Published on and written by Cyril Jarnias
The history of the country Germany is one of ruptures and continuities, of state-building and fractures, of devastating wars and patient political reconstructions. From the earliest prehistoric communities to the federal state and member of the European Union, German territory has been the stage for political experiments that have profoundly marked Europe. Understanding this trajectory requires following a long chronological thread, but also identifying a few major turning points: the era of the Holy Roman Empire, the rise of Prussia and unification, the Empire and the two World Wars, the post-1945 division, and then reunification around the fall of the Berlin Wall.
From Prehistoric Peoples to the Early Frankish Kingdoms
Long before the appearance of a state recognizable as the ancestor of the country Germany, the territory was occupied by human groups for over a million years. Archaeologists have unearthed tools in the Upper Rhine plain dating back approximately 1.33 million years, attesting to a very ancient human presence. Over the millennia, several species succeeded one another, such as Homo heidelbergensis (Mauer jaw, about 609,000 years old) or the Steinheim individual (about 225,000 years old). Neanderthals appeared around 130,000 years before present, then Homo sapiens around 45,000 years ago. Works like the Venus of Hohle Fels or the Löwenmensch, a half-human, half-lion figurine, show the very early existence of complex cultures in what would later become the Germanic heartland.
After the last Ice Age (around 10,000 BC), the Ahrensburg culture established itself in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia. Sedentary agriculture developed around 5500–5000 BC with the Linear Pottery culture, which later evolved into regional traditions (Michelsberg, Funnelbeaker). These were replaced by the Corded Ware culture and the Bell Beaker culture. The Bronze Age expanded with the Unetice culture, and then the Iron Age began with the Urnfield culture, followed by the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures, marking the peak of the Celts.
In the Roman era, Latin sources distinguished between the Celtic peoples and those referred to as “Germanic” to the east of the Rhine. In the 1st century BC, Julius Caesar waged the Gallic Wars and, in his accounts, designated groups like those of Ariovistus, whom he fought, as “Germans.” This Roman construction of a “Germanic world” would have a lasting influence on the perception of the peoples of Central Europe.
In 9 AD, the Cheruscan leader Arminius inflicted a decisive defeat on three Roman legions. This event forced Rome to abandon its plans for a province east of the Rhine, to retreat to a more defensible frontier, and to consolidate its positions on the Rhine and Danube. It also led to the development of major centers like Cologne and the settlement of tribes, such as the Franks, on the fringes of the Empire.
It was precisely this Frankish people, initially settled partly on what is now German territory, that played a decisive role in the transition between Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Under the Merovingian, and especially the Carolingian dynasties, the Franks built a kingdom encompassing most of present-day France and Germany.
The reigns of Clovis, then his successors, saw the expansion of Frankish power over Northern Gaul, the Middle Rhine, then victory against the Alemanni and the Visigoths. Later, the Carolingian family – with Pepin the Short then Charlemagne – established itself as the new center of power.
From Charlemagne’s Empire to the Holy Roman Empire
Charlemagne, having become King of the Franks, led a series of conquests that integrated territories corresponding to present-day France, Germany, the Benelux, Northern Italy, and part of Central Europe into a single entity. He protected the Papal States, defeated the Lombards, subjugated the Saxons after long wars, and extended Latin Christendom eastward.
On December 25, 800, Pope Leo III crowned him Emperor in Rome. This was a gesture loaded with symbolism: the West gave itself a new emperor, distinct from that of Byzantium, and the Western imperial crown was now linked to the kingdom of the Franks. This act inaugurated a continuity between the Christian Roman Empire and the new Carolingian construction.
After the death of Charlemagne, then his successors, the Carolingian Empire fragmented. The Treaty of Verdun (843) divided the entity into three kingdoms: West Francia, Middle Francia, and East Francia. The latter, East Francia, roughly corresponds to the future political “Germany.” In the 10th century, with Saxon kings like Henry the Fowler, and especially Otto I, this eastern kingdom acquired its own identity, while still claiming the Carolingian imperial heritage.
In 962, Otto I was crowned emperor by the pope, an act generally considered one of the birth dates of the Holy Roman Empire. This unique political construction, officially named the “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” in the 16th century, was a mosaic of duchies, principalities, free cities, and ecclesiastical territories, united under the authority of an emperor elected by princes.
