To become acquainted with German politics and history during the first half of the twentieth century is to become familiar with sorrow. Germany’s story in these years, as Charles S. Maier so rightly states, may be an unmasterable past.[1]

In 1871, when a united Germany emerged on the world scene, this nation, the homeland of Goethe and Schiller, embraced the Enlightenment tradition and nurtured the advances of the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions. At birth it was a world leader in music, literature, philosophy, science and art. Germans in 1871 hoped to take what they saw as their rightful place on the world stage; they hoped they would obtain with nationhood an element of the prestige and recognition that the British and French enjoyed. They sought a place in the sun.

In any event, World War I ravaged Europe. Millions of German soldiers died on the battlefields and due to shortages of food and bad conditions, millions of civilians died on the home front. When the guns finally fell silent, a lost generation faced attempted revolutions by communists and coups by militarists. Political uncertainty and instability was accompanied by a perceived international humiliation at Paris, namely the Treaty of Versailles. In 1923, inflation devastated the economy; the worst inflation that any society in history ever has endured. In the roaring 20’s there was a brief period of international peace and economic stability. During this time the Weimar democracy and its vibrant culture flowered. Then came the Great Depression, and there arose, from the embers of these economic ashes and millions of destroyed lives, Nazism.

The British were the first to use concentration camps, and Stalin built Gulags before Dachau opened its doors. Nonetheless, the concentration camp as a warehouse of human grief, and symbol of degradation of the spirit, was made part of modern consciousness by Germans. SA hordes, SS Death Head squads and the secret state police (the Gestapo) scoured first Germany and then much of Europe on the hunt for political opponents. Later they would chase "racial enemies," who would become victims of the camps and crematoria.

As the famous German Jewish writer, Heinrich Heine, had predicted, the burning of books would lead to the burning of people.[3]The German nation in the twentieth century was responsible for the near extinction of Jewish culture and civilization in central and Eastern Europe, as well as the deaths of three million non-Jewish Poles, twenty million Russians, one million Gypsies, and countless others. 

In World War II, after a few "glorious" victories over weak or divided neighbors, Germany found itself at war with the Soviet Union, the United States, and the British Empire. This was a war, which would cost the lives of more than forty million persons in Europe.[4] And at the end of World War II, Germany, a once beautiful and prosperous nation, lay in ruins; in fact, according to the terms of the unconditional surrender of May 8, 1945, in law it no longer continued to exist. 

In the period of time from 1945 to 1990, the history of Germany is one of redemption and regeneration.A devastated nation rebuilt its houses, museums, monuments and institutions of culture. With the help of the United States through the Marshall Plan, a devastated economic landscape was replaced by vistas of unprecedented prosperity and economic growth; this is known today as the Economic Miracle.Rising from political and economic ashes, the Federal Republic of Germany, the phoenix, became by the 1960s the third strongest industrial state in the world with one of the highest living standards. Berlin, capital of Hitler's Germany, turned into West Berlin, fortress of Western democracy. German industrial might, to a large extent, was the economic engine of European integration. The Fatherland of Goethe and Schiller, Ebert and Einstein, as well as Hitler and Himmler, became one of the most vibrant democracies in the world with a strong record for the protection of human rights and civil liberties.

Nonetheless, even during this most hopeful period, from 1949 until October 1990, Germany remained divided, caught directly in the middle of the Cold War between East and West. More than sixteen million Germans lived under a system of communism that they had not chosen. In 1948 and 1949, the Red Army cut East and West Berlin off from one another during an eleven month blockade, a blockade broken only through the success of the Allied Airlift. In the middle of the night on August 13, 1961, again families, work colleagues and long-time friends were divided from one another when East German border guards encircled the entire city of West Berlin with miles of barbed wire. Later the "People's Police" built a giant cement structure enforced by tank traps which came to be known as the Berlin Wall.The world gasped as American and Russian tanks confronted each other in downtown Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie.Germans died attempting to cross the “German-German” border.NATO forces spied upon the armies of the Warsaw Pact from across the most closed guarded boarder in the world, while East Berlin played the role of the show case capital city of the wonders of socialism. 

It is only in the last decade or so that Germany has experienced unification, complete independence, a high degree of military security and domestic tranquility. Even the enjoyment of the fruits of reunification, which so many predicted would never come, has been marred by economic strains, chronic unemployment in the East, and a sense of disillusionment. Unification in 1990 brought with it as well yet another revisiting of "old" issues concerning the German state's confrontation with its past, both Nazi and Communist. 

It is against this larger than life background of political change and upheaval, tragedy and redemption, defeat of and triumph of the human spirit that this book has been fashioned. As a source of texts and prose, this book will consider the law of Germany, within its historical, social and political ethos, during the hundred years that have constituted the twentieth century. 

