1.
Vice Chancellor of Germany
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The Deputy to the Federal Chancellor, widely known as the Vice Chancellor of Germany is, according to protocol, the second highest position in the Cabinet of Germany. He is the equivalent of a deputy minister in other parliamentary systems. The current Vice Chancellor is Sigmar Gabriel, who is the president of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, as provided by the Basic Law, Vice Chancellor is not an independent office, but a position held by one of the ministers. Since 1966, it has often held by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is the Chancellor who chooses which minister serves as Vice Chancellor, since coalition governments are common in German politics, the Vice Chancellor is in most cases the president of the junior coalition partner. In case of the Chancellors absence, the Vice Chancellor acts in his or her place, the Vice Chancellor will not automatically become Chancellor for the rest of the term if the Chancellor dies or becomes unable to fulfill his or her duties in any other way. It is the President who asks a minister to fulfill the Chancellors duties until the Bundestag elects a new Chancellor and this has happened only once, Vice Chancellor Walter Scheel was acting Chancellor for a few days in May 1974 between Chancellor Willy Brandt’s resignation and Helmut Schmidt’s election. In addition to the deputy, who would be responsible for all the affairs of the Chancellor. The act was revised on 28 October 1918, when the possibility of appointing deputies with limited responsibilities was removed, Political Party, FKP FVP Political Party, DDP Centre DVP SPD DNVP Political Party, NSDAP Political Party, FDP CDU SPD Green
2.
Klaus Kinkel
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Klaus Kinkel is a German civil servant, lawyer, and politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party. He served as Federal Minister of Justice, Foreign Minister and as Vice Chancellor of Germany in the government of Helmut Kohl and he was also chairman of the liberal Free Democratic Party from 1993 to 1995. Previously, he was President of the Federal Intelligence Service, the son of a doctor, Kinkel was born in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, into a Catholic family. He took his Abitur at the Staatliches Gymnasium Hechingen and studied law at the universities of Tübingen, Bonn, guestfalia Tübingen, a Catholic student fraternity that is member of the Cartellverband. Kinkel took his first juristic state exam at Tübingen, the second in Stuttgart, Kinkel was first employed as a civil servant in the state of Baden-Württemberg, until he was employed at the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 1968. There, he was secretary for the Federal Minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, from 1970 to 1974. After Genscher was appointed Foreign Minister in 1974, Kinkel held senior positions in the Federal Foreign Office, as head of the Leitungsstab, from 1979 to 1982 he was president of the Federal Intelligence Service. From 1982 to 1991, Kinkel was secretary of state in the Federal Ministry of Justice and he became a member of FDP in 1991. Kinkel was Federal Minister of Justice from 18 January 1991 to 18 May 1992, among other achievements, he took the lead in pressing for the return of Erich Honecker, the former East German leader, to face trial. He also engaged in negotiations with the terrorist Red Army Faction. During his tenure as Foreign Minister, Kinkel made substantial efforts to end the atrocities committed by Serbs in the Yugoslav Wars. In 1995, China dismissed an appeal from Kinkel and expelled journalist Henrik Bork. One year later, China abruptly canceled a visit to Beijing by Kinkel. In 1994, he had to abandon his candidate for President of the European Commission, Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene of Belgium, following protest by British Prime Minister John Major. In 1997, he argued that Turkey did not qualify because of its record on human rights, from 21 January 1993, Kinkel was also Vice-Chancellor of Germany. From 1993 to 1995 he also served as chairman of the FDP and he resigned as Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor after the governments defeat in the 1998 federal election. Kinkel was a member of the Bundestag, the Parliament of Germany, from 1998 to 2002, he served as deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group. Kinkel was elected from the state of Baden-Württemberg, Europa in der Welt – die Welt in Europa, Baden-Baden 2006, ISBN 978-3-8329-1934-4
3.
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany)
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The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs is the head of the Federal Foreign Office and a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The current office holder is Sigmar Gabriel, since 1966, the Foreign Minister has often also simultaneously held the office of Vice Chancellor. The Foreign Office was established within the North German Confederation in 1870 and its head, in 1919, the Weimar Republic elevated the head of the foreign office to the position of Foreign Minister responsible for his department. As governments were now formed by parties entering coalitions with each other and his long term gave stability to Germanys foreign policy and improved the ministers position towards the relatively weak and short-lived chancellors. Stresemann was awarded the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize for his work for reconciliation between Germany and France, the foreign office remained relatively unaffected by the establishment of the Nazi regime in 1933, as minister Konstantin von Neurath, appointed in 1932, remained in office until 1938. However, the office was increasingly marginalised in actual policy-making and with the replacement of Neurath by Ribbentrop lost any independent standing. After World War II, two separate German states emerged in 1949, the democratic Federal Republic of Germany in the West, then, Heinrich von Brentano di Tremezzo succeeded as foreign minister in 1955. In 1990, the GDR ceased to exist as a separate state, from the 1966 Grand Coalition government of Kurt Georg Kiesinger onwards, the office has been held by a member of the smaller partner in coalitions. Political Party, SPD Zentrum DDP DVP NSDP Political Party, CDU SED NDPD SPD Political Party, CDU SPD FDP Green
4.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
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Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the President of Germany, serving since 19 March 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017 and he was chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2016. Steinmeier is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and he was a close aide of Gerhard Schröder when Schröder was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony during most of the 1990s, and served as Schröders chief of staff from 1996. When Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, Steinmeier was appointed Under-Secretary of State in the German Chancellery with the responsibility for the intelligence services, from 1999 to 2005 he served as Chief of Staff of the Chancellery. Following the 2005 federal election, Steinmeier became Foreign Minister in the first grand coalition government of Angela Merkel, in 2008, he briefly served as acting chairman of his party. He was the SPDs candidate for chancellor in the 2009 federal election, following the 2013 federal election he again became Minister for Foreign Affairs in Merkels second grand coalition. He was elected as President by the Federal Convention on 12 February 2017 and he acquired the necessary majority in the first round of voting by receiving 931 electoral votes out of a total of 1260 votes. Steinmeier belongs to the wing of the SPD, known as reformists. As chief of staff he was an architect of Agenda 2010. Steinmeier was born in Detmold, the son of a carpenter, although his full name is Frank-Walter, he only goes by the name Frank among those who know him. His father was affiliated with the Church of Lippe, one of Germanys few Calvinist regional church bodies and his mother, born in Breslau, came as a refugee from a Lutheran part of Silesia during the flight and expulsion of Germans after World War II. Frank-Walter was baptized into his fathers church—the Church of Lippe, a church of the Evangelical Church of Germany. Following his Abitur, he served his military service from 1974 until 1976 and he then studied law and political science at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, where his fellow students included Brigitte Zypries. In 1982 he passed his first and 1986 his second examination in law. He worked as an assistant to the professor of public law. His dissertation explored the role of the state in the prevention of homelessness, Steinmeier became an adviser in 1991 for law of communication media and media guidelines in the state Chancellery of Lower Saxony in Hanover. In 1993, he director of the personal office for the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. In 1996, he became the Undersecretary of State and Director of the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony, Steinmeier was appointed in November 1998 as undersecretary of state at the office of the chancellor following Schröders election victory
5.
Hans Eichel
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Hans Eichel is a German politician and the co-founder of the G20. He was Germanys Minister of Finance between 1999 and 2005, Eichel was chairman of the G7 in 1999 and chairman of the G20 in 2004. Before that, Eichel served as the 6th Minister President of Hesse from 1991 to 1999, some argue that Agenda 2010 helped turn Germany from the sick man of Europe into the best performing major Western economy in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. While some parties regarded it as the most successful economic reforms in Germany in over half a century, as well as in any G7 country in 30 years, it also created massive controversy, the effects of the Agenda 2010 on German economic development remain disputed. As chairman of the G7, Eichel initiated the creation of the G20 together with then US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, the G20 rapidly grew to become the most influential economic body in the world. He was brought up in Kassel where he did his Abitur in 1961 and he then completed a degree in German, philosophy, political science, history and education at the universities of Marburg and Berlin, graduating in 1970. After that, he worked as a teacher for five years in a Kassel Gymnasium and he was noted for his consensus building skills and an ability to mix pragmatism with a mastery of detail. Eichel believed strongly in European federation and on merging Europes armies and foreign services and he argued that Europe would be very much stronger if it spoke to the outside world with one voice. From 1975 to 1991, he was the mayor of Kassel, from 1991 to 1999, he was Premier of Hesse in a coalition with the Greens. The coalition won again four years later and was the first red-green coalition to serve two consecutive terms, however, he unexpectedly lost the state elections in February 1999 to Roland Kochs CDU and lost his office. However, in March Oskar Lafontaine resigned as German finance minister, Eichel also served as President of the Bundesrat from November 1998 to April 1999. He was a member of the Bundestagfrom 2002 to 2009, at the beginning of his term of office, he tried to decrease the German federal deficit and wanted a balanced budget until 2006. Initially he was successful and earned the nickname Iron Hans or Iron Minister because of his ability to exercise strict budget discipline, for two years after taking over as finance minister in 1999 from the left-wing, fiscally extravagant Oskar Lafontaine, Mr Eichel was the governments star. After the election Eichel had to recalculate the budget due to the deteriorating economy, the German budget deficit was 3. 8%, exceeding the 3% ceiling set by the EUs Stability Pact. Eichel had a public spat in 2003 with then IMF chief Horst Köhler, accusing Kohler, Köhler defended the harsh criticism of Germany and rejected the notion that the IMF was too soft on the US. Eichels ministry took no action in response, and from that time forward. The G-20 was created in 1999 in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis as a forum for cooperation and consultation on matters pertaining to the financial system. According to senior researchers at the Brookings Institution, the G-20 was founded at the initiative of Eichel, other sources identify Hans Eichel, US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin as the three key initiators
6.