Historian
A Decentralized and Plural Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was both a continuation of the Christian Empire and a reality deeply rooted in the diversity of Germanic and neighboring territories. It encompassed at various times present-day Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, parts of Northern Italy and Eastern France, and some Polish territories.
From the 13th century onward, the Holy Roman Empire became linked to German dynasties, adopting the designation “of the German Nation” in the 16th century. However, it never became a centralized nation-state, as the emperor’s power, elected by princes, was limited by territorial rights, free cities, the Church, and Imperial Diets.
Nevertheless, the empire acquired lasting institutions during the Imperial Reforms of the late 15th and early 16th centuries: an Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht), common rules of territorial peace (Landfrieden), an Imperial Diet which, from 1663, sat permanently in Regensburg. Compromise, negotiation, and the coexistence of multiple powers became the hallmark of this political construction.
Eastward Expansion and Ethnic Mosaic
From the High Middle Ages, a movement of colonization to the east – the Ostsiedlung – saw German-speaking peasants, artisans, and merchants settle in sparsely populated or predominantly Slavic regions: Silesia, Pomerania, eastern Brandenburg, neighboring kingdoms like Bohemia or Poland. This colonization, often encouraged by local princes, gradually altered the linguistic and cultural map, without erasing the Slavic populations.
Further east, the Teutonic Order led crusades against pagan Baltic peoples, built fortresses like Marienburg, and founded a monastic state. This was the nucleus of a future entity, Prussia, which would play a decisive role in modern German history.
Prussia, from the Teutonic Order to Dominant Power
The Prussian territory, first controlled by the Teutonic Knights, was profoundly transformed by the settlement of German-speaking colonists and by the Order’s domination. After defeats like that of Grunwald in 1410 against the Polish-Lithuanian coalition, the knights’ power declined. In the 16th century, the monastic state was secularized into the Duchy of Prussia, entrusted to the Hohenzollern dynasty, already rulers of the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
The Hohenzollerns expanded their territories through inheritances and treaties (Brandenburg, Prussia, Pomerania) after the Thirty Years’ War. Under Frederick William, known as the “Great Elector,” Prussia developed an efficient bureaucracy, a powerful standing army, and a policy of controlled tolerance toward some Protestant refugees, thus laying the foundations for an absolutist and militaristic state.
In 1701, the Elector of Brandenburg had himself crowned “King in Prussia” (later “King of Prussia”). The new kingdom gradually entered the circle of great European powers. Frederick William I strengthened it as a “drill-sergeant state,” while Frederick II, known as the Great, relied on a mix of enlightened authoritarianism and modernization: a generalized civil code, abolition of torture, relative independence of the judiciary, promotion of a secondary school system (Gymnasium) that would set an example elsewhere.
Year of the First Partition of Poland, in which Frederick II participated, unifying the territories of Brandenburg and Ducal Prussia.
The Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the German Question Opens
Meanwhile, the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years’ War, and the assertion of territorial states had deeply eroded the cohesion of the Holy Roman Empire. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) enshrined the increased sovereignty of the princes and drastically limited the emperor’s powers. The 18th century saw the rise in power of the Prussian and Austrian states, while the Empire remained a legal, symbolic, and diplomatic framework, increasingly out of step with modern state dynamics.
Year of the official dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, after Emperor Francis II abdicated.
Nationalism, Liberalism, and the Zollverein
In the 19th century, the national question became acute. Intellectuals like Fichte, Herder, the Brothers Grimm, and figures from the student movement (Burschenschaften) developed the idea of a German community based on a common language, culture, and history. Gatherings like the Wartburg Festival (1817) or the Hambach Festival (1832) carried demands for political freedoms and national unity.
Economically, Prussia initiated the creation of a customs union (Zollverein) as early as 1818. This gradually expanded to other German states. By removing internal customs barriers and facilitating the movement of goods, this common economic space strengthened ties between the principalities and marginalized Austria, which remained excluded. At the same time, industrialization accelerated in the Rhineland, the Ruhr, and the Saar, stimulated notably by the development of the railroad.
