Historija Njemačke
Nemački jezik i „germanizam“ postoje više od hiljadu godina, ali je država po imenu Nemačka kao moderna nacionalna država formirana tek 1871. godine, kada je Pruska predvodila nemačke države do pobede nad Francuskom. Tada je nastao drugi nemački Rajh (), obično prepoznatljiv kao Carstvo.

Prvi rajh, poznatiji kao Sveto rimsko carstvo Nemačke nacije, je nastao podelom Karolinškog carstva (843), koga je ranije osnovao Karlo Veliki. Carstvo je trajalo sve do 1806. Tokom ovih hiljadu godina, Nemci su uspešno proširili svoj uticaj na istok uz pomoć Katoličke crkve, Tevtonskog viteškog reda i Hanzeatske lige.

Godine 1530, pokušaj protestantske reformacije Katoličke crkve je propao, što je dovelo do formiranja nove, Protestantske crkve, koja je postala nova zvanična religija u mnogim nemačkim državama. Ova događanja su dovela do Tridesetogodišnjeg rata (1618), koji je, kada se završio Vestfalskim mirom (1648), učinio da Nemačka postane ekonomski iscrpljena i politički nestabilna. Ovakva situacija je onemogućila da Nemačka ponudi efikasan otpor Napoleonu i Sveto rimsko carstvo je bilo ukinuto 1806. Posle pada Napoleona sklopljena je Nemačka konfederacija (-{Deutscher Bund)}-, gde je glavnu reč imala Austrija. Konfederacija se sastojala od 39 malih država.

Ambiciozni premijer Pruske, Oto fon Bizmark, je iskoristio težnje za nacionalnim ujedinjenjem da veštom unutrašnjom i spoljnom politikom nametne dominaciju Pruske monarhije. Bizmark je bio poznat kao „kulturni borac“ protiv katoličanstva i borac za socijalne reforme.

Posle francuskog poraza u Francusko-pruskom ratu (1870.), Drugi rajh je proglašen u Versaju, 18. januara 1871.

Međutim, u Prvom svetskom ratu (1914—1918), kada je invazija na Francusku bila glavni cilj, na kraju je pobedila Francuska.
Time je okončan Drugi nemački rajh, kada je nemački car Viljem II bio prinuđen da abdicira.

Posle revolucije i odbacivanja monarhije, konstituisana je demokratska Vajmarska Republika. Veliki ekonomski problemi Nemačke izazvani Velikom depresijom i diktatima Versajskog mira, doveli su do odbacivanja demokratije od strane i levo i desno orijentisanih nemačkih građana.

Nacistička Nemačka 

Na dvaput održanim izborima 1932, Nacisti su dobili 37,2% glasova u julu, a 33% u novembru. 30. januara 1933, Adolf Hitler je imenovan za kancelara Nemačke, a 23. marta 1933. godine nemački parlament je ukinuo ustav Vajmarske Republike.
Treći rajh je trajao od 1933. do 1945. i bio je utemeljen na nacional-socijalizmu, odnosno nacizmu. 1934. Hitler je preuzeo apsolutnu kontrolu nad vladom, kada je de fakto postao i predsednik Nemačke. Nakon aneksije Austije (1938), politika anektiranja susednih teritorija, dovela je do Drugog svetskog rata, koji je u Evropi otpočeo 1. septembra 1939. kada je Nemačka okupirala Poljsku. Nemačka i njeni saveznici su imali veliku i dobro kontrolisanu vojsku koja preuzela kontrolu nad gotovo celom teritorijom Evrope.

Posle operacije Barbarosa (napada na Sovjetski Savez) 22. juna 1941. otvoren je drugi front na istoku, kao i napada na Sjedinjene Države, kada je prekršen dogovor o nenapadanju Nemačke na SAD, od strane Hitlera (11. decembar 1941). Od 1941. do 1945. nacistička Nemačka, uz pomoć susednih kolaboracionista, sistematski je ubila 6 miliona Jevreja u Holokaustu. Režim je isto tako ubijao Slovene, Rome, homoseksualce i mentalno zaostale osobe i druge nesposobne ljude, ali i politički nepodobne građane (naročito komuniste i socijaliste, ali i religiozne vođe). 8. maja 1945. godine Nemačka je kapitulirala posle okupacije Berlina od strane sovjetske Crvene armije. Pre ulaska ruskih trupa u Berlin, Hitler je izvršio samoubistvo.

