periodization of the history of the German feudal state is a period of a relatively unified early feudal state (X - XII centuries) and a period of feudal fragmentation (XIII - early XIX centuries).
During the period of the early feudal state in Germany, there was an increase in feudal agriculture, the mass of peasants was involved in personal and land dependence on feudal lords - owners. However, this process proceeded in comparison with other European countries slowly and unevenly;
Until the end of the XI century. Germany was a relatively unified state entity, and the royal power had considerable power. The king also relied on the support of the church, and the episcopate became his main support;
The early feudal system of the judicial and administrative structure was preserved in one form or another, divided into counties and hundreds;
There was a nationwide military organization with compulsory military service for all free people and military service for all vassals in favor of the king;
By the end of the XI century. the entire population of Germany was drawn into feudal relations, an intensive growth of cities began - both from old Roman fortifications and from new craft and trading settlements;
From the middle of the XI century. In Germany, political decentralization has intensified. Large feudal lords, acquiring the entirety of judicial and administrative power, began to create closed possessions. Cities, initially dependent on their lords (bishops, secular feudal lords, the king), achieved liberation from their power, self-government, and personal freedom of citizens.
By the XIII century. Germany's territory has grown significantly. Large independent principalities arose in the east. Commodity-money relations spread in all areas of the economy, guild handicraft production grew. The North German cities, led by Lübeck, united into a large trade union - the Hansa;
From the 13th century territorial fragmentation of the country is growing. The princes are turning into virtually independent sovereigns. Electors (princes - electors), secular and spiritual aristocrats, who had a decisive influence on the election of kings, enjoyed the greatest power;
In the XIII - XIY centuries. Germany finally breaks up into many principalities, counties, baronies and knightly possessions. At the same time, the design of the system of estates and estate representation is being completed.
The peculiarities of the estate structure of Germany were fragmentation and lack of unity throughout the country. Imperial estates (in the empire) - imperial princes, imperial knights and representatives of imperial cities;
Zemsky estates (in the principalities) - the nobles and clergy of the principalities and the townspeople of the princely cities.
The clergy was divided - into higher - bishops, abbots; on the lowest - rural and city priests.
In German cities, property differentiation led to the formation of three distinct groups:
Ø patriciate - the urban elite, which held in its hands all city posts;
Ø the burghers, which consisted of the middle part of the urban population, full-fledged masters and was in opposition to the patriciate;
Ø the urban plebs, who also occupied the opposition in relation to the patriciate; apprentices, day laborers, poor townspeople belonged to him.
The situation of the peasant population in Germany in the XIY century. on the whole, it improved somewhat, since instead of the previous corvée system, the feudal lords introduced new forms of economic organization, which implied the weakening and elimination of personal dependence, but in different regions of the country it was different.
In Saxony, the practice of letting peasants go free without land and giving them allotments for rent spread;
In the south and southwest of Germany, the peasants owned small plots of land, corvée was replaced by cash rent here;
On the colonized eastern lands, the peasants were in the most favorable conditions - they received land allotments, economic independence and personal freedom, paid moderate fixed payments to the feudal lords.
The highest state power in Germany was recognized by the college of electors, who elected the emperor and decided the most important national affairs;
The emperor did not have effective all-imperial executive bodies and all-imperial finances, he did not have a permanent all-imperial army, there was no all-imperial court.
The Reichstag, consisting of three curiae, was the all-German legislative body; the curia of the electors, the curia of the princes and the curia of the imperial cities; the petty nobility and peasantry had no representation in the Reichstag;
The Reichstag was convened by the emperor twice a year. Cases were subject to discussion by curiae and were finally agreed upon at general meetings of all curiae;
The competence of the Reichstag was not precisely defined, it included the following: the establishment of peace between the principalities, the organization of all-imperial military enterprises, questions of war and peace, relations with other states, the imposition of imperial duties, changes in imperial law, territorial changes in the composition of the empire and principalities and etc.
