1.
City and town halls
–
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre, a guildhall, a Rathaus, or a municipal building, is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city or town council, its associated departments and it also usually functions as the base of the mayor of a city, town, borough, or county / shire. By convention, until the mid 19th-century, a large open chamber formed an integral part of the building housing the council. The hall may be used for meetings and other significant events. This large chamber, the hall, has become synonymous with the whole building. The terms council chambers, municipal building or variants may be used locally in preference to town hall if no such large hall is present within the building, the local government may endeavor to use the town hall building to promote and enhance the quality of life of the community. In many cases, town halls serve not only as buildings for government functions and these may include art shows, stage performances, exhibits and festivals. Modern town halls or civic centres are designed with a great variety and flexibility of purpose in mind. As symbols of government, city and town halls have distinctive architecture. City hall buildings may also serve as icons that symbolize their cities. The term town hall may be a one, often applied without regard to whether the building serves or served a town or a city. This is generally the case in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, english-speakers in some regions use the term city hall to designate the council offices of a municipality of city status. This is the case in North America, where a distinction is made between city halls and town halls, and is also the case with Brisbane City Hall in Australia. The great hall of the town-house or municipal building, now commonly applied to the whole building city hall. Conversely, cities that have subdivisions with their own councils may have borough halls, in Scotland, local government in larger cities operates from the City Chambers, otherwise the Town House. Elsewhere in English-speaking countries, other names are occasionally used, in London, the official headquarters of administration of the City of London retains its Anglo-Saxon name, the Guildhall, signifying a place where taxes were paid. In a small number of English cities the preferred term is Council House, this was also the case in Bristol until 2012, when the building was renamed City Hall. In Birmingham, there is a distinction between the Council House, the seat of government, and the Town Hall, a concert
City and town halls
–
The
Rathaus in
Hamburg,
Germany, completed in 1897
City and town halls
–
New York City Hall, the oldest continuous seat of local government in the
United States, completed in 1812
City and town halls
–
Executive Building (Old City Hall) in
Cagayan de Oro City,
Philippines
City and town halls
–
16th-century town hall in
Fordwich,
Kent, England, closely resembling a
market hall in its design
2.
Boroughs of Berlin
–
Berlin is both a city and one of Germany’s federal states. Since a 2001 administrative reform, it has made up of twelve boroughs or districts, each with its own local government, though all boroughs are subject to Berlin’s city. Each borough is governed by a council with five councillors and a borough mayor, the borough council is elected by the borough assembly. The borough governments power is limited, and subordinate to the Berlin Senate, the borough mayors form a council of mayors, which advises the Senate. Each borough is made up of several officially recognized subdistricts or neighborhoods, the neighborhoods do not have their own governmental bodies, but are recognized by the city and the boroughs for planning and statistical purposes. Berliners often identify more with the neighborhood where they live than with the borough that governs them, the neighborhoods are further subdivided into statistical tracts, which are mainly used for planning and statistical purposes. The statistical tracts correspond roughly but not exactly with neighbourhoods recognized by residents, by 2000, Berlin comprised 23 boroughs, as three new boroughs had been created in East Berlin. Today Berlin is divided into boroughs, reduced from 23 boroughs before Berlins 2001 administrative reform. An administrative reform in 2001 merged the existing boroughs into the current 12 boroughs, the power of the borough governments is limited and their performance of assigned tasks is subject to a regulatory supervision by the Senate. The BVV assembly is elected by the boroughs population and therefore acts as a borough parliament. It elects the members of the council, checks its daily administration and is able to make applications and recommendations. The twelve borough mayors regularly meet in the Council of Mayors, led by the citys Governing Mayor, the localities have no local government bodies, and the administrative duties of the former locality representative, the Ortsvorsteher, were taken over by the borough mayors. Only the unchanged boroughs of Neukölln, Reinickendorf and Spandau havent changed their field, the coat of arms of Pankow was created with a new design in 2008, having been the only district without an emblem for 7 years. As of 2012, the boroughs are made up of a total of 96 officially recognized localities. Almost all of them are subdivided into several other zones. The largest Ortsteil is Köpenick, the smallest one is Hansaviertel, the most populated is Neukölln, the least populated is Malchow
Boroughs of Berlin
–
The boroughs and localities of Berlin
3.
Berlin
–
Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
Berlin
Berlin
Berlin
Berlin
4.
Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
–
The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin is the state parliament of Berlin, Germany according to the city-states constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchnerstraße in Mitte, the current president of the parliament is Ralf Wieland. The Abgeordnetenhaus parliament was established by the new constitution of West Berlin in 1951 and it replaced the former city legislature called Stadtverordnetenversammlung, established by the Prussian Reforms in 1808 and re-established by Allied-initiated state elections of 1946. After reunification the Abgeordnetenhaus continued to be the parliament of united Berlin, the parliament of Berlin is chosen every five years in a general, free, secret and direct ballot according to the principle of proportional representation. It consists of at least 130 representatives,78 chosen directly in the districts of the Berlin boroughs. If a party wins more constituency seats than its share of the vote. The consideration and passing of legislation is the most important task, in addition, the parliament chooses the Governing Mayor of Berlin, and checks the citys government, the Senate of Berlin. Timeline of Berlin parlament-berlin official website
Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
–
Staircase
Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
–
Nameplate
5.
Governing Mayor of Berlin
–
The Governing Mayor of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. The title Governing Mayor of Berlin is the equivalent of Lord Mayor in the meaning of an executive leader. According to the Berlin Constitution, the Governing Mayor is member, the two deputies additionally hold the title of Mayor. The title Mayor is also held by the heads of the boroughs of Berlin. He is entitled to appoint and release the senators of his government, the seat of the Senate is the city hall Rotes Rathaus in Mitte. He served as head of the city council called Magistrat, the two-stage administration and the office of the boroughs mayors were implemented in the course of the wide-ranging incorporations by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act. West Berlin introduced its own constitution, accounting for the changed facts, the government of West Berlin claimed to be the legitimate government for all of Berlin within the borders established by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act until the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. According to the new ordinance the head of the city was titled Stadtpräsident, following Berlins provisional post-war constitution, enacted under quadripartite Allied rule, the head of city government was titled again Oberbürgermeister. Continuation of the Mayor of West Berlins office, politics of Berlin History of Berlin Timeline of Berlin List of people from Berlin Governing Mayor of Berlin
Governing Mayor of Berlin
–
Incumbent
Michael Müller since 11 December 2014
Governing Mayor of Berlin
–
Seat of the Governing Mayor, the
Rotes Rathaus.
Governing Mayor of Berlin
–
The
Rathaus Schöneberg was the seat of the Mayor of West Berlin during the Division of Germany.
