Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Adolf Hitler

2008-04-20T06:26:01Z

Dca5347: /* Rebuilding the Nazi Party */

[[Image:Hitler7.JPG|right|300px|thumb|Adolf Hitler, giving a hint as to the violence to come.]]
'''Adolf Hitler''' was the Austrian-born Chancellor and President of [[Germany]] from January 30, 1933 until his death on April 30, 1945. He was also the leader (German: ''Der Führer'') of the National Socialist German Workers Party (''National-sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'', or Nazi Party) which gained political power through threat, intimidation, and outright violence throughout Germany in the aftermath of the First World War. Hitler’s policies and beliefs resulted in the mass extermination of the [[Jews]], Gypsies, and other peoples he considered “inferior” throughout central and eastern [[Europe]]. This was directly responsible for the outbreak of [[World War II]], causing the deaths of untold millions on and off the battlefield, and ending only with his own death in his Berlin bunker.

==Early life==
Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn, [[Austria]]. Hitler's father, Alois (born 1837), was a customs official who was himself born illegitimate, carrying for a time his mother's name, Schicklgruber. By 1876 he had his baptismal entry corrected in his church records, establishing his father as Johan Heidler, which was altered slightly to Hitler.

When his father retired the family moved to Linz, Austria, where it remained a favorite for young Adolf for the rest of his life, and where he gave his wish to be buried. When Alois died in 1903 he left enough of a pension to support his wife and children; Adolf would take his and live off of it in Vienna after leaving school, dreaming of becoming an artist. Although somewhat competent as a painter of landscapes and architecture, his renderings of humans were considered “lifeless” and “crude” by the standards of the Academy of Fine Arts, and his application was rejected twice. Remaining in [[Vienna]], he moved from one cheap flop house to another, painting postcards and advertisements to earn a meager living after his allowance had dried up. By then he had developed traits which characterized his life as a whole: secretiveness, loneliness, a Spartan mode of everyday life, and a hatred of the cosmopolitan, multinational character that was the makeup of Vienna.

==Who And What He Was==
'''[[Elie Wiesel]] wrote famously, and most eloquently about Hitler in 1998:''' <blockquote>
"At the same time that he terrorized his adversaries, he knew how to please, impress and charm the very interlocutors from whom he wanted support. Diplomats and journalists insist as much on his charm as they do on his temper tantrums. The savior admired by his own as he dragged them into his madness, the Satan and exterminating angel feared and hated by all others, Hitler led his people to a shameful defeat without precedent. That his political and strategic ambitions have created a dividing line in the history of this turbulent and tormented century is undeniable: there is a before and an after. By the breadth of his crimes, which have attained a quasi-ontological dimension, he surpasses all his predecessors: as a result of Hitler, man is defined by what makes him inhuman. With Hitler at the head of a gigantic laboratory, life itself seems to have changed. </blockquote>

<blockquote>
How did this Austrian without title or position manage to get himself elected head of a German nation renowned for its civilizing mission? How to explain the success of his cheap demagogy in the heart of a people so proud of having inherited the genius of a Wolfgang von Goethe and an Immanuel Kant? </blockquote>

<blockquote>
Was there no resistance to his disastrous projects? There was. But it was too feeble, too weak and too late to succeed. German society had rallied behind him: the judicial, the educational, the industrial and the economic establishments gave him their support. Few politicians of this century have aroused, in their lifetime, such love and so much hate; few have inspired so much historical and psychological research after their death. Even today, works on his enigmatic personality and his cursed career are best sellers everywhere. Some are good, others are less good, but all seem to respond to an authentic curiosity on the part of a public haunted by memory and the desire to understand.</blockquote>

<blockquote>
We think we know everything about the nefarious forces that shaped his destiny: his unhappy childhood, his frustrated adolescence; his artistic disappointments; his wound received on the front during World War I; his taste for spectacle, his constant disdain for social and military aristocracies; his relationship with [[Eva Braun]], who adored him; the cult of the very death he feared; his lack of scruples with regard to his former comrades of the SA, whom he had assassinated in 1934; his endless hatred of [[Jews]], whose survival enraged him — each and every phase of his official and private life has found its chroniclers, its biographers. </blockquote>

<blockquote>
And yet. There are, in all these givens, elements that escape us. How did this unstable paranoid find it within himself to impose gigantic hope as an immutable ideal that motivated his nation almost until the end? Would he have come to power if Germany were not going through endless economic crises, or if the winners in 1918 had not imposed on it conditions that represented a national humiliation against which the German patriotic fiber could only revolt? ''We would be wrong to forget: Hitler came to power in January 1933 by the most legitimate means. His Nationalist Socialist Party won a majority in the parliamentary elections.'' The aging [[Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg]] had no choice but to allow him, at age 43, to form the new government, marking the end of the Weimar Republic. And the beginning of the Third Reich, which, according to Hitler, would last 1,000 years. </blockquote>

<blockquote>
From that moment on, events cascaded. The burning of the [[Reichstag]] came only a little before the openings of the first concentration camps, established for members of the opposition. Fear descended on the country and squeezed it in a vise. Great writers, musicians and painters went into exile to France and the U.S. Jews with foresight emigrated toward Palestine. The air of Hitler's Germany was becoming more and more suffocating. Those who preferred to wait, thinking that the Nazi regime would not last, could not last, would regret it later, when it was too late. </blockquote>

<blockquote>
The fact is that Hitler was beloved by his people — not the military, at least not in the beginning, but by the average Germans who pledged to him an affection, a tenderness and a fidelity that bordered on the irrational. It was idolatry on a national scale. One had to see the crowds who acclaimed him. And the women who were attracted to him. And the young who in his presence went into ecstasy. Did they not see the hateful mask that covered his face? Did they not divine the catastrophe he bore within himself?"[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/hitler.html]
</blockquote>

===War===
[[Image:Hitler munich1914.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Hitler in the crowd in Munich, 1914, reacting to the news of Germany's entry in the First World War.]]
By 1913 Hitler was in Munich, Germany, with war clouds on the horizon. Classified as unfit for service in the Austrian army (possibly by faking, as he did not like the thought of serving Austria) in 1914, he volunteered for the German army, joining the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, greeting the war with enthusiasm, and finding the military discipline and comradeship satisfying. He served during the entire First World War as a messenger carrying dispatches between units, and often at the front lines under fire; he was wounded in 1916, and gassed in 1918. His bravery during this time earned him the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, in December, 1914, and in August 1918 he was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st Class – a rare decoration for a corporal. But the gassing would take him out of the war and into a hospital, where he would be told the heart-wrenching news of Germany’s defeat the following November.

==Path to power==
After the war ended, Hitler's future seemed uncertain. There was much discontent among demobilized veterans because of the lack of employment. The German military had felt it had not been defeated; indeed, the German Army stood on foreign soil when the Armistice was signed November 11, 1918 and not a square inch of German soil had been occupied. This was despite the fact that the German Army's strongest position, the Hindenburg line, had been broken by the Allies, and the German Army itself was in full retreat. However, the Army felt they had done their job, and the nation had been "stabbed in the back" by a gang of traitors who sought to lay hands on the Fatherland. The "myth" that Germany had been defeated was the "big lie" Hitler spoke of, as if repeating it often enough would cause people to believe it.

After his discharge from the hospital, Hitler acted as an army political agent, assigned in Munich to gather information on the various political parties which had spring up amid the social chaos following Germany’s defeat. In September, 1919, he was given orders to investigate the relatively-minor German Workers’ Party (''Deutsche Arbeiterpartei''); intrigued by the party’s apparatus and its racial, pan-German nationalism, he joined, becoming its 55th member; he left the army soon after and devoted himself to improving the party’s propaganda, as well as his own position within.

Conditions in Germany fostered the development of the party. Economic woes brought widespread discontent, added to the furor surrounding the loss of the war and the harsh terms heaped upon Germany by the Allied Powers in the Versailles Peace Treaty. Bavaria’s traditional separatism from the central government in Berlin made current conditions especially sharp, and Hitler was savvy enough to take full advantage of them. When he joined, he found the party ineffective in leadership and uncertain as to its aims; he accepted the party program, but regarded it as a means to an end. He caused friction with other members of the party, and their attempts to control him caused a threat of resignation; realizing that the future of the party now depended on Hitler, who clearly had a talent of organization, fund collecting, and above all, speaking, they declined to accept it; from July, 1921 Hitler was regarded as the party leader with nearly unlimited power. From his party newspaper, ''Völkischer Beobachter'' (“Popular Observer”), he spewed out endless propaganda. His meetings where he spoke grew from handfuls to hundreds, and then on to thousands. A man of charismatic personality, he quickly attracted a circle of loyal and devoted followers: Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, Hermann Göring, and Rudolf Hess.

Munich was also a gathering place for former servicemen dissatisfied with conditions in the country; members of the Freikorps, which had been organized after the war from army units that refused to return to civilian life; and those civilians who plotted against the republic. Many of these men joined the Nazi Party. Among them was a staff member of the district command who had joined the German Workers’ Party before Hitler, Ernst Röhm, a pudgy man with a scared face who saw his own ambition in helping further Hitler’s rise within the party. Röhm recruited what came to be known as the “Brown Shirts”, the violent squads used to attack socialists and communists, and to protect party meetings whenever Hitler was speaking. By 1921 they were organized into a private army called the ''Sturmabteilung'', abbreviated to S.A.

==The Beer Hall Putsch==
Germany in 1923 was marked by social and political unrest caused by hyperinflation. In this time Hitler was able convince [[Erich Ludendorff]], an accomplished general and leader of the German forces in the first World War, to join him in a coup d'etat (''Putsch'' in German). When Hitler learned that the nationalist prime minister of Bavaria was giving a speech to 3000 officials in one of Munich's biggest beer halls (the Haufbrau Haus), he ordered his paramilitaries to surround the building. Hitler went inside and took the prime minister hostage, announced a revolution, and attempted to convince him to join the coup against Berlin and become member in his new administration. The Bavarian prime minister agreed under pressure, but informed the nation via radio later that night that he did not support Hitler. The prime minister also informed the federal government in Berlin; the putsch had begun to fail.

The next morning, 9 November 1923, Hitler and Ludendorff were marching with approximately 2000 partly armed supporters through Munich in a show of strength to regain the momentum. In the ensuing fight between Hitler's marchers and a cordon of police and army units at least 14 Nazi supporters and three policemen were killed and hundreds wounded. Ludendorff handed himself over to the authorities, while Hitler fled soon after the fighting began. Hitler was arrested a few days later at a friend's house, were had been in hiding since the failed coup. Ludendorff was acquitted of all charges, while Hitler was sentenced to 5 years in prison (he would do eight months). <ref>http://history1900s.about.com/cs/thirdreich/a/beerhallputsch_2.htm</ref><ref>http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/putsch2.htm</ref> The Bavarian prime minister, who foiled the plan, was killed in 1934 in the "Night of the Long Knives".

===''Mein Kampf''===

Hitler had his inner circle as frequent visitors in his prison cell, which was made more comfortable due to his celebrity. While there, he dictated to Rudolf Hess the first volume of ''Mein Kampf'' (“My Struggle”), his political autobiography and a compendium of his many ideas.

Hitler believed in the inequality of the races, nations, and individuals as part of the natural order of mankind, and chief among them was the exalted “Aryan race”, and the greatest of the Aryans were the Germans. It was the German, according to Hitler, that gave the world civilization and the arts; to safeguard the German people as a race (the “Volk”), they would need to be united under a single leader (the Führer), where they would be protected from their three principle enemies: Marxism, which included social democracy as well as communism; democracy and its mob-rule, as shown by the failings of the Weimar Republic; and above all what Hitler called the poisoners of humanity, the Jews. “Rational anti-Semitism must lead to systematic legal opposition,” he wrote in 1919. “Its final objective must be the removal of the Jews altogether.” In Mein Kampf, he told the world that the Jew was the “destroyer of culture,” “a parasite within the nation,” and “a menace.”

==Rebuilding the Nazi Party==
[[Image:Hitler_speech.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Hitler speaking; he would often employ physical gesturing to emphasize a point.]]
[[Image:Hitler-3.jpg‎ |right|200px|thumb|Hitler in car, saluting passing S.A. at one of many parades.]]
Internal dissention within the party caused it to languish while Hitler was in prison. When he was released he saw difficulties in the country that had not existed before the Putsch, namely currency reform that brought economic stability, and the scaling back of the war reparations as a result of the Dawes Plan. Hitler was also forbidden to speak in public, which remained in force until 1928; however, he wasn’t about to stop his rebuilding of the party nor of his re-establishing his own position within it as leader, despite Gregor Strasser’s opposition in northern Germany. By 1927 the number of Nazis was in the hundreds of thousands.

A new period of political and economic instability with the onset of the Great Depression which threw millions out of work in Europe and North America. To campaign against the [[Young Plan]] (a second renegotiation of war reparations payments) Hitler made an alliance with one of Germany’s leading nationalists, Alfred Hugenberg, whose newspapers enabled Hitler to reach a national audience for the first time. The alliance also had another advantage: it enabled him to seek support from many in business and industry who controlled funds going into politics, and who themselves were desirous of seeing Germany under the control of a strong anti-Soviet and anti-Communist regime. The subsidies Hitler received placed the Nazy Party on a strong financial footing, enabling him to make his emotional appeal to the lower middle class and the unemployed in his faith that Germany would recover from its suffering and be a great nation once more. The alliance with the industrialists also demonstrated another aspect of Hitler, a skill of effectively using those that would use him, which many would discover when it was too late.

