Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
The Federal Republic of Germany 1949 to 1991 Booklet 4 - Coggle Diagram
The Federal Republic of Germany 1949 to 1991 Booklet 4
Chancellors and Politics
Konrad Adenauer 1949 - 1963
The New Federal Public of Germany the establishment of democracy in West Germany
FRG Four Key Principles: The rule of Law, Democratic participation for all, Federalism and Social Welfare
Constitution
Checks and Balances
Adenauer had affective relationship with his
Economic Minister Ludwig Erhard
they were arguably responsible for the recovery and economic prosperity of West Germany
Bi-cameral Parliament
The Lower House/Bundestag
elected every four years through universal suffrage
50% of members were directly elected and the other 50% were elected through party lists
Parties needed at least 5% of the votes to gain elective representative
to avoid too many small parties
The Upper house/Bundesrat
made up of Representatives from the states/land
had the power to approve and veto laws
The president was largely a ceremonial role
elected by Bundestag and the Bundesrat members
The Chancellor was the head of government
elected by Bundestag
The Federal Constitutional Court
protect the constitution
modelled on Americans supreme court
The Basic Law was designed to avoid the flaws of Weimar constitution
Rights including freedom of expression, assembly, association and movement also committed to unification of germany
guaranteed West German citizenship to all people of German descent
including those fleeing from communist East Germany/GDR
The state of Germany Democracy
German government was dominated
by Chancellor Adenauer
Best German ever in 2003 poll by German television station ZDF
Representing Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
party created from former Catholic Centre Party
Along with Christian Social Union (CSU) largely dominated German politics with a broadly conservative appeal
At time though coalition would involve the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) to achieve 50% threshold for the government to function
the opposition was weak and unpopular
The German Socialist Party (SPD) was weakened with its association with the Marxist doctrine at the time when communism was enforcing the rule in East Germany
as long as the economy was healthy many germans opted out of politics and went along with the ruling party
A key concern was the new Germany was its Nazi past and the consequences of the war (page 2)
controversially Adenauer rehabilitated former Nazis turning a blind eye to their former crimes
in 1951 reinstatement act allowed
ex Nazis to be employed in civil service
businesses were allowed to use their wealth from the further Ike to prosper in new Germany
in the
1950s 40 to 80% of officials were former members of the Nazi party
including the minister of refugees Theodore oberlander who was a former member of the SS
the compensation of treatment of Jews in the war adenauer
paid $100 billion DM to Israel in 1952
controversies during the rule of adenauer
slow reaction to creation of the Berlin Wall
heavy-handed responses to the spiegel affair
led to his resignation
schwabing riots
these were comfortable reminders of Germany's recent authoritarian past
Chancellors after Adenauer
government
party and policies
Chancellors After Adenauer and coalition governments under the free party system
the CDU/CSU coalition had dominated West German politics since inception in 1949
chancellorship adding hour continued until 1969
on the Chancellor erhard 1963 1966
Chancellors
Chancellor erhard 1963 to 1966
he was a federal minister of economic under adding how our government
he played a role in The Economic Miracle
from 1965 Germany was experiencing a recession and inflation running at 4% he was forced to
propose properly populations work for an extra hour per week
shut down by trade unions
increase interest rates
shut down by trade unions
cut government spending
shut down by trade unions
arguments within the party about how to deal with the recession rage within the party
when erhard failed to persuade the Americans that they should receive less of a contribution to the Troops stationed in West Germany
he was forced to resign in 1966
Kurt Kiesinger 1966 to 1969
this time the CDU/CSU were joined by the SPD in government forming a 'grand Coalition'
there were some controversies
with the Coalition
for instance the proposition of a committee to deal with civil unrest
this sounded all two similar to Article 48
of the weimar constitution
criticism of the Coalition came from extreme wings of the political spectrum as recession continued
2 more items...
student didn't like it because of things that there wasn't much opposition
1969 nice bundestag elections were Fort hard and the SPD came on top with 251 seats against 249
Chancellor Willy brandt 1969 to 1974
the former mayor of Berlin
become the first SPD Chancellor since 1930 and brought High Hopes of political change
reforms brought included
reducing the Franchise to 18 in 1974
alongside very wellfair reforms
5 more items...
these changes required
greater government spending
1 more item...
also a wave of domestic terrorism sweeping
West Germany in the 70s
stringent measures were introduced
to deal with this
causing upset in idyllic
youth wing of the party
1 more item...
