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Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The History of the German-speaking World




German is the second most spoken language in Europe after Russian. About 100 million people speak German while over 144 million people speak Russian. The core areas of the German-speaking world are Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Underneath are the posts of all the 6 countries of the world, which have German as their official language.



Ancient Times - 962

0 Roman Empire rules in the area of Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein
400 Germanic tribes move to Central Europe
600 Christianity spreads to the area
800 The Franks start ruling Central Europe

The whole Europe was almost under the Roman rule until it fell apart. After that the scattered areas became united by the Frankish kingdoms. Charlemagne's Frankish kingdom covered the whole central Europe, but in the decades after his death his grandsons started fighting against each other and divided the kingdom into three parts.

Europe in 395


Holy Roman Empire 962 - 1806

962 Otto I becomes the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
963 Luxembourg becomes an independent principality
1291 Swiss cantons establish a Confederation together
1648 The Holy Roman Empire recognizes Switzerland's independence
1719 The counties of Vaduz and Schellenberg become a principality
1789 Belgium revolts against Austria
1790 The United States of Belgium is established for a moment before Austria suppresses it

More than 500 years after the fall of Rome, the Holy Roman Empire was established and it ruled Central Europe almost a thousand years, over 900 years to be precise. The Holy Roman Empire was a successor of the Frankish kingdom and for the Roman Empire from the ancient times. This was actually a union of the German states and the Italian papal states. In the first centuries the pope of Rome crowned the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Holy Roman Empire around 1600


German states unite or become independent 1806-1871

1806 Holy Roman Empire collapses in the Napoleon wars
1815 Belgium and Luxembourg are part of the Dutch Kingdom
1815 German Confederation established consisting of 39 German states
1815 Switzerland becomes permanently independent
1815 Luxembourg becomes a Grand Duchy
1830 Belgium declares independence from the Netherlands
1866 North German Confederation established
1866 Austria is forced by Prussia to resign the North German Confederation
1866 Liechtenstein doesn't want to join the North German Confederation
1867 The Austro-Hungarian Empire is established
1871 German Empire established, Wilhel I of Prussia becomes the emperor

The Holy Roman Empire collapsed in the Napoleon wars and after that some of the German states became independent like Switzerland while the others united. Later Austria and Liechtenstein resigned from the Union and the rest of the states became the modern-day Germany.

German Confederation 1815


German Empire 1871-1918 

1884 German Empire starts getting colonies in Africa and the Pacific Ocean
1885 Belgium becomes a colonial power as king Leopold acquired Congo for himself
1890 Luxembourg gets independence back
1914 First World War begins when Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
1918 Germany and Austria-Hungary are in the losing party of the war

German Empire 1914


The rise and fall of Nazi Germany 1918-1945

1921 Liechtenstein becomes a constitutional monarchy
1933 Hitler becomes the Chancellor of Nazi Germany
1938 Austria and parts of Czechoslovakian areas annexed to Germany
1939 Attack to Poland starts the World War II
1944 Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands establish the Benelux customs union
1945 Germany loses the war



Post World War II era 1945-2015

1945-55 Occupying forces in Austria, the country is forbidden to join Germany or let the Habsburgs back in power
1949 Germany splits into West and East Germany
1959 Switzerland founds Efta
1960 Belgian Congo becomes independent
1961 The Berlin Wall is constructed
1962 Ruanda-Urundi becomes independent from Belgium
1973 The UN recognizes the separate Germanies
1989 The Berlin Wall is broken apart
1990 The German unification
1993 Belgium becomes a federation



Sources: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-speaking_Europe


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