Germany (An Honorable Retelling)

German People’s Republic Deutsche Volksrepublik (German) Gimmasa Prūsiskaaná Raštajmō (Prussian) Němska ludowa republika (Upper Sorbian) Nimska ludowa republika (Lower Sorbian) Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch! "Workers of the world, unite!"
Anthem:  Auferstanden aus Ruinen "Risen from Ruins"
Location of Germany (green)
Capital (and )		Berlin
Official languages		German • Prussian • Upper Sorbian • Lower Sorbian
Demonym		German
Government		Federal parliamentary constitutional republic
-	Chancellor	Bodo Ramelow
-	Council Speaker	Tessa Ganserer
Legislature		Nationalrat
Formation
-	Kingdom of Germany	1806-1919
-	German Revolution	1919-23
-	Spartacist republic	1924-94
-	The Great Reforms	1994-2006
Population
-	2020 estimate	92,000,000
Currency		Deutschmark (DM) (DEM)
Drives on the		right

Germany (German: Deutschland; Prussian: Gimmaanmō; Upper Sorbian: Němska; Lower Sorbian: Nimska), officially the German People’s Republic (German: Deutsche Volksrepublik; Prussian: Gimmasa Prūsiskaaná Raštajmō; Upper Sorbian: Němska ludowa republika; Lower Sorbian: Nimska ludowa republika), is a nation in Central Europe. Bordered by Cisleithania, Helvetia, the Republic of the Grisons, Italy, Alsace-Lorraine, Wallonia-Luxembourg, the Dutch Republic, the United Commonwealths, and Czechoslovakia, it covers an area of X square kilometres, with its capital and largest city being Berlin. The nation is a multiparty Spartacist socialist republic, with the German Communist Party winning most elections since the late 90s. Bodo Ramelow has been the Chancellor since 2019, with Bärbel Bas serving as the Council Speaker since 2021.

Germany was first named in 100 AD, as a region where the Germanic people’s lived beyond the frontiers of the Roman Empire. By the 800s it had developed into East Francia, later the Kingdom of Germany, which would form the bulk of the Holy German Empire’s territory. Following the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1450, Germany was ruled by various competing former states, but saw the majority of its urban centers controlled by the Bernkastel domain, and, much later, the Hanseatic League.

Following successive tactical defeats in the Third Great War, a socialist revolution began in 1919 following the abdication of Emperor Jerome IV, and led to the destructive German Civil War, which was won by the Spartacus League. A socialist republic under a Marxist-Luxemburgist framework was established in 1925, and Germany began to rebuild and rearm, controversially invading Austria-Slovenia in 1934 and setting up a socialist government there, as well as sponsoring the new socialist regime in Sweden. In March 1939, after denying French troops use of their railways to transport troops, the country was invaded and capitulated in August following tactical defeats in the Battle of the Gap. A government-in-exile was founded in East Prussia and Pomerania, and from there the war continued to be fought, first by Luxemburg and Liebknecht, and then from 1940 on by Wilhelm Pieck. Germany would eventually reclaim its lands and push all the way to Paris, as well as participating in the fall of Hungary and North Italy. The Germans set up socialist republics in the occupied territories, leading to outcry from the U.S., England, and the U.C., and sanctions from the three countries being imposed on Germany. The Cold War resulted from these sanctions, and Germany would compete against the U.S.-led Global Treaty Organisation and the British-led International Defence of Liberty Association (IDLA), although Germany did receive Marshall Plan aid until 1949 as a gratitude gift of sorts from the U,S. for helping them defeat France.

