113-681: There are many widely varying names of Germany in different languages, more so than for any other European nation. For example: Often language lags behind the changing society and names tend to retain references to first encounters: the Finnish first and foremost met the Saxons while the French faced the Alamanni. Comparable tendencies appear elsewhere, e.g. in names for Russia. Each of the names for Germany has been adapted into other languages all over
226-748: A general armistice ended the fighting. In the German Revolution (November 1918), Wilhelm II and the ruling princes abdicated their positions, and Germany was declared a federal republic . Germany's new leadership signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, accepting defeat by the Allies . Germans perceived the treaty as humiliating, which was seen by historians as influential in the rise of Adolf Hitler . Germany lost around 13% of its European territory and ceded all of its colonial possessions in Africa and
339-513: A sustainable energy supply, the debt brake for balanced budgets, measures to increase the fertility rate ( pronatalism ), and high-tech strategies for the transition of the German economy, summarised as Industry 4.0 . During the 2015 European migrant crisis , the country took in over a million refugees and migrants. Germany is the seventh-largest country in Europe . It borders Denmark to
452-567: A temperate climate, ranging from oceanic in the north and west to continental in the east and southeast. Winters range from the cold in the Southern Alps to cool and are generally overcast with limited precipitation, while summers can vary from hot and dry to cool and rainy. The northern regions have prevailing westerly winds that bring in moist air from the North Sea, moderating the temperature and increasing precipitation. Conversely,
565-460: A NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban . In the 2005 elections , Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor. In 2009, the German government approved a €50 billion stimulus plan. Among the major German political projects of the early 21st century are the advancement of European integration , the energy transition ( Energiewende ) for
678-658: A centralised totalitarian state , withdrew from the League of Nations , and dramatically increased the country's rearmament . A government-sponsored programme for economic renewal focused on public works, the most famous of which was the Autobahn . In 1935, the regime withdrew from the Treaty of Versailles and introduced the Nuremberg Laws which targeted Jews and other minorities. Germany also reacquired control of
791-615: A framework laid out in the 1949 constitution known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat ; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law , are valid in perpetuity. The president , currently Frank-Walter Steinmeier ,
904-543: A global power in industrial, scientific and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer . As a developed country , it offers social security , a universal health care system , and tuition-free university education . Germany is a member of the United Nations , Council of Europe , NATO and OECD , and a founding member of the European Union, G7 and G20 . It has
1017-680: A joint responsibility of the international community. It was the world's second-biggest aid donor in 2019 after the United States. Germany's military, the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence), is organised into the Heer (Army and special forces KSK ), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Cyber- und Informationsraum (Cyber and Information Domain Service) branches. In absolute terms, German military spending in 2023
1130-547: A provisional capital, to emphasise its stance that the two-state solution was temporary. West Germany was established as a federal parliamentary republic with a " social market economy ". Starting in 1948 West Germany became a major recipient of reconstruction aid under the American Marshall Plan . Konrad Adenauer was elected the first federal chancellor of Germany in 1949. The country enjoyed prolonged economic growth ( Wirtschaftswunder ) beginning in
1243-638: A state, the East German authorities eased border restrictions, but this actually led to an acceleration of the Wende reform process culminating in the Two Plus Four Treaty under which Germany regained full sovereignty. This permitted German reunification on 3 October 1990, with the accession of the five re-established states of the former GDR. The fall of the Wall in 1989 became a symbol of
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#17327800552621356-712: A symbol of the Cold War . Tensions between East and West Germany were reduced in the late 1960s by Chancellor Willy Brandt 's Ostpolitik . In 1989, Hungary decided to dismantle the Iron Curtain and open its border with Austria , causing the emigration of thousands of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary and Austria. This had devastating effects on the GDR, where regular mass demonstrations received increasing support. In an effort to help retain East Germany as
1469-542: Is Germaniya (Германия). Likewise, in Bulgarian the adjective is nemski (немски) and the country is Germaniya (Германия). Over time, the Slavic exonym was borrowed by some non-Slavic languages. The Hungarian name for Germany is Németország (from the stem Német-, lit. "Német land"). The popular Romanian name for German is neamț , used alongside the official term, german , which was borrowed from Latin. According to
1582-680: Is West Frankish , a language which died out long ago and has hardly left any written evidence today. This was the Germanic dialect used in the early Middle Ages , spoken by the Franks in Western Francia , i.e. in the region which is now northern France. The word is only known from the Latin form theodiscus . Until the 8th century the Franks called their language frengisk ; however, when
