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History- Germany > Division to unity 1949-1991: Political > Flashcards

Division to unity 1949-1991: Political Flashcards

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1
Q

When was the Basic Law established?

A

1949

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2
Q

What did the Basic Law do?

A
  • Guaranteed freedom of expression, association and movement for all German citizens
  • Committed the FRG to work for the full unity of Germany
  • Established the FRG as a federal, parliamentary democracy based on 4 key principles:
    1. The rule of law
    2. Democratic participation for all
    3. Federalism
    4. Social welfare
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3
Q

What was the 5% rule?

A

Parties had to win over 5% of votes in order to gain representation, therefore preventing extremist parties from being elected

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4
Q

What did the upper house/Bundesrat have the power to do?

A

Approve, delay and veto laws

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5
Q

What did the lower house/Bundestag have the power to do?

A
  • Elect the president
  • Elect the chancellor
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6
Q

Who were the 6 chancellors in order during this period?

A
  1. Adenauer 1949-1963
  2. Erhard 1963-1966
  3. Kiesinger 1966-1969
  4. Brandt 1969-1974
  5. Schmidt 1974-1982
  6. Kohl 1982-1989
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7
Q

What parties did Adenauer represent?

A

Christian Democrat Union/ CDU
Christian Social Union (CSU)

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8
Q

When was the reinstatement act passed?

A

1951

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9
Q

What was the reinstatement act?

A
  • Allowed many ex-Nazis to be employed in the civil service
  • Businesses were allowed to use their wealth from the 3rd Reich to prosper in the new Germany
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10
Q

In the 1950’s how many officials were former members of the Nazi party?

A

40-80%

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11
Q

Which country did Adenauer pay money to, how much was it and why?

A
  • Paid 100 million DM
  • To Israel
  • As compensation for the treatment of the Jews in the war
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12
Q

How much of the votes has the CDU/CSU secured in the 1949 elections?

A

Only 31%

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13
Q

What did Adenauer do to increase his government power?

A
  • Forged a workable coalition between CDU/CSU/FDP/DP and a number of small parties
  • Managed to build up his own party and extend his political authority
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14
Q

How much of the vote did the CDU/CSU obtain in the 1957 elections?

A

50.2%- gaining the majority

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15
Q

When did the CDU/CSU position fall?

A

1961

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16
Q

What was 1 of Adenauer’s priorities?

A

To establish CDU/CSU dominance and so provide some degree of political stability

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17
Q

What was one way in which Adenauer reduced the number of competing political parties?

A

Declaring 2 anti-democratic extremist parties illegal (SRP and KPD)

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18
Q

What was the most controversial factor in Adenauer’s dominance?

A
  • The way he rehabilitated and used former Nazis within his administration and the country as a whole
  • By turning a blind eye to their past, he could draw on the talents of capable administrators and politicians
  • Under a series of amenities, war criminals were steadily released back into civilian life and many crimes were never investigated
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19
Q

How many members of Adenauer’s foreign ministry were Nazi members?

A

39/40 senior members

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20
Q

What was Adenauer’s government faced with the task of?

A

Rebuilding devastated towns and cities with victims of bombing living in temporary accommodation

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21
Q

What measures did Adenauer put in place to deal with the problems of devastated towns and those who had suffered under the Nazi’s?

A
  1. The 1950 Construction Law- set up a system of grants to Lander and cities, supporting large scale building projects and housing. It provided over 4 million new homes by 1957
  2. Government programmes ensuring the re-integration of the refugees and expellees
  3. The 1953 Equalisation of Burdens Act- provided compensation to victims of wartime bombing campaigns and to those who could prove they had been victims of Nazi crimes
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22
Q

What was the collective bargaining law, when was it passed and who created it?

A
  • Created by Adenauer
  • Passed in 1949
  • Provided the participation of workers in decision making within factories
  • Legislation in 1951 established the representation of workers in the management of large coal and steel companies
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23
Q

When was the FRG admitted to NATO?

A

1955

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24
Q

What happened to the FRG in 1957?

A
  • It was a founding member of the EEC
  • Joined the European Defence Community
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25
Q

Why were Adenauer’s last 6 years in office far less successful than his first 2 terms?

A
  1. 1956- Majority of the FDP broke away as they disagreed with Adenauer’s attitude to the GDR
  2. 1959- Adenauer put himself forward for the presidency of the FRG but had to withdraw because he couldn’t find a replacement as chancellor
  3. 1961- GDR erected a wall dividing East and West Berlin. Despite Western outcry, Adenauer didn’t visit until much later, allowing Brandt to accuse him of indifference
  4. 1961 elections- CDU/CSU vote fell to 46% whilst FDP vote increased from 7.7% to 12.8%
  5. Spiegal Affair
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26
Q

What and when was the Spiegal Affair?

A
  • 1962
  • Adenauer’s defence minister, Strauss, ordered the arrest of the editors of a news magazine after it published an article condemning the inefficiencies of the Bundeswehr
  • Police took heavy handed action, seizing the journalists at night
  • Provoked a press outcry, student protests and the resignations of 5 FDP ministers in Adenauer’s cabinet
  • Without the FDP, the CDU/CSU led coalition couldn’t survive
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27
Q

What were Adenauer’s 5 R’s?