In 1952, Germany would form the Frankfurt Pact, a common defence and economic organization. The 50s would see multiple German involvements in foreign conflicts, including the Crainnian Crisis, the Angolan War and the Spartacist insurgency in Vesperia. The Paris Standoff and the 1961 Ju-275 incident over the St. George’s Sea would nearly bring the three sides to nuclear war, and afterwards Germany began to enter detente with the GTO. Germany made several technological advancements and missions throughout this era, landing the first humans on the Moon in 1955. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to Chancellor Herbert Frahm, the German economy boomed as tourism and foreign investment began to increase significantly. However, his time in office was also marred by involvement in the Borneo Jungle War, the crushing of revolutions in Wallonia in 1976 and the Saharan War, plus the fact his liberal and almost capitalist policies brought him the disdain of many hardliners. Following a coup in 1975, orthodox Marxist Erich Hoenecker was installed as Chancellor, and immediately reversed most of Frahm’s policies in renationalisation schemes. Hoenecker’s rule saw mass rearmament and a renewal of Cold War tensions, culminating in the so-called Four Long Years between 1979 and 1983, where the Doomsday Clock came closest to striking midnight. Hoenecker was assassinated by a dissident Lusatian at a Volkswehr parade in 1984, and Egon Krenz took over as Chancellor. Under Krenz, a framework for the reunification of France was laid down and later activated, reuniting the country in 1992, along with a landmark agreement on nuclear weapons limitations in 1988. Germany then began to reform further under Krenz and later Gerhard Schröder of the Centre Party, signing agreements with the GTO and the European Community, as well as allowing for more political parties to enter elections and creating a mixed market economy. This period is often referred to as the Great Reforms.

Germany today is regarded as a major European power. Its economy is the second largest in Europe and it is one of the largest exporters in the world.

History

Pre-revolution: the Napoleonic Kingdom and the Spartacus League

Victor, the final king of Napoleonic Germany(reigned 1891-1919).

Prior to 1919, Germany was a Napoleonic kingdom known as the Kingdom of Germany (German: Königreich Deutschland), a French client state ruled by a member of the Bonaparte dynasty. In 1912, socialists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebnicht founded the Spartacus League, a party of communists and socialists looking to bring about a socialist revolution in Germany. They remained a small-scale party until 1918 when the Third Great War began to turn against the Continental System. From then on, the Spartacists gained massive support, especially from those in the industrial bases of the Ruhr, Saxony and Thuringia.

The German Revolution

See also: German Revolution, German Civil War

As the Third Great War turned against the Continental System, mass dissent began to take root within the Kingdom. On the 29th of October, 1919, the day after the huge strategic loss for Germany at the Battle of Sonderburg, sailors of the Royal German Navy began to mutiny in Stralsund, Rostock, Stettin and Königsberg, the four major bases for the Navy. Simultaneously, pressure began to grow on the King, Victor, to resign in light of a possible defeat of Germany. Jerome, however, was stubborn and blatantly refused to resign or pull Germany out of the War- in later years, this was discovered to have been caused by French High Command and French Emperor Joseph I demanding that Germany remain fighting in the war until the bitter end.

By mid-November, civil unrest had spread to all parts of the Kingdom, and multiple groups, including the Spartacus League, were demanding the abdication of the King. With Germany in a state of de facto civil war, Marshal Petain sent Jerome IV a telegram, advising him to take action against the protesters and force a return to order. Instead, Jerome IV tore up the telegram and, on the 19th, wrote a hastily-devised letter of abdication and fled to Hungary. From the balcony of the Royal Palace in Berlin, a spokesman read out the abdication and quickly hurried inside. Germany was no longer a kingdom, and now a new government would have to be formed.

Revolutionaries armed with a Maschinegewehr 08 and multiple Mauser rifles take guard on the Brandenburg Gate, 1921.

Immediately afterwards, the country devolved into chaos. Luxemburg and Liebnicht, seeing their opportunity to create a socialist German nation, ordered revolutionaries to take key buildings in Berlin and other large cities, while simultaneously spreading word of the revolution. By December a provisional democratic government was formed by Friedrich Ebert in Weimar, a town in modern-day Thuringia, while the Spartacists held multiple key cities such as Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart, with the revolutionaries also holding regions such as East Prussia and Pomerania. Civil war officially began with the Dresden Skirmishes on the 23rd, where Freikorps and revolutionaries clashed in the Saxon capital. In the interim, the Northern Front was ended with the withdrawal of French troops from the Holstein peninsula, and a large contingent of French were now stuck on the Eastern Front. The loss of Germany hurt France greatly, as now it was left without its key ally. German troops serving on all fronts hurried back to their homeland to fight in the civil war, with swathes joining the Freikorps, People’s Army and other military and paramilitary groups.