Gerabronn
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Gerabronn is a small town in the county of Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In 2006 it had a population of about 4,547, Gerabronn is the home town of the two leading German politicians of the Green Party, Joschka Fischer and Rezzo Schlauch. Gerabronn developed from a village, which was founded in the 10th century. Originally named Gerhiltebrunnen, it was also called Gerolzbrunn, Geroldbrunn, Gerltbrunn or Gerhartsbrunn, the village was first mentioned in a 1226 feud letter, when the area came under the control of the Bishop of Würzburg. Until the 19th century Gerabronn was only a village, thereafter it became a town in 1811 it was responsible for the administration of the surrounding area, industrialization and a connection to the railway further helped the growth of the town. In 1938 the Amt was dissolved and became part of the county of Crailsheim, Gerabronn lies in 422 up to 460 meters height on a hill on the Hohenlohe Plain. Neighbouring municipalities The town borders in the north on Blaufelden, in the east on Rot am See, in the south on the towns of Kirchberg an der Jagst and Ilshofen and in the west on Langenburg. The coat of arms shows the quartered black-and-white shield of the Hohenzollern family, to distinguish the coats of arms of the family and the town two vaulting horses were added, as horse breeding was popular in the town historically. Originally the horses were displayed on the quarters, but in 1902 they were placed on the silver quarters. Joschka Fischer, politician, Federal Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor 1998-2005 http, //www. gerabronn. de Official homepage
7.
Allied-occupied Germany
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The four powers divided Germany into four occupation zones for administrative purposes, into what is collectively known now as Allied-occupied Germany. This division was ratified at the Potsdam Conference, in Autumn 1944 the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had agreed on the zones by the London Protocol. The Final German Peace Treaty would result in the westward of Polands borders back to approximately as they were before 1722. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, United States forces had pushed beyond the boundaries for the future zones of occupation. The so-called line of contact between Soviet and American forces at the end of hostilities, mostly lying eastward of the July 1945-established inner German border was temporary. After two months in which they had areas that had been assigned to the Soviet zone. All territories annexed by Germany before the war from Austria and Czechoslovakia were returned to these countries, the Memel Territory, annexed by Germany from Lithuania before the war, was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945 and transferred to the Lithuanian SSR. All territories annexed by Germany during the war from Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Poland, the American zone consisted of Bavaria and Hesse in Southern Germany, and the northern portions of the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg. The ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven were also placed under American control because of the American request to have certain toeholds in Northern Germany, the headquarters of the American military government was the former IG Farben Building in Frankfurt am Main. Beginning in May 1945, many of the American combat troops and airmen in, Army, the Army Air Forces, and the U. S. Navy upon their return home. The Canadian Army was tied down in surrounding the Netherlands until the Germans there surrendered on 5 May 1945 – just two days before the surrender of the Wehrmacht in Western Europe to U. S. Then in July 1945, the British Army withdrew from small slices of Germany that had previously agreed to be occupied by the Soviet Army. Within the British Zone of Occupation, the CCG/BE re-established the German state of Hamburg, also in 1947, the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen became an exclave of the American Zone of Occupation located within the British Zone. In 1946, the Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany had 4,000 soldiers in Hanover, despite its being one of the Allied Powers, the French Republic was at first not granted an occupation zone in Germany. This created a French zone of occupation in the westernmost part of Germany and it consisted of two barely contiguous areas of Germany along the French border that met at just a single point along the Rhine River. It included the Saargebiet, which was disentangled from it on 16 February 1946, by 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between the Saar area and allied occupied Germany. The French zone ceded further adjacent municipalities to the Saar, included in the French zone was the town of Büsingen am Hochrhein, a German exclave separated from the rest of the country by a narrow strip of neutral Swiss territory. The Swiss government agreed to limited numbers of French troops to pass through its territory in order to maintain law
8.
Alliance 90/The Greens
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Alliance 90/The Greens, often simply Greens, is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. The focus of the party is on ecological, economic, and its leaders are Simone Peter and Cem Özdemir. In the 2013 federal elections, the party came fourth with 8. 4% of the votes and 63 out of 630 seats in the Bundestag, the Green Party was initially founded in West Germany as Die Grünen in January 1980. It rose out of the energy, environmental, peace, new left. Grüne Liste Umweltschutz were the names of branches in Lower Saxony. These groups were founded in 1977 and took part in several elections, most of them merged with The Greens in 1980. In 1993 it renamed to Alliance 90/The Greens Berlin after the merger with East Berlins Greens, the Hamburg state branch of the Green Party was called Grün-Alternative Liste Hamburg from its foundation in 1982 until 2012. In 1984 it became the official Hamburg branch of The Greens, in the 1970s, environmentalists and peace activists politically organised amongst thousands of action groups. The political party The Greens was founded January 13,1980 in Karlsruhe to give this movement political, opposition to pollution, use of nuclear power, NATO military action, and certain aspects of industrialised society were principal campaign issues. The Greens originated from civil initiatives, new movements of the protests of 1968. It was at this congress, that the Greens lay their ideological foundations, proclaiming the famous Four Pillars of the Green Party, in 1982, the conservative factions of the Greens broke away to form the Ecological Democratic Party. Those who left the party at the time might have felt similarly about some of these issues, but did not identify with the forms of protest that Green party members took part in. After some success at elections, the party won 27 seats with 5. 7% of the vote in the Bundestag. The newly formed party was able to draw on this movement to recruit support. Around this time, Joschka Fischer emerged as the leader of the party. Until 1987, the Greens comprised a faction involved in pedophile activism and this faction campaigned for repealing §176 of the German penal code, dealing with child sexual abuse. This group was controversial within the party itself, and was seen as responsible for the poor election result of 1985. In November 2014 the political scientist Franz Walter presented the report about his research on a press conference
9.
German federal election, 2005
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German federal elections took place on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th German Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. They became necessary after a motion of confidence in Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed on 1 July, the opposition Christian Democratic Union and its sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, started the federal election campaign with a 21% lead over the SPD in opinion polls. However, the CDU/CSU significantly lost momentum during the campaign and ultimately won only 1% more votes, exit polls showed clearly that neither coalition group had won a majority of seats in the Bundestag, leading to a hung parliament situation. Both parties lost seats compared to 2002, as did the Greens, both Schröder and Merkel claimed victory, but the formation of a new government required careful negotiations. When the Bundestag met on 22 November,397 CDU/CSU and SPD Bundestag members duly voted for Merkel, the victory of the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia gave that party, together with the FDP, a working majority in the Bundesrat, the federal legislatures upper house. Early federal elections in Germany can only place after the dissolution of the Bundestag by the President of Germany. The President can dissolve it only after the Chancellor loses a vote on a motion of confidence, however, only days before the vote, the coalition had passed a number of bills with no dissenters, indicating strong support for the Chancellor within the coalition. After urging members to abstain on the vote, Chancellor Schröder purposely lost a vote of confidence in the Bundestag on 1 July by 296 to 151, on 21 July President Horst Köhler dissolved the Bundestag and paved the way for the early election on 18 September. A small number of members of political parties filed similar complaints. These figures constitute the final results published by the Bundeswahlleiter,77. 7% of voters cast ballots, down 1. 4% from 2002. This included a number of votes as follows,850,072 in the constituency section,756,146 in the list section. The CDU and the CSU sit together as one caucus in the Bundestag, the CSU runs only in the state of Bavaria while the CDU competes in all other states. These results include nine overhang mandates for the SPD and seven for the CDU and these results compare the results for the Left. Party with those of the PDS in 2002 and these results include the delayed result from the Dresden-I seat. The CDU/CSU nominated Angela Merkel for Chancellor, the first time in German history that one of the two parties has nominated a woman for this position. The CDU presented a platform involving increasing the pace and scope of economic deregulation in Germany and pursuing cuts in income tax, the SPD had the goal of maintaining the current deregulation agenda. The Greens decided on their program in July 2005, compared to their previous federal election program, they increased the emphasis on economics and labour-market politics. For the first time this topic came before the classical topic of environmental politics in the program
10.
Spinelli Group
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Among other goals, the Group aims to find a federal majority on important subjects. The Spinelli Group is not the first initiative launched in the European Parliament, on 9 July 1980, the Crocodile Club a group of MEPs was founded by Altiero Spinelli himself. By supporting the aims and principles laid out in the manifesto, Spinelli group followers try to speed up the process of European integration, the Spinelli Group is organised in three sections. The Steering Group gathers the 33 founding members and newcomers—politicians and thinkers dedicated to building a federal Europe, the MEP Spinelli Group gathers 108 MEPs who signed the manifesto. They look for strategies and majorities in the European Parliament to push the pro-European, federal, the Spinelli Network Group is made of every citizen who signed the manifesto of the Spinelli Group. As of 30 May 2014, they are 5,869 and they participate in debates and fora. It is also supported by such European Union promoters as former European Parliament President Pat Cox
11.