Governing Mayor of Berlin
–
West Berlin Governing Mayor
Walter Momper (l.) and East Berlin Lord Mayor Tino Schwierzina, May 1990
6.
Ich bin ein Berliner
–
Ich bin ein Berliner is a quotation from a June 26,1963, speech by U. S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin. Kennedy aimed to underline the support of the United States for West Germany 22 months after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall to prevent mass emigration to the West. The message was aimed as much at the Soviets as it was at Berliners and was a statement of U. S. policy in the wake of the construction of the Berlin Wall. The speech is considered one of Kennedys best, both a moment of the Cold War and a high point of the New Frontier. It was a morale boost for West Berliners, who lived in an enclave deep inside East Germany. Speaking from a platform erected on the steps of Rathaus Schöneberg for an audience of 450,000, Kennedy said, Two thousand years ago, Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is Ich bin ein Berliner. All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, there is a widespread misconception that the phrase is incorrect German and in fact means Im a doughnut. It has even been embellished into an urban legend including equally incorrect claims about the audience laughing at this phrase, germanys capital, Berlin, was deep within the area controlled after World War II by the Soviet Union. Afterward, the controlled by the NATO Allies became an effective exclave of West Germany. From 1952, the border between East and West was closed everywhere but in Berlin, hundreds of thousands of East Germans defected to the West via West Berlin, a labour drain that threatened East Germany with economic collapse. In 1961, the East German government under Walter Ulbricht erected a barrier around West Berlin. The East German authorities argued that it was meant to prevent spies, however, it was universally known as the Berlin Wall and its real purpose was to keep East German citizens from escaping to the West. Over a period of months the wall was rebuilt using concrete, the Wall closed the biggest loophole in the Iron Curtain, and Berlin went from being one of the easiest places to cross from East Europe to West Europe to being one of the most difficult. The West, including the U. S. was accused of failing to respond forcefully to the erection of the Wall, officially, Berlin was under joint occupation by the four allied powers, each with primary responsibility for a certain zone. Kennedys speech marked the first instance where the U. S. acknowledged that East Berlin was part of the Soviet bloc along with the rest of East Germany. Today, I believe, in 1962 the proudest boast is to say, and it is not enough to merely say it, we must live it. But Americans who serve today in West Berlin—your sons and brothers -- are the Americans who are bearing the great burden, such transcriptions are also found in the third draft of the speech, from June 25. The final typed version of the speech does not contain the transcriptions and it became clear quickly that the president did not have a gift for languages and was more likely to embarrass himself if he was to cite in German for any length
Ich bin ein Berliner
–
Kennedy delivering his speech in Berlin
Ich bin ein Berliner
Ich bin ein Berliner
–
Plaque commemorating Kennedy's speech next to the front entrance of
Rathaus Schöneberg
Ich bin ein Berliner
–
Liberian $5 coin commemorating the speech
7.
John F. Kennedy
–
Kennedy was a member of the Democratic Party, and his New Frontier domestic program was largely enacted as a memorial to him after his death. Kennedy also established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, Kennedys time in office was marked by high tensions with Communist states. He increased the number of American military advisers in South Vietnam by a factor of 18 over President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Cuba, a failed attempt was made at the Bay of Pigs to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro in April 1961. He subsequently rejected plans by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to orchestrate false-flag attacks on American soil in order to gain approval for a war against Cuba. After military service in the United States Naval Reserve in World War II and he was elected subsequently to the U. S. Senate and served as the junior Senator from Massachusetts from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Vice President, and Republican presidential candidate, Richard Nixon in the 1960 U. S, at age 43, he became the youngest elected president and the second-youngest president. Kennedy was also the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president, to date, Kennedy has been the only Roman Catholic president and the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22,1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested that afternoon and determined to have fired the shots that hit the President from a sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald two days later in a jail corridor, then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded Kennedy after he died in the hospital. The FBI and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin, the majority of Americans alive at the time of the assassination, and continuing through 2013, believed that there was a conspiracy and that Oswald was not the only shooter. Since the 1960s, information concerning Kennedys private life has come to light, including his health problems, Kennedy continues to rank highly in historians polls of U. S. presidents and with the general public. His average approval rating of 70% is the highest of any president in Gallups history of systematically measuring job approval and his grandfathers P. J. Kennedy and Boston Mayor John F. Fitzgerald were both Massachusetts politicians. All four of his grandparents were the children of Irish immigrants, Kennedy had an elder brother, Joseph Jr. and seven younger siblings, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean, and Ted. Kennedy lived in Brookline for ten years and attended the Edward Devotion School, the Noble and Greenough Lower School, and the Dexter School through 4th grade. In 1927, the Kennedy family moved to a stately twenty-room, Georgian-style mansion at 5040 Independence Avenue in the Hudson Hill neighborhood of Riverdale, Bronx and he attended the lower campus of Riverdale Country School, a private school for boys, from 5th to 7th grade. Two years later, the moved to 294 Pondfield Road in the New York City suburb of Bronxville, New York. The Kennedy family spent summers at their home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in September 1930, Kennedy—then 13 years old—attended the Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. In late April 1931, he required an appendectomy, after which he withdrew from Canterbury, in September 1931, Kennedy attended Choate, a boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, for 9th through 12th grade
John F. Kennedy
–
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
–
The Kennedy family at
Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1931 with Jack at top left in white shirt. Ted was born the following year.
John F. Kennedy
–
Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy (standing at right) with his PT-109 crew, 1943.
John F. Kennedy
–
Kennedy on his navy patrol boat, the
PT-109, 1943.
8.
Sandstone
–
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earths crust, like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, quartz-bearing sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure, usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. They are formed from cemented grains that may either be fragments of a rock or be mono-minerallic crystals. The cements binding these grains together are typically calcite, clays, grain sizes in sands are defined within the range of 0.0625 mm to 2 mm. The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages, first, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water or from air. Typically, sedimentation occurs by the settling out from suspension. The most common cementing materials are silica and calcium carbonate, which are derived either from dissolution or from alteration of the sand after it was buried. Colours will usually be tan or yellow, a predominant additional colourant in the southwestern United States is iron oxide, which imparts reddish tints ranging from pink to dark red, with additional manganese imparting a purplish hue. Red sandstones are seen in the Southwest and West of Britain, as well as central Europe. The regularity of the latter favours use as a source for masonry, either as a building material or as a facing stone. These physical properties allow the grains to survive multiple recycling events. Quartz grains evolve from rock, which are felsic in origin. Feldspathic framework grains are commonly the second most abundant mineral in sandstones, Feldspar can be divided into two smaller subdivisions, alkali feldspars and plagioclase feldspars. The different types of feldspar can be distinguished under a petrographic microscope, below is a description of the different types of feldspar. Alkali feldspar is a group of minerals in which the composition of the mineral can range from KAlSi3O8 to NaAlSi3O8. Plagioclase feldspar is a group of solid solution minerals that range in composition from NaAlSi3O8 to CaAl2Si2O8. Lithic framework grains are pieces of ancient source rock that have yet to weather away to individual mineral grains, accessory minerals are all other mineral grains in a sandstone, commonly these minerals make up just a small percentage of the grains in a sandstone
Sandstone
–
Cut slab of sandstone showing
Liesegang banding
Sandstone
–
Devonian Sandstone at Suur Taevaskoda,
Põlva County,
Estonia
Sandstone
–
Alcove in the
Navajo Sandstone
Sandstone
–
Sandstone Rock-cut tombs (
Kokhim) in
Petra,
Jordan
9.