The principalities developed their own local class-representative institutions - Landtags, meetings of local officials, consisting of three chambers and representing the clergy, nobility and townspeople; in some lands these assemblies also included representatives of the free peasantry;
The representatives who sat in the Landtags received instructions from their electors that were of a mandatory nature; if the instructions did not contain instructions on how to resolve a particular issue, the commissioners turned to their voters for them;
The competence of the Landtags included the election of a sovereign in the event of the suppression of the ruling dynasty, the administration of certain functions in the field of foreign policy, some church, police and military affairs. The Landtag was considered the supreme court of the principality until the formation of special courts;
By influencing the formation of the composition of the princely councils or the appointment of senior officials, the Landtags could interfere in the administration of the state.
Cities played a significant role in the life of Germany. The legal status of the city determined the extent of its independence. German cities were of three types:
Ø imperial - direct vassals of the king;
Ø free - enjoying full self-government;
Ø princely - subordinate to the prince in whose principality they were.
By the end of the 10th century more than 80 cities (imperial and some episcopal) received political liberties and were self-governing units;
Legislative power in the cities was exercised by the council, which consisted of commissions for the branches of the urban economy. The executive branch is a magistrate headed by one or more burgomasters. The positions of council members and burgomasters were not paid;
In most cases, city patriciate seized power in cities, arrogated to themselves the right to elect city councils and replace city magistracies, and used this power in their own interests. This caused dissatisfaction with the rest of the urban population, which led in the XIY century. to the uprisings of artisans in a number of cities, in which guilds usually played a leading role and which most often ended in a compromise between the patriciate and the guild elite - artisans were members of the councils or formed a special collegium as part of the former council.
The German judicial system is characterized by the presence of several types of courts:
Ø senior, feudal courts, created in the estates of landowners. Initially, the landowner had the right to judge only his serfs, then his jurisdiction extended to the entire population living in his seigniory;
Ø church courts, the jurisdiction of which extended, on the one hand, to certain categories of people (clergy and some categories of secular persons), on the other hand, to a certain range of cases (cases of marriages, spiritual testaments, etc.);
o city courts. The structure of city courts was different in individual cities. In some cities, the court was conducted by judges and assessors, in others - by the city council. In most cities the judges were chosen by the community;
Ø with the strengthening of princely power, the highest court of the principalities was formed;
England
Period of early feudal monarchy
In the 1st century AD Britain was one of the outlying provinces of the Roman Empire. At the beginning of the 5th century AD Roman rule ended here. The conquest of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons began - the North Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who pushed back the Celtic population (Britons) on the outskirts of the island.
By the end of the VI century. on the territory of Britain, seven early feudal kingdoms were formed (Wessex, Sussex, Kent, Mercia, etc.), which in the 9th century. under the leadership of Wessex united in the Anglo-Saxon state - England.
The main stages in the development of the English feudal state:
Ø the period of the English early feudal monarchy (IX - XI centuries);
Ø period of centralized seigneurial monarchy (XI - XII centuries);
Ø the period of a class-representative monarchy (the second half of the 13th century - the 15th century);
Ø the period of absolute monarchy (the end of the 15th century - the middle of the 17th century);
The main feature of the formation of feudalism among the Anglo-Saxons is the preservation of the freedom of the rural community for a long time.
In the first century after the conquest, the society was based on free peasants - community members (kerls) and noble people (erls). The tribal nobility at first occupied a special position, but was gradually pushed aside by the warriors, on whom the king relied, asserting his power, and to whom he distributed land positions - communal lands along with the peasants who lived on them.
The peasants bore duties in favor of the landowners and became personally dependent on their masters. Those peasants who remained free performed duties in favor of the state.
With the growth of social inequality and the decomposition of the community, the earls turned into large landowners.
By the 11th century thanks to the support of both the royal authorities and the church, which encouraged the development of feudal ownership of land and justified the enslavement of peasants, communal relations were replaced by feudal ones.
