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MONTREAL, A VERY BEAUTIFUL CITY TO VISIT ANYT

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MONTREAL, A VERY BEAUTIFUL CITY TO VISIT ANYT

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Ceci Ramírez
Rodrigo Tostado
Yarahí Núñez
Ana Sofi González

INTRODUCTION:

Montreal is the second largest city of Canada It is located in Southwestern Quebec and it is surrounded by two rivers, St Lawrence and Ottawa. Moreover, it is a bilingual city since English and French are spoken.

HISTORY:

The story begins in 1533 with Jacques Cartier, who sailed from France, he was looking for a route to Asia and he discovered an Island in St. Lawrence River, then he visited a Village called Hochelga.

By the 16th Century, the Iroquians had already disappeared as a distinct nation.

In 1642, Ville Marie(Montreal) was founded as a missionary colony under the direction of Paul Maisonneuve, ten years later a war against the aboriginal people started. The end of this episode was in 1701 when the treaty of “La Grand Paix” was signed by the aboriginal people, the French people and some iroquois.

In 1837, a new conflict started, this time it was between English and French residents. The defeat of the “Patriotes” gave the new anglophone middle class a political victory.

Montreal grew rapidly from 1850 to 1914, but in 1934 there were more than 60,000 unemployed people.

In 1960 a strong growth was seen.

RELAX OPPORTUNITIES:

Montreal is the city of festivals. Every week a new festival is celebrated. The ten most wanted festivals are:

*THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF JAZZ: It offers you more than one thousand concerts. It is a convenient festival since most of the concerts are free.

*OSHEAGA: It is the destination of more than 100,000 teenagers.

*MONTREAL EN LUMIÈRE: It is a charm festival since most of the people wear costumes, it is created to shake off the winter. There are fireworks and concerts. Not only this, MONTREAL EN LUMIÉRE is an accessible festival because of its location(downtown).

CUISINE:

The cuisine of Montreal is diverse since you can find any kind of food, I mean you can try a little bit of every culture.

Actually, in Montreal the typical food is POUTINE which is made of French fries, cheese curds and it is topped with a light brown gravy. Also, chocolate and coffee are part of the culture. Montreal has many coffee shops, the 2 most famous are: Juliette et Chocolat and Second Cup.

ARCHITECTURE:

Montreal has two faces from one side it is a luxurious city but from the other side it is picturesque. I mean when you walk around Old Port you feel like I you were going back time but when you walk near Place des Arts you feel like If you were leaping to the future.

Montreal architecture is characterized by a few things, between them we found the influence of the French and British colonizations, somehow these and a few more are the reasons why Montreal preserved the old  and of course the modern architecture.

Once upon a time Montreal was the industrial centre of Canada and thanks for that and also the variety of buildings that provide the legacy of history and architectural interest they also were the financial center.

Now I'll talk about some buildings with amazing architecture:

Habitat 67, inaugurated in 1967, was built for Expo 67 which is a general exhibition category one world's fair (is a large public exhibition) and some people considered the most successful world's fair of the 20th century.

Farine five roses opened for the first time in 1946, actually is closed but in that time it was a  flavor fabric. It's located between the Montreal waterways and like a curious fact, the name is a mix of english and french.

The old Montreal, when you walk around Montreal you can noticed that they preserved one part, they decided to call it "old Montreal". All the area was built around the early 1800's. With the year on going some things have change and the "old Montreal" has become a fusion of the old and modern architecture.

Place Ville Marie, this is one of the most popular constructions in Montreal, it was opened in 1960 and is the biggest construction with connecting points underground the city.

Quartier des Spectacles. As I mentioned a few minutes ago, Montreal is well know by they festivals, now I'll tell you were all the magic happens and it is in the Quartier des Spectacles, the open day were in summer of 2009 and it's the place were is a combination of local and foreign people.

The biosphere, inaugurated in 1967, with the propose of remember the big success of the Expo 67 they preserved this amazing building

The olympic stadium was inaugurated the July 17 in 1976, it is considered a big monument and it was built to hosted the Olympics in '76.

For the last but not less important there is this bridge that combines the past and present of Montreal, the name is "Jacques-Cartier" and is used by a lot of commuters to get onto the island. It was built in the St. Lawrence River which in the past was the first way to transportation and trade of Montreal.

