ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of Germany

Germany is a country in Europe. It has a very long and interesting history.

Germany began forming into its own nation about 1,500 years ago when a group of people called the Romans ruled over some of what is now Germany. After the Romans left, many different groups of people ruled the area, such as the Franks, the Saxons, and the Bavarians. Around the year 800, a man named Charlemagne united the area to become the Roman-German Empire.

In the early 1800s, the many different states that made up the Roman-German Empire united once again, creating the German Empire. This new nation was ruled by a king and became the center of Europe's politics and culture. But after World War I, the German Empire lost some of its power and broke apart.

In 1933, a man named Adolf Hitler and a political party called the Nazis rose to power. Hitler ruled in a very oppressive way, which eventually lead to World War II. During this time, millions of people from many different countries, including Germany, died or suffered greatly due to war. Eventually, Germany lost the war and Hitler was killed.

After the war, Germany was divided into two parts. The eastern half of Germany was under Soviet control and the western part of Germany was occupied by the Allied powers, which included Britain, the United States, and France. In 1949, the country was reunited as the Federal Republic of Germany.

Since then, Germany has become a democratic country and member of the European Union. It has also become a major economic center, with some of the world's largest companies such as Volkswagen and BMW coming from Germany.