Two questions may be posed: why is German law so interesting and why is the study of German law and politics significant for English speaking students? To answer these questions one must consider that German Law is a principle source of the Civil Law System, the largest legal system in the world by territory and population, found today in over one-hundred and twenty nations.[5]As well, one must take into account that the German legal system has adapted over the course of the last hundred years to many strikingly different political regimes.From 1900 to 2000, one finds Monarchy, Democracy, Fascism, Four-partite occupation, Communism and renewed Democracy. To better understand this cascade of developments, consider the case of an octogenarian, a lady born between 1913 and 1917.She was born while the Kaiser ruled, experienced childhood under the Weimar democracy, was in her teens and early twenties during the Nazis and reached adulthood during the four-partite occupation. She would have likely worked at a socialist enterprise and gotten married in the German Democratic Republic. In her late seventies, she saw the wall fall, and her whole way of life changed. Now she enjoys a comfortable retirement; she has lived long enough to become a consumer in a market driven society and to experience voting, for the first time in her life, in free and open elections.

On account of Germany’s unique historical development, an examination of German law permits an American, Australian, British or Canadian student to confront the realities of the great ideologies of the twentieth century: Democracy, Fascism and Communism.Few nations in Europe have experienced such rapid gyrations and successions of regimes and systems in the twentieth century. This text will look at the differences and the similarities in law, which play out across so many regime types. As the reader looks at the pages, s/he will be asked to consider how each regime deals and has dealt with the legal, political and moral issues created by the one preceding it. By looking at documents, cases and statutes from Germany and Europe (European Union) across time and political systems, the student will learn about how the legal system adapted and changed with the ebb and flow of regimes. The student will be provided with specific historical examples to illustrate how the courts and the laws were used by totalitarian systems to terrorize the population.As well, the student will learn how law has been employed in the last fifty years to liberate the human spirit, to protect human dignity, and to foster peace, prosperity, stability and harmony in formerly war-ravaged and destroyed societies.

It is customary that Comparative Law texts compare different nations and their legal systems across geographic distance; this text will take a different approach and look at the evolution of the legal system in one nation as it adapts to changing political circumstances across time.The German experience provides the comparative law student with exposure to at least three of the major legal systems operating in the world today: the Civilian, the Socialist, and the European.[6] For the purpose of comparative study, the student can examine both the civilian and socialist legal systems with a degree of precision impossible to find any where else. From 1945 to 1990 these two systems grew up in regions of what formerly had been the same nation; the language was the same and the legal terminology was often similar. Both legal systems began at the same point and developed quite differently despite the fact that both evolved from a virtually identical cultural and economic legacy.[7]

Last but not least, this text is animated by two central tenets. First, this text has been designed such that it will permit students to have access to legal documents from Germany in English translation so that they may analyze for themselves the significance of laws and cases from different periods. Commentary will be used to help students with analysis; however, the text is not meant to substitute as or be a treatise. The second tenet is that German law is made by Germans and therefore whenever possible jurists should be permitted to speak for themselves directly, without the veil of American interpretation or interposition.In this regard, the author has attempted to use whenever possible original sources of information from German cases and laws, documents, prose, literature and commentary. 

Dates of PeriodGovernment TypeLegal System

Imperial Germany
 

January 18, 1871 to  November9, 1918

Monarchy with growing influence of Reichstag

Civil Law

Weimar Republic
 

November 9, 1918 to  January 30, 1933

Democratic Republic

Civil Law

Third Reich
 

January 30, 1933 to  May 8, 1945

Fascist Dictatorship

Civil Law

Period of four-partite Occupation
 

May 8, 1945 toMay 23, 1949 American Zone of Occupation	Military Rule with developing democracy	Civil Law/ Military Administration
May 8, 1945 to May 23, 1949 British Zone of Occupation	Military Rule with developing democracy	Civil Law/Military Administration
May 8, 1945 to May 23, 1949 French Zone of Occupation	Military Rule with developing democracy	Civil Law/ Military Administration
May 8, 1945 to October 7, 1949 Russian Zone of Occupation	Military Rule with developing communist system of government	Socialist Legal Order/Military Administration

Period of Two Germanies:
 

i. Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) May 23, 1949 to October3, 1990	Democratic Republic	Civil Law
ii. German Democratic Republic (East Germany) October 7, 1949 to October 3, 1990	Communist Government  (Reforms introduced after November 1989)	Socialist Legal Order

United Germany (Federal Republic of Germany)
 

October 3, 1990 to present

Democratic Republic

Civil Law

1.What is the difference between National Socialism and Market Socialism? Describe the economic ordering and the political system in each? 

2.Why are both Nazism and Communism at the bottom of the political horseshoe? Why are they placed at opposite ends of the bottom of the horseshoe?What does the X axis on the horseshoe represent? What does the Y axis represent in the diagram above?

3.The top of the horseshoe represents libertarianism? What does this mean? 

4.Libertarianism is at the top of the horseshoe. Where should Liberalism be placed?