change in policies towards East Germany
proved to be controversial in West Germany
brandt received the
Noble Peace Prize in 1971
Ostpolitik was a more sympathetic policy towards East germany and tried to build bridges
The SPD won it's biggest victory in history in 1972 with 45.8% of the votes this made it the biggest party in Germany for the first time in over 40years
However, Brandt's second term proved more problematic
attempts to control inflation being compounded with the oil crisis from November 1973
Series of strikes and conflicts with trade unions
Brandt was forced to resign in May 1974 after discoveries of one of his close advisors Gunter Guillaume who had handled confidential government documents was an East German Spy
Helmut Schmidt 1974-1982
Schmidt was the Minister of Economics and Finance under Brandt
He had a reputation of strength and decisiveness
He won the 1976 election but with reduced majority of 2 seats
as well as continued economic problems Schmidt had to deal with controversies over nuclear missiles and growth of nuclear power
His greatest success and show of strength was handling the Mogadishu incident where he responded to terrorist demands with military intervention
By 1982 the fortunes of the SPD were getting smaller whilst the CDU/CSU were gaining strength from it's new leader Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl 1982 - 1991
The return of the conservative leadership was not without controversies and the fortune of Kohl was saved by the collapse of East Germany
search for consensus
Social Developments
Extra- Parliamentary Opposition and Pressure
Student Protest started in the 60s
In 1960s saw the coming of age of the first generation since the Nazi Era
Initial reaction in Post Nazi Era seemed indifference with the attitude of 'ohne mich' and the rejection of responsibility for Nazism and the war
the generation wanted to hold their parents accountable for the Nazi past
The newer generation saw former Nazi's in position of Power such as Kissinger who was Chancellor from 1966
In context the 1960s was a radical period for students in the west and against communism as seen with the demonstration in Paris as well as Czechslovakia and in the USA was centered around the objection to the Vietnam War
There was disillusionment with the SPD joining the grand coalition in 1966
many felt that there was now no distinction between the left and the right of politics in parliamentary democracy
when they passed the
emergency laws in 1968
many saw the country was returning to its afortarian ways
the passing of the
emergency laws
in turn that to students creating the
APO - outside parliamentary opposition
responsibility also has to be taken for the overcrowded and outdated German universities with
many professors being in place from the Nazi era
the new 'free' university of Berlin replaced HumBoldt University, part of East Germany, became a focal point for student protest
an example of student protests include 4,000 student fit in in 1966
a demonstration again the visit of the Shah a of Iran in 1967
it was a at the letter protest that a demonstrator that police took has the ring leader Beno oh nest Borg was accidentally shot and killed
1968 the student Rudi dutschke was a prominent member of the APO movement was shot
Urban Terrorism and the Baader-Meinhof gang
the most radical reaction coming from the student movement was the Urban terrorist baader meinhof gang to formed the Red Army faction(RAF)
they saw the West German government as a fascist hangover from the Nazi era and the USA as an imperialist power
they supported themselves by robberies
involved in
bombing
targets
that targets were usually again West German corporations and businesses and military targets
arson
murder
the aim was to provoke and aggressive
response from the government
which they hoped would spark a wider a revolt from the population
intentionally gained symphony from the left with their portrayal as Robin Hood style of operation
this was lost when they turned more extreme measures in the 1970s
and the length with other terrorist organizations operating such as Palestinian liberation organization PLO
many of the Ring leaders were imprisoned in 1972
gang member Hogler meins died in prison
judge Gunter von drenkman was assassinated in retaliation
they never,nded such pre eminence as they did in the 1970s and the RAF splinted into a number of groups
the announced the ending of activity in 1992 and then it's the disbanding in 1998
Environmentalism
over formed of anti government protest and pressure groups that emerged in 1917 then to the round
environmental concerns including nuclear power and nuclear weapons
1985 300,000 people participated in rallies across 10 major cities against the basing of the new Pershing missile in West Germany
stood for
oil crisis in 1933 to 4
acid rain (polluting rain)
against NATO membership
nuclear plant incident
green present being part of every party
concern over pro nuclear consensus
demand for Greater Holocaust awareness
belief in peaceful non-violent protests and civil disobedience
get past 5% and achieve 27 seats in 1983 election
Economic Developments
the growth of West German economy
Germany of 1989 was unrecognizable to the one of 1949
reasons for economic growth
industrial heartland of the ruhr
german exports
no colonies to sustain and had less defence costs
allied occupation, marshal plan to encourage growth
started from low level from the devastation of war
plentiful supply of labour, especially refugees from the east
economic co-operation between other european powers - membership of EEC in 1957 and european coal steal Community 1951
west german economists developed a new idea, the social market economy,
spearheaded by
professor Ludwig Erhard
who was to become
Economic Minister in
1949 to 1963 under adenauer
and Chancellor in 1963 to 1966
incorporated both
free market economy
and the
state would intervene to ensure fair competition and fair labour relations
the Economic Miracle and it's aftermath
the Misery of the post war years were eradicated by West Germany's experience of an 'Economic Miracle' that created social stability and acceptance of democratic institution
GNP growth
at the beginning of the Period there were
8.2% GNP growth
slowing to 4.6%in the 60s
2.78% in the 70s
at the beginning of 80s as low as 0.7% then Rising to 2.6% Midway through the decade
1960s saw the economy stretched to full capacity
country needed more labour
FRG encouraging foreign workers from
southern Europe and turkey
known as, Gastarbeitter, in English
, guest workers,
1950s saw greatest economic growth
partly due to circumstances
through government encouragement,
firms reinvested profits back into their business
leading to west germany having
the third largest economy
after
USA
and USSR
partly due to
government polices
part is a patient in the eec/eu