Posleratna Nemačka 

Rat je rezultovao velikim gubitkom teritorije, etnički je očišćeno 15 miliona Nemaca sa tih prostora, 45-godišnju okupaciju tokom koje je nekadašnja teritorija Rajha podeljena u Austriju, Zapadnu Nemačku i Istočnu Nemačku. 1948. i 1949. tokom Berlinske blokade, saveznička vojska dopremala je hranu i sirovine u Zapadni Berlin, koji je tokom Hladnog rata posao enklava okružena sovjetskom gvozdenom zavesom.

Građani Zapadnog Berlina su postali proamerički orijentisani. To je bio rezultat mnogih činjenica, uključujući i jak nemački antikomunizam, američki Maršalov plan za rekonstrukciju Evrope posle rata, osnivanje Evropske unije, i generalno podržavanje prisustva zapadne vojske u Zapadnom Berlinu. Rekonstruisana Zapadna Nemačka je ponovo postala svetska najveća ekonomska sila.

Sovjeti su kontrolisali Nemačku Demokratsku Republiku, koja je bila jedna u nizu socijalističkih satelita Sovjetskog Saveza i članica Varšavskog pakta, sa kontrolom slobodnog kretanja njenih stanovnika. Iznenadno, 13. avgusta 1961. godine, Istočna Nemačka je postavila Berlinski zid između Istočnog i Zapadnog Berlina, i potpuno zatvorila granicu prema Zapadnoj Nemačkoj što je onemogućilo normalno cirkulisanje ljudi. Vili Brant, zapadnoberlinski gradonačelnik i potonji zapadnonemački kancelar, su pokušali da smire tenzije, ali njegovo praktično priznavanje gubitka istorijske Istočne Nemačke je dovelo do kontroverzi, neki Nemci su smatrali da je izdajnik, dok su mnogi drugi (naročito mladi ljudi) mislili da je heroj.

Posle pada komunizma u Evropi, Nemačka se ponovo ujedinila (1990), što je dovelo do ekonomskih problema koji se osećaju i danas. Berlin je ponovo postao glavni grad. Porodice, koje su bile dugi niz godina rastavljene, ponovo su se spojile. Kao deo postkomunističkog procesa, otvoreni su dosijei tajne policije.

Zajedno sa Francuskom, nova Nemačka igra glavnu ulogu u Evropskoj uniji. Nemačka je država koja se zalaže za zajedničku evropsku politiku, odbranu i sigurnost. Kancelar se konstantno poziva na sastanke Saveta bezbednosti Ujedinjenih nacija.

Literatura

Pregledi
 Biesinger, Joseph A. Germany: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present (2006)
 Bithell, Jethro, ed. Germany: A Companion to German Studies (5th ed. 1955), 578pp; essays on German literature, music, philosophy, art and, especially, history. online edition
 Buse, Dieter K. ed. Modern Germany: An Encyclopedia of History, People, and Culture 1871–1990 (2 vol 1998)
 Clark, Christopher. Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947 (2006)
 Detwiler, Donald S. Germany: A Short History (3rd ed. 1999) 341pp; online edition
  This text has updated editions.
Gall, Lothar. Milestones - Setbacks - Sidetracks: The Path to Parliamentary Democracy in Germany, Historical Exhibition in the Deutscher Dom in Berlin (2003), exhibit catalog; heavily illustrated, 420pp; political history since 1800
 Holborn, Hajo. A History of Modern Germany (1959–64); vol 1: The Reformation; vol 2: 1648–1840;  vol 3: 1840–1945; standard scholarly survey
 Maehl, William Harvey. Germany in Western Civilization (1979), 833pp; focus on politics and diplomacy
 Ozment, Steven. A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People (2005), focus on cultural history
 Raff, Diether.  History of Germany from the Medieval Empire to the Present  (1988) 507pp
 Reinhardt, Kurt F. Germany: 2000 Years (2 vols., 1961), stress on cultural topics
 Richie, Alexandra. Faust's Metropolis: A History of Berlin (1998), 1168 pp by scholar; excerpt and text search; emphasis on 20th century
 Sagarra, Eda. A Social History of Germany 1648–1914 (1977, 2002 edition)
 Hagen Schulze, and Deborah Lucas Schneider. Germany: A New History (2001)
 Taylor, A.J.P. The Course of German History: A Survey of the Development of German History since 1815. (2001). 280pp; online edition
 Watson, Peter. The German Genius (2010). 992 pp covers many thinkers, writers, scientists etc. since 1750; 
 Winkler, Heinrich August. Germany: The Long Road West (2 vol, 2006), since 1789;  excerpt and text search vol 1