LOCAL CULTURE:

Some rules in Montreal are:

-If you use electric stairs, you have to pull over to the left so that people in a rush can go up.

-Always make a line.

-Do not film concerts (they can throw you out of theatre).

-Check the signs of parking because it changes diary, for example on Mondays you can´t park from 8 am to 2pm.

-Put your garbage in the trash can, that the government gave you, or they are not going to pick it up.

Another curious thing is that all the stores close at 6pm, except at weekends, they close later like at 9pm. Also, the gold dream is living in an apartment in downtown.

Actually, people in Montreal do not use the car as much as we do, they usually take metro and bus since they are very efficient, for example every 2 minutes a new train is arriving and all the buses have their schedule and in every single bus stop the schedule is posted.

In Summer, people take sunbaths at parks, so is very common to see people wearing just swimsuit.

LANGUAGES

According to the 2011 census made in Montreal about the mother languages spoken there, only the 12% reported English as their mother tongue, 65% said that French was their mother tongue, and 22% reported only a non-official language.

Some of the most spoken non-official languages are Arabic, Spanish and Italian and with only a small amount of speakers are Greek, Chinese, Portuguese, Romanian, Vietnamese and Russian.

FESTIVALS

Lumiere Festival:                                                                                                   Montreal Lumiere is the most popular winter festivals in the world with an average of 1,300,000 people from all over to enjoy the scene, Its name means "Montreal in lights" because investment in iluminaria is part of the main attraction. This festival combines art, gastronomy and outdoor entertainment during the months of February and March each year. Lumière also brings dance, circus, music and theater of local and international artists.

Blue metrópolis:                                                                                                           The Blue Met, as most like to call it, is the world’s first multilingual literary festival; last year alone saw over 200 writers, musicians, and publishers from around the world. English, French, Spanish no matter the language or the genre, with over 200 separate events. Guest author's books are available for purchase on the festival, where authors sign copies of their books following their respective events.Led by internationally recognized writers, these workshops are designed for professionals and emerging writers.

The Eureka! Festival:                                                                                                       It is a huge celebration of science for the curious of all ages!   Scientists explain what it is, why it works, how to get involved! and you can join over 100 activities. See how to create, experiment, discover and understand Internacional jazz Festival. The format of the festival focuses on two types of concerts: Free (Outdoor) and paid (in auditoriums). It provides different types of artists the opportunity to be a meet; The second type is offered by artists of great prestige. Many renowned musicians prefer Presentations abroad for the solitary like performing in front of large masses of spectators. In recent years festival organizers have created new activities in order to attract many more spectators: the Great event, the musical paragraph Park Boys, The Little School of Jazz (School of Introduction to Jazz for Children), A Gallery It is presenting visual art works of artists of jazz, etc. In 2004, the Festival is proud to have offered 500 concerts with over 2,000 musicians and have received a more than 2 million viewers.

Gardens of Light:                                                                                                            In autumn, Montréal's botanical gardens become the backdrop to dazzling light displays. Wandering through landscapes lit by colorful lanterns is a magical way to enjoy the beautiful night skies. It's celebrated from early September to early November.

Montréal Beer Festival:                                                                                              This festival is your chance to taste beers from around the globe over five days in mid-June. It’s held inside the Palais des Congrès in downtown.

Pride Montréal:                                                                                                    Monréal's Gay Pride parade is the event on the Village calendar, drawing more than a million people, even in slow years. The streets around Pl Émilie-Gamelin pulse with dancing, art exhibits, concerts and parades. It’s held over one week in August.

Monréal World Film Festival:                                                                                     One of the most prestigious film events in Canada; it attracts 400,000 visitors to screenings from 70 countries. The stars come out, as well as the directors, producers and writers of the big screen. It’s held over 10 days in late August and early September.

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TEAM SAYA, TATIANA, FER, JAQUELINE AND GIO( SWITZERLAND)                                                 HISTORY                                                           

When does the history of Switzerland begin? The answer depends on the
interpretation of the term Switzerland: 

Archeology shows that Stone Age hunters have been living in Switzerland
already before the last Ice Age (approximately 350'000 B.C.).

Switzerland's official latin name "Confoederatio Helvetica"
goes back to a Celtic tribe called the Helvetians.

The majority of Switzerland's "native" population settled
during the Germanic Migration of Nations that set an end to the Roman Empire in
Western Europe at about 400 A.D.