The electoral strength of the Nazis grew during the Depression, as unceasing propaganda accused the government of failing to improve conditions for the working man. By the fall of 1930 the Nazis captured more than 18 percent of the vote, compared to just 2.6 percent in 1928. Hitler captured 36.8 percent of the vote when he opposed Paul von Hindenburg in the 1932 presidential election; his mass following put him in such a strong position that he entered a series of closed-door intrigues with Franz von Papen, Oskar Hindenburg, and Otto Meissner, all sharing a fear and loathing of a communist government. Despite the party losing votes in the November, 1932 election, Hitler insisted on nothing less than the office of chancellor for himself. For him, it was all or nothing. Hindenburg offered it to him on January 30, 1933.

==In power==
Almost immediately, Hitler established himself as dictator. Less than a month after taking office, on February 27 the Reichstag building was set on fire under mysterious circumstances (but officially blamed on a feeble-minded Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe); Hitler soon after succeeded in getting several decrees passed removing much of the guarantees of freedom in the name of state security, and which also allowed an intensified campaign of violence against dissidents. Incredibly, in a special election set in those conditions on March 5, the Nazis pulled 43.9 percent of the vote. On March 21, the new Reichstag assembled at the Potsdam Church, as much a show of unity between the old guard under Hindenburg and the Nazis as it was a show of peace. Two days later the Enabling Act was passed, giving Hitler full powers; with the exception of the Nazis, all other political parties, including those which had helped pass the Enabling Act, ceased to exist within three months. Many of their leaders were tossed in concentration camps.

===Night of the Long Knives===
[[Image:HitlerRohm1933.JPG|right|200px|thumb|Hitler with Ernst Röhm in 1933]]
Hitler, however, did not wish to start an immediate revolution. He still needed the support of the one agency he needed to implement his ideas: the army. But he did have one growing problem that was a thorn in the army’s side, the million-plus men of the S.A. and their leader, Ernst Röhm, who wanted nothing less than the merger of the S.A. into the army, with himself in overall command. At first, Hitler tried getting Röhm’s support by persuasion, but Hitler’s inner circle was for removing him by any means possible. On June 29, 1934, Hitler ordered a purge, flew towards a resort near Munich where a number of S.A. leaders were vacationing, and had them all arrested; many would be shot without trial. Refusing to shoot himself when offered, Röhm was killed in his cell at Dachau, his last words, ironically, “Mein Führer, mein Führer!” [http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/roehm.htm][http://www.adolfhitler.ws/lib/nsdap/Rohm.html] [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/nazi/innenpolitik/roehm/index.html]
On July 13, Hitler gave speech in the Reichstag, announcing that some seventy-four individuals had been shot for threatening the stability of the Reich.
:''"If anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not resort to the regular courts of justice, then all I can say is this: In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people, and thereby I became the supreme judge of the German people…It was no secret that this time the revolution would have to be bloody; when we spoke of it we called it 'The Night of the Long Knives.' Everyone must know for all future time that if he raises his hand to strike the State, then certain death is his lot." ''
Hitler also used this event to settle his account with other opponents, such as Georg Strasser, who stood for a more socialist and less racist national socialism, and the former Bavarian prime minister who foiled the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. Satisfied that the S.A. leadership was thoroughly broken up (thousands of S.A. members were either arrested or killed that night), the army approved of Hitler’s actions. Hindenburg died a few days later on August 2, and Hitler merged the office of president with the chancellorship, and with it the supreme command of the German armed forces. During this time the world was slowly recovering economically from the Depression, but it quickened in Germany, coincidently with Hitler’s rise to power. Taking credit for the recovery made him very popular, bringing him a 90 percent approval rating in a voter plebiscite that year.

===Beginnings of expansion===
In matters of state, the running of domestic affairs was left to subordinates, which was something Hitler had little attention for. Foreign policy always peaked his interest, in so much as to the advantages of a “Greater Germany”, which was his chief ambition. The first part of realizing this, according to ''Mein Kampf'', was to be a reunion of the German peoples within Europe; the second would be an expansion of Germany to the east (lebensraum). Expanding would mean a renewed conflict with the Slavic peoples, whom Hitler intended to serve as slaves to the “New German Order.” To follow through on his ambitions, he would have to remove Poland and the Soviet Union as countries; France also would have to be stabilized in the west, as she was Germany’s enemy for more than a century. He counted as possible allies Italy, with its fascist government under [[Benito Mussolini]], and Britain, whom he regarded as having a similar, Teutonic heritage.
[[Image:Hitler6-thumb.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Hitler with his dog, Blondie. He regarded dogs as better than people.]]
Before any of his ambitions could take place, there was one thing he detested which needed immediate removal: the restrictions placed upon Germany by the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I. Posing as a man of peace to allay suspicions, he insisted that he was a champion of Europe wishing only for the removal of the inequalities leveled by the treaty, and posturing as a shield against Bolshevism. In October, 1933, he had Germany withdraw from the [[League of Nations]]. The following January he signed a non-aggression treaty with Poland. His individual repudiations of parts of the treaty were followed by offers of negotiations for new agreements, while maintaining Germany’s limited ambitious nature.

While this was going on, Germany was steadily building up the armed forces. Rigorous training using wooden guns and trucks marked as “tanks” got needed battlefield training for officers. Potential fighter pilots began their training in gliders at public demonstrations – Germany, under terms of the treaty, was not allowed an air force – and later they would fly in new civilian stunt planes and transports, which on the drawing board were designed to be rapidly turned into fighters and bombers. Conscription was introduced in January, 1935, and in June of that year Hitler successfully signed a naval treaty with Britain, giving him rights to a respectable navy; but even while the ink was drying, Germany was secretly building a large U-boat fleet.

The matter of reuniting the German peoples came into being in July, 1934, and here Hitler overreached. German organizations were covertly aiding Austrian Nazis in the overthrow of their government, culminating in an attempted revolt as well as murdering Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. When the attempt clearly failed, Hitler denied involvement. In January, 1935, a plebecite was introduced in the Saarland; more than 90 percent voted to return the territory to Germany. Then in March, 1936, came his greatest slap to the Versailles Treaty: against the advice of his generals, and in open defiance of France and Britain, he ordered troops into the demilitarized Rhineland. Germany was once again becoming the leading power in continental Europe. By October, 1936, Germany had signed an alliance with Italy, proclaiming a “Rome-Berlin axis,” followed by the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan. All three countries would sign a single, mutual alliance pact, the following year.

==Anschluss==

Removed from their offices in January 1938 were Hjalmar Schacht (economic ministry); Werner von Fritsch (soldiers’ representative); and Konstantin von Neurath (foreign office); the reason being was they were not fully accepting of Nazism. Beginning his plans of German conquest, he started with Austria. Kurt von Schuschnigg, the Austrian chancellor, was invited to Berchtesgaden in February, where he was browbeaten and forced to sign an agreement placing Austrian Nazis in the government. When Schuschnigg resisted and announced a plebiscite for Austrian voters concerning independence, Hitler ordered German troops into Austria, completely taking over the country within days. His return to Vienna was in triumph; enthusiastic crowds greeted him by the tens of thousands, in sharp contrast to the scenes of privation he had gone through there in his youth. Austria was annexed (Anschluss) to the Reich a short time later.

While the Anschluss was going on, Hitler was speaking in friendly terms with Czechoslovakia; nearly as soon as Austria ceased to exist, Hitler proceeded with his plans against the Czechs. The northwestern region of Czechoslovakia was the Sudetenland, inhabited by a German minority, and the leader of them, Konrad Henlein, was instructed to make impossible demands for those Germans on the Czech government. In the interest of preventing a general war (which Hitler wanted), Mussolini and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain concluded a peaceful agreement in Munich on September 30, giving Hitler the Sudetenland without firing a shot. Chamberlain would return to Britain, waving the agreement signed between himself and Hitler, declaring it to be “peace for our time”, but his act of appeasement would ensure the peace would last only a few more months. Despite assurances that the Sudetenland was his last territorial demands, “Czechia”, as the remainder of Czechoslovakia was called, became a German protectorate on March 15, 1939, when Hitler ordered it occupied. Just over a week later, Lithuania was forced to cede to Germany the territory of Memel (Klaipeda), on the border of East Prussia.

==Poland==
Poland’s turn was next, and listening to the rumblings was France and Britain, which signed guarantees of mutual assistance to the Polish nation should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler also signed pacts: a “Pact of Steel” with Italy, strengthening the alliance between Rome and Berlin, and then a treaty that caught many off-guard: a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union on August 23. A secret clause in the pact allowed for the simultaneous invasion of Poland, and the division of the country in the center from north to south. Poland was invaded on September 1; two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany.

Hitler assumed his own war strategy. Poland was conquered within weeks, and when a desired peace accord with Britain failed to materialize, he ordered the army to prepare for a western offensive. Norway was invaded and occupied, forestalling a British move on that country; Denmark was occupied by April, 1940. Hitler than adopted General Erich von Manstien’s plan for an offensive against France itself, which would move through neutral Belgium’s Ardenne Forest on May 10, taking that country as a matter of convenience, as well as avoiding the static fortifications of France’s Maginot Line. The German forces, extremely successful in their operations, reached the coastal ports on the English Channel in 10 days; Holland and Belgium both surrendered within days. But south of Dunkirk was where the army was ordered to halt. Hitler had hoped even at this stage in the battle that Britain would commit to peace; instead, the halting of the German army allowed the British to remove 170,000 fighting men.

On June 10, Italy entered the war as German tanks were sweeping across northern France. Hitler signed an armistice with France on June 22, the signing taking place in the same rail car at the same site where the Germans surrendered in 1918.

Having failed in getting the British to sign an armistice, Hitler prepared his forces for “Operation Sea Lion,” the invasion of Britain. However, the Luftwaffe was defeated in its attempt to gain air superiority over British airspace, also known as the Battle Of Britain, which forced the permanent postponement of Sealion.

Facing the failure of the British to give in, Hitler started to prepare to double-cross his erstwhile partner in the Poland conquest, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. Then Mussolini invaded Greece, got bogged down in the Balkans, and the threat loomed that he would lose his whole army there. Hitler found it necessary to come to his aid, while at the same time taking direct control of Yugoslavia in the wake of the overthrow of the pro-Nazi government.

==Barbarossa==
The attack on Soviet Russia began June 22, 1941. Rapid in its advancement, the German army captured a large swath of territory between the Baltic and Black seas, and captured close to 3,000,000 prisoners. But Hitler, already micro-managing military operations, became overbearing to his generals; he preferred to go after many targets, while his generals argued for a single objective. A few miles in front of Moscow, the German army was halted by a Russian offensive in December, as well as something he had absolutely no control over: the severe Russian winter.

In the lands already occupied by German forces, S.S. chief Heinrich Himmler was preparing the ground for Hitler’s new German order. Expelling the Jews from Germany was the first step, and this was carried out by laws and decrees beginning in 1933; the Germans would switch to outright force in 1939, as Jews were first deported en-masse to Poland, then walled into ghettos after the occupation began. By 1941, a policy crafted under S.S. general Reinhard Heydrich had changed expulsion for extermination in what was called "a final solution to the Jewish question" (''die Endlösung der Judenfrage''). The system of concentration camps was supplemented by the creation of specialized killing centers in the occupied countries, especially in Poland, where camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzac “processed” thousands of victims daily. Some six million Jews died during what was called the [[Holocaust]], as well as an additional five million Slavs, Gypsies, the handicapped, the aged, and many others that the Nazis considered “subhuman” in accordance with German racial policies. [http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/burns.htm]

==Beginning of the end==
[[Image:Adolf_hitler6.jpg‎ |right|200px|thumb|Hitler in 1944, by now looking like a tired, strained man.]]
Hitler grew increasingly strained by the end of 1942, depending on large amounts of drugs supplied by his physician, Theodor Morell, as a result of the twin defeats of El Alamein (which he lost the bulk of his Afrika corps to British general Montgomery), and Stalingrad (where he lost an entire army of 250,000 men to the Russians). He spent more time in his headquarters in East Prussia, and his time in the public eye ceased to exist. He refused to visit bombed German cities, and, as with Stalingrad, refused to allow German armies to withdraw from the battlefield when the situation was lost. Still, he could make stunning, decisive decisions when called for, such as the commando raid that resulted in the rescue of Benito Mussolini from Italian partisans in July, 1943.

But the defeat of Germany in the war was looming closer. Hitler’s relations with his leading commanders grew strained, the more so as he allowed units of the S.S. to take positions traditionally held by the army. The line at the eastern front was slowly being pushed back by the Soviets, while in the Atlantic his U-boats campaign had faltered. German cities were constantly being bombed, and a successful invasion on the Normandy coast of France in June, 1944 marked the beginning of the end.