Srednji vek 
 Arnold, Benjamin. Medieval Germany, 500–1300: A Political Interpretation (1998)
 Arnold, Benjamin. Power and Property in Medieval Germany: Economic and Social Change, c. 900–1300 (Oxford University Press, 2004) online edition 
 Barraclough, Geoffrey. The Origins of Modern Germany (2d ed., 1947)
 Fuhrmann, Horst. Germany in the High Middle Ages: c. 1050–1200 (1986)
 Haverkamp, Alfred, Helga Braun, and Richard Mortimer. Medieval Germany 1056–1273 (1992)
 Innes; Matthew. State and Society in the Early Middle Ages: The Middle Rhine Valley, 400–1000 (Cambridge U.P. 2000) online edition
 Jeep, John M. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia  (2001), 928pp, 650 articles by 200 scholars cover AD 500 to 1500
 Nicholas, David. The Northern Lands: Germanic Europe, c. 1270–c. 1500 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009). 410 pages.
 Reuter, Timothy. Germany in the Early Middle Ages, c. 800–1056 (1991)

Reformacija 
 Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (1978; reprinted 1995)
 Dickens, A. G. Martin Luther and the Reformation (1969), basic introduction
 Holborn, Hajo. A History of Modern Germany: vol 1: The Reformation (1959)
 Junghans, Helmar. Martin Luther: Exploring His Life and Times, 1483–1546. (book plus CD ROM) (1998)
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation (2005), influential recent survey
 Ranke, Leopold von. History of the Reformation in Germany (1905)  792 pp; by Germany's foremost scholar complete text online free
  Smith, Preserved. The Age of the Reformation (1920) 861 pages; complete text online free

Period do 1815
 Asprey, Robert B. Frederick the Great: The Magnificent Enigma (2007)
 Atkinson, C.T. A history of Germany, 1715–1815 (1908) old; focus on political-military-diplomatic history of Germany and Austria online edition
 Clark, Christopher. Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947 (2006)
 Gagliardo, John G. Germany under the Old Regime, 1600–1790 (1991) online edition
 Heal, Bridget. The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Early Modern Germany: Protestant and Catholic Piety, 1500–1648 (2007)
 Holborn, Hajo. A History of Modern Germany. Vol 2: 1648–1840 (1962)
 Hughes, Michael. Early Modern Germany, 1477–1806 (1992)
 Ogilvie, Sheilagh. Germany: A New Social and Economic History, Vol. 1: 1450–1630  (1995) 416pp; Germany: A New Social and Economic History, Vol. 2: 1630–1800 (1996), 448pp
 Ozment, Steven. Flesh and Spirit: Private Life in Early Modern Germany (2001)

1815–1890
 Blackbourn, David. The Long Nineteenth Century: A History of Germany, 1780–1918 (1998)  excerpt and text search
 Blackbourn, David, and Geoff Eley. The Peculiarities of German History: Bourgeois Society and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Germany (1984) online edition
 Brose, Eric Dorn. German History, 1789–1871: From the Holy Roman Empire to the Bismarckian Reich. (1997) online edition 
 Hamerow, Theodore S. ed.   Age of Bismarck: Documents and Interpretations (1974), 358pp; 133 excerpts from primary sources put in historical context by Professor Hamerow
 Hamerow, Theodore S. ed. Otto Von Bismarck and Imperial Germany: A Historical Assessment (1993), excerpts from historians and primary sources
 Nipperdey, Thomas. Germany from Napoleon to Bismarck (1996), very dense coverage of every aspect of German society, economy and government
 Ogilvie, Sheilagh, and Richard Overy. Germany: A New Social and Economic History Volume 3: Since 1800 (2004)
 Pflanze Otto, ed. The Unification of Germany, 1848–1871 (1979), essays by historians
 Sheehan, James J. German History, 1770–1866 (1993), the major survey in English
 Steinberg, Jonathan. Bismarck: A Life (2011), a major scholarly biography
 Stern, Fritz. Gold and Iron: Bismark, Bleichroder, and the Building of the German Empire (1979) Bismark worked closely with this leading banker and financier excerpt and text search
 Taylor, A.J.P. Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1967) online edition
 Wehler, Hans-Ulrich. The German Empire 1871–1918 (1984)