Initially it seemed that the better-equipped Freikorps and Reichswehr had the upper hand. Ebert's new government was quickly recognised as the official German government, and received materiel from Ireland, Russia, England and the United States. During the Civil War, France was crushed and surrendered, ending the Third Great War. Ebert was summoned to New York, as head of the provisional Weimar government, to attend peace talks. Much like the rest of the Continental System, the terms hit like a bombshell for Ebert: the Treaty of Wilitwyck demanded many things, including:

• Heavy financial compensation to Lublin, Denmark-Norway and the newly independent Czechoslovakia,
• The handover of the German blue water fleet,
• The annexation of Schleswig-Holstein by Denmark-Norway,
• The annexation of Danzig by Lublin,
• The independence of the Rhineland, thereby denying Germany the use of its resources and industrial capacity, and East Prussia,
• An independent Sorbian state,
• Plebiscites in Pomerania, Westphalia, Tyrol and Emsland,
• The reduction in size of the German military, the abolition of the Royal Air Corps and the handover of all armored vehicles.

Reluctantly, Ebert agreed. Knowing that the Spartacists would try fight against this, but having no other choice, he signed on the 16th of June, 1922, effectively signing away the fate of the Weimar Republic. The Treaty ended up destroying any popularity the Weimar Republic had, as most Germans were opposed to the conditions of the Treaty. In the wake of its signing, the Spartacists surged in popularity. Angry and dissatisfied Germans flocked to the Communists in droves, who promised to restore German territorial integrity. Many Freikorps soldiers defected, hurting the Weimar Republic's military capability.

Spartacist-captured tank in Leipzig, 1923.

Eventually, the civil war would end in Spartacist victory. The head of the People’s Army, Otto Grotewohl, planned a "great offensive" to destroy the provisional government. By them the Weimar Republic Army had been severely weakened by desertions and mutinies, leading to a quick victory. The Sack of Weimar in January 1923 led to the dissolution of the "Weimar Republic" and the proclamation of the German People’s Republic. But the civil war raged on, as foreign intervention by the Allied Powers resulted in the brief War of the Internationals from 1923-24, which was unpopular among the public in the Allied nations. Eventually Allied troops faltered, leading to great military victories for the Spartacists, including the famed Silesia Sweep, a two-week "blitzkrieg" maneuver that captured Silesia in its entirety. In March 1924, hostilities ceased and negotiations for a new Treaty began.

Consolidation of power and the interwar years

The Treaty of Arnhem officially ended the Civil War and Germany was finally at peace. Signed by England, Rhomania, Lublin, Denmark-Norway, Germany, the US, Ireland, Scotland and Russia on the 7th of October, 1924, the Treaty recognised that the borders would remain as of the end of hostilities, which angered a lot of neighbouring nations, especially Czechoslovakia, which lost most of Silesia. Agreements were made that renounced German claims to the Sudetenland and Northern Schleswig. The new Communist government was recognised as the legitimate government of Germany, and generally all claims and demands against Germany were settled.

The KPD, under Grotewohl, Pieck, Ulbricht, Luxemburg and Liebnicht, pushed ahead with establishing the framework of the Republic. According to the 1925 constitution, the German People’s Republic would be governed via people's democracy, allowing for multiparty elections (also featuring universal enfranchisement), which were held immediately after the constitution was accepted via a referendum. Local government was to be via a federal system, with separate parliaments. The first federal elections in 1925 was a landslide for the KPD, as the SPD had been purged due to their role in the Civil War and other parties were too weak to oppose the KPD initially, and Luxemburg became the first Chancellor, with Liebnicht elected to the position of Speaker of the People’s Council. The two would end up sharing the Chancellorcy, with Grotewohl taking over as Council Speaker.

Autobahn, 1931.

