Democracy has a long history in Germany. Even before Germany was formed as a country in 1871, the individual German territories had democracy. The region of Wüttemberg had a parliament starting 1457, for example. This legislative body existed for several centuries, its power waxing and waning as political fashions changed from time to time.
Until 1871, government structures were regional, and varied from place to place: in some places, there were constitutional monarchies, in which elected parliaments shared power with kings; in other places, like in the large independent cities, monarchies were gone, and governments were composed of freely-elected representatives.
After 1871, all of Germany was ruled by a hybrid system: an elected legislative body shared power with a hereditary monarch. A robust political system with parties and regular elections lasted from 1871 to 1918. Until 1933, a constitutional system with no monarch and free elections was in place.
An enduring democratic system with a magnificent history was destroyed in 1933 by Hitler and his Nazi Party. The principles which caused this tragedy become clear in the name ‘Nazi,’ which is an abbreviation for National Socialism. Hitler “nationalized” industries, making them property of the government instead of property of the people, and he “socialized” the economy, instituting wage and price controls and raising tax rates.
Historians Uwe Oster, Paul Widergren, and Carol Gratton write:
The Germans also have the Greeks to thank for the fact that modern Germany is a stable democracy. Even the word “democracy” is of Greek origin and simply means “the rule of the people.” No matter how many tyrants got in the way, the concept of democracy has never disappeared but has been passed along from the classical days of ancient Greece to the present day.
Happily, the concept of democracy is durable and enduring, and after the horrors of National Socialism began to fade in 1945, West Germany built once again a government of freely-elected representatives, who in turn honored the principle of human rights by deregulating most aspects of their economy under the watchful eye of Ludwig Erhard.
Serving as finance minister from the start of the postwar government until 1963, and serving as chancellor thereafter, Ludwig Erhard made it his practice to do the opposite of what the Nazis had done: he lowered taxes, and removed wage and price controls. This made West Germany one of the most democratic and tolerant societies on the globe. In 1990, East Germany joined it, creating the Federal Republic of Germany as it exists today.