1695-648: Is devoted to agriculture, while 30% is forested and 14% is covered by settlements or infrastructure. Plants and animals include those generally common to Central Europe. According to the National Forest Inventory, beeches , oaks , and other deciduous trees constitute just over 40% of the forests; roughly 60% are conifers , particularly spruce and pine . There are many species of ferns , flowers , fungi , and mosses . Wild animals include roe deer , wild boar , mouflon (a subspecies of wild sheep), fox , badger , hare , and small numbers of
1808-472: Is explained in detail below: The common Chinese name 德国 (德國, pinyin : Déguó ) is a combination of the short form of 德意志 ( pinyin : déyìzhì ), which approximates the German pronunciation [ˈdɔʏtʃ] of Deutsch 'German', plus 國 guó 'country'. The Vietnamese name Đức is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation ( đức [ɗɨ́k] ) of the character 德 that appears in
1921-608: Is largely autonomous in regard to its internal organisation. As of 2017 , Germany is divided into 401 districts ( Kreise ) at a municipal level; these consist of 294 rural districts and 107 urban districts . Germany has a civil law system based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law . The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review . Germany's specialized supreme court system includes
2034-554: Is that Arabs considered Austria to be the nation of German people for a long time in the middle ages, on the other hand the Arabic name of "Germany", Germania or Allemania , took its origin from the Latin names Germania or Alemanni respectively. Ottoman Turkish and Persian word for Austria, Nemçe (نمچه), is borrowed from the anterior Arabic name of Austria known throughout the Islamic world who considered Austria to be home of
2147-653: Is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second-highest official in the German order of precedence is the Bundestagspräsident ( President of the Bundestag ), who is elected by
2260-560: Is the Korean pronunciation of the former Japanese name. The compound coined by the Japanese was adapted into Korean, so its characters 獨逸 are not pronounced do+itsu as in Japanese, but dok+il = Dogil . Until the 1980s, South Korean primary textbooks adopted Doichillanteu ( 도이칠란트 ) which approximates the German pronunciation [ˈdɔʏtʃlant] of Deutschland . The official North Korean name toich'willandŭ ( 도이췰란드 ) approximates
2373-454: Is the most common of the terms to describe Germany. The names Saksamaa and Saksa are derived from the name of the Germanic tribe of the Saxons . The word "Saxon", Proto-Germanic * sakhsan , is believed (a) to be derived from the word seax , meaning a variety of single-edged knives : a Saxon was perhaps literally a swordsman, or (b) to be derived from the word "axe", the region axed between
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#17327800552622486-488: Is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form the legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections using the mixed-member proportional representation system. The members of the Bundesrat represent and are appointed by the governments of the sixteen federated states. The German political system operates under
2599-463: The Gründerzeit period following the unification of Germany, Bismarck's foreign policy as chancellor of Germany secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances and avoiding war. However, under Wilhelm II , Germany took an imperialistic course, leading to friction with neighbouring countries. A dual alliance was created with the multinational realm of Austria-Hungary ;
2712-491: The Bundestag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the chancellor, who is appointed by the Bundespräsident after being elected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the Bundestag . The chancellor, currently Olaf Scholz , is the head of government and exercises executive power through his Cabinet . Since 1949,
2825-955: The Allies de jure abolished the German state and partitioned Berlin and Germany's remaining territory into four occupation zones. The western sectors, controlled by France, the United Kingdom , and the United States , were merged on 23 May 1949 to form the Federal Republic of Germany ( German : Bundesrepublik Deutschland ); on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) ( German : Deutsche Demokratische Republik ; DDR). They were informally known as West Germany and East Germany. East Germany selected East Berlin as its capital, while West Germany chose Bonn as
2938-584: The Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 82 million in an area of 357,596 km (138,069 sq mi), making it the most populous member state of the European Union . It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France , Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to
3051-625: The Battle of Britain in the same year. In 1941, German troops invaded Yugoslavia , Greece and the Soviet Union . By 1942, Germany and its allies controlled most of continental Europe and North Africa , but following the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad , the Allied reconquest of North Africa and invasion of Italy in 1943, German forces suffered repeated military defeats. In 1944,
3164-798: The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest . The outcome of this battle dissuaded the Romans from their ambition of conquering Germania and is thus considered one of the most important events in European history . By 100 AD, when Tacitus wrote Germania , Germanic tribes had settled along the Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus ), occupying most of modern Germany. However, Baden-Württemberg , southern Bavaria , southern Hesse and
3277-597: The Berchtesgaden National Park . In addition, there are 17 Biosphere Reserves , and 105 nature parks . More than 400 zoos and animal parks operate in Germany. The Berlin Zoo , which opened in 1844, is the oldest in Germany, and claims the most comprehensive collection of species in the world. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic. Federal legislative power