The elections were followed by the implementation of economic policies in line with socialism. Many "essential" industries were nationalised, while other industries fell into the hands of union and worker cooperatives. This was followed by massive expansion of the economy, to offset a rapid unemployment rate. Projects created during this time to employ workers and improve quality of life included the Autobahns (commonly referred to as Luxemburgbahns), public housing projects and the creation of jobs in state-owned industries, notably the creation of the fully state-owned car company Volkswagen in 1935.

Beneath this veil of prosperity, though, lay a secret agenda that the Luxemburg government initiated in 1928. Germany, and Luxemburg in particular, wanted to spread its ideology of Marxism-Luxemburgism across the continent. So, they assisted communist parties and paramilitary organisations across Europe. They had involvement in multiple socialist uprisings, including in Cisleithania, which became the Cislethanian Socialist Republic. This brought great consternation from multiple nations, including the USC, Lublin and Russia, who saw Germany as a nation attempting to create a socialist Europe, under German hegemony. Lublin and Russia in particular were concerned about the rapid military expansion programmes undertaken by the German government.

Worse yet was the Red Terror, which would be the root of Germany’s isolation from the international community. The aftermath of the Civil War saw mass emigration of German elites, leaving a state broken and dominated by communists and democratic socialists. This also meant huge opposition from various political groups. In 1926, the Public Safety Act was passed, allowing for arbitrary detention of any suspected subversives in the name of protecting the Revolution. This Act would be the proviso for six years of pure government-sponsored terror. Using the Volkspolizei and the official government militia, the AVKO, from 1926 to 1932 hundreds of thousands of suspected subversives, including former political elites, conservatives, intellectuals, industrialists, supporters of the Bonaparte monarchy and supporters of the failed Weimar Republic, were either imprisoned, in serious cases killed, forced into exile or pressured into joining the KPD, USPD or aligning with the Communist reigime(although they were allowed to set up their own political parties). It was these two factors that would pave the way for future developments, including the Cold War. However, larger problems were arising, as the rise of Fascism scared everyone- not least the global socialist movement.

Fourth Great War

The rise of France and French fascism was of great concern to the new Germany. Throughout the 1930s the nation had slowly remilitarised, but after the Grande coup d’etat of 1933 saw ultranationalist Charles Maurras rise to power in France, massive economic programs were created by Liebnicht to build up German inventory. While some saw it as Germany rising again to create a socialist Europe, for the GSWP, it was a matter of survival. France would no doubt try to reclaim the territories of the Rhine left bank, and as such heavy investment was put into defences along the Rhine, plus in the Fulda Gap, a designated weak point in German geography. New small arms such as the MG34, Kar98k and MP38/MP40, tanks such as the Panzer III and IV, antitank guns such as the 3.7cm Pak 36 and PzB 39 and other such improvements in military technology would help the German Volkswehr in the event of invasion.

German troops in Heidelberg, June 1939

The invasion of Wallonia-Luxembourg and Flanders in 1938 would be the start of the Fourth Great War. Germany, wishing not to be involved, neither declared war on France nor condemned the invasion, although a secret memorandum passed to the US ambassador in Frankfurt explicitly condemned the invasion. However, Maurras had his eyes on Germany, wanting to regain territory west of the Rhine. In February 1939, Maurras, through Foreign Minister Daladier, sent an ultimatum to Germany to allow French troops through Germany in preparation for an invasion of Lublin. Germany refused access, though announced it would conventionally agree to allow military divisions to use its airspace under heavy supervision. Nonetheless, France was using this as preparation for an act of war, and if Germany were to reject any stipulations it offered, it would immediately pursue with a land invasion.

While France had deeply overestimated the capabilities of the German military, having only expected that their invasion would last a month in advance, Germany was not organised to fight an immediate conflict on the Rhine. As a result, it was poised into a strategic defence that failed to achieve its goals of preventing France from reaching the river. French forces and their allies in Luxembourg overran the local governments there and were able to conquer much of the country by July. Wilhelm Pieck fled to Sweden soon afterwards, and Berlin fell in August 1939. German resistance remained scattered, but prominent, among areas of industrial production, and France was never able to use German territory to finance its war efforts from 1939 to the end of the war in 1946. Remnants of the Volkswehr fled to Russia, while tank and aircraft development continued in Sweden. A large portion of the forces in Brandenburg were enlisted by the United Commonwealths to fight French forces in Polotsk, and German troops were instrumental in the defence of Minsk.