The Old Swiss Confederacy was founded in the first days of August, 1291
(hence Switzerland's national holiday is celebrated on August, 1st).

Switzerland was officially accepted as an independent nation by its
neighbours in the 1648 European peace treaty.

The Swiss Revolution and the Helvetic Republic have set an end to the
rule of a small number of privileged cities, valleys and families over the
majority of the country.

Today's borders and Switzerland's Neutrality were defined at the Vienna
Congress of 1815 ending the wars of Napoleon.

Switzerland's modern Federal Constitution dates back to 1848 (with total
revisions in 1874 and 1999).

There might be good reasons for any of these choices because Switzerland
has been changing a lot during the centuries of its history and there is not
really too much common ground between the Helvetians or the medieval Old Swiss
Confederacy and the modern Swiss Civil Society.                         LOCAL CULTURE                                               The most practiced religion in Switzerland is Roman Catholicism, to
which 43.8% of the population belongs; 30.3% are Protestant and because
immigration is a Muslim minority of 2.3%; Orthodox Christianity figure at 1.8%
and 7.1% say they have no religion. The stability and prosperity of
Switzerland, combined with its diverse population has led some to describe the
country as a consociational state.

The Swiss are known for their banking, insurance, chocolates, cheeses,
medicines, watches and knives.

August 1 is celebrated Swiss National Day.

The Swiss are famous in the world thanks to their banks, their
chocolates, cheeses or manufacture the best watches in the world, in addition
to having one of the best private schools in the world.

The Swiss love the outdoors, so almost the entire population is a nature
lover. They know much about flowers and wildlife of the country. The mountains
and valleys are well preserved; They are very clean and with an extremely high
value for Swiss culture places. The culture of recycling is expanded by the
entire population.

The bicycle is one of the most widely used means of transport in the
country (other than the train). Most cities have special lanes for cycling
circulation (cycle routes). The car is a means also widely used, although
people prefer the public service; in the cities buses and trams are the bosses
stop. For intercity transport, the train is the best travel option and the
means of transport used by the Swiss: it is said that after the Japanese, the
Swiss are the people who travel by train.

Emmental  cheese, typical of
Switzerland.

Swiss culinary included in most of their dishes to cheese, chocolate and
bread; ingredients that also form an essential part of Swiss gastronomy. People
like to have a balanced diet, so often eat vegetables and salads. This does not
mean that people do not suffer from overweight. much meat is not eaten because
of its high cost. Fondue and raclette are the most popular dishes in
Switzerland, and eaten especially during the winter, as they are very high
calorie dishes. The dairy products are also consumed in Switzerland (yogurt,
cheese, chocolate ... among others).

Swiss culture is also linked to sport, the most practiced are the winter
(skiing, snowboarding, etc.), although other sports are also practiced by a
large part of the population. Sports little expanded in Hispanic countries like
hockey, golf, handball and badminton, among others, are very common in
Switzerland. Walking in the mountains is one of the favorite activities for
those who prefer to stay during the summer holidays.

Due to the large number of immigrants, foreigners are treated well. This
means that generally in the life of the city are not discriminated against,
although there are some cases in labor or student media.

Most of the population is bilingual (German and French). Although this
changes depending on the region: for example in the French-speaking region some
people prefer English to German (by the presence of headquarters of
international institutions in cities in the region, given the current status of
lingua franca English), while the Italian-speaking region the German is almost
obligatory knowledge. Many people are trilingual and get to easily find people
polyglot (German, French, English, Italian and even Spanish), foreigners
benefit the most, as they can have a foreign language in their repertoire                                           LANGUAGES OF SWITZERLAND                           Most foreigners coming to Switzerland are surprised by the variety of
languages that are in this small country. There are four national languages:
German, French, Italian and romance

Today, the distribution is as follows: (the Swiss variety of) German
63.9%, French 19.5%, Italian 6.6%, romance 0.5%, other 9.5%. The regulations in
schools is that children should learn a second national language since start
going to school, apart from that spoken in your home canton. English
increasingly begins to teach before, and sometimes is given priority over the
second national language.

The Federal Constitution stipulates that German, French and Italian are
the official languages of Switzerland, while romance is only official language
to communicate with people who speak romance. German, French and Italian enjoy
equal status in Parliament, the federal administration and the army.