3390-706: The Black Death of 1348–1350. The Golden Bull issued in 1356 provided the constitutional structure of the Empire and codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors . Johannes Gutenberg introduced moveable-type printing to Europe, laying the basis for the democratization of knowledge . In 1517, Martin Luther incited the Protestant Reformation and his translation of the Bible began
3503-831: The Carolingian Empire in 800; it was divided in 843 . The eastern successor kingdom of East Francia stretched from the Rhine in the west to the Elbe river in the east and from the North Sea to the Alps. Subsequently, the Holy Roman Empire emerged from it. The Ottonian rulers (919–1024) consolidated several major duchies . In 996, Gregory V became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin Otto III , whom he shortly after crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy under
Names of Germany - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-583: The Celtic , Iranian , Baltic , and Slavic tribes. Southern Germany was inhabited by Celtic-speaking peoples, who belonged to the wider La Tène culture . They were later assimilated by the Germanic conquerors. Under Augustus , the Roman Empire began to invade lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes, creating a short-lived Roman province of Germania between the Rhine and Elbe rivers. In 9 AD, three Roman legions were defeated by Arminius in
3729-521: The Condrusi , Eburones , Caeraesi and Paemani , were collectively known as Germani . In AD 98, Tacitus wrote Germania (the Latin title was actually: De Origine et situ Germanorum ), an ethnographic work on the diverse set of Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire . Unlike Caesar, Tacitus claims that the name Germani was first applied to the Tungri tribe. The name Tungri is thought to be
3842-1186: The Eurasian beaver . The blue cornflower was once a German national symbol . The 16 national parks in Germany include the Jasmund National Park , the Vorpommern Lagoon Area National Park , the Müritz National Park , the Wadden Sea National Parks , the Harz National Park , the Hainich National Park , the Black Forest National Park , the Saxon Switzerland National Park , the Bavarian Forest National Park and
3955-485: The Fall of Communism , the dissolution of the Soviet Union , German reunification and Die Wende ("the turning point"). United Germany was considered the enlarged continuation of West Germany so it retained its memberships in international organisations. Based on the Berlin/Bonn Act (1994), Berlin again became the capital of Germany, while Bonn obtained the unique status of a Bundesstadt (federal city) retaining some federal ministries. The relocation of
4068-417: The Gauls who first called the people who crossed east of the Rhine Germani (which the Romans adopted) as the original Germanic tribes did not refer to themselves as Germanus (singular) or Germani (plural). Julius Caesar was the first to use Germanus in writing when describing tribes in north-eastern Gaul in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico : he records that four northern Belgic tribes, namely
4181-513: The Imperial Estates . The legal system initiated by a series of Imperial Reforms (approximately 1495–1555) provided for considerable local autonomy and a stronger Imperial Diet . The House of Habsburg held the imperial crown from 1438 until the death of Charles VI in 1740. Following the War of the Austrian Succession and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle , Charles VI's daughter Maria Theresa ruled as empress consort when her husband, Francis I , became emperor. From 1740, dualism between
4294-467: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland , beginning World War II in Europe ; Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. In the spring of 1940, Germany conquered Denmark and Norway , the Netherlands , Belgium , Luxembourg , and France , forcing the French government to sign an armistice . The British repelled German air attacks in
4407-399: The North German Confederation Treaty establishing the Prussia -led North German Confederation , which became the German Empire in 1871. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919 , the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic . The Nazi rise to power in 1933 led to the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship , World War II , and the Holocaust . In 1949, after
4520-430: The Saarland in 1935, remilitarised the Rhineland in 1936, annexed Austria in 1938, annexed the Sudetenland in 1938 with the Munich Agreement , and in violation of the agreement occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) saw the burning of synagogues, the destruction of Jewish businesses, and mass arrests of Jewish people. In August 1939, Hitler's government negotiated
4633-423: The Salian emperors (1024–1125), although the emperors lost power through the Investiture controversy . Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), German princes encouraged German settlement to the south and east ( Ostsiedlung ). Members of the Hanseatic League , mostly north German towns, prospered in the expansion of trade. The population declined starting with the Great Famine in 1315, followed by
Names of Germany - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-543: The Swabian Jura , including 42,000-year-old flutes which are the oldest musical instruments ever found, the 40,000-year-old Lion Man , and the 41,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels . The Nebra sky disk , created during the European Bronze Age , has been attributed to a German site. The Germanic peoples are thought to have emerged from the Jastorf culture during the Nordic Bronze Age or early Iron Age . From southern Scandinavia and northern Germany , they expanded south, east, and west, coming into contact with
4859-450: The Triple Alliance of 1882 included Italy. Britain, France and Russia also concluded alliances to protect against Habsburg interference with Russian interests in the Balkans or German interference against France. At the Berlin Conference in 1884, Germany claimed several colonies including German East Africa , German South West Africa , Togoland , and Kamerun . Later, Germany further expanded its colonial empire to include holdings in
