Assess the reasons for the fall of Adenauer

Question 1

When was the Presidential Fiasco?

Answer 1

1959

Question 2

What was the presidential Fiasco?

Answer 2

-Adenauer under encouragement from the CDU put himself forward for the role of president (they wanted him out because of his age)

Question 3

Why did Adenauer withdraw from the role of president?

Answer 3

-he realised the role of president wouldn’t give him a powerful say in policy making and he wouldn’t be able exercise the same control over the government as he had as chancellor

Question 4

Who did Adenauer want to block from becoming Chancellor? Why?

Answer 4

-wanted to block Erhard from becoming Chancellor->he didn’t rate his political skills

Question 5

How did the Presidential Fiasco cause the fall of Adenauer?

Answer 5

-he lost credibility as a result of this episode, he was seen to be damaging the role for his own gains
-many wanted him out of the chancellorship position and this would have provided the ideal opportunity to remove

Question 6

What did the Presidential Fiasco reveal about Adenauer? What was a result of this?

Answer 6

-this reveals to the political elite that Adenauer wanted control over the people and that he prioritised that over government. From this point onwards, people in government would be following his actions very carefully

Question 7

Was the Presidential Fiasco a long term or short term cause of Adenauer’s fall from power?

Answer 7

long term

Question 8

When was the TV dispute?

Answer 8

1958-1961

Question 9

What was the TV dispute?

Answer 9

-Adenauer set up a national TV company called Deutschland Fernsehen-GmbH which was effectively controlled by the government

Question 10

Why did the SPD use the TV dispute as an opportunity to attack Adenauer?

Answer 10

-they claimed that this threatened the government and to the freedom of media

Question 11

When was the Deutschland Fernsehen-GmbH declared unconstitutional by the constitutional court? What was a result of this?

Answer 11

-February 1961
-it was dissolved

Question 12

How did the TV dispute cause the fall of Adenauer?

Answer 12

-Adenauer’s opponents used the opportunity to attack his style of government for being too controlling and this gained credibility due to the memory of Nazi control

Question 13

How would the TV dispute have impacted Adenauer’s reputation?

Answer 13

-it would’ve impacted his reputation and popularity
-if his opponents used it to attack his style of government it shows how there were already cracks in his reputation and a mistake like this gave them a chance to further impact him
-it would have reminded people of the Nazis and possibly scared them. It would also make people question his morals

Question 14

Was the TV dispute a long, medium or short term cause for Adenauer’s fall from power?

Answer 14

medium term

Question 15

When was the election?

Answer 15

1961

Question 16

Who were the front runners of the election?

Answer 16

-SPD
-CDU

Question 17

What did the election polls imply?

Answer 17

-that Adenauer was favoured over SPD leader Willy Brandt due to his experience and the growing economy

Question 18

What was a result of the DDR erecting the Berlin Wall?

Answer 18

-the DDR then erected the Berlin Wall during election campaigning.
-most West Berliners were horrified at what was happening and were unhappy with Adenauer’s response which was to continue campaigning for the election and not visit for a week

Question 19

Who won the election with what percent?

Answer 19

-CDU won the election but with only 45% of the vote

Question 20

What was a result of the CDU winning the election with such little percent?

Answer 20

-so needed to form a coalition with FDP->agreed on the condition that Adenauer stepped down from a leadership role within four years

Question 21

How did the election cause the fall of Adenauer?

Answer 21

-even after the Berlin Wall had been built Adenauer continued to attack Willy Brandt who was mayor of West Berlin->this lost him support for his cold approach
-this was humiliating to Adenauer who was effectively being manoeuvred out of office

Question 22

How did the election impact Adenauer’s reputation?

Answer 22

-Adenauer was slowly becoming more unpopular with the people and government which would impact his security in his position
-the fact that he lost the support of the mayor of West Berlin would’ve impacted Germany because he didn’t have as much of a say over the Trizone’s half of Berlin

Question 23

Was the election a short, medium or long term cause of Adenauer’s fall from power?

Answer 23

short term

Question 24

When was the Der Spiegel Affair?

Answer 24

1962

Question 25

What was the Der Spiegel Affair?

Answer 25

-Der Spiegel (left wing newspaper) criticised the foreign policy of Strauss, leader of the CSU and minister of defence

Question 26

What did Strauss believe in? What did he appear in favour of?

Answer 26

-Strauss believed in ‘massive deterrence’ to fight against the threat of communism and he appeared in favour of pre-emptive NATO nuclear strikes

Question 27

What did the Der Spiegel paper publish an article about? What was the result?

Answer 27

-the paper published an article about NATO military plans in the event of an attack by the Warsaw Pact which also questioned the integrity of Strauss->this was during the same month as the Cuban Missile Crisis

Question 28

What happened to the offices of the magazine and the writer and editors of the Der Spiegel affair?

Answer 28

-the offices of the magazine were searched and closed down
-the writer, editors were arrested and charged with treason/corruption due to publishing secret information

Question 29

How did the Der Spiegel Affair cause Adenauer’s fall from power?

Answer 29

-the response to publication was seen as heavy-handed and an attempt to censor the press by interfering with what was being published

-initially Adenauer defended Strauss’ actions in ordering the arrests which led to bad publicity for him->Strauss was sacked in order to rescue the coalition and Adenauer had to promise to step down the following year over his mishandling of the situation

Question 30

How did the Der Spiegel Affair impact Adenauer’s reputation?

