The historic gains made by Germany's three smaller parties was one of the most significant aspects of the national elections on Sunday. This came largely at the expense of the country's two largest political groups - the conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats. In fact, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives saw their second worst result in post war Gemany. Nevertheless, the conservatives will be able to form the government - due to the massive gains made by their coalition partners - Free Democrats. Now begins the hard work of forging a coalition agreement for the next four years.