TYPICAL FOOD                                                       I am going to talk about the typical food, swiss cuisine combines
influences from the German, French and Italian cuisine.

Cheese fondue 

Is cheese with bread cubes. The bread cubes are picked up with the fork
and drowned in the cheese, and they enjoyed!

Is served in a traditional ceramic fondue pot called “caquelon”.

Raclette

It is melted cheese served with potatoes, cucumbers and unions.

Rosti

It is like a flat tortilla fried in hot butter with raw potatoes.

SWISS CHOCOLATE

Switzerland, the best place for chocolate lovers! 

This place has the world record of chocolate, they control more than the
half of the world market of chocolate.

In Switzerland the chocolate is very important as we can see and also is
a power source.

Cailler of Switzerland 

Is the oldest brand, the most popular and loved.

And others popular brands are:

*Camille bloch

*Favarger

*Frey

*Lindt

*Swiss dream

                                               MUSIC                                                                Lander is a folk dance for couples, it represents the traditional
instrumental music.

This kind of music started with the appearance of the accordion.

And some swiss composers of classical music are:

*Arthur Honegger

*Ernest Bloch

*Frank Martin

*Rolf Lieberman

ARCHITECTURE                                                Chillon’s castle is placed on a rock near at Ginebra´s lake. It is one
of the most visited in Switzerland. This castle has 25 buildings and 3
backyards protected whit walls.

Zytglogge is one clock fower of XIII century. It has 130 stairs and it
has an amazing view. This clock get in movement 4 minutes earlier than the full
hour                                                 RELAXATION OPPORTUNITIES                       I’m going to took about the 4 must-see places in Switzerland.

The first one is the Matterhorn, Zermatt that is the most photographed
pyramid in the world. You can see this pyramid going up on a cable car, and in
the winter you can take skillers and snowboarders and in the summer you can
take long hakes.

The second one is the Chateau de Chillon, Montreux. Is a castle located
in the swiss Rivera on lake Geneva. In this 14 century castle you can
appreciate paintings, architecture, furniture that has been preserved in their
original form.

The third one is t he swiss National park, zernez qher you can
appreciate an enchanting view that is like seeing the alps before it was touch
by tourism. There is 21 hiking roads to observe the beautiful flora and if
you´re lucky enough, fauna.

The last one is Zurich. This big city host “The swiss National Museum
and Lindenhof square”, old heritage sites and factories that now they are use
as cultural spaces. This city is home of more than 50 museums and 100 art
galleries. This city is cataloged as one of the most livable cities in Europe
because it offers everything you can wish in a city. 

# data[].attributes.subject
TEAM SAYA, TATIANA, FER, JAQUELINE AND GIO( SWITZERLAND)                                                 HISTORY                                                           

When does the history of Switzerland begin? The answer depends on the
interpretation of the term Switzerland: 

Archeology shows that Stone Age hunters have been living in Switzerland
already before the last Ice Age (approximately 350'000 B.C.).

Switzerland's official latin name "Confoederatio Helvetica"
goes back to a Celtic tribe called the Helvetians.

The majority of Switzerland's "native" population settled
during the Germanic Migration of Nations that set an end to the Roman Empire in
Western Europe at about 400 A.D.

The Old Swiss Confederacy was founded in the first days of August, 1291
(hence Switzerland's national holiday is celebrated on August, 1st).

Switzerland was officially accepted as an independent nation by its
neighbours in the 1648 European peace treaty.

The Swiss Revolution and the Helvetic Republic have set an end to the
rule of a small number of privileged cities, valleys and families over the
majority of the country.

Today's borders and Switzerland's Neutrality were defined at the Vienna
Congress of 1815 ending the wars of Napoleon.

Switzerland's modern Federal Constitution dates back to 1848 (with total
revisions in 1874 and 1999).

There might be good reasons for any of these choices because Switzerland
has been changing a lot during the centuries of its history and there is not
really too much common ground between the Helvetians or the medieval Old Swiss
Confederacy and the modern Swiss Civil Society.                         LOCAL CULTURE                                               The most practiced religion in Switzerland is Roman Catholicism, to
which 43.8% of the population belongs; 30.3% are Protestant and because
immigration is a Muslim minority of 2.3%; Orthodox Christianity figure at 1.8%
and 7.1% say they have no religion. The stability and prosperity of
Switzerland, combined with its diverse population has led some to describe the
country as a consociational state.

