User blog:TR/Heads of State of Germany (more playing)

The head of state of Germany has changed at various times since the unification of the German Empire in 1871. Initially, the head of state was the Emperor (Kaiser). With the collapse of the empire in 1918, a republic, known as the Weimar Republic, was formed, with a presidential office replacing the emperor as the German head of state. While the intent was that the presidency would share power with the chancellor and the Reichstag, the instability of the Republic resulted in a very powerful presidency.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler was able to successfully attain the office of chancellor. In 1934, with the death of President Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler also assumed the office of head of state, retitling it Führer. This title died with Hitler; he was succeeded by Karl Dönitz in 1945, who temporarily served as president before the government was dismantled by the Allied Forces at the close of World War II in Europe.

The postwar split of Germany saw two "lines" of heads of state. West Germany continued on as a federal republic, and reinstated the office of the president with very limited and largely ceremonial powers and duties. From 1948 to 1990, East Germany was a communist republic. The initial head of state was the president, but in 1960, that office was replaced by a State Council. The head of the council, usually the general secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, was the office in which most power was vested.

Curious Notions
See German Emperor

Southern Victory
See German Emperor

In the Presence of Mine Enemies
See Führer of the Greater German Reich

Worldwar
See Führer of the Greater German Reich

"Ready for the Fatherland"
On February 19, 1943, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein shot Adolf Hitler dead after Hitler had harangued Manstein. Mainstein moved quickly with his impromptu putsch, taking the reins of power in Germany, reaching an armistice with the Soviet Union. In 1944, Germany was able to fend off an Allied invasion of occupied France, thereby securing Germany's position as hegemon of continental Europe.

The War That Came Early
While Germany initially made substantial gains when Second World War began in October, 1938, the course of the war that followed saw setbacks, and soon the German people lost faith in Adolf Hitler. In March, 1944, Hitler declared war on the United States. A group of military and political leaders formed the Committee for the Salvation of the German Nation, successfully assassinated Hitler in April, 1944, and installed General Heinz Guderian.