The recent history of Germany dates back to the 20th century, following the rise of the Third Reich and the Nazi Invasions. After winning the war against France, Britain, and especially Russia, Germany would later go on to subjugate Czechia and Poland within its borders. After a deep mistrust against a former ally, Italy, Germany engaged in another war against Italy and its allies, completely conquering Italy and the rest of Italian holdings. As well, Germany conquered allies of the Italians, such as the Albanians. Meanwhile, Germany began to conquer Africa for resource exploitation and slave labor. With Paris under German control, Germany felt compelled to claim and use the former French colonies. Beginning a long war, Germany opened a new front for its conquests.
After the death of Adolf Hitler, the "Fuhrer" of Germany during the German expansion in Europe, his second-in-command Martin Bormann entered power. His stoic conservative ideas hindered the economy, and under his administration, the German economy began to see signs of stagnation in which Bormann did not choose to acknowledge. Despite this, Bormann is commonly praised for his actions of the German bureaucracy, especially to fully integrate the Reichskommisariats of conquered territories fully under civilian control. Nevertheless, the Reichskommisariats still retained a distant character from the Reich despite the indigenous populations of them becoming depleted through mass enslavement and genocide. Bormann also solidified a military alliance with the rest of the free countries who allied with Germany during the war against Italy.
By the 1980s and 1990s, Germany was noticeably starting to stagnate economically. Germany's rigidness to economic reform harmed the economy, and Germany was seeing the effects of the wars of the past on the country's welfare. Both Japan and the United States developed a stronger economy by the 1980s.
By the turn of the millennium, Germany became divided with liberal elements of the ruling Nazi Party wanting to reform the country, and conservative elements denying the decay of the empire. Starting in a liberal shift in power, Germany attempted to get rid of its planned economy and exchange it for a market economy, starting around 2005. At this time, the enslaved nations of Germany began fighting independence wars against the Reich. A referendum in 2009 was held in an attempt to change Germany into a federation of states with a market economy, stemming from the central German state and the numerous Reichskommisariats. After a coup occurred just days before the referendum was fully released, it ultimately failed. The Third Reich ultimately collapsed on April 5, 2010.
The economic "shock therapy" of the new Federal Republic of Germany, only consisting of the central German state without Poland or Czechia, caused the country to enter a deep recession throughout most of the 2010s. A rapid change to a more capitalistic-styled economy, as well as the massive loss of land throughout the country, resulted in Germany losing the economic prowess it used to have in the 20th century. Despite this, Germany returned to a democracy, with some historical commentators reflecting Germany's democracy to that of the Weimar Republic. Germany restored its pre-Nazi symbols, including its flag and emblem, after the Federal Republic of Germany was created.
Calls to strengthen the German realm have been popular, especially in the wake of economic depression and rampant corruption, after the dissolution of the Reich. Current Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, has been criticized by opponents in his actions to fight corruption by centralizing power. Others claim that Scholz's centralization policies will help the German economy and help rid the political system of corruption.
The Federal Republic of Germany has been taking large steps to reconciliate from its former Nazi past. Germany has since opened immigration to non-German families living in Germany, such as giving money to encourage the resettlement of Sorbs. Even though many Sorbs still live in other parts of the world, the State of Lusatia remains an autonomous region of Germany, funded by reparations and a program to revitalize the Sorbian culture.