The Swiss are known for their banking, insurance, chocolates, cheeses,
medicines, watches and knives.

August 1 is celebrated Swiss National Day.

The Swiss are famous in the world thanks to their banks, their
chocolates, cheeses or manufacture the best watches in the world, in addition
to having one of the best private schools in the world.

The Swiss love the outdoors, so almost the entire population is a nature
lover. They know much about flowers and wildlife of the country. The mountains
and valleys are well preserved; They are very clean and with an extremely high
value for Swiss culture places. The culture of recycling is expanded by the
entire population.

The bicycle is one of the most widely used means of transport in the
country (other than the train). Most cities have special lanes for cycling
circulation (cycle routes). The car is a means also widely used, although
people prefer the public service; in the cities buses and trams are the bosses
stop. For intercity transport, the train is the best travel option and the
means of transport used by the Swiss: it is said that after the Japanese, the
Swiss are the people who travel by train.

Emmental  cheese, typical of
Switzerland.

Swiss culinary included in most of their dishes to cheese, chocolate and
bread; ingredients that also form an essential part of Swiss gastronomy. People
like to have a balanced diet, so often eat vegetables and salads. This does not
mean that people do not suffer from overweight. much meat is not eaten because
of its high cost. Fondue and raclette are the most popular dishes in
Switzerland, and eaten especially during the winter, as they are very high
calorie dishes. The dairy products are also consumed in Switzerland (yogurt,
cheese, chocolate ... among others).

Swiss culture is also linked to sport, the most practiced are the winter
(skiing, snowboarding, etc.), although other sports are also practiced by a
large part of the population. Sports little expanded in Hispanic countries like
hockey, golf, handball and badminton, among others, are very common in
Switzerland. Walking in the mountains is one of the favorite activities for
those who prefer to stay during the summer holidays.

Due to the large number of immigrants, foreigners are treated well. This
means that generally in the life of the city are not discriminated against,
although there are some cases in labor or student media.

Most of the population is bilingual (German and French). Although this
changes depending on the region: for example in the French-speaking region some
people prefer English to German (by the presence of headquarters of
international institutions in cities in the region, given the current status of
lingua franca English), while the Italian-speaking region the German is almost
obligatory knowledge. Many people are trilingual and get to easily find people
polyglot (German, French, English, Italian and even Spanish), foreigners
benefit the most, as they can have a foreign language in their repertoire                                           LANGUAGES OF SWITZERLAND                           Most foreigners coming to Switzerland are surprised by the variety of
languages that are in this small country. There are four national languages:
German, French, Italian and romance

Today, the distribution is as follows: (the Swiss variety of) German
63.9%, French 19.5%, Italian 6.6%, romance 0.5%, other 9.5%. The regulations in
schools is that children should learn a second national language since start
going to school, apart from that spoken in your home canton. English
increasingly begins to teach before, and sometimes is given priority over the
second national language.

The Federal Constitution stipulates that German, French and Italian are
the official languages of Switzerland, while romance is only official language
to communicate with people who speak romance. German, French and Italian enjoy
equal status in Parliament, the federal administration and the army.

TYPICAL FOOD                                                       I am going to talk about the typical food, swiss cuisine combines
influences from the German, French and Italian cuisine.

Cheese fondue 

Is cheese with bread cubes. The bread cubes are picked up with the fork
and drowned in the cheese, and they enjoyed!

Is served in a traditional ceramic fondue pot called “caquelon”.

Raclette

It is melted cheese served with potatoes, cucumbers and unions.

Rosti

It is like a flat tortilla fried in hot butter with raw potatoes.

SWISS CHOCOLATE

Switzerland, the best place for chocolate lovers! 

This place has the world record of chocolate, they control more than the
half of the world market of chocolate.

In Switzerland the chocolate is very important as we can see and also is
a power source.

Cailler of Switzerland 

Is the oldest brand, the most popular and loved.

And others popular brands are:

*Camille bloch

*Favarger

*Frey

*Lindt

*Swiss dream

                                               MUSIC                                                                Lander is a folk dance for couples, it represents the traditional
instrumental music.

This kind of music started with the appearance of the accordion.

