German History

Highlights of the History of Germany

German Empire Proclaimed in Versailles
Kaiser and Bismarck Proclaim German Empire in Versailles, 1871
Public domain image from Wikipedia.

Readings in the histories of The Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Wuttenberg, the other pre-unification principalities, and Germany as a whole from the earliest times by some of the greatest writers.

Some Years listed below are approximate.

YearTitleAuthor(s)
9 ADArminius Drives Romans Out of GermanySir Edward Creasy
14 ADGermanicus in GermanyTacitus
449-579Germans Conquer BritainJohn R. Green| |Charles Knight
451Attila the Hun Invades the Western Roman EmpireSir Edward S. Creasy| |Edward Gibbon
486-511Clovis Founds the Frankish EmpireFrançois P.G. Guizot
751The Carolingian Dynasty BeginsFrançois P.G. Guizot
772-814CharlemagneFrançois P.G. Guizot
817Empire of the Franks Splits and DecaysFrançois P. G. Guizot
911-936Henry the Fowler’s ReignWolfgang Menzel
1000ChivalryLéon Gautier
1048Holy Roman Emperor Takes Control of the PapacyFerdinand Gregorovius| |Joseph Darras
1095Pope Launches CrusadeJack Le Moine
1183The Peace Of Constance Secures The Liberties Of The Lombard CitiesErnest F. Henderson
1189-1194The Third CrusadeHenry Von Sybel
1190-1809The Teutonic KnightsFrederick C. Woodhouse
1204Constantinople Taken by the Western CrusadersEdwin Pears
1208Zenith of Papal PowerThomas F. Tout
1273Hapsburg Dynasty FoundedWilliam Coxe
1348The Black Death Reaches EuropeJ. F. C. Hecker| |Giovanni Boccaccio
1356Charles IV Publishes His Golden BullSir Robert Comyn
1358The Hanseatic League’s StoryHarry Denicke
1374Medieval Dancing ManiaJ. F. C. Hecker
1380The House of Hohenzollern Established in BrandenburgThomas Carlyle
1414Council of Constance 1414Richard Lodge
1415The Trial and Burning of John HussRichard Chenevix Trench
YearTitleAuthor(s)
1517Luther Begins the Reformation in GermanyJulius Koestlin| |Jean-M.-Vincent Audin
1524The Peasants’ War in GermanyJean-Henri Merle d’Aubigné
1525The Battle of PaviaWilliam Robertson
1546Protestant Struggle Against Charles V – The Smalkaldic WarEdward Armstrong
1552France Breaks Up Holy Roman EmpireLady Catherine Charlotte Jackson
1555The Peace of Augsburg and the Abdication of Charles VWilliam Robertson
1618The Thirty Years WarSamuel R. Gardiner| |Charles F. Horne
1632Gustavus Adolphus at LutzenBenjamin Chapman
1640The Great Elector Grows PrussiaThomas Carlyle
1701Prussia Proclaimed a KingdomLeopold von Ranke
1740Prussia Invades SilesiaWilliam Smyth
1750Bach Lays the Foundation of Modern MusicHenry Tipper
1756-63The Seven Years WarWolfgang Menzel| |Frederick The Great
1772First Partition of PolandJames Fletcher
1775Goethe and the Intellectual Revolt of GermanyKarl Hillebrand
1792Europe’s First Battle Against Republican FranceAlphonse M. L. Lamartine
1794Poland’s DownfallSir Archibald Alison
1806Napoleon Crushes PrussiaSir Walter Scott
1813Leipzig Battle of the NationsWolfgang Menzel
1814The Congress of Vienna 1814-15Henry M. Stephens
1815The Battle of WaterlooWolfgang Menzel| |William Siborne| |Victor Hugo
YearTitleAuthor(s)
1816The Holy Alliance – European Reaction Under MetternichCharles Edmund Maurice
18481848 German RevolutionsC. Edmund Maurice
1866The Austro-Prussian WarCharles A. Fyffe
1870Battle of SedanHelmuth von Moltke| |Otto von Bismark
1871German Siege of ParisCharles F. Horne
1871Unification of GermanyEmil Reich
1873Communist International 1864-1873Thomas Kirkup
1878The Berlin Congress of 1878Stephen P.H. Duggan
1881-1890Consolidation of GermanyCharles Lowe
1899Baghdad Railway Contract Goes to GermansJack Le Moine
1912Militarism Before World War INorman Angell| |Sir Max Waechter.
1918The End of the German EmpireKaiser Willhelm II
1941-45The Russian Front in World War IIVideo
1942Hitler Meets Finland’s MannerheimAudio Recording
1944D-Day Summary (infographic)Corey Truman
1945Pondering Hitler’s LegacyGeorge Friedman

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