LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Germany: Western Europe
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A major industrialized nation, Germany is home to the world’s third largest economy, after the United States and Japan. Germany is a leading producer of products such as iron and steel, machinery and machine tools, and automobiles. Germany is an economic powerhouse in the European Union (EU), and a driving force behind greater economic integration and cooperation throughout Europe.
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Nonetheless, the Jews never fully abandoned Germany. Even when a city-state expelled the Jewish population, the disunified character of Germany ensured that another autonomous city would extend them a charter. Their reason for doing so was generally economic – the Jews could be counted on to fill the role of moneylender, and, despite the gains made by Christians in international trade, Jews were still considered excellent merchants. The Jews would ... settle in a new location; eventually, the economic role they served would become unnecessary, as Christians began to be crowded out of their industries. When this happened, violence against the Jews inevitably ensued, and expulsion followed. In this way, the Jews were constantly wandering through Europe, residing in each city only temporarily.
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The new century opened with Germany continuing to retain its dominant economic position in the European Union, where it used its financial policies to fight inflation and high interest rates. In 2001, Schröder’s support for the United States in Afghanistan strained relations with the Greens. The governing coalition narrowly retained power after the 2002 Bundestag elections, which left the Social Democrats more dependent on Green support. Although Schröder was hurt by the poor economic situation in Germany, his insistence that his government would not participate in an American operation against Iraq struck a responsive chord with many Germans.
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With a consolidated balance-sheet total of 400bn euros, Commerzbank is one of Germany's major private-sector banks and is ... among Europe's largest. About 34,000 employees, 7,000 of whom are active outside Germany, look after 6 million customers.
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Roman Catholicism was the biggest religion in Germany up to the 15th century, but a major religious change called the Reformation changed this. In 1517, Martin Luther said that the Catholic church was greedy and that it used religion to make money. Because of what he said, European and world history changed, and Luther started Protestantism, which is equally big then the Catholic religion in Germany today. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, was born in Germany.
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Shortly after World War II, Berlin became the seat of the Allied Control Council, which was to have governed Germany as a whole until the conclusion of a peace settlement. In 1948... the Soviets refused to participate any longer in the quadripartite administration of Germany. They also refused to continue the joint administration of Berlin and drove the government elected by the people of Berlin out of its seat in the Soviet sector and installed a communist regime in its place. From then until unification, the Western Allies continued to exercise supreme authority--effective only in their sectors--through the Allied Kommandatura. To the degree compatible with the city's special status, however, they turned over control and management of city affairs to the Berlin Senat (executive) and House of Representatives, governing bodies established by constitutional process and chosen by free elections. The Allies and German authorities in the F.R.G.
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