4972-445: The Welsh terms Sais, Saeson . "Saxon" also led to the "-sex" ending in Wessex , Essex, Sussex , Middlesex , etc., and of course to " Anglo-Saxon ". The Transylvanian Saxons arrived to Transylvania mainly from the Rhineland , not Saxony . The Slavic exonym nemets , nemtsy derives from Proto-Slavic němьcь , pl. němьci , 'the mutes, not able (to speak)' (from adjective němъ 'mute' and suffix -ьcь ). Use of němьci
5085-417: The endonym corresponding to the exonym Eburones . 19th-century and early 20th-century historians speculated on whether the northern Belgae were Celts or Germanic tribes . Caesar claims that most of the northern Belgae were descended from tribes who had long ago crossed the Rhine from Germania. However many tribal names and personal names or titles recorded are identifiably Celtic . It seems likely that
5198-417: The inquisitorial Federal Court of Justice for civil and criminal cases, along with the Federal Labour Court , Federal Social Court , Federal Fiscal Court , and Federal Administrative Court for other matters. Criminal and private laws are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system seeks the rehabilitation of
5311-428: The revolutions of 1848 in the German states , raising the German question. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, a temporary setback for the movement. King William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as the Minister President of Prussia in 1862. Bismarck successfully concluded the war with Denmark in 1864 ;
5424-438: The third-highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites , 54 , of which 51 are cultural. The English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania , which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine . The German term Deutschland , originally diutisciu land ('the German lands'), is derived from deutsch ( cf. Dutch ), descended from Old High German diutisc 'of
5537-423: The 10th century. It was used, for example, in the Sachsenspiegel , a legal code, written in Middle Low German in about 1220: Iewelk düdesch lant hevet sinen palenzgreven: sassen, beieren, vranken unde svaven (Every German land has its Graf : Saxony, Bavaria, Franken and Swabia). In the Carion's Chronicle , the German reformator Philip Melanchthon argued the Germans were descendants of the biblical Ashkenaz ,
5650-411: The Austrian Habsburg monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1772, 1793, and 1795, Prussia and Austria, along with the Russian Empire , agreed to the Partitions of Poland . During the period of the French Revolutionary Wars , the Napoleonic era and the subsequent final meeting of the Imperial Diet , most of the Free Imperial Cities were annexed by dynastic territories;
5763-510: The Baltic word; the ethnonym *vakja, used by the Votes ( vadja ) and the Sami , in older sources ( vuowjos ), may also be related). So the word for German possibly comes from a name originally given by West Baltic tribes to the Vikings. Latvian linguist Konstantīns Karulis proposes that the word may be based on the Indo-European word *wek ("speak"), from which derive Old Prussian wackis ("war cry") or Latvian vēkšķis. Such names could have been used to describe neighbouring people whose language
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#17327800552625876-450: The Chinese History of Yuan , the Mongol commander Uriyangkhadai took part in the invasion of Poland and of the Holy Roman Empire , described as the land of the Nie-mi-sz' . The Arabic name for Austria النمسا an-Nimsā or an-Namsā appeared during the Crusades era, another possibility is that the term could have been known early by Arabs in Al Andalus , the reason behind calling Austria an-Nimsā , which should designate Germans
5989-584: The Chinese name. Japanese language ドイツ ( doitsu ) is an approximation of the word Deutsch meaning 'German'. It was earlier written with the Sino-Japanese character compound 獨逸 (whose 獨 has since been simplified to 独 ), but has been largely superseded by the aforementioned katakana spelling ドイツ . However, the character 独 is still used in compounds, for example 独 文 ( dokubun ) meaning ' German literature ', or as an abbreviation, such as in 独日関係 ( Dokunichi kankei , German-Japanese relations). The (South) Korean name Dogil ( 독일 )
6102-447: The English language has also been given the Allemande (a dance), the Almain rivet and probably the almond furnace , which is probably not really connected to the word "almond" (of Greek origin) but is a corruption of "Almain furnace". In modern German, Alemannisch ( Alemannic German ) is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family, spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries. Among
6215-431: The Franks moved their political and cultural centre to the area where France now is, the term frengisk became ambiguous, as in the West Francian territory some Franks spoke Latin, some vulgar Latin and some theodisc . For this reason a new word was needed to help differentiate between them. Thus the word theodisc evolved from the Germanic word theoda (the people) with the Latin suffix -iscus , to mean "belonging to
6328-437: The German Bundestag , though they have never been part of the federal government. In the 2017 German federal election , the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany gained enough votes to attain representation in the parliament for the first time. Germany is a federation and comprises sixteen constituent states which are collectively referred to as Länder . Each state ( Land ) has its own constitution, and
6441-416: The German Democratic Republic was a communist Eastern Bloc state and member of the Warsaw Pact . After the fall of the communist led-government in East Germany, German reunification saw the former East German states join the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990 . Germany has been described as a great power with a strong economy ; it has the largest economy in Europe by nominal GDP . As