Albright Stonebridge Group
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Albright Stonebridge Group is a global business strategy firm. ASG is chaired by former U. S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former U. S. Commerce Secretary, Albright Stonebridge Group was created through the merger of international consulting firms The Albright Group and Stonebridge International. ASG is affiliated with Albright Capital Management, an emerging markets investment firm founded in 2005. Madeleine K. Albright – Founder and Chair Carlos M. Gutierrez – Chair Amy Celico – Principal Melissa Estok – Principal Rajeev Garside – Principal Donald H. Gips – Principal H. P. Senior advisors to the firm include Ana Palacio, former Spanish Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, former German Foreign Minister, and Pär Nuder, former Swedish Minister of Finance
12.
Budakeszi
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Budakeszi is a town in Pest County, in the Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It is located beyond the Jánoshegy hill at the city limits of Budapest. A popular recreational area, the landscape is characterized by forests, predominantly oaks, by vineyards, Buda is the western side of Budapest, Keszi was one of the seven ancient Hungarian tribes. The settlement in the Kingdom of Hungary was first mentioned about 1270, in the aftermath of the Ottoman defeat at the 1683 Battle of Vienna, the depopulated area was re-settled with Danube Swabian immigrants by the order of the Habsburg King Leopold I. Budakeszi was for centuries a predominantly Schwabian village, after World War II Budakeszis history was influenced by the deportation of its ethnic German population according to Article 12 of the 1945 Potsdam Agreement. Most of these expellees had never been to Germany before, as even their parents had been born in Hungary. Budakeszi lost a number of its citizens due to the above. Many inhabitants commute to work to the capital Budapest daily, with mass transportation this normally takes about 15 minutes. Budakeszi has a main street and a baroque Roman Catholic church in its valley. There is also a Protestant church, the cemetery of which has largely German-named headstones, today Budakeszis population is mixed, Hungarians, Schwabian-Germans, and Transylvanians share this small town. Near Budakeszi there is an airfield for sailplanes and for small planes, Budakeszi is twinned with, Among the ethnic Germans expelled from Budakeszi in 1946 were the parents of Joseph Joschka Fischer, born in 1948, German foreign minister from 1998-2005. Fischer today holds an honorary citizenship, andrás Balczó, Olympic gold medalist Gáspár Nagy, poet, Kossuth Prize winner Zsolt Vajda, Media artist Csaba Pléh, psychologist, linguist, Széchenyi Prize winner Official homepage
13.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
14.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
15.
German student movement
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The German student movement was a protest movement that took place during the late 1960s in West Germany. It was largely a reaction against the perceived authoritarianism and hypocrisy of the German government and other Western governments, a wave of protests—some violent—swept West Germany, fueled by violent over-reaction by the police and encouraged by contemporary protest movements across the world. Following more than a century of conservatism among German students, the German student movement also marked a significant major shift to the left and radicalisation of student activism. In 1966, for the first time in fifteen years, the German economy went into recession, with the forming of the CDU/CSU/SPD coalition government under Kurt Georg Kiesinger the voice of the opposition within the Bundestag was seriously weakened. Dealing with Germanys and their parents National Socialist past, stopping the war in Vietnam and improving the conditions in the Third World. Reducing the influence of the press on the masses and its abuse of the freedom of press. Stopping the planned German emergency legislation from being passed, the first goal was the source of all the others and thus the most important in their minds. To summarize, the students rejected traditional, parliamentary decision making-processes, social injustice and they felt the need to overcome and change these things. To the students, the German chapter of Fascism was not yet closed, many former National Socialists were still working for the government or at the universities and the newly formed right-wing National Democratic Party of Germany was attracting more and more voters. In addition to that, the students had to deal with the fact that they were identified as Germans, the students did not want to be held responsible for their parents’ deeds. To support its new policies the government wanted to change the universities, producing graduates faster by introducing a time limit on courses. The students, however, did not want to adjust to the needs of the economy, rather, they wanted to adjust the universities to their own principles. They wanted more rights in the running of universities, better-equipped workplaces, the university boards did not react to the students protest and introduced the time limit for studying. The events at the Free University of Berlin are representative of the events at all universities in Germany, through their increasing interest in politics the students quickly engaged in discussions concerning the war in Vietnam. They formed the opinion that the United States had no right to fight in Vietnam, not only because of the victims, the government, however, supported the USA in the Vietnam War, and provided humanitarian and economic support to South Vietnam. For this reason, university boards put a ban on activities by students at the universities. They explained this act by saying that science should always be neutral, the students wanted to be able to act politically, not only because of the war in Vietnam, but to protest against the conditions in the Third World as students and not only as individuals. The students were strongly opposed to the German Emergency Acts which were due to be passed, among other things, they would allow the government to restrict freedom of movement and to limit privacy and confidentiality of telecommunications correspondence
16.
Left-wing politics
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Left-wing politics supports social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy and social inequality. The term left wing can also refer to the radical, reforming, use of the term Left became more prominent after the restoration of the French monarchy in 1815 when it was applied to the Independents. The word wing was appended to Left and Right in the late 19th century, usually with disparaging intent, throughout the 19th century in France, the main line dividing left and right was between supporters of the French Republic and those of the Monarchy. The June Days Uprising during the Second Republic was an attempt by the Left to assert itself after the 1848 Revolution, in the mid-19th century, nationalism, socialism, democracy, and anti-clericalism became features of the French Left. After Napoleon IIIs 1851 coup and the subsequent establishment of the Second Empire, Marxism began to rival radical republicanism, the influential Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, published in 1848, asserted that all human history is the history of class struggle. They predicted that a revolution would eventually overthrow bourgeois capitalism and create a classless, stateless. It was in period that the word wing was appended to both Left and Right. Following a split between supporters of Marx and Mikhail Bakunin, anarchists formed the International Workers Association, the Second International became divided over the issue of World War I. Those who opposed the war, such as Vladimir Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg, in the United States after Reconstruction, the phrase the Left was used to describe those who supported trade unions, the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. More recently in the United States, left-wing and right-wing have often used as synonyms for Democratic and Republican. Since the Right was populist, both in the Western and the Eastern Bloc, anything viewed as art was called leftist in all Europe. The following positions are typically associated with left-wing politics, during the industrial revolution, leftists supported trade unions. At the beginning of the 20th century, many leftists advocated strong government intervention in the economy, leftists continue to criticize what they perceive as the exploitative nature of globalization, the race to the bottom, and unjust lay-offs. Other leftists believe in Marxian economics, which are based on the theories of Karl Marx. Marxian economics does not exclusively rely upon Marx, it draws from a range of Marxist and non-Marxist sources, the political relevance of farmers has divided the left. In Das Kapital, Marx scarcely mentioned the subject, Mao Zedong believed that it would be rural peasants, not urban workers, who would bring about the proletarian revolution. Both Karl Marx and the early socialist William Morris arguably had a concern for environmental matters, according to Marx, Even an entire society, a nation, or all simultaneously existing societies taken together. Are not owners of the earth and they are simply its possessors, its beneficiaries, and have to bequeath it in an improved state to succeeding generations
17.
Stuttgart
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Stuttgart is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the Stuttgart Cauldron an hour from the Swabian Jura. Stuttgarts urban area has a population of 623,738, making it the sixth largest city in Germany. 2.7 million people live in the administrative region and another 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area. Since the 6th millennium BC, the Stuttgart area has been an important agricultural area and has been host to a number of cultures seeking to utilize the rich soil of the Neckar valley. The Roman Empire conquered the area in 83 AD and built a massive Castrum near Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgarts roots were truly laid in the 10th century with its founding by Liudolf, Duke of Swabia as a stud farm for his warhorses. Overshadowed by nearby Cannstatt, the town grew steadily and was granted a charter in 1320, the fortunes of Stuttgart turned with those of the House of Württemberg, and they made it the capital of their County, Duchy, and Kingdom from the 15th Century to 1918. Stuttgart prospered despite setbacks in the forms of the Thirty Years War and devastating air raids by the Allies on the city, however, by 1952, the city had bounced back and became the major economic, industrial, tourism and publishing center it is today. Stuttgart is also an important transport junction, and possesses the sixth largest airport in Germany. Such companies as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Daimler AG, Dinkelacker, Stuttgart is unusual in the scheme of German cities. It is spread across a variety of hills, valleys and parks and this is often a source of surprise to visitors who associate the city with its reputation as the Cradle of the Automobile. The citys tourism slogan is Stuttgart offers more, under current plans to improve transport links to the international infrastructure, the city unveiled a new logo and slogan in March 2008 describing itself as Das neue Herz Europas. For business, it describes itself as Where business meets the future, in July 2010, Stuttgart unveiled a new city logo, designed to entice more business people to stay in the city and enjoy breaks in the area. Stuttgart is a city of mostly immigrants, according to Dorling Kindersley Publishings Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany, In the city of Stuttgart, every third inhabitant is a foreigner. 40% of Stuttgarts residents, and 64% of the population below the age of five are of immigrant background, the reason for this being that the city was founded in 950 AD by Duke Liudolf of Swabia to breed warhorses. Originally, the most important location in the Neckar river valley as the rim of the Stuttgart basin at what is today Bad Cannstatt. As with many military installations, a settlement sprang up nearby, when they did, the town was left in the capable hands of a local brickworks that produced sophisticated architectural ceramics and pottery. When the Romans were driven back past the Rhine and Danube rivers in the 3rd Century by the Alamanni, in 700, Duke Gotfrid mentions a Chan Stada in a document regarding property
18.
