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Trade unions in Germany have a history reaching back to the German revolution in 1848, and still play an important role in the German economy and society. In 1875 the SPD, the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which is one of the biggest political parties in Germany, supported the forming of unions in Germany. [ 61 ]
The Franco-German friendship became the basis for the political integration of Western Europe in the European Union. In 1998–1999, Germany was one of the founding countries of the eurozone. Germany remains one of the economic powerhouses of Europe, contributing about 1/4 of the eurozone's annual gross domestic product.
The economic policies were heavily oriented toward the world market, and the export sector continued to be very strong. [12] Prosperity was pulled along by exports that reached a record of $1.7 trillion US dollars in 2011, or half of the German GDP, or nearly 8% of all of the exports in the world.
An Introduction to the Social and Economic History of Germany: Politics and Economic Change in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries(1978) Brinkmann, Carl. "The Place of Germany in the Economic History of the Nineteenth Century". Economic History Review 4#2 (1933), pp 129–146. online.
The history of German foreign policy covers diplomatic developments and international history since 1871.. Before 1866, Habsburg Austria and its German Confederation were the nominal leader in German affairs, but the Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia exercised increasingly dominant influence in German affairs, owing partly to its ability to participate in German Confederation politics through ...
As of 2013, Germany is the third-largest exporter and third-largest importer in the world, producing the largest trade surplus as a national economy. The German economy practically stagnated in the beginning of the 2000s. The worst growth figures were achieved in 2002 (+1.4%), in 2003 (+1.0%), and in 2005 (+1.4%). [76]
Germany is a member of the European Union and the Eurozone. Germany maintains a network of 229 diplomatic missions abroad and holds relations with more than 190 countries. [28] It is the largest contributor to the budget of the European Union (providing 27%) and third largest contributor to the United Nations (providing 8%).
Germany, [e] officially the Federal Republic of Germany, [f] is a country in Central Europe.It lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 82 million in an area of 357,596 km 2 (138,069 sq mi), making it the most populous member state of the European Union.