Politically, the Confederation remained dominated by monarchies suspicious of reforms. The revolutions of 1848–1849, inspired by the European Spring of Nations, shook the entire German-speaking world. A National Assembly met in Frankfurt to draft a liberal constitution and propose unification. The imperial crown was even offered to the King of Prussia, who refused it, arguing that it could only come from the princes and not “from the gutter” (i.e., from a revolutionary assembly). This attempt to unify Germany on a parliamentary basis failed, but the German Question remained open.
Unification by Prussia: “Blood and Iron”
It was ultimately the Prussian path, authoritarian and military, that led to the creation of a German Empire. Appointed Minister-President of Prussia in 1862, Otto von Bismarck, a conservative aristocrat, intended to settle the question of unity to the advantage of his kingdom. For him, the “great questions of the time” were not decided by speeches or votes, but “by iron and blood.”
He orchestrated a series of controlled conflicts. In 1864, Prussia allied with Austria to defeat Denmark and annex the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Two years later, he provoked a crisis with Vienna over the administration of these territories. The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 was brief and decisive: Prussian victory at Königgrätz, dissolution of the German Confederation, annexation by Berlin of several northern states (Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau, Frankfurt), and creation of the North German Confederation under Prussian leadership.
In 1870, Prussian Chancellor Bismarck manipulated the Ems Dispatch, a diplomatic telegram, to make its tone appear insulting to French public opinion. This provocation served as a pretext for Napoleon III’s France to declare war on Prussia. The conflict, initially linked to a crisis over the candidacy of a Hohenzollern prince to the Spanish throne, quickly turned into a disaster for France: Napoleon III was captured at Sedan, Paris was besieged, and Prussian victories culminated in the proclamation of the German Empire, thus achieving German unity.
On January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, the German princes proclaimed the King of Prussia, William I, “German Emperor.” The German Empire was born in a highly symbolic gesture, on French soil, sealed by the defeat of the hereditary enemy. The new federal entity comprised 25 states under the overwhelming preeminence of Prussia: it represented about two-thirds of the population and territory, and its army became the core of the new imperial army.
A Powerful but Unstable Empire
The Wilhelminian Reich was a federal monarchy with a parliament elected by universal male suffrage (the Reichstag) and a council of states (Bundesrat). But executive power remained largely in the hands of the emperor and his chancellor, first Bismarck, then his successors. The Empire experienced strong industrial growth, developed a war fleet, acquired colonies, and asserted its weight in the European concert. The annexation of Alsace-Lorraine after the French defeat in 1871 fostered lasting hostility from Paris.
Bismarck pursued repressive policies (Kulturkampf, Anti-Socialist Laws) while instituting pioneering social reforms, like social insurance in the 1880s. This approach aimed to neutralize opposition by the state, combining authoritarianism, nationalism, and social modernization. It strengthened German national sentiment but limited the development of parliamentary democracy.
After Bismarck’s forced departure in 1890, Emperor William II broke with his chancellor’s cautious foreign policy. Germany embarked on an ambitious Weltpolitik, claiming its “place in the sun,” which fueled rivalries with the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. The Empire’s military and naval rise, combined with Balkan tensions, created an explosive climate.
From World War to the Weimar Republic
In 1914, the mechanism of alliances and crises led to the First World War. Germany, alongside Austria-Hungary, opposed France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and later the United States. The conflict caused approximately 20 million deaths in total, including over two million German soldiers. The German economy was strangled by the Allied blockade; the population suffered shortages and famines, notably during the “Turnip Winter” of 1916–1917.
In the summer of 1918, the massive arrival of American troops reversed the balance of power. Despite the last German offensives, the Reich’s army found itself in a position of weakness. The military command, led by Ludendorff and Hindenburg, concluded that an armistice had to be requested. To share the responsibility for defeat, it pushed for the formation of a civilian government and a transition to a parliamentary system.
The armistice was signed while the German army still occupied territories, fueling the right-wing myth that the army, undefeated militarily, had been betrayed by civilians, socialists, and revolutionaries.
Revolution of 1918–1919 and the Birth of Weimar
In the autumn of 1918, a mutiny of sailors in Wilhelmshaven, then Kiel, ignited the powder keg. Workers’ and soldiers’ councils, inspired by the Russian soviets, formed in cities. The monarchy collapsed: the kings of the federal states abdicated, Emperor William II fled. On November 9, 1918, in Berlin, two rival proclamations occurred: Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann announced the Republic from a Reichstag window, while revolutionary Karl Liebknecht proclaimed a “Free Socialist Republic” from the palace.
