Germany and the European Union - Research Paper Example

After 1945 allied occupation divided Germany forming East and West Germany. It was reunified in 1990.

In 1957, Germany was among the founding members of the European Community which turned into the European Union in 1993 (Berger and Norman 35). Germany forms part of the Schengen area and has been part of the Eurozone since 1993. Germany holds membership in NATO, G8, G20, United Nations, Council of Europe, and OECD. The economy of Germany is the fourth largest world over by nominal GDP and the fifth largest in terms of purchasing power parity. Germany has played a major role in the history of the world and Europe as a continent (Berger and Norman 42).

This paper takes a look at the history of Germany and its involvement with the Eurozone and European Union and its relations with France and England. Finally, there is an exposition on the European Union, the Eurozone, its currency, and new membership. Years after world war I and when the economy fell apart the views of the people in Germany were radicalized because of the acute food shortages within the country. Consequently, there was widespread support for extremist views like communism, especially within industrial cities.

In 1919 there came numerous uprisings of the left wing. There were the Spartacists who attempted to bring a revolution in Berlin as well as the formation of the Soviet Republic in Bavaria for a short time. These uprisings had great implications (Turner 130). The government had to use Freikorps a body comprising of disillusioned soldiers who believed in the right wing. According to some historians, the government employed methods that later led to its collapse after 14 years. Germany was isolated after the war to a very large extent.

Trade was difficult because former trade partners opted to trade with victorious allies. Diplomatically Germans also faced a hard time since there was notoriety for ignoring their views in the peace conference at Versailles (Earl 136). The peace Treaty made at Versailles did not favor Germany at all. France and Britain seemed to be set by the provisions of the Treaty to rip Germany off its wealth. The war impacted greatly German society. The country incurred so heavy costs during the war.

It used almost $40 billion which in modern currency would be $1100. The economy of Germany suffered very much in the war. The output from industries went down by more than 40% within the four years from 1914 to 1918 (Deighton 210). Machinery after the war was useless in many instances since it was driven by people who had poor training. This was because millions of skilled men had died in the war. The workforce lacked the physical fitness to work properly and produce enough for the population.

There was an acute shortage of food. Estimations have it that about 35% of trade was illegally organized and carried out on the black market (Turner 122).