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Pre-Carolingian and Early Holy Roman period.
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Germanic tribes in Central Europe clashed with Rome from the 1st century BC.
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Julius Caesar crossed the Rhine into Germania in 55 BC as a warning raid.
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Julius Caesar crossed the Rhine into Germania in 53 BC as a warning raid.
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In 12 BC–9 AD the Roman general Drusus briefly conquered lands east of the Rhine
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A pivotal event was the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, when the Germanic leader Arminius ambushed and destroyed three Roman legions, halting Roman expansion eastward.
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After sporadic campaigns, Rome largely withdrew from Germania by the mid-1st century.
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By 476 AD the Western Roman Empire fell: the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposed the last emperor Romulus Augustulus on September 4, 476, after which Roman rule in the region effectively ended. (Eastern Gaul increasingly fragmented into successor Germanic kingdoms—events such as Clovis’s Frankish kingdom in the 5th century set the stage for later German states.)
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Pre-High Middle ages
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In 800 AD Charlemagne (King of the Franks) was crowned “Emperor of the Romans” by Pope Leo III on December 25, 800, creating a revived Western Empire in theory.
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Over the next century East Francia coalesced under the Ottonian dynasty.
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After Charlemagne’s death, his empire was split by the Treaty of Verdun on August 10, 843, dividing it among his grandsons. East Francia (under Louis the German) roughly corresponds to the German-speaking realm.
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Notably, Duke Henry the Fowler defeated Hungarian (Magyar) invasions at the Battle of Lechfeld (near Augsburg) on August 10, 955, securing the eastern frontier.
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The son of Duke Henry the Fowler, Otto I consolidated power and was crowned Emperor of the Romans in Rome on February 2, 962, formally founding what became known as the Holy Roman Empire. (This Empire was a multi-ethnic German-centered realm under an elected emperor; hereafter “Germany” refers broadly to its core territories.)
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Waxing and waning of the Holy Roman Empire. In the late 10th–11th centuries it expanded against Hungarians and Slavs.
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In 1077 Emperor Henry IV performed the famous Walk to Canossa on January 28, 1077, submitting to Pope Gregory VII to lift his excommunication during the Investiture Controversy.
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The 12th century saw Frederick I “Barbarossa” (r. 1152–1190) strengthen imperial authority. He campaigned in Italy and fought against northern Italian cities.
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Frederick Barbarossa was elected King of Germany in March 1152.
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Frederick Barbarossa was elected Holy Roman Emperor on June 18, 1155.
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Over time imperial power decentralized: local princes, bishops and free cities gained autonomy. By the 13th century, imperial authority was often weak (after Emperor Frederick II’s death in 1250, the Great Interregnum left no universally recognized emperor).
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The empire’s political structure (electors, princes, etc.) was formalized by the Golden Bull of 1356 (not shown), but fragmentation continued, with many semi-independent duchies and bishoprics.
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On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door at Wittenberg, sparking the Protestant Reformation. Over the next century Lutherans, Calvinists and Catholics contended for power.
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Religious division transformed Germany.
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The rival confessions led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), a devastating conflict primarily in Germany. The war ended with the Peace of Westphalia on October 24, 1648, granting full sovereignty to numerous princes and redefining local rulers' religious choices. The Emperor's power became largely nominal, shaping the future map of central Europe while central authority remained weak.
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After Napoleon’s victories, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved on August 6, 1806, when Emperor Francis II abdicated. Napoleon reorganized many German states into the Confederation of the Rhine under French influence.
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In the late 18th century Prussia and Austria emerged as dominant German states. However, French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars overthrew old structures.
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After Napoleon’s defeat (1813–1815), the Congress of Vienna (Nov 1814–June 1815) reorganized Germany into the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund) of 39 states under Austrian leadership (also confirming Prussia’s control of much of north Germany). In this period Prussia modernized its army and industry under leaders like Stein and Hardenberg.
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Liberal and national movements grew: the Revolutions of 1848 swept Germany (e.g. citizens in March 1848 seized control in many cities), and the Frankfurt Parliament attempted to draft a German constitution. Those liberal hopes largely failed (the Frankfurt National Assembly was dissolved in 1849).
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Meanwhile, Prussia and Austria competed for leadership. In 1864 Prussia (with Austria) defeated Denmark and annexed Schleswig-Holstein.
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Afterward Prussia led the formation of the North German Confederation (1867), leaving Austria out of German affairs.
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In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Prussia quickly defeated Austria at Königgrätz, establishing Prussian dominance in northern Germany. Dissolution of the German Confederation.
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In the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on January 18, 1871, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor, inaugurating the German Empire (Second Reich). This empire (1871–1918) was a federal monarchy with Prussian leadership and Kaiser Wilhelm I and later Wilhelm II as emperor.
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Bismarck then engineered the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871): Prussia and its allies defeated France, uniting the southern German states.
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The German Empire entered World War I in 1914 on the side of the Central Powers. After four years of trench warfare, Germany was defeated.
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On November 9, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled, and a republic was proclaimed in Berlin. An armistice took effect on November 11, 1918, ending fighting.
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In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919) formally ended the war between Germany and the Allies. The treaty imposed heavy territorial losses, military restrictions, and reparations on Germany. The postwar era saw the Weimar Republic, a democratic but unstable state, plagued by economic crisis and political extremism.
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Democratic rule collapsed under the Great Depression. On January 30, 1933, President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler (leader of the Nazi Party) as Chancellor. Within months, the Nazis eliminated political opposition.
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The Enabling Act passed on March 23, 1933, giving Hitler dictatorial powers.
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After President Hindenburg’s death on August 2, 1934, Hitler merged the presidency into his office and became Führer.
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The regime enacted widespread anti-Jewish and expansionist policies. On November 9–10, 1938, Nazi paramilitaries and mobs carried out Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”), a violent pogrom against Jews across Germany.
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Hitler rapidly prepared for war. In March 1939 Germany occupied the remainder of Czechoslovakia. On March 15, 1939, German troops marched into Prague and established a protectorate in Bohemia-Moravia, violating earlier agreements.
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On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland (after a staged incident at Gleiwitz), marking the start of World War II. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later.
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In World War Two, Germany conquered much of Europe; from 1941 it also fought the Soviet Union. After massive defeat, Hitler’s regime collapsed.
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Nazi Germany launched a massive surprise invasion along a broad front from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. It marked the beginning of the Eastern Front, which became the largest and bloodiest theater of World War II. The invasion initially achieved rapid territorial gains, but ultimately led to a prolonged war of attrition that contributed heavily to Germany’s defeat.
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Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, in the Führerbunker.
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Germany unconditionally surrendered on May 7, 1945 (ratified May 8), ending the war in Europe.
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After Germany’s defeat, the victorious Allies assumed supreme authority. On June 5, 1945, the United States, Soviet Union, Britain and France issued the Berlin Declaration, jointly assuming “supreme authority” over defeated Germany.