Detailed introduction to Germany

Federal Republic of Germany (German: Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland), referred to as Germany (German: Deutschland). It is a federal parliament republic located in Central Europe. It borders Denmark to the north, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France to the west, Switzerland and Austria to the south, and the Czech Republic and Poland to the east. It is composed of 16 federal states. Its capital is Berlin. The territory is 357582. Square kilometers, dominated by a temperate climate, with a population of about 82.93 million. It is the most populous country in the European Union, with Germans as the main ethnic group.

The ancestors of the Germans were Germanic people who lived in Central Europe in ancient times. In the 10th century, the Germans established the Holy Roman Empire, which split afterwards. In 1871, the Kingdom of Prussia annexed all German states except the Austrian Empire to establish the German Empire, completing the unification of Germany. In 1914 and 1939, Germany provoked two world wars and was defeated. It was split into two parts in 1945. On October 3, 1990, the German Democratic Republic (abbreviated as East Germany or Democratic Germany) merged into the Federal Republic of Germany, realizing the reunification of the two Germanys.

Germany is a highly developed capitalist country, the largest economy in Europe, the first of the four largest European economies, and one of the founding members of the European Union. It is also a member of NATO, the Schengen Convention, the Group of Seven, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Important member states. Its social security system is perfect, and its citizens have an extremely high standard of living. The high-end manufacturing industry represented by automobiles and precision machine tools is also an important symbol of Germany.

History

Early history

Map of Prussia after the unification of Germany

Map of Prussia after the unification of Germany

The word Germanic comes from the Latin Germania. Julius Caesar referred to the tribes on the right bank of the Rhine as Germania. Germania was recorded in "Germania" in 100 AD. And the German country (Deutschland, the land of the Germans, originally diutisciu land) comes from deutsch, which is derived from the old High German diutisc (popular, refers to the diot or diota "person"). Originally used to distinguish local dialects derived from Latin and Romance languages. The word diutisc comes from the original Germanic þiudiskaz (popular), þiudiskaz comes from þeudō, and þeudō inherits from the original Indo-European tewtéh (person).

Germanic people lived in Germany a long time ago, and tribes gradually formed in the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD. The Roman Empire (Western Rome) was overthrown in 476 AD.

Holy Roman Empire

Germany split from the Frankish Empire in 843 and established the Holy Roman Empire in 962. Through long-term external conquests, the Holy Roman Empire occupied the Czech Republic, northern Italy and western Poland, and expedition to Russia and Hungary. Towards feudal separatism in the mid-13th century.

In 1157, this empire received the title of "Holy Empire". In 1254, the empire first began to use the title "Holy Roman Empire". After the Cologne Empire Conference in 1512, an edict was issued to use the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation", and it remained the official name until 1806.

On July 12, 1806, through the signing of the Treaty of the Confederation of Rhine (German: Rheinbundakte), 16 states under the protection of France, including Liechtenstein, Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden on the banks of the Rhine in southern Germany, and the Midwest , Separated from the Holy Roman Empire and established a new political union "Rhine Confederation". The Confederation established a bicameral parliament in Frankfurt, elected Napoleon as its protector, and Napoleon controlled the Confederate’s diplomacy and military affairs. On August 6, Franz I, who had called himself Emperor of Austria (ie Franz II of the Holy Roman Empire), was forced to abandon the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire was destroyed. The Habsburgs can only rule the Austrian Empire (renamed the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867).

In the following years, 23 more states joined the Rhine Confederation; only Austria, Prussia, Denmark-controlled Holstein and Sweden’s Pomeranian region did not join the Rhine Confederation and were not included in the French Confederation. The West Bank of the Rhine and Erfurt.

German Empire

At the beginning of the 18th century, Prussia had risen and competed with Austria for the top spot in Germany. In the 19th century, with the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire, the establishment of a unified modern nation-state became more urgent. According to the Vienna Conference of 1815, the German Confederation was established. Revolution broke out in various parts of Germany in 1848. Since then, Prussia has become more and more the leading force in the reunification of Germany. In particular, Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck led the arduous internal, military and diplomatic struggles.