A provisional government, the Council of the People’s Deputies, combining the majority Social Democrats (SPD) and Independents (USPD), led the country. Its leader, Friedrich Ebert, concluded a secret agreement with General Groener to maintain order with army support. This alliance left great autonomy to the military and administrative elites of the former monarchy, at the cost of isolating revolutionary currents.
The young Republic faced uprisings from both the left and the right. In January 1919, the Spartacist uprising in Berlin was crushed by Freikorps; Luxemburg and Liebknecht were murdered. In Bavaria, a short-lived Republic of Councils was immediately suppressed. The specter of Bolshevik revolution loomed, alarming the middle and bourgeois classes, who often rallied to the republican order out of fear of the worst, but without enthusiasm.
Elections for the National Assembly were held in January 1919, with universal suffrage including women for the first time. The centrist coalition – SPD, Catholic Center Party, and Democratic Party – obtained a majority. The Assembly met in Weimar, hence the name given to the new regime, and adopted a constitution in August 1919. The country became a federal republic with a semi-presidential system: a president elected by universal suffrage, a chancellor responsible to the Reichstag, and an Article 48 allowing the president to govern by decree in emergencies, a provision that would later be widely abused.
The Shock of the Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar Crises
Meanwhile, the victors negotiated the peace terms in Paris. The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, imposed territorial losses on Germany (about 13% of its European territory and 12% of its population), the return of Alsace-Lorraine, border adjustments in favor of Denmark and Poland, the administration of the Saar by the League of Nations, demilitarization, and massive reparations. Article 231, the war guilt clause, designated Germany as responsible for the conflict, a prerequisite for reparations.
Militarily, the army was limited to 100,000 men, with no heavy artillery, no air force, no tanks, and the navy reduced to a minimum. These constraints, combined with reparations and the continued blockade until the treaty’s signing, fueled deep resentment in German society, particularly on the right. The Weimar government, forced to sign under threat of resumed hostilities, was accused of treason by nationalists who revived the “stab-in-the-back” legend.
The early years of the Weimar Republic (after 1919) were marked by extreme political instability. The far right attempted a putsch (Kapp, 1920) and assassinated major republican figures like Matthias Erzberger and Walther Rathenau. Defense of the regime relied notably on popular mobilizations, like a massive general strike to thwart the coup attempt.
Economically, inflation then hyperinflation in 1922–1923 ruined the middle classes and destabilized society. The Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, in response to delayed reparations payments, triggered a policy of “passive resistance” financed by printing money. The currency collapsed: in November 1923, the dollar was worth trillions of marks, bread was paid for with bundles of banknotes. Stabilization only came with the introduction of a new currency, the Rentenmark, and the international agreement of the Dawes Plan.
A Parenthesis of Relative Stability
Between 1924 and 1929, the Weimar Republic experienced a period often called the “Golden Twenties”. The currency was stabilized, industrial production restarted, real wages rose, and Germany was gradually reintegrated into the concert of nations: Dawes Plan, then Young Plan, Locarno Treaties, entry into the League of Nations in 1926. Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann embodied this strategy of diplomatic normalization.
Major German cities experienced intense cultural ferment (cinema, theater, avant-garde arts, mass media). However, this modernity masked persistent fragilities: dependence on American capital, strong political polarization, hostility from part of the elites, and the undiminished power of extremist parties (DNVP, NSDAP on the right; KPD on the left).
The 1929 crisis shattered this precarious balance. The Wall Street crash triggered the recall of American loans, the collapse of production, and an explosion of unemployment (up to six million people, about a third of the workforce). Coalition governments succeeded one another with difficulty, and then President Hindenburg increasingly resorted to Article 48 to govern by decree. Parliamentary democracy was emptied of its substance.