In the Anglo-Saxon era, the need for defense in the fight against the raids of the Normans and the need to rally all the forces of the ruling class in order to overcome the resistance of the peasants to enslavement created the prerequisites for the rise and strengthening of royal power;
The royal court became the center of government of the country, and the royal entourage became officials of the state.
Despite the fact that the relationship to the king as a military leader and the principle of elections when replacing the throne were still preserved, the monarch gradually approved:
Ø its right of supreme ownership of the land;
Ø monopoly right to mint coins, duties;
Ø the right to receive in-kind supplies from the entire free population;
Ø the right to military service by the free.
The highest state body was the witanagemot council of the witans, which included the king, the higher clergy, and the secular nobility. The main functions of the Witani council were the election of kings and the highest court.
Local government in England retained the principles of territorial self-government;
The main territorial units of the country in the X century. 32 districts became counties, the centers of which were fortified cities. The most important local matters were discussed twice a year at a county meeting. All free people of the district were to participate in it;
Cities and ports had their own collections, which eventually turned into city and merchant courts. There were also assemblies of villages;
The county was headed by an ealdorman, who was appointed by the king with the consent of the witanagemot from among the representatives of the local nobility and led the assembly of the county, as well as its armed forces;
By the X century. the personal representative of the king - the gref (appointed by the king from the middle stratum of the service nobility), who oversees the timely receipt of taxes and court fines to the treasury, acquires police and judicial powers.
Topic 2. Byzantium
The Byzantine Empire was a centralized state. The emperor was at the head of the state. In his hands was the legislative, executive and judicial power. The emperor managed not only secular, but also church affairs, convened church councils, appointed the highest officials of the church. The church played a very important role in Byzantium. The Patriarch of Constantinople was the second person in the state after the emperor and had a great influence on political life.
According to the teachings of the Byzantine (Orthodox) Church, the emperor received his power from God, his person was considered sacred.
In Byzantium there was no definite order of succession to the throne. Formally, it was believed that the emperor was elected by the senate, the army and "the people." His coronation by the patriarch was envisaged. But very often various factions of the ruling class and the army carried out palace coups and killed emperors in order to put their protege on the throne
Under the emperor, there was a permanent deliberative body, the Senate. He discussed issues of foreign and domestic policy, considering bills, which, after their approval by the emperor, entered into force, appointed senior officials, and administered justice in the most important criminal cases. However, the senate did not play a decisive role in political life. And in the reign of Emperor Leo VI (886912), the Senate, in favor of the imperial power, was deprived of the right to consider bills and appoint the highest officials of the empire.
At the head of the central government was another advisory body, the State Council. He discussed all current issues of state administration and exercised judicial functions.
The highest officials of the empire included two prefects of the praetorium, the prefect of the capital, the head of the palace, the quaestor, two committees of finance and two masters of the army.
The prefect of the praetorian of the East ruled over Asia Minor, Pontus and Thrace, the Illyrian prefect of the praetorian of the Balkan Peninsula. All administrative, financial and judicial power in these territories was concentrated in their hands.
Constantinople with the adjacent rural district constituted an independent administrative unit, headed by the prefect of the capital, who was directly subordinate to the emperor. At the same time he was the chairman of the Senate.
The head of the palace, being the commander of the palace guard, was in charge of the emperor's guards, his personal office, state mail and foreign policy activities. He was also in charge of the control of the police and the supervision of officials.
The quaestor was the chairman of the State Council, in addition, he was in charge of the development and distribution of imperial decrees and had judicial power.
One of the two committees of finance managed the state treasury, the other was in charge of the imperial property.
At the head of the army were two masters. One of them commanded the infantry, the other the cavalry.
In the 7th century all Byzantine officials were divided into 60 categories. The highest officials were called logothetes. This entire system was headed by the logothete drama, who was in charge of the imperial guards, his personal office, mail, communications, foreign affairs and the police.