In 1943, Swedish forces entered the conflict in order to liberate Germany and Denmark-Norway from their French occupiers, and had seized all of Pomerania by the end of the year. Berlin was subsequently recaptured, and Pieck was reinstated as leader. The Oder River saw fierce fighting, but ultimately French forces were outpaced, and were forced to withdraw from the entire country by 1944. With France having not bothered to destroy the industrial plants that they were unable to seize proper materiel from, German industry was very quickly revitalised, and it accelerated production at a faster pace, effectively leading to German forces reaching the Seine River, and declaring a puppet state out of eastern France. The initial intent was to recreate the defunct Commune of France, but the German High Command transitioned it into a direct puppet, intended to relieve France of its wartime capacity while exerting humanitarian costs as punishment for their prior occupations.

Cold War and rivalry with the USC and the Union of Britain

Karl Liebknecht Pioneer Organisation, a party-supported youth movement in Germany, active from 1946-1989

During the immediate post-war period, Germany rebuilt and expanded its economy, while maintaining its strictly centralized control, although reforms were introduced in the early 1950s to improve the then-stagnating economy, transforming Germany towards quasi-market socialism. It took near-effective control over its occupied territories, turning them into satellite states. Germany bound its satellite states in a military alliance, the Frankfurt Pact, in 1955, and declined to join the European Community, mostly because of Russian veto but also because of their inherent opposition to capitalism. Germany concentrated on its own recovery, seizing and transferring most of eastern France's industrial plants. It also instituted trading arrangements deliberately designed to favour the country. Frankfurt largely controlled the Communist parties that ruled the other Spartacist states, and they followed orders largely from the country, although they were allowed some leeway in external trading and cooperation; however, Sweden expressed strong recalcitrance and was the only nation willing to maintain trade relations with other nations, a policy which Germany generally tolerated. Also, despite Germany advocating for full imposition of council communism, many of Germany's allies chose to interpret its ideology in different ways, leading to a spectrum of states based on how literally they interpreted Marxism-Luxemburgism. Fearing its ambitions, Germany's prior wartime allies, Russia and the United States, became its enemies. In the ensuing Cold War, the two sides clashed indirectly in proxy wars.

Alongside the United States, Germany found itself increasingly rivaled by the Union of Britain as well, which the state reviled as the "continuation of fascism", which was also touted by Western outlets. However, the majority of those in government expressed disdain towards cooperation with the United States, due to economic and social differences, particularly hardline communists and Stalinists. A period of collective leadership ensued, and while press censorship was eased, Germany maintained its "no-contest" policy with the general public, and Chancellor Walter Ulbricht viewed civil liberties as unnecessary in an era where three nations were competing for geopolitical dominance, leading to crackdowns during his Chancellery from 1957 to 1963. Infrastructure projects received heavy funding, and in the 1950s, the KPD opted for a fiscal approach by having high spending in both industrial and military programmes.

Crainnia Crisis and the Paris Standoff

APEN soldiers during an ambush in rural Camoline County, New Ireland, 1961. Germany provided covert support to the APEN including armored vehicles and small arms.

In 1957, Ireland formally withdrew troops from their colony of New Ireland, and a provisional government declared the independence of Crainnia. For the past few years, Germany had covertly supported insurgents in Vistara, and knowing how important it was for them to gain allies, they began to fund Spartacist parties and groups within the country. Elections held in 1958 would see the Western-aligned National Liberals(PLN) win, with the Spartacist-aligned Workers Party not gaining many seats. Immediately, the government collapsed and civil war broke out, with fascists and ultraconservatives forming the Free State of Crainnia. As a counter, in March 1958, with German assistance, the Workers Party and their military wing, the APEN, left the government and established a state in the eastern part of the country, centered on Ardaragh County. The provisional government in Newport/Calaidh Nua requested aid, leading to Operation Greenhouse, which saw crack Irish troops redeployed to fight the guerrillas. This, obviously, caused a global crisis, with Germany pushing for a LTEP intervention.