And some swiss composers of classical music are:

*Arthur Honegger

*Ernest Bloch

*Frank Martin

*Rolf Lieberman

ARCHITECTURE                                                Chillon’s castle is placed on a rock near at Ginebra´s lake. It is one
of the most visited in Switzerland. This castle has 25 buildings and 3
backyards protected whit walls.

Zytglogge is one clock fower of XIII century. It has 130 stairs and it
has an amazing view. This clock get in movement 4 minutes earlier than the full
hour                                                 RELAXATION OPPORTUNITIES                       I’m going to took about the 4 must-see places in Switzerland.

The first one is the Matterhorn, Zermatt that is the most photographed
pyramid in the world. You can see this pyramid going up on a cable car, and in
the winter you can take skillers and snowboarders and in the summer you can
take long hakes.

The second one is the Chateau de Chillon, Montreux. Is a castle located
in the swiss Rivera on lake Geneva. In this 14 century castle you can
appreciate paintings, architecture, furniture that has been preserved in their
original form.

The third one is t he swiss National park, zernez qher you can
appreciate an enchanting view that is like seeing the alps before it was touch
by tourism. There is 21 hiking roads to observe the beautiful flora and if
you´re lucky enough, fauna.

The last one is Zurich. This big city host “The swiss National Museum
and Lindenhof square”, old heritage sites and factories that now they are use
as cultural spaces. This city is home of more than 50 museums and 100 art
galleries. This city is cataloged as one of the most livable cities in Europe
because it offers everything you can wish in a city. 

# data[].attributes.body
Music:

German Classical is one of the most performed in the world; German composers include some of the most accomplished and popular in history, among them Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

German popular music of the 20th and 21st century includes the movements of Neue Deutsche Welle (Nena, Alphaville), Disco (Boney M., Modern Talking, Dschinghis Khan, Milli Vanilli, Bad Boys Blue), Metal/Rock (Rammstein, Scorpions, Accept, Helloween), Punk (Die Ärzte, Böhse Onkelz, Nina Hagen, Die Toten Hosen), Pop rock (Herbert Grönemeyer, Tokio Hotel) and Indie (Tocotronic). Famous female singers were Marlene Dietrich and Hildegard Knef. German Electronic music gained global influence, with Kraftwerk being a pioneer group in this genre.[2] The Electro and Techno scene being internationally popular with Paul van Dyk and Scooter.

Germany hosts many large rock music festivals annually. The Rock am Ring festival and the Wacken Open Air are among the largest in the world. Since about 1990 the new-old German capital Berlin has developed a diverse music and entertainment industry.

# data[].attributes.body
History:
Ununited Germany.

In its long history, Germany has rarely been united. For most of the two millennia that Central Europe has been inhabited by German-speaking peoples, such as the Eastern Franks, the area now called Germany was divided into hundreds of states, many quite small, including duchies, principalities, free cities, and ecclesiastical states. Not even the Romans united what is now known as Germany under one government; they managed to occupy only its southern and western portions. In A.D. 800 Charlemagne, who had been crowned Holy Roman emperor by Pope Leo III, ruled over a territory that encompassed much of present-day Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, but within a generation its existence was more symbolic than real.

Medieval Germany

Medieval Germany was marked by division. As France and England began their centuries-long evolution into united nation-states, Germany was racked by a ceaseless series of wars among local rulers. The Habsburg Dynasty's long monopoly of the crown of the Holy Roman Empire provided only the semblance of German unity. Within the empire, German princes warred against one another as before. The Protestant Reformation deprived Germany of even its religious unity, leaving its population Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist. These religious divisions gave military strife an added ferocity in the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), during which Germany was ravaged to a degree not seen again until World War II.

Peace of Westphalia

The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 left German-speaking Europe divided into hundreds of states. During the next two centuries, the two largest of these states—Prussia and Austria—jockeyed for dominance. The smaller states sought to retain their independence by allying themselves with one, then the other, depending on local conditions. From the mid-1790s until Prussia, Austria, and Russia defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 and drove him out of German territory, much of the area was occupied by French troops. Napoleon's officials abolished numerous small states; as a result, in 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, German territory consisted of only about 40 states.

Revolutions for Unification and Democracy

During the next half-century, pressures for German unification grew. Scholars, bureaucrats, students, journalists, and businessmen agitated for a united Germany that would bring with it uniform laws and a single currency and that would replace the benighted absolutism of petty German states with democracy. The revolutions of 1848 seemed at first likely to realize this dream of unity and freedom, but the monarch who was offered the crown of a united Germany, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, rejected it. The king, like the other rulers of Germany's kingdoms, opposed German unity because he saw it as a threat to his power.