The Nazi Seizure of Power and the Destruction of Democracy
In this context of economic crisis, distrust of traditional parties, and fear of communism, the Nazi Party, founded in 1919 in Munich, experienced a meteoric rise. From a radical fringe group, it became a mass force: 2.6% of the vote in 1928, 18.3% in 1930, then 37.3% in July 1932. It captured the anger of broad sections of the population – ruined middle classes, indebted farmers, the unemployed – by promising order, restored national greatness, revision of Versailles, and relentless struggle against “internal enemies” (Jews, Marxists, “treacherous” elites).
To assert itself, the Nazi Party combined modern and massive propaganda with the systematic use of paramilitary violence.
Adolf Hitler exploited modern communication tools: mass rallies, radio, newspapers, and posters, spreading simple and powerful slogans to appeal to the masses.
The combat sections (SA, then SS) created a civil war climate through intimidation and street violence against political opponents.
After several elections without a stable majority and political combinations where chancellors Brüning, von Papen, von Schleicher succeeded one another, conservative elites thought they could use Hitler as an instrument. On January 30, 1933, Hindenburg appointed him chancellor at the head of a government where the Nazis were not in the majority. This illusion of control would be short-lived.
Within a few months, the Nazi regime dismantled the Weimar democracy. The Reichstag fire (February 1933) allowed for a decree suspending civil liberties. The Enabling Act (March 1933) gave the government the power to legislate without Parliament. Other parties were banned, trade unions dissolved or integrated into a single organization, and the Länder placed under trusteeship. The Führer principle, the undisputed leader, replaced all other sources of legitimacy.
The Nazi dictatorship relied on a police state, formidable security services (Gestapo, SS), total control of social and cultural life, and a racist, expansionist ideology. State antisemitism was gradually radicalized, from legal discrimination (Nuremberg Laws in 1935) to the industrialized extermination of European Jews during the Second World War.
Total War and Collapse in 1945
The Reich’s foreign policy explicitly aimed to overturn the order resulting from Versailles, to unite all “ethnic Germans,” and to conquer “living space” in the east. After the remilitarization of the Rhineland, the Anschluss with Austria, the annexation of the Sudetenland, and then the dismantling of Czechoslovakia, the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, triggered the Second World War.
After initial lightning successes in Poland, Western Europe, and the attack on the USSR, Nazi Germany saw the war become global and total with the entry into war of the United States from 1941 onward. The expansion of fronts, accumulation of losses, and insufficient industrial capacity against the Allied coalition gradually led to the weakening and defeat of the Reich.
Simultaneously, the genocidal machinery was put in place: ghettos, mass shootings in the east, extermination camps. Nazi Germany implemented the “Final Solution,” which led to the murder of the majority of European Jews, as well as the killing of many other persecuted groups (Roma, disabled people, political opponents, etc.).
In the spring of 1945, caught between the Soviet and Western armies, the Reich collapsed. Hitler committed suicide on April 30. Unconditional surrender was signed on May 8, 1945. Major German cities were in ruins, the economy destroyed, infrastructure devastated, a significant portion of housing annihilated. The population faced a veritable “zero hour.”
Occupation, Division, and the Birth of Two Germanys
After the surrender, the Allies – United States, United Kingdom, USSR, and France – took control of the territory. Through the Berlin Declaration (June 1945), they assumed supreme authority over Germany. The country was divided into four occupation zones, each administered by one of the powers, while Berlin, located in the Soviet zone, was also divided into four sectors.
Number of German speakers who arrived in the remaining occupation zones between 1944 and 1950, following expulsions and the exodus.
Domestically, the Allies attempted a “denazification” by dismantling Nazi structures, putting leaders on trial (Nuremberg), banning symbols, but this policy was unevenly applied and quickly redirected by reconstruction needs and the Cold War.
From Cooperation to Confrontation
Initially, the governance of Germany was to be conducted jointly within an Allied Control Council. But disagreements between the Soviets and the Western powers over the country’s political and economic future quickly led to a rupture. While Moscow established a planned socialist economy in its zone and installed a merged communist party (SED) in power, the Western powers decided to revive the economy of their zones based on market principles and parliamentary democracy.
In 1948, the extension of the Marshall Plan and the introduction of the Deutsche Mark in West Germany provoked the Soviet blockade of West Berlin. The Western powers responded with a massive year-long airlift to supply the city, marking the definitive end of quadripartite cooperation.
