Main points of German history?

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Mrs. Dalloway

It depends on what time you want to focus. It's impossible to cover the whole history of Germany since there are so many eras and devolopments since the early Middle Ages. I personally find time span between the late 19th century and the late 20th century the richest, most recent and most interesting century. Starting with the last German emperor (Wilhelm II), continuing with WWI and the Weimar Republic leading up to the darkest and possibly most well-known chapter in German history, the age of Hitler, WWII and the Holocaust. Then the highly interesting history of post-war Germany: the Marshall plan and the "Wirtschaftswunder" (Germany's economical revival), the Cold War, the separation of East and West Germany and their different developments, the Berlin Wall and then the reunification in 1989/1990. I think the time between 1900 and 1990 is very diverse and offers a lot of insights into (recent) German history, showing how monarchy ended, the Weimar Republic failed, Hitler rose to power and led the country into its darkest years, and then how Germany ultimately became a democratic state again with the help of the allied forces and East and West became reunited.
Obviously you could spend hours and hours alone on WWII, so I guess it's a question of organisation and personal taste on what you want to focus specifically.
If I may make one personal note: having lived in the USA myself and having been confronted with questions like "So how is it living under the rule of Hitler?", I would appreciate it very much if the focus on German history in the USA would also emphasize that modern Germany is a far cry from Hitler's times and that we don't want to have anything to do with Nazis (and that obviously Hitler is dead since 1945)! So much from me:-) Good luck with your class! PS: Sorry, I don't have any book recommendations.

t_maia2000

1. The conflict of the Germans with the Romans, focusing on the Varus Battle in the year 9.
2. Middle Age with the fiefdom, the Emperor being elected by his fiefs and the constant struggle between Church and secular power (Walk to Canossa 1077, Golden Bull 1356 )
3. agricultural revolution (switch to three-field crop roation around 1000 AD, three-year crop rotation/three-field crop roation instead of two-year/two-field crop rotation and thus higher crop yields by about 20 %) and subsequent rise of the free cities and the Hanse trade association, formation of the trade and craft guilds
4. Protestant revolution with Martin Luther and the 30-year war
5. History from 1815 on. Focusing on the formative years under Bismarck, WW II and on German seperation and reunification. You can use 1-4 to explain why Germany became a federal republic. This should be the biggest chunk.

What is most important to note (and drive home to the students) is that German history doesn't happen in a vacuum, there are strong ties with French, Danish, Swedish, Czech, Italian, Austrian and Polish history. You don't just teach German history, you teach a part of European history. Make your students see the whole picture. (Like how the Wall Street crash in 1929 gave Hitler a chance at power.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_history is a good starting point. If at the end of your lectures each student has in their notes what is currently in the main article you can be proud of yourself.

If you can, set aside one lesson for German culture. Here I would focus on the Nibelungenlied and the Weimar Classic with Goethe and Schiller.

brennathaman

i know german history from about 1815 to 1990:
-1815: Vienna Congress - there are many German independent states, Austria is the leading Germanic power with influence in the states
-1848-49:The Revolutions - widespread revolutions in Europe, weakening of Austria
-1849-1871:Prussia rise as the leading Germanic power and the independent states wish to unite with Prussia
1871:German Unification under Prussian rule
1871-1890:Bismarck is the chancellor of Germany (and he was the one who united Germany)
1890-1914:Power up to war
1914-1918:Long and short term blunders led to German involvement into the war
1918-1933:Germany is heavily damaged by the war,but the Weimar Republic rise. However, there is political instability and great economic problems
1933: rise of Hitler
1933-1939: Hitler implement his policies and invade Poland in -39
1939-1945: WW2
1945-1991:Cold War: Germany and Berlin divided between the allied powers and ussr into west and east germany/berlin
and was a centre of tension between communism and capitalism in the first 15 years of the cold war...the berlin wall fell in 1989, and in about -91 germany was united again

geier55

1. ancient germanic tribes(over 6 thousand years old)

2. The period of the kings,lords,earls and so on.(love ancient castles and ancient churches)

3.Democracy then the shamefull nazi regime then again the current shamefull,asslicking government which is not worth to call them german leaders.

The current germans are only the shadow of the german spirit but u can sometimes still see the german spirit.
Im very ashamed of our society..most are not worth being called germans.

The ancient germanic history is the most interesting.

google germanic mythology or so

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