AD 9
Germanic warriors decisively defeated Roman forces at the
Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
486
The Frankish king Clovis overran the Roman province of Gaul.
Clovis introduced features of Roman life into western Germany.
843
The Treaty of Verdun divided Charlemagne’s empire into three
kingdoms. The German kingdom soon divided into five duchies.
962
Otto I was crowned Holy Roman emperor in Aachen.
1075
A dispute between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII marked the
beginning of a series of civil wars contesting church power.
1300s
The Hanseatic League was the supreme commercial and military
power in northern Germany.
1517
Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation.
1555
The Peace of Augsburg recognized the right of princes to
choose Lutheranism or Catholicism for their lands.
1648
The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years’ War.
1740
Frederick the Great became king of Prussia and began building
Prussia into a great power.
1806
The Holy Roman Empire came to an end with the establishment of
the Confederation of the Rhine.
1815
The German Confederation was formed at the Congress of Vienna.
1848
Revolutions swept across Germany. The first German national
assembly met at Frankfurt in the hopes of creating a more united country.
1871
Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck realized his dream
of a united Germany as the German Empire was founded.
1918-1919
Germany was forced to accept harsh terms under the Treaty of
Versailles that brought an end to World War I. The Weimar Republic was
founded.
1933
Adolf Hitler and the Nazis assumed power.
1939
Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II.
1945
Allied armies occupied Germany and divided it into four zones
of occupation. Nazi war criminals were tried at Nuremberg.
1949
Germany was divided into East Germany and West Germany.
Berlin, in East Germany, was also divided between the two countries.
1955
East Germany became a Communist state, while West Germany
became a parliamentary republic.
1961
The East German government built the Berlin Wall.
1989
The Communist government in East Germany collapsed, and the
Berlin Wall was dismantled. Thousands of East Germans emigrated to West
Germany.
1990
Germany was formally reunified under the government of the
former West Germany.
1994
In a close election, Chancellor Helmut Kohl was returned to
power for a fourth consecutive term.