===Assassination attempt===
[[Image:NWT Hitler dead.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Hitler's death as covered by the ''New York Times'', May 2, 1945.]]
Seeing Germany’s chances of surviving the war were desperate, a group of officers plotted to assassinate Hitler, planning several attempts in 1943-44, but nearly successful on July 20, 1944, when a bomb hidden in a briefcase by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg went off under a table that Hitler and others were leaning over; four were killed outright, several suffered injuries, but Hitler escaped relatively unharmed (the bomb itself was set down away from Hitler behind a solid oak table leg, saving him). The conspirators were quickly rounded up; Stauffenberg was shot. The remainder were put on show trials and condemned to hang on meat hooks with piano wire. It was said that Hitler enjoyed watching film of their executions. As a result of the bomb, Nazi members were employed at key positions within the army, removing any trace of the army’s independence.

Within months nearly all of the territory occupied by Germany was now in Allied hands. A last offensive in December, 1944 to take the port of Antwerp, Belgium, failed. Hitler had by them grown ill; his hopes for a German victory bordered on the fantastical and the imagination. By January, 1945 he had moved into his command bunker in Berlin, where he gave orders deploying fictional divisions to counter the ever-closer Soviets. When all seemed lost, he gave out his final orders: first, appointing Admiral Karl Dönitz as head of the state and his successor, and Josef Goebbels as chancellor; and second, dictating his last political will which was an attempt to justify his life’s work.

On April 29, he committed the one truly-chivalrous act of his life: he married Eva Braun, his long-time mistress. After retiring to his room in the bunker the next day, Eva took poison, and Hitler put a bullet in his head. In accordance with his wishes, both bodies were burned. His Third Reich would outlive him for another week.

[[Elie Wiesel]] wrote the following in [[Time Magazine]] regarding Hitler:
{{cquote|Adolf Hitler or the incarnation of absolute evil; this is how future generations will remember the all-powerful Fuehrer of the criminal Third Reich. Compared with him, his peers [[Mussolini]] and [[Franco]] were novices. Under his hypnotic gaze, humanity crossed a threshold from which one could see the abyss. "Before Hitler, we thought we had sounded the depths of human nature," argues Ron Rosenbaum, author of "Explaining Hitler." "He showed how much lower we could go, and that's what was so horrifying. It gets us wondering not just at the depths he showed us but whether there is worse to come. The power of Hitler was to confound the modernist notion that judgments about good and [[evil]] were little more than matters of taste, reflections of social class and power and status. Although some modern scholars drive past the notion of evil and instead explain Hitler's conduct as a reflection of his childhood and self-esteem issues, for most survivors of the 20th century he is confirmation of our instinctive sense that evil does exist. It moves among us; it leads us astray and deploys powerful, subtle weapons against even the sturdiest souls." <ref>http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/hitler.html</ref>}}

==Hitler and the Theory of Evolution==
[[Image:Hitlerrisetopower.jpg|right|225px|thumb]]
The staunch evolutionist Stephen Gould admitted the following:
{{cquote|[[Ernst Haeckel|Haeckel]] was the chief apostle of evolution in [[Germany]].... His evolutionary racism; his call to the German people for racial purity and unflinching devotion to a "just" state; his belief that harsh, inexorable laws of evolution ruled human civilization and nature alike, conferring upon favored races the right to dominate others; the irrational mysticism that had always stood in strange communion with his brave words about objective science - all contributed to the rise of Nazism. - Stephen J. Gould, "Ontogeny and Phylogeny," Belknap Press: Cambridge MA, 1977, pp.77-78). <ref>http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/social.html</ref>}}

In regards to evolutionary racism, Hitler wrote the following in his work [[Mein Kampf]]:
{{cquote|The Germans were the higher race, destined for a glorious evolutionary future. For this reason it was essential that the [[Jew]]s should be segregated, otherwise mixed marriages would take place. Were this to happen, all nature’s efforts “to establish an evolutionary higher stage of being may thus be rendered futile.”<ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1675</ref>}}

Hitler also wrote in Mein Kampf:
{{cquote|The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker, thus sacrificing his own greatness. Only the born weakling can view this as cruel, but he, after all, is only a weak and limited man; for if this law did not prevail, any conceivable higher development (Hoherentwicklung) of organic living beings would be unthinkable.<ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=268</ref>}}

Dr. Robert E.D. Clark wrote in his work ''Darwin, Before and After'' the following regarding Hitler and the theory of evolution: “Adolf Hitler’s mind was captivated by evolutionary teaching — probably since the time he was a boy. Evolutionary ideas — quite undisguised — lie at the basis of all that is worst in Mein Kampf — and in his public speeches”.<ref>http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_holocaust_why_did_it_happen</ref>

Richard Hickman in his work ''Biocreation'' concurs and wrote the following:
{{cquote|It is perhaps no coincidence that Adolf Hitler was a firm believer in and preacher of evolutionism. Whatever the deeper, profound, complexities of his [[psychosis]], it is certain that [the concept of struggle was important for]. . . his book, Mein Kampf clearly set forth a number of evolutionary ideas, particularly those emphasizing struggle, survival of the fittest and extermination of the weak to produce a better society. <ref>http://www.creationism.org/csshs/v08n3p24.htm</ref>}}

Noted evolutionary [[anthropology|anthropologists]] Sir [[Arthur Keith]] conceded the following in regards to Hitler: “The German Fuhrer, as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practices of Germany conform to the theory of evolution”.<ref>http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/the_holocaust_why_did_it_happen</ref>

[[Pulitzer Prize]] winning author [[Marilynne Robinson]] wrote the following regarding Hitler's racism in the November 2006 issue of [[Harper’s Magazine]]:
{{cquote|While it is true that persecution of the Jews has a very long history in [[Europe]], it is also true that science in the twentieth century revived and absolutized persecution by giving it a fresh rationale — Jewishness was not religious or cultural, but genetic. Therefore no appeal could be made against the brute fact of a Jewish grandparent.

[[Richard Dawkins|Dawkins]] deals with all this in one sentence. Hitler did his evil "in the name of. . . an insane and unscientific [[eugenics]] theory." But eugenics is science as surely as totemism is religion. That either is in error is beside the point. Science quite appropriately acknowledges that error should be assumed, and at best it proceeds by a continuous process of criticism meant to isolate and identify error. So bad science is still science in more or less the same sense that bad religion is still religion. That both of them can do damage on a huge scale is clear. The prestige of both is a great part of the problem, and in the modern period the credibility of anything called science is enormous. As the history of eugenics proves, science at the highest levels is no reliable corrective to the influence of cultural prejudice but is in fact profoundly vulnerable to it.

There is indeed historical precedent in the [[Spanish Inquisition]] for the notion of hereditary Judaism. But the fact that the worst religious thought of the sixteenth century can be likened to the worst scientific thought of the twentieth century hardly redounds to the credit of science."<ref>http://solutions.synearth.net/2006/10/20</ref><ref>http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/someone-finally-said-it-dawkinss-hysterical-scientism/</ref>}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
<small>*[http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/h/hitler-adolf/oss-papers/text/profile-index.htmlA Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler, His Life and Legend], Walter C. Langer, Office of Strategic Services, Washington, D.C.</small>
{{DEFAULTSORT: Hitler, Adolf}}
[[Category:Dictators]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Mass murderers]]
[[Category:Nazis]]
[[Category:German People]]

Germany

2008-04-20T05:45:04Z

Dca5347: /* Imperial Germany */

{{Country
|name =''Bundesrepublik Deutschland''
|map =Germany rel 94.jpg
|flag =Flag of Germany.JPG
|arms =Arms of Germany.png
|capital =Berlin
|capital-raw =
|government =Federal Republic (Parliamentary)
|government-raw =
|language =German
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Horst Köhler
|president-raw =
|chancellor =Angela Merkel
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =137,858 sq mi
|pop =82,310,000 (2006)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$3.045 trillion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$36,975 (2006)
|currency =Euro (formerly the Deutsche Mark)
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Germany''' (official name: '''Federal Republic of Germany''') is a federally organized [[Democracy]] in Western [[Europe]] with a population of about 82.4 million. The capital city and seat of government is [[Berlin]].

The major ethnic groups are German 94%, Polish 1%, Yugoslavs 1% and others 4%. 34% of the population are Protestants and 38% are Roman Catholics.

As Europe's largest economy and the most populous nation wholly within Europe, Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. The central German bank, the [[Bundesbank]], has historically been the most influential force within the financial markets of the European Union.

==History==
The emergence of Germany as a nation in its own right came later than for most European powers. The German-speaking areas of Europe had historically been parts of diverse other nations, among them [[Prussia]], [[Austria]], and the [[Holy Roman Empire]], along with numerous smaller principalities.

===Early Germanic Tribes===
The first distinct Germanic tribes emerged around 100 BC in northern Germany, and are usually thought to have migrated south from [[Scandinavia]]. From there, the tribes continued to expand, coming in contact with the [[Celts]] of [[Gaul]] in the west, and Slavic tribes to the east. However, not much is known about the early Germanic people due to the lack of a written language. Most of what is known is due to contact with the [[Roman Empire]] and archaeological digs. To the rest of the world, the Germanic tribes inhabited a region known as [[Germania]], Latin for "Land of the Germans".<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html Medieval Sourcebook Tacitus: Germania]</ref> The Roman Empire had plans to expand its borders into the wild lands of Germania, but with their defeat at the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]], a decision was made by the Roman Emperor [[Augustus]] to consolidate the boundaries along the Rhine River, leaving most of Germania free, wild, and untamed. Migrating pressures over the following centuries saw frequent efforts of Germanic tribes trying to enter the Roman Empire. While sometimes these efforts gained temporary success, Rome would invariably defeat these efforts. Some tribes were allowed to settle in the Empire, especially during times of depopulation during plague. During the time of the later Empire, the Germans were both buffers against outside invasions and oftentimes allies, enemies, or both - with some tribes aiding Rome and some tribes invading. In 410 AD, some Germanic tribes assisted the [[Visigoths]] under [[Alaric I]] in sacking the city of [[Rome]].<ref>[http://www.vinland.org/scamp/grove/kreich/chapter7.html The Sack of Rome]</ref> It was a blow to the Western Empire, but didn't have the importance that it once would have as the capital had moved to Ravenna in 402 AD. But in 476 AD, dissatisfied German mercenaries led by [[Odoacer]] captured Ravenna and deposed Emperor [[Romulus Augustulus]]. By that time Rome was being attacked or saved almost exclusively by barbarian armies. Since Odoacer refused to assume the title of Emperor, this date is generally considered to be the official end of the Western Roman Empire.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/od/Odoacer.html]</ref>

===The Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)===

The medieval German empire originated from the division of the [[Carolingian Empire]] in 843, and was known as the ''Holy Roman Empire''. It gradually expanded through the addition of Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Thuringia, and Bavaria, and the German king was crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]] of these regions in 962. Under the reign of the [[Salian]] emperors (1024–1125), the Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern [[Italy]] and Burgundy. The edict of the Golden Bull in 1356 provided the constitution of the empire; it established the election of the emperor by seven Prince-Electors, each of whom ruled one of the more powerful principalities or archbishoprics. Notably, one of these Electors, George Louis the Elector of Hanover (1660-1727), was recruited by the heir-less [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] in 1714 to become its king, taking the name [[King George I]].

===The Reformation===

In 1517, [[Martin Luther]] wrote his [[The 95 Theses|95 Theses]] questioning the [[Roman Catholic Church]], an act which began the [[Protestant Reformation]]. A separate [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] church was acknowledged as the new sanctioned religion in many states of Germany in 1530. Religious conflicts known as the [[Thirty Years' War]] pitted Protestant German states against Catholic one, and devastated the former Empire. The [[Peace of Westphalia]] (1648) ended religious warfare in Germany, but the empire broke down into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onwards, the dualism between the Austrian [[Habsburg Monarchy]] and the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] dominated German history. In 1806, the ''Imperium'' was overrun and dissolved as a result of the [[Napoleonic Wars]].

===1806 - 1871===

It was not until after the fall of French Emperor [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1814 that the [[German Confederation]], a loosely-organized league of 39 states, began to lay the ground for nationhood. Numerous conflicts between these states marked the first half of the nineteenth century, and it was not until [[Otto von Bismarck]]'s ascension as Prime Minister of [[Prussia]] in mid-century that something resembling the modern sense of "Germany" came into being. Austria was, however, not a part of this new [[North German Confederation]]. After the French defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] in 1871, the German Empire was formally proclaimed, under [[Wilhelm I]], with its capital in [[Berlin]].

===Imperial Germany===

After Germany was united by Bismarck in what was to become the second German Reich, [[Bismarck]] determined German politics until the young Kaiser Wilhelm II came to the throne. Bismarck tried to foster alliances in Europe, on one hand to contain France, and on on the other hand to consolidate Germany's influence in Europe. On the domestic front Bismarck tried to stem the rise of socialism by anti-socialist laws, combined with an introduction of health care and social security. At the same time Bismarck tried to reduce the political influence of the emancipated Catholic minority in what was dubbed the Kulturkampf, literally "culture struggle". He later softened his stance on the Catholics because he needed the support of the Catholic Zentrum Party.

