The Brief History Of Early Germany:
The earliest appearance of people settling in Germany was in the year 1 BC. During this time, the neighboring Empires were the Romans and the Celts. There were many fights between these areas, and the Germans would often raid and look the Roman Empire. In the late second century, many of the empires that surrounded Germany – such as the Romans, Gauls, and Italians – were invaded by migrating Germanic tribes.
In the later years of the 10th through 12th centuries, the German area was under threats of invasion from the Vikings and Magyars. Luckily with its feudalism military strategy, the German military is safe from many attacks. However, when the Roman empire lost much of its power during the 5th century, many of these German settlers traveled to other areas of Europe, such as present day Great Brittan, France, Italy, and even as far as Africa.
Germany had many draws for the people migrating through present day Europe. They had unoccupied land for tribes to settle, farmland, and many natural resources such as the Baltic Sea and the Rhine River. The farmland was used for wheat, potatoes, and a variety of fruits. They were also able to catch fish in the sea and rivers that flowed through Germany. It was a very prosperous land that caught the eyes of settlers.
During the Bronze Age people worked as skilled blacksmiths, and learned how to work with iron, bronze and other metals.* They used these metals for building structures, coins for currency, artwork, and eventually to guns and machinery for defense mechanisms. This allowed the Germanic people that lived there to meet their needs of materials that they could use to trade goods with surrounding areas, defend themselves, and as artwork to preserve their culture.*
Culturally, Germany has gone through many stages. In the social aspect, many of the greatest fairy tails known and loved today were written by the Grimm Brothers who lived in Germany. The country has also been a home to a wide variety of religions, ranging from Roman Catholicism to Protestant. There were many Kings and rulers who have great influence in shaping Germany into the powerful country it has become. Like each great settlement, Germany had their trials, but were able to overcome them through uniting as one people and growing stronger together.
*connected to Guns, Germs and Steel
(Attached below is a timeline of the Earliest German History)
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Seven Events that Shaped German History
Explanation of Timeline Points
1. 1867 The North German Confederation Formed: After the collapse of the German Confederation, German formed into this Confederation to handle the countries affairs.
2. 1914 WW1 begins: Germany is involved with fighting France, Great Britain, and US with u-boats, submarines and unrestricted warfare. The war lasts from 1914 to 1919, and drastically shapes German history. 3. 1933 Hitler and Nazi Party come into power: Hitler was one of the most influential people on Germany throughout all history. When he and his Nazi party gained power, they created a sense of hatred towards Jews in Germany, and eventually convinces people to "cleanse Germany of all Jews," thus beginning the Holocaust. 4. 1945 Holocaust ends and Adolf Hitler Dies: After causing the deaths of millions of Jewish lives by during the Holocaust in WWII, Hitler finally commits suicide in 1945 to avoid his punishment from all the horrible war crimes he committed. The country of Germany is completely devastated, but the war is finally over. 5. 1989 Berlin Wall Falls: After 28 years of a wall dividing Berlin into the east and west, it is finally demolished in November of 1989. 6. 1991 Berlin becomes the capitol: Germany is finally reunified into one country, and no longer divided into the east and west. 7. 2001 Women are able to join the Bundeswehr: Since the creation of the Bundeswehr (Germany’s Unified Armed Forces under the Federal Government) women were only allowed to be nurses/other medical positions, but that changed in 2001 when they were finally able to join any department, and have equal chances as the men in the service. |
Narrative on the History of Germany
Germany has been filled with many events that have shaped its history. In less than 150 years, there has been so much change that has occurred in this country. To begin with, in 1876 Germany formed the North German Confederation, which handles diplomatic and military affairs, as well as railways and other public services. About 50 years later, World War I begins and Germany fights many of the Western European countries such as France and Britain, as well as the United States. However, Germany does not win after the 4 year war. Shortly after, World War II begins and Hitler and his Nazi Party come into power in Germany. After convincing people to eradicate all Jews in Germany, the Holocaust begins. The Holocaust was a horrific event where Jews were sent to concentration camps, either to do forced labor or sent straight to their death. After almost 6 million Jews had died, the rest of the world finally became aware of what was happening in Germany under Hitler's rule. To avoid facing any punishment, Hitler committed suicide in 1945. During this war time, the city of Berlin in Germany was also being divided into two sides by an 11 foot wall. People couldn't cross from the east to the west, or vice versa, and many people were killed trying. Finally after almost 30 years of this wall separating Germany, the Berlin wall came down and people were free to move about again. Two years later, Berlin became Germany's capitol and the country is finally able to begin to reunite. In some recent years, women are gaining more equality in that they are finally able to hold any position in the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces). Through all this, Germany has been scared by great tragedy, but also shows great resilience on growing to be a great county once again. They are making great strides in equality and having a much brighter future for its citizens.
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APA Sources:
Berlin Wall. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015, from http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
How Did World War II Begin? (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015, from http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiistarts.htm
(n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/timeline/time_1918.html
Berlin Wall. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015, from http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
How Did World War II Begin? (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015, from http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiistarts.htm
(n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/timeline/time_1918.html