The red-green era was a time of upheaval. Its effects continue to shape the Federal Republic to this day. The phase-out of nuclear energy, Agenda 2010, war and peace - these were dramatic years in which taboos were broken. Based on exclusive archival material, Edgar Wolfrum presents the first history of Germany between 1998 and 2005 derived from primary sources. The red-green years remain controversial to this day. Epoch-making domestic reforms heightened the pulse of politics and led to a societal polarization like rarely seen before. Social crisis, accelerated globalization, and international terrorism: around the turn of the millennium, the world changed at a rapid pace. The Schröder-Fischer government faced three wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Several times, the coalition was on the brink of collapse. These were difficult and fast-paced times.