| Federal Republic of Germany Bundesrepublik Deutschland Timeline: Domus Iagiellonica
OTL equivalent: Germany | ||||||
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| Anthem: Deutschlandlied "Song of Germany" |
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| Capital | Berlin | |||||
| Demonym | german | |||||
| Government | Federal parliamentary republic | |||||
| - | President | Frank-Walter Steinmeier | ||||
| - | Chancellor | Olaf Scholz | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| - | Upper house | Bundesrat | ||||
| - | Lower house | Bundestag | ||||
| Time zone | (UTC+1) | |||||
| Internet TLD | .de | |||||
Germany (German: Deutschland), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is a country located in Central Europe. It borders Austria and Switzerland to the south; the Czech Republic and Poland-Lithuania to the east; Denmark to the north; and the Netherlands and France to the west. The country's capital and largest city is Berlin.
Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. During the early 19th century, the HRE ultimately collapsed after the foundation of the Austrian Empire in 1806. However, the idea of German unity arose, and after two confederations and wars with Austria and France, the German Empire was formed in 1871.
After a major naval arms race with the United Kingdom in the 1900s and rising tensions with Russia and France, World War I broke out in 1914. Despite initial gains on both Western and Eastern front, it ultimately lost the war once the Kingdom of America intervened in the war. Resentment and economic collapse do to the Great Depression, led to the rise of the Nazi Party in 1933, and the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Germany lost and was divided into four occupation zones, before being reunified in 1955.
Since the victory of Alternative for Germany in the 2012 presidential election and the 2013 federal election, Germany has turned into an authoritarian regime once again, allying itself with Russia.
History[]
Beginnings and German unification[]
Following the creation of the Austrian Empire in 1804 ending the Holy Roman Empire, German states began to dream of unification.
The Germanic Confederation comprising the kingdoms of Brandenburg, Württemberg, and Bavaria as well as all the former duchies of the Holy Roman Empire was created in 1805.
The People's Spring of 1848 saw the dream of unification gain momentum. A federal parliament was created in 1849 and the emperor's crown was offered to Duke Frederick Wilhelm II of Brandenburg, but he refused.
Tensions between Brandenburg and Austria grew and war between the two nations broke out in 1866. The victory of the Brandenburg forces, backed by Hanover, resulted in the dissolution of the German Confederation and the creation of the North German Confederation.
Coat of arms of Germany
The creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867 buried the dream of a great united Germany.
Tensions between the French Empire and the Kingdom of Hanover led the countries of southern Germany to rally to the latter.
The Franco-Hanoverian War of 1870 saw the alliance of all German states for a common cause.
Creation of the Empire and colonialism[]
Victorious, the representatives of the German states met in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles. Duke Wilhelm I of Brandenburg was crowned Emperor of Germany on January 18, 1871.
Chancellor Bismarck began the process of unification. Soon the road and rail networks were reunited, and the factories were operating at full speed.
Stabilized on a European level, the Empire sought a place in the sun.
The colonies in Africa and Asia were created and the Berlin Treaty of 1885 gave them international legitimacy.
Bismarck and his successors spurred the creation of a modern army and navy.
The Empire forgot its grudges against neighboring Austria and an alliance was signed in 1879.
The Empire prospered thanks to its colonies and factories and quickly became the leading economic and military power in Europe.
Kaiser Wilhelm I died on March 9, 1888. His son Frederick III and his grandson Wilhelm II took over from him in June.
The stability of the line was acquired with the birth of the future Wilhelm III in 1882 and Prince Wilhelm of Brandenburg in 1906.
The economically and dynastically stabilized Empire could last, but the assassination of the Archduke of Austria in 1914 would change everything.
2Oth Century[]
World War I[]
The Empire, entangled in its alliance with Austria-Hungary, declares war on Russia on August 1, 1914, then on Poland-Lithuania and France on August 3.
German troops advance rapidly on both fronts, but the conflict stabilizes from 1915.
The offensives are increasing in the east and the west, without much success. The soldiers, weary of this war of attrition, begin to rebel.
The Allied offensives of 1917 relaunched the war of movement and the troops must quickly withdraw to the territories of the Empire.
Berlin was within range of enemy cannons from the start of 1918.
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates on March 12, and the armistice signing the defeat and the end of the conflicts is ratified on the 15th.
Inter wars period[]
The Empire loses its colonies as well as Alsace-Lorraine following the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. The country amputated of part of its army, must pay war reparations of the order of several million gold marks to winners.
The Empire is preserved but must reform.
The Reichstag was created in May 1919. The chancellor became responsible to parliament and no longer to the emperor, whose powers were restricted.
The country's new constitution, embodying these changes, was ratified by the Emperor in January 1920.
