From what country did Germany gain independence from?

Answer 1

It didn't. Germany formed from a lengthy process over a few centuries. Here's a short summary:

After the Roman Empire ended in Western Europe (the Greek part continued for many centuries), a German tribe called the Franks took control of what is now France and Germany, plus most of the countries around them, and created a huge and powerful kingdom. Eventually the Frankish kingdom broke up into smaller countries. One of these smaller countries was centered on modern Germany and was called the "Holy Roman Empire" (HRE for short). The HRE was originally broken up into areas ruled by many smaller tribes; these tribes, over time, became mini-countries, ruled by their equivalents of dukes, earls, barons, and even Catholic bishops. The most powerful of these were the Kurfürsten- "Prince-Electors" or simply "Electors"- the emperor was chosen by these Electors rather than inheriting the throne like in other kingdoms.

At first the HRE's emperors were very powerful and sometimes were also great military leaders. Over time, because of how the election process worked (the emperor had to make promises to the Electors, and over time, these promises added up), the emperor became weaker and weaker until by the mid-1600's, the emperor had virtually no power at all. The HRE ruled over many small countries, and after the Thirty Years War ended in 1638, the 350 or so mini-countries ruled themselves with no fear of the emperor.

In the early 1800's, Napoleon of France invaded and defeated the HRE. The last emperor also happened to rule Austria, so he quit his job as ruler of the HRE and declared that Austria was an empire too; thus the Austrian Empire was born and the HRE ended. The former HRE was formed into a new collection of states, the "Confederation of the Rhine". This was controlled by Napoleon until he was defeated and exiled.

After Napoleon, the German states were reorganized so that there were about 40 small countries instead of 350. During the mid-1800's, one of these states, the Kingdom of Prussia, began allying with and otherwise taking control of the other states- sometimes conquering them. Prussia also fought two wars against Denmark, then a war against the Austrian Empire, and finally a war against France. The wars allowed Prussia to further dominate "Germany", and force Austria out of the picture- this is why Austria, despite being very "German", is not a part of Germany today. Austria's defeat incidentally allowed the Hungarians to gain enough power that the Austrian Empire was reorganized as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which lasted until World War I.

After Prussia defeated France in 1871, Germany officially unified, and the King of Prussia became the first emperor of the new German Empire. Additionally, France's emperor (who was captured during the climactic battle) was forced out of power, and France became a republic again- which it still is to this day.