《德国国家概况英文版德国国家英文德国简介》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《德国国家概况英文版德国国家英文德国简介（18页珍藏版）》请在金锄头文库上搜索。
1、Germany CONTENTProfile21.History21.1 Germanic tribes and Frankish Empire21.2 German Confederation and Empire31.3 Weimar Republic and the Third Reich41.4 East and West Germany71.5 German reunification and the EU92 Geography102.1 Climate103 Politics113.1 Constituent states114 Economy124.1 Urbanization
2、145 Clture155.1 Art165.2 Music165.3 Literature and philosophy17ProfileGermany,(officially theFederal Republic of Germany),is afederal parliamentary republicinwestern-central Europeconsisting of 16constituent states, which retain limited sovereignty. Itscapital cityandlargest cityisBerlin. Germany co
3、vers an area of 357,021 square kilometres and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 80.6million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state in theEuropean Union. Germany is a major economic and political power of the European continent and a historic leader in many cultural, theoretic
4、al and technical fields.1.History1.1 Germanic tribes and Frankish EmpireTheGermanic tribesarethought to date fromtheNordic Bronze Ageor thePre-Roman Iron Age. From southern Scandinavia and north Germany, they expanded south, east and west from the 1st centuryBC, coming into contact with theCeltic tr
5、ibes ofGaulas well asIranian,Baltic, andSlavictribes inCentralandEaster Europe.UnderAugustus, Rome began to invade Germania (an area extending roughly from theRhineto theUral Mountains). In AD9, threeRoman legions led byPublius Quinctilius Varusweredefeatedby theCheruscanleaderArminius. By AD100, wh
6、enTacituswroteGermania, Germanic tribes had settled along the Rhine and the Danube (Limes Germanicus), occupying most of the area of modern Germany; Austria, southernBavariaand the westernRhineland, however, were Roman provinces.In the 3rd century a number of large West Germanic tribes emerged: Alem
7、anni,Franks,Chatti,Saxons,Frisii,Sicambri, andThuringii. Around 260, the Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands.After an invasion by theHunsin 375, and with the decline of Rome from 395, Germanic tribes moved further south-west. Simultaneously several large tribes formed in what is now G
8、ermany and displaced the smaller Germanic tribes. Large areas (known since theMerovingianperiod asAustrasia) wereoccupied by the Franks, and Northern Germany was ruled by the Saxons and Slavs.1.2 German Confederation and EmpireFollowing the fall ofNapoleon, theCongress of Viennaconvened in 1814 and
9、founded the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), a loose league of39 sovereign states. Disagreement withrestorationpolitics partly led to the rise of liberalmovement, followed by new measures of repression by Austrian statesman Metternich. The Zollverein, a tariff union, furthered economic unity i
10、n the German states.Nationaland liberal ideals of theFrench Revolutiongained increasing support among many, especially young, Germans. TheHambach Festivalin May 1832 was a main event in support ofGerman unity, freedom and democracy. In the light of aseries of revolutionary movements in Europe, which
11、 established a republicin France, intellectuals and commoners started theRevolutions of 1848 in the German states. KingFrederick William IV of Prussiawas offered the title of Emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, leading to a temporary setback for th
12、e movement.Conflict between KingWilliam Iof Prussia and the increasingly liberal parliament erupted over military reforms in 1862, and the king appointedOtto von Bismarckthe newMinister President of Prussia. Bismarck successfully wagedwar on Denmarkin 1864. Prussian victory in theAustro-Prussian War
13、of 1866 enabled him to create theNorth German Confederation(Norddeutscher Bund) and to exclude Austria, formerly the leading German state, from the federations affairs. After the French defeat in theFranco-Prussian War, the German Empire was proclaimed in 1871 inVersailles, uniting all scattered par
14、ts of Germany except Austria (Kleindeutschland, or Lesser Germany).With almost two-thirds of its territory and population, Prussia was the dominating constituent of the new state; theHohenzollernKing of Prussia ruled as its concurrent Emperor, and Berlin became its capital.In theGrnderzeitperiod fol
15、lowing theunification of Germany, Bismarcks foreign policy asChancellor of Germanyunder Emperor William I secured Germanys position as a great nation by forging alliances, isolatingFranceby diplomatic means, and avoiding war. As a result of theBerlin Conferencein 1884 Germany claimed severalcoloniesincludingGerman East Africa,German South-West Africa,Togo, andCameroon.UnderWilhelm II, however, Germany, like other European powers, took animperialisticcourse leading to friction with neighbouring countries. Most alliances in which Germany had previously been involved were not renewe
