Federal Republic of Germany

This article is about the specific polity Federal Republic of Germany and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

Is a county in central Europe. The German state emerged as a unified entity in 1871 with the German Empire. Before that, the German-speaking countries were part of loose federations like the Holy Roman Empire and the German Confederation since the X century. After its defeat in World War II, Germany was occupied by the USSR, USA, United Kingdom and France. The occupation zone of the USSR became the Warsaw Pact country of East Germany, whereas all the other zones were merged to form the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1990 the Federal Republic inglobated East Germany and Germany achieved its modern-day borders.

Establishment

May 1949: The Federal Republic of Germany was established on the territory of the Western occupied zones, with Bonn as its "provisional" capital.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. World War II

Was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945 (it started sooner in certain regions) between the Axis Powers (mainly Germany, Japan and Italy) and the Allies (mainly the Soviet Union, the U.S.A., the U.K., China and France). It was the war with more fatalities in history. The war in Asia began when Japan invaded China on July 7, 1937. The war in Europe began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The war ended with the complete defeat of the Axis powers, which were occupied by the Allies.

1.1.End of World War II in Europe

Refers to the surrender of Axis forces and the end of World War II and to the territorial changes that were a direct consequence of World War II but happened after the traditional end of the War.

January 1957: With effect of 1 January 1957 the Saar Protectorate declared its accession to the Federal Republic of Germany, as provided by its Grundgesetz (constitution) art. 23 (Little Reunification), becoming the new federal state of Saarland.

August 1958: Belgium returned the German annexed territories on 28 August 1958 through the German-Belgian border treaty of 24 September 1956. The place Losheimergraben and the western part of the Leykaul municipality, as well as some forests, were excluded from this restoration. These areas remained in Belgium, and so did the previously Belgian municipalities of Eupen and Malmedy that had been incorporated into the German Reich in 1940.

August 1963: Almost all of the German territories annexed by the Netherlands at the end of WWII were returned to West Germany in 1963 after Germany paid the Netherlands 280 million German marks. The territory was returned to West Germany on 1 August 1963, except one small hill (about 3 km2) near Wyler village, called Duivelsberg/Wylerberg.

2. German Reunification

Was the unification of eastern and western Germany. The the German Democratic Republic was integrated into the Federal Republic of Germany.

October 1990: German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic became part of the Federal Republic of Germany to form the reunited nation of Germany, as provided by Article 23 of the FRG's then constitution.