In 1864, Prussia and Austria defeated Denmark and reclaimed the land occupied by Denmark in the north; in the "Seven Weeks War" in 1866, Prussia defeated Austria and established the North German Confederation the following year; in 1870, the Franco-Prussian War was launched, and many southern German states Breaking away from French rule, the reunification of Germany was completed in 1871 and the German Empire was established.

Two world wars

The German Empire provoked the First World War in 1914, and collapsed in 1918 due to its defeat. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated. In February 1919, Germany established the Weimar Republic.

Hitler came to power in 1933 to implement a dictatorship and established Nazi Germany. Germany launched the Second World War in 1939. Under the attack of the Allies, Germany was defeated and surrendered on May 8, 1945.

The German army launched an invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, and then coordinated with the Soviet army to quickly occupy the entire territory of Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany, and the Second World War began. As the war progressed, Germany and its allies quickly controlled the European continent and North Africa, but their plans to force Britain to surrender or cease the war failed. From 1939 to 1940, by launching a blitzkrieg, it quickly occupied Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and launched an air strike against the United Kingdom.

On June 22, 1941, Germany violated the Soviet-German non-aggression pact and invaded the Soviet Union. Germany retreated from the Eastern Front in the defeat of Operation Blue from June 28, 1942 to February 19, 1943, and fell into the defense of Stalingrad. Germany's ally Italy surrendered in September 1943, forcing Germany to defend the Italian front. After the Battle of Normandy, the Western Front was added, and the Allied forces further entered German territory.

During the Battle of Berlin on April 25, 1945, the Soviet army invaded Berlin. On April 30, the Soviet army completely occupied Berlin. Hitler committed suicide that afternoon. The commander of the Berlin defense zone planned to make a conditional surrender to the Soviet commander. On May 2nd, the Berlin Guards surrendered after repeated negotiations without results. On May 8th, Germany officially announced its unconditional surrender.

East and West Germany

Graffiti of the Berlin Wall

After the Second World War, according to the Yalta Agreement and the Potsdam Agreement, Germany was divided and occupied by the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in August 1945, and the four countries formed the Allied Control Committee to take over Germany's supreme power. The city of Berlin is also divided into 4 occupation zones.

In June 1948, the German occupied territories of the United States, Britain, and France merged.

On May 23, 1949, the merged German Western Occupied Region established the Federal Republic of Germany (abbreviated as Federal Germany or West Germany). On October 7th of the same year, the German Democratic Republic (abbreviated as: Democratic Germany or East Germany) was established in the Soviet-occupied area of eastern Germany. Since then, Germany has officially split into two sovereign states.

In 1961, the GDR built the Berlin Wall to prevent East German residents from flowing west.

In 1989, the situation in GDR changed dramatically. Since May of the same year, a large number of citizens have left the Federal Republic of Germany. In early October of the same year, demonstrations of various scales broke out in many cities, demanding relaxation of restrictions on travel abroad and news media. On October 18th, President Honnecker of the GDR announced his resignation. On November 9, the "Berlin Wall" opened. On November 28, Federal Chancellor Kohl proposed a ten-point plan for the reunification of the two Germanys.

Reunification of Germany

During the drastic changes in Eastern Europe in 1989, the socialist regimes of various countries including East Germany collapsed one after another;

In 1990, with the consent of the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, East Germany and West Germany finally reached a reunification treaty.

From February 13 to 14, 1990, the Chancellor of the Democratic Republic of Germany, Modelo, visited the Federal Republic of Germany for the first time. On March 18th, the People’s Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Germany implemented free elections. After De Mezier became prime minister, the pace of reunification of the two Germanys has been greatly accelerated.

On May 18, 1990, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Democratic Republic of Germany signed a national treaty on the establishment of a currency, economic and social union in Bonn.

On August 31, 1990, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Democratic Republic of Germany signed the German Reunification Treaty in Berlin.

On September 24, 1990, the People's Army of the GDR officially withdrew from the Warsaw Pact.

On October 3, 1990, the GDR officially joined the Federal Republic of Germany. The constitution, the People's Chamber, and the government of the GDR were automatically cancelled. The original 14 prefectures were changed to 5 states in order to adapt to the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany, merged into the Federal Republic of Germany, and the two Germanys that had been divided for more than 40 years were reunified.

