FRG 1949-89 Flashcards
(63 cards)
1
Q
How often were Bundestag elections set to take place?
A
Every four years
2
Q
How much did a party have to get to be represented in the Bundestag?
A
5% of the vote
3
Q
What were the duties of the President?
A
- Mainly ceremonial
- Puts forward diff candidates for chancellorship
- Appoints and dismisses ministers based on chancellor recommendations
- Most orders and directions from president required a senior minister or the chancellor’s signature
4
Q
What was the federal convention?
A
Bundestag members mixed with Lander reps to elect the president
5
Q
What limitations (“checks”) were placed on the chancellor?
A
- Had to have a Bundestag majority
- Could be removed at any time with a vote of no confidence
6
Q
How much of a majority did Adenauer have went he was first elected?
A
1
7
Q
What was Adenauer’s nickname?
A
“The Old Man” (Der Alte)
8
Q
What did Adenauer do at the Allied High Commissioners’ on taking power?
A
- Told to not step on the red carpet reserved for the Allies
- Does so anyway and makes sure there’s press to capture it
- This was to symbolise Germany’s willingness to cooperate and the ending of distance between the FRG and the Allies
9
Q
What were Adenauer’s international priorities?
A
- Improve relations with France and USA
- Wanted FRG to join NATO asap
10
Q
What was the Hallstein Doctrine?
A
Regarded any state that recognised the GDR as an enemy to the FRG
11
Q
What did the 1951 Reinstatement Act do?
A
Re-employed ex-Nazis into civil service
12
Q
Give some examples of former Nazis in Adenauer’s government and their positions
A
- Hans Globke was Secretary of State and also the author of official Nuremberg Laws commentary
- Theodore Oberlander was the Minister for Refugees and former SS
13
Q
Why was opposition so weak from the SPD in Adenauer’s time?
A
- Seen as unrealistic — wanted reunification with GDR
- Portrayed as semi-communist by CDU
- Opposed moves aligning FRG with West
- Schumacher leads them, who predicated the CDU’s economic policies would fail when they were actually a resounding success
14
Q
What did the 1950 Construction Law do?
A
Provided grants to Lander and cities for large scale building projects
15
Q
How many new dwellings did the 1950 construction law provide?
A
4 million by 1957
16
Q
What was the 1953 Equalisation of Burdens Act? Who was excluded from it?
A
- Gave compensation to wartime bombing victims or victims of Nazi crimes
- Communists, homosexuals, roma/sinti, criminals all unable to claim
17
Q
What did the 1951 Co-Determination Law do?
A
Allowed workers to be represented on steel and coal company management boards
18
Q
What was Adenauer’s magnet theory?
A
If the West showed how successful they could become, they’d eventually attract people from the GDR
19
Q
What year was Germany finally admitted to NATO?
A
1955
20
Q
How did Adenauer help refugees? What showed their success?
A
- Temporary resettlement camps
- Registration process
- New jobs
- So successful that the BHE didn’t make it past the 5% rule
21
Q
What campaign slogan did Adenauer use at the end of his third term?
A
“Kein Experimente!” (No Experiments!)
22
Q
What happened in Adenauer’s third term that was a stark reminder of Germany’s Nazi past?
A
A policeman complained that his pension was wrongly calculated, since it deducted all the years he’d spent in the Einsatzgruppen. This was a reminder that many guilty had simply gone unpunished
23
Q
What did the SPD do in 1959-60 to become a contender once more?
A
- Bad Godesberg programme
- Accepted Erhard’s economy
- Supported Western integration
- Brandt also becomes leader of the SPD (young, charismatic)
24
Q
What historic event took place in 1961? How did this end up reflecting badly on Adenauer?
A
- Berlin Wall put up
- Becomes a key issue in elections happening that year
- Adenauer slow to respond and doesn’t immediately fly to Berlin
- Also makes it hard to attack Brandt in the next election, since he’s mayor of Berlin
25
What was the outcome of the 1961 election?