1890–1933
Berghahn, Volker Rolf. Modern Germany: society, economy, and politics in the twentieth century (1987) ACLS E-book
Berghahn, Volker Rolf. Imperial Germany, 1871–1914: Economy, Society, Culture, and Politics (2nd ed. 2005)
 Cecil, Lamar. Wilhelm II: Prince and Emperor, 1859–1900 (1989) online edition; vol2: Wilhelm II: Emperor and Exile, 1900–1941 (1996) online edition
 Craig, Gordon A. Germany, 1866–1945 (1978) online edition
 Gordon, Peter E., and John P. McCormick, eds. Weimar Thought: A Contested Legacy (Princeton U.P. 2013) 451 pages; scholarly essays on law, culture, politics, philosophy, science, art and architecture
 Herwig, Holger H. The First World War: Germany and Austria–Hungary 1914–1918 (1996), 
 Kolb, Eberhard. The Weimar Republic (2005)
 Mommsen, Wolfgang J. Imperial Germany 1867–1918: Politics, Culture and Society in an Authoritarian State (1995)
 Peukert, Detlev. The Weimar Republic (1993)
 Retallack, James. Imperial Germany, 1871–1918 (Oxford University Press, 2008)
 Scheck, Raffael. "Lecture Notes, Germany and Europe, 1871–1945" (2008) full text online, a brief textbook by a leading scholar
 Watson, Alexander. Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I (2014),  excerpt

Naci era
 Burleigh, Michael.  The Third Reich: A New History. (2000). 864 pp. Stress on antisemitism;
 Evans, Richard J.  The Coming of the Third Reich: A History. 2004. 622 pp., a major scholarly survey; The Third Reich in Power: 1933–1939. (2005). 800 pp.; The Third Reich at war 1939–1945 (2009)
 Overy, Richard. The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia (2004). comparative history
 Roderick, Stacke. Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies (1999)
  Spielvogel, Jackson J. and David Redles. Hitler and Nazi Germany (6th ed. 2009)  excerpt and text search, 5th ed. 2004
 Zentner, Christian and Bedürftig, Friedemann, eds. The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. (2 vol. 1991). 1120 pp.; see Encyclopedia of the Third Reich
 Bullock, Alan. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny,  (1962) online edition
 Friedlander, Saul. Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1933–1945 (2009) abridged version of the standard two volume history
 Kershaw, Ian.  Hitler, 1889–1936: Hubris. vol. 1. 1999. 700 pp. ; vol 2: Hitler, 1936–1945: Nemesis. 2000. 832 pp.; the leading scholarly biography.
 Koonz, Claudia.  Mothers in the Fatherland: Women, Family Life, and Nazi Ideology, 1919–1945. (1986). 640 pp.  The major study
 Speer, Albert. Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs 1970.
 Stibbe, Matthew. Women in the Third Reich, 2003, 208 pp.
 Tooze, Adam. The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy (2007), highly influential new study; online review by Richard Tilly ; summary of reviews
 Thomsett, Michael C. The German Opposition to Hitler: The Resistance, the Underground, and Assassination Plots, 1938–1945 (2nd ed 2007) 278 pages

