The Unification of Germany occurred in the 19th century. Until then, there had been many states in Central Europe. Some of them were very small, possibly no more than from one border to the other. Many Germans wanted a nation that would be united, powerful and influential.
The unification took place on January 18, 1871. After the Franco-Prussian War, the German princes proclaimed the German nation in Versailles, France, at the Hall of Mirrors. The unification joined together many independent German states, which became the German Empire. Otto von Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia, became Chancellor of the Empire.
The unification of Germany had begun many years earlier, during the Napoleonic Wars. At the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, which is also called the Battle of Nations, many of the German states joined Russia, Sweden and Austria to defeat Napoleon's army. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna ended the Napoleonic Wars. Austria remained the most politically-powerful German state. Prussia emerged as Austria's political and diplomatic rival.
There were many problems in unifying the German states. Not all politicians wanted unification. Some feared that it would give Austria and Prussia too much power among the many states. There were also problems in deciding who would collect taxes and how much was be paid.
Before the creation of the modern German State, there were hundreds of small duchies and kingdoms. Many of these kingdoms were a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 800 AD, Pope Leo III made the Frankish King, Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor.
In the 18th century the hundreds of rulers of parts of the Holy Roman Empire were practically independent; they seldom had to obey the Emperor, and often made war against each other or against the Emperor. During the Napoleonic Wars the empire was abolished. Napoleon made a new satellite state, the Confederation of the Rhine. He was soon defeated and the Congress of Vienna reorganized the German states into a new German Confederation. Bismarck's North German Confederation replaced that, until he converted it into the German Empire.
OPEC
OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an international organization. Since 1965, the headquarters of OPEC has been in Vienna, Austria. OPEC was established in Baghdad, Iraq on 10–14 September 1960.
Its work is to "coordinate and unify the petroleum policies" of its members, and also to "ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers, and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry".
According to the United States Department of Energy Energy Information Administration (EIA), OPEC crude oil production is an important factor affecting global oil prices. OPEC sets production targets for its member nations and generally, when OPEC production targets are reduced, oil prices increase. Projections of changes in Saudi production result in changes in the price of crude oil.
OPEC was formed in 1960 when the international oil market was largely dominated by multinational companies known as the 'seven sisters'. The formation of OPEC was a turning point in state control over natural resources. In the 1960s OPEC made sure that oil companies could not unilaterally cut prices. In December 2014, OPEC and the oil men were named in the top 10 most influential people in the shipping industry by Lloyds.
21 countries are members of OPEC. The names of these countries are:
Indonesia and Qatar are former members.
Member countries of the OPEC came together to form this international organization with several aims. Some of the aims are:
However, OPEC has not always been able to achieve all these aims.
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation of countries. Member countries of OECD all have a democratic system of government. They also accept the principle of a free economy. A country has a free economy when its government does not control the economic activities of its citizens and companies.
The OECD started 1948 as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC). The Second World War had just ended three years before in 1945. Some countries of Europe came together to form OEEC to help each other re-build their industry and other things destroyed in the Second World War. Later on, some non-European countries also joined this organisation. In 1960, OEEC changed its name, and it became OECD: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The OECD's headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris.
OECD has thirty-eight member countries, of which 19 became members in 1961. These countries are:
19 countries joined OECD after 1961. The names of these countries (with the year they joined in brackets), are:
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started on October 17, 1973. when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) said, because of the Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt (The United States, Canada, its allies in Western Europe, and Japan). The embargo was lifted in March 1974.
About the same time, OPEC members agreed to raise world oil prices, after attempts at negotiation with the "Seven Sisters" oil company earlier in the month failed. Due to the dependence of the industrialized world on crude oil and the role of OPEC as a major supplier, these price increases hurt the economies of the targeted countries, while at the same time limiting economic activity. The targeted countries responded with new, and mostly permanent, attempts to limit any more dependency.
During this time, many other problems arose. These problems badly affected the economy of the world. The problems continued even after 10 years until the early 1980s. The higher oil prices continued until 1986. Japan did well soon after the 1973 oil crisis. For example, Japanese companies started manufacturing automobiles that used less oil to run. Soon many other automobile companies in different countries also started to manufacture automobiles that used less oil to run. The Japanese also began focusing on producing electronics such as transistor radios and televisions. This production is what helped the Japanese economy to bounce back after the shock of the oil crisis.
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization for peace and human rights. Presently, it has 57 countries as its members. Most of the member countries of the OSCE are from Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North America.
The headquarters of OSCE are in Vienna, Austria. There are more than 3,500 persons who work for OSCE. Most of the persons who work for OSCE work at different places, and only about 10% of them work at its headquarters.
Since the end of the Second World War, many countries of the Europe wanted to have an organization to discuss various matters, especially security. Such discussion had continued since 1950s. Many years after,
in November 1972, leaders of 35 countries met in Helsinki. In 1973, these countries set up the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). By the end of 1990s, communist governments in many countries had changed. In this situation, the role of CSCE was also changing. The leaders from member countries of CSCE met in Paris. On 21st November 1990, they signed an agreement. This changed the name of Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) to Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). This international organization continues to function.
Franco-Prussian War