German Confederation (1815-66) Organization of the states of central Europe, established by the Congress of Vienna to replace the destroyed Holy Roman Empire. It was a loose political association of 39 German states, formed for mutual defense, with no central executive or judiciary. Delegates met in a federal diet dominated by Austria. Amid a growing call for reform and economic integration, conservative leaders, including Klemens, prince von Metternich, persuaded the confederation’s princes to pass the repressive Carlsbad Decrees (1819), and in the 1830s Metternich led the federal diet in passing additional measures to crush liberalism and nationalism. The formation of the Zollverein and the Revo¬ lutions of 1 848 undermined the confederation. It was dissolved with the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the establishment of the North German Confederation.
German East Africa Former dependency of imperial Germany, cor¬ responding to present-day Rwanda and Burundi, the continental portion of Tanzania, and a small section of Mozambique. German commercial agents arrived in 1884, and in 1891 the German imperial government took over administration of the area. During World War I, it was occupied by the British, who received a mandate to administer the greater part of it (Tanganyika Territory) by the Treaty of Versailles (1919). A smaller por¬ tion (Ruanda-Urundi) was entrusted to Belgium.
German historical school of economics Branch of economic thought, developed chiefly in Germany in the later 19th century, in which the economic situation of a nation is understood as the result of its total historical experience. Objecting to the deductively reasoned “laws” of classical economics, exponents of the historical approach examined the development of the entire social order, of which economic motives and decisions were only one component. They viewed government interven¬ tion in the economy as a positive and necessary force. Early founders, including Wilhelm Roscher and Bruno Hildebrand, developed the idea of the historical method and sought to identify general stages of economic development through which all countries must pass. Members of the later school, notably Gustav von Schmoller (1813-1917), carried out more detailed historical research and attempted to discover cultural trends through historical inquiry.
German language Official language of Germany and Austria and one of the official languages of Switzerland, used by more than 100 million speakers. It belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. German has four noun cases and masculine, feminine, and neuter genders. Its many dialects belong to either the High German ( Hochdeutsch ) or Low German ( Plattdeutsch ) groups. Modern High German, spoken in the cen-
Hybrid geranium (Pelargonium x hor- torum).
JOHN H. GERARD
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754 I German measles ► Germany
tral and southern highlands of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, is now standard written German, used in administration, higher education, litera¬ ture, and the mass media in both High and Low German speech areas.
German measles See rubella
German National People's Party (DNVP) (1919-33) Radical right-wing political party active in the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. Hostile to the republic, it supported the restoration of the monarchy and a united Germany. During a controversy (1929-30) over paying war repa¬ rations to the Allies, the party, led by Alfred Hugenberg, allied with the Nazi Party in favor of stopping payments. In 1933 it joined a coalition that supported Adolf Hitler as chancellor and passed the Enabling Act; along with all German political parties except the Nazis, the party was dissolved three months later.
German People's Party (DVP) Right-liberal political party founded by Gustav Stresemann in 1918, made up largely of the educated and propertied. Since Stresemann was essentially a monarchist, when he decided to cooperate with the Weimar Republic the DVP was at first excluded as being among the “national opposition.” When Stresemann became chancellor in 1923, the DVP was part of the “Great Coalition,” composed of representatives of the Social Democrats, the Center, and the German Democrats. It dwindled c. 1927, and large sections of it went over to the extreme right.
German shepherd or Alsatian Breed of working dog developed in Germany from traditional herding and farm dogs. A strongly built, long-bodied dog, it stands 23-25 in.
(58-64 cm) high and weighs 75-95 lbs (34—43 kg). Its coat is of coarse, medium-long outer hair and shorter, dense inner hair and ranges from white or pale gray to black; often it is gray and black or black and tan.
Noted for intelligence, alertness, and loyalty, it is used as a guide for the blind, as a watchdog, and in police and military work.
German-Soviet Nonaggres¬ sion Pact or Nazi-Soviet Non¬ aggression Pact (Aug. 23, 1939) Agreement stipulating mutual nonaggression between the Soviet Union and Germany. The Soviet Union, whose proposed collective security agreement with Britain and France was rebuffed, approached Germany, and in the pact the two states pledged publicly not to attack each other. Its secret provisions divided Poland between them and gave the Soviet Union control of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland. The Soviets hoped to buy time to build up their forces to face German expansionism; Germany wished to proceed with its invasion of Poland and the countries to its west without having to worry about the Red Army. News of the pact shocked and horrified the world. Nine days after its signing, Germany began World War II by invading Poland. The agreement was voided when Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941. Until 1989 the Soviet Union denied the existence of the secret protocols because they were considered evidence of its involuntary annexation of the Baltic states.
Germanic \jor-'ma-nik\ languages Branch of the Indo-European lan¬ guage family, comprising languages descended from Proto-Germanic. These are divided into West Germanic, including English, German, Frisian, Dutch, Afrikaans, and Yiddish; North Germanic, including Danish, Swed¬ ish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Faeroese (the language of the Faroe Islands); and East Germanic, now extinct, comprising Gothic and the lan¬ guages of the Vandals, Burgundians, and a few other tribes. The Gothic Bible of ad 350 is the earliest extensive Germanic text. The West Ger¬ manic languages developed around the North Sea and in overseas areas colonized by their speakers. The North Germanic, or Scandinavian, lan¬ guages, were carried as far west as Greenland and as far east as Russia in the Viking expansion of the early Middle Ages. The continental Scan¬ dinavian languages were strongly influenced by Low German in the late Middle Ages, but Icelandic and Faeroese have preserved many charac¬ teristics of Old Scandinavian grammar.
Germanic law Law of the various Germanic peoples from ancient times to the Middle Ages. It was essentially unwritten tribal custom, which
evolved from popular practice and moved with the tribe. With the spread of Christianity, ecclesiastical law, derived from Roman law, gained impor¬ tance, especially in matters of marriage and succession. A mercantile law, developed by the 12th century to meet the needs of traders, further eroded the power of local law.
Germanic religion Beliefs, rituals, and mythology of the pre- Christian Germanic peoples, in a geographic area extending from the Black Sea across central Europe and Scandinavia to Iceland and Green¬ land. The religion died out in central Europe with the conversion to Chris¬ tianity (4th century) but continued in Scandinavia until the 10th century. The Old Norse literature of medieval Iceland, notably the Poetic Edda (c. 1200) and the Prose Edda (c. 1222), recounts the lore of the Germanic gods. The earth was held to have been created out of a cosmic void called Ginnungagap; in another account the first gods formed it from the body of a primeval giant, Aurgelmir. There were two sets of gods in the Ger¬ manic pantheon, the warlike Aesir and the agricultural Vanir. Germanic religion also encompassed belief in female guardian spirits, elves, and dwarfs. Rites were conducted in the open or in groves and forests; ani¬ mal and human sacrifice was practiced. Ragnarok is the Germanic dooms¬ day.