Post by ANNArchy on Aug 12, 2010 6:33:07 GMT 1
Country: Germany
Real name: Ludwig Beilshmidt
Personality: Though he has next to no memories of his childhood, save a few of his “Vater”, Ludwig was quite ambitious up until very recently. The grand, though he would believe otherwise, fascinates him. As a child, he greatly admired the Roman Empire and aspired to be like him. Even later in life, when confronted with the Roman Empire, Ludwig again points out that he has “a deep respect” for him.
As he grew older, Ludwig worked hard under his then powerful brother, hoping to please him. In some ways, it seems that Ludwig believes he will never be good enough, always striving for perfection and, in the past to become stronger.
Despite, or perhaps because of this, Ludwig has a deep-rooted sense of pride. Due to this, and combined with his extreme sense of propriety, he can become easily embarrassed. Not having the best social skills in the world, and lacking experience in social interactions, does little to help him in this area. Though he has few friends, tending to keep people at an arms length, he is extremely loyal to those he has, as well as his bosses. He will follow orders from his boss regardless of his own views.
Ludwig’s outlook on life tends to be rather pessimistic, and proceeds about things logically. Sadly people do not act logically, and thus Ludwig has resorted to manuals at times when he is at a loss. He is, in short, rather awkward when put into social situations.
A perfectionist, with an eye to detail, Ludwig also expects his level of hard work and dedication from others, and has little patience for mistakes (and very little patience in general).
He is also particularly fond for beer and dogs, usually keeping at least one, and has recently become rather environmentally conscious.
Likes:
- Dogs
- Order/cleanliness
- Beer
- Logic
Dislikes:
- Chaos
- People bringing up/insulting his history
- Messes
- France
- Excessive noise
History:
- Germanic Tribes
o The formation of the Germanic tribes, sometime between the Nordic Bronze Age and the Pre-Roman Iron Age, settling primarily along the Rhine and the Danube, inhabiting most of what is modern Germany. Germania is possibly considered Germany’s father (grandfather?) of sorts.
- 962–1806 - The Holy Roman Empire
o The empire that Charlemagne founded in 800, the Carolingian Empire, was divided by 843, the eastern portion of which existed in some form or another from 962 until 1806, but was not officially called the Holy Roman Empire until 1448.
o Under the Ottonian emperors (919-1024) and the Salian emperors (1024-11252) Lorraine, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Thuringia, Bacarian, and later Northern Italy and Burgundy, were brought under the Holy Roman Empire’s control.
o Between the Great Famine of 1315 and the Black Death of 1348-50, the population of Germany was greatly decreased.
o The emperors began to be selected almost exclusively from Austria’s Habsburg dynasty beginning in the 15th century.
o The Thirty Years’ War reduced the population again, by about 30%, and empire was divided into many independent principalities.
o Rivalry between Prussian Kingdom and Austrian Habsburg Monarchy dominates German history after 1740
o The empire is over run and dissolved by the Napoleonic Wars, 1806
o
- 1814-1871 - Restoration and Revolution
o While the Congress of Vienna in 1814 founded the German Confederation (a league of about 39 sovereign states) a rise in nationalism throughout Europe, and disagreements with restoration politics, helped the liberal movement, which demanded unity and freedom.
o Highly influenced by the ideals of the French revolution, this became a significant force, which started a series of Revolutions in 1848. The monarchs initially yielded to the liberal force.
o After conflicts erupted between King William I of Prussia and the parliament over military reforms in 1864, the king appointed Otto con Bismarck as the Prime Minister of Prussia. His victory over Denmark in 1864 and in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 gained him the power and popularity to form the North German Federation, which excluded Austria.
- 1871-1918 - German Empire
o Germany was unified in 1871 with the forming of the German Empire, after the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), which also annexed Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.
o Germany establishes colonies outside of Europe (namely Africa) beginning in 1884, including German East Africa, South-West Africa, Togo, and Cameroon.
o Emperor William I avoids war through a network of alliances, though excludes France, furthering tensions between the two. Tensions due to imperialism (again in Africa, and also Asia), industrialism (most notably in the competition between Germany and England), militarism, and intense nationalism serve to bring Europe to a VERY delicate balance of power. Most of Germany’s alliances, save the contact with Austria-Hungary, were never renewed, leaving Germany increasingly isolated.
o The tangled web of alliances quickly pulled most of Europe into WWI (1914-1918) after the assassination of the Austrian Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand. Germany, honoring its alliance with Austria-Hungary, fought on the unsuccessful Central powers side, and was defeated by the Allied powers.
o Emperor William II and all princes abdicated after the German Revolution broke out in 1918.
o Germany was forced to sign the treaty of Versailles, which required Germany to accept full responsibility for the war, pay exorbitant war reparations (effectively ruining the economy), largely reduced the size of the military, annex some territory to France, Poland, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and Japan, and was stripped of its colonies. Discontent and resentment towards the treaty is often attributed as one of the influences that helped the rise of Nazism.