German language
–
German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
German language
–
Old Frisian (Alt-Friesisch)
German language
–
The widespread popularity of the
Bible translated into German by
Martin Luther helped establish modern German
German language
–
Examples of German language in
Namibian everyday life
German language
–
German-language newspapers in the U.S. in 1922
10.
Districts of Germany
–
A German district is an administrative subdivision known as Landkreis, except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where it is known simply as Kreis. Most major cities in Germany are not part of a rural district, in this context, those cities are referred to as Kreisfreie Stadt or Stadtkreis. Rural districts are at a level of administration between the German states and the municipal governments. They correspond to level 3 administrative units of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, previously, the similar title Reichskreis was given to groups of states in the Holy Roman Empire. The related term Landeskommissariat was used for administrative divisions in some German territories until the 19th century. The majority of German districts are rural districts of which there are 295, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not usually belong to a district, but take over district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities. These are known as urban districts —cities which constitute a district in their own there are currently 107 of them. As of 2011, approximately 25 million people live in these 107 urban districts, in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are some cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants which are not urban districts, for example Recklinghausen, Siegen, Paderborn, Bergisch Gladbach, Neuss and Moers. Nevertheless, these cities take over many district responsibilities themselves, although they are part of a larger rural district. Midsize towns can perform particular administrative functions of the district as well, the classification as midsize town is usually based on a towns registered population, but varies from state to state. Aachen, Hanover and Göttingen retain certain rights of an urban district, urban districts have these responsibilities and also those of the municipalities. The district council is the highest institution of a district and is responsible for all fundamental guidelines of regional self-administration. This council is elected every five years, except in Bavaria where it is elected every six years. Usually the administrative seat of a district is located in one of its largest towns. However, district council and administrative seat of rural districts are not situated within the district proper. Most of those districts are named after this central city as well. Moers is the biggest city in Germany that is neither an urban district, in parts of northern Germany, Landrat is also the name of the entire district administration, which in southern Germany is known as Kreisverwaltung or Landratsamt. In urban districts similar administrative functions are performed by a mayor, rural districts in some German states have an additional administrative commission called Kreisausschuss
Districts of Germany
–
Administrative divisions of Germany
11.
Greater Berlin Act
–
Berlin had been part of the Province of Brandenburg since 1815. On 1 April 1881, the city became Stadtkreis Berlin, a city district separate from Brandenburg, the Greater Berlin Act was passed by the Prussian parliament on 27 April 1920 and came into effect on 1 October of the same year. With this, the act was an important foundation for the rise of Berlin to a centre of Europe in the 1920s. Apart from minor changes, the city boundary defined in the law is still the same as today, since the reunification of Germany it is the border between the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg
Greater Berlin Act
–
Pre-1920 municipal limits of the City of Berlin (dark red) within the extended city area of Greater Berlin (light red)
12.
Nazi Germany
–
Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
Nazi Germany
–
Hitler became Germany's head of state, with the title of
Führer und Reichskanzler, in 1934.
Nazi Germany
–
Flag
Nazi Germany
–
Joseph Goebbels,
Reich Minister of Propaganda
Nazi Germany
–
Ethnic Germans in
Saaz, Czechoslovakia, greet German soldiers with the
Nazi salute, 1938
13.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
World War II
–
Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
World War II
–
The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
World War II
–
Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
World War II
–
Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
14.
Bombing of Berlin in World War II
–
Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany, was subject to 363 air raids during the Second World War. It was also attacked by aircraft of the Red Air Force, British bombers dropped 45,517 tons of bombs, the Americans dropped 23,000 tons. As the bombings continued more and more people moved out, by May 1945,1.7 million people had fled. When the Second World War began in 1939, the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the United Kingdom had a policy of using aerial bombing only against military targets and against infrastructure such as ports and railways of direct military importance. The first RAF raid on the interior of Germany took place on the night of 10 –11 May, although killing German civilians was never an explicit policy, it was obvious that area bombing must lead to large-scale civilian casualties. With the technology available at the time, the bombing of military targets was possible only by daylight. Before 1941, Berlin, at 950 kilometres from London, was at the range attainable by the British bombers then available to the Allied forces. It could be bombed only at night in summer when the days were longer and it has been argued that this action may actually have saved Britain from defeat. During 1940 there were raids on Berlin, all of which did little damage. The raids grew more frequent in 1941, but were ineffective in hitting important targets. The head of the Air Staff of the RAF, Sir Charles Portal, justified these raids by saying that to get four million people out of bed, the Soviet Union started a bombing campaign on Berlin on 8 August 1941 that extended into early September. Navy bombers, operating from the Moonzund Archipelago conducted 8 raids to Berlin with 3-12 aircraft in each raid, Army bombers, operating from near Leningrad, executed several small raids to Berlin. In total in 1941,33 Soviet aircraft dropped 36,000 kilograms of bombs on Berlin, combat and operational losses for the Soviets tallied 17 aircraft destroyed and 70 crewmen killed. On 7 November 1941, Sir Richard Peirse, head of RAF Bomber Command, launched a raid on Berlin. More than 20 were shot down or crashed, and again little damage was done and this failure led to the dismissal of Peirse and his replacement by Sir Arthur Travers Harris, who believed in both the efficacy and necessity of area bombing. Harris said, The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to everyone else. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places and they sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind. At the same time, new bombers with longer ranges were coming into service, particularly the Avro Lancaster, during most of 1942, however, Bomber Commands priority was attacking Germanys U-boat ports as part of Britains effort to win the Battle of the Atlantic
Bombing of Berlin in World War II
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The ruins of the
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, heavily damaged in an Allied bombing and preserved as a monument
Bombing of Berlin in World War II
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US Air Force over Berlin, 19 May 1944.