In 1949, the political partition was finalized. In the western zones, the Basic Law founded the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), a democratic federal state with Bonn as its provisional capital. In the Soviet zone, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was proclaimed a few months later: a socialist one-party state dominated by the SED, aligned with Moscow.
The Berlin Wall, Symbol of a Divided Nation
During the first years of the Cold War, the inner German border gradually closed. As early as 1952, the GDR erected barbed wire and fortifications along the line separating its territory from the FRG. But Berlin, a quadripartite city, remained an escape point: it was possible to cross from east to west by using the city’s western sectors. Between 1949 and 1961, approximately 2.5 to 3.5 million people fled the GDR for the FRG or West Berlin, nearly 20% of the East’s population, often young workers and skilled professionals. This “flight from the Republic” threatened the GDR’s economic and political viability.
On the night of August 12-13, 1961, the East German authorities, with Soviet approval, brutally erected a barrier around West Berlin. Initially consisting of barbed wire, it was replaced by a concrete wall. This ‘Berlin Wall’ was in reality a border system over 140 km long encircling the Western enclave. The East German regime called it the ‘anti-fascist protective rampart’ to justify its construction, while in the West, it was nicknamed the ‘Wall of Shame.’
Gradually, the installation was perfected: double wall (one inner, one outer), “death strip” between the two, anti-tank obstacles, spike strips, dogs, patrol roads, alarm systems, over 300 watchtowers. Unlike the inner German border, the Berlin barrier did not have mines or automatic firing guns, but border guards had strict shoot-to-kill orders. Between 1961 and 1989, over 100,000 people attempted to flee through this system; about 5,000 succeeded, but at least 140 were killed (estimates sometimes go above 200).
Individual stories left their mark on memories, like that of Günter Litfin, the first escapee shot dead; Peter Fechter, left to die in the death strip; or Chris Gueffroy, the last victim. Escape attempts took various forms: digging tunnels (at least 70, 19 of which succeeded, allowing about 400 escapes), jumping from windows, swimming across waterways, or using hot-air balloons, improvised armored vehicles, and light flying devices.
For nearly three decades, the wall became the most concrete symbol of the division of Europe between the Western and Soviet blocs, that “iron curtain” spoken of by Winston Churchill. It not only cut a city in two but also subway and S-Bahn lines, creating “ghost stations” where West Berlin trains passed without stopping under East territory.
Two German States Face to Face
Beyond Berlin, the two Germanys followed different political, economic, and social trajectories.
In the West, the FRG built itself as a stable parliamentary democracy, integrated into NATO and the European Community. Under chancellors like Konrad Adenauer and then Ludwig Erhard, it experienced an “economic miracle” in the 1950s and 1960s, based on a social market economy, Marshall Plan aid, monetary reforms, and an abundant workforce (including thanks to refugees from the East and guest workers – Gastarbeiter – from Italy, Turkey, or Greece).
In the East, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) established a planned economy, nationalized industry, and collectivized agriculture. Society was placed under surveillance, with a central role assigned to the Stasi, the secret police. The regime legitimized itself by presenting itself as the heir to anti-fascism, opposing this model to that of the FRG, which it described as the continuation of a capitalism that had collaborated with Nazism. In practice, each of the two German states sought to establish itself as the legitimate representative of the nation on the international stage.
From the 1970s onward, under the impetus of a new generation of leaders in Bonn (Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt), a policy of rapprochement (Ostpolitik) developed: mutual recognition, transit agreements, facilitated visits, joint representation at the UN. The division remained, but it became slightly less hermetic.
The Turning Point of 1989 and the Fall of the Wall
The resolution did not come solely from within Germany, but also from profound changes throughout the Eastern Bloc. In the mid-1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev, at the head of the USSR, launched a policy of reforms (glasnost, perestroika) and renounced the doctrine of armed intervention to maintain fraternal socialist regimes. In Central Europe, democratic movements strengthened; countries like Poland and Hungary embarked on a path of openness.
In May 1989, Hungary began dismantling its border fence with Austria, opening a first breach in the Iron Curtain. On August 19, during the “Pan-European Picnic” organized at this border on an idea from Otto von Habsburg, hundreds then thousands of East Germans used the opportunity to flee to the West. In the following weeks, tens of thousands of GDR citizens reached the FRG, often via West German embassies in Warsaw or Prague.
