HISTORY

As European countries go, Germany is relatively young. It wasn't until 1871 that the German state as it exists today came about, thanks largely to the Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck. Until that point the country consisted of hundreds of tiny dukedoms, some no bigger than towns.

It also has one of the most violent histories of any European nation, having fought both the first and second world wars. Between 1871 and 1914 Germany was an absolutist monarchy. After defeat in the first world war in 1918 the country established its first democracy, known as the Weimar Republic, which lasted until 1933 and the rise of the Nazis.

The Nazi period ended after defeat against Britain, France, the US and the Soviet Union in 1945, resulting in three years of administration by the victorious powers.

The French,British and US allowed their respective zones of occupation to form the Federal Republic of Germany (FRD), whilst the Soviet zone in the east was transformed into the German Democratic Republic (GDR). As a result Germany become a front line in the cold war and the Berlin Wall became an everyday reminder of divided Germany. The economy of the Federal Republic went from strength to strength and Germany developed into one of Europe's major economic forces.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s the GDR was absorbed into the FRD. Germany is a member of Nato and the European Union and home of such institutions as the European Central Bank.

LANGUAGE

The German language is part of the Germanic family of languages, along with English, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages (not including Finnish). The language varies widely throughout the country, with many Germans being capable of speaking both high German (Hochdeutsch) and their regional variant depending on area. The best known variant is Low German (Plattdeutsch) which is very close to Dutch in both accent and vocabulary.

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