- 1919-1933 - Weimar Republic
o Germany was declared a republic after the Revolution in 1919, when the Weimar Republic was formally established.
o Political strife continued; the heads of the Weimar government was accused of betraying the German Nation by signing the Versailles Treaty, while the radical left-wing communists were also targeted.
o Suffering from the economic Depression, and distrust and discontent with the government, helped to fuel the rise of the National Socialist German Workers Party—the Nazi Party.
o On 30 January 1933, president von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party, as Chancellor of Germany
- 1933-1945 - The Third Reich
o In 1933, the Reichstag, building of parliament was burned (communists were blamed, though it is suspected that it may in fact have been the Nazi party, a state of emergency was declared, and Hitler awarded unrestricted legislative power. Wiping out all opposition, Hitler created a totalitarian state in a matter of months. German foreign policy became more aggressive and expansionistic.
o In 1935 Germany reacquired control of the Saar and in 1936 military control of the Rhineland, both of which had been lost by the Treaty of Versailles. In 1938 and 1939, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and after an invasion in September, Poland, were brought under control as well.
o France and the United Kingdom declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, marking the beginning of World War II.
o 1941, Germany broke its alliance with the Soviet Union by invading it, and declared war on the United States after Germany’s ally, Japan, attacked Pearl Harbor.
o 1942:Defeat at Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the war and began German retreat on the Eastern front.
o 1943, Italy, Germany’s ally, surrendered to the Allied powers, creating another front for Germany to defend. Allied forces invaded Normandy.
o 1945 Germany surrenders and the Red Army of the Soviet Union occupies Berlin.
o About seventeen million people were murdered by the Nazis, including: Jews, Gypsies, Poles, other Slavs, Soviet POWs, the mentally ill, homosexuals, and political opposition.
- 1945-1990 - Division and Reunification
o Following its surrender, Germany was partitioned by the Allied powers. The western sections, which had been controlled by capitalist America, France, and the United Kingdom, were merged in 1949, while the Eastern sector was primarily under the control of the communist Soviet Union. The two halves informally called “East Germany” and “West Germany.”
o While West Germany began to slowly recover economically starting in the 1950’s, East Germany was still kept under strict control of the communist-controlled SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany).
o The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 to keep East Germans from escaping to West German. The wall was brought down in 1989.
o In 1990, the occupying powers relinquished their claims, which allowed for return to autonomy and, later German reunification.
- 1990- - Berlin Republic and EU integration
o Germany has taken an active role in the EU and NATO since its reunification
o In 2005, Angela Merkel was elected the first female Chancellor of Germany.
o Has maintained a strong alliance with France since the end of World War II. The governments of Germany and the United States are close political allies, although Schröder's very vocal opposition to the Iraq War suggested a relative cooling of German-American relations
Role Play Example: “Doesn’t it hurt?” The question had taken him aback. Hurt? Of course they had hurt, but that was neither here nor there.
Had it hurt?
Ludwig could feel him now, his fingers, warm, exceedingly gentle, and slender, on his back while he assumed Ludwig slept. Ludwig knew in his heart of hearts that he would never grow accustomed to their touch, never grow entirely comfortable with it. He could not close his eyes, not while those fingers were still on him.
They traced the soft, almost completely faded network of scars on his back. They appeared to resemble something of a roadmap of a city, from the patterns he felt. They were all like this to some extent, some more than others. One could not be a country, a country that survived, without them. The question was never “had it hurt,” but always “was it worth it.”
Lerne leiden ohne zu klagen. It was one of the Old Prussian virtues. Learn to suffer without moaning. Ludwig loved those virtues. While his brother seemed to be able to pick and choose the ones he liked and the ones he did not, Ludwig could remember being young with those virtues. He could remember the glory they seemed to promise a budding new empire. Ludwig had learned to suffer without moaning. He had learned sincerity, and humility, and industriousness, and obedience, and most, if not all of the old virtues. And where had it gotten him?
His fingers continued to trace the spider web on his back. Ludwig recalled how just a few hours ago, he had been questioned about them. Most of the marks he could rattle off. Training. Second Schleswig War. More training (perhaps Prussia had been a little violent?). Exploits into Africa. Of course, the World Wars. Some, however, left his mind blank, the most perplexing being a decently sized one trekking a raised line through his hair. He could not recall having obtained these, though he did not dwell on it. Perhaps it was better that he could not. There were some things that he almost wished could be forgotten.
Almost.
Had it hurt? Of course they had hurt. Perhaps… perhaps it had been worth it.
{{Please note that this actually turning to more of a ficlet, and that my actual posts will probably only be around 150-300 words! Please let me know if there is anything I need to re-do!}}