GEOG 002 Lecture 5: Geog 2 - LEC5
23 Dec 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Not counting the microstate of liechtenstein, eight states form the mainland core of europe: dominant germany and france, the three benelux countries, the two land- locked mountain states of switzerland and austria, and the czech republic. This is the european region sometimes still referred to as western europe, and its most populous country (germany) also contains europe"s largest economy. In 1945, the defeated and devastated german state was divided into two parts, west and east. West and east germany then set forth on widely different economic and political trajectories. Soviet rule in east germany was established on the soviet-communist model, and in return for the extreme hardships the ussr had suffered at german hands during the war, it was harshly punitive. West germany was less strict and aimed more at rehabilitation. When the marshall plan was instituted, west germany was included, and its economy recovered rap- idly. Germany was reorganized politically into a modern federal state based on democratic foundations.