Otto von Bismarck

Despite the opposition of conservative forces, German unification came more than two decades later, in 1871, following the Franco-Prussian War, when Germany was unified and transformed into an empire under Emperor Wilhelm I, king of Prussia. Unification was brought about not by revolutionary or liberal forces but rather by a conservative Prussian aristocrat, Otto von Bismarck. Sensing the power of nationalism, Bismarck sought to use it for his own aims, the preservation of a feudal social order and the triumph of his country, Prussia, in the long contest with Austria for preeminence in Germany. By a series of masterful diplomatic maneuvers and three brief and dazzlingly successful military campaigns, Bismarck achieved a united Germany without Austria. He brought together the so-called "small Germany," consisting of Prussia and the remaining German states, some of which had been subdued by Prussian armies before they became part of a Germany ruled by a Prussian emperor.

Prussian hegemony

Although united Germany had a parliament, the Reichstag, elected through universal male suffrage, supreme power rested with the emperor and his ministers, who were not responsible to the Reichstag. The Reichstag could contest the government's decisions, but in the end the emperor could largely govern as he saw fit. Supporting the emperor were the nobility, large rural landowners, business and financial elites, the civil service, the Protestant clergy, and the military. The military, which had made unification possible, enjoyed tremendous prestige. These groups were pitted against the Roman Catholic Center Party, the Socialist Party, and a variety of liberal and regional political groups opposed to Prussia's hegemony over Germany. In the long term, Bismarck and his successors were not able to subjugate this opposition. By 1912 the Socialists had come to have the largest number of representatives in the Reichstag. They and the Center Party made governing increasingly difficult for the empire's conservative leadership.

The World Wars

In World War I (1914–18), Germany’s aims were annexationist in nature and foresaw an enlarged Germany, with Belgium and Poland as vassal states and with colonies in Africa. However, Germany’s military strategy, involving a two-front war in France and Belgium in the west and Russia in the east, ultimately failed. Germany’s defeat in 1918 meant the end of the German Empire. The Treaty of Versailles, the peace settlement negotiated by the victors (Britain, France, and the United States) in 1919, imposed punitive conditions on Germany, including the loss of territory, financial reparations, and a diminished military. These conditions set the stage for World War II.

Weimar Republic

A republic, the Weimar Republic (1919–33), was established with a constitution that provided for a parliamentary democracy in which the government was ultimately responsible to the people. The new republic's first president and prime minister were convinced democrats, and Germany seemed ready at last to join the community of democratic nations. But the Weimar Republic ultimately disappointed those who had hoped it would introduce democracy to Germany. By mid-1933 it had been destroyed by Adolf Hitler, its declared enemy since his first days in the public arena. Hitler was a psychopath who sensed and exploited the worries and resentments of many Germans, knew when to act, and possessed a sure instinct for power. His greatest weapon in his quest for political power, however, was the disdain many Germans felt for the new republic.

Many Germans held the Weimar Republic responsible for Germany's defeat in World War I. At the war's end, no foreign troops stood on German soil, and military victory still seemed likely. Instead of victory, however, in the view of many, the republic's Socialist politicians arranged a humiliating peace. Many Germans also were affronted by the spectacle of parliamentary politics. The republic's numerous small parties made forming stable and coherent coalition governments very difficult. Frequent elections failed to yield effective governments. Government policies also often failed to solve pressing social and economic problems.

Hitler as chancellor

A modest economic recovery from 1924 to 1929 gave the Weimar Republic a brief respite. The severe social stress engendered by the Great Depression, however, swelled the vote received byextreme antidemocratic parties in the election of 1930 and the two elections of 1932. The government ruled by emergency decree. In January 1933, leading conservative politicians formed a new government with Hitler as chancellor. They intended to harness him and his party (the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazis), now the country's largest, to realize their own aim of replacing the republic with an authoritarian government. Within a few months, however, Hitler had outmaneuvered them and established a totalitarian regime. Only in 1945 did a military alliance of dozens of nations succeed in deposing him, and only after his regime and the nation it ruled had committed crimes of unparalleled enormity known as the Holocaust.