6554-451: The German pronunciation [ˈdɔʏtʃlant] of Deutschland . Traditionally Dogil ( 독일 ) had been used in North Korea until the 1990s. Use of the Chinese name (in its Korean pronunciation Deokguk , 덕국 ) is attested for the early 20th century. It is now uncommon. The sign name for Germany in German Sign Language is a one-handed sign: the hand is placed on the forehead, palm facing sideways, extended index finger facing upwards, with
6667-423: The Germanic tribesmen as noisy. He describes the ger theory as "obsolete". In English, the word "German" is first attested in 1520, replacing earlier uses of Almain , Alman and Dutch . In German, the word Germanen today refers to Germanic tribes , just like the Italian noun "Germani" (adjective: "germanici"), and the French adjective " germanique ". The English noun "german" (as in " cousin-german ") and
6780-469: The Germans. The Austrian Empire as well was the biggest German-speaking country in the 16th to 17th centuries bordering on the Ottoman Empire. In Latvian and Lithuanian the names Vācija and Vokietija contain the root vāca or vākiā. Lithuanian linguist Kazimieras Būga associated this with a reference to a Swedish tribe named Vagoths in a 6th-century chronicle (cf. finn. Vuojola and eston. Oju-/Ojamaa , ' Gotland ', both thought to be derived from
6893-428: The Holocaust , the German government persecuted minorities , including interning them in concentration and death camps across Europe. The regime systematically murdered 6 million Jews, at least 130,000 Romani , 275,000 disabled , thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses , thousands of homosexuals , and hundreds of thousands of political and religious opponents . Nazi policies in German-occupied countries resulted in
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#17327800552627006-630: The Italian for "German", tedesco (local or archaic variants: todesco , tudesco , todisco ), comes from the same Old High German root, although not the name for "Germany" ( Germania ). Also in the standardised Romansh language Germania is the normal name for Germany but in Sursilvan , Sutsilvan and Surmiran it is commonly referred to as Tiaratudestga , Tearatudestga and Tera tudestga respectively, with tiara/teara/tera meaning land . French words thiois , tudesque , théotisque and Thiogne and Spanish tudesco share this etymology. The Germanic language which diutisc most likely comes from
7119-484: The Latin word Germania : one is gair , neighbour (a theory of Johann Zeuss , a German historian and Celtic philologist) – in Old Irish gair is "neighbour". Another theory is gairm , battle-cry (put forward by Johann Wachter and Jacob Grimm , who was a philologist as well as collector and editor of fairy tales ). Yet another theory is that the word comes from ger , "spear"; however, Eric Partridge suggests *gar / gavin , to shout (as Old Irish garim ), describing
7232-507: The Pacific and China. The colonial government in South West Africa (present-day Namibia ), from 1904 to 1907, carried out the annihilation of the local Herero and Namaqua peoples as punishment for an uprising; this was the 20th century's first genocide . The assassination of Austria's crown prince on 28 June 1914 provided the pretext for Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia and trigger World War I . After four years of warfare, in which approximately two million German soldiers were killed,
7345-464: The Pacific. On 11 August 1919, President Friedrich Ebert signed the democratic Weimar Constitution . In the subsequent struggle for power, communists seized power in Bavaria , but conservative elements elsewhere attempted to overthrow the Republic in the Kapp Putsch . Street fighting in the major industrial centres, the occupation of the Ruhr by Belgian and French troops, and a period of hyperinflation followed. A debt restructuring plan and
7458-426: The Reichstag after a special election in 1932 and Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. After the Reichstag fire , a decree abrogated basic civil rights and the first Nazi concentration camp opened. On 23 March 1933, the Enabling Act gave Hitler unrestricted legislative power, overriding the constitution, and marked the beginning of Nazi Germany. His government established
7571-406: The Romans were not precise in their ethnography of northern barbarians : by "German(ic)" Caesar meant "originating east of the Rhine". Tacitus wrote in his book Germania : "The Treveri and Nervii take pride in their German origin, stating that this noble blood separates them from all comparison (with the Gauls) and the Gaulish laziness". The OED2 records theories about the Celtic roots of
7684-453: The Soviets pushed into Eastern Europe ; the Western allies landed in France and entered Germany despite a final German counteroffensive . Following Hitler's suicide during the Battle of Berlin , Germany signed the surrender document on 8 May 1945, ending World War II in Europe and Nazi Germany. Following the end of the war, surviving Nazi officials were tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials . In what later became known as
7797-399: The addition of the suffix -ina . According to another theory, Nemtsy may derive from the Rhine-based, Germanic tribe of Nemetes mentioned by Caesar and Tacitus . This etymology is dubious for phonological reasons, as nemetes could not become Slavic němьcь . In Russian, the adjective for "German", nemetskiy (немецкий) comes from the same Slavic root while the name for the country
7910-469: The adjective "germane" are not connected to the name for the country, but come from the Latin germanus , "siblings with the same parents or father", which has cognates in Catalan, germà , and Spanish, hermano , meaning "brother". The name Allemagne and the other similar-sounding names above are derived from the southern Germanic Alemanni , a Suebic tribe or confederation in today's Alsace , parts of Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland . In English,
8023-402: The area between Maastricht and Aachen and for the traditional German speaking part of Lorraine ( Lorraine Thioise ), The term is obsolete and derives from theodisc (see above). The name Germany and the other similar-sounding names above are all derived from the Latin Germania , of the 3rd century BC, a word simply describing fertile land behind the limes (frontier). It was likely