Nakon 1945
 Bark, Dennis L., and David R. Gress. A History of West Germany Vol 1: From Shadow to Substance, 1945–1963 (1992); ; vol 2: Democracy and Its Discontents 1963–1988 (1992) 
 Berghahn, Volker Rolf. Modern Germany: society, economy, and politics in the twentieth century (1987) ACLS E-book online
 Hanrieder, Wolfram F. Germany, America, Europe: Forty Years of German Foreign Policy (1989) 
 Jarausch, Konrad H.After Hitler: Recivilizing Germans, 1945–1995 (2008)
 Junker, Detlef, ed. The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War (2 vol 2004),  150 short essays by scholars covering 1945–1990 excerpt and text search vol 1;  excerpt and text search vol 2
 Main, Steven J. "The Soviet Occupation of Germany. Hunger, Mass Violence and the Struggle for Peace, 1945–1947." Europe-Asia Studies (2014) 66#8 pp: 1380-1382.
 Schwarz, Hans-Peter. Konrad Adenauer: A German Politician and Statesman in a Period of War, Revolution and Reconstruction (2 vol 1995) excerpt and text search vol 2; also full text vol 1; and full text vol 2
 Smith, Gordon, ed,  Developments in German Politics (1992) , broad survey of reunified nation
 Weber, Jurgen. Germany, 1945–1990 (Central European University Press, 2004) online edition

Primarni izvori 
 Beate Ruhm Von Oppen, ed. Documents on Germany under Occupation, 1945-1954 (Oxford University Press, 1955) online

GDR
  Fulbrook, Mary. Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949–1989 (1998)
  Fulbrook, Mary. The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker (2008) excerpt and text search
  Harsch, Donna.  Revenge of the Domestic: Women, the Family, and Communism in the German Democratic Republic (2008)
 Jarausch, Konrad H.. and Eve Duffy. Dictatorship As Experience: Towards a Socio-Cultural History of the GDR (1999)
 Jarausch, Konrad H., and Volker Gransow, eds. Uniting Germany: Documents and Debates, 1944–1993 (1994), primary sources on reunification
 Pence, Katherine, and Paul Betts, eds. Socialist Modern: East German Everyday Culture and Politics (2008) excerpt and text search
  Pritchard, Gareth. The Making of the GDR, 1945–53 (2004)
 Ross, Corey. The East German Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives in the Interpretation of the GDR (2002)
 Steiner, André. The Plans That Failed: An Economic History of East Germany, 1945–1989 (2010)

Istoriografija
 Berghahn, Volker R., and Simone Lassig, eds.  Biography between Structure and Agency: Central European Lives in International Historiography (2008)
 Chickering, Roger, ed. Imperial Germany: A Historiographical Companion (1996), 552pp; 18 essays by specialists;
 Evans, Richard J. Rereading German History: From Unification to Reunification, 1800–1996 (1997) online edition
 Hagemann, Karen, and Jean H. Quataert, eds. Gendering Modern German History: Rewriting Historiography (2008)
 Hagemann, Karen. "From the Margins to the Mainstream? Women's and Gender History in Germany," Journal of Women's History, (2007) 19#1 pp 193–199
  Jarausch, Konrad H.,  and Michael Geyer, eds. Shattered Past: Reconstructing German Histories (2003)
 Klessmann, Christoph. The Divided Past: Rewriting Post-War German History (2001) online edition
 Lehmann, Hartmut, and James Van Horn Melton, eds. Paths of Continuity: Central European Historiography from the 1930s to the 1950s (2003)
 Perkins, J. A.  "Dualism in German Agrarian Historiography, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Apr 1986, Vol. 28 Issue 2, pp 287–330,
 Stuchtey, Benedikt,  and Peter Wende, eds. British and German Historiography, 1750–1950: Traditions, Perceptions, and Transfers (2000)

Vanjske veze 

 Virtual Library Geschichte
 Lebendiges Virtuelles Museum Online, Projekt des Deutschen Historischen Museums, des Hauses der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland sowie des Fraunhofer-Instituts für Software- und Systemtechnik.
 Index zur deutschen Geschichte
 Geschichts- und Kulturverein Köngen e.V.
 Historische Quellensammlung zur deutschen Geschichte seit der napoleonischen Epoche mit Gesetzes- und Verfassungstexten sowie völkerrechtlichen Verträgen
 ZDF-Geschichtsdokumentation „Die Deutschen“ 
 Deutscher Bundestag: Parlaments- und verfassungsgeschichtliche Ausstellung 
 Gedächtnis der Nation – Augenzeugenberichte in Videos

 
Njemačka
Njemačka
Njemačka