The geography of Germany and the way it has been governed have changed many times since the 1800s. This book explores Otto von Bismarck's role in the formation of the modern German state, the partition of Germany following World War II, and the events surrounding the decline of European communism, including the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990. With photographs, maps, sidebars, and fast facts, readers will evaluate the country's numerous border changes and the massive impact they have had on the people who live there.