On the 9th of July, 1958, LTEP Security Council Resolution 124 demanded the immediate withdrawal of Irish forces from Crainnia and the creation of COSFEN, a multinational peacekeeping force comprised of soldiers from Kurdistan, Afrocolumbia, Ethiopia, Italy, Albania and others. For the next five years, the three groups would clash in the former Irish colony, with Crainnia(Newport) being supported by COSFEN after 1959 and 1960, with the force transitioning from a peacekeeping force to a military force, engaging in skirmishes with secessionist rebels and guerillas. Throughout all this, Germany and its allies covertly funded the APEN, supplying them with fighter jets, small arms, gear and armoured vehicles. In 1963, the crisis ended with the capture of Ardaragh County by government forces. COSFEN would remain as a stabilising force in Crainnia until 1971, when operations were ended entirely.

Noisy-Le-Grand, Hiberno-Scottish occupation zone, June 1961. Irish Dagda MkII and Scottish M48 Patton tanks face down German Pz.VII Löwe tanks at a checkpoint.

The New Ireland Crisis was not the only crisis Germany instigated or was involved in. Since 1946, Germany had stationed troops in East Paris, in its sector of the joint occupation zone of Ile-de-France. During the New Ireland Crisis, German troops were on constant alert and were mobilised at the inner French border in the event of a nuclear escalation. The closest the world would come to catastrophe was in 1961, due to two important events, one of which was the Paris Standoff. For a month in June 1961, Columbian, Russian, Irish and Scottish tanks faced down their German counterparts on the "Line of Control", the line dividing the Allied and German occupation zones of Ile-de-France. However, a second crisis preceded this, one that very nearly brought the world to nuclear ruin.

The Paris Crisis was started by a 1961 speech to the Frankfurt Pact Conference by Maurice Thorez, People’s President of the French Democratic People’s Republic. In it, a Swedish journalist asked him about the escalating tensions in Europe and the continual population exodus from East France via Ile-de-France. Thorez replied, "There will be no exodus once we get the shovels". Many took this as a sign there would be a full closure of the East French border, including in Ile-de-France, contrary to the 1946 Dearborn Agreement to keep the zone’s borders open to all. On the morning of the 17th of June, residents of Ile-de-France were greeted by barricades and roadblocks into the German zone of control, de facto a part of East France. Units of the German Army and militias of the DSPF had been instructed to bar entry into East France. Over the next three months, construction workers, guarded by East French armed police and militiamen, built an

Detente

Herbert Frahm, the Chancellor credited with bringing about detente.

With the collapse of Kiesinger’s "national coalition" in 1966, elections were called. With a growing young population, it was about time reforms were introduced. The 1966 elections would see the USPD, led by Herbert Frahm, formerly Lord Mayor of Berlin and Minister of Justice during the Kiesinger government. Noted for his light-handed and positive approach towards civil liberties, he was a hit with young voters, coming to power with a 42.7% share of the vote. His party, the USPD, would enter into a coalition with the (generally supportive) KPD, with their leader, Horst Sindermann,

Hoenecker’s hardliner coup, remilitarisation and another nuclear standoff

See also: Summertime Coup, Germany under Erich Hoenecker

Volkspolizei riot squads face down a mass of pro-Frahm rioters on the Münchenerstraße, Frankfurt, 11 June 1975.

June 1975 would see German history take an irreversible turn. The past few years had seen living standards rise to levels never seen before in the People’s Republic, thanks to the policies of liberalisation undertaken by Frahm. However, Frahm crucially never had full support of government. While his party, the Independent Social Democratic Party, fully supported him, they found themselves the junior partner in a USPD-KPD coalition, and at the time the KPD, while supportive of detente, were becoming slightly concerned with Frahm’s views on socialism. This view was shared by the GVP, who saw Frahm’s reforms as too radical, while hardline communists on the backbenches saw Frahm as "a traitor to the principles of Marxism and socialism", as described by Walter Ulbricht in a memorandum in 1970.