The country is shaken by the Spartakist revolution and owes its victory to the far-right paramilitary forces. The KPD is banned in the aftermaths of the failed revolution.
The country is pacified in blood, a certain stability returns, but political tensions remain.
More liberal policies are being carried out in order to calm the country.
Some stability was achieved at the end of the 1920s, but the Great Depression of 1928 would change everything.
The ‘30s[]
The crisis caught up with the country in 1929, unemployment soared, as did inflation.
The 1930 elections saw the rise of the Nazi party, which took power in 1933.
Chancellor Adolf Hitler promulgates full legislative powers on March 25, 1933 and begins to impose his policy.
The army is reorganized and expanded. The military factories are operating at full capacity, which stabilizes unemployment.
The regime launched a policy of major works aimed at creating the first motorway network in Europe.
Following the Reichstag fire in February, remaining opposition parties were abolished, leaving the way open to the Chancellor.
Austria was annexed in March 1938. The Munich Agreements were signed in September.
The Chancellor then turns his eyes to the east and the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania.
World War II[]
The conflict began on September 1, 1939 when German troops entered Poland-Lithuania without declaring war.
The Franco-British allies declared war on the Empire on the 3rd and crossed the border on the 4th.
German territory was quickly threatened, and Hitler had to send troops west.
The conflict is stabilizing on both fronts.
German troops tried to regain the advantage on several occasions but were unsuccessful.
The General Staff then changed tactics and sent its fleet of submarines, reconstituted, and modernized, to attack the Atlantic.
American convoys bound for the United Kingdom were soon sunk by the dozen, causing the country to enter the war in 1941.
The Allies, thanks to the mobilization of American fleet and the decryption of German codes, regained control of the seas and soon after, American soldiers landed in France by the thousands.
The western front was breached in June 1941.
Hanover, then Hamburg are quickly reached. Berlin and Munich were besieged by Western allies at the end of 1941.
Munich fell on February 1, 1942, and Berlin on March 3. Kaiser Wilhelm III surrendered unconditionally on the 5th.
The country is defeated and occupied.
The Emperor was laid down on March 7, and Hitler's lifeless body, charred, was found in his bunker in May.
After the war[]
The country, along with liberated Austria, is divided into four zones of occupation.
The Allies organized themselves quickly and the occupying forces entered the country in April 1942.
The Western Allies: France, Great Britain and the United States coordinate their policies of control. The American-British Bizone was created in 1947 and the Trizone in 1948.
The Federal Republic of Germany, under Allied control, was created in 1955.
The territory is reunified but still remains conquered.
The federal constitution was ratified by the Allied High Council on July 10, 1955.
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was elected by the Bundesrat on August 3 and began a policy of economic recovery and rapprochement with France.
The 1960s saw economic unification complete.
The country became a founding member of the European Confederation in 1980.
The country quickly becomes a major economic power in Europe, then in the world.
The 1990s under the government of Chancellor Schroeder saw a social turning point.
21st Century[]
Chancellors Schroeder and then Merkel since 2005 continue the country's modernization and liberalization policies.
The country embarked on its energy transition and began a policy of phasing out nuclear power in the 2000s.
The 2015 migration crisis and the 2016 attacks saw a rise of the far-right AfD party.
The country, committed alongside European allies in the fight against terrorism, recently started modernizing its troops.
Rulers[]
German Confederation[]
- Frederick Wilhelm II: 1804 - 1840
- Frederick Wilhelm III: 1840 - 1861
- Wilhelm I: 1861 - 1866
Confederation of North Germany[]
- Wilhelm I: 1866 - 1871
German Empire[]
- Wilhelm I: 1871 - 1888
- Frederick III: 1888
- Wilhelm II: 1888 - 1918
- Wilhelm III: 1918 - 1942
Nazi regime[]
• Adolf Hitler (Chancellor of the Reich): 1933 - 1942
High Allied Council[]
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: 1942 - 1944
- Bernard Montgomery: 1944 - 1946
- Marie-Pierre Kœnig: 1946 - 1948
- Edward Rydz-Smigly: 1948 - 1950
- John J. McCloy: 1950 - 1952
- Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick: 1952 - 1954
- André François-Poncet: 1954 - 1955
Federal Chancellor[]
- Konrad Adenauer (CDU): 1955 - 1963
- Ludwig Erhard (CDU): 1963 - 1966
- Kurt Georg Kiesinger: (CDU): 1966 - 1969
- Willy Brandt (SPD): 1969 - 1974
- Helmut Schmidt (SPD): 1974 - 1982
- Helmut Kohl (CDU): 1982 - 1998
- Gerhard Schroder (SPD): 1998 - 2005
- Angela Merkel (CDU): 2005 - 2021
- Olaf Scholz (SPD): 2021 - incumbent
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