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Germany: United States
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Germany is a federal republic, consisting of 16 states ('Bundesländer'). The federal parliament ('Bundestag') is elected every four years in a fairly complicated system, involving direct and proportional representation. A party will be represented in Parliament if it can gather at least 5% of all votes or at least 3 directly won seats. The parliament elects the Chancellor ('Bundeskanzler', currently Angela Merkel) on its first session, who will serve as the head of government.
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Germany is a parliamentary democracy governed under the constitution of 1949, which became the constitution of a united Germany in 1990. The federal president is the head of state but has little influence on government. The president is elected for a five-year term by a federal convention, which meets only for this purpose and consists of the Bundestag and an equal number of members elected by the state parliaments. The chancellor, elected by an absolute majority of the Bundestag for a four-year term, is the head of government. There is a bicameral Parliament. TheBundesrat, or Federal Council (the upper house), has 69 seats, with each state having three to six representatives depending on the state’s population.
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Germany's military humiliation by Napoleon stimulated nationalist fervor for a strong and unified state. By the Congress of Vienna (see Vienna, Congress of) the German map was redrawn in 1814–15, eliminating many petty states and expanding Prussia and Bavaria. The German states were loosely linked in the German Confederation, set up by the congress. Conservative Austria obtained control of the confederation, and Metternich, who ... dominated the Holy Alliance, frustrated nationalist ambitions. In ensuing decades, nationalist sentiment was furthered by German romanticism, a noteworthy exponent of which was the poet Ernst Moritz Arndt, and by persons like Friedrich Jahn, the educator and gymnast.
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In Mar., 1939, Germany marched into Czechoslovakia... violating the Munich agreements, and also annexed Memel, on the Baltic coast. On Aug. 23, 1939, in a surprise move, Germany and the USSR signed a nonaggression pact and other agreements. On Sept. 1, 1939, cutting short negotiations on the status of Danzig (Gdask) and the Polish Corridor, Hitler invaded Poland, thus precipitating World War II.
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On May 23, 1949, the Basic Law, which came to be known as the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, was promulgated. Konrad Adenauer became the first federal Chancellor on September 20, 1949. The next day, the occupation statute came into force, granting powers of self-government with certain exceptions.
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BERLIN, January 15 /PRNewswire/ -- From the viewpoint of international investors Germany is one of the most attractive business locations worldwide. The most recent surveys of international executives as well as studies of internationally renowned consultancies show this statement to be true. In addition, today's published data on Germany's strong growth proves that Germany has a competitive business climate. In this context, Nokia's decision to close its factory in Bochum is particularly regrettable.
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