8136-530: The communist-controlled Socialist Unity Party of Germany , supported by the Stasi , an immense secret service. While East German propaganda was based on the benefits of the GDR's social programmes and the alleged threat of a West German invasion, many of its citizens looked to the West for freedom and prosperity. The Berlin Wall , built in 1961, prevented East German citizens from escaping to West Germany, becoming
8249-469: The creation of a new currency in 1924 ushered in the Golden Twenties , an era of artistic innovation and liberal cultural life. The worldwide Great Depression hit Germany in 1929. Chancellor Heinrich Brüning 's government pursued a policy of fiscal austerity and deflation which caused unemployment of nearly 30% by 1932. The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the largest party in
8362-472: The creation of a more unified European political, economic and security apparatus. The governments of Germany and the United States are close political allies . Cultural ties and economic interests have crafted a bond between the two countries resulting in Atlanticism . After 1990, Germany and Russia worked together to establish a "strategic partnership" in which energy development became one of
8475-536: The criminal and the protection of the public. With the exceptions of petty crimes, tried by a single professional judge, and of serious political crimes, all charges are adjudicated by mixed tribunals where lay judges ( Schöffen ) and professional judges preside together. As of 2016, Germany's murder rate stood at a low of 1.18 murders per 100,000. In 2018, the overall crime rate fell to its lowest since 1992. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Germany since 2017, and LGBT rights are generally protected in
8588-461: The deaths of an estimated 2.7 million Poles , 1.3 million Ukrainians , 1 million Belarusians and 3.5 million Soviet prisoners of war . German military casualties have been estimated at 5.3 million, and around 900,000 German civilians died. Around 12 million ethnic Germans were expelled from across Eastern Europe, and Germany lost roughly one-quarter of its pre-war territory. After Nazi Germany surrendered,
8701-813: The drinking prowess of the English: I learned it in England, where, indeed, they are most potent in potting: your Dane, your German , and your swag-bellied Hollander—Drink, ho!—are nothing to your English. ... Why, he drinks you, with facility, your Dane dead drunk; he sweats not to overthrow your Almain ; he gives your Hollander a vomit, ere the next pottle can be filled. Andrew Boorde also mentions Germany in his Introduction to Knowledge , c. 1547: The people of High Almain , they be rude and rusticall, and very boisterous in their speech, and humbly in their apparel ... they do feed grossly, and they will eat maggots as fast as we will eat comfits. Through this name,
8814-641: The early 1950s. West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community . On 1 January 1957, the Saarland joined West Germany. East Germany was an Eastern Bloc state under political and military control by the Soviet Union via occupation forces and the Warsaw Pact . Although East Germany claimed to be a democracy, political power was exercised solely by leading members ( Politbüro ) of
8927-712: The ecclesiastical territories were secularised and annexed. In 1806 the Imperium was dissolved; France, Russia, Prussia, and the Habsburgs (Austria) competed for hegemony in the German states during the Napoleonic Wars . Following the fall of Napoleon , the Congress of Vienna founded the German Confederation, a loose league of 39 sovereign states . The appointment of the emperor of Austria as
9040-680: The government was completed in 1999, and modernisation of the East German economy was scheduled to last until 2019. Since reunification, Germany has taken a more active role in the European Union , signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, and co-founding the eurozone . Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent German troops to Afghanistan as part of
9153-690: The indigenous peoples of North America of former French and British colonial areas, the word for "Germany" came primarily as a borrowing from either French or English. For example, in the Anishinaabe languages , three terms for "Germany" exist: ᐋᓂᒫ ( Aanimaa , originally Aalimaanh , from the French Allemagne ), ᑌᐦᒋᒪᓐ ( Dechiman , from the English Dutchman ) and ᒣᐦᔭᑴᑦ ( Meyagwed , Ojibwe for "foreign speaker" analogous to Slavic Némcy "Mutes" and Arab ( ajam ) mute ), of which Aanimaa
9266-477: The most important factors. As a result of the cooperation, Germany imported most of its natural gas and crude oil from Russia. Germany's development policy functions as a distinct sector within its foreign policy framework. It is formulated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and carried out by the implementing organisations. The German government sees development policy as
9379-415: The name "Almain" or "Alman" was used for Germany and for the adjective German until the 16th century, with "German" first attested in 1520, used at first as an alternative then becoming a replacement, maybe inspired mainly by the need to differ them from the more and more independently acting Dutch. In Othello ii,3, (about 1603), for example, Shakespeare uses both "German" and "Almain" when Iago describes
9492-660: The nation. Germany has a network of 227 diplomatic missions abroad and maintains relations with more than 190 countries. Germany is a member of NATO , the OECD , the G7 , the G20 , the World Bank and the IMF . It has played an influential role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a strong alliance with France and all neighbouring countries since 1990. Germany promotes
9605-550: The north, Poland and Czechia to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France , Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west. Germany is also bordered by the North Sea and, at the north-northeast, by the Baltic Sea. German territory covers 357,596 km (138,069 sq mi). Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,963 metres or 9,721 feet) in