Chancellery carried out direct management of certain areas of public life. A large staff of officials in these departments, who received a small salary, became a breeding ground for corruption and bribery. There was a practice of selling positions.
Administratively, Byzantium was divided into two prefectures, which, in turn, were divided into 7 dioceses. Each diocese included 50 provinces.
Initially, local government was based on the principles of separation of military and civilian government. Local communities were governed by elected officials under the control of government officials. But under the influence of the military threat in many regions, new administrative units of the theme were formed, where military and civil power was concentrated in the hands of the commander of the military units stationed in this territory.
Byzantium had a fairly strong army. In the 7th century, a special military estate of stratiots was created from among the free communal peasants. The land of the stratiotes could not be alienated and was inherited by one of the sons, who was supposed to serve.
Since the 11th century, a new form of conditional feudal holding of pronia has been spreading, similar to Western European benefices.
The highest judicial body of Byzantium was the imperial court. He considered cases of the most serious crimes against the state, and was also the court of appeal.
The State Council had jurisdiction over cases of state crimes and crimes of officials.
The prefect of Constantinople had jurisdiction over the cases of members of handicraft and trade corporations.
Land disputes and cases of wills were considered by the quaestor, one of the highest judicial officers. In the themes and provinces, the praetor was the supreme judicial authority. The ecclesiastical justice had an extensive judicial system.
Thus, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) in the feudal era had a unique and special system of state power and administration.
Topic 3. Feudal states of Central and South-Eastern Europe
In the 6th century, Slavic tribes began to colonize the Balkans. In the 7th century, they form a union on the territory of present-day Bulgaria, known as the "Seven Slavic Tribes". In the 70s. In the same century, the nomadic tribes of the Bulgars, led by Khan Asparuh, invaded this region.
In the face of a military threat from Byzantium and other nomadic tribes, the Bulgars and Slavs conclude an alliance. Khan Asparuh becomes the supreme ruler of Bulgaria.
The level of economic and cultural development of the Slavs was higher than the Bulgars, in addition, they surpassed the latter in numbers. Therefore, in a very short time, the Bulgars were assimilated by the Slavic population, but left them their generic name.
In the 9th century, feudal relations were established in Bulgaria. Stand out the ruling class of feudal lords "Bolyare" and exploited peasantry. The peasants were divided into three categories: Bashtinniks, who retained personal freedom, allotments and some freedom in the disposal of property; wigs of serfs who carried duties both in favor of the feudal lords and the state and the youths of slaves planted on the ground.
In the ninth century scattered Slavic tribes were united into one Bulgarian state, which contributed to the strengthening of the centralization of the state and the adoption of Christianity.
At the beginning of the 11th century, Bulgaria was conquered by Byzantium and was under its rule for about 150 years. In 1187 the Bulgarian kingdom regained its independence.
During the Byzantine domination, the personal freedom of the Bashtin peasants is liquidated, they turn into serfs.
In the regions of the Balkans neighboring Bulgaria, the formation of the Serbian nationality and the development of feudal relations in its midst take place. However, due to geographical disunity, the constant struggle with Byzantium and the Bulgarian kingdom, these processes are slow. However, in the period of the 111th centuries. the formation of early feudal statehood among the Serbs takes place. Since the 9th century they have adopted Christianity.
In the XII century, during the reign of Stefan Neman, the Serbian state united most of the Serbian lands up to the Adriatic coast. In 1217 Serbia becomes a kingdom. Feudal relations flourish. Serbia reaches its greatest strength and greatness during the reign of Stefan Dušan (1308-1355).
The ruling class of Serbia consisted of two classes of rulers and rulers.
The rulers constituted the highest feudal nobility. Their landed property was hereditary in nature and did not depend on the will of the king. The rulers occupied all the most important positions in the central and local apparatus. The rulers belonged to the feudal lords of the lowest rank.