This opposition to the USPD and Frahm would intensify after the 1974 Rome Conference, establishing the Organisation for European Security, Integrity and Cooperation (OESIC), which angered traditional communists, seeing it as a capitulation to the "evil capitalists and fascists". However, the KPD and USPD supported Frahm, seeing the Rome Conference as a step forward in the end of the Cold War. The famous "Look to Europe" speech of October 1974 was seen as a turning point for opposition to Frahm. Traditional Marxists, antirevisionists and Stalinists felt further alienated from the KPD/USPD coalition.

Government and politics

Bodo Ramelow (GSWP), Chancellor since 2019

Bärbel Bas (CP), Council Speaker since 2021

Germany is governed as a federal parliamentary multiparty socialist republic, under the principles of social democracy and people’s democracy. While officially the country is "committed to the principles of socialism, Marxism and the freedom of the proletariat, the underprivileged and working class", German economic policies have grown increasingly capitalist since the Great Reforms initiated by Gerhard Schröder. Under the constitution, "free and fair" elections are guaranteed to be held every four years. The Chancellor is the elected head of state and has the power to veto any decisions made by the Nationalrat. However, openly capitalist political parties have been barred from participating in general elections, with all parties needing to take an official pledge to "the advancement of socialism and Marxist-Luxemburgist ideals" in order to officially run candidates in federal elections.

The Council Speaker is the head of government and heads the Nationalrat, the main executive body of the German government. The Nationalrat is comprised of 554 members, and is the unicameral legislature of Germany. All government ministers are appointed from the Nationalrat, and are seated at the front benches. The Chancellor has a special raised seat in the middle of the very first row, while the Council Speaker sits at the head of the hall. The People’s Court of Germany, headed by a Supreme Justice, is the highest court of appeal and can overturn decisions made by the Nationalrat if the motion is deemed unconstitutional, along with overturning local, regional or national court rulings.

List of political parties

Federal political parties in the Nationalrat

Party		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	Political position	Seats in Nationalrat
	Communist Party of Germany	KPD		Marxism-Luxemburgism Revolutionary Socialism Council communism	Far-left
	Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany	USPD		Centrist Marxism Democratic socialism Pacificism	Left-wing to far-left
	All-German People's Party	GVP		Democratic socialism Social conservatism Christian democracy	Centre-right to centre-left
	Volkstaat Socialist Party	VSP		Democratic socialism Socialist militarism Left-wing nationalism	Left-wing to far-left
	Free Democratic Party	FDP		Liberal socialism social liberalism	Centre-left
	Alliance of Greens and Environmental Socialists	AGU		Environmentalism Eco-socialism	Left-wing
	Die Linke	LINKE		Democratic socialism Left-wing populism	Left-wing
	Die Partei	DP		Political satire Humanitarianism Environmentalism	Left-wing

Regionalist parties in the Nationalrat

Party		Abbr.	Leader	Ideology	Political position	Seats in Nationalrat
	Spartacus League of Bavaria			Marxism-Luxemburgism Revolutionary Socialism Regionalism	Far left
	South Schleswig Voters' Association			Regionalism Social liberalism Democratic socialism	Centre
	Brandenburg Civic Movement			Regionalism Democratic socialism Social democracy	Center-left
	Citizens for Silesia			Regionalism Social liberalism Democratic socialism	Center-left
	Spartacus League of Thuringia			Regionalism Big tent party	Centre

Foreign relations

Throughout most of its early and modern history, Germany was forced to rely on itself, becoming a dominant power in Europe and the largest, militarily, economically and statistically, and most developed nation of the Frankfurt Pact. From the New Ireland Crisis and the beginnings of detente in the 1960s, Germany opened up significantly to the world, becoming a major trade partner with the West and even allowing Western companies to invest in Germany. The 1975 coup by Hoenecker reversed this, but since the Great Reforms

Administrative divisions

Map of Germany.

The German People’s Republic is a federal state, made up of 12 "spartacist republics", 5 "autonomous republics", 3 free cities and the Berlin Capital Region. All have their own parliament, the Staatenrat.