Frankfurt
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The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.8 million and is Germanys second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013, the centre of the EU is about 40 km to the east of Frankfurts CBD. Frankfurt is culturally and ethnically diverse, with half of the population. A quarter of the population are foreign nationals, including many expatriates, Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and traffic. Its the site of many global and European headquarters, Frankfurt Airport is among the worlds busiest. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media, Frankfurts DE-CIX is the worlds largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the worlds largest trade fairs, major fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the worlds largest motor show, the Music Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the worlds largest book fair. Frankfurt is home to educational institutions, including the Goethe University, the UAS, the FUMPA. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, Europes largest English Theatre and many museums, Frankfurts skyline is shaped by some of Europes tallest skyscrapers. In sports, the city is known as the home of the top football club Eintracht Frankfurt, the basketball club Frankfurt Skyliners, the Frankfurt Marathon. Its the seat of German sport unions for Olympics, football, Frankfurt is the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the worlds largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market. Frankfurt is considered a city as listed by the GaWC groups 2012 inventory. Among global cities it was ranked 10th by the Global Power City Index 2011, among financial centres it was ranked 8th by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013 and 9th by the Global Financial Centres Index 2013. Its central location within Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, Frankfurt Airport is one of the worlds busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germanys flag carrier Lufthansa. Frankfurter Kreuz, the Autobahn interchange close to the airport, is the most heavily used interchange in the EU, in 2011 human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual Quality of Living survey of cities around the world. According to The Economist cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germanys most expensive city, Frankfurt has many high-rise buildings in the city centre, forming the Frankfurt skyline. It is one of the few cities in the European Union to have such a skyline and because of it Germans sometimes refer to Frankfurt as Mainhattan, the other well known and obvious nickname is Bankfurt
19.
Theodor W. Adorno
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Theodor W. Adorno was a German philosopher, sociologist, and composer known for his critical theory of society. He is widely regarded as one of the 20th centurys foremost thinkers on aesthetics and philosophy, as a writer of polemics in the tradition of Nietzsche and Karl Kraus, Adorno delivered scathing critiques of contemporary Western culture. Theodor W. Adorno was born as Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund in Frankfurt am Main on September 11,1903, the only child of Oscar Alexander Wiesengrund and Maria Calvelli-Adorno della Piana. His mother, a devout Catholic from Corsica, was once a professional singer, while his father, proud of her origins, Maria wanted her sons paternal surname to be supplemented by the addition of her own name, Adorno. Thus his earliest publications carried the name Theodor Wiesengrund-Adorno, upon his application for US citizenship and he was not only a precocious child but, as he recalled later in life, a child prodigy who could play pieces by Beethoven on the piano by the time he was twelve. At the age of six, he attended the Deutschherren middle school before transferring to the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gymnasium, I took this motif so much as my own that I do not believe I have ever written anything without reference to it, either implicit or explicit. Yet Adornos intellectual nonconformism was no less shaped by the repugnance he felt towards the nationalism which swept through the Reich during the First World War, the younger generations distrust for traditional knowledge arose from the way in which this tradition had discredited itself. Over time, Oscar Wiesengrunds firm established close professional and personal ties with the factory of Karplus & Herzberger in Berlin, I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that I owe more to this reading than to my academic teachers. In the summer of 1924, Adorno received his doctorate with a study of Edmund Husserl under the direction of the unorthodox neo-Kantian Hans Cornelius, before his graduation, Adorno had already met with his most important intellectual collaborators, Max Horkheimer and Walter Benjamin. Through Corneliuss seminars, Adorno met his future collaborator Max Horkheimer, in Vienna, he attended public lectures of the satirist Karl Kraus with Berg and met Lukács, who had been living in Vienna after the failure of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Alban Berg, the man Adorno referred to as my master and teacher, was among the most prescient of his young pupils early friends, convinced that and you are capable of supreme achievements and will undoubtedly fulfill this promise in the shape of great philosophical works. In December 1926 Adornos Two Pieces for String Quartet, op.2 were performed in Vienna, after writing the Piano Pieces in strict twelve-tone technique, as well as songs later integrated into the Six Bagatelles for Voice and Piano, op. 6, Adorno presented his Habilitation manuscript, The Concept of the Unconscious in the Transcendental Theory of the Psyche, Cornelius advised Adorno to withdraw his application on the grounds that the manuscript was too close to his own way of thinking. In this manuscript, Adorno attempted to underline the epistemological status of the unconscious as it emerged from Freuds early writings, against the function of the unconscious in both Nietzsche and Spengler, Adorno argued that Freuds notion of the unconscious serves as a sharp weapon. Against every attempt to create a metaphysics of the instincts and to deify full, undaunted by his academic prospects, Adorno threw himself once again into composition. In addition to publishing numerous reviews of performances and concerts, Adornos Four Songs for Medium Voice and Piano. Between 1928 and 1930 Adorno took on a role within the editorial committee of the Musikblätter des Anbruch. During this period he published the essays Night Music, On Twelve-Tone Technique and Reaction, at this time, Adorno struck up a correspondence with the composer Ernst Krenek, with whom he discussed problems of atonality and twelve-tone technique
20.
Oskar Negt
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Oskar Negt is a philosopher and social theorist in the tradition of critical theory. He is Professor of Sociology at the Universität Hannover and he later taught at the Universität Hannover. Strukturbeziehungen zwischen den Gesellschaftslehren Comtes und Hegels, reden und Aufsätze zur antiautoritären Bewegung. Zur Organisationsanalyse von bürgerlicher und proletarischer Öffentlichkeit, Über den Zusammenhang von Politik, Geschichte und Moral. “The Misery of Bourgeois Democracy in Germany”, mit Alexander Kluge, Geschichte und Eigensinn. Geschichtliche Organisation der Arbeitsvermögen – Deutschland als Produktionsöffentlichkeit – Gewalt des Zusammenhangs, politische und kulturelle Dimensionen des Kampfes um die Arbeitszeit. China und der europäische Mythos der Moderne, plädoyers für die Erweiterung ihres politischen und kulturellen Mandats. Maßverhältnisse des Politischen,15 Vorschläge zum Unterscheidungsvermögen, kindheit und Schule in einer Welt der Umbrüche. Königsberg–Kaliningrad, Reise in die Stadt Kants und Hamanns, warum SPD.7 Argumente für einen nachhaltigen Macht- und Politikwechsel. (* ISBN 3-88243-786-3 Kant und Marx, steidl Verlag,2004, ISBN 3-86521-165-8 Die Faust-Karriere. Vom verzweifelten Intellektuellen zum gescheiterten Unternehmer, ISBN 3-86521-188-7 Homepage UNI Hannover Biography of Negt
21.
Karl Marx
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Karl Marx was a Prussian-born philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Born in Trier to a family, he later studied political economy. His work has influenced subsequent intellectual, economic, and political history. These economic critiques were set out in works such as the three volumes, published between 1867 and 1894, that comprise Das Kapital. According to Marx, states are run in the interests of the class but are nonetheless represented as being in favor of the common interest of all. He predicted that, like previous socioeconomic systems, capitalism produced internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system, socialism. Marx actively fought for its implementation, arguing that the class should carry out organised revolutionary action to topple capitalism. Marx has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and his work in economics laid the basis for much of the current understanding of labour and its relation to capital, and subsequent economic thought. Many intellectuals, labour unions, artists and political parties worldwide have been influenced by Marxs work, Marx is typically cited as one of the principal architects of modern sociology and social science. Karl Marx was born on 5 May 1818 to Heinrich Marx and he was born at Brückengasse 664 in Trier, a town then part of the Kingdom of Prussias Province of the Lower Rhine. Marx was ancestrally Jewish, his grandfather was a Dutch rabbi, while his paternal line had supplied Triers rabbis since 1723. Marx was also a cousin once removed of German Romantic poet Heinrich Heine, also born to a German Jewish family in the Rhineland. Largely non-religious, Heinrich was a man of the Enlightenment, interested in the ideas of the philosophers Immanuel Kant, a classical liberal, he took part in agitation for a constitution and reforms in Prussia, then governed by an absolute monarchy. In 1815 Heinrich Marx began work as an attorney, in 1819 moving his family to a property near the Porta Nigra. Her sister Sophie Pressburg, was Marxs aunt and was married to Lion Philips Marxs uncle through this marriage, Lion Philips was a wealthy Dutch tobacco manufacturer and industrialist, upon whom Karl and Jenny Marx would later often come to rely for loans while they were exiled in London. Little is known of Karl Marxs childhood, the third of nine children, he became the oldest son when his brother Moritz died in 1819. Young Karl was baptised into the Lutheran Church in August 1824 along with his siblings, Sophie, Hermann, Henriette, Louise, Emilie. Young Karl was privately educated, by Heinrich Marx, until 1830, by employing many liberal humanists as teachers, Wyttenbach incurred the anger of the local conservative government
22.