After the death on Kaiser Wilhelm I, and his ailing successor of three months Friedrich II in 1888, the young and ambitious [[Kaiser Wilhelm II]] became emperor. It was obvious that it was just a matter of time until Bismarck and the young Kaiser would come into conflict. Most notably, the young Kaiser opposed Bismarck's careful foreign policy and wanted Germany to pursue colonialist policies, as Great Britain and France had been doing for quite some time, as well as build a navy that could match the British. Bismarck eventually resigned as chancellor in 1890 when an attempt to establish a working relationship with the Zentrum Party was thwarted by Wilhlem. After Bismarck's departure Wilhelm II engaged in active colonization of Africa and Asia for those areas that were not already colonies of other European powers, a mostly unilateral approach in Europe with as main ally the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and an arms race with Britain, which eventually led to the situation in which the assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian crown price could spark off [[World War I]].

=== Between the World Wars ===
Germany's involvement and eventual defeat in [[World War I]] led to a harsh turn in German fortunes. The government of the German Kaiser was replaced by the [[Weimar Republic]], and the new social-democratic government had to accept the resulting "peace" established by the [[Treaty of Versailles]]; it forced Germany to take full blame for the war and to pay huge reparations to the allied victors. As reparations payments couldn't be paid in full through hard currency, compliance was forced through goods such as coal and ore and French occupation of German factories in the Ruhr. The German economy collapsed. Inflation, which had seen the value of the German mark fall from 8.9 Mark to the US Dollar shortly after the war<ref>The 20th Century Day by Day, Dorling and Kingdersley, 2000, Pg. 308</ref> to 9,000 Mark to the US Dollar by the start of 1923, now careened out of control as hyper-inflation set in. By November 15th 1923, the exchange rate was 4.2 trillion Mark to the US dollar. <ref>http://www.germannotes.com/hist_inflation.shtml</ref>. The combination of the Versailles Treaty, which the Germans considered to be harsh and unfair, combined with what was happening to the German nation left the German people bitter and disenchanted. An introduction of a new currency stabilized the German economy and from 1925 to 1928 German productivity grew from a value of 70 billion Reichsmark to 88 billion Reichsmark <ref>http://www.sgipt.org/politpsy/finanz/schuldp/weimar.htm</ref>. This change turned out to be short-lived with the onset of the [[Great Depression]] and renewed hardship. Germany entered a period of permanent political and constitutional crisis. It was during these difficult years starting with the end of World War I that new voices rose up in Germany, one of which was from a struggling artist turned revolutionist named [[Adolf Hitler]]. Hitler slowly gained followers and rose to a prominent place in the government before finally taking control in a country that was desperate to look up to someone to restore national pride. An economic boom ensued as Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy and remilitarization, which eventually led to [[World War II]] and defeat. Germany was once again in ruins.

===Post WWII History===

With the advent of the [[Cold War]], two German states were formed in 1949: the western [[Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] (FRG) and the eastern [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the [[EC]], which became the [[European Union]] (EU), and the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO), while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led [[Warsaw Pact]]. The border between East and West Germany was fortified in the course of the 1950s, to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West. However, the border to West Berlin, the sectors occupied by the the US, UK, and France, which were de-facto part of West Germany, was open for refugees until the [[Berlin Wall]] was built on 13 August 1961. The Berlin Wall spanned more than 166 km around West Berlin, and cut through the historic center of Berlin. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for a peaceful revolution in East Germany in 1989, which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a year later to the German unification on October 3, 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern infrastructure up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and ten other EU countries introduced a common European currency, the [[Euro]].

==The states (Bundesländer) and their capitals==

(In alphabetical order)

* Baden-Württemberg: [[Stuttgart]]
* Bayern: [[München]]
* Berlin: Berlin
* Brandenburg: [[Potsdam]]
* Bremen: [[Bremen]]
* Hamburg: [[Hamburg]]
* Hessen: Wiesbaden
* Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Schwerin
* Niedersachsen: [[Hannover]]
* Nordrhein-Westfalen: [[Düsseldorf]]
* Rheinland-Pfalz: Mainz
* Saarland: Saarbrücken
* Sachsen: [[Dresden]]
* Sachsen-Anhalt: Magdeburg
* Schleswig-Holstein: Kiel
* Thüringen: Erfurt

===Tourism===

[[Image:The_castle3.jpg|left|thumb|Neuschwanstein Castle, a popular tourist destination.]]

== Economic Overview ==

Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world in [[PPP]] terms - showed considerable improvement in 2006 with 2.7% growth. After a long period of stagnation with an average growth rate of 0.7% between 2001-05 and chronically high unemployment, stronger growth has led to a considerable fall in unemployment to about 8% at the end of 2006. Among the most important reasons for Germany's high unemployment during the past decade were [[macroeconomic]] stagnation, the declining level of investment in plant and equipment, company restructuring, flat domestic consumption, structural rigidities in the labor market, lack of competition in the service sector, and high interest rates. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $80 billion. The former government of Chancellor [[Gerhard Schroeder]] launched a comprehensive set of reforms of labor market and [[welfare]]-related institutions. The current government of Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] has initiated other reform measures, such as a gradual increase in the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67 and measures to increase female participation in the labor market. Germany's aging population, combined with high chronic unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions, but higher government revenues from the cyclical upturn in 2006 reduced Germany's budget deficit to within the EU's 3% debt limit. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could help Germany meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gm.html] CIA World Factbook</ref>

==Politics==
===Political Parties===
The political parties represented in the German [[parliament]] ([[Bundestag]]) are:

*[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] (CDU) - center-right
*Christian Social Union of [[Bavaria]] (CSU) - conservative
*Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) - center-left
*Free Democratic Party (FDP) - liberal, centrist
*Alliance '90 / The Greens (Grüne) - left, green
*The Left Party - far left, heir to the Socialist Unity Party of the former [[East Germany]]

CDU and CSU traditionally form a common parliamentary faction. The CSU only acts in Bavaria, the CDU in the other states.

==Government==
===Executive Branch===
Germany has a President as [[Head of State]]. However, his political power is small and his position is mostly representative. Although the president has to sign every law, and has the right to refuse signature on constitutional grounds, few president have ever used this right. The president is elected by a joint assembly of the federal parliament and an evenly strong group of electors, who are selected by the state parliaments for a five year term, and he can be re-elected once. During absence and illness of the president, the president of the Bundesrat (comparable to the Senate) assumes the duties of the president.

The actual political power and head of government is the Chancellor ("Bundeskanzler"), who is elected by federal parliament ("Bundestag"). The Chancellor is typically elected in the first session of a newly elected Bundestag for the entire legislative period of four years. The parliament can only force the Chancellor to resign in a ''constructive motion of no-confidence'', if it elects at the same time a new Chancellor. The current Chancellor is [[Angela Merkel|Dr. Angela Merkel]]. The current government <ref>http://www.bundesregierung.de</ref> is a coalition between the two largest parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).

===Legislative Branch===
Germany has a bicameral system with a federal parliament ("Bundestag") and a representation of the states ("Bundesrat"). The members of Bundestag in elected every four years, using a personalized proportional system. The members of the Bundesrat are representatives of the state governments, and the delegations of each state are required to vote as a bloc on behalf of their governments. Each delegation has between 3 and 6 members, depending on the size of the represented state. The position of president of the Bundesrat rotates on an annual basis between the prime ministers of the states.

===Judicative Branch===
The German constitution provides for an independent jurisdiction. The highest appeals court in Germany is the Federal Court of Justice ("Bundesgerichtshof"), which is seated in the Southwestern city of [[Karlsruhe]]. Members of the Federal court are elected by a committee, with 16 delegates from the states, one from each state, appointed by the state governments, and 16 delegates appointed by the federal parliament. The Federal Constitutional Court ("Bundesverfassungsgericht") is the highest court to review decisions and acts by the executive and legislative branches of government. It can be called to determine whether public acts are unconstitutional and can render them ineffective if they are not. This court is also seated in city of Karlsruhe, and it members are elected by the Bundesrat and Bundestag, and need a 2/3 majority in each.

==Famous Germans==
{|
|-
|
*[[Konrad Adenauer]]
*[[Hannah Arendt]]
*[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]
*[[Franz Beckenbauer]]
*[[Boris Becker]]
*[[Pope Benedict XVI]]
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
*[[Otto von Bismarck]]
*[[Heinrich Böll]]
*[[Wernher von Braun]]
*[[Bertolt Brecht]]
*[[Dietrich Buxtehude]]
*[[Marlene Dietrich]]
*[[Albrecht Dürer]]
*[[Albert Einstein]]
*[[Roland Emmerich]]
*[[Friedrich Engels]]
*[[Daniel Fahrenheit]]
*[[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]]
|
*[[Joseph Goebbels]]
*[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]
*[[Hermann Göring]]
*[[Günter Grass]]
*[[Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen]]
*[[Johannes Gutenberg]]
*[[Georg Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Otto Hahn]]
*[[Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Ernst August von Hannover]]
*[[Karl August von Hardenberg]]
*[[Joseph Haydn]]
*[[Friedrich Hegel]]
*[[Werner Heisenberg]]
*[[Heinrich Hesse]]
*[[Heinrich Himmler]]
*[[Adolf Hitler]]
*[[Oliver Kahn]]
*[[Henry Kissinger]]
|
*[[Käthe Kollwitz]]
*[[Otto Kretschmer]]
*[[Loriot]]
*[[Martin Luther]]
*[[Rosa Luxemburg]]
*[[Thomas Mann]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Angela Merkel]]
*[[Lise Meitner]]
*[[Anne-Sophie Mutter]]
*[[Dirk Nowitzki]]
*[[Friedrich Nietzsche]]
*[[Erwin Rommel]]
*[[Friedrich Schiller]]
*[[Heinrich Schliemann]]
*[[Michael Schumacher]]
*[[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]
*[[Richard Wagner]]
*[[Wim Wenders]]
|}

==War on Terror==
Germany currently contributes troops to the NATO-led ISAF operation in [[Afghanistan]], but did not support the invasion of [[Iraq]]. German military participates in NATO Force Protection Program, protecting US military bases located in Germany.

== External links ==
*[http://centroeu.com/uboote/fotos.html U-Boote Photos] S. Mata (In Spanish)

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==See Also==
*[[United Kingdom]]
*[[France]]
*[[Russia]]

[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:NATO members]]
[[Category:EU Members]]

Germany

2008-04-20T05:43:01Z

Dca5347: /* Imperial Germany */

{{Country
|name =''Bundesrepublik Deutschland''
|map =Germany rel 94.jpg
|flag =Flag of Germany.JPG
|arms =Arms of Germany.png
|capital =Berlin
|capital-raw =
|government =Federal Republic (Parliamentary)
|government-raw =
|language =German
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Horst Köhler
|president-raw =
|chancellor =Angela Merkel
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =137,858 sq mi
|pop =82,310,000 (2006)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$3.045 trillion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$36,975 (2006)
|currency =Euro (formerly the Deutsche Mark)
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Germany''' (official name: '''Federal Republic of Germany''') is a federally organized [[Democracy]] in Western [[Europe]] with a population of about 82.4 million. The capital city and seat of government is [[Berlin]].

The major ethnic groups are German 94%, Polish 1%, Yugoslavs 1% and others 4%. 34% of the population are Protestants and 38% are Roman Catholics.

As Europe's largest economy and the most populous nation wholly within Europe, Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. The central German bank, the [[Bundesbank]], has historically been the most influential force within the financial markets of the European Union.

==History==
The emergence of Germany as a nation in its own right came later than for most European powers. The German-speaking areas of Europe had historically been parts of diverse other nations, among them [[Prussia]], [[Austria]], and the [[Holy Roman Empire]], along with numerous smaller principalities.

===Early Germanic Tribes===
The first distinct Germanic tribes emerged around 100 BC in northern Germany, and are usually thought to have migrated south from [[Scandinavia]]. From there, the tribes continued to expand, coming in contact with the [[Celts]] of [[Gaul]] in the west, and Slavic tribes to the east. However, not much is known about the early Germanic people due to the lack of a written language. Most of what is known is due to contact with the [[Roman Empire]] and archaeological digs. To the rest of the world, the Germanic tribes inhabited a region known as [[Germania]], Latin for "Land of the Germans".<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html Medieval Sourcebook Tacitus: Germania]</ref> The Roman Empire had plans to expand its borders into the wild lands of Germania, but with their defeat at the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]], a decision was made by the Roman Emperor [[Augustus]] to consolidate the boundaries along the Rhine River, leaving most of Germania free, wild, and untamed. Migrating pressures over the following centuries saw frequent efforts of Germanic tribes trying to enter the Roman Empire. While sometimes these efforts gained temporary success, Rome would invariably defeat these efforts. Some tribes were allowed to settle in the Empire, especially during times of depopulation during plague. During the time of the later Empire, the Germans were both buffers against outside invasions and oftentimes allies, enemies, or both - with some tribes aiding Rome and some tribes invading. In 410 AD, some Germanic tribes assisted the [[Visigoths]] under [[Alaric I]] in sacking the city of [[Rome]].<ref>[http://www.vinland.org/scamp/grove/kreich/chapter7.html The Sack of Rome]</ref> It was a blow to the Western Empire, but didn't have the importance that it once would have as the capital had moved to Ravenna in 402 AD. But in 476 AD, dissatisfied German mercenaries led by [[Odoacer]] captured Ravenna and deposed Emperor [[Romulus Augustulus]]. By that time Rome was being attacked or saved almost exclusively by barbarian armies. Since Odoacer refused to assume the title of Emperor, this date is generally considered to be the official end of the Western Roman Empire.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/od/Odoacer.html]</ref>

===The Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)===

The medieval German empire originated from the division of the [[Carolingian Empire]] in 843, and was known as the ''Holy Roman Empire''. It gradually expanded through the addition of Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Thuringia, and Bavaria, and the German king was crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]] of these regions in 962. Under the reign of the [[Salian]] emperors (1024–1125), the Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern [[Italy]] and Burgundy. The edict of the Golden Bull in 1356 provided the constitution of the empire; it established the election of the emperor by seven Prince-Electors, each of whom ruled one of the more powerful principalities or archbishoprics. Notably, one of these Electors, George Louis the Elector of Hanover (1660-1727), was recruited by the heir-less [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] in 1714 to become its king, taking the name [[King George I]].

