Germany

Historical overview

Germany’s political history includes the formation of a unified state in the nineteenth century, imperial rule, the Weimar Republic, Nazi dictatorship, division during the Cold War and democratic reunification.

The German Empire was established in 1871 following Prussian military victories and the Franco-Prussian War. The imperial constitution created a federal state dominated by Prussia. Germany became a major industrial and military power before the First World War, which began in 1914. The empire collapsed in 1918 following military defeat and revolution.

The Weimar Republic was established after the German Revolution of 1918–19. Its constitution, signed on 11 August 1919 and effective from 14 August, created a parliamentary republic and included a catalogue of fundamental rights. The republic faced political violence, economic crises and the effects of the Great Depression. weimar.bundesarchiv.deAdolf Hitler became Chancellor on 30 January 1933. The Nazi regime dismantled democratic institutions, banned opposition parties, persecuted political opponents and systematically excluded Jewish people and other targeted groups from public life. The Holocaust resulted in the genocide of six million European Jews, alongside the persecution and murder of Roma and Sinti people, disabled people, Polish and Soviet civilians and prisoners of war, political opponents, LGBTQ people and other groups.

Germany’s defeat in 1945 led to occupation by the Allied powers and the division of the country. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was established on 23 May 1949, with the Basic Law as its constitutional foundation. The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was established on 7 October 1949.

The Berlin Wall was erected in August 1961 and became a symbol of Cold War division. Peaceful demonstrations and political changes across Eastern Europe contributed to the opening of the Wall on 9 November 1989. German reunification took place on 3 October 1990. The Bundestag’s parliamentary history and the Federal Archives provide important documentation of the transition. Deutscher Bundestag

Key historical timeline

1. 962Otto I crowned emperor, associated with the medieval Holy Roman Empire.
2. 1517Martin Luther’s Reformation begins.
3. 1848–49German revolutions and Frankfurt Parliament.
4. 1871German Empire proclaimed at Versailles.
5. 1914–18First World War.
6. November 1918German Revolution; monarchy collapses.
7. 1919Weimar Constitution signed and takes effect.
8. 30 January 1933Hitler appointed Chancellor.
9. 1933Nazi dictatorship consolidates; Enabling Act passed.
10. 1935Nuremberg Laws strip Jews of key civil rights.
11. 1939–45Second World War in Europe.
12. 1945Nazi Germany surrenders; Allied occupation begins.
13. 1949Federal Republic and German Democratic Republic established.
14. 1961Berlin Wall constructed.
15. 1968Student protests and wider social movements.
16. 9 November 1989Berlin Wall opens.
17. 3 October 1990German reunification.
18. 1992Germany ratifies the Treaty on European Union.Important historical documents to digitiseFrankfurt Constitution (1849).Constitution of the German Empire (1871).Weimar Constitution (1919).Enabling Act (1933).Nuremberg Laws (1935).Nazi decrees, deportation records and Holocaust documentation.German Instrument of Surrender (1945).Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949).Constitution of the German Democratic Republic (1949 and later versions).Berlin Wall and border-control records.Helsinki Final Act (1975).Two Plus Four Treaty (1990).Unification Treaty (1990).

Archive notes

Archive and research links

German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv) – federal government records, photographs and historical documents.

Bundesarchiv – Original Weimar Constitution – the 1919 constitution with original signatures and archival references.

German Bundestag – History of German Parliamentarism – constitutional and parliamentary development, including reunification.

German Federal Government – Basic Law – official constitutional text and adoption history.

Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany – records and research on the GDR and its dictatorship.

Editorial note: Germany’s history must distinguish the German state, the Nazi regime, the German population and the victims of Nazi persecution. The Holocaust and other Nazi crimes should be documented with primary evidence, survivor testimony and established historical scholarship. Do not use photographs of concentration camps or victims without careful context and accurate provenance.