A
  1. Reconstruction
  2. Reintegration
  3. Restoration
  4. Restitution
  5. Labour relations
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28
Q

What is meant by reconstruction?

A
  • 1950 Construction Law provided grants and subsidies for massive house building programmes
  • By 1957 4 million new homes were built
29
Q

What is meant by reintegration?

A

Millions of refugees and expellees were gradually dispersed from holding camps and integrated into work and accommodation

30
Q

What is meant by restoration?

A
  • The 1951 131 Law allowed former Nazi’s to be employed as civil servants
  • Led to the re-employment of over 150,000 German’s who had previously lost their jobs as a consequence of denazification
31
Q

What is meant by restitution?

A
  • Compensation was paid to individual victims of Nazi crimes (particularly to Jewish people)
  • Grants and pensions were made available to German civilians who had suffered significant losses, particularly to property as a result of war time bombing campaign through the 1953 Equalisation of Burdens Act
32
Q

What is meant by Labour Relations?

A
  • The 1949 Collective Bargaining Law established ground rules for Labour relations between the government and trade unions, effectively depoliticising the unions by focusing industrial relations on enhanced productivity rather than wealth redistribution through pay bargaining
  • Low wage demands and a low strike record were a characteristic of Adenauer’s time in office
  • Co determinism was also introduced as a key principle designed to establish non confrontational industrial relations
32
Q

What is meant by Labour Relations?

A
  • The 1949 Collective Bargaining Law established ground rules for Labour relations between the government and trade unions, effectively depoliticising the unions by focusing industrial relations on enhanced productivity rather than wealth redistribution through pay bargaining
  • Low wage demands and a Loe strike record were a characteristic of Adenauer’s time in office
  • Co determinism was also introduced as a key principle designed to establish non confrontational industrial relations
33
Q

What was the social market economy and who created it?

A
  • Created by Adenauer
  • A compromise between a completely free and unregulated market and a state controlled socialist economy
34
Q

How did the social market economy work?

A
  1. Private businesses were free to set their own wages/prices
  2. 1951 Investment Aid Law- provided government subsidies to aid the heavy manufacturing industry
  3. 1951 Codetermination Law- permitted workers in iron and steel to have a say in management decisions
  4. Proposed a series of trade agreements
  5. Laws to prevent the establishment of monopolies (1957- Adenauer’s Anti Trust Law)
  6. Banking controls to ensure Germany maintained a strong currency
35
Q

What did Erhard have to do in 1966 and why?

A
  • He was forced to cut government spending, increase interest rates and propose that the population work for an extra hour per week
  • Because Germany was experiencing a recession and inflation was at 4%
36
Q

What happened in the 1965 election and who was it under?

A
  • Under Erhard
  • The CDU/CSU gained 47.6% of the vote
  • FDP gained 49 seats, continuing as an alliance partner (allowed Erhard to launch a new social and economic programme)
37
Q

Why did Erhard’s coalition fail and lead to him being forced to resign?

A
  1. 1966- CDU/CSU lost the election, which was a sign if its failing strength
  2. There were disputes within the coalition over how to deal with the recession- CDU/CSU wanted to raise taxes but the FDP favoured spending cuts
  3. Erhard failed to persuade the Americans to accept cuts in the FRG’s contribution to the stationing of US troops in West Germany, resulting in the FDP resigning from the coalition
38
Q

What was the grand coalition, who created it and when was it?

A
  • 1966-69
  • Created by Kiesinger
  • A temporary alliance between the CDU/CSU and the SPD
39
Q

Why was the grand coalition created?

A

To address the economic crisis within Germany

40
Q

Was the grand coalition opposed/faced with criticism?

A
  • Yes
    1. Some left wing individuals thought its overwhelming majority would turn the FRG into a 1 party state
    2. 1968- coalition added an amendment to the constitution to permit an elected committee to take emergency measures in the event of civil unrest or war (sounded too similar to article 48- left wing journalists, writers and students protested)
    3. 1967- Extremist NPD party gained 48 seats in 6 different Lander parliaments and won 12 seats in 1968
41
Q

What did the grand coalition allow?

A

An official West German Communist party to be formed in 1968 (DKP)

42
Q

Why did the grand coalition fail?

A
  1. SPD members felt that the CDU/CSU were holding back welfare reforms
  2. Disagreement over foreign policy- SPD accused CDU/CSU of a reluctance to ease the hostility between their strained relations
  3. 1969- SPD candidate (Heinemann) defeated CDU/CSU’s Schroder in the presidential elections
43
Q

Who was the 1st SPD chancellor since 1930?

A

Brandt

44
Q

What did Brandt do in 1974?

A
  • Reform criminal law
  • Lower the voting age to 18
45
Q

What benefits did Brandt provide to German society?

