How accurate is it to say the SPD lost the 1949 (1953)election due to the leadership of Kurt Schumacher?? Flashcards
How accurate is it to say the SPD lost the 1949 election due to the leadership of Kurt Schumacher??
How accurate is it to say the SPD lost the 1949 election due to the leadership of Kurt Schumacher??
Leadership of Kurt Schumacher/ Ollenhauer
-Postive that he wanted to focus on re-building economy, but chose a closed economy that reminded Germans and foreign powers of communism which also discouraged competition and free trade. Complete opposite to USA economic policy. As a result, the USA didn’t support him, less likely to provide Marshall aid under Schumacher, germans recognised importance of US support.
(by 1953 the successful capitalist economy had proven impressive and so people were not inclined to move away from this)
-Took a positive (whilst ironic) strong anti communist stance, but based his campaign heavily on violence against communism as represented in his posters, comprising of barbed wire fences around Berlin. Reminds people of nazi germany. His campaign conflicted his closed style economy and campaign based on violence rather than hope for the Germans after the war.
(he still pushed the SPD in a very socialist/ communist way, with ideas that weren’t appreciated by foreign powers in Germany, who had lots of influence, Schumacher didnt have foreign support and his ideas were seen as dangerously communist)
-Attacked Adenauer for being a ‘puppet of the church’, upset many Germans considering 1/3 were catholic. Adenauer appears more paternalistic and caring. Schumachers catholic attacks reminds some of the Kulturkampf. Adenauer able to gain support whilst Schumacher had spent 10years in Dachau and rounded up slightly less support. Some reminders of the Kaissereich and kulturkampf where the SPD were banned.
(Schumacher appeared to be out of touch with society by 1953 and it was dangerous to attack someone in this way with all of Adenauer’s previous success after 1949)
-All these things made the SPD a much less popular party in the 1953, and when Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher in 1952 he was even more out of touch with German society and the necessary politics and demands of German people
Leadership of Adenauer
- Adenauer also had strong anti communist stance which was favoured by the western powers, but portrayed it better than Schumacher and was more appealing to USA because his other policies didn’t contradict it (economic) Campaign posters portrayed him as angelic and noble instead of aggressive like SPD. Strong foreign policy invaluable in gaining support of Britain, France, USA which would attract voters due to the long term stability it would bring (NATO joined in 1955 and $1.3billion of Marshall aid provided)
- (under Adenauer real wages were doubling from 1951-1954, he had successful re-ignited the economy through his 131 amnesty laws to let people back into government)
-(Adenauer ran on the slogan ‘no experiments’ which played to his advantage as people didnt want to be messed about and were prepared to let Adenauer continue the success he had had after 1949)
-Gained support by getting Erhard as his economics minister; world renowned economist who used Marshall aid effectively. Strong economic policy favoured among germans to rebuild germany after the war. Transitioned Germany to a technology super power eg BMW cars and Siemens electronics. Jobs were created and GDP tripled in 1950s. People therefore rightly favoured this economy over Schumachers planned economy, and USA backing increased support further.
(membership of the ECSC from 1951 combined the heavy industries of European countries and Germany grew as an exporter)
-he banned the Neo nazi socialist party in 1952
-Adenauer had the catholic support who equated to 45% of the FRG as a result of his vehement opposition to the communism in the GDR.
The legacy of World war two
-(Adenauer proved his commitment to protecting Germany from another war or threats by proposing an army of 150,000 troops after Germany was demilitarised on 22nd November 1949, especially fear of east germany. The army was granted, shows an element our trust for being allowed the army after the attrocities of nazi Germany, even by France who was invaded by Nazis.)
-The USA had invested interest in Germany due to their own anti communist policy that was beginning to increase as the Cold War became more serious. Adenauer policies regarding protection from the East aligned with the US policies, who were looking for someone to support in germany due to their border on the iron curtain.
-Investment of $1.3 billion from USA into West Germany to support Adenauer was hard to compete with for Schumacher, as there was no guarantee foreign powers would support him to the same extent considering his socialist stance
The fear of Stalin sphere of influenced combined with Schumachers communist style economy meant that Adenauer was the more viable option for US support, which in turn encouraged germans to vote for him to ensure protection, especially as germany remained an occupied state until 1990.
Judgement/ line of argument
Adenauer wins the election because his foreign policy and domestic economic policy made him the better suited candidate to deal with the aftermath of WW2, and therefore used its legacy to greater effect. it can’t be overlooked that Adenauer won by no more than 2% and Schumacher did have similar economic aspirations and anti communist policies, however it was probably Adenauers ability to get US backing that edged him in the election because germans valued the added protection that they provided
