Western Europe · DEU

Germany

The story · 12 chapters

How it was drawn

Celtic and Germanic tribes faced Rome; the eastern Frankish kingdom became the core of the Holy Roman Empire, broke into hundreds of states, united in 1871, and was redrawn after both world wars.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Germany fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Roman Empire12 BC to 406
Rome campaigned beyond the Rhine from 12 BC, but Arminius destroyed three legions in the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. Rome kept the Rhine and Danube frontier for four centuries, until Vandals, Alans and Suebi crossed the Rhine in 406.
Kingdom of the Franks772 to 804
Charlemagne fought the pagan Saxons for over thirty years, from 772 to 804, and according to Frankish annals had thousands of prisoners executed at Verden in 782. The Saxons were forcibly converted and their land joined to the Frankish realm.
Magyars899 to 955
Hungarian horsemen raided Bavaria, Saxony and beyond for half a century and destroyed a Bavarian army at Pressburg in 907. Otto I crushed them at the Lechfeld near Augsburg in 955, which helped him win the imperial crown in 962.
Papacy1075 to 1122
Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII clashed over who appointed bishops. Excommunicated, Henry stood as a penitent at Canossa in 1077. The Investiture Controversy ended with the Concordat of Worms in 1122, which weakened imperial power over the German church.
Swedish Empire1630 to 1648
Gustavus Adolphus landed in Pomerania in 1630 and won at Breitenfeld in 1631 before dying at Lutzen in 1632. The Peace of Westphalia gave Sweden Western Pomerania, Wismar and Bremen-Verden, making it a power on German soil.
Kingdom of France1667 to 1714
Louis XIV pushed France's border east, seizing Strasbourg in 1681. In the Nine Years' War his armies devastated the Palatinate, burning Heidelberg in 1689. The War of the Spanish Succession ended in 1714 with France keeping Alsace.
Habsburg Monarchy1740 to 1866
Prussia and Austria fought for leadership of the German lands. Frederick II took Silesia in the 1740s and kept it through the Seven Years' War. In 1866 Prussia beat Austria at Koniggratz, pushing it out of German affairs.
First French Empire1792 to 1815
Revolutionary France took the left bank of the Rhine, and Napoleon crushed Prussia at Jena in 1806. German states joined the coalition that defeated him at Leipzig in 1813, the Battle of the Nations, and at Waterloo in 1815.
Second French Empire1870 to 1871
France declared war on Prussia in July 1870. The German armies captured Napoleon III at Sedan in September and besieged Paris. The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles, and France ceded Alsace and part of Lorraine.
France, Britain and Russia1914 to 1918
In the First World War Germany fought France, Britain and Russia. It defeated Russia, which signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, but the western front held. After its last offensives failed in 1918, Germany signed an armistice on 11 November.
Soviet Union1941 to 1994
Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, opening the war's largest and deadliest front. The Red Army took Berlin in May 1945. The Soviet zone became East Germany, and the last Russian troops left only in 1994, after reunification.

Today

Germany now

As Europe's largest economy and second most-populous nation (after Russia), Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating world wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945.

Capital: Berlin
Government: federal parliamentary republic
Head of government: Friedrich Merz
Head of state: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Languages: German
Area: 357,680 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population84.5 million2023 · 69.8 million in 1950
Life expectancy81.4 years2023 · 66.8 years in 1950
GDP per person$46,6472022 · $6,186 in 1950
Living in cities82%2025 · 70% in 1950
Literacy99%1950
Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNATO2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending2.3% of GDP2025
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

France
United States

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Germany fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Roman Empire12 BC to 406

Rome campaigned beyond the Rhine from 12 BC, but Arminius destroyed three legions in the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. Rome kept the Rhine and Danube frontier for four centuries, until Vandals, Alans and Suebi crossed the Rhine in 406.

Kingdom of the Franks772 to 804

Charlemagne fought the pagan Saxons for over thirty years, from 772 to 804, and according to Frankish annals had thousands of prisoners executed at Verden in 782. The Saxons were forcibly converted and their land joined to the Frankish realm.

Magyars899 to 955

Hungarian horsemen raided Bavaria, Saxony and beyond for half a century and destroyed a Bavarian army at Pressburg in 907. Otto I crushed them at the Lechfeld near Augsburg in 955, which helped him win the imperial crown in 962.

Papacy1075 to 1122

Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII clashed over who appointed bishops. Excommunicated, Henry stood as a penitent at Canossa in 1077. The Investiture Controversy ended with the Concordat of Worms in 1122, which weakened imperial power over the German church.

Swedish Empire1630 to 1648

Gustavus Adolphus landed in Pomerania in 1630 and won at Breitenfeld in 1631 before dying at Lutzen in 1632. The Peace of Westphalia gave Sweden Western Pomerania, Wismar and Bremen-Verden, making it a power on German soil.

Kingdom of France1667 to 1714

Louis XIV pushed France's border east, seizing Strasbourg in 1681. In the Nine Years' War his armies devastated the Palatinate, burning Heidelberg in 1689. The War of the Spanish Succession ended in 1714 with France keeping Alsace.

Habsburg Monarchy1740 to 1866

Prussia and Austria fought for leadership of the German lands. Frederick II took Silesia in the 1740s and kept it through the Seven Years' War. In 1866 Prussia beat Austria at Koniggratz, pushing it out of German affairs.

First French Empire1792 to 1815

Revolutionary France took the left bank of the Rhine, and Napoleon crushed Prussia at Jena in 1806. German states joined the coalition that defeated him at Leipzig in 1813, the Battle of the Nations, and at Waterloo in 1815.

Second French Empire1870 to 1871

France declared war on Prussia in July 1870. The German armies captured Napoleon III at Sedan in September and besieged Paris. The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles, and France ceded Alsace and part of Lorraine.

France, Britain and Russia1914 to 1918

In the First World War Germany fought France, Britain and Russia. It defeated Russia, which signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, but the western front held. After its last offensives failed in 1918, Germany signed an armistice on 11 November.

Soviet Union1941 to 1994

Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, opening the war's largest and deadliest front. The Red Army took Berlin in May 1945. The Soviet zone became East Germany, and the last Russian troops left only in 1994, after reunification.

Germany now

Capital

Berlin

Government

federal parliamentary republic

Head of government

Friedrich Merz

Head of state

Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Languages

German

Area

357,680 km²

Then and now

Population84.5 million2023 · 69.8 million in 1950

Life expectancy81.4 years2023 · 66.8 years in 1950

GDP per person$46,6472022 · $6,186 in 1950

Living in cities82%2025 · 70% in 1950

Literacy99%1950

Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNATO2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending2.3% of GDP2025

War deathsNone2025