Catatan Ku

Newspapers in Germany The complexion of the print media in eastern Germany changed markedly with unification. By mid-1991 only 100,000 copies of East Germany's most widely circulated newspaper, Neues Deutschland , the newspaper of the communist party, were being printed daily, down from roughly 1 million in the recent past. Western consortia bought many of the other established urban newspapers and brought in new management. According to a public opinion survey during the 1990 national election, 68 percent of western Germans and 88 percent of eastern Germans read a newspaper on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, Germany boasts among the highest per capita newspaper circulations within Europe. The press is privately owned, and most Germans rely on local or regional newspapers for their information. Five daily newspapers enjoy good reputations nationally because of their sophisti...

Prussia's Emergence as a Military Power The German military heritage was epitomized by a succession of Prussian rulers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The first of these was the Great Elector, Frederick William (r. 1640-88), who recognized that a standing army with an elite officer corps was the key to the development of a powerful state in his remote part of the empire. His grandson, Frederick William I (r. 1713-40), more than doubled the size of his professional army to 90,000 and added a trained reserve of conscripted peasants, forming one of the most modern and efficient fighting units in eighteenth-century Europe. Heavy taxes supported the army, which consumed 80 percent of state revenues even in peacetime. The next Prussian king, Frederick II (r. 1740-86), known to posterity as Frederick the Great, raised the strength of the army to 150,000 and launched a series of ...

The German Military in Two World Wars Prussian-German excellence in military matters was an accepted fact of life, but in the twentieth century the excessive accent on militarism led to two disastrous world wars. Germany's insistence on building a fleet that could challenge Britain's naval domination underscored German bellicosity and pushed Britain toward alignment with France and Russia. When World War I broke out in 1914, Germany attempted to conquer France quickly with a sudden thrust through Belgium. The Germans nearly reached Paris, but the desperate French managed to stiffen their defenses along the Marne River. The front was stabilized in northern France and shifted little during the course of the war in spite of the sacrifice of whole armies in the effort to break through opposing defenses. Although Germany was able to force Russia out of the war in March ...

Federal Police Agencies in Germany Established in 1951, the Federal Border Force (Bundesgrenzschutz--BGS) was the first federal police organization permitted by the Allied occupation authorities. During the early 1950s, there were frequent incidents on the borders with East Germany and Czechoslovakia, and the occupation authorities became convinced of the need for a competent border police. Even though the BGS is organized along paramilitary lines, that is, in battalions, companies, and platoons, and is armed as light infantry, it remains a police force controlled by the Ministry of Interior rather than by the Ministry of Defense. The strength of the BGS was 24,000 in early 1995. The BGS is equipped with armored cars, machine guns, automatic rifles, tear gas, hand grenades, rifle grenades, and antitank weapons. All personnel on border duty wear sidearms. Some units have ligh...

Physical Map of Germany Germany has, in addition to coastline and mountains, forests, hills, plains, and river valleys. Several navigable rivers flow along the uplands. Canals connect the rivers of the Elbe, Rhine and Danube and link the North Sea with the Baltic.

Flora And Fauna of Germany About one-third of the country is covered with woodlands and consists of trees like oak, ash, elm, beech, birch, pine, fir, and larch. The animals include deer, red foxes, hares, and weasels. Migratory birds include various species of songbirds, storks, geese, and other larger fowl that fly into Germany from Africa. Herring, flounder, cod, and ocean perch are also found near the coastal waters.

Climate of Germany Germany has mainly moderate climate, characterized by cool winters and warm summers. River valleys like Rhine tend to be humid and somewhat warmer in both winter and summer, whereas mountain areas can be much colder. Rainfall on an average is much heavier towards the south, especially along the Alpine slopes, which force incoming weather fronts to rise and shed their moisture in the form of rain and snow.