The Serbian peasantry was divided into three main groups: free people, serfs (merops), who were supposed to bear certain natural and monetary duties in favor of the feudal lords, and youth slaves.
After the death of Stefan Dusan, Serbia began to quickly disintegrate into destinies, which weakened the power of the state.
At the end of the XIV century. early 15th century Serbia and Bulgaria fell under the yoke of Turkey and their independent state development stopped for a long time.
At the turn of the 9th century, the formation of statehood and the formation of feudal relations took place on the territory of the Polish lands. The first ruler of the Polish state was Prince Mieszko I (960-992). During his reign, Poland adopts Christianity.
Princes rely on their retinue. But their power is limited to the council of the nobility and feudal congresses (seims).
During this period, the bulk of personally free peasants, grandfathers, passes into the category of "assigned", i.e. personally dependent.
During the XIII century, the custom of inheriting the highest positions in the country within certain families was established. Various tax, judicial and administrative immunities are widely spread.
The peculiarities of the economic development of Poland were due to the fact that the Polish cities, where the German colonists occupied a dominant position, were not interested in establishing a strong royal power. The kings, seeing their main support in chivalry, were forced to satisfy his political demands. In 1374, the Polish nobility achieved equalization with the magnates in their rights to land and exemption from duties (taxes) in favor of the state. In various regions, gentry-magnate assemblies of the sejmiki of the lands began to form. And since 1454, a rule has been established that no law affecting the interests of the nobility can be adopted without the prior consent of the sejmiks. Court cases against the gentry were removed from the competence of the royal court and transferred to the estate gentry zemstvo court.
In 1569, Poland was unified with the Principality of Lithuania at the Sejm of Lublin to form the Commonwealth.
The head of state was the king. But his power was rather arbitrary. The royal power was elective and depended on the will of the magnates and the gentry.
The real power belonged to the All-Polish Sejm, which met twice a year. The Sejm consisted of two chambers. The lower, "ambassadorial hut", consisted of deputies elected by the gentry diets. The upper one, the senate, included representatives of the feudal aristocracy, church hierarchs, and senior officials. Representatives of the cities did not take part in the work of the Seimas.
A unanimous vote was required to make a decision. Even one vote "against" led to the failure of the decision. The nobility protected this principle in every possible way, calling it "libertum veto" (the right of free prohibition).
The general consequence of this political system was the weakening of the state. During the XVIII century, as a result of 3 partitions between Austria, Prussia and Russia, Poland lost its statehood.
In the 9th century, the Great Moravian Principality arose on the territory of the settlement of Czech tribes, but in 906 it fell under the onslaught of the Hungarian invasion. In the middle of the tenth century, the Czech Principality was formed on the territory of these lands.
The Czech Republic developed along the path of "noble democracy". Due to the fact that the leading position in the Czech cities belonged to the German patriciate, therefore, the Czech kings were forced to seek support in the middle and small nobility.
In 1433, freedom of religion was established in the Czech Republic, the secularization of church property, and the abolition of church jurisdiction in criminal cases.
The decisions of the Zemsky Court of 1437 eliminated the personal freedom of the peasants and their right to dispose of their own property without the permission of the master.
The Czech Sejm began to represent all three estates of the pans, the petty gentry (lords) and the townspeople (citizens). But the feudal magnates (pans) also gained predominance here. And after 1500, the city patriciate was generally excluded from participating in the Sejm.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the threat of Turkish conquest loomed over the Czech, Hungarian and Austrian lands. This necessitated a closer alliance, and in 1526 Ferdinand of Habsburg was elected king of Bohemia. The policy of planting Catholicism began, the restriction of the rights of Czech state institutions. The king secured for himself the right to appoint to all the highest positions in the country and to determine the work of the Sejm. The Czech throne was declared a hereditary possession of the Habsburgs. In 1627, the independent state existence of the Czech Republic was terminated.
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