Mao Zedong
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His Marxist–Leninist theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Maoism or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Mao adopted Marxism–Leninism while working at Peking University and became a member of the Communist Party of China. On October 1,1949, Mao proclaimed the foundation of the Peoples Republic of China, in the following years Mao solidified his control through land reform campaigns against landlords, and perceived enemies of the state he termed as counter-revolutionaries. In 1957, he launched the Great Leap Forward campaign that aimed to rapidly transform Chinas economy from an economy to an industrial one. The campaign contributed to a famine, whose death toll is estimated at between 15 and 45 million. In 1972, Mao welcomed American President Richard Nixon in Beijing, signalling a policy of opening China, Mao suffered a series of heart attacks in 1976, and died in September, aged 82. He was succeeded as Paramount leader by Hua Guofeng, who was sidelined and replaced by Deng. A controversial figure, Mao is regarded as one of the most important individuals in modern world history, Mao Zedong was born on December 26,1893 in Shaoshan village, Hunan Province, China. His father, Mao Yichang, was an impoverished peasant who had become one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan. Growing up in rural Hunan, Mao Zedong described his father as a stern disciplinarian, Maos mother, Wen Qimei, was a devout Buddhist who tried to temper her husbands strict attitude. Zedong too became a Buddhist, but abandoned this faith in his mid-teenage years, at age 8, Mao was sent to Shaoshan Primary School. At age 13, Mao finished primary education, and his father united him in a marriage to the 17-year-old Luo Yigu. Mao refused to recognise her as his wife, becoming a critic of arranged marriage. Luo was locally disgraced and died in 1910, interested in history, Mao was inspired by the military prowess and nationalistic fervour of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte. The famine spread to Shaoshan, where starving peasants seized his fathers grain and he disapproved of their actions as morally wrong, but claimed sympathy for their situation. At age 16, Mao moved to a primary school in nearby Dongshan. In 1911, Mao began middle school in Changsha, Revolutionary sentiment was strong in the city, where there was widespread animosity towards Emperor Puyis absolute monarchy and many were advocating republicanism. The republicans figurehead was Sun Yat-sen, an American-educated Christian who led the Tongmenghui society, in Changsha, Mao was influenced by Suns newspaper, The Peoples Independence, and called for Sun to become president in a school essay
23.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
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Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher and an important figure of German idealism. He achieved wide renown in his day and, while primarily influential within the tradition of philosophy, has become increasingly influential in the analytic tradition as well. Although he remains a figure, his canonical stature within Western philosophy is universally recognized. His philosophy of spirit conceptually integrates psychology, the state, history, art, religion and his account of the master–slave dialectic has been highly influential, especially in 20th-century France. Hegel has been seen in the 20th century as the originator of the thesis, antithesis, synthesis triad, however, as an explicit phrase, Hegel has influenced many thinkers and writers whose own positions vary widely. Hegel was born on August 27,1770 in Stuttgart, in the Duchy of Württemberg in southwestern Germany, christened Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, he was known as Wilhelm to his close family. His father, Georg Ludwig, was Rentkammersekretär at the court of Karl Eugen, Hegels mother, Maria Magdalena Louisa, was the daughter of a lawyer at the High Court of Justice at the Württemberg court. She died of a fever when Hegel was thirteen. Hegel and his father caught the disease but narrowly survived. Hegel had a sister, Christiane Luise, and a brother, Georg Ludwig, at the age of three Hegel went to the German School. When he entered the Latin School two years later, he knew the first declension, having been taught it by his mother. In 1776, Hegel entered Stuttgarts gymnasium illustre, during his adolescence Hegel read voraciously, copying lengthy extracts in his diary. Authors he read include the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and writers associated with the Enlightenment, such as Christian Garve, Hegels studies at the Gymnasium were concluded with his Abiturrede entitled The abortive state of art and scholarship in Turkey. At the age of eighteen Hegel entered the Tübinger Stift, where he had as roommates the poet Friedrich Hölderlin, sharing a dislike for what they regarded as the restrictive environment of the Seminary, the three became close friends and mutually influenced each others ideas. All greatly admired Hellenic civilization, and Hegel additionally steeped himself in Jean-Jacques Rousseau and they watched the unfolding of the French Revolution with shared enthusiasm. Schelling and Hölderlin immersed themselves in theoretical debates on Kantian philosophy, Hegel at this time envisaged his future as that of a Popularphilosoph, i. e. Having received his certificate from the Tübingen Seminary, Hegel became Hofmeister to an aristocratic family in Bern. During this period he composed the text which has known as the Life of Jesus
24.
Daniel Cohn-Bendit
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Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit is a French-German politician. He was a student leader during the unrest of May 1968 in France and was known during that time as Dany le Rouge. He was co-president of the group European Greens–European Free Alliance in the European Parliament and he co-chairs the Spinelli Group, a European parliament intergroup aiming at relaunching the federalist project in Europe. Cohn-Bendit was born in Montauban, France, to German-Jewish parents who had fled Nazism in 1933 and he spent his childhood in Montauban. He moved to Germany in 1958, where his father had been a lawyer since the end of the war and he attended the Odenwaldschule in Heppenheim near Frankfurt, a secondary school for children of the upper middle class. Being officially stateless at birth, when he reached the age of 14 he chose German citizenship and he returned to France in 1966 to study sociology at the University of Pariss Faculty in Nanterre under the supervision of the network societys theorist Manuel Castells. Although residing in Paris, he was able to travel back to Germany, where he was notably influenced by the death of Benno Ohnesorg in 1967. In this tense context, he invited Karl Dietrich Wolff, leader of the Socialist German Student Union, for a lecture in Paris, which would prove influential to later May events. This contributed to attracting to him a lot of student supporters later to be called the 22 March Movement, in the autumn of 1967 rumours of his upcoming expulsion from the university led to a local students strike, and his expulsion was cancelled. On 22 March 1968 students occupied the offices, and the closing of the university on 2 May helped move the protests to downtown Paris. From 3 May 1968 onwards, massive student and workers riots erupted in Paris against Charles de Gaulles government, Cohn-Bendit quickly emerged as a public face of the student protests, along with Jacques Sauvageot, Alain Geismar and Alain Krivine. His foreign origins were highlighted by opponents of the student movement, leading to students taking up the chant, the French Communist Party leader Georges Marchais described Cohn-Bendit as the German anarchist Cohn-Bendit and denounced some student protesters as sons of the upper bourgeoisie. Who will quickly forget their revolutionary flame in order to manage daddys firm, continued police violence, however, prompted trade unions to support the students, and from 13 May onwards, France was struck by a general strike. Cohn-Bendits political opponents took advantage of his German passport and had him expelled from Saint-Nazaire to Germany on 22 May as a seditious alien, in Frankfurt in the family house, Cohn-Bendit became one of co-founders of the autonomist group Revolutionärer Kampf in Rüsselsheim. From this point his fate was linked with Joschka Fischer, another leader in the group, both were later to become leaders of the Realo wing of the German Green Party, alongside many former Communist and non-Communist libertarian leftists. Some have suggested that the group participated in violent action, which was common in the German extreme left of the early-seventies, but testimony from witnesses appears contradictory, sometimes unreliable. Communal apartments were common on the left, and peaceful political activists could easily have shared living quarters with terrorists, while Fischer was more concerned with demonstrations, Cohn-Bendit worked in the Karl-Marx-Buchhandlung bookshop in Frankfurt and ran an anti-authoritarian kindergarten. In his 1975 book Le Grand Bazar, he described himself as engaging in activities with very young children at the kindergarten
25.
Opel
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Adam Opel AG is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in Rüsselsheim, Hesse, Germany. It is a subsidiary of General Motors but is soon to be part of the French automotive company Groupe PSA, Opel traces its roots to a sewing machine manufacturer founded by Adam Opel in 1862. The company began manufacturing bicycles in 1886 and produced its first automobile in 1899, Opel became a share-limited company in 1929, General Motors took a majority stake in Opel that same year. General Motors assumed full control in 1931, and today Adam Opel AG is an owned subsidiary of General Motors Company. Although Adam Opel AG continues to be a company, shares of the company are not publicly listed. Adam Opel AG is the parent company of General Motors UK Limited, better known as Vauxhall, during the 1970s and 1980s, Opel and Vauxhall ranges were rationalised into one consistent range across Europe. Opel withdrew from China, where it had a network of 22 dealers, furthermore, GM is responsible to pay about US$400 million annually for 15 years to fund the existing German and U. K. pension plans. The company was founded in Rüsselsheim, Hessen, Germany, on January 21,1862, at the beginning, Opel just produced sewing machines in a cowshed in Rüsselsheim. Above all, his success was based on his perfectly customized sewing machines, because of the quick growth of his business, in 1888, the production was relocated from the cowshed to a more spacious building in Rüsselsheim. Encouraged by success, Adam Opel launched a new product in 1886, He began to sell high-wheel bicycles, besides, Opels two sons participated in high-wheel bicycle races, thus promoting this means of transportation. Therefore, the production of high-wheel bicycles soon exceeded the production of sewing machines, at the time of Opels death in 1895, he was the leader in both markets. These cars were made up of Opel bodies mounted on Darracq chassis, the company first showed cars of its own design at the 1902 Hamburg Motor Show, and started manufacturing them in 1906, with Opel Darracq production being discontinued in 1907. In 1909, the Opel 4/8 PS model, known as the Doktorwagen was produced and its reliability and robustness were greatly appreciated by physicians, who drove a lot to see their patients, back when hard-surfaced roads were still rare. The Doktorwagen sold for only 3,950 marks, about half as much as the models of its day. In 1911, the factory was virtually destroyed by fire. In the early 1920s, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to incorporate a mass-production assembly line in the building of their automobiles, in 1924, they used their assembly line to produce a new open two-seater called the Laubfrosch. The Laubfrosch was finished exclusively in green lacquer. The car sold for an expensive 4,500 marks, but by the 1930s, this type of vehicle would cost a mere 1,990 marks – due in part to the assembly line, but also due to the skyrocketing demand for cars
26.