===The Reformation===

In 1517, [[Martin Luther]] wrote his [[The 95 Theses|95 Theses]] questioning the [[Roman Catholic Church]], an act which began the [[Protestant Reformation]]. A separate [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] church was acknowledged as the new sanctioned religion in many states of Germany in 1530. Religious conflicts known as the [[Thirty Years' War]] pitted Protestant German states against Catholic one, and devastated the former Empire. The [[Peace of Westphalia]] (1648) ended religious warfare in Germany, but the empire broke down into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onwards, the dualism between the Austrian [[Habsburg Monarchy]] and the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] dominated German history. In 1806, the ''Imperium'' was overrun and dissolved as a result of the [[Napoleonic Wars]].

===1806 - 1871===

It was not until after the fall of French Emperor [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1814 that the [[German Confederation]], a loosely-organized league of 39 states, began to lay the ground for nationhood. Numerous conflicts between these states marked the first half of the nineteenth century, and it was not until [[Otto von Bismarck]]'s ascension as Prime Minister of [[Prussia]] in mid-century that something resembling the modern sense of "Germany" came into being. Austria was, however, not a part of this new [[North German Confederation]]. After the French defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] in 1871, the German Empire was formally proclaimed, under [[Wilhelm I]], with its capital in [[Berlin]].

===Imperial Germany===

After Germany was united by Bismarck in what was to become the second German Reich, [[Bismarck]] determined German politics until the young Kaiser Wilhelm II came to the throne. Bismarck tried to foster alliances in Europe, on one hand to contain France, and on on the other hand to consolidate Germany's influence in Europe. On the domestic front Bismarck tried to stem the rise of socialism by anti-socialist laws, combined with an introduction of health care and social security. At the same time Bismarck tried to reduce the political influence of the emancipated Catholic minority in what was dubbed the Kulturkampf, literally "culture struggle". He later softened his stance on the Catholics because he needed the support of the Catholic Zentrum Party.

After the death on Kaiser Wilhelm I, and his ailing successor of three months Friedrich II in 1888, the young and ambitious [[Kaiser Wilhelm II]] became emperor. It was obvious that it was just a matter of time until Bismarck and the young Kaiser would come into conflict. Most notably, the young Kaiser opposed Bismarck's careful foreign policy and wanted Germany to pursue colonialist policies, as Great Britain and France had been doing for quite some time, as well as build a navy that could match the British. Bismarck eventually resigned as chancellor in 1890 when an attempt to establish a working relationship with the Zentrum Party was thwarted by Willem II. After Bismarck's departure Wilhelm II engaged in active colonization of Africa and Asia for those areas that were not already colonies of other European powers, a mostly unilateral approach in Europe with as main ally the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and an arms race with Britain, which eventually led to the situation in which the assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian crown price could spark off [[World War I]].

=== Between the World Wars ===
Germany's involvement and eventual defeat in [[World War I]] led to a harsh turn in German fortunes. The government of the German Kaiser was replaced by the [[Weimar Republic]], and the new social-democratic government had to accept the resulting "peace" established by the [[Treaty of Versailles]]; it forced Germany to take full blame for the war and to pay huge reparations to the allied victors. As reparations payments couldn't be paid in full through hard currency, compliance was forced through goods such as coal and ore and French occupation of German factories in the Ruhr. The German economy collapsed. Inflation, which had seen the value of the German mark fall from 8.9 Mark to the US Dollar shortly after the war<ref>The 20th Century Day by Day, Dorling and Kingdersley, 2000, Pg. 308</ref> to 9,000 Mark to the US Dollar by the start of 1923, now careened out of control as hyper-inflation set in. By November 15th 1923, the exchange rate was 4.2 trillion Mark to the US dollar. <ref>http://www.germannotes.com/hist_inflation.shtml</ref>. The combination of the Versailles Treaty, which the Germans considered to be harsh and unfair, combined with what was happening to the German nation left the German people bitter and disenchanted. An introduction of a new currency stabilized the German economy and from 1925 to 1928 German productivity grew from a value of 70 billion Reichsmark to 88 billion Reichsmark <ref>http://www.sgipt.org/politpsy/finanz/schuldp/weimar.htm</ref>. This change turned out to be short-lived with the onset of the [[Great Depression]] and renewed hardship. Germany entered a period of permanent political and constitutional crisis. It was during these difficult years starting with the end of World War I that new voices rose up in Germany, one of which was from a struggling artist turned revolutionist named [[Adolf Hitler]]. Hitler slowly gained followers and rose to a prominent place in the government before finally taking control in a country that was desperate to look up to someone to restore national pride. An economic boom ensued as Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy and remilitarization, which eventually led to [[World War II]] and defeat. Germany was once again in ruins.

===Post WWII History===

With the advent of the [[Cold War]], two German states were formed in 1949: the western [[Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] (FRG) and the eastern [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the [[EC]], which became the [[European Union]] (EU), and the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO), while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led [[Warsaw Pact]]. The border between East and West Germany was fortified in the course of the 1950s, to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West. However, the border to West Berlin, the sectors occupied by the the US, UK, and France, which were de-facto part of West Germany, was open for refugees until the [[Berlin Wall]] was built on 13 August 1961. The Berlin Wall spanned more than 166 km around West Berlin, and cut through the historic center of Berlin. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for a peaceful revolution in East Germany in 1989, which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a year later to the German unification on October 3, 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern infrastructure up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and ten other EU countries introduced a common European currency, the [[Euro]].

==The states (Bundesländer) and their capitals==

(In alphabetical order)

* Baden-Württemberg: [[Stuttgart]]
* Bayern: [[München]]
* Berlin: Berlin
* Brandenburg: [[Potsdam]]
* Bremen: [[Bremen]]
* Hamburg: [[Hamburg]]
* Hessen: Wiesbaden
* Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Schwerin
* Niedersachsen: [[Hannover]]
* Nordrhein-Westfalen: [[Düsseldorf]]
* Rheinland-Pfalz: Mainz
* Saarland: Saarbrücken
* Sachsen: [[Dresden]]
* Sachsen-Anhalt: Magdeburg
* Schleswig-Holstein: Kiel
* Thüringen: Erfurt

===Tourism===

[[Image:The_castle3.jpg|left|thumb|Neuschwanstein Castle, a popular tourist destination.]]

== Economic Overview ==

Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world in [[PPP]] terms - showed considerable improvement in 2006 with 2.7% growth. After a long period of stagnation with an average growth rate of 0.7% between 2001-05 and chronically high unemployment, stronger growth has led to a considerable fall in unemployment to about 8% at the end of 2006. Among the most important reasons for Germany's high unemployment during the past decade were [[macroeconomic]] stagnation, the declining level of investment in plant and equipment, company restructuring, flat domestic consumption, structural rigidities in the labor market, lack of competition in the service sector, and high interest rates. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $80 billion. The former government of Chancellor [[Gerhard Schroeder]] launched a comprehensive set of reforms of labor market and [[welfare]]-related institutions. The current government of Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] has initiated other reform measures, such as a gradual increase in the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67 and measures to increase female participation in the labor market. Germany's aging population, combined with high chronic unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions, but higher government revenues from the cyclical upturn in 2006 reduced Germany's budget deficit to within the EU's 3% debt limit. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could help Germany meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gm.html] CIA World Factbook</ref>

==Politics==
===Political Parties===
The political parties represented in the German [[parliament]] ([[Bundestag]]) are:

*[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] (CDU) - center-right
*Christian Social Union of [[Bavaria]] (CSU) - conservative
*Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) - center-left
*Free Democratic Party (FDP) - liberal, centrist
*Alliance '90 / The Greens (Grüne) - left, green
*The Left Party - far left, heir to the Socialist Unity Party of the former [[East Germany]]

CDU and CSU traditionally form a common parliamentary faction. The CSU only acts in Bavaria, the CDU in the other states.

==Government==
===Executive Branch===
Germany has a President as [[Head of State]]. However, his political power is small and his position is mostly representative. Although the president has to sign every law, and has the right to refuse signature on constitutional grounds, few president have ever used this right. The president is elected by a joint assembly of the federal parliament and an evenly strong group of electors, who are selected by the state parliaments for a five year term, and he can be re-elected once. During absence and illness of the president, the president of the Bundesrat (comparable to the Senate) assumes the duties of the president.

The actual political power and head of government is the Chancellor ("Bundeskanzler"), who is elected by federal parliament ("Bundestag"). The Chancellor is typically elected in the first session of a newly elected Bundestag for the entire legislative period of four years. The parliament can only force the Chancellor to resign in a ''constructive motion of no-confidence'', if it elects at the same time a new Chancellor. The current Chancellor is [[Angela Merkel|Dr. Angela Merkel]]. The current government <ref>http://www.bundesregierung.de</ref> is a coalition between the two largest parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).

===Legislative Branch===
Germany has a bicameral system with a federal parliament ("Bundestag") and a representation of the states ("Bundesrat"). The members of Bundestag in elected every four years, using a personalized proportional system. The members of the Bundesrat are representatives of the state governments, and the delegations of each state are required to vote as a bloc on behalf of their governments. Each delegation has between 3 and 6 members, depending on the size of the represented state. The position of president of the Bundesrat rotates on an annual basis between the prime ministers of the states.

===Judicative Branch===
The German constitution provides for an independent jurisdiction. The highest appeals court in Germany is the Federal Court of Justice ("Bundesgerichtshof"), which is seated in the Southwestern city of [[Karlsruhe]]. Members of the Federal court are elected by a committee, with 16 delegates from the states, one from each state, appointed by the state governments, and 16 delegates appointed by the federal parliament. The Federal Constitutional Court ("Bundesverfassungsgericht") is the highest court to review decisions and acts by the executive and legislative branches of government. It can be called to determine whether public acts are unconstitutional and can render them ineffective if they are not. This court is also seated in city of Karlsruhe, and it members are elected by the Bundesrat and Bundestag, and need a 2/3 majority in each.

==Famous Germans==
{|
|-
|
*[[Konrad Adenauer]]
*[[Hannah Arendt]]
*[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]
*[[Franz Beckenbauer]]
*[[Boris Becker]]
*[[Pope Benedict XVI]]
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
*[[Otto von Bismarck]]
*[[Heinrich Böll]]
*[[Wernher von Braun]]
*[[Bertolt Brecht]]
*[[Dietrich Buxtehude]]
*[[Marlene Dietrich]]
*[[Albrecht Dürer]]
*[[Albert Einstein]]
*[[Roland Emmerich]]
*[[Friedrich Engels]]
*[[Daniel Fahrenheit]]
*[[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]]
|
*[[Joseph Goebbels]]
*[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]
*[[Hermann Göring]]
*[[Günter Grass]]
*[[Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen]]
*[[Johannes Gutenberg]]
*[[Georg Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Otto Hahn]]
*[[Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Ernst August von Hannover]]
*[[Karl August von Hardenberg]]
*[[Joseph Haydn]]
*[[Friedrich Hegel]]
*[[Werner Heisenberg]]
*[[Heinrich Hesse]]
*[[Heinrich Himmler]]
*[[Adolf Hitler]]
*[[Oliver Kahn]]
*[[Henry Kissinger]]
|
*[[Käthe Kollwitz]]
*[[Otto Kretschmer]]
*[[Loriot]]
*[[Martin Luther]]
*[[Rosa Luxemburg]]
*[[Thomas Mann]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Angela Merkel]]
*[[Lise Meitner]]
*[[Anne-Sophie Mutter]]
*[[Dirk Nowitzki]]
*[[Friedrich Nietzsche]]
*[[Erwin Rommel]]
*[[Friedrich Schiller]]
*[[Heinrich Schliemann]]
*[[Michael Schumacher]]
*[[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]
*[[Richard Wagner]]
*[[Wim Wenders]]
|}

==War on Terror==
Germany currently contributes troops to the NATO-led ISAF operation in [[Afghanistan]], but did not support the invasion of [[Iraq]]. German military participates in NATO Force Protection Program, protecting US military bases located in Germany.