Bombing of Berlin in World War II
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Bombing victims laid out in an exhibition hall, autumn 1944
Bombing of Berlin in World War II
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Buildings on fire after an air raid in 1944
15.
Battle of Berlin
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The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II. Following the Vistula–Oder Offensive of January–February 1945, the Red Army had temporarily halted on a line 60 km east of Berlin, on 9 March, Germany established its defence plan for the city with Operation Clausewitz. The first defensive preparations at the outskirts of Berlin were made on 20 March, under the newly appointed commander of Army Group Vistula, General Gotthard Heinrici. When the Soviet offensive resumed on 16 April, two Soviet fronts attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Red Army encircled the city after successful battles of the Seelow Heights, on 23 April General Helmuth Weidling assumed command of the forces within Berlin. The garrison consisted of several depleted and disorganized Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS divisions, along with poorly trained Volkssturm, over the course of the next week, the Red Army gradually took the entire city. Before the battle was over, Hitler and a number of his followers committed suicide. Starting on 12 January 1945, the Red Army began the Vistula–Oder Offensive across the Narew River, and, from Warsaw, an operation on a broad front. On the fourth day, the Red Army broke out and started moving west, up to 30 to 40 km per day, taking East Prussia, Danzig, and Poznań, drawing up on a line 60 km east of Berlin along the Oder River. The newly created Army Group Vistula, under the command of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, attempted a counter-attack, the Red Army then drove on to Pomerania, clearing the right bank of the Oder River, thereby reaching into Silesia. In the south the Siege of Budapest raged, three German attempts to relieve the encircled Hungarian capital city failed, and Budapest fell to the Soviets on 13 February. Adolf Hitler insisted on a counter-attack to recapture the Drau-Danube triangle, the goal was to secure the oil region of Nagykanizsa and regain the Danube River for future operations, but the depleted German forces had been given an impossible task. By 16 March, the German Lake Balaton Offensive had failed, on 30 March, the Soviets entered Austria, and in the Vienna Offensive they captured Vienna on 13 April. Between June and September 1944, the Wehrmacht had lost more than a million men, and it lacked the fuel and armaments needed to operate effectively. On 12 April 1945, Hitler, who had decided to remain in the city against the wishes of his advisers. No plans were made by the Western Allies to seize the city by a ground operation, the major Western Allied contribution to the battle was the bombing of Berlin during 1945. The Soviet offensive into central Germany, what later became East Germany, had two objectives, but the overriding objective was to capture Berlin. The two goals were complementary because possession of the zone could not be won quickly unless Berlin were taken, another consideration was that Berlin itself held useful post-war strategic assets, including Adolf Hitler and the German atomic bomb programme
Battle of Berlin
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After the battle, Soviet soldiers hoist the Soviet flag on the balcony of the
Hotel Adlon in Berlin
Battle of Berlin
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Photo of Willi Hübner awarded the Iron Cross II Class medal
Battle of Berlin
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9 March 1945,
Joseph Goebbels handing Iron Cross II class to 16-year-old Hitler Youth Willi Hübner after capture of
Lauban
Battle of Berlin
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Volkssturmmann with
Panzerschreck, Berlin, April 1945
16.
Mitte (locality)
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Mitte is a central locality of Berlin in the homonymous district of Mitte. Until 2001 it was itself an autonomous district and it comprises the historic centre of Alt-Berlin around the churches of St. Nicholas and St. For these reasons Mitte is considered the heart of Berlin, the history of Mitte corresponds to the history of the entire city until the early 20th century, and with the Greater Berlin Act in 1920 it became the first district of the city. It was among the areas of the city most heavily damaged in World War II and this ended on 1 January 1961, when western Staaken was incorporated into then East German Falkensee, which had already been under its de facto administration since 1 June 1952. Between 1961 and 1990 Mitte, one of the most important boroughs of East Berlin, one of the most important border crossings was Checkpoint Charlie, near Kreuzberg. Situated in central Berlin and mostly in its old town, it is traversed by the river Spree and it borders the localities of Tiergarten, Moabit, Wedding, Gesundbrunnen, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, and Kreuzberg
Mitte (locality)
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Panoramic view of Mitte
Mitte (locality)
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Map of 1688
Mitte (locality)
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Brandenburg Gate
Mitte (locality)
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Fernsehturm
17.
Rotes Rathaus
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The Rotes Rathaus is the town hall of Berlin, located in the Mitte district on Rathausstraße near Alexanderplatz. It is the home to the mayor and the government of the Federal state of Berlin. The name of the building dates from the facade design with red clinker bricks. The Rathaus was built between 1861 and 1869 in the style of the north Italian High Renaissance by Hermann Friedrich Waesemann. It was modelled on the Old Town Hall of Toruń, today Poland and it replaced several individual buildings dating from the Middle Ages and now occupies an entire city block. The building was damaged by Allied bombing in World War II. Following that time, it housed only those of the Soviet sector and they reconstructed Rotes Rathaus, then located in the Soviet sector, served as the town hall of East Berlin, while the Rathaus Schöneberg was the town hall of West Berlin. After German reunification, the administration of reunified Berlin officially moved into the Rotes Rathaus on 1 October 1991, cityMayors feature Red Town Hall 360° Panorama
Rotes Rathaus
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Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall) of Berlin
Rotes Rathaus
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Rotes Rathaus at night
Rotes Rathaus
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Seen from the
Fernsehturm
Rotes Rathaus
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Rotes Rathaus and
Neptunbrunnen
18.
East Berlin
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East Berlin existed between 1949 and 1990 and consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors became West Berlin, strongly associated with West Germany, from 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. In East German official usage, it widespread in the 1970s to refer to the Western part of the city as Westberlin. In May 1945, the Soviet Union installed a city government for the city that was called Magistrate of Greater Berlin. After the war, the Allied Forces initially administrated the city together within the Allied Kommandatura, however, in 1948 the Soviet representative left the Kommandatura and the common administration broke apart during the following months. In the Soviet sector, a city government was established. When the German Democratic Republic was formed in 1949, it immediately claimed East Berlin as its capital - a claim that was recognized by all Communist countries, nevertheless, its representatives to the Peoples Chamber were not directly elected and did not have full voting rights until 1981. In June 1948, all railways and roads leading to West Berlin were blocked, however, more than one-thousand East Germans were escaping to West Berlin each day by 1960. In August 1961, the East German Government tried to stop that from happening by building the Berlin Wall and it was very dangerous for illegal migrants to cross because of the presence of armed guards that were trained to shoot people in such cases. East Germany was a socialist republic, but there was not complete economic equality, privileges such as prestigious apartments and good schooling were given to members of the ruling party and their family. Eventually, Christian churches were allowed to operate without restraint after years of harassment by authorities, in the 1970s wages of East Berliners rose and working hours fell. The United States Command Berlin, for example, published detailed instructions for U. S. military, in fact, the three Western commandants regularly protested against the presence of the East German National Peoples Army in East Berlin, particularly on the occasion of military parades. Nevertheless, the three Western Allies eventually established embassies in East Berlin in the 1970s, although they never recognized it as the capital of East Germany, treaties instead used terms such as seat of government. On 3 October 1990, West and East Germany and West and East Berlin were reunited, after reunification, the East German economy suffered significantly. Many East German factories were shut due to inability to comply with West German pollution and safety standards. Because of this, an amount of West German economic aid was poured into East Germany to revitalize it. This stimulus was part-funded through a 7. 5% tax on income, despite the large sums of economic aid poured into East Berlin, there still remain obvious differences between the former East and West Berlin. East Berlin has a visual style, this is partly due to the greater survival of prewar façades and streetscapes
East Berlin
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Marx-Engels-Platz and the
Palast der Republik in East Berlin in the summer of 1989. The
Fernsehturm (TV Tower) is visible in the background
East Berlin
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Flag
East Berlin
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Easter Sunday 1988 Fernsehturm and Palast der Republik
East Berlin
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Karl Marx Allee apartments
19.