IG Metall
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IG Metall is the dominant metalworkers union in Germany, making it the countrys largest union as well as Europes largest industrial union. Analysts of German labor relations consider it a major trend-setter in national bargaining, the name refers to the unions metalworkers roots dating back to the start of unions in imperial Germany in the 1890s, though this formal organization was founded post-war in 1949. IGM is also a member of international union umbrella organisations. On April 1,1998 the Gewerkschaft Textil und Bekleidung, the union of textile. On January 1,2000 the Gewerkschaft Holz und Kunststoff, the union of wood. Its membership had been dropping in recent decades, yet the union managed to reverse that trend recenly by gaining 30,000 members between 2010 and 2015. In 2015, IG Metall and the U. S, in 2005 it had a circulation of over 2 million. There are 12 issues per year, German homepage English section of German Homepage http, //www. otto-brenner-stiftung. de/englisch. neu/ online version of the magazine, in German Thelen, Kathleen. West European Labor in Transition, Sweden and Germany Compared
27.
German Autumn
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They demanded the release of ten RAF members detained at the Stammheim Prison plus two Palestinian compatriots held in Turkey and US$15 million in exchange for the hostages. It ended on 18 October, with the liberation of the Landshut, the death of the figures of the first generation of the RAF in their prison cells. The phrase German Autumn is derived from the 1978 film Deutschland im Herbst, an omnibus film, it collectively covered the social atmosphere during the time of the RAF, while offering different critical perspectives and arguments pertaining to the situation. Kluge and Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus edited the film, four RAF members, Christian Klar, Knut Folkerts, Günter Sonnenberg and Brigitte Mohnhaupt were formally charged and prosecuted in connection with the Buback murder. In 2007, former RAF members Peter-Jürgen Boock and Verena Becker claimed that another former RAF member, on 30 July 1977, Jürgen Ponto, the head of Dresdner Bank, was shot and killed in his house in Oberursel in a kidnapping that went wrong. Those involved were Brigitte Mohnhaupt, Christian Klar and Susanne Albrecht, on 5 September 1977, an RAF commando unit attacked the chauffeured car carrying Hanns Martin Schleyer, then president of the German employers association, in Cologne. His driver, Heinz Marcisz,41, was forced to brake when a baby carriage suddenly appeared in the street in front of them, the police escort vehicle behind them was unable to stop in time, and crashed into Schleyers car. Four masked RAF members sprayed machine gun and machine pistol bullets into the two vehicles, killing Marcisz and an officer, Roland Pieler,20, who was seated in the backseat of Marciszs car. The driver of the police vehicle, Reinhold Brändle,41 and a third police officer, Helmut Ulmer,24. The hail of bullets riddled over twenty bullet wounds into the bodies of Brändle, Schleyer was abducted and held prisoner in a rented apartment in an anonymous residential neighborhood near Cologne. He was forced to appeal to the center-left West German government under Helmut Schmidt for the first generation of RAF members to be exchanged for him, police investigations to locate Schleyer proved unsuccessful. On 18 October 1977, three of the imprisoned RAF members were dead in their cells. In response, Schleyer was taken from Brussels and shot en route to Mulhouse, France. After the kidnappers phoned the location of the Audi to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur office in Stuttgart, after a long odyssey through the Arabian Peninsula and the execution-type killing of Captain Jürgen Schumann, the hijackers and their hostages landed in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. After political negotiations with the Somali leader Siad Barre, the West German government was granted permission to assault the plane Lufthansa 181 and this was carried out on October 18 by the special task force GSG9, which had been formed after the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis. Only one GSG9 member and one flight-attendant were injured, of the hijackers only Souhaila Andrawes survived, on the same night, three of the imprisoned RAF members – Gudrun Ensslin, Jan-Carl Raspe and Andreas Baader – were found dead in their cells. Irmgard Möller, who was imprisoned with them, survived with four knife wounds in her chest and she later claimed that the suicides were actually extrajudicial killings. On November 12, Ingrid Schubert was found hanged in her cell, germanys political parties also came into fierce clashes during the German Autumn
28.
Terrorism
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Terrorism is, in its broadest sense, the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror or fear, in order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim. It is classified as fourth-generation warfare and as a violent crime, in modern times, terrorism is considered a major threat to society and therefore illegal under anti-terrorism laws in most jurisdictions. It is also considered a war crime under the laws of war when used to target non-combatants, such as civilians, neutral military personnel, a broad array of political organizations have practiced terrorism to further their objectives. It has been practiced by both right-wing and left-wing political organizations, nationalist groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments, there is no universally agreed upon definition of the term, and many definitions exist. According to data from the Global Terrorism Database, more than 61,000 incidents of non-state terrorism, Terrorism comes from the French word terrorisme, and originally referred specifically to state terrorism as practiced by the French government during the 1793–1794 Reign of Terror. The French word terrorisme in turn derives from the Latin verb terrere meaning to frighten, the Jacobins, coming to power in France in 1792, are said to have initiated the Reign of Terror. After the Jacobins lost power, the word terrorist became a term of abuse, although terrorism originally referred to acts committed by a government, currently it usually refers to the killing of innocent people for political purposes in such a way as to create a spectacle. This meaning can be traced back to Sergey Nechayev, who described himself as a terrorist, Nechayev founded the Russian terrorist group Peoples Retribution in 1869. It is a form of state-terrorism, the concept was however developed long before the Second Gulf War by Harlan Ullman as chair of a forum of retired military personnel. The definition of terrorism has proven controversial, various legal systems and government agencies use different definitions of terrorism in their national legislation. Moreover, the community has been slow to formulate a universally agreed. These difficulties arise from the fact that the term terrorism is politically and emotionally charged, in this regard, Angus Martyn, briefing the Australian parliament, stated, The international community has never succeeded in developing an accepted comprehensive definition of terrorism. The international community has adopted a series of conventions that define. U. S. Bruce Hoffman, a scholar, has noted, experts and other long-established scholars in the field are equally incapable of reaching a consensus. Four years and a second later, Schmid was no closer to the goal of his quest. Walter Laqueur despaired of defining terrorism in both editions of his work on the subject, maintaining that it is neither possible to do so nor worthwhile to make the attempt. Hoffman believes it is possible to some key characteristics of terrorism. A definition proposed by Carsten Bockstette at the George C, such acts are meant to send a message from an illicit clandestine organization
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Red Army Faction
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The Red Army Faction or Red Army Fraction, in its early stages commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Group or Baader-Meinhof Gang, was a West German far-left terrorist group supported by the Stasi. The RAF was founded in 1970 by Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler, the West German government considered the Red Army Faction to be a terrorist organization. The Red Army Faction engaged in a series of bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, bank robberies and their activity peaked in late 1977, which led to a national crisis that became known as the German Autumn. The RAF has been responsible for thirty-four deaths, including many secondary targets, such as chauffeurs and bodyguards. Although better-known, the RAF conducted fewer attacks than the Revolutionary Cells, on 20 April 1998, an eight-page typewritten letter in German was faxed to the Reuters news agency, signed RAF with the submachine-gun red star, declaring that the group had dissolved. The Red Army Factions Urban Guerrilla Concept is not based on a view of the prevailing circumstances in the Federal Republic. The origins of the group can be traced back to the student protest movement in West Germany, industrialised nations in the late 1960s experienced social upheavals related to the maturing of the baby boomers, the Cold War and the end of colonialism. Newly found youth identity and issues such as racism, womens liberation, many young people were alienated, from both their parents and the institutions of state. The historical legacy of Nazism drove a wedge between the generations and increased suspicion of authoritarian structures in society, the Communist Party of Germany had been outlawed since 1956. Elected and appointed government positions down to the level were often occupied by ex-Nazis. Konrad Adenauer, the first Federal Republic chancellor, had appointed former Nazi sympathiser Hans Globke as Director of the Federal Chancellery of West Germany. The emergence of the Grand Coalition between the two parties, the SPD and CDU, with former Nazi Party member Kurt Georg Kiesinger as chancellor. This horrified many on the left and was viewed as a monolithic, political marriage of convenience with pro-NATO, with 95% of the Bundestag controlled by the coalition, an Extra-Parliamentary Opposition was formed with the intent of generating protest and political activity outside of government. In 1972 a law was passed--the Radikalenerlass--that banned radicals or those with a questionable political persuasion from public sector jobs, some radicals used the supposed association of large parts of society with Nazism as an argument against any peaceful approaches, Theyll kill us all. You know what kind of pigs were up against and you cant argue with people who made Auschwitz. They have weapons and we havent, the writings of Mao Zedong adapted to Western European conditions. Post-war writings on society and empire as well as contemporary Marxist critiques from many revolutionaries such as Frantz Fanon, Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara. Philosophers associated with the Frankfurt school and associated Marxian philosophers, RAF founder Ulrike Meinhof had a long history in the Communist Party
30.