== External links ==
*[http://centroeu.com/uboote/fotos.html U-Boote Photos] S. Mata (In Spanish)

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==See Also==
*[[United Kingdom]]
*[[France]]
*[[Russia]]

[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:NATO members]]
[[Category:EU Members]]

Germany

2008-04-20T05:41:09Z

Dca5347: /* 1806 - 1871 */

{{Country
|name =''Bundesrepublik Deutschland''
|map =Germany rel 94.jpg
|flag =Flag of Germany.JPG
|arms =Arms of Germany.png
|capital =Berlin
|capital-raw =
|government =Federal Republic (Parliamentary)
|government-raw =
|language =German
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Horst Köhler
|president-raw =
|chancellor =Angela Merkel
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =137,858 sq mi
|pop =82,310,000 (2006)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$3.045 trillion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$36,975 (2006)
|currency =Euro (formerly the Deutsche Mark)
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Germany''' (official name: '''Federal Republic of Germany''') is a federally organized [[Democracy]] in Western [[Europe]] with a population of about 82.4 million. The capital city and seat of government is [[Berlin]].

The major ethnic groups are German 94%, Polish 1%, Yugoslavs 1% and others 4%. 34% of the population are Protestants and 38% are Roman Catholics.

As Europe's largest economy and the most populous nation wholly within Europe, Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. The central German bank, the [[Bundesbank]], has historically been the most influential force within the financial markets of the European Union.

==History==
The emergence of Germany as a nation in its own right came later than for most European powers. The German-speaking areas of Europe had historically been parts of diverse other nations, among them [[Prussia]], [[Austria]], and the [[Holy Roman Empire]], along with numerous smaller principalities.

===Early Germanic Tribes===
The first distinct Germanic tribes emerged around 100 BC in northern Germany, and are usually thought to have migrated south from [[Scandinavia]]. From there, the tribes continued to expand, coming in contact with the [[Celts]] of [[Gaul]] in the west, and Slavic tribes to the east. However, not much is known about the early Germanic people due to the lack of a written language. Most of what is known is due to contact with the [[Roman Empire]] and archaeological digs. To the rest of the world, the Germanic tribes inhabited a region known as [[Germania]], Latin for "Land of the Germans".<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html Medieval Sourcebook Tacitus: Germania]</ref> The Roman Empire had plans to expand its borders into the wild lands of Germania, but with their defeat at the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]], a decision was made by the Roman Emperor [[Augustus]] to consolidate the boundaries along the Rhine River, leaving most of Germania free, wild, and untamed. Migrating pressures over the following centuries saw frequent efforts of Germanic tribes trying to enter the Roman Empire. While sometimes these efforts gained temporary success, Rome would invariably defeat these efforts. Some tribes were allowed to settle in the Empire, especially during times of depopulation during plague. During the time of the later Empire, the Germans were both buffers against outside invasions and oftentimes allies, enemies, or both - with some tribes aiding Rome and some tribes invading. In 410 AD, some Germanic tribes assisted the [[Visigoths]] under [[Alaric I]] in sacking the city of [[Rome]].<ref>[http://www.vinland.org/scamp/grove/kreich/chapter7.html The Sack of Rome]</ref> It was a blow to the Western Empire, but didn't have the importance that it once would have as the capital had moved to Ravenna in 402 AD. But in 476 AD, dissatisfied German mercenaries led by [[Odoacer]] captured Ravenna and deposed Emperor [[Romulus Augustulus]]. By that time Rome was being attacked or saved almost exclusively by barbarian armies. Since Odoacer refused to assume the title of Emperor, this date is generally considered to be the official end of the Western Roman Empire.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/od/Odoacer.html]</ref>

===The Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)===

The medieval German empire originated from the division of the [[Carolingian Empire]] in 843, and was known as the ''Holy Roman Empire''. It gradually expanded through the addition of Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Thuringia, and Bavaria, and the German king was crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]] of these regions in 962. Under the reign of the [[Salian]] emperors (1024–1125), the Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern [[Italy]] and Burgundy. The edict of the Golden Bull in 1356 provided the constitution of the empire; it established the election of the emperor by seven Prince-Electors, each of whom ruled one of the more powerful principalities or archbishoprics. Notably, one of these Electors, George Louis the Elector of Hanover (1660-1727), was recruited by the heir-less [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] in 1714 to become its king, taking the name [[King George I]].

===The Reformation===

In 1517, [[Martin Luther]] wrote his [[The 95 Theses|95 Theses]] questioning the [[Roman Catholic Church]], an act which began the [[Protestant Reformation]]. A separate [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] church was acknowledged as the new sanctioned religion in many states of Germany in 1530. Religious conflicts known as the [[Thirty Years' War]] pitted Protestant German states against Catholic one, and devastated the former Empire. The [[Peace of Westphalia]] (1648) ended religious warfare in Germany, but the empire broke down into numerous independent principalities. From 1740 onwards, the dualism between the Austrian [[Habsburg Monarchy]] and the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] dominated German history. In 1806, the ''Imperium'' was overrun and dissolved as a result of the [[Napoleonic Wars]].

===1806 - 1871===

It was not until after the fall of French Emperor [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1814 that the [[German Confederation]], a loosely-organized league of 39 states, began to lay the ground for nationhood. Numerous conflicts between these states marked the first half of the nineteenth century, and it was not until [[Otto von Bismarck]]'s ascension as Prime Minister of [[Prussia]] in mid-century that something resembling the modern sense of "Germany" came into being. Austria was, however, not a part of this new [[North German Confederation]]. After the French defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] in 1871, the German Empire was formally proclaimed, under [[Wilhelm I]], with its capital in [[Berlin]].

===Imperial Germany===

After Germany was united by Bismarck in what was to become the second German Reich, [[Bismarck]] determined German politics until the young Kaiser Wilhelm II came to the throne. Bismarck tried to foster alliances in Europe, on one hand to contain France, and on on the other hand to consolidate Germany's influence in Europe. On the domestic front Bismarck tried to stem the rise of socialism by anti-socialist laws, combined with an introduction of health care and social security. At the same time Bismarck tried to reduce the political influence of the emancipating catholic minority in what was dubbed the Kulturkampf, literally "culture struggle". He later softened his stance on the Catholics because he needed the support of the Catholic Zentrum Party.

After the death on Kaiser Wilhelm I, and his ailing successor of three months Friedrich II in 1888, the young and ambitious [[Kaiser Wilhelm II]] became emperor. It was obvious that it was just a matter of time until Bismarck and the young Kaiser would come into conflict. Most notably, the young Kaiser opposed Bismarck's careful foreign policy and wanted Germany to pursue colonialist policies, as Great Britain and France had been doing for quite some time, as well as build a navy that could match the British. Bismarck eventually resigned as chancellor in 1890 when an attempt to establish a working relationship with the Zentrum Party was thwarted by Willem II. After Bismarck's departure Wilhelm II engaged in active colonization of Africa and Asia for those areas that were not already colonies of other European powers, a mostly unilateral approach in Europe with as main ally the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and an arms race with Britain, which eventually led to the situation in which the assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian crown price could spark off [[World War I]].

=== Between the World Wars ===
Germany's involvement and eventual defeat in [[World War I]] led to a harsh turn in German fortunes. The government of the German Kaiser was replaced by the [[Weimar Republic]], and the new social-democratic government had to accept the resulting "peace" established by the [[Treaty of Versailles]]; it forced Germany to take full blame for the war and to pay huge reparations to the allied victors. As reparations payments couldn't be paid in full through hard currency, compliance was forced through goods such as coal and ore and French occupation of German factories in the Ruhr. The German economy collapsed. Inflation, which had seen the value of the German mark fall from 8.9 Mark to the US Dollar shortly after the war<ref>The 20th Century Day by Day, Dorling and Kingdersley, 2000, Pg. 308</ref> to 9,000 Mark to the US Dollar by the start of 1923, now careened out of control as hyper-inflation set in. By November 15th 1923, the exchange rate was 4.2 trillion Mark to the US dollar. <ref>http://www.germannotes.com/hist_inflation.shtml</ref>. The combination of the Versailles Treaty, which the Germans considered to be harsh and unfair, combined with what was happening to the German nation left the German people bitter and disenchanted. An introduction of a new currency stabilized the German economy and from 1925 to 1928 German productivity grew from a value of 70 billion Reichsmark to 88 billion Reichsmark <ref>http://www.sgipt.org/politpsy/finanz/schuldp/weimar.htm</ref>. This change turned out to be short-lived with the onset of the [[Great Depression]] and renewed hardship. Germany entered a period of permanent political and constitutional crisis. It was during these difficult years starting with the end of World War I that new voices rose up in Germany, one of which was from a struggling artist turned revolutionist named [[Adolf Hitler]]. Hitler slowly gained followers and rose to a prominent place in the government before finally taking control in a country that was desperate to look up to someone to restore national pride. An economic boom ensued as Hitler pursued an aggressive foreign policy and remilitarization, which eventually led to [[World War II]] and defeat. Germany was once again in ruins.

===Post WWII History===

With the advent of the [[Cold War]], two German states were formed in 1949: the western [[Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] (FRG) and the eastern [[German Democratic Republic]] (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the [[EC]], which became the [[European Union]] (EU), and the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO), while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led [[Warsaw Pact]]. The border between East and West Germany was fortified in the course of the 1950s, to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West. However, the border to West Berlin, the sectors occupied by the the US, UK, and France, which were de-facto part of West Germany, was open for refugees until the [[Berlin Wall]] was built on 13 August 1961. The Berlin Wall spanned more than 166 km around West Berlin, and cut through the historic center of Berlin. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for a peaceful revolution in East Germany in 1989, which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a year later to the German unification on October 3, 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern infrastructure up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and ten other EU countries introduced a common European currency, the [[Euro]].

==The states (Bundesländer) and their capitals==

(In alphabetical order)

* Baden-Württemberg: [[Stuttgart]]
* Bayern: [[München]]
* Berlin: Berlin
* Brandenburg: [[Potsdam]]
* Bremen: [[Bremen]]
* Hamburg: [[Hamburg]]
* Hessen: Wiesbaden
* Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Schwerin
* Niedersachsen: [[Hannover]]
* Nordrhein-Westfalen: [[Düsseldorf]]
* Rheinland-Pfalz: Mainz
* Saarland: Saarbrücken
* Sachsen: [[Dresden]]
* Sachsen-Anhalt: Magdeburg
* Schleswig-Holstein: Kiel
* Thüringen: Erfurt

===Tourism===

[[Image:The_castle3.jpg|left|thumb|Neuschwanstein Castle, a popular tourist destination.]]

== Economic Overview ==

Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world in [[PPP]] terms - showed considerable improvement in 2006 with 2.7% growth. After a long period of stagnation with an average growth rate of 0.7% between 2001-05 and chronically high unemployment, stronger growth has led to a considerable fall in unemployment to about 8% at the end of 2006. Among the most important reasons for Germany's high unemployment during the past decade were [[macroeconomic]] stagnation, the declining level of investment in plant and equipment, company restructuring, flat domestic consumption, structural rigidities in the labor market, lack of competition in the service sector, and high interest rates. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $80 billion. The former government of Chancellor [[Gerhard Schroeder]] launched a comprehensive set of reforms of labor market and [[welfare]]-related institutions. The current government of Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] has initiated other reform measures, such as a gradual increase in the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67 and measures to increase female participation in the labor market. Germany's aging population, combined with high chronic unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions, but higher government revenues from the cyclical upturn in 2006 reduced Germany's budget deficit to within the EU's 3% debt limit. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could help Germany meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization.<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gm.html] CIA World Factbook</ref>

==Politics==
===Political Parties===
The political parties represented in the German [[parliament]] ([[Bundestag]]) are:

*[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany]] (CDU) - center-right
*Christian Social Union of [[Bavaria]] (CSU) - conservative
*Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) - center-left
*Free Democratic Party (FDP) - liberal, centrist
*Alliance '90 / The Greens (Grüne) - left, green
*The Left Party - far left, heir to the Socialist Unity Party of the former [[East Germany]]

CDU and CSU traditionally form a common parliamentary faction. The CSU only acts in Bavaria, the CDU in the other states.

==Government==
===Executive Branch===
Germany has a President as [[Head of State]]. However, his political power is small and his position is mostly representative. Although the president has to sign every law, and has the right to refuse signature on constitutional grounds, few president have ever used this right. The president is elected by a joint assembly of the federal parliament and an evenly strong group of electors, who are selected by the state parliaments for a five year term, and he can be re-elected once. During absence and illness of the president, the president of the Bundesrat (comparable to the Senate) assumes the duties of the president.

The actual political power and head of government is the Chancellor ("Bundeskanzler"), who is elected by federal parliament ("Bundestag"). The Chancellor is typically elected in the first session of a newly elected Bundestag for the entire legislative period of four years. The parliament can only force the Chancellor to resign in a ''constructive motion of no-confidence'', if it elects at the same time a new Chancellor. The current Chancellor is [[Angela Merkel|Dr. Angela Merkel]]. The current government <ref>http://www.bundesregierung.de</ref> is a coalition between the two largest parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).

===Legislative Branch===
Germany has a bicameral system with a federal parliament ("Bundestag") and a representation of the states ("Bundesrat"). The members of Bundestag in elected every four years, using a personalized proportional system. The members of the Bundesrat are representatives of the state governments, and the delegations of each state are required to vote as a bloc on behalf of their governments. Each delegation has between 3 and 6 members, depending on the size of the represented state. The position of president of the Bundesrat rotates on an annual basis between the prime ministers of the states.