A
  1. Rise in pensions
  2. Measures to extend educational provision (particularly for those from poorer backgrounds)
  3. Job creation schemes
  4. Factory management law
  5. Provision for more social housing
  6. Town planning measures
  7. The promotion of railways to protect the environment
46
Q

What did Brandt’s social reform programme do?

A
  1. Demanded more government spending
  2. Exacerbated Germany’s growing inflation
  3. Provoked arguments between the right and left wing within the coalition
47
Q

What happened to Brandt’s finance minister?

A

He resigned in 1972 because he could not accept Brandt’s policies

48
Q

What happened in the 1972 election?

A
  • SPD won its biggest victory in history with its vote rising to 45.8% (For the 1st time in 40 years it was the strongest party in the Bundestag)
  • CDU/CSU vote fell to 44.9%
  • FDP vote rose to 8.4%
  • Brandt’s coalition majority increased to 46 seats and he was re elected as chancellor
49
Q

Why was Brandt’s 2nd term as chancellor not successful?

A
  1. Struggled to control rising inflation, made even worse by the 1973 oil crisis
  2. There were a series of strikes and conflicts with unions
  3. One of his close advisers had been arrested as an East Germany spy, so he resigned in favour of him
50
Q

What was the crisis within Schmidt’s chancellorship which reflected on his nerves and leadership qualities?

A
  • Mogadishu incident of 1977
  • A plane full of German holidaymakers was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and taken to Mogadishu
  • Schmidt refused to give into threats and instead sent in a commando team
  • Managed to rescue the passengers unharmed
51
Q

What happened in the 1976 general election?

A

The Schmidt-Genser coalition won only a 2 seat majority

52
Q

What did Kohl take measures to do?

A
  1. Combat unemployment
  2. Revive the economy
53
Q

Why did Kohl’s coalition not work?

A
  • He struggled to control the internal conflict between his FDP coalition partner, the leader of Bavaria and CSU member
  • In 1983 the CSU split when 2 right wing members broke away to find a new right wing Republican Party
54
Q

What damaged Kohl’s reputation?

A
  1. Industry had been making secret and illegal donations to the coalition parties
  2. 1984- Kohl was attacked for failing to spot and stop 1 of the largest businesses in Germany being made exempt from paying their tax
  3. The Bitburg Affair- Arranged a ceremony of reconciliation to mark the end of WW2 on an SS troops burial site. Media reports portrayed him as distasteful and a symbol of a new uncaring attitude towards the Nazi past
55
Q

What happened in the 1987 election?

A
  • CDU/CSU vote declined to its lowest point since 1949 at 44.3%
  • FDP vote rose to 9.1%
  • Green Party made gains
56
Q

Who were the political parties in the FRG?

A
  1. CDU/CSU
  2. SPD
  3. FDP
  4. KPD
  5. DP
57
Q

How was it clear that parliamentary democracy in the FRG was working by 1953?

A
  • CDU/CSU, SPD and FDP dominated the political scene
  • CDU/CSU coalition proved successful
58
Q

Which political party was Adenauer opposed by?

A
  • SPD
  • Opposed Adenauer’s moves to align the FRG more firmly with the west and support the EU and argued that German reunification should be the top priority
59
Q

What was the Bundeswehr?

A
  • An armed security police that Adenauer wanted
  • Wanted it to maintain control and resist communism in the east
  • Creation of it was agreed in 1956
  • SPD opposed it
  • Public mostly supported it as the army was seen as supporting the democratic value of the state
60
Q

What happened to Brandt in 1972?

A

He narrowly survived a vote of no confidence by 2 votes

61
Q

What were the reasons for student protest?

A
  1. German students at university in the 60’s were the 1st generation of the post Hitler era, so they believed their parents’ generation were to blame for the horrors snd creation of Nazism
  2. 1963-65 trial of 17 former Auschwitz guards (provoked debate about Nazis)
  3. Stance taken by newspapers and the left wing who suggested the FRG was turning into an authoritarian regime with former Nazis in power (Kiesinger)
  4. 1968 Emergency Laws confirmed politics were becoming authoritarian
62
Q

What were the events of the 1967 student protest?

A
  1. Provoked by the Shah of Iran visiting Berlin
  2. Police used heavy handed tactics to disperse the crowd and shot 1 protestor in the head
  3. Resulted in the formation of the ‘June 2nd Movement’- members were committed to avenging the death and declared that violence was appropriate because of the cause
  4. Led to organised protests in nearly all German universities
63
Q

What were the events of the April 1968 student protest?

A
  1. 1 of the most prominent leaders of the June 2nd movement was shot and severely wounded
  2. 400 students were injured and 2 died
64
Q

What were the events of the May 1968 student protest?

A

80,000 people demonstrated against Kiesinger’s emergency legislation

65
Q

What were the 1968-1969 protests mainly about?

A
  1. Vietnam war
  2. Atomic bomb
  3. Coalition government
66
Q

When was the Red Army Faction created?

A

1969

67
Q

What was the Red Army Faction?

A
  • Underground urban guerrilla movement
  • Opposed the USA as an imperialist power
  • Saw the government as Nazis
  • Would rob banks and engage in bombings and arson

History- Germany (13 decks)

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