On October 28, 2015, the Federal Republic of Germany was elected as a member of the 70th UN Human Rights Council, with a term of office from 2016 to 2018.

On June 8, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly elected Germany as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for 2019 and 2020.

Natural environment

Regional location

Germany map

The Federal Republic of Germany is located in central Europe, bordering Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France to the west, Denmark to the north, and the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It is the country with the most neighbors in Europe.

topography

German administrative divisions

The terrain of Germany is varied, with rolling hills, plateau terraces, hills, beautiful lakesides, and vast and wide plains. The terrain of Germany can be divided into five regions with different characteristics: North German lowland, medium mountain uplift, southwestern medium mountain terrace, southern Alps frontier and Bavarian Alps.

German terrain

The lowlands of northern Germany are characterized by undulating coastal high drylands and clay terraces with grasslands, sludges, and the loess stretched southward in front of medium-range mountain uplifts with dotted lakes. The mid-range mountainous uplift zone divides Germany into two parts: north and south. The mid-range mountain range in the southwest includes the Upper Rhine Lowlands and its marginal mountains. The frontiers of the Southern Alps include the Swabian Bavarian Plateau, as well as hills and lakes, gravel plains, Lower Bavarian hilly areas and the Danube in the south. The Bavarian Alps include the Alps in Allgäu, the Alps in Bavaria and the Alps in Berchtesgaden, which are scattered with picturesque lakes. There are six mountains in Germany.

The terrain of Germany is low in the north and high in the south. It can be divided into four terrain areas: the North German Plain, with an average elevation of less than 100 meters; the Mid-German mountain region, which consists of east-west high blocks; the Rhine fault valley region in the southwest with mountains on both sides The valley wall is steep; in the southern Bavarian plateau and the Alps, the main peak of the Bayern Alps, Zugspitze, is 2,963 meters above sea level, which is the highest peak in the country.

The main rivers in Germany are the Rhine (865 kilometers through the territory), the Elbe, the Weser, the Oder, and the Danube. The larger lakes are Lake Constance, Lake Chiem, Lake Amor, and Lake Litz.

Climate characteristics

Germany is located in the cool westerly zone between the continental climate of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, and the temperature fluctuations are rare. Rainfall is distributed throughout the year. The average temperature in the North German lowlands in summer is around 18°C, and in the southern mountains is about 20°C; in winter, the average temperature in the North German lowlands is around 1.5°C, and in the southern mountains it is around -6°C. The exceptions are the Upper Rhine Valley, which has a mild climate, and the Harz Mountains, where you can often feel the hot southerly winds from the Alps and the harsh mountain winds, cool summers and snowy winters, which constitute its own unique climate zone. Due to the different geographical conditions in various regions, the highest temperature in Germany is between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, and the lowest temperature is between 1.5 and 10 degrees Celsius.

The northern part of Germany has a maritime climate, which is warmer than the southern part. The maritime climate in the northwest is more pronounced, and it gradually transitions to a continental climate to the east and south. The average temperature is 14～19℃ in July and -5～1℃ in January. The annual precipitation is 500-1000 mm, and the mountainous area has more.

Natural resources

Germany is a country with relatively poor natural resources. In addition to rich reserves of hard coal, lignite and salt, it relies heavily on imports in terms of raw material supply and energy, and about two-thirds of primary energy needs to be imported. The natural gas reserves are about 382 billion cubic meters, which can meet about a quarter of domestic demand. The proven reserves of hard coal are about 230 billion tons and lignite is about 80 billion tons; the proven reserves of other mineral deposits are about 13 billion tons of potash, 1.6 billion tons of iron ore, and 50 million tons of petroleum. There are a small amount of uranium mines in the southeast. The forest covers an area of 10.766 million hectares, accounting for about 30% of the country's area. The water area is 860,000 hectares, accounting for 2.4% of the country's area.

In 2012, Germany's energy consumption ranked fifth in the world, of which 60% of the main energy was imported, and the government's policy was to promote energy conservation and renewable energy.

