Starting: Elite units automatically upgrade Ancient: New warrior units are automatically veterans Medieval: +1 production from forests Industrial: Half-price barracks Modern: 2% interest on gold Unique Units: Tank becomes Panzer Tank, Artillery becomes 88m Gun, Bomber becomes Heinkel Bomber, Fighter becomes ME109 Fighter
Fun Facts
While certainly a strongly conservative politician, Bismarck was the first leader in the world to propose a social security system to care for the elderly, sick and invalid.
Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Wagner and Bach, five of the most famous musicians in history, were all German-borne. Must be something in the water.
Notes from the Civilopedia: The Germans:
At the time of the Roman Empire, the area that would become Germany was inhabited by fierce Germanic tribes. Despite repeated efforts by many determined Roman generals including Julius Caesar, Rome was never able to fully conquer the northern "barbarians," and by the fourth century AD the western portion of the weakened Empire was largely overrun by the German tribes (who in turn were fleeing the advances of the Huns from the east).
Over the next thousand years Germany would remain divided between many feudal kingdoms. Periodically a great ruler - Frederick Barbarossa (1155-1190), for example - might temporarily unite the region, but the unification rarely lasted beyond the ruler's death.
Out of the hundreds of states that made up Germany, it was the kingdom of Prussia that would eventually succeed in bringing them together. Beginning as a small duchy on the shores of the Baltic Sea, the rulers of Prussia gradually accumulated more and more territory through a combination of warfare and marriage agreements. King Frederick William I (1713-40) trained the Prussian army to be one of the finest in Europe, and his son Frederick II (1740-86) - also known as Frederick the Great - used it to win a series of military victories against the larger kingdoms of Austria and Russia.
Following its humiliation and defeat in the wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon, Prussia reorganized itself along more modern lines. Under the brilliant statesman and strategist Otto von Bismarck, within a decade Prussia had unified Germany - or, as some would say, Prussia had conquered it.
The same nationalism that had brought unity would also bring disaster. Ignoring the careful diplomacy that had isolated Prussia's opponent in each of Bismarck's wars, Germany rushed into World War I against a coalition of Britain, France, and Russia. Despite initial successes, the war eventually turned into a stalemate that Germany could not win, especially once the United Stated entered the war on the Entente side in 1917.
Already staggering under a vengeful peace imposed by the Western Allies following World War I, the worldwide economic collapse that began in 1929 proved the catalyst for political extremism. Mobilizing the political and economic resentments generated by defeat and depression, the fascist National Socialist (Nazi) party came to power, and in 1933 Adolph Hitler became chancellor.
World War II is appropriately called "Hitler's War." Spearheaded by Panzer formations using revolutionary new tactics, Hitler came close to realizing his aim of establishing German hegemony in Europe. But the turning point of the war came with his decision to send his Panzers into Soviet Russia. Though at the end of 1942 an ultimate German victory still seemed possible, by spring 1945 the Third Reich was prostrate. As a legacy of surrender and the ensuing Cold War, Germany was divided into two zones of military occupation. While under Soviet rule East Germany suffered and stagnated, West Germany's recovery from total economic and political prostration at the end of World War II was of such dramatic proportions as to become a modern legend.
The swift and unexpected downfall of the Soviet order in Europe led to a unification treaty, ratified by the West German Bundestag and the East German People's Chamber in September 1990. After 45 years of division, Germany was once again a united nation. Today Germany is one of the world's economic powerhouses, and a leading force in the European Union.
Unique German worker units
Bismarck render
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Notes from the Civilopedia: More about Bismarck:
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), known as the "Iron Chancellor," was the founder of the modern state of Germany. Born to a well to do Prussian family, Bismarck came of age in an era of much turmoil. Revolutions were sweeping the breadth of Europe, and previously ethereal concepts such as "democracy" and "socialism" were becoming political forces to be reckoned with. A strict believer in the divine right of kings, Bismarck became a close ally of the Prussian King, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, after being elected to the Prussian legislature. His loyalty to the monarch aided in his rise through the administrative ranks, and before long, Bismarck was being granted important ambassadorships in France and Russia.
In 1861, while Bismarck was still in France, Friedrich Wilhelm passed away, leaving his brother, Wilhelm I to rise to the throne. With the more liberal sections of the Prussian establishment in control of the legislature, King Wilhelm and his administration decided that a savvy and powerful leader would be needed to take the position of Prime Minister. For that role, they chose Bismarck.
Bismarck quickly assuaged any fears there may have been about placing him in a leadership role. He immediately broke all stalemates the liberal legislature had managed to create. When wars broke out in quick succession with Denmark, Austria and France, Bismarck and his fellow ministers led Germany to victory, greatly expanding the territory of Prussia and earning the respect of the Prussian populace. Germany's victory over France and Austria, two of the nation's greatest enemies, brought a number of previously unfriendly German provinces into the Prussian fold and shattered the strength of the democratic agitators in the legislature. It was Bismarck who ensured that each alliance, treaty and annexation would turn out in favor of Prussia.
Thanks in great part to Bismarck's machinations, on January 18, 1871, King Wilhelm I declared the creation of the German Empire, the most powerful German political body since the Holy Roman Empire, and selected Bismarck to become the nation's first Chancellor.
As Chancellor, Bismarck strove to create a unified German state and to make it the most powerful state in Europe - if not the world. He sought to limit the power of the Catholic Church, as well as strike deals with any nation necessary to keep the peace in his newly formed nation. And while Bismarck was an undoubtedly hard-right politician, he advocated a number of social programs that earned him the grumbled respect of his more left-leaning opponents.
Bismarck's political career finally came to an end with the death of Wilhelm I, and the subsequent rise of Wilhelm II to the throne. Wilhelm II was a far more bellicose ruler than his predecessor, much to the chagrin of Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck resigned after a dispute over a measure to reduce the influence of socialists in the Germany legislature in 1890. He passed away in 1898.