State	Population	Capital	Leader	Bezirke
Bavaria	13,124,737	Munich	Markus Söder (FDP)	Bezirke Oberbayern, Bezirke Niederbayern
Brandenburg	6,197,670	Berlin	Dietmar Woidke (VSP)	Bezirke Brandenburg, Bezirke Berlin
Prussia	3,733,648	Königsberg	Adolf Weissmuller (KPD)	Bezirke Westpreußen, Bezirke Ostpreußen, Bezirke Danzig, Bezirke Königsberg
New Saxony	4,077,937	Dresden	Michael Kretschmer (GVP)	Bezirke Leipzig, Bezirke Dresden, Bezirke Chemnitz
Old Saxony	2,169,253	Magdeburg	Reiner Haseloff (KPD)	Bezirke Magdeburg, Berzirke Halle/Salle
Lower Saxony	8,003,421	Hanover	Stephan Weil (SPD)	Bezirke Hannover, Bezirke Braunschweig, Bezirke Lüneburg, Bezirke Oldenburg

Military

Messerschmitt Me420 Tornado fighter jet as used by the Volksluftwaffe.

See also: Deutsche Volkswehr

The German military, the Volkswehr, is organised into the Volksbodentruppen (Army, VBT and the Special Forces, the VSEH), Volksmarine und Seestreitkräfte (Navy, VMSE), Volksluftwaffe (Air and Space Forces, VLW) and the Volkssturm (Reserve forces/militia, VSM). German military spending has remained considerably high since the end of the Cold War, with it taking up 3.8% of the country’s GDP in 2021.

As of January 2020, the Volkswehr has a strength of 288,901 active soldiers and 91,212 civilians. Reservists are available to the armed forces and participate in defence exercises and deployments abroad. Until 2008, military service was compulsory for men at age 21, but this has been officially suspended and replaced with a voluntary service. Since 1999 women may serve in all functions of service without restriction. According to the Oslo International Peace Research Institute, Germany was the fourth-largest exporter of major arms in the world from 2014 to 2018. Germany itself is a nuclear power, in possession of around 4600 warheads as of 2018.

During peacetime the Volkswehr is commanded by the General Secretary of the Volkswehr, but in wartime the chancellor takes the position of General Secretary. The role of the Volkswehr as described in the 1997 constitution is to defend German territory and its allies against any attacks, as well as to participate in LTEP international missions.

Economy

The German economy is one of the most advanced in Europe and the world, and is the third-largest importer and exporter in the world, along with being the second-largest economy in Europe and the fourth largest economy in the world by gross domestic product (GDP). Its economic system is that of a "social market economy" (otherwise known as Rhenish socialism, Pieckism (after German Chancellor Wilhelm Pieck, who instituted the framework for the social market economy after the Fourth Great War) or German market socialism), with a prevalence of public-owned and state-owned enterprises. While different from American social capitalism due to its emphasis on state control of the economy and generally more regulation in the economy, it shares many aspects with it. Another unique aspect of the German economy is the type of companies that exist within the economy. Since 1988 limited companies and limited stock companies have been allowed to function within Germany, but most companies are either state owned enterprises (Staatliches Unternehmen, SLU), joint union-stock cooperative enterprises(Gemeinsames Gewerkschafts-Aktien-Genossenschaftsunternehmen, GGAG) or the two above types of corporations.

Since 1997, Germany has been part of the European single market and the Schengen Free Travel Area, and has multiple arrangements with the European Union, which were started by Egon Krenz in the mid-1980s. Unemployment has consistently been below 5% since the late 1980s, one of the lowest rates in Europe. Its currency, the Deutschmark (DEM), introduced in 1990, is one of the most stable global currencies known.

Being the birthplace of the modern automobile, it comes as no surprise that a large portion of Germany's exports are vehicles, primarily cars. The automotive industry in Germany is one of the largest and most advanced in the world. Famous brands in this sector from Germany include Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, Wartburg, the Auto Union Group (Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer), Trabant, Opel and Mercedes-Benz. Other well known companies include Adidas, Siemens, Zeiss, Bosch, Allianz, Deutsche Telekom, AEG, DFT-Gruppen, Heckler & Koch and Rheinmetall.