Revolutionary Cells (German group)
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According to the office of the German Federal Prosecutor, the Revolutionary Cells claimed responsibility for 186 attacks, of which 40 were committed in West Berlin. The Air France hijacking ended with Operation Entebbe, the Israeli rescue raid, prior to the Air France hijacking, members of the later Revolutionary Cells took part in bombings of premises of ITT in Berlin and Nuremberg, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in Karlsruhe. Revolutionary Cells member Hans-Joachim Klein took part in the December,1975 raid on the Vienna OPEC conference, together with Carlos, in June 1981 Revolutionary Cells members bombed the U. S. Army V Corps headquarters in Frankfurt and of officer clubs in Gelnhausen, Bamberg and Hanau. The last attacks by the Revolutionary Cells, two blasts at an airport and at federal infrastructure in the former East Germany, took place in 1993. The group is thought to have lost much of its covert support amongst the radical left in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Klein had sent a letter and his gun to Der Spiegel in 1977, even the notorious political militant Carlos opposed this operation on the grounds that Wiesenthal was an anti-Nazi. According to Simon Wiesenthal, the plot was first proposed by Wilfried Böse, Klein also announced that the Revolutionary Cells planned to assassinate the head of the German Jewish community, Heinz Galinski. You avoid this political discussion and get excited about the maintained fascism of the Revolutionary Cells, Klein hid in Normandy, to where he was eventually traced in 1998. One of the witnesses at his trial was his former friend, in some accounts Fischers break with the far-left was due to the Entebbe affair. The group stated that its participants should be members of society, in contrast to the more elitist Red Army Faction. Structured differently from the better-known RAF, or the more anarchist Movement 2 June and its members were encouraged to remain legal – i. e. Revolutionary Cells, Index to six communiques, rz-beethoven, rz-bobl, rz-fordism, rz-klein, rz-roma2, rz-tisr. may-1992. Archived from the original on 21 November 2004, Revolutionary Cells at Baader-Meinhof. com German Autumn Revolutionary Nuclei attacked Utilities target –1 June 1985, Federal Republic of Germany
31.
Hanns Martin Schleyer
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He was targeted as an enemy by radical elements of the German student movement due to his role in those business organisations and his past activities as an officer of the SS. He was kidnapped on 5 September 1977 by the far left Red Army Faction, the abduction and murder are commonly seen as the climax of the RAF campaign in 1977, known as the German Autumn. Born in Offenburg, Baden, Hanns Martin Schleyer came from a national-conservative family and his father was a judge and his great-great uncle was Johann Martin Schleyer, a renowned Roman Catholic priest who invented the Volapük language. Schleyer began studying law at the University of Heidelberg in 1933, where he joined the Corps Suevia, in 1939 he obtained a doctorate at the University of Innsbruck. Early in his life he became a follower of National Socialism, after a stint in the Hitler Youth, the youth organization of the National Socialist Party, he joined the SS on 1 July 1933, SS number and was an SS Untersturmführer. During his studies he was engaged in the Nazi student movement, one of his mentors at this time was the student leader Gustav Adolf Scheel. In the summer of 1935 Schleyer accused his fraternity of lacking national socialist spirit and he left the fraternity when the Kösener SC, an umbrella organization, refused to exclude Jewish members. Schleyer became a leader in the national socialist student movement and in 1937 joined the Nazi party, at first he was the president of the student body of the University of Heidelberg. Later, Reichsstudentenführer Scheel sent him to post-Anschluss Austria where he occupied the position at the University of Innsbruck. In 1939 Schleyer married Waltrude Ketterer, daughter of the physician, city councillor of Munich, during World War II Schleyer was drafted and spent time on the Western Front. After an accident, he was discharged and appointed president of the student body in Prague, Schleyer became an important deputy and adviser to Bernhard Adolf. On 5 May 1945, Schleyer escaped from the city shortly after the start of the Prague uprising, after World War II, the Allies held Schleyer as a prisoner of war for three years because of his membership as an Untersturmführer in the SS. In his denazification proceeding, Schleyer falsely understated his rank so as to reduce his prospective punishment, in 1949 he became secretary of the chamber of commerce of Baden-Baden. In 1951 Schleyer joined Daimler-Benz, and, with help from a mentor, Fritz Könecke, at the end of the 1960s, he was almost appointed chairman of the board, but lost the position to Joachim Zahn. Successively, Schleyer became more involved in associations, and was a leader in employer. He was simultaneously president of the Confederation of German Employers Associations, in 1977 Schleyer debated with Heinz Oskar Vetter, chairman of the Confederation of German Trade Unions in a crosstalk at the 8. St. Gallen Symposium, which gained a high profile. German Autumn Media related to Hanns Martin Schleyer at Wikimedia Commons
32.
Operation Entebbe
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Operation Entebbe was a successful counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. The hijackers had the objective to free 40 Palestinian and affiliated militants imprisoned in Israel and 13 prisoners in four other countries in exchange for the hostages. The flight, which had originated in Tel Aviv with the destination of Paris, was diverted after a stopover in Athens via Benghazi to Entebbe, the Ugandan government supported the hijackers, and dictator Idi Amin personally welcomed them. Over the following two days,148 non-Israeli hostages were released and flown out to Paris, ninety-four, mainly Israeli, passengers along with the 12-member Air France crew, remained as hostages and were threatened with death. The IDF acted on information provided by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, the hijackers threatened to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands were not met. This threat led to the planning of the rescue operation and these plans included preparation for armed resistance from Ugandan military troops. The operation took place at night, Israeli transport planes carried 100 commandos over 2,500 miles to Uganda for the rescue operation. The operation, which took a week of planning, lasted 90 minutes, of the remaining hostages,102 were rescued. Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, the unit commander, All the hijackers, three hostages, and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed, and thirty Soviet-built MiG-17s and MiG-21s of Ugandas air force were destroyed. Kenyan sources supported Israel, and in the aftermath of the operation Idi Amin issued orders to retaliate, Operation Entebbe, which had the military codename Operation Thunderbolt, is sometimes referred to retroactively as Operation Jonathan in memory of the units leader, Yonatan Netanyahu. He was the brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel. On 27 June 1976, Air France Flight 139, an Airbus A300B4-203, registration F-BVGG, departed from Tel Aviv, Israel, carrying 246 mainly Jewish and Israeli passengers and a crew of 12. The plane flew to Athens, Greece, where it picked up an additional 58 passengers and it departed for Paris at 12,30 pm. The hijackers diverted the flight to Benghazi, Libya, there it was held on the ground for seven hours for refuelling. During that time the hijackers released British-born Israeli citizen Patricia Martell who pretended to have a miscarriage, the plane left Benghazi, and at 3,15 pm on the 28th, more than 24 hours after the flights original departure, it arrived at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. At Entebbe, the four hijackers were joined by at least four others, supported by the forces of Ugandas President, the hijackers transferred the passengers to the transit hall of the disused former airport terminal where they kept them under guard for the following days. Amin came to visit the hostages almost on a basis, updating them on developments. They threatened that if these demands were not met, they would begin to kill hostages on 1 July 1976, as they did so, a Holocaust survivor showed Böse a camp registration number tattooed on his arm
33.
Hesse
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Hesse or Hessia is a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden, the largest city is Frankfurt am Main, the English name Hesse originates in the Hessian dialects. The variant Hessia comes from the medieval Latin Hassia, the German term Hessen is used by the European Commission because their policy is to leave regional names untranslated. The term Hesse ultimately derives from a Germanic tribe called the Chatti, an inhabitant of Hesse is called a Hessian. The synthetic element hassium, number 108 on the table, is named after the state of Hesse. As early as the Paleolithic period, the Central Hessian region was inhabited, due to the favorable climate of the location, people lived there about 50,000 years ago during the last glacial period, as burial sites show from this era. Finds of paleolitical tools in southern Hesse in Rüsselsheim suggest Pleistocene hunters about 13,000 years ago, the Züschen tomb is a prehistoric burial monument, located between Lohne and Züschen, near Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany. Classified as a grave or a Hessian-Westphalian stone cist, it is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Central Europe. Dating to the fourth millennium BC, it belongs to the Late Neolithic Wartberg culture. An early Celtic presence in what is now Hesse is indicated by a mid-fifth-century BC La Tène style burial uncovered at Glauberg, the region was later settled by the Germanic Chatti tribe around the first century BC, and the name Hesse is a continuation of that tribal name. The ancient Romans had a camp in Dorlar, and in Waldgirmes directly on the eastern outskirts of Wetzlar was a civil settlement under construction. Presumably, the government for the occupied territories of the right bank of Germania was planned at this location. The governor of Germania, at least temporarily, likely had resided here, the settlement appears to have been abandoned by the Romans after the devastating Battle of the Teutoburg Forest failed in the year 9 AD. The Chatti were also involved in the Revolt of the Batavi in 69 AD, Hessia occupies the northwestern part of the modern German state of Hesse, its borders were not clearly delineated. Its geographic center is Fritzlar, it extends in the southeast to Hersfeld on the Fulda river, in the north to past Kassel and up to the rivers Diemel, to the west, it occupies the valleys of the rivers Eder and Lahn. It measured roughly 90 kilometers north-south, and 80 north-west, the area around Fritzlar shows evidence of significant pagan belief from the first century on. Excavations have produced a horse burial and bronze artifacts, a possible religious cult may have centered on a natural spring in Geismar, called Heilgenbron, the name Geismar itself may be derived from that spring. By 650, the Franks were establishing themselves as overlords, which is suggested by evidence of burials
34.