West Berlin
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West Berlin was an enclave which comprised the western part of the city of Berlin during the Cold War. It was formally controlled by the Western Allies and formed a de facto part of West Germany, and was entirely surrounded by the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners as an island of freedom. A wealthy city, West Berlin was noted for its liberal and cosmopolitan character. With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin had the biggest population of any city in Cold War Germany and it was 100 miles east of the Inner German border and only accessible by land from West Germany by narrow rail and highway corridors. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945 and was de facto part of West Germany and it had a special and unique legal status because its administration was formally conducted by the Western Allies. East Berlin, de jure occupied and administered by the Soviet Union, was the de facto capital of East Germany, the Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically divided West Berlin from its East German surroundings until it fell in 1989. The Potsdam Agreement established the framework for the occupation of Germany in the wake of World War II. The territory of Germany, as it existed in 1937, would be reduced by most of Eastern Germany thus creating the former territories of Germany. The remaining territory would be divided into four zones, each administered by one of the allied countries, according to the agreement, the occupation of Berlin would end only as a result of a quadripartite agreement. The Western Allies were guaranteed three air corridors to their sectors of Berlin, and the Soviets also informally allowed road, at first, this arrangement was intended to be only a temporary administrative structure, with all parties declaring that Germany and Berlin would soon be reunited. However, as the relations between the allies and the Soviet Union soured and the Cold War began, the joint administration of Germany. Soon, Soviet-occupied Berlin and western-occupied Berlin had separate city administrations, in 1948, the Soviets tried to force the Western Allies out of Berlin by imposing a land blockade on the western sectors—the Berlin Blockade. The West responded by using its air corridors for supplying their part of the city with food, in May 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade, and West Berlin as a separate city with its own jurisdiction was maintained. Following the Berlin Blockade, normal contacts between East and West Berlin resumed, however, in cases this proved only temporary. In 1952, the East German government began sealing its borders, as a direct result the electrical grids were separated and phone lines were cut. However, the culmination of the schism did not occur until 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall. From the legal theory followed by the Western Allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with the declaration of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic
West Berlin
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West Berlin, as of 1978
West Berlin
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Flag
West Berlin
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In 1969 U.S. military vehicles pass through the residential district of
Zehlendorf, a routine reminder that West Berlin was still legally occupied by the Western Allies of World War II
West Berlin
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President
John F. Kennedy addressing from
Rathaus Schöneberg the people of West Berlin on Rudolf-Wilde-Platz (today's John-F.-Kennedy-Platz), 26 June 1963.
20.
Freedom Bell
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Not to be confused with the Freedom Bell in Washington, D. C. The Freedom Bell in Berlin, Germany, is a bell that was given as a gift from Americans to the city of Berlin in 1950 as a symbol of anti-communism, and was inspired by the American Liberty Bell. Since 1950, the bell has been located in the Rathaus Schöneberg, the former city hall of West Berlin. The campaign was launched by U. S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower on Labor Day,1950, with General Lucius D. Clay, later known as the father of the Berlin airlift, as its chairman. The said purpose of the Campaign was to offer all Americans an opportunity to play a part in a demonstration of the free worlds determination to resist Communist aggression. The bell was conceived by Abbott Washburn and Nate Crabtree and designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, the 10-ton bell arrived from the British foundry of Gillett & Johnston to a ticker tape parade in New York City. It carries the inscription That this world under God shall have a new birth of freedom, the bell subsequently visited 26 American cities, and people in every state were encouraged to sign a Declaration of Freedom. 16 million signatures from American citizens were collected and are enshrined in Berlin along with the bell, the bell then traveled to Berlin, and was permanently installed in the West Berlin city hall on United Nations Day, October 24,1950. More than 400,000 Berliners filled the square before the city hall to witness the dedication ceremonies, General Clay gave a speech and pushed the button that started the bell ringing. Its tones were heard throughout East Berlin and into East Germany, the East German Socialist Unity Party of Germany launched a demonstration several miles from the dedication site, and party members denounced the ball as a war bell, a hunger bell and a death bell. SED central committee member Hans Jendretzky warned, The rope of the bell will become the gallows rope for those who ring it. The bell is rung daily at noon, and at midnight on Christmas Eve, a recording of the ringing was broadcast by RIAS, the American radio in West Berlin, every Sunday just before noon. These broadcasts have continued by the successor of RIAS, Deutschlandradio Kultur. In the radio broadcasts, the ringing of the bell is followed by an excerpt from the text of the Declaration of Freedom in German, read by prominent theatre actors. In 2001, the bell was rung on occasion of the September 11,2001 attacks, and thousands of Berlin citizens paid their respect at John-F. -Kennedy-Platz in front of the former city hall of West Berlin
Freedom Bell
–
The Freedom Bell in Berlin
21.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
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Flag
United States
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The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
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The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
22.