9718-519: The northern Belgae, due to their intense contact with the Gaulish south, were largely influenced by this southern culture. Tribal names were 'qualifications' and could have been translated or given by the Gauls and picked up by Caesar. Perhaps they were Germanic people who had adopted Gaulish titles or names. The Belgians were a political alliance of southern Celtic and northern Germanic tribes. In any case,
9831-526: The notion of Germans and Germany is older, it is only since 1871 that there has been a nation-state of Germany. Later political disagreements and the partition of Germany (1945–1990) have further made it difficult to use proper terminology. Starting with Charlemagne , the territory of modern Germany was within the realm of the Holy Roman Empire . It was a union of relatively independent rulers who each ruled their own territories. This empire
9944-477: The official Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation , common expressions are Altes Reich (the old Reich) and Römisch-Deutsches Kaiserreich (Roman-German Imperial Realm). Roman authors mentioned a number of tribes they called Germani —the tribes did not themselves use the term. After 1500 these tribes were identified by linguists as belonging to a group of Germanic language speakers (which include modern languages like German, English and Dutch). Germani (for
10057-613: The party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany . So far every chancellor has been a member of one of these parties. However, the smaller liberal Free Democratic Party and the Alliance 90/The Greens have also been junior partners in coalition governments . Since 2007, the democratic socialist party The Left has been a staple in
10170-478: The people", i.e. the people's language. In Eastern Francia , roughly the area where Germany now is, it seems that the new word was taken on by the people only slowly, over the centuries: in central Eastern Francia the word frengisk was used for a lot longer, as there was no need for people to distinguish themselves from the distant Franks. The word diutsch and other variants were only used by people to describe themselves, at first as an alternative term, from about
10283-475: The people". This in turn comes from a Germanic word meaning "folk" (leading to Old High German diot , Middle High German diet ), and was used to differentiate between the speakers of Germanic languages and those who spoke Celtic or Romance languages . These words come from * teuta , the Proto-Indo-European word for "people" ( Lithuanian and Latvian tauta , Old Irish tuath ). Also
10396-460: The people' (from diot or diota 'people'), originally used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants . This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic * þiudiskaz 'of the people' (see also the Latinised form Theodiscus ), derived from * þeudō , descended from Proto-Indo-European * tewtéh₂- 'people', from which
10509-568: The people) and Germania (for the area where they lived) became the common Latin words for Germans and Germany. Germany – in Europe (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union (light green) Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe . It lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and
10622-477: The permanent president reflected the Congress's rejection of Prussia 's rising influence. Disagreement within restoration politics partly led to the rise of liberal movements, followed by new measures of repression by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich . The Zollverein , a tariff union, furthered economic unity. In light of revolutionary movements in Europe , intellectuals and commoners started
10735-471: The signer's chest, with both hands' fingers spread and wiggling. Several other languages also use the Pickelhaube variation as well, with some modifications; others use unrelated signs. The terminology for "Germany", the "German states" and "Germans" is complicated by the unusual history of Germany over the last 2000 years. This can cause confusion in German and English, as well in other languages. While
10848-681: The son of Japheth . They shall have called themselves the Ascenos , which with time derived into Tuiscones. The Teutoni , a tribe with a name which probably came from the same root, did, through Latin , ultimately give birth to the English words "Teuton" (first found in 1530) for the adjective German, (as in the Teutonic Knights , a military religious order, and the Teutonic Cross) and "Teuton" (noun), attested from 1833. "Teuton"
10961-607: The south to the shores of the North Sea ( Nordsee ) in the northwest and the Baltic Sea ( Ostsee ) in the northeast. The forested uplands of central Germany and the lowlands of northern Germany (lowest point: in the municipality Neuendorf-Sachsenbande , Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres or 11.6 feet below sea level ) are traversed by such major rivers as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Significant natural resources include iron ore, coal, potash , timber, lignite , uranium , copper, natural gas, salt, and nickel. Most of Germany has
11074-974: The southeast regions have more extreme temperatures. From February 2019 – 2020, average monthly temperatures in Germany ranged from a low of 3.3 °C (37.9 °F) in January 2020 to a high of 19.8 °C (67.6 °F) in June 2019. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 30 litres per square metre in February and April 2019 to 125 litres per square metre in February 2020. Average monthly hours of sunshine ranged from 45 in November 2019 to 300 in June 2019. The territory of Germany can be divided into five terrestrial ecoregions : Atlantic mixed forests , Baltic mixed forests , Central European mixed forests , Western European broadleaf forests , and Alps conifer and mixed forests . As of 2016 , 51% of Germany's land area