The Postwar Era and Unification

In the aftermath of World War II (1939–45) and following occupation by the victorious powers (the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France), Germany came to consist of two states. One, East Germany, never attained real legitimacy in the eyes of its citizens, fell farther and farther behind economically, and had to use force to prevent its population from fleeing to the West. The other, West Germany, was resoundingly successful. Within two decades of defeat, it had become one of the world's richest nations, with aprosperity that extended to all segments of the population. The economy performed so successfully that eventually several million foreigners came to West Germany to work as well. West German and foreign workers alike were protected from need arising from sickness, accidents, and old age by an extensive, mostly nongovernment welfare system. In 1990 German unification overcame the geographic separation of the two German states, including an infamous wall between West Berlin and East Berlin, but economic integration still has not been achieved satisfactorily. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the forces of globalization are posing a renewed challenge to the social-market economy in place throughout the nation.

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Luis Fernando Aguilar, Marco Mejia and Vanessa Bonifacio

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Andrea, Diana, Dany

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Language:
The official language of Germany is the Standard German, with over 95%(percent) of the speaking Standard German or German dialects as their first language.
Regional languages:
Low Rhenish, Limburgish, Luxenbourgish, Alemanic, Bavarian, Danish.
German is a anglo saxon language, because mOst Germans learn English as their first foreign language at school, but also the French and Latin could be their foreign languages. Other languages are also offered in schools, it depends on in the geographic location.
Cuisine:
The German cuisine has evolved as a national cuisine.
Aperitif: Brezel and pretzel, the brezel is similar as to the pretzels but the brezels are soft. It´s great to eat it as a snack before the main meal especially, accompanied with a strong German beer.
Drinks:The beer is the most common drink en German like the pale largerpilsener, a style that predominates in most parts of the country.
Best beers: Weizen,WeiBbier, Altbier, Berliner WeiBe and Radler
Side dishes: Noodles:Made from whaet flour and egg.
Meat:Pork, beef and poultry are the main kind of meats consumed in Germany. Among poultry chicken is the most common.
Desserts:The main desserts are the cakes and tarts most commonly made with of fresh fruit, Apples, Plums, Strawberries and Cherries.
Another well known dessert is the Tortes filed with butter cream.
WELL DONE, NOW PRACTICE YOUR SPEECH!

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Local culture:
Germany the country, began before the arise of Germny like nation-state, it has been formed by intelectusl intelectual people. It's diffficult to determine an specific tradition. But here are some celebrations of Germany:
January 1st_ New year_ Neujahr
"          "        _ Holy Friday_ Karfreitag
May 1st_ Pentecostes_ Pfingstmontog

By the way, Germans are known by their abilty to make plans and organize, it's a country of dedicaded people with some specific values like puntuality, order and neatness.
They have important events such as the Carnaval that takes place every year in winter with a lot of dances, jokes and parades. The Oktoberfest in Münich: people wear traditional clothes and drink a lot of beer, accompained with sausages and dances.
The vals is a succesor of the typical dance named Länder that began in the XVIII century and it's popular in Austria and Switzerland.Typical clothings for men

Architecture:
German architecture comes from different ethnics groups, but the first important type of architecture is the Carroliongia, it's similar to the Bizantine style,

SOURCES!!!

WELL DONE! PRACTICE YOUR SPEECH AND INCLUDE SOURCES!!

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Hello Students!

This is where you will post the texts you are going to use for your poster exhibition! I´ll check and make comment and correction to your texts, REMEMBER NOT TO COPY AND PASTE!
You have to finish your texts before WEEK 6, to be ready to have the exhibition on WEEK 7 (one week before the departamental exams)!
You need to include in your poster the following information:

• Choose a touristic destination and investigate the following factors:

1. History
2. Local culture
3. Language
4. Cuisine
5. Architecture
6. Music
7. Relaxation opportunities

Since it will be a poster presentation, you need to include ATTRACTIVE PICTURES !
You can print them or create them.
Remember other groups and people will see this

FOR THE POSTS:
INCLUDE YOUR TEAM MEMBERS´ CODES AND NAMES , AND THE NAME OF THE PLACE YOU ARE GOING TO EXHIBIT, AND THE SUBHEADING YOU ARE RESEARCHING:
example :

¨France¨
Michelle Lomeli 3026
History: In ancient times France was part of the Celtic territory known as Gaul or Gallia.....

GOOD LUCK!!