ABSTRACT
There were Germans long before there was Germany. Germanic peoples lived for centuries in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe with similar yet not identical languages and culture. Over time these developed into regional principalities and city states. German unifi cation did not come until 1871 under Bismarck. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries Germany saw much industrialization. The international aspirations of the German Empire were a contributing factor to the First World War. The empire was defeated in 1918 and replaced by the Weimar Republic. The fi nancial struggle that followed the First World War in Germany was one of the contributing factors that led to the rise of Hitler as the leader of a New German Empire in the 1930s. His aggressive foreign policy led to the Second World War (1939-1945). Following Germany’s defeat in the Second World War the country was divided into British, French, US, and Soviet occupation which led to the formation of two separate states: the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic
of Germany (West Germany). On October 3, 1990, after 45 years of ‘Cold War’, Germany was reunifi ed. Berlin was made capital of Germany. As a founding country, Germany had a main role and still plays it in the European Union.