5.Name a nation that had Fascism.Name a nation that had Nazism. Why is Fascism higher up on the horseshoe than Nazism? 

6.Name a nation today that is an absolute monarchy. 

7.Where would you place the United States on this horseshoe and why?Where would you place Great Britain, Canada, the Bahamas, Australia, Germany, Japan, and Argentina? 
 

As Europe's largest economy and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed the country 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. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western 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 EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring eastern productivity and wages up to western standards. In January 2002, Germany and 11 other EU countries introduced a common European currency, the euro.

Geography

Location: Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark 

Geographic coordinates: 51 00 N, 9 00 E 

Area:

total: 357,021 square kilometers
water: 7,798 square km
land: 349,223 squarekm 

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Montana 

Land boundaries: total: 3,621 km
border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, Switzerland 334 km 

Coastline: 2,389 km

Map of Germany showing its neighbors and the sixteen federal states[9]

Environment - current issues: emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany; hazardous waste disposal; government established a mechanism for ending the use of nuclear power over the next 15 years; government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive

People

Population: 82,398,326 (July 2003 est.) 

Age structure:

0-14 years: 14.9% (male 6,312,614; female 5,988,681)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 28,213,316; female 27,240,648)
65 years and over: 17.8% (male 5,842,457; female 8,800,610) (2003 est.) 

Median age:

total: 41.3 yearsmale: 39.9 yearsfemale: 42.8 years (2002) 

Population growth rate: 0.04% (2003 est.) 

Birth rate: 8.6 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) 

Death rate: 10.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) 

Net migration rate: 2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) 

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.) 

Infant mortality rate:

total: 4.23 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 4.68 deaths/1,000 live births 

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.42 years

male: 75.46 years
female: 81.55 years (2003 est.) 

Ethnic groups: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish) 

Religions: Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3% 

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write 

total population: 99% (1977 est.) 

Administrative divisions: 16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen

(Neuschwanstein Castle. Courtesy: Bundesbildstelle, Berlin)

Government

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Johannes RAU (since 1 July 1999)

elections: president elected for a five-year term by a Federal Convention including all members of the Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held 23 May 1999 (next to be held 23 May 2004); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006)

head of government: Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 October 1998)

cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor

election results: Johannes RAU elected president; percent of Federal Convention vote - 57.6%; Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor; percent of Federal Assembly vote 50.7% 

Legislative branch:

bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (603 seats; elected by popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain representation; members serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each has 3 to 6 votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block)

elections: Federal Assembly - last held 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006); note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election
election results: Federal Assembly - percent of vote by party - SPD 38.5%, CDU/CSU 38.5%, Alliance '90/Greens 8.6%, FDP 7.4%, PDS 4%; seats by party - SPD 251, CDU/CSU 248, Alliance '90/Greens 55, FDP 47, PDS 2; Federal Council - current composition - NA 

Economy - overview:

Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy turned in a relatively weak performance throughout much of the 1990s. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's ageing population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem. Business and income tax cuts introduced in 2001 did not spare Germany from the impact of the downturn in international trade, and domestic demand faltered as unemployment began to rise. Growth in 2002 again fell short of 1%. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization, particularly if labor market rigidities are addressed. In the short run, however, the fall in government revenues and the rise in expenditures has brought the deficit close to the EU's 3% debt limit. 

(Final Assembly of Airbus 319. Courtesy: Bundesbildstelle, Berlin.) 

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $26,600 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture:1%
industry:31%
services: 68% (2002 est.)

Industries: among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages; shipbuilding; textiles

Agricultureproducts: potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry 

Exports: $608 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) 

Exports commodities: machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles 

Exports - partners: France 11.1%, US 10.6%, UK 8.4%, Netherlands 6.2%, Austria 5.1%; Belgium 4.9%, Spain 4.5%, Switzerland 4.3% (2001) 

Imports: $487.3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) 

Imports - commodities: machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals 

Imports - partners: France 9.4%, Netherlands 8.4%, US 8.3%, UK 6.9%, Italy 6.5%, Belgium 5.2%, Japan 4.1%, Austria 3.8% (2001) 

Debt - external: $NA 

Economic aid - donor: ODA, $5.6 billion (1998) 

Telecommunications

Telephones - main lines in use: 50.9 million (March 2001) 

Telephones - mobile cellular: 55.3 million (June 2001) 

Telephone system: general assessment: Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country, dating back to World War II, has been modernized and integrated with that of the western part. 

domestic: Germany is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many foreign countries
international: Germany's international service is excellent worldwide, consisting of extensive land and undersea cable facilities as well as earth stations in the INMARSAT, INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, and INTERSPUTNIK satellite systems (2001) 

Televisions: 51.4 million (1998) 

Internet country code: .de

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 200 (2001) 

Internet users: 32.1 million (2002)