Simultaneously, large peaceful demonstrations multiplied within the GDR, notably the “Monday Demonstrations” in Leipzig, which turned into mass marches. On November 4, 1989, a large gathering on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin saw hundreds of thousands of people demanding reforms, freedom to travel, and free elections.
At a televised press conference on November 9, 1989, when asked about the effective date of the travel regulation relaxation, he imprudently declared: “immediately.” This announcement, as the regime was attempting a controlled opening, provoked crowds to flock to the Berlin border crossings.
Günter Schabowski, spokesperson for the SED Politburo
The border guards, caught off guard, received no clear instructions. At the Bornholmer Straße crossing, the commander Harald Jäger, seeing tension rise and fearing a tragedy, finally gave in and opened the barriers around 10:45 PM. Thousands of East Berliners crossed the border, some in tears, to mingle with those from the West. Quickly, they climbed onto the wall, attacking it with hammers and picks. The “wall woodpeckers” (Mauerspechte) began the symbolic demolition of this hated barrier.
The wall lost its function in a few hours. Several access sections, like the Brandenburg Gate, officially reopened later. On December 22, 1989, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl walked through the gate to meet East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow, an iconic image of a world in transition.
Key Data About the Berlin Wall
| Element | Main Data |
|---|---|
| Construction | Decided in August 1961 by the GDR leadership, with Soviet approval |
| Total Length of System | Over 140 km around West Berlin |
| Structure | Double wall, “death strip,” watchtowers, alarm systems, anti-vehicle obstacles |
| Flight of GDR Inhabitants | 2.5 to 3.5 million people to the West between 1949 and 1961 |
| Escape Attempts After 1961 | Over 100,000 attempts recorded |
| Successful Escapes | Approximately 5,000 people who managed to reach West Berlin |
| Number of Victims | At least 140 confirmed deaths, some estimates exceed 200 |
| Fall of the Wall | Opening of border crossings on November 9, 1989, gradual demolition until 1990–1994 |
From the Fall of the Wall to Reunification
The fall of the wall did not immediately lead to political unification, but it opened the path. In the GDR, the regime collapsed within weeks: Erich Honecker, who had led since 1971, was forced to resign in the autumn of 1989, replaced by Egon Krenz, himself quickly overtaken by events. A transitional government led by Hans Modrow prepared free elections, held on March 18, 1990. This was the first and only time the population of the GDR freely chose its parliament.
The election was won overwhelmingly by the alliance dominated by the East German CDU, in favor of rapid reunification with the FRG. Lothar de Maizière became head of government and immediately began negotiations with Bonn. For his part, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who had already presented a ten-point plan for unity in November 1989, pushed for rapid integration.
The Political Process of Unity
Several dimensions overlapped: internal, legal, international. Internally, a treaty on monetary, economic, and social union was signed on May 18, 1990, and took effect on July 1: the Deutsche Mark of the FRG replaced the East German mark, and West German economic and social rules applied to the East. This met a strong expectation among GDR citizens but also created brutal economic shocks for uncompetitive businesses.
Year of the GDR’s accession to the FRG and German reunification, effective on October 3.
Internationally, it was necessary to address issues still pending since 1945 (borders, troops, Germany’s status) with the former occupying powers. Negotiations known as “2 + 4” brought together the two German states and the four Allies (United States, United Kingdom, France, USSR) starting in February 1990. They resulted in a “Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany” signed in Moscow in September 1990. This confirmed the external borders of a reunified Germany, notably the Oder–Neisse line with Poland, set ceilings for German armed forces, scheduled the withdrawal of Soviet troops by 1994, and affirmed the full sovereignty of the new state, which remained a member of NATO and the European Community.
The legal unification of Germany became effective on October 3, 1990, a date that became the German national holiday.
