WEST GERMANY 1949-1963 Flashcards
Basic Law President safeguard
Decreased power- 1 term went from 7 to 5 years
Had to be elected by an assembly
Basic Law voting system
Mixed member proportional representation
5% hurdle introduced…
1953
Adenauer economic hurdles
Recession- 1949-50 unemployment was at 13% or 2 mil
Adenauer social problems
Bombing- needed to rebuild houses asf
Adenauer political problems
FRG still under allied control smh
1949 improved democratic participation?
78.5%
‘Magnet theory’
Adenauer wanted East Germans attracted to the FRG- this worked: 3 million refugees
Adenauer- ‘the German question’
Wanted reunification only on Western capitalist terms
Which war helped the FRG economy boom?
The Korean War (1950-1953)
Social market economy
Rising consumption and economic growth- aimed to combine polictial and economic freedom with social justice
GNP 1950-1955
GNP doubled
1954 FRG trade position?
3rd biggest trading power in Europe
OEEC helped to
Speed up German trade re-intergration
Inherited advantages (2)
Marshall Aid
Natural resources from Ruhr (coal, iron)
NATO (?)
1955
Equalisation of Burdens Act (1952)
Property levy- aimed to help those who lost from the war
Law 131
Restored the employment and pension rights of civil servants
German Federation of Trade Unions
Reduced no. of strikes significantly
Co-determination Law 1951
Pensions raised to…
60%
Education problems (3)
Lack of school buildings
Shortage of teaching material
Large classes
Womens rights
1957 Law for the Equalisation of the Sexes
Womens wages
Still 40% below men
1949 Petersburg Agreement
Allowed FRG to join the International Ruhr Authority
ECSC
European Coal and Steel Committee
Impact of EEC
Increased coal and steel production by 44% by 1952
Der Speigel Affair
Minister of Defence Strauss exposed for public treason
TV dispute
Legal dispute over a channel owned by Adenauer