Buddy Bear
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Buddy Bears is the name given to painted, life-size fibreglass bear sculptures developed by Klaus and Eva Herlitz, in cooperation with sculptor Roman Strobl. The raised arms of the standing Buddy Bears are aligned on the dissemination of friendliness and optimism, the Buddy Bear has become an unofficial ambassador for Germany and is a symbol of Berlin since 2001. The story of the Buddy Bears started with an event in Berlin in 2001. Inspired by the idea of bringing art in the streets of a metropolis like the cow parade in Zurich, in addition to the Classic Buddy Bears presented far beyond Berlin’s city limits, the circle of United Buddy Bears came into being in 2002. The Exhibition travel around the world promoting peace, international understanding and tolerance among the nations, cultures, the first activities were presented as the Buddy Bear Berlin Show. In 2001, artists painted approximately 350 bears to appear in the public domain, four different bear designs took part in this activity in the city centre of Berlin. Afterwards, many of the bears were sold at auctions in aid of relief organisations. Nowadays, these Berlin Buddy Bears are exclusively presented on private premises, in front of hotels, there have already been exhibitions of the original Buddy Bears — designed by local artists — in the cities of Shanghai, Buenos Aires and St. Gallen / Switzerland. United Buddy Bears is an art exhibition with more than 140 two metre tall fibreglass bears. The bears stand hand in hand in a peaceful circle, the bears were on display between June and November 2002, in a circle around the Brandenburg Gate. Around 1.5 million people visited this first exhibition, on 6 November 2002, the bears were moved to new locations, including their respective countries embassies in Berlin, or back to country that they were based on. Some of the bears were auctioned off to raise money for UNICEF, after the circle of United Buddy Bears had been such an overwhelming success in 2002, a new circle was created in 2003. The idea was to send the circle on a global tour, on their global tour, the United Buddy Bears promote peace, love, tolerance and international understanding. The circle changes every time it reaches a new city and this is not only due to the local conditions, but also to their constantly changing order, as the bears are always set up in alphabetic order, following the local language of the host country. This always leads to new and sometimes very interesting proximities. Entry to the exhibitions is always free, during past exhibitions more than 35 million visitors have already admired the colourful United Buddy Bears. In every metropolis, the United Buddy Bears exhibitions are supported by the government, the ministries, the mayors. United Buddy Bears Special Ambassador is the actress Dennenesch Zoudé, in 2003, Iraq took part in the circle for the first time and Ustinov gave the opening address of the exhibition in the presence of more than 70 ambassadors
Buddy Bear
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One World Buddy Bear
Buddy Bear
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United Buddy Bears — Exhibition Paris 2012
Buddy Bear
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Two Buddy Bears at
Kurfürstendamm 21, Berlin
Buddy Bear
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United Buddy Bears, Exhibition
Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana 2014
23.
Berlin Blockade
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The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies railway, road, the Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche mark from West Berlin. In response, the Western Allies organized the Berlin airlift to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, the Soviets did not disrupt the airlift for fear this might lead to open conflict. By the spring of 1949, the airlift was clearly succeeding, on 12 May 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin. The Berlin Blockade served to highlight the ideological and economic visions for postwar Europe. These zones were located roughly around the then-current locations of the allied armies, also divided into occupation zones, Berlin was located 100 miles inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. The United States, United Kingdom, and France controlled western portions of the city, factories, equipment, technicians, managers and skilled personnel were removed to the Soviet Union. Stalin and other leaders told visiting Bulgarian and Yugoslavian delegations in early 1946 that Germany must be both Soviet and communist, a further factor contributing to the Blockade was that there had never been a formal agreement guaranteeing rail and road access to Berlin through the Soviet zone. At the end of the war, western leaders had relied on Soviet goodwill to them with access. The Soviets also granted only three air corridors for access to Berlin from Hamburg, Bückeburg and Frankfurt, in response, the Soviets started a public relations campaign against American policy and began to obstruct the administrative work of all four zones of occupation. Until the blockade began in 1948, the Truman Administration had not decided whether American forces should remain in West Berlin after the establishment of a West German government, Berlin quickly became the focal point of both US and Soviet efforts to re-align Europe to their respective visions. As Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov noted, What happens to Berlin, happens to Germany, what happens to Germany, Berlin had suffered enormous damage, its prewar population of 4.3 million people was reduced to 2.8 million. After harsh treatment, forced emigration, political repression and the hard winter of 1945–1946. Local elections in 1946 resulted in a massive anti-communist protest vote, Berlins citizens overwhelmingly elected non-Communist members to its city council. Meanwhile, to coordinate the economies of the British and United States occupation zones, after March 1946 the British zonal advisory board was established, with representatives of the states, the central offices, political parties, trade unions, and consumer organisations. As indicated by its name, the advisory board had no legislative power. The Control Commission for Germany – British Element made all decisions with its legislative power and it created its own central bodies headed by a secretariat seated in Stuttgart. Eventually the London Agreement on German External Debts, also known as the London Debt Agreement, was concluded, in response to the announcement of the first of these meetings, in late January 1948, the Soviets began stopping British and American trains to Berlin to check passenger identities
Berlin Blockade
–
Berliners watch a US Air Force
Douglas C-54 Skymaster land at
Tempelhof Airport, 1948
Berlin Blockade
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C-47 Skytrains unloading at
Tempelhof Airport during the Berlin Airlift.
Berlin Blockade
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Loading milk on a West Berlin-bound aircraft
Berlin Blockade
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Germans watching supply planes at Tempelhof.
24.
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
–
The Uprising of 1953 in East Germany started with a strike by East Berlin construction workers on 16 June 1953. It turned into an uprising against the German Democratic Republic government the next day. In Germany, the revolt is often called Peoples Uprising in East Germany, in remembrance of it,17 June became a national holiday of West Germany, prevailing until reunification. The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, in spite of the intervention of Soviet troops, the wave of strikes and protests was not easily brought under control. Even after 17 June there were demonstrations in more than 500 towns, in July 1952 the second party conference of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany took place in East Berlin. The party was acting on demands made by Soviet premier Joseph Stalin and this meant for example the division of the five Länder into 14 regions plus East Berlin. This decision was made amid the background of the economic situation in the country. In the course of the militarisation pushed by Soviet authorities, direct and indirect military expenditures rose, together with reparation payments, this totalled over 20% of the budget. Electricity was turned off in factories and public buildings at the onset of every evening. The dramatic increase of emigration in the first half of 1953, already high since the establishment of the GDR, constituted a serious economic, another factor that contributed to an already complicated political situation was the high number of political prisoners in the GDR. Suppression of the illegal organisation Junge Gemeinde, wrongly perceived as the youth organisation of the Evangelical Church. Ecclesiastic recreation centres were closed and taken over by the FDJ, high school students who belonged to a church were often expelled by the school authorities, sometimes even shortly before school graduation. Within this complicated background, the decision to raise the work norms was perceived as a provocation and these changes were coming into force by 30 June 1953, Ulbrichts 60th birthday. The decision was taken on 13–14 May 1953, and the Council of Ministers approved it on 28 May, following Stalins death in March 1953 and the massive increase in emigration the new Soviet government decided to ease the policies Stalin had demanded. On 4 June 1953, the Soviet government, alarmed at reports of unrest, georgy Malenkov warned them that if policy direction were not corrected immediately, there would be a catastrophe. After intense discussion the East German party eased policies and publicly admitted that mistakes had been made, however, according to the historian of East Germany, Manfred Wilke, that admission may have had the unintended effect of inflaming public opinion rather than easing tensions. Their numbers quickly swelled and a strike and protests were called for the next day. Early on 17 June 40,000 protesters had gathered in East Berlin, many protests were held throughout East Germany with at least some work stoppages and protests in virtually all industrial centers and large cities in the country
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
–
A Soviet
IS-2 tank in
Leipzig on 17 June 1953
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
–
A Soviet
T-34/85 tank in Berlin, 17 June 1953.
Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
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West Berlin stamp (1953)
25.
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
–
Though leaderless when it first began, it was the first major threat to Soviet control since the USSRs forces drove out Nazi Germany from its territory at the end of World War II. The revolt began as a student demonstration, which attracted thousands as they marched through central Budapest to the Parliament building, calling out on the using a van with loudspeakers. A student delegation, entering the building to try to broadcast the students demands, was detained. When the delegations release was demanded by the demonstrators outside, they were fired upon by the State Security Police from within the building, one student died and was wrapped in a flag and held above the crowd. This was the start of the revolution, as the news spread, disorder and violence erupted throughout the capital. The revolt spread quickly across Hungary and the government collapsed, thousands organised into militias, battling the ÁVH and Soviet troops. Pro-Soviet communists and ÁVH members were executed or imprisoned and former political prisoners were released and armed. Radical impromptu workers councils wrested municipal control from the ruling Hungarian Working Peoples Party, a new government formally disbanded the ÁVH, declared its intention to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact, and pledged to re-establish free elections. By the end of October, fighting had almost stopped and a sense of normality began to return, after announcing a willingness to negotiate a withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Politburo changed its mind and moved to crush the revolution. On 4 November, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest and other regions of the country, the Hungarian resistance continued until 10 November. Over 2,500 Hungarians and 700 Soviet troops were killed in the conflict, mass arrests and denunciations continued for months thereafter. By January 1957, the new Soviet-installed government had suppressed all public opposition, public discussion about this revolution was suppressed in Hungary for more than 30 years. Since the thaw of the 1980s, it has been a subject of intense study, at the inauguration of the Third Hungarian Republic in 1989,23 October was declared a national holiday. During World War II Hungary was a member of the Axis powers, allied with the forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Romania, in 1941, the Hungarian military participated in the occupation of Yugoslavia and the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Red Army was able to back the Hungarian and other Axis invaders. Fearing invasion, the Hungarian government began negotiations with the Allies. These ended when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied the country and set up its own pro-Axis regime, both Hungarian and German forces stationed in Hungary were subsequently defeated when the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1945. Towards the end of World War II, the Soviet Army occupied Hungary, immediately after World War II, Hungary was a multiparty democracy, and elections in 1945 produced a coalition government under Prime Minister Zoltán Tildy
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
–
A destroyed Soviet T34-85 in Budapest, 1956. The turret is lying behind the hull.
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
–
Flag of Hungary, with the communist coat of arms cut out. The flag with a hole became the symbol of the revolution. (Photographed at the "Corvin köz")
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
–
A recreation of the statue of
Joseph Stalin, toppled during the revolution (currently on display at
Memento Park near Budapest)
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
–
Flyer. Imre Nagy, Head of government – 1956.10.27
26.
Berlin Wall
–
The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1992, the barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, fakir beds and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany, the West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the Wall of Shame—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Walls restriction on freedom of movement. Between 1961 and 1989, the Wall prevented almost all such emigration, during this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany, crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall, contrary to popular belief the Walls actual demolition did not begin until the summer of 1990 and was not completed until 1992. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, the capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the citys location, which was fully within the Soviet zone. Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the occupying powers. Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone, if statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death. Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a part of school curricula, sending professors. The East Germans created a political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance. In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several countries began a massive airlift, supplying West Berlin with food. The Soviets mounted a public campaign against the Western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein, in May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin. The German Democratic Republic was declared on 7 October 1949, by a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets permeated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control, East Germany differed from West Germany, which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy and a democratic parliamentary government
Berlin Wall
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View from the West Berlin side of
graffiti art on the wall in 1986. The wall's "death strip", on the east side of the wall, here follows the curve of the
Luisenstadt Canal (filled in 1932).
Berlin Wall
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Satellite image of Berlin, with the wall's location marked in yellow
Berlin Wall
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East German
Combat Groups of the Working Class close the border on 13 August 1961 in preparation of the Berlin Wall construction.
Berlin Wall
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East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961.
27.
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
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On November 22,1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas while riding in a motorcade in Dallas Dealey Plaza, at 12,30 p. m. Fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, he was traveling with his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, Kennedys death marked the fourth and most recent assassination of an American President. The Committee was not able to identify any individuals or groups involved with the conspiracy, in addition, the HSCA found that the original federal investigations were seriously flawed in respect of information-sharing and the possibility of conspiracy. As recommended by the HSCA, the evidence indicating conspiracy was subsequently re-examined and rejected. However, Kennedys assassination is still the subject of debate and has spawned numerous conspiracy theories. Polling in 2013 showed that 60% of Americans believe that a group of conspirators was responsible for the assassination, President Kennedy traveled to Texas to smooth over frictions in the Democratic Party between liberals Ralph Yarborough and Don Yarborough and conservative John Connally. A presidential visit to the state of Texas was first agreed upon by Lyndon B. Johnson, President John F. Kennedys vice president, and Texas native, President Kennedys trip to Dallas was first announced to the public in September 1963. The exact motorcade route was finalized on November 18 and announced to the public a few days before November 22, the White House staff informed the Secret Service that the President would arrive there via a short flight from Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth to Dallas Love Field. Leaving from Dallas Love Field,45 minutes had been allotted for the motorcade to reach the Trade Mart at an arrival time of 12,15 p. m. The actual route was chosen to be a meandering 10-mile route between the two places, which could be driven slowly in the allotted time, on November 14, both men attended a meeting at Love Field and drove over the route that Sorrels believed best suited for the motorcade. From Love Field, the route passed through a portion of Dallas, through Downtown along Main Street. The planned route to the Trade Mart was widely reported in Dallas newspapers several days before the event, for the benefit of people who wished to view the motorcade. The route on Main Street precluded a direct turn onto the Fort Worth Turnpike exit, the Texas School Book Depository was situated at this corner of Houston and Elm. Three vehicles were used for Secret Service and police protection in the Dallas motorcade, the first car, an unmarked white Ford, carried Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry, Secret Service Agent Win Lawson, Sheriff Bill Decker and Dallas Field Agent Forrest Sorrels. The second car, a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible, held driver Agent Bill Greer, SAIC Roy Kellerman, Governor John Connally, Nellie Connally, President Kennedy, Secret Service agents Clint Hill, Jack Ready, Tim McIntyre and Paul Landis rode on the running boards. By the time the motorcade reached Dealey Plaza, they were five minutes away from their planned destination. At 12,30 p. m. President, you cant say Dallas doesnt love you and those were the last words ever spoken by John F. Kennedy
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
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An
aerial view of
Dealey Plaza showing the route of President Kennedy's motorcade
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
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President Kennedy with his wife, Jacqueline, and
Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, in the
presidential limousine, minutes before the President's assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
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Ike Altgens ' photo of the Presidential limousine taken between the first and second shots that hit President Kennedy. President Kennedy's left hand is in front of his throat and Mrs. Kennedy's left hand is holding his arm.
