Maintaining Political Stability (1965-89)

Question 1

Who replaced Erhard? What party were they from?

Answer 1

• Kurt Kiesinger
• CDU/CSU

Question 2

Describe Kiesinger’s government.

Answer 2

• It was a ‘Grand Coalition’ made up of the CDU/CSU and the SPD

Question 3

List 3 reasons why the Grand Coalition was formed.

Answer 3

• The economic challenges at the time
• There was increasing political hostility towards the government
• The government had become more respressive due to these threats

Question 4

What were 3 economic problems that contributed to the creation of the Grand Coalition?

Answer 4

• The economic dislocation caused by the creation of the Berlin Wall
• The ending of skilled migrants from the GDR
• The fear of expanding too quickly

Question 5

List 3 groups that threatened the government.

Answer 5

• Small extremist political parties such as the National Democratic Party (NPD) which was neo-Nazi
• Students (protests)
• The German Confederation of Trade Unions

Question 6

How and why had the government become more repressive?

Answer 6

• In 1968 they amended the Basic Law to establish a committee that could enact emergency measures in the case of a serious threat, such as widespread political unrest (the Emergency Law)
• The groups threatening the government had become increasingly violent and even radical, in the view of some, such as the CDU/CSU

Question 7

What were 2 opposing views about the introduction of this emergency law?

Answer 7

• The left saw it to be a return to authoritarianism
• The SPD had initially been opposed to the introduction of measures such as this one, but voted in favour of it

Question 8

What were the results of the 1969 elections?

Answer 8

• Willy Brandt (SPD) became chancellor with an SPD/FDP coalition

Question 9

What was Brandt’s most famous policy?

Answer 9

• Ostpolitik; rejecting the Hallstein Doctrine and building closer relations with the GDR

Question 10

Give 2 events that happened as a result of Ostpolitik.

Answer 10

• In 1970 Brandt visited the GDR, and Willy Stoph (minister-president of the GDR) visited the FRG
• In 1973 they both signed the Basic Treaty, which recognised the other state’s right to exist

Question 11

What happened as a result of Brandt’s policy of Ostpolitik, and why?

Answer 11

• In 1972 the CDU/CSU called for a vote of no-confidence, and had a replacement leader ready
• They saw Ostpolitik as giving in to communism and preventing German unification

Question 12

What was the result of the vote of no-confidence?

Answer 12

• Brandt won by only 2 votes

Question 13

What did the vote of no-confidence show?

Answer 13

• The FRG was a very stable and democratic state, as many citizens were opposed to the removal of an elected government that had maintained its popularity

Question 14

What did Brandt do as a result of the vote of no-confidence, and what was the outcome?

Answer 14

• He called for early elections
• In the highest turnout ever, the SPD won the most seats

Question 15

What was the main reason why Brandt won the 1972 elections?

Answer 15

• Ostpolitik was very popular

Question 16

When was Brandt replaced, and how?

Answer 16

• 1974
• He resigned after one of his closest advisers was revealed to be a spy for the GDR

Question 17

Who replaced Brandt, and what was significant about this?

Answer 17

• Helmut Schmidt, his economics minister
• The smooth transition showed the stability of the FRG’s political system

Question 18

How long was Schmidt chancellor for?

Answer 18

• 1974-82

Question 19

What were 2 reasons why Schmidt was elected in the 1976 and 1980 elections?

Answer 19

• He stuck to previous policies such as Ostpolitik
• There was no viable CDU candidate

Question 20

What were 2 issues Schmidt faced as chancellor?

Answer 20

• He failed to push through economic policies to deal with inflation
• Growing opposition from the Green Party

Question 21

How did Schmidt’s time as chancellor come to an end?

Answer 21

• The FDP no longer supported him (they were in a coalition together)
• He was voted out through a constructive vote of no-confidence

Question 22

What was significant about this vote of no-confidence?

Answer 22

• It was the only one to ever happen in the FRG

Question 23

Who replaced Schimdt? What did they do as a result?

Answer 23

• Helmut Kohl (CDU)
• He called for early elections in 1983 as he hadn’t been elected into the position

Question 24

What were the outcomes of the 1983 elections?

Answer 24

• The CDU/CSU won 49% of the vote, which validated Kohl’s position
• He formed a coalition with the FDP

Question 25

What 2 policies did Kohl support, and what was surprising about one of them? What can his policies be described as?

Answer 25

• Social market economy
• Ostpolitik; he reversed his party’s previous position on it
• Continuity from the work of earlier governments

Question 26

What were 4 issues Kohl faced?

Answer 26

• Opposition in the Bundestag from the Greens
• The media uncovering corruption scandals about all of the major parties
• Terrorism
• Economic problems

Question 27

Why was reunification unlikely even in the late 1980s?

Answer 27

• The East German government was not supportive of the changes in Soviet policy that allowed greater freedom to communist Eastern Europe

Question 28

When were travel restrictions in East Germany lifted? When did Germany reunite?

Answer 28

• November 1989
• 1990

Question 29

Why were travel restrictions in East Germany ended?

Answer 29

• Hungary opened its borders to the West in 1989
• Austria didn’t require visas from Hungarian and East German citizens
• It was then possible for East Germans to travel to West Germany