Introduction To Germany

One of the most beautiful, richest, and popular nations - Germany is a part of Central Europe; a nation rich in culture that came together only after 1971. In the first half of the 20th century after the two World Wars, the country was occupied by triumphant US, UK, France and Soviet Union in 1945. It is the Seventh largest country in Europe with its topography ranging from low-lying coastal flats beside Baltic Sea. The country is full of river valleys and rising and falling hills, also the snow covered Alps and bushy mountains.

After Communism

After the Victorious nations conquered Germany, they argued on how to stop the country from being dominant again and thus divided it into two different states where the western part came to be known as Federal Republic of Germany and the eastern part was known as German Democratic Republic which was occupied by the Soviets. The German Democratic Republic (GDR) followed communist system and the residents had a dull life.

The Berlin Wall

There was no cheer, and happiness around, the boasted economic success was bought falsely and also invited awful pollution. The communists constructed the Berlin Wall as a barrier to stop emigration. This day was marked in the pages of history as it happened for the first time in world that a defense system was build up in the name of administration against its own people. The people thereafter settled down but had a very unexciting and sad life.

Federal Republic of Germany

Where the German Democratic Republic was under going a dull life, the Federal Republic of Germany was rising as a true heir from the initial empire. It developed and came across as a model for modern society. This nation was not very democratic; however it developed a full-fledged political system that caused other countries embarrassment. In compensation to past mistakes, the state took care and treated the foreign refugees and other immigrants well.

The Development of Germany

Soon people of different races and cultures started settling down in the state. Though the intention of the state to allow people from other cultures and societies was to improve and progress the economic condition. The state became multi cultured as they could afford to hire these people at very low wages. Within few years the state saw tremendous development with malls, sky scrapers and departmental stores coming up. A huge amount was spent to preserve the historical monuments and culture of the society. At the same time small budgets where worked out to encourage art and other developments.

After period of many years, the two states did unite and became one country. However, they continue to look like two separate nations. After the unification, a French author François Mauriac mentioned that he is glad that Germany was divided because although the division was brutal and caused a lot of pain, the country has at last found a permanent solution to its problem. After the two German Democratic and Federal Republic of Germany got united, GDR was recovering from its financial loss and upgrading the economic system to merge up with the thriving success of the Federal Republic of Germany.

There were international pressures to make sure that the country comprised not more than the old empire and remains “Kleines Deutschland”. The initial empire comprised of Austria and the lost eastern territories who are now a division of Poland, the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation and Lithuania.

Religion

Germany is called the land of fairytale. It has lovely castles and dense forest owned by the legend brothers Grimm. It is still very beautiful with lovely valleys and snow covered mountains. The southern part of the country has more of rural and catholic people whereas the north comprises of Protestants. Protestants were known to have engineered the unity of the nation in the nineteenth century and later controlled all the affairs of the country. Germany is known to have strong regional features, half of which are no more on the map while some are merged with the new ones. Each state of Germany is beautiful and is worth spending time to know about the history.

Independence Day

The complete name of the country is Federal Republic of Germany; however it is popular by the name Germany. The government here is federal and hence the name Federal Germany. Berlin, which is the capital of Germany, is outstanding in its beauty. It is an island amidst the erstwhile German Democratic Republic. The country has 16 states - Berlin, Hessen, Hamburg, Brandenburg, Bayern, Baden- Wuerttemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen and Niedersachsen.

Germany celebrates its independence day on 18th January. The German empire was reunited on 18th January 1971 after going through Second World War in 1945. On May 23rd 1949 the Federal Germany included UK, US and French Zones, while German Democratic Republic included USSR zone. The east and the west of Germany united on 3rd October 1990 and all of them got rights on 15th March 1991. Hence 3rd October is celebrated as a national holiday by the Germans as the day of unification. 23rd May 1949 saw the German constitution formulated.

The German Economy

After US and Japan, Germany stands third in the world for most technologically powerful economy. Due to structural inflexibilities, unemployment is a long term problem in Germany due to high rate of social contribution. As per the 1999 reports, the unemployment rate is 10.5%. The country was facing a long term problem of upgrading the economy. Germany had low export demand and hence had a problem to stabilize the economy. There was only $1000 billion coming in from the west in the earlier stage.

Natural Resources

Today, Germany is the largest producer of iron and steel and machinery, automobiles and machine tools. The country is rich in iron resources. Minerals like potash and salt are found in plenty that encourage the chemical industry. Fertilizers and pharmaceuticals are also produced by the country on a good scale. As wood, petroleum and natural gas are present in plenty, the country could well progress. Germany has now gone through a rapid industrialization and has a powerful and growing economy. When it comes to topography, Germany holds the seventh rank in Europe for possessing area of 356,970sq.km (137,827sq.mi).

It is surrounded by the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Denmark on the north and bound by Poland and Czech Republic on the east , with Austria and Switzerland to the south and The Netherlands, France, Belqium and Luxembourg on the west. Germany is 800 Km from north to south and extends 600 Km from west to east. The country is full of lovely valleys, plains, hills and dense forest. Elbe, Danube, Rhine and Main are the main rivers of the country.

The Neisse and Weser River of Germany

The beautiful rivers of Germany play a major role in economic development of the nation. The river Rhine that flows in the northwest direction of the Switzerland also passes western Germany and The Netherlands on its way to the North Sea. River Rhine is a backbone of German commerce and trade. Main, Mosel, Ruhr and Neckar are also very important to the country. The Oder provides a good water way for carrying freight. This river flows beside the border of Poland and Germany.

The Elbe starts from the Czech mountains and flows towards eastern and western Germany that later empties in the North Sea. After the construction of Rhine and Danube canal, freight can be transited from North Sea to the Black Sea. Neisse and Weser are small rivers of Germany, but play an important role in freight transportation. As water transport is one of the cheapest modes of transportation, Germany could encourage industrialization and increased its manufacturing and production.

Weather, Climate & Polution

Germany has a reasonable climate; not extreme. The country normally experiences warm summers and cool winters. The Rhine becomes warmer during the summer months. Mountain areas are generally very cold than the rest part of the country. Those residing in Alpine slopes tend to experience precipitation due the moisture that keeps rising or shedding in the form of rain or snow. One negative is that it is situated among industrial nations and hence gets polluted. The country deals with a lot of water and air pollution. The wind and the rain is full of dust and polluted particles. During holidays many vehicles from Europe pass through Germany which is also one cause of pollution.

Germany has a shortage of land to empty all the pollutants and toxins produced by the industries. The country has experienced a nuclear fall out in 1986 which caused major pollution by its toxins. Fearing pollution threat from nuclear dump, the general public opposed the setting up of nuclear plants.

However, Germany is taking efforts to curb the problem of pollution and has come up with Green Party-a political party in 1970s. A lot of time has been devoted to fight the environmental problems as a result of which an eco industry was developed. The eco friendly industry produces environmental friendly equipment and devices that can track pollution.

All in all, Germany is a fantastic country who rose strongly after all the wars it went through. Germany developed as a nation and strengthened the economy with the help of various trades and industry. It is a country with amazing topography that lures worldwide tourists.