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
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Polaroid photo by
Mary Ann Moorman taken a fraction of a second after the fatal shot (detail).
28.
Helmut Kohl
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Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German statesman, who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and as the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998. From 1969 to 1976, Kohl was the 3rd Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate, Kohls 16-year tenure was the longest of any German Chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and by far the longest of any democratically elected Chancellor. Kohl oversaw the end of the Cold War, and is regarded as the main architect of the German reunification. Together with French President François Mitterrand, Kohl is also considered to be the architect of the Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union. Kohl has been described as the greatest European leader of the half of the 20th century by U. S. Presidents George H. W. Bush. With the death of Helmut Schmidt in November 2015, he became the oldest living former German chancellor, Helmut Kohl was born on 3 April 1930 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany, the third child of Hans Kohl, a civil servant, and his wife, Cäcilie. Kohls family was conservative and Roman Catholic, and remained loyal to the Catholic Centre Party before and his older brother died in the Second World War as a teenage soldier. At the age of ten, Kohl was obliged, like any child in Germany at the time, to join the Deutsches Jungvolk, a section of the Hitler Youth. Aged 15, on 20 April 1945, Adolf Hitlers birthday, Kohl was sworn in to the Hitler Youth by leader Artur Axmann at Berchtesgaden, just days before the end of the war. Kohl was also drafted for service in 1945, however, he was not involved in any combat. Kohl attended the Ruprecht Elementary School, and continued at the Max-Planck-Gymnasium, after graduating in 1950, Kohl began to study law in Frankfurt am Main, spending two semesters commuting between Ludwigshafen and Frankfurt. Here, Kohl heard lectures from Carlo Schmid and Walter Hallstein among others, in 1951, Kohl switched to the University of Heidelberg, where he majored in History and Political Science. Kohl was the first in his family to attend university, after graduating in 1956, Kohl became a fellow at the Alfred Weber Institute of the University of Heidelberg under Dolf Sternberger where he was an active member of the student society AIESEC. In 1958, Kohl received his degree for his thesis The Political Developments in the Palatinate. After that, Kohl entered business, first as an assistant to the director of a foundry in Ludwigshafen and, in April 1960, as a manager for the Industrial Union for Chemistry in Ludwigshafen. In 1960, Kohl married Hannelore Renner, after he had asked for her hand in marriage in 1953. Both had known each other since 1948, when met in a dancing class. They had two sons, born in 1963 and 1965, in 1946, Kohl joined the recently founded CDU, becoming a full member once he turned 18 in 1948
Helmut Kohl
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Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
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Helmut Kohl, 1969
Helmut Kohl
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Helmut Kohl in 1986
Helmut Kohl
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Chancellor Kohl at a 1987
European Council meeting with vice chancellor and foreign minister
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
29.
Willy Brandt
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He was the first Social Democrat chancellor since 1930. Brandt was originally considered one of the leaders of the wing of the SPD. He served as Foreign Minister and as Vice Chancellor in Kurt Georg Kiesingers cabinet, Brandt was controversial on both the right wing, for his Ostpolitik, and on the left wing, for his support of American policies, including the Vietnam War, and right-wing authoritarian regimes. The Brandt Report became a measure for describing the general North-South divide in world economics and politics between an affluent North and a poor South. Brandt was also known for his fierce anti-communist policies at the domestic level, Brandt resigned as chancellor in 1974, after Günter Guillaume, one of his closest aides, was exposed as an agent of the Stasi, the East German secret service. Willy Brandt was born Herbert Ernst Carl Frahm in the Free City of Lübeck on 18 December 1913 and his mother was Martha Frahm, a single parent, who worked as a cashier for a department store. His father was an accountant from Hamburg named John Möller, whom Brandt never met, as his mother worked six days a week, he was mainly brought up by his mothers stepfather, Ludwig Frahm, and his second wife, Dora. After passing his Abitur in 1932 at Johanneum zu Lübeck, he became an apprentice at the shipbroker and he joined the Socialist Youth in 1929 and the Social Democratic Party in 1930. He left the SPD to join the left wing Socialist Workers Party, which was allied to the POUM in Spain. In 1933, using his connections with the port and its ships and it was at this time that he adopted the pseudonym Willy Brandt to avoid detection by Nazi agents. In 1934, he took part in the founding of the International Bureau of Revolutionary Youth Organizations, Brandt was in Germany from September to December 1936, disguised as a Norwegian student named Gunnar Gaasland. The real Gunnar Gaasland was married to Gertrud Meyer from Lübeck in a marriage of convenience to protect her from deportation, Meyer had joined Brandt in Norway in July 1933. In 1937, during the Civil War, Brandt worked in Spain as a journalist, in 1938, the German government revoked his citizenship, so he applied for Norwegian citizenship. In 1940, he was arrested in Norway by occupying German forces, on his release, he escaped to neutral Sweden. In August 1940, he became a Norwegian citizen, receiving his passport from the Norwegian legation in Stockholm, in exile in Norway and Sweden Brandt learned Norwegian and Swedish. Brandt spoke Norwegian fluently, and retained a relationship with Norway. In late 1946, Brandt returned to Berlin, working for the Norwegian government, in 1948, he joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany and became a German citizen again, formally adopting the pseudonym Willy Brandt as his legal name. In 1950, Brandt, being a member of the federal parliament, being confronted with this during his life, Brandt always denied
Willy Brandt
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Brandt in 1980
Willy Brandt
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Brandt meeting
John F. Kennedy in 1961
Willy Brandt
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Willy Brandt with
French president
Georges Pompidou in
Cologne, 3 July 1972.
Willy Brandt
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Willy Brandt talking at an
SPD meeting in
Dortmund, 1983
_John_F_Kennedy.JPG)