===Judicative Branch===
The German constitution provides for an independent jurisdiction. The highest appeals court in Germany is the Federal Court of Justice ("Bundesgerichtshof"), which is seated in the Southwestern city of [[Karlsruhe]]. Members of the Federal court are elected by a committee, with 16 delegates from the states, one from each state, appointed by the state governments, and 16 delegates appointed by the federal parliament. The Federal Constitutional Court ("Bundesverfassungsgericht") is the highest court to review decisions and acts by the executive and legislative branches of government. It can be called to determine whether public acts are unconstitutional and can render them ineffective if they are not. This court is also seated in city of Karlsruhe, and it members are elected by the Bundesrat and Bundestag, and need a 2/3 majority in each.

==Famous Germans==
{|
|-
|
*[[Konrad Adenauer]]
*[[Hannah Arendt]]
*[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]
*[[Franz Beckenbauer]]
*[[Boris Becker]]
*[[Pope Benedict XVI]]
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
*[[Otto von Bismarck]]
*[[Heinrich Böll]]
*[[Wernher von Braun]]
*[[Bertolt Brecht]]
*[[Dietrich Buxtehude]]
*[[Marlene Dietrich]]
*[[Albrecht Dürer]]
*[[Albert Einstein]]
*[[Roland Emmerich]]
*[[Friedrich Engels]]
*[[Daniel Fahrenheit]]
*[[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]]
|
*[[Joseph Goebbels]]
*[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]
*[[Hermann Göring]]
*[[Günter Grass]]
*[[Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen]]
*[[Johannes Gutenberg]]
*[[Georg Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Otto Hahn]]
*[[Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Ernst August von Hannover]]
*[[Karl August von Hardenberg]]
*[[Joseph Haydn]]
*[[Friedrich Hegel]]
*[[Werner Heisenberg]]
*[[Heinrich Hesse]]
*[[Heinrich Himmler]]
*[[Adolf Hitler]]
*[[Oliver Kahn]]
*[[Henry Kissinger]]
|
*[[Käthe Kollwitz]]
*[[Otto Kretschmer]]
*[[Loriot]]
*[[Martin Luther]]
*[[Rosa Luxemburg]]
*[[Thomas Mann]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Angela Merkel]]
*[[Lise Meitner]]
*[[Anne-Sophie Mutter]]
*[[Dirk Nowitzki]]
*[[Friedrich Nietzsche]]
*[[Erwin Rommel]]
*[[Friedrich Schiller]]
*[[Heinrich Schliemann]]
*[[Michael Schumacher]]
*[[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]
*[[Richard Wagner]]
*[[Wim Wenders]]
|}

==War on Terror==
Germany currently contributes troops to the NATO-led ISAF operation in [[Afghanistan]], but did not support the invasion of [[Iraq]]. German military participates in NATO Force Protection Program, protecting US military bases located in Germany.

== External links ==
*[http://centroeu.com/uboote/fotos.html U-Boote Photos] S. Mata (In Spanish)

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==See Also==
*[[United Kingdom]]
*[[France]]
*[[Russia]]

[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:NATO members]]
[[Category:EU Members]]

John McCain

2008-04-20T05:09:56Z

Dca5347: /* Military career */

[[Image:Casmier.jpg|right|thumb|275px|'''Senator John McCain, R-Arizona''']]
'''John Sidney McCain III''' (born Panama Canal Zone, August 29, 1936) <ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m000303 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]</ref> is the senior [[United States Senate|Senator]] from the state of [[Arizona]], having served 20 years after replacing [[Barry Goldwater]] in 1986. He is currently the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m000303 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]</ref> McCain, a [[Baptist]],<ref> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296973,00.html McCain Identifies Himself as a [[Baptist]]</ref> has clinched the [[Republican]] nomination for [[President of the United States of America|President of the United States]] in the [[2008 Presidential Election|2008 Election]]. <ref>[http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NATIONWORLD/803050441/0/LOCAL1901 ''McCain clinches GOP nomination; Huckabee bows out''] 5 March 2008 IndyStar.com</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,255535,00.html John McCain Announces Plans for '08 Presidential Candidacy on 'Late Night With David Letterman'], Associated Press, 1 March 2007</ref>

==Early Life==
McCain's family has a long history in the U.S. military, with ancestors fighting as army soldiers in the Indian Wars, [[American Revolutionary War]], [[War of 1812]], for the Confederate States of America in the [[American Civil War]], and in [[World War I]]. Both his father and grandfather were high-ranking United States Navy admirals. In addition, McCain's two son's are currently serving in the U.S. Navy. In 1951, the McCain family moved to Northern [[Virginia]] and he attended Episcopal High School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria. McCain was on the wrestling team and went on to graduate in 1954. He later joined the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1958, were he graduated 894 out of 899.
==Military career==
[[Image:McCain 1965.jpg|left|thumb|200px|McCain photographed in 1965]]
McCain served in the [[United States Navy]] from 1958 to 1981. He spent two and a half years as a naval aviator in training at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas. By 1967, McCain was a veteran pilot aboard the [[USS Forrestal]] aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam. On 29 July 1967, while preparing to take off on a bombing run over North Vietnam a missile accidentally fired from another plane, hitting the fuel tanks on McCain's aircraft and triggering explosions and fire. McCain escaped from his plane by crawling onto the nose of the aircraft and diving on to the ship's deck which was ablaze from burning fuel. His attempt to rescue a fellow pilot whose flight suit was on fire was prevented when McCain was blown over by further explosions. When the fire was contained 24 hours later, 134 men had been killed and hundreds more injured. It was called the worst non-combat-related accident in U.S. naval history.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=526451&in_page_id=1811 ''The coronation of the ultimate survivor, John McCain''] 5 March 2008 [[Daily Mail]]</ref>

On October 26, 1967, McCain was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam, when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi. He fractured both arms and a leg during the accident, bringing him to unconsciousness. A group of Vietnamese guerrillas quickly surrounded him. After spiting and kicking him, they took him Hoa Loa Prison to became a prisoner of war (POW). They interrogated him to give them information in return for medical care. However, McCain gave them little information such as his name and date of birth. Although he did not receive medical treatment for a long period of time, the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral and they brought in a doctor for medical care. McCain spent six weeks in the Hoa Loa hospital. After that McCain had lost 50 pounds and his hair turned white. He was then sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in December of 1967. In July 1968, McCain's father was named Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC), John McCain was offered a chance to return home. However, he turned it down, afraid of being used of propaganda purposes, and wanted to honor the POW "code of conduct, "first in, first out": he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well.

The North Vietnamese began to intensely torture McCain, such as frequent beatings and using rope bindings into painful positions, resulting in McCain's teeth and bones to be broken. He was forced to sign and tape an Anti-American "confession" that said, in part, "I am a black criminal and I have performed the deeds of an air pirate. I almost died, and the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the doctors." McCain would go on to write, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine." Two weeks later the Vietnamese tried to force him to sign a second anti-American statement, but this time he refused too. He received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal. Altogether, McCain was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. He was finally released from captivity on March 15, 1973.

===Decorations===
*Silver Star
*Legion of Merit
*Bronze Star
*[[Purple Heart]]
*Distinguished Flying Cross
*Prisoner of War Medal
*National Defense Service Medal
*Vietnam Service Medal
*Vietnam Campaign Medal

==Political career==
===Congressional===
McCain had been working in [[Phoenix]] for his father-in-laws company Hensley & Co, which is an Anheuser-Busch beer wholesaler and distributor. After gaining support from local business leaders, he ran for a congressional seat for Arizona's 1st congressional district as a Republican in 1982. His [[liberal]] opponents labeled him as a "carpetbagger." McCain responded to a voter making this charge, saying,

"Listen, pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My father was in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the First District of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi."

With the endorsements of local newspapers, McCain easily won the election. In 1983, he became President of the Republican freshman class of representatives. His voting record generally fell in line with the policy's of President [[Ronald Reagan]]s. During his four years in congress, McCain and his wife Cindy had three children.

===Senatorial===
[[Image:Reagan mccain.jpg|left|thumb|300px|3/3/1987 President Reagan and Nancy Reagan greet John McCain in the Blue Room during a dinner for newly elected members of the 100th Congress]]
When Republican and [[conservative]] icon [[Barry Goldwater]] retired from the United States Senate in Arizona in 1986, Congressman McCain announced his candidacy for the seat. He easily won the election, defeating his Democratic opponent Richard Kimball, by 20 percentage points. When entering the Senate, he became a member of the powerful Armed Services Committee, and he also joined the Commerce Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee. During the 1988 Presidential Election, McCain was named chairman of Veterans for Bush. In 1991, Senator McCain became part of the "Keating Five" scandal, were McCain and four other Senators (all Democrats) were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received approximately $112,000 in political contributions from Charles Keating Jr. After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee determined that McCain was only minimally involved, and McCain (and the four other Senators) were not charged with any crimes.

==="Maverick" Image in the Senate===
John McCain has gained a reputation as a "maverick" for his sponsorship of many bills and leadership on almost every issue. Starting in 1994, he worked with Democrat [[Wisconsin]] Senator [[Russ Feingold]] on campaign finance reform. The McCain-Feingold bill banned "soft money." It passed and was signed into law on November 6th, 2002, by President Bush. In the 1990's, McCain gained attention for his strong opposition to pork barrel spending. He championed the 1996 Line Item Veto Act, which gave the President the power to veto individual spending items. However, in 1998, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] ruled the act unconstitutional.

After George W. Bush was elected President in 2000, McCain began to disagree with the President on many issues, such as tax cuts, climate change, and gun legislation. After the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], McCain wrote legislation that created the 9/11 Commission, while he and Democrat Senator Fritz Hollings co-sponsored the Aviation and Transportation Security Act that federalized airport security. In May 2005, McCain led the so-called "[[Gang of 14]]" in the Senate, which established a compromise that preserved the ability of senators to filibuster judicial nominees, but only in "extraordinary circumstances". McCain also co-sponsored comprehensive immigration reform (see below under political record for details).

===2000 Presidential Campaign===
McCain launched his first campaign for President in 2000, when he challenged then-[[Texas]] Governor [[George W. Bush]] for the Republican nomination. McCain's campaign was surprisingly strong, by ignoring the [[Iowa Caucus]], he was able to win the [[New Hampshire]] primary by nineteen percentage points. And then won the [[Michigan Primary]]. However he went on to lose [[South Carolina]], and 9 out of the 13 [[Super Tuesday]] states. McCain withdrew from the race on March 9, 2000.

==The following are Senator McCain's political views based on his stated positions and voting record:==
'''Domestic Issues'''
===Balanced Budget===
McCain has emphasized reducing government spending over tax cuts. He is one of the Senate's most outspoken critics of pork barrel spending and has pledged to veto any bill with pork as President.

===[[Education]]===
McCain supports school vouchers and charter schools. His voting record shows support for reducing the federal government's role in education. He voted for school vouchers for Washington, D.C., education savings accounts, and against $5billion for grants to local educational agencies. McCain sponsored the Education A-Plus bill in 1997 and again in 1999, which said that parents can open tax-free saving accounts for their children's school supplies. McCain also co-sponsored the Child Nutrition Act, which would provide federal funding for at-risk children. He has publicly stated he supports [[intelligent design]] teaching in schools.

===Health Care===
McCain's record and stated positions on health care is conservative. He is against socialized health care, or health coverage mandates. McCain supports tax credits for personal health savings accounts and enhancing competition in the health care industry to improve quality and lower costs. He also supports allowing citizens to purchase out of state health insurance. In an October 2007 statement, McCain said: "In health care, we believe in enhancing the freedom of individuals to receive necessary and desired care. We do not believe in coercion and the use of state power to mandate care, coverage or costs."

===Energy===
[[Image:RobinsonWhatWarmsTheEarth.gif|right|frame]]
McCain supports increasing ethanol imports and more production of hybrid vehicles. He is co-sponsor of a Senate cap-and-trade bill designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions. McCain also supports increasing nuclear power. He has consistently voted against drilling for [[oil]] in the [[Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]] (ANWR), because of environmental concerns.

===[[Environment]]===
McCain's position on [[global warming]] and other environmental issues have put him at odds with [[conservative]]s. On January 2007, McCain said, "we continue to learn more about the science of climate change and the dangerous precedence of not addressing this environmental problem. The science tells us that urgent and significant action is needed." On October 30, 2003, he co-sponsored the Climate Stewardship Act (S.139), which would require the Administrator of the EPA to promulgate regulations to limit the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the electricity generation, transportation, industrial, and commercial economic sectors. The bill was defeated in October 2004 by a margin of 43-55. McCain is a member - and was endorsed - by the Republicans for Environmental Protection organization. He has taken some conservative stances on the environment, such as voting to confirm [[Gale Norton]] as Secretary of Interior, a vote in favor of preserving the budget for ANWR oil drilling (although he has voted against drilling there), and a vote in favor of reducing funding of renewable and solar energy.