The Contours of Reunified Germany
| Aspect | Situation After October 3, 1990 |
|---|---|
| Nature of the State | Continuation of the expanded FRG, not an entirely new state |
| Territory | Integration of the 5 new eastern Länder + reunified Berlin |
| Sovereignty | Full international sovereignty, confirmed by the “2 + 4” Treaty |
| International Alliances | Continued membership in NATO, the European Community (later European Union), the UN |
| Borders | Final recognition of the Oder–Neisse border with Poland |
| Capital | Berlin, gradual transfer of institutions from Bonn to Berlin in the 1990s |
The Challenges of Post-Reunification
Political and legal unification was completed within a year, but economic, social, and mental unification required much more time. The discovery of the real state of the GDR’s infrastructure – roads, railways, telecommunications – revealed a much greater lag than West German officials had estimated. Massive investment in modernization was necessary.
An institution, the Treuhandanstalt, was tasked with privatizing East German state-owned enterprises. Its action, rapid and brutal, led to closures, sales at low prices, and restructuring. Millions of jobs disappeared in a short time, causing massive unemployment in the new Länder, emigration of many young people to the west, and a sense of injustice. To finance transfers and investments, a solidarity tax was introduced at the federal level.
Socially and culturally, a gap, often called the “wall in the heads,” persists between East Germans (“Ossis”) and West Germans (“Wessis”). Some former GDR citizens perceive reunification as an “Anschluss” by the FRG rather than a merger. Differences in life trajectories, income levels, and perceptions of the past continue to fuel tensions.
Nevertheless, reunification profoundly transformed the European landscape. It marked the formal end of the Second World War – no comprehensive peace treaty having been signed in 1945 – and accompanied the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Bloc and the USSR. Germany plays a leading role in European construction, which continues with the Maastricht Treaty, the creation of the euro, and eastward enlargement. In this framework, the national history of the country Germany is now inscribed in a broader horizon, that of the European Union.
Contemporary Germany in Europe
Today, the country Germany is a federal state of 16 Länder, including three city-states (Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen), with a parliamentary system where the chancellor heads the government and the president exercises mainly symbolic functions. A founding member of the European Economic Community, it is at the heart of the European Union, representing nearly a quarter of its gross domestic product.
The highly industrialized German economy ranks among the most powerful on the continent. Participation in the eurozone, the Schengen Area, and responsibilities within European institutions (e.g., the Commission, Parliament, Council) illustrate this centrality. The country, long perceived as an “economic giant but a political dwarf,” is gradually assuming a more assertive role in security, defense, and foreign policy, in a geopolitical context shaken by the war in Ukraine, transatlantic tensions, and the rise of European sovereignty issues.
Some Current Benchmarks
| Indicator | Recent Situation (order of magnitude) |
|---|---|
| Area | Approximately 357,569 km² |
| Population | Just over 83 million inhabitants |
| Political Organization | Federal parliamentary republic, 16 Länder, capital in Berlin |
| Position in the EU | Founding member, approx. 24% of EU GDP, central role in the eurozone |
| Currency | Euro, eurozone since 1999 |
| European Integration | Member of the Schengen Area, strong representation in EU institutions |
The long history of the country Germany, from the Frankish tribes to the contemporary nation-state, is thus one of a succession of political experiments – Carolingian Empire, Holy Roman Empire, monarchical Prussia, German Empire, Weimar Republic, Nazi dictatorship, Cold War division, democratic reunification – each of which left deep traces in institutions, political culture, and collective memory. The reunification of 1990 did not erase these successive layers; rather, it superimposed them in a new construction that still seeks to reconcile heritage and responsibilities, national identity, and European commitment.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or professional advice. We encourage you to consult qualified experts before making any investment, real estate, or expatriation decisions. Although we strive to maintain up-to-date and accurate information, we do not guarantee the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the proposed content. As investment and expatriation involve risks, we disclaim any liability for potential losses or damages arising from the use of this site. Your use of this site confirms your acceptance of these terms and your understanding of the associated risks.
Cyril Jarnias is an independent expert in international wealth management with over 20 years of experience. As an expatriate himself, he is dedicated to helping individuals and business leaders build, protect, and pass on their wealth with complete peace of mind.
On his website, cyriljarnias.com, he shares his expertise on international real estate, offshore company formation, and expatriation.
Thanks to his expertise, he offers sound advice to optimize his clients' wealth management. Cyril Jarnias is also recognized for his appearances in many prestigious media outlets such as BFM Business, les Français de l’étranger, Le Figaro, Les Echos, and Mieux vivre votre argent, where he shares his knowledge and know-how in wealth management.
