nc33/MultiSpan_SQUAD huggingface dataset:
States_of_Germany

In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg. In 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as the Saarland. German reunification in 1990, in which the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) ascended into the Federal Republic, resulted in the addition of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (in German Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Saxony (Sachsen), Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt), and Thuringia (Thüringen), as well as the reunification of West and East Berlin into Berlin and its establishment as a full and equal state. A regional referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg as "Berlin-Brandenburg" failed to reach the necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners voted in favour of the merger.

Question: How did Baden-Württemberg form?
Answer: following a referendum

Question: When did the  the Saar Protectorate rejoin the republic?
Answer: German reunification

Question: What was it called when East Germany joined the republic?
Answer: German reunification

Question: What states formed Berlin in 1990?
Answer: West and East Berlin

Question: Who did Berlin fail to merge with in 1996?
Answer: Brandenburg

Question: Which city did Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merge into?
Answer: Baden-Württemberg

Question: In what year did Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merge?
Answer: 1952

Question:  In 1957, the Saar Protectorate rejoined the Federal Republic as which city?
Answer: Saarland

Question: When did the German reunification take place?
Answer: 1990

Question: Why did a regional referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg fail?
Answer: failed to reach the necessary majority vote in Brandenburg
States_of_Germany

Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany. According to the German constitution (called Grundgesetz or in English Basic Law), some topics, such as foreign affairs and defense, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and the federation; the states retain residual legislative authority for all other areas, including "culture", which in Germany includes not only topics such as financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training. Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level, the constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the Bundesrat (literally Federal Council, the upper house of the German Federal Parliament) and in areas where they have legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government".

Question: What is an entrenched constitutional principle in Germany?
Answer: Federalism

Question: In Germany, foreign affairs is under the exclusive purvey of what? 
Answer: the federation

Question: What is an example of what states retain authority over?
Answer: culture

Question: The states defend their interests at the federal level through what?
Answer: the Bundesrat

Question: Whose consent do the states need to make international treaties?
Answer: the federal government
States_of_Germany

The use of the term Länder (Lands) dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Before this time, the constituent states of the German Empire were called Staaten (States). Today, it is very common to use the term Bundesland (Federal Land). However, this term is not used officially, neither by the constitution of 1919 nor by the Basic Law (Constitution) of 1949. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten (Free States, which is the old-fashioned German expression for Republic), Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally since 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). There is little continuity between the current states and their predecessors of the Weimar Republic with the exception of the three free states, and the two city-states of Hamburg and Bremen.

Question: What does the term Länder date back to?
Answer: the Weimar Constitution of 1919

Question: Before 1919 what were the German states called?
Answer: Staaten

Question: What does Bavaria refer to itself as?
Answer: Freistaaten

Question: How many free states are there in Germany?
Answer: three

Question: What are the two city-states in Germany?
Answer: Hamburg and Bremen
States_of_Germany

A new delimitation of the federal territory keeps being debated in Germany, though "Some scholars note that there are significant differences among the American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes ...", as political scientist Arthur B. Gunlicks remarks. He summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "... the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated ...". But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception.

Question: What keeps being debated in Germany?
Answer: delimitation of the federal territory

Question: What does Gunlick remark that the German System of  dual federalism requires strong Länder to have other than the capacity to implement legislation?
Answer: pay for it from own source revenues

Question: How many proposals have failed so far?
Answer: several
States_of_Germany

Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states numbering more than 300 around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After the Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation. The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War and replaced by a North German Federation under Prussian hegemony; this war left Prussia dominant in Germany, and German nationalism would compel the remaining independent states to ally with Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, and then to accede to the crowning of King Wilhelm of Prussia as German Emperor. The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The empire was dominated by Prussia, which controlled 65% of the territory and 62% of the population. After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. These states were gradually de facto abolished and reduced to provinces under the Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system.

Question: The Holy Roman Empire comprised of how many petty states? 
Answer: more than 300

Question: The number of territories was greatly reduced during what?
Answer: the Napoleonic Wars

Question: A North German Federation under Prussian hegemony replaced what confederation?
Answer: the German Confederation

Question: How much of the population did Prussia control?
Answer: 62%

Question: How much of the land did Prussia control?
Answer: 65%
States_of_Germany

During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of the pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states. Former German territory that lie east of the Oder-Neisse Line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time.

Question: Who redrew Germany's internal borders after World War II?
Answer: Allied military governments

Question: No single state comprised of how much of the population after World War II?
Answer: 30%

Question: After WWII how many states initially remained in Germany?
Answer: seven

Question: Former German territory that lie east of the Oder-Neisse Line went under which countries administration?
Answer: Polish or Soviet administration

Question: How many made to establish new states in the territories  lying east of the Oder-Neisse Line?
Answer: no attempts
States_of_Germany

Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states (South Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and Württemberg-Baden) merged to form Baden-Württemberg. From 1957, when the French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland, the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the "Old States" today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways de facto integrated with West Germany under a special status.

Question: How many states did West Germany have at its founding?
Answer: eleven

Question: What was West Berlin under the sovereignty of?
Answer: Western Allies

Question: Which state was West Berlin apart of?
Answer: neither a Western German state nor part of one

Question: When did the Saarland form?
Answer: 1957

Question: How many states was Germany reduced to in 1952
Answer: 1952
States_of_Germany

Later, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that the Basic Law thus applied to the entire German people. Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and the 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union.