German energy sources

(2010)

oil

Coal and lignite

natural gas

nuclear energy

Hydraulic and wind power

Other renewable energy

Energy ratio

33.7%

22.9%

21.8%

10.8%

2.9%

7.9%

Germany implements the Kyoto Protocol and other treaties to promote biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, resource recovery, use of renewable energy, and support global sustainable development.

economic

Germany is the largest economy in Europe, the fourth largest country in global GDP (international exchange rate), and the fifth largest country in GDP (purchasing power parity). Since the industrial revolution, Germany has been a pioneer, innovator and beneficiary of an increasingly global economy. German economic policy is based on the concept of social market economy. Germany is a highly developed industrial country. The economic aggregate ranks first in Europe and fourth in the world. In 2018, the total foreign trade amounted to 2,287.2 billion euros, of which exports amounted to 1,317.4 billion euros, an increase of 3%, and imports amounted to 1,088.7 billion euros, an increase of 5.5%, with a surplus of 228.7 billion euros. In 2018, domestic asset investment was 705.7 billion euros, private disposable income was 1,929.8 billion euros, private consumption expenditure was 1,777.5 billion euros, and public expenditure was 663.1 billion euros. The gross national income is 34604 billion euros. In 2018, the total national debt was 1,914.3 billion euros, accounting for 56.5% of GDP. The total public finance revenue was 1,543.6 billion euros, the total expenditure was 1,485.5 billion euros, and the fiscal surplus was 58 billion euros.

Germany is a world trading country and maintains trade relations with more than 230 countries and regions. German products are known for their excellent quality, leading technology, and exquisite workmanship, but their cost is relatively high. The German export industry is well-known worldwide for its high quality, good service and punctual delivery. The main export products are automobiles, machinery products, chemicals, communication technology, power supply and distribution equipment, and medical and chemical equipment. The main imported products are chemicals, automobiles, oil and gas, machinery, communication technology and steel products. The main trade partners are western industrial countries, and more than half of imports and exports come from or are sold to EU countries.

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry

Agriculture is developed and the degree of mechanization is high. In 2018, there were 16.645 million hectares of agricultural land, accounting for about half of Germany's land area, of which 11.731 million hectares of farmland. In 2018, there were 267,000 agricultural enterprises, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises and family enterprises, occupying an average of 62.4 hectares of land, of which 19,900 were ecological agricultural enterprises. In 2018, the employed population in agriculture, forestry and fishery was 618,000, accounting for 1.39% of the total domestic employment. In 2018, the output value of agriculture, forestry and fishery was 22.71 billion euros, accounting for about 0.67% of GDP.

industry

The Ruhr area of Germany is a traditional coal and steel industrial area in Germany. Munich (location of BMW headquarters), Hamburg (one of the three passenger aircraft assembly centers of Airbus), Stuttgart (location of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche headquarters), Wolfsburg (location of Volkswagen headquarters), Berlin, Leipzig, Dres Ston is an industrial town in eastern Germany. New industries are concentrated in Munich.

In 2018, the total output value of industrial enterprises (excluding the construction industry) was 874.2 billion euros, accounting for 25.8% of the GDP. In 2018, the number of industrial employees (excluding the construction industry) was 8.335 million, accounting for 18% of the total domestic employment (46.2 million).

Germany is one of the eight largest industrial countries in the world. Germany’s main industrial sectors include electronics, aerospace, automobiles, precision machinery, equipment manufacturing, and military industries. German products are known for their excellent quality, leading technology, and exquisite workmanship, but their cost is relatively high. German industrial products enjoy a high reputation in the world, and Germany is also the largest automobile producer in Western Europe.

Foreign trade investment

Germany attaches great importance to foreign investment and investment promotion, and also attaches great importance to cooperation with other countries. The United Kingdom is the second largest exporter of German wine, second only to the United States in export volume. Since 2010, Germany has surpassed France to rank 2nd in Europe in attracting foreign investment, and the UK ranks 1st. [13]

import and export

In May 2019, German exports amounted to 110.3 billion euros and imports amounted to 91.6 billion euros.