Opposition, Control and Consent FRG

Question 1

Who had Erhard faced opposition from for converting from command to social market economy and why?

Answer 1

• Economic Council
• Bundestag
• Britain –> may lead to exploitation of workers by businesses
• Industrialists –> wanted price fixing + cartels again
• Socialists –> wanted nationalisation of industry

Question 2

Give various forms of opposition in FRG:

Answer 2

• ‘Count me out’ movement
• New Left movement
• Student opposition grps

Question 3

Explain the ‘Count me out’ movement and give one example of a protest:

Answer 3

• Protest movement against siting of nuclear weaponry in FRG, which Adanauer supported
• 1958 –> 10,000 VW workers striked

Question 4

What was the New Left movement?

Answer 4

• Radical politics embracing black liberation, women’s rights and societal change
• Critical of materialism

Question 5

Name 5 key issues students protested about:

Answer 5

1) Increasing American influence and perceived FRG support for Vietnam war
2) Increasing participation in NATO that they feared would result in deployment of nuclear weaponry
3) Ignorance of Nazi past and failure to remove ex-Nazis from positions of responsibility
4) Adoption of more conservative policies after 1959
5) Overcrowded, underfunded and lack of student representation in higher education

Question 6

Name 4 broader issues based on foundation of FRG:

Answer 6

1) Growing materialism
2) Growing influence of media
3) Political dominance of wealthy middle class men
4) Growing authoritarianism of federal govs

Question 7

Give an example of opposition in one of the universities and the grps doing this:

Answer 7

• Jun 1966 –> Free University students organised demonstrations for greater say in uni affairs and end to banning of radical speakers
• Grps involved: SDS, VDS (Union of German students)

Question 8

Give 2 examples of radical grps in FRG:

Answer 8

• APO (Opposition Outside of Parliament)
• SDS (Socialist Students’ Union)

Question 9

APO:

Answer 9

• Left-wing students and TUs
• Strikes, marches demonstrations

Question 10

SDS:

Answer 10

• Student wing of SPD
• Student sit-ins at unis and mass demonstrations
• Very radical under communist leader Dutschke

Question 11

Give one example of an event that led to days of radical protest:

Answer 11

• Apr 1968 –> Shooting of Rudi Dutschke, leader of SDS, shot by neo-Nazis
• Many blamed Springer newspapers for encouraging the attempt
• 5 days of violent protest and attacks on Springer buildings

Question 12

Give one stat to show radical protest was only from a minority:

Answer 12

Jun 1968 –> Der Spiegel newspaper found 92% Berliners surveyed opposed student violence

Question 13

Give one example of an impactful terrorist grp:

Answer 13

RAF (Red Army Faction)

Question 14

RAF:

Answer 14

• Young, middle-class , educated West Germans who didn’t like FRG’s political system
• Initially sabotage and arson, later violence against persons
• End to consumerism, Vietnam War and FRG

Question 15

How much support did RAF actually have?

Answer 15

Before they engaged in violence against persons, 15% of public had sympathy w/ their goals

Question 16

What were RAF activities in 1970s called?

Answer 16

German Autumn

Question 17

Give 2 examples of violence from RAF:

Answer 17

• 1968 –> Fire-bombing a department store in Frankfurt
• 1979 –> Assassination attempt on US commander-in-chief of NATO

Question 18

What was the main neo-Nazi party?

Answer 18

1964 –> Creation of National Democratic Party

Question 19

Give some reasons as to why people supported neo-Nazis:

Answer 19

Their rise was during a period where:
- Mid 1960s recession
- Growing dislike of guest workers
- Reflected on ‘successes’ of Nazi period

Question 20

Although the NPD gained 8 seats in 1966, why did it ultimately fail?

Answer 20

• Looked and acted like NSDAP
• Harmed FRG’s international rep
• Recession fuelling their growth eventually eased

Question 21

What problems did FRG face over introduction of emergency legislation?

Answer 21

• The Statute of Occupation allowed occupying forces to take control in event of emergency
• All citizens were fully aware of the dangers of emergency legislation in the past

Question 22

How many times did emergency legislation fail to be passed and when was it finally allowed?

Answer 22

• Failed in 1958, 60 and 63 due to FDP and SPD opposition
• Passed in May 1968, after SPD ended opposition partly to enter Grand Coalition (automatically ended Allied powers’ Statute of Occupation)

Question 23

Give 4 examples of extra powers that the Emergency Laws granted the gov:

Answer 23

• Intercepting mail
• Tapping telephones
• House searches
• Restrictions in certain jobs

Question 24

What 6 precautionary measures were taken with the measures to prevent potential dictator from taking control?

Answer 24

1) Required approval from both Bundestag and states’ govs to be used
2) Could not abolish existing balances on relative power of any gov
3) Couldn’t dissolve Bundestag
4) Bundestag decided when emergency was over
5) After 6 months, laws would go into abeyance (temp disuse) regardless of emergency
6) Role of federal constitutional court remained inviable

Question 25

Give 2 examples of hard line action taken against terrorism in 1970s:

Answer 25

• 1972 –> Employment Ban Law banned radicals
• By 1977 –> More than 6000 people under surveillance

Question 26

Name 4 ways de-Nazification was enforced:

Answer 26

1) Forcing Germans to visit concentration camps to see the evil nature of Nazi regime
2) War tribunals to demonstrate Nazi criminality and for retribution
3) Banning NSDAP
4) Screening former Nazis to disallow them from returning to former positions

Question 27

In what 3 ways were de-Nazification policies flawed?

Answer 27

1) Realisation that only many of ex-Nazis had skills required to rebuild Germany eg in Bonn, 102/112 doctors were former Nazis
2) Sheer number of potential defendants meant process was unfair, as only 177 were formally accused out of a pool of 5000
3) Many of those in trials claimed they were only following orders so they escaped punishment
4) Didn’t know who to accuse as many were forced to be Nazi members eg teachers
5) Fragebogen (questionnaires) system to identify criminals lead to people lying to escape punishment

Question 28

When did the Nuremburg Trials begin and end and what was the outcome?

Answer 28

• Nov 1945 to Oct 1946 w/ 4 judges, one each from Allied powers
• 12 Nazis received death sentences and 7 were given prison terms

Question 29

When was de-Nazification abandoned and give one example showing this?

Answer 29

• Early 1950s
• 1951 Reinstatement Act saw many former Nazis joining civil service and judiciary

Question 30

Give 3 pieces of evidence showing the wide amount of support for democratic system:

Answer 30

1) Consistently high turnout from 80% to 90%
2) Lack of support for extremist parties –> no complaints about banning of these
3) Robust system allowing new political movements like Green Party

Question 31

3 reasons for consistent success of CDU/CSU:

Answer 31

1) Appealed to Roman Catholics which consisted of half the pop
2) Firmly committed to social welfare
3) Most Germans supported emphasis on western alliances
4) Good industrial relations

Question 32

Give 2 examples of welfare measures provied by govs:

Answer 32

1) Child and unemployment benefits
2) Sickness insurance

Question 33

Give 2 ways in which FRG maintained industrial relations:

Answer 33

• 1949 –> Setting up German Federation of Trade Unions
• 1951 –> Passing of Co-determination law enabled workers to have representatives on managerial boards