Question: What was the German constitution later amended to say about the citizens of the 16 states?
Answer: had successfully achieved the unity of Germany

Question: Article 23, before it was rephrased allowed what?
Answer: "any other parts of Germany" to join

Question: Which state was Article 23 used to reintegrate? 
Answer: Saar Protectorate

Question: The amended article 23 now defines the participation of the Federal Council and what else?
Answer: the 16 German states
States_of_Germany

A new delimitation of the federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics (Rutz, Miegel, Ottnad etc.) and politicians (Döring, Apel, and others) made proposals –  some of them far-reaching –  for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers.

Question: What has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949?
Answer: new delimitation of the federal territory

Question: What have experts advocated in regards to delimitation?
Answer: a reduction of the number of states

Question: What is propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers?
Answer: Territorial reform
States_of_Germany

The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss, the father of the Weimar Constitution, drafted a plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory. In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in the configuration of the German states: The 7 Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria, Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favorable to state reforms.

Question: When did the debate on delimitation begin in Germany?
Answer: 1919

Question: Who was the father of the Weimar Constitution?
Answer: Hugo Preuss

Question: How many states was the German Reich to divided into?
Answer: 14

Question: Until 1933 how many configurations in the German states occurred? 
Answer: four

Question: When did Pyrmont join Prussia?
Answer: 1922
States_of_Germany

After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the Länder increasingly lost importance. They became administrative regions of a centralised country. Three changes are of particular note: on January 1, 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with the neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act (Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz), from April 1, 1937, the area of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.

Question: When did the Nazi Party seize power?
Answer: January 1933

Question: What happened to the Länder as they lost importance during the Nazi regime?
Answer: They became administrative regions

Question: on January 1, 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with which state?
Answer: Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Question: When did the Greater Hamburg Act occur?
Answer: April 1, 1937

Question: Which Prussian province did Lübeck become a part of?
Answer: Schleswig-Holstein
States_of_Germany

As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29. There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory: the Federal Territory must be revised ... (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a Land had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of a revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6).

Question: In the revision of Article 29, what was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory?
Answer: the Federal Territory must be revised

Question: How much of the population must have been in favor of the revision?
Answer: one tenth

Question: What was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed? 
Answer: a referendum

Question: Which paragraph stated that reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force?
Answer: paragraph 6
States_of_Germany

In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite the public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany.

Question: In what negotiation did France offer to establish the independent Saarland?
Answer: Paris Agreements

Question: In the 23 October 1955 Saar Statute referendum, what percentage opposed the formation of the Saarland?
Answer: 67.7%

Question: What was the Saar Statute referendum voter turnout?
Answer: 96.5%

Question: Which political figure supported the Saar Statute referendum?
Answer: Chancellor Konrad Adenauer

Question: The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to do what?
Answer: join the Federal Republic of Germany.
States_of_Germany

Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that if a petition was successful a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on the grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies.

Question: Paragraph 6 of Article 29 states that a referendum, in the event of a successful petition should be held within how many years?
Answer: three

Question: What did the Hesse state government due when the May 5, 1958 deadline passed?
Answer: filed a constitutional complaint

Question: When was the Hesse state government's complaint dismissed?
Answer: July 1961

Question: On what grounds was the Hesse state government's complaint dismissed
Answer: exclusively federal matter
States_of_Germany

In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of the Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for both northern Germany and central and southwestern Germany. In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in the northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B). In the Center and South West either Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and the Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg.

Question: What did Chancellor Willy Brandt propose in his  28 October 1969 address?
Answer: Article 29 of the Basic Law as a binding order

Question: Where did Chancellor Willy Brandt make his  28 October 1969 address?
Answer: Bonn

Question: An expert commission was established under which chairman?
Answer: Werner Ernst

Question: When did the expert commission deliver its report?
Answer: the district of Germersheim

Question: Which state would the district of Germersheim be a part of?
Answer: Baden-Württemberg
States_of_Germany

The Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the federal constitution, stipulates that the structure of each Federal State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (Minister-President), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of the federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the Minister-President is then chosen by a majority vote among the Landtag's members. The Minister-President appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of the state's government.

Question: Which article stipulates that the structure of each Federal State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law"?
Answer: Article 28

Question: Most states are governed by what figure?
Answer: Ministerpräsident

Question: What are most state legislatures called?
Answer: Landtag

Question: How is the Minister President chosen?
Answer: a majority vote among the Landtag's members

Question: Who does Minister-President choose to run state agencies?
Answer: a cabinet
States_of_Germany

The governments in Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are designated by the term Senate. In the three free states of Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia the government is referred to as the State Government (Staatsregierung), and in the other ten states the term Land Government (Landesregierung) is used. Before January 1, 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected Landtag, and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities, the executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the Minister-President is the Senatspräsident (President of the Senate) in Bremen, the Erster Bürgermeister (First Mayor) in Hamburg, and the Regierender Bürgermeister (Governing Mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft. The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament).

Question: What are the governments in Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg called?
Answer: Senate

Question:  What is the government called in the three free states of Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia?
Answer: the State Government

Question: What did Bavaria's government have before 2001?
Answer: a bicameral parliament

Question: How many people are in the executive branch senate in Berlin?
Answer: eight

Question: The parliament in Berlin is called what?
Answer: Abgeordnetenhaus