What we know today as Germany was born out of the remains of the medieval powerhouse known as the Holy Roman Empire. This imperial state was the single stable political and military force in Europe following the collapse of the Roman Empire. As its name implies, this Germanic state hoped to replace the original Roman Empire in all of its splendor and political/military might, and for the most part it did a fairly remarkable job at it. This empire was so powerful that even Popes relied on the good graces of the Holy Roman Emperor to wield the power that they enjoyed. However, as time went on, the empire began to crumble until eventually there was nothing left of it but a fragmented confederation (The German Confederation) that was able to exert some sort of influence on its neighbors, but nothing like the power of the Empire. The descent of the modern German state from the Holy Roman Empire is most evident in the state shield used by Germany today. This shield displays the imperial eagle that was used on war banners by the imperial army. The imperial eagle may also be seen flown from the standard of the President of the Federal Republic.
By the later half of the 19th century, however, due in large part to Otto von Bismark, the German states began to once again coalesce and a new empire was born. This was what was known as the German Empire (Hitler called it the Second Reich, the Holy Roman Empire being the First Reich.) Under a new Hapsburg Kaiser (who was also the King of Prussia), the reunification of Germany was accomplished in 1870. The Second Reich flew a flag that was the combination of the black and white flag of the North German Confederation and the white and red flag of the Hanseatic League. It was under this flag that the militarization of Germany began in the opening years of the 20th century, leading up to the First World War.
Following Germany's defeat in World War I, the Empire was dismantled and replaced with a very weak republic known as the Weimar Republic. It was under this republic that the design of the modern German flag first appeared. The proportions of the Republic's flag was 2:3 and it served only as a civil and state flag. The Weimar Republic was viewed as a political disgrace to the Germans, forced upon them by the rest of the world seeking revenge and a way to keep Germany weak. The Weimar reality confirmed this for the average German. The German economy was miserably depressed and its military was barely able to defend the Germany state. German morale was at an all time low and misery began to turn into anger and hate. It was in this volatile environment that Adolph Hilter appeared and promised a way out.
By 1933, Adolph Hitler managed to be appointed Chancellor of Germany, his German National Socialist Party sharing power with the German National People's Party. When a fire destroyed the Reichstag building, Hitler was able to convince the nation that the fire was deliberately set by the communists. Taking advantage of the public's fear of a communist plot, he quickly called elections that gave him complete control of the government. Once solely in power, Hilter abolished all political parties except his own. Thus the Third Reich was born and the road to World War II was paved. With absolute control, Hitler abolished the flag of the shameful Weimar Republic and replaced it with a flag of his own design (or at least he claimed credit in Mein Kampf). The Swastka is an ancient symbol that has been used by almost every culture on earth. In Europe it was originally a symbol of the sun and was also used extensively on maps to show important places (ie, powerful places). In Hitler's mind, it was an ancient Aryan symbol for power. In Mein Kampf, Hitler states that he would have been happy to see the return of the black, white, and red flag of the Second Reich, but since he realized that his party and its followers needed a symbol around which to rally he agreed that the Swastika could be that symbol and placed it on a white disk set in a red field. The red field was decided, Hitler explained, to answer and counterbalance the red banners of the Communists. Once the flag was designed, Hitler ordered that it be used side by side with the flag of the former empire. By 1935, however, it was the exclusive flag of the Third Reich.
With the collapse of the Third Riech in 1945, the Swastika was abolished and prohibited from public display. The four occupying forces (the U.S., U.K., France, and U.S.S.R.) each flew the flag of their respective countries, but Germany was left without a flag until the process of returning control of the government back to the German people began. It was clear by 1949 that Germany would be divided into two separate countries, one allied with the United States and the West and the other with the Soviet Union and the communist East. Both chose to re-adopt the black, red, and gold tricolor of the Weimar Republic, but changed the proportions to 3:5. The East Germans added a communist-style emblem to the center of the field, while the West Germans flew an unaltered banner. When the Germanys were reunited in 1989 after the collapse of communism, the East German flag was abolished and the West German flag flew over the united country. |
