a country in central Europe: in the Middle Ages the centre of the Holy Roman Empire; dissolved into numerous principalities; united under the leadership of Prussia in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War; became a republic with reduced size in 1919 after being defeated in World War I; under the dictatorship of Hitler from 1933 to 1945; defeated in World War II and divided by the Allied Powers into four zones, which became established as East and West Germany in the late 1940s; reunified in 1990: a member of the European Union. It is flat and low-lying in the north with plateaus and uplands (including the Black Forest and the Bavarian Alps) in the centre and south. Official language: German. Religion: Christianity. Currency: euro. Capital: Berlin. Pop: 82 114 224 (2017 est). Area: 357 041 sq km (137 825 sq miles)
Hitler moved to extend German power in central Europe, annexing Austria and destroying Czechoslovakia in 1938-1939. Other territorial demands followed. Great Britain and France hoped to prevent another world war by giving into Hitler's demands through a policy of appeasement.
