Erhard

Question 1

What happened in 1965?

Answer 1

A recession

Question 2

When did inflation peak, and at what?

Answer 2

1966 - 4%

Question 3

What did inflation force Erhard to do?

Answer 3

Cut spending and raise interest rates. Also suggested that everyone might work an extra hour per week.

Question 4

What did Mary Fulbrook say about Erhard?

Answer 4

‘less adept at politics than at economics’

Question 5

What role did Adenauer play in Erhard’s government?

Answer 5

Party Chairman, persistently sniped and publicly criticised Erhard.

Question 6

What threat did Erhard face from the left?

Answer 6

Left-wing student radicalism was also an indication that a new political generation was emerging who would not allow Erhard to remain in his 1950s comfort zone.

Question 7

What right wing threat did Erhard face?

Answer 7

The emergence of the right-wing National Democratic Party threatening an electoral breakthrough at federal level

Question 8

What ultimately brought down Erhard’s government?

Answer 8

His proposed methods to tackle the 1965 recession in October 1966 were rejected by his FDP coalition partners, the subsequent resignation of the FDP cabinet ministers was the final nail in his chancellorship’s coffin.

Question 9

When did Erhard resign?

Answer 9

November 1966

Question 10

Who made up Kiesinger’s Grand Coalition?

Answer 10

CDU/CSU and SPD coalition - 11 CSU and 9 SPD

Question 11

What role did Kiesinger play in his government?

Answer 11

Largely a mediator and facilitator

Question 12

How did Kiesinger respond to extremist parties?

Answer 12

Refused pressure for a legal ban on the NPD and allowed the re-formation of the Communist Party - kept mainstream political debates within the framework system.

Question 13

What happened in May 1968?

Answer 13

Coalition did come under fire from left-wing student for an amendment to the constitution as it allowed a committee of Bundestag, with representatives from each Land, to take emergency measures at times of extreme civil unrest.

Question 14

What did the Emergency Laws symbolise?

Answer 14

Were symbolic of the increasing democratic maturity of the Republic, signifying its confidence that such powers could be exercise legitimately to protect civil liberties, not to undermine them

Question 15

How was Kiesinger successful with the economy?

Answer 15

Reversed the economic recession

Question 16

Give some examples of social modernisation.

Answer 16

Liberalising the criminal law, including the de-criminalisation of adultery and adult homosexuality.

Question 17

How were the Grand Coalition divided over foreign policy?

Answer 17

Left wing SPD favoured Ostpolitik - CDU preference for maintaining the status quo in the Republic’s relations with east Germany and Soviet Union.

Question 18

What was Ostpolitik?

Answer 18

Brandt’s desire to build more positive relations with the GDR coincided with a growing receptiveness in the USSR for East-West co-operation.

Question 19

How was Kiesinger himself criticised?

Answer 19

Criticised by left-wing writers, such as Gunter Grass, for his former Nazi Party membership.