HCHS Germany: A LEVEL UNIT 3 - West Germany Flashcards
In which year was the West German constitution created?
1948
In which year was the Federal Republic of Germany officially created?
1949
Who was the first chancellor of the FRG and in which year did he win the election?
Konrad Adenauer and August 1949
When were Germans in the US zone of West Germany first allowed to vote?
1946
When did Länder elections first take place in the British and French zones?
May-47
Which parties made up the new CDU (Christian Democratic Union)?
Centre (Z) Party, German Nationalists and the Populists
How did the CDU differ from the old Z party?
United Protestants, Catholics, north and south Germany
How many members of the Länder parliaments met to create the new West German constitution and at which meeting?
65 at the Parliamentary Council (in Bonn)
Who was nominated as Presdient of the Parliamentary Council?
Konrad Adenauer
What name was given to the new German constitution?
Fundamental or Basic Law
In West German elections, why did Germans vote twice?
One for a local representative and one for a party (for the Bundestag)
How did the new constitution ensure there was never a power vacuum?
A chancellor could only be removed if another had been elected by the Bundestag (constructive vote of no confidence)
How did the FRG avoid too many small and extremist parties
Parties had to gain 5% of the vote to gain seats in the Bundestag
How was the Bundesrat formed?
Not directly elected but formed of deputies from each state proportional to their population
How did the new constitution try to unite the states?
Revenue from taxes was split equally between the federal government and the Länder
How was Berlin represented in the Bundestag?
22 members of the Berlin assembly could sit in the Bundestag but not vote
How were Berliners looked after (given it was split and occupied?)
They had a mayor who became increasingly powerful over time
When was the Fundamental Law passed?
8th May, 1949
When was Bonn made capital of the FRG?
23rd may, 1949
Which problems faced the FRG in the 1940s (similar to Weimar)?
military occupation, economic difficulties and social upheaval following war
How long did the FRG’s constitution last?
Until reunification in 1990
What role had Adenauer had before becoming chancellor of Germany?
Mayor of Cologne from 1918 and involved in the 1944 bomb plot against Hitler
How did Adenauer become politically important in the FRG?
He was sacked as mayor of Cologne in 1945 by the British and so he focused on national politics
Who was Adenauer’s economic advisor?
Ludwig Erhard
What % of the FRG was Catholic?
45%
What was the election result for the CDU and the SPD in August 1949?
CDU: 31%, SPD: 29.2%
What was the main reason for the CDU’s election victory in 1949?
Social market economy (as opposed to the SPD’s centrally controlled economy)
What did the CDU do in the Reichstag following the 1949 election?
Formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party and the German Party to take 208 of the 402 seats in the Bundestag
How did Adenauer forge closer ties with European countries?
Joined the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951 and the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957
Why was Adenauer allowed and army in 1950 and how big was it?
Korean War and 150,000
What percentage of the vote did the CDU win in the 1953 election?
45.20%
What was significant about the General Treaty in 1955?
It gave the FRG control of its foreign policy and they joined NATO
What was the Hallstein Doctrine of 1955?
Diplomatic recognition of the GDR by any nation other than the USSR was an attack on the FRG
What percentage of the vote did the CDU win in the 1957 election?
50.20%
When did Adenauer retire from politics?
1963
Why did Schumacher think he was the right leader for post-war Germany?
Only politician to stay in Germany under the Nazis and not collaborate
Give two reasons why Schumacher failed in the 1949 election?
Economic policies too similar to East Germany and fear of communism
When did Schmacher die and who replaced him as leader of the SPD?
1952 and Erich Ollenhauer
Who replaced Ollenhauer as leader of the SPD and in which year?
Willy Brandt and 1953
What was the Bad Godesberg Programme of 1959?
The SPD’s move away from Marxism and towards capitalism. It made the SPD ‘the party of the whole people’
Which US president backed Willy Brandt and the SPD?
President Kennedy
When did the SPD gain power in the FRG for the first time?
Formed a coalition with the CDU in 1966 and in 1969, Willy Brandt became chancellor
What had been decided about the Nazis at the Potsdam Conference in 1945?
Nazi party banned, Nuremberg trials, important Nazis removed from positions of power in Germany
How did the USA decide whether people were Nazi sympathisers?
They used the Gragebogen (questionnaire) which had 133 questions
Why was the USA’s Fregabogen so divisive?
Every German in the US zone had to answer it, even if they had been persecuted by the Nazis
Why did the Fragebogen cause problems for Germans in the US zone?
Germans had to pass the Fragebogen to gain employment, rations and state relief
Why would many Germans fail the Fragebogen?
Because organisations like the DAF and Hitler Youth had been compulsory
Why was the admin behind the Fragebogen such a problem?
In one Länder, 2.5 million Germans were investigated
How was denazification improved from 1946?
5 categories were created with ‘lesser’ Nazis being put on probation for 2-3 years
How many Nazis were still in prison camps by 1947?
90,000
How was thedenazification process subject to coruption?
Certificates of denazification were available on the black market
When did denazification officially end in the US zone?
1951
How did Adenauer move on from denazification in 1951?
The ‘politics for the past’ annulled many of the Allied punishments against Germans
How many Germans were affected by the ‘politics for the past’?
800,000 Germans (who had been classed as Nazi war criminals)
What was the First Amnesty Law and when was this?
This allowed 150,000 Germans previously removed from jobs to return in May 1951
What was the Second Amnesty Law and when was this?
This annulled 400,000 Germans in the British zone in 1954
Name a former Nazi Party member in Adenauer’s government
Hans Globke (involved in Enabling Act and Nuremburg Laws)
How did Adenauer deal with neo-Nazis?
In August 1952, the Socialist Reich Party was banned
How did Adenauer appease Israel?
On 10th September, 1952, Germany paid DM3 billion to Israel due to the Holocaust
Why did Adenauer allow former Nazis in his government?
They wanted to make up for their past and they were anti-Communist!
What percentage of foreign office diplomats were former-Nazis?
66%
What protest was there against Adenauer’s denazification process?
Leonard Schulter was barred from becoming Minister for Education because he was a Nazi
What did the SPD think about Adenauer’s denazification process?
Walter Manzel spoke out against the amnesties for so many former-Nazis
Why did Adenuaer get away with such a lenient denazification process
Economic growth in the 1950s and a desire for Germans to move on from the past
