Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
How was Konrad Adenauer able to dominate German politics from the 1949-63…
How was Konrad Adenauer able to dominate German politics from the 1949-63 period
"Rehabilitated Nazis"
Adenauer brought many Nazi officials back into government which helped this administration run smoothly as they were highly skilled
Weakness of Opposition parties
The SDP leader Kurt Schumacher was not able to mobilise support
Schumacher predicted the the CDU economic policies would fail which made him look foolish in the post war economic booms.
Is successor Erich Ollenhauer was a c'slourless and struggled to revive the parties fortune
SDP policies were also out of touch with the needs of the german people
Opposed Adenauer moves to align germany closer to the west and focused on the reunifcation of germany
However as reunification looked increasingly unlikely this was a vote looser
party was seen as working class at a time that germany was becoming increasingly affluent
Divided over many issues such as rearmament
He was able to ban two extremist opposition parties, the far right Socialist Reich Party (SRP) and Communist KPD in 1956
Post war rebuilding and economic growth
There was a huge rebuilding programme after the war which would of boosted his popularity
1950 construction law set up a general system of grant to the Lander and cities. This supported a huge programme of home building.
Government programmes were able to ensure the reintegration of refugees, this is shown by the fact that in the 1957 general election that the Alliance of disenfranchised persons failed to clear the 5% threshold
1953 Equalisation of the burdens act provided victims for nazi crimes and for the damage of war time bombing
Was able to ensure economic and social stability
A stable relationship with the unions was ensured with the collective bargaining law of April 1949 which gave workers greater control over decision making in factories.
1951 law established representation of workers in steel and coal companies, these "Co-determination" was successful and extended in 1952, which provided social stability.
Welfare reforms, index linked pension act in 1957 which created a substantial increase.
Strengths of the CDU and coalition building
The Inclusion of term christian allowed them to expand there base, from a ficus on catholic to the wider religious population
Foreign policy