Molotov cocktail
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A Molotov cocktail, also known as a petrol bomb, bottle bomb, poor mans grenade, fire bomb or just Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of bottle-based improvised incendiary weapons. They are primarily intended to set targets ablaze rather than obliterate them, the name Molotov cocktail was coined by the Finns during the Winter War. The name was a reference to Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov. The Finns sarcastically dubbed the Soviet cluster bombs Molotov bread baskets in reference to Molotovs propaganda broadcasts, when the hand-held bottle firebomb was developed to attack Soviet tanks, the Finns called it the Molotov cocktail, as a drink to go with the food. The wick is soaked in alcohol or kerosene, rather than petrol. In action, the wick is lit and the bottle hurled at a target such as a vehicle or fortification. When the bottle smashes on impact, the cloud of petrol droplets and vapour ignites. Other flammable liquids such as fuel, methanol, turpentine, jet fuel. Improvised incendiary devices were used for the first time in the Spanish Civil War between July 1936 and April 1939, before they became known as Molotov cocktails, after that, both sides used simple petrol bombs or petrol-soaked blankets with some success. Tom Wintringham, a veteran of the International Brigades, later publicised his recommended method of using them, We made use of petrol bombs roughly as follows, take a heavy curtain, half a blanket, or some other heavy material. Wrap this over the mouth of the jar, tie it round the neck with string, when you want to use it have somebody standing by with a light. Put a corner of the material down in front of you, turn the bottle over so that petrol soaks out round the mouth of the bottle and drips on to this corner of the material. Turn the bottle right way up again, hold it in right hand, most of the blanket bunched beneath the bottle. When near enough, your pal lights the petrol soaked corner of the blanket, throw the bottle and blanket as soon as this corner is flaring. See that it drops in front of the tank, the blanket should catch in the tracks or in a cog-wheel, or wind itself round an axle. Do not play with these things, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a border conflict of 1939 ostensibly between Mongolia and Manchukuo, saw heavy fighting between Japanese and Soviet forces. Short of anti-tank equipment, Japanese infantry attacked Soviet tanks with gasoline-filled bottles, Japanese infantrymen claimed that several hundred Soviet tanks had been destroyed this way, though Soviet loss records do not support this assessment. On 30 November 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, starting what came to be known as the Winter War, the Finns perfected the design and tactical use of the petrol bomb
35.
Ulrike Meinhof
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Ulrike Marie Meinhof was a German left-wing militant. She co-founded the Red Army Faction in 1970 after having worked as a journalist for the monthly left-wing magazine konkret. She was arrested in 1972, and eventually charged with numerous murders, before the trial concluded, Meinhof was found hanged in her prison cell in 1976. Ulrike Meinhof was born in 1934 in Oldenburg, Germany, in 1936, her family moved to Jena when her father, art historian Dr. Werner Meinhof, became director of the citys museum. Her father died of cancer in 1940, causing her mother to take in a boarder, Renate Riemeck, in 1946, the family moved back to Oldenburg because Jena fell under Soviet rule as a result of the Yalta agreement. Ulrikes mother, Dr. Ingeborg Meinhof, worked as a teacher after World War II, Renate Riemeck took on the role of guardian for Ulrike and her elder sister. In 1952, she took her Abitur at a school in Weilburg and she then studied philosophy, sociology, education and German at Marburg where she became involved with reform movements. She eventually became the spokeswoman of the local Anti-Atomtod-Ausschuss, in 1958, she spent a short time on the AStA of the university and wrote articles for various student newspapers. In 1959, she joined the banned Communist Party of Germany and later working at the magazine konkret. In 1961, she married the co-founder and publisher of konkret and their marriage produced twins, Regine and Bettina, on 21 September 1962. Meinhof and Röhl separated in 1967 and divorced a year later, resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more. She stopped writing for konkret which had in her opinion evolved into a commercial magazine in the early part of 1969. Finally, Röhls house was vandalised by some of the protesters, Meinhof arrived in Röhls villa at 11,30, after police and journalists had already arrived. She was accused by Röhl as the organizer of the vandalism, Meinhof had been approached by Gudrun Ensslin, girlfriend of jailed arsonist Andreas Baader, for her help in securing the release of Baader from police custody. A scheme was developed where Meinhof would approach leftist publisher Klaus Wagenbach, seeking to have him hire Meinhof, after securing a contract from Wagenbach, Meinhof petitioned authorities to allow Baader to travel from Moabit Prison to an institute for social research in the Dahlem district of Berlin. The plan was for armed guerrillas to enter the institute and secure the release of Baader, Meinhof was to stay behind, and have a plausibly deniable explanation that she was not involved in the planning of Baaders escape. Baader arrived with two guards, and set to work with Meinhof in the institutes library, two women compatriots of Ensslins, along with a man with a criminal record broke into the institute. The man shot the elderly librarian Georg Linke, severely wounding him in his liver and it was later claimed that the man was holding two weapons, a pistol and a gas canister gun, and accidentally fired the wrong weapon in the confusion
36.
Bundestag
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The Bundestag is a constitutional and legislative body at the federal level in Germany. For its similar function, it is described as a lower house of parliament along the lines of the US House of Representatives. The German constitution, however, does not define the Bundestag, since 1999 it has met in the Reichstag Building in Berlin. Norbert Lammert is the current President of the Bundestag, Members of the Bundestag are usually elected every four years by all adult German citizens in a mixed system of constituency voting and list voting. There are currently 631 seats, however, one – belonging to the CDU – remains vacant. The Election Day, however, can be if the Federal Chancellor loses a vote of no confidence. In the 19th century the name Bundestag was the designation for the assembly of the sovereigns and mayors of the Monarchies. Its seat was in the Free City of Frankfurt on the Main, two decades later, the current parliament building was erected. The Reichstag delegates were elected by direct and equal male suffrage, the Reichstag did not participate in the appointment of the Chancellor until the parliamentary reforms of October 1918. After this the Reichstag met only rarely, usually at the Krolloper following the Reichstag fire starting in 1933 to unanimously rubber-stamp the decisions of the government and it last convened on 26 April 1942. With the new constitution of 1949, the Bundestag was established as the new German parliament, the Bundeshaus in Bonn is the former Parliament Building of Germany. The sessions of the German Bundestag were held there from 1949 until its move to Berlin in 1999, today it houses the International Congress Centre Bundeshaus Bonn and in the north areas the branch office of the Bundesrat. The southern areas became part of German offices for the United Nations in 2008, the former Reichstag building housed a history exhibition and served occasionally as a conference center. The Reichstag building was occasionally used as a venue for sittings of the Bundestag and its committees and the Bundesversammlung. In 2005, an aircraft crashed close to the German parliament. It was then decided to ban private air traffic over Central Berlin, together with the Bundesrat, the Bundestag is the legislative branch of the German political system. The committees play a prominent role in this process, Plenary sessions provide a forum for members to engage in public debate on legislative issues before them, but they tend to be well attended only when significant legislation is being considered. This check on executive power can be employed through binding legislation, public debates on government policy, investigations, for example, the Bundestag can conduct a question hour, in which a government representative responds to a previously submitted written question from a member
37.
Landtag of Hesse
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The Landtag of Hesse is the Parliament of the State of Hesse in the Federal Republic of Germany. It convenes in the Stadtschloss, Wiesbaden, as a Legislature it is responsible for passing laws at the state level and enacting the budget. Its most important function is to elect and control the state government, the constitution of the State of Hesse describes the role of the Landtag in §§75 to 99. The Landtag consists of 110 members of five Parties, there is currently a coalition between the CDU and the Greens. The President of the Landtag is Norbert Kartmann and the Minister-President of Hesse is Volker Bouffier, after World War II, the state of Hesse was restored by the US military administration under the name of Greater Hesse. In 1945, the US military administration implemented the Beratender Landesausschuss, the members of this pre-parliament were appointed and not elected. On 30 June 1946 a Constitutional convention of Hesse was elected and this election was won by the SPD, even if the SPD failed to capture a majority of seats. On 22 November 1945 the constitution for Greater Hesse was introduced, the first regular election on 1 December 1946 was also won by the SPD. A grand coalition of SPD and CDU decided on electing Christian Stock as first free elected Minister-President of Hesse after World War II, the second election on 19 November 1950 inaugurated the 37-year period of the so-called red Hesse. The SPD achieved majority and the CDU, the partner in the grand coalition. Until 1987, all governments of Hesse have been headed by SPD politicians, on 14 December 1950 the former Minister of Justice, Georg August Zinn was elected as Minister-President of Hesse. Zinn was re-elected 4 times and was Minister-President until 3 October 1969, the fourth election of 23 November 1958 perpetuated the previous coalition. Even if the SPD obtained absolute majority on 11 November 1962, on 6 November 1966, the SPD elected a majority of MPs once more. Zinn was appointed one last time as Minister-President, on 3 October 1969, 68-year-old Zinn resigned and Albert Osswald was elected as his successor. Headed by Alfred Dregger the CDU was able to make a jump in the election of 8 November 1970. The SPD lost its majority but agreed on a Social-liberal coalition with the FDP, Alfred Dregger and his CDU were even more successful in the election on 27 October 1974. For the first time in the history of Hesse, the CDU overtook the SPD, but the coalition was confirmed and Osswald stayed as Minister-President. Two years later Osswald resigned because of the Helaba-scandal, holger Börner was elected as Minister-President in his place
German Empire (1871–1918) 
Weimar Republic (1918–33) 
Nazi Germany (1933–45) 
German Democratic Republic1 (1949–90) 
Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present) 