Answer 30

-if a newspaper was critiquing the government it would’ve impacted their popularity
-they published it but it held secret information about the government’s military plans in the event of an attack which would have scared the public, impacting the image and popularity of the government
-the fact that the government tried to control the press could’ve reminded people about Hitler’s control
-Strauss was sacked and Adenauer promised to step down the following year due to mishandling the situation

Question 31

Was the Der Spiegel Affair a short, medium or long term cause of Adenauer’s fall from power?

Answer 31

short

Question 32

Between what decades was foreign diplomacy?

Answer 32

1950s/1960s

Question 33

What caused a further separation between the FRG and the GDR?

Answer 33

-Adenauer had taken an uncompromising stance in his approach to the GDR and Eastern bloc refused to reunify

Question 34

Was Adenauer’s foreign policy successful despite the opposition of the SDP?

Answer 34

-despite the opposition of the SPD, Adenauer’s foreign policy had been successful

Question 34

What negatives had been achieved by 1963? (6)

Answer 34

-the relationship between the USSR and the Western zones wasn’t as strong as it once was

-the education system was still at fault->lack of resources, teachers, having to get all the states to agree on the system due to being federal

-still issues with housing and poverty (minor)

-reunification question was hanging over them (USSR)

-SPD wanted reunification

-women’s rights were an issue but that was global

Question 34

What positives had been achieved by 1963? (7)

Answer 34

-’economic miracle’

-Korean war led to an increase in exports from America->provided economic stimulus

-the welfare state meant that there was unemployment benefit, sickness pay etc

-by May 1955 they were a Sovereign State->they get an army->they can defend themselves->easier to import and export goods

-social: housing being provided for, welfare state

-Erhard abolished price controls->led to the ‘economic miracle’->led to the FRG being a major trading power->GNP doubled, 3rd biggest trading power in Europe

-built trade links (France)

Question 34

Was foreign diplomacy a short, medium or long term cause of Adenauer’s fall from power?

Answer 34

medium term

Question 34

Why was international context changing by the late 1950s?

Answer 34

-by the late 1950s the international context was changing after the death of Stalin

Question 34

How did foreign diplomacy weaken Adenauer’s reputation?

Answer 34

-even though his foreign policy had been successful he was decreasing in popularity
-he refused to unify the GDR and Eastern bloc and in the death of Stalin, international context was changing
-his coalition party, the FDP as well as Erhard were pro-America and were responsible for pushing Erhard to replace Adenauer as chancellor which shows how even his coalitions were ending and turning on him, showing how unpopular he had grown
-he had grown out of touch with international context.

Question 34

How did foreign diplomacy cause Adenauer’s fall from power?

Answer 34

-Adenauer was seen as being out of touch with the international context as after the death of Stalin the new dictator Khrushchev was less rigid in his thinking
-Adenauer refused to acknowledge any potential reunification with the DDR which alienated the SPD who were growing more powerful

Question 34

What were Adenauer’s coalition partner responsible for?

Answer 34

-Adenauer’s coalition partner, the FDP as well as Erhard were pro-America and nicknamed ‘Atlanticists’->they were responsible for pushing Erhard to replace Adenauer as chancellor

Question 35

How did foreign diplomacy cause Adenauer to fall from power?

Answer 35

-Adenauer was seen as being out of touch with the international context as after the death of Stalin the new dictator Khrushchev was less rigid in his thinking
-Adenauer refused to acknowledge any potential reunification with the DDR which alienated the SPD who were growing more powerful

Question 36

How did foreign diplomacy weaken Adenauer’s reputation?

Answer 36

-even though his foreign policy had been successful he was decreasing in popularity
-he refused to unify the GDR and Eastern bloc and in the death of Stalin, international context was changing
-his coalition party, the FDP as well as Erhard were pro-America and were responsible for pushing Erhard to replace Adenauer as chancellor which shows how even his coalitions were ending and turning on him, showing how unpopular he had grown
-he had grown out of touch with international context.

Question 37

Was foreign diplomacy a short, medium or long term cause of Adenauer’s fall from power?

Answer 37

medium term

Question 38

What positives had been achieved by 1963? (7)

Answer 38

-’economic miracle’

-Korean war led to an increase in exports from America->provided economic stimulus

-the welfare state meant that there was unemployment benefit, sickness pay etc

-by May 1955 they were a Sovereign State->they get an army->they can defend themselves->easier to import and export goods

-social: housing being provided for, welfare state

-Erhard abolished price controls->led to the ‘economic miracle’->led to the FRG being a major trading power->GNP doubled, 3rd biggest trading power in Europe

-built trade links (France)

Question 39

What negatives had been achieved by 1963? (6)

Answer 39

-the relationship between the USSR and the Western zones wasn’t as strong as it once was

-the education system was still at fault->lack of resources, teachers, having to get all the states to agree on the system due to being federal

-still issues with housing and poverty (minor)

-reunification question was hanging over them (USSR)

-SPD wanted reunification

-women’s rights were an issue but that was global

Question 40

When did Adenauer win his third term (last election)?

Answer 40

1957

Question 41

How old was Adenauer when he resigned?

Answer 41

87