===[[Immigration]]===
Senator McCain's position on illegal immigration has arguably given him the most criticisms from conservatives. On May 12, 2005, McCain joined Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] (D-[[Massachusetts]]) as co-sponsor of the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. The bill would legalize and eventually grant citizenship to the estimated 12–20 million [[illegal alien]]s in the United States and have them eminently start collecting social security and other government benefits. The bill never came for a vote on the Senate floor. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 are two additional compromises based on the original McCain-Kennedy bill. McCain has consistently voted for visa's for skilled workers. McCain voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and has said border security should be a bigger priority the the illegal aliens who are currently here.

===Outsourcing===
McCain has supported reducing barriers to trade and globalization. He supports the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

===[[Social Security]]===
McCain is a strong supporter of private Social Security accounts.

===Tax Reform===
In 2001, McCain gained attention as one of only two Republicans who voted against President Bush's tax cuts. He opposed accelerating the cuts in 2003, saying, "I voted against the tax cuts because of the disproportional amount that went to the wealthiest Americans. I would clearly support not extending those tax cuts in order to help address the deficit (although the budget deficit has gone down since the tax cuts)." He has now changed his stance, by voting to make the tax cuts permanent, and says he would do the same as President. In 2002, Senator McCain was one of only two Republicans to twice vote against the permanent repeal of the Death Tax. He has also refused to sign a pledge put forth by Americans for Tax Freedom not to impose any new taxes or increase existing taxes. However, many of McCain's votes has shown support for lower taxes, such as eliminating the marriage penalty, a 1997 vote to cut capital gains taxes and he introduced measures that would require a sixty-vote majority to pass a tax increase.

'''Foreign Policy'''

===Homeland Security===
[[Image:Qwwqqe.jpg|thumb|right|An Iraqi Army unit prepares to board a Task Force Baghdad UH-60 Blackhawk [[helicopter]] for a counterinsurgency mission in Baghdad.]]
McCain has voted in support of the U.S. [[PATRIOT Act]] as well as National Missile Defense. However, he has joined [[liberal]]'s in support of immediately closing [[Guantanamo Bay]], and moving all the prisoners to Fort Leavenworth. On October 3, 2005, he introduced the McCain Detainee Amendment which prohibits inhumane treatment of prisoners, including prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The bill was passed and signed by President [[George W. Bush]]. McCain has recently criticized the practice of water boarding, saying "they [other presidential candidates] should know what it is. It is not a complicated procedure. It is torture." However, McCain still voted against HR 2082, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which included provisions that would have prevented the CIA from water boarding prisoners.

===[[Iran]]===
McCain has said that "We continue to be concerned about Iranian influence and assistance to Hezbollah as well as Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons." He tried to ban Iran from playing in the 2006 World Cup, citing Iranian President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]'s [[Holocaust]] denials.

===[[Iraq]]===
McCain voted with the majority of the Senate in favor of the 2002 "Iraq War Resolution" authorizing President George W. Bush to go to war against Iraq and overthrow the [[Saddam Hussein]] regime. McCain went on to became a critic of the management of the war, arguing that there wasn't enough troop strength in the area. McCain publicly stated that he had "no confidence" in then-Secretary of Defense [[Donald Rumsfeld]]. However, he refused to call for his resignation, saying that "the president picks his team, and the president has the right to stay with that team if he wants to." McCain became one of the strongest leading advocates in the Senate for the 2007 troop surge, which increased the number of American troops by 20,500, deployed to the Iraq War to provide security to [[Baghdad]] and [[Al Anbar Province]]. On February 4, he criticized a non-binding resolution opposing the troop buildup, calling it a "vote of no confidence" in the US military.

==Social Issues==
===[[Abortion]]===
[[Image:Baby.jpg|right|thumb|100px|A human fetus in the womb]]
McCain's record in the Senate on abortion is generally pro-life. He voted for the 2003 [[Partial Birth Abortion]] Ban Act. McCain is also against government funding of birth control and sex education. However, during his first Presidential campaign for the 2000 election, McCain said the following on [[Roe v. Wade]], "I'd love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations." He has since changed his position, saying Roe v. Wade should be overturned. McCain is a member of The Republican Main Street Partnership and supports embryonic stem cell research.

===[[Gun Control]]===
[[Image:Gun.jpg|left|100px]]
McCain's record on gun control is mixed. He co-sponsored the Gun Show Loophole Closing and Gun Law Enforcement Act of 2001, that would reduce gun shows, force gun-owners to purchase trigger locks making their firearms useless for self-defense, and would encourage federal agents to arrest and convict gun-owners who may inadvertently violate one of the many federal gun laws. However, McCain has frequently voted in support of the Second Amendment, such as voting against background checks at gun shows and voting in support of prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. In August of 1999, McCain said he was open to voting for an assault weapon ban, depending on the details. However, he still voted against the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the efforts to renew it, as well as the Brady Bill.

===[[Same-sex marriage]]===
McCain voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, arguing that the issue of same-sex marriage should be left to the states. However, in 1996, he did vote for a bill that would prohibit same-sex marriage.

==2008 Presidential Campaign==
''Main Article: [[John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign]]''
[[Image:Republican candidates.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Senator McCain (right, second to the end) with his once Republican rival's for the nomination.]]
McCain began the race as the presumptive front runner and the most formidable of either party, based on his longevity in the Senate and his previous race in 2000. McCain informally stated he would be a candidate for the 2008 Presidential Election on the Late Show with David Letterman on February 28, 2007, and officially announced his candidacy in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, two months later. By a few weeks prior to making his announcement on Letterman, he was beginning to trail behind former Mayor of [[New York City]] [[Rudy Giuliani]] in the polls. McCain supported the 2007 proposal by President George W. Bush for a "surge", an increase in the number of U.S. troops deployed in the Iraq War. He started a series of campaign events entitled the "No Surrender Tour." His campaign became far more prominent with his wins in the New Hampshire primary and on Super Tuesday, and since [[Mitt Romney]] endorsed him was considered a virtual certainty to win the nomination. He finally reached the 1,191 delegates to win the nomination on the Super Tuesday II contests on March 4th. Current polling shows Senator McCain ahead of both Senator [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Barack Obama]] in head-to-head match ups.

== Fundraising in 2007 ==
McCain struggled to raise money for his 2008 presidential campaign, a sign of weakness for a front-runner. "Former [[Massachusetts]] Governor [[Mitt Romney]] raised $23 million for his presidential campaign in the first three months of [2007], almost doubling the total of top Republican contender John McCain. McCain, an [[Arizona]] senator, brought in about $12.5 million in the first quarter, his campaign said. 'We had hoped to do better,' said Terry Nelson, his campaign manager. Former [[New York]] Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] said he raised $15 million, including more than $10 million in March alone."<ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aZ7SuEo0wuMM&refer=home</ref>

However, for all his money and spending, [[Rudy Giuliani]] won only one delegate.

== Electability ==

He has been called "the Democrats' worst nightmare".<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w7OKBAT0Fk&feature=related ''Democrats Worst Nightmare''] Accessed 5 March 2008</ref>

Of the major contenders, only McCain has a background that includes military service. [[Colonel]] [[George "Bud" Day|Bud Day]], the United States' most highly decorated officer, and the most decorated since [[General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]], said: ''"Having stood side-by-side with John McCain on the battlefield, I know that he has the character and will to lead this great country. John McCain is the Commander-In-Chief our military needs during this generational struggle against global terrorism."''

McCain has the reputation as an independent-minded maverick<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/14/AR2007031402301.html McCain Fighting to Recapture Maverick Spirit of 2000 Bid], [[Michael Shear|Michael D. Shear]], ''[[Washington Post]]'', March 15, 2007</ref> and favorite of the media.<ref>[http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070305/blumenthal McCain Mutiny], [[Max Blumenthal]], ''[[The Nation]]'', February 21, 2007</ref> David Limbaugh said, "McCain is not only not conservative enough; he has also built a reputation as a maverick by stabbing his party in the back -- not in furtherance of conservative principles but by betraying them. McCain delights in sticking it to his colleagues while winning accolades from the [[Mainstream media|mainstream liberal media]]." <ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=24669 'Maverick' and 'Conservative' Aren't Synonyms], [[David Limbaugh]], ''[[Human Events]]'', 01/25/2008</ref>

John McCain was a member of the [[Keating Five]], a scandal relating to the [[Savings and Loan Crisis]]. The Senate Ethics Committee criticized him for "questionable conduct."

John McCain has cancer (melanoma) and has undergone multiple operations for it.<ref>http://www.riskworld.com/PressRel/2001/01q3/PR01a027.htm</ref> Cancer was an issue that hurt the presidential candidacy of Paul Tsongas in 1992. However, it was not even mentioned in the 2004 presidential campaign, despite the fact that John Kerry was treated for prostate cancer in early 2003.

McCain is also known to not like reading from teleprompters, and prefers to speak off-the-cuff from his heart, or from jottings on cocktail napkins or from things he has read on sugar packets.

John McCain is 71 years old, making him one of the oldest candidates to seek the presidency. Several issues relating to McCain's advanced aged and health have been discussed in the media.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/18/mccain.ap/index.html?eref=rss_politics</ref>

Three months later McCain was shot down over Hanoi and held as a [[Prisoner of War]] for five-and-a-half years.<ref>[http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/john_mccain/index.html John McCain] at the New York Times</ref>
{{cquote|On October 26, 1967, during his 23rd air mission, McCain's plane was shot down over the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. His captors soon learned he was the son of a high-ranking officer in the U.S. Navy and repeatedly offered him early release, but McCain refused, ... knowing that the North Vietnamese would use his release as a powerful piece of propaganda.

He eventually spent five and a half years in various prison camps, three and a half of those in solitary confinement, and was repeatedly [[US POWs in Vietnam|beaten and tortured]] before he was finally released, along with other American POWs, in March 1973, two months after the Vietnam cease fire went into effect.

Though McCain had lost most of his physical strength and flexibility, he was determined to continue serving as a naval aviator. After a painful nine months of rehabilitation, he returned to flying duty, but it soon became clear that his injuries had permanently impaired his ability to advance in the Navy.<ref>[http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542249 John McCain Biography (1936-)]</ref>}}

McCain graduated from the National War College in 1974. Upon his retirement from the Navy in 1981, as a Captain, he had been commended with the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross.<ref> [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m000303 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]</ref>
== Votes missed ==
As of August 2007, McCain had missed more votes during the current session of Congress than any Senator other than [[South Dakota]] [[Democrat]] [[Tim Johnson]], who had suffered a brain hemorrhage that had kept him from Congress. He had missed over 48% of his votes. <ref>Lawrence Journal-World, August 10, 2007</ref> This is due to the fact that he is running for President, and he has to attend political rallies across the country.

==Personal life==
[[Image:Cindy McCain.jpg|thumb|Cindy McCain]]
McCain has been married twice. His first marriage, to Carol Shepp, ended in [[divorce]] in 1980. His second and current wife is Cindy Lou Hensley.

His son John Sidney IV is a Midshipman at the [[United States Naval Academy]], Annapolis, and his son James is a non-commissioned officer in the [[United States Marine Corps]], who is serving in [[Iraq]] as part of [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]].

===McCain's family===
*Wife Cindy
*4 sons
**Douglas
**Andrew
**John (''"Jack"'') Sidney IV
**James
*3 daughters
**Sidney
**Meghan
**Bridget
*Parents
**[[Admiral]] John Sydney McCain, Jr. (from [[Indiana]])
**[[Roberta McCain|Roberta Wright McCain]] (from [[Oklahoma]]).

== Books ==
* ''Faith of My Fathers'' (Random House; 1999) ISBN 0-3755-0191-6
* ''Odysseus in America'' (Scribner; 2002) ISBN 0-7432-1156-1
* ''Worth Fighting For: A Memoir'' (Diane Publ. Co; 2002) ISBN 0-7567-6759-8
* ''Medal of Honor'' (Artisan; 2003) ISBN 1-5796-5240-9
* ''Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life'' (Random House; 2004) ISBN 1-4000-6030-3
* ''Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember'' (Random House; 2005) ISBN 1-4000-6412-0
* ''Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them'' (Twelve; 2007) ISBN 0-4466-9911-X

==Further reading==
*McCain, John [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=513224&in_page_id=1811 ''My six years of hell: John McCain recalls life as a prisoner of war in Vietnam''] 8 February 2008 [[Daily Mail]]. Accessed 9 February 2008

==See Also==
* [[John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign]]
* [[Previous Breaking News/John McCain|Articles about '''John McCain''' from previous "Breaking News"]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQsckD9trn4&eurl=http://evangelicalsformccain.org/meetthesenator.htm ''John McCain: Courageous Service''] - Streaming video documentary hosted at YouTube, including footage of McCain's time as a POW and the Forrestal incident.
*[http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542249 John McCain Biography]
*[http://evangelicalsformccain.org/index.htm Evangelicals for McCain] - Christians, Families and Patriots for John McCain
*[http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/01/mccains-mom-pop.html McCain's Mom Pops Off]
*[http://www.rd.com/national-interest/people-and-politics/our-interview-with-sen-john-mccain/article.html Presidential Candidate John McCain on the Issues]

==References==
{{reflist|small}}

{{2008 presidential candidates}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCain, John}}
[[Category:United States Senators]]
[[Category:Republican Party]]