11187-568: The standardization of the language; the 1555 Peace of Augsburg tolerated the "Evangelical" faith ( Lutheranism ), but also decreed that the faith of the prince was to be the faith of his subjects ( cuius regio, eius religio ). From the Cologne War through the Thirty Years' Wars (1618–1648), religious conflict devastated German lands and significantly reduced the population. The Peace of Westphalia ended religious warfare among
11300-762: The subsequent decisive Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Confederation which excluded Austria . After the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War , the German princes proclaimed the founding of the German Empire in 1871. Prussia was the dominant constituent state of the new empire; the King of Prussia ruled as its Kaiser, and Berlin became its capital. In
11413-498: The thumb keeping the other fingers tucked against the palm. The sign may also be used to mean 'German language' or 'German person', as well as 'police' or 'police officer'. This sign is an iconic one, emulating the shape of a Pickelhaube . It is one of the two signs for 'Germany' in American Sign Language , alongside another, in which the dominant hand's wrist is placed on that of the non-dominant hand in front of
11526-685: The valleys of the Elbe and Weser . In Finnish and Estonian the words that historically applied to ancient Saxons changed their meaning over the centuries to denote the whole country of Germany and the Germans. In some Celtic languages the word for the English nationality is derived from Saxon, e.g., the Scottish term Sassenach , the Breton terms Saoz, Saozon , the Cornish terms Sows, Sowson and
11639-553: The war and a period of Allied occupation , Germany was organized into two separate polities with limited sovereignty: the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany , and the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany . Berlin continued its de jure Four Power status . The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community and the European Union , while
11752-677: The west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt ; the largest urban area is the Ruhr . Settlement in the territory of modern Germany began in the Lower Paleolithic , with various tribes inhabiting it from the Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts . Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity . A region named Germania
11865-584: The western Rhineland had been incorporated into Roman provinces . Around 260, Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands. After the invasion of the Huns in 375, and with the decline of Rome from 395, Germanic tribes moved farther southwest: the Franks established the Frankish Kingdom and pushed east to subjugate Saxony and Bavaria . Areas of what is today eastern Germany were inhabited by Western Slavic tribes. Charlemagne founded
11978-615: The word Teutons also originates. Pre-human ancestors, the Danuvius guggenmosi , who were present in Germany over 11 million years ago, are theorized to be among the earliest ones to walk on two legs. Ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The first non-modern human fossil (the Neanderthal ) was discovered in the Neander Valley . Similarly dated evidence of modern humans has been found in
12091-579: The world. After an overview of variants this article presents etymological and geographic context for the forms and their worldwide usage as well as names used in bureaucracy . In general, the names for Germany can be arranged in six main groups according to their origin: The name Deutschland and the other similar-sounding names above are derived from the Old High German diutisc , or similar variants from Proto-Germanic *Þeudiskaz ( Old English þeod ), which originally meant "of
12204-453: Was also used for Teutonisch Land (land of the Teutons ), its abbreviation Teutschland used in some areas until the 19th century and its currently used official variation Deutschland . In the northern French language area (northern France, Belgium ), the neighboring Germanic dialects, areas and inhabitants of Flanders to Alsace are sometimes referred to as Thiois , most likely still for
12317-506: Was called in German Heiliges Römisches Reich , with the addition from the late Middle Ages of Deutscher Nation (of (the) German nation), showing that the former idea of a universal realm had given way to a concentration on the German territories. In 19th- and 20th-century historiography, the Holy Roman Empire was often referred to as Deutsches Reich , creating a link to the later nation state of 1871. Besides
12430-638: Was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire . During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation . Following the Napoleonic Wars and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the German Confederation was formed in 1815. Formal unification of Germany into the modern nation-state commenced on 18 August 1866 with
12543-524: Was incomprehensible to Baltic peoples. In East Asia, the names have generally been imported directly from German "deutsch" or Dutch "duits" in various ways. The Chinese name is a phonetic approximation of the German proper adjective. The Vietnamese name is based on the Chinese name. The Japanese name is a phonetic approximation of the Dutch proper adjective. The Korean name is based on the Japanese name. This
12656-522: Was narrowed to just Germans. The plural form is used for the Germans instead of any specific country name, e.g. Niemcy in Polish and Ńymcy in Silesian dialect. In other languages, the country's name derives from the adjective němьcьska (zemja) meaning 'German (land)' (f.i. Czech Německo ). Belarusian Нямеччына ( Niamieččyna ), and Ukrainian Німеччина ( Nimecchyna ) are also from němьcь but with
12769-495: Was the seventh-highest in the world . In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that German military expenditure would be increased past the NATO target of 2%, along with a one-time 2022 infusion of 100 billion euros, representing almost double the 53 billion euro military budget for 2021. In 2023, military spending according to NATO criteria amounted to $ 73.1 billion, or 1.64% of
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