LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Germany: East Germany
built 675 days ago
The division between West Germany and East Germany was intensified when the Communists erected the Berlin Wall in 1961. In 1968, the East German Communist leader, Walter Ulbricht, imposed restrictions on West German movements into West Berlin. The Soviet-bloc invasion of Czechoslovakia in Aug. 1968 added to the tension. West Germany signed a treaty with Poland in 1970, renouncing force and setting Poland's western border at the Oder-Neisse Line. It subsequently resumed formal relations with Czechoslovakia in a pact that “voided” the Munich treaty that gave Nazi Germany the Sudetenland. By 1973, normal relations were established between East and West Germany and the two states entered the United Nations.
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In 1945, Germany was governed by the Allied powers and ... had no official anthem. And when West and East Germany were founded in 1949, initially neither state wished to use the "Lied der Deutschen" because of its association with the Nazi government and its misuse of the sentiment in the lyrics.
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Germany (German: Deutschland IPA: [ˈdɔɪtʃlant]), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland (help·info), IPA: [ˈbÊŠndÉ™srepubliËk ˈdɔɪtʃlant]), is a country in central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea, to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic, to the south by Austria and Switzerland, and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Within its borders are a portion of the Alps, the famous Rhine and Danube rivers, and the Black Forest. Its capital is Berlin; some of the governmental institutions, ministries as well as some embassies will remain in the former capital Bonn (now Federal City of Bonn). Germany is a democratic parliamentary federal republic, made up of 16 states (Länder), which in certain spheres act independently of the federation. Historically consisting of several sovereign states with their own history, distinct German tribe dialects, culture and religious beliefs, Germany was unified as a nation state during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/1871.
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Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy - the fifth largest in the world - has become one of the slowest growing economies in the euro zone. A quick turnaround is not in the offing in the foreseeable future. Growth in 2001-03 fell short of 1%, rising to 1.7% in 2004 before falling back to 0.9% in 2005. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term process, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's aging population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem.
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In 1945, Germany lay in ruins with most major cities bombed to the ground. Furthermore, losing 25% of its territory, east of the newly imposed Oder-Neisse frontier to Poland and the Soviet Union caused a major refugee crisis following the end of the war. Even more stateless people came with the massive numbers of ethnic Germans expelled from their eastern european homelands in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia. Numbers totaled over 10 million.
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Most of Germany has a temperate climate in which humid westerly winds predominate. The climate is moderated by the North Atlantic Drift, which is the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. This warmer water affects the areas bordering the North Sea including the peninsula of Jutland and the area along the Rhine, which flows into the North Sea. Consequently in the north-west and the north, the climate is oceanic; rainfall occurs year round with a maximum during summer. Winters there are mild and summers tend to be cool, though temperatures can exceed 30 °C (86 °F) for prolonged periods. In the east, the climate is more continental; winters can be very cold, summers can be very warm, and long dry periods are often recorded.
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East Germany