- CDU vote falls
- FDP vote rises
- FDP agrees to a coalition on the condition that Adenauer resign after 2 yrs
26
What event meant that Adenauer resigned a year early?
Der Spiegel Affair, where Strauss ordered the arrest of editors after they published an article criticising the inefficiencies of the Bundeswehr
27
Why did Adenauer resign a year before he was supposed to?
- Der Spiegel Affair
- Strauss arrests some editors who point out the inefficiencies of the Bundeswehr
- This is an action eerily reminiscent of the Nazi era
28
What attitude was prominent during Adenauer’s chancellorship?
“Ohne Mich”, or “Leave me out!”
29
What were the Schwabing riots?
- Buskers playing music too loud
- Police brutally put this down in several days of violence
30
How high was inflation by 1966?
4%
31
What did Erhard do to tackle the rising inflation?
- Raised interest rates
- Cut spending plans
- Also suggested that everyone work an extra hour a week which was rapidly shut down by unions and declined party popularity
32
What foreign policy suggestion was never implemented by Erhard?
- Suggesting that they give a loan to the USSR to ask for reunification
- Could’ve easily alienated the US and so would be a dangerous move
33
What beliefs of Erhard’s alienated France?
That free trade and a united Europe would be better for the world
34
What’s the German word for disciplined society?
“Formierte Gesellschaft”
35
What economic disputes began by 1966?
- How to deal with an overheating economy and a slump in growth
- FDP say that they should cut spending
- CDU say that they should raise taxes
36
How did the NPD benefit from the economic recession?
- They became able to call the government “weak and ineffectual”
- While they didn’t get past the 5% rule, their support increased
37
In what ways was Erhard’s foreign policy fairly controversial?
- Failed to persuade the US to accept cuts in the FRG’s contribution to US troops stationed in FRG
- Didn’t rescind the Hallstein Doctrine, but made it much more nuanced
- Erhard combined trying to stay friendly with the US with greater understanding for the East
- Adenauer openly disagreed with Erhard’s foreign policy
38
Who constantly interfered with Erhard’s chancellorship?
Adenauer who, as CDU chairman, would often influence policy
39
What shows Adanauer’s attitude to France?
He secretly endorsed French’s decision to reject the UK’s application to the EEC (he’d always been fairly suspicious of the UK government)
40
What led to Erhard’s ultimate resignation?
- Decided to raise taxes to deal with economic crisis
- This caused FRG members to defect
41
Why was the Grand Coalition formed?
SPD and CDU wanted to address the economic crisis
42
Why were some people deeply worried about the state of democracy in Germany because of the Grand Coalition?
- It had a HUGE majority. Some used this to suggest that Germany was a one-party state
- Kiesinger was the head of it, an ex-Nazi who’d even spent 18 months in an internment camp post-war
43
Why might some argue that Kiesinger wasn’t a “proper” Nazi?
- Wasn’t very active in the party
- Claimed he’d been disillusioned only a year after joining, after the Night of the Long Knives
44
Who slapped Kiesinger? When?
- 1968
- Beate Klarfeld
45
What was the most controversial legislation of the Grand Coalition?
Amended the constitution to add emergency powers, in which 22 Bundestag members could make decisions in times of civil unrest/war as long as they had 2/3 majority
46
What party did the Grand Coalition allow once more? Why?
- KPD
- Considered more dangerous as an underground movement
47
What was “detente”?
A policy based around easing Eastern and Western relations
48
How did Josef Strauss and Karl Schiller change the economy?
Made it easier to control the spending and taxation policies of individual Lander. More central control over spending
49
How much of a majority was Brandt elected by?
2
50
What did Brandt preach for in his first government policy statement?
- “dare more democracy”
- “more freedom”
-“joint responsibility”
51
What are some social reforms introduced by Brandt?
- Voting age lowered to 18
- Higher pensions/child benefit
- Homosexuality decriminalised
- Environmental programmes to make water cleaner, promote railways, and limit noise/emissions
- More co-determination
- Financial assistance to help low income students go to university
52
What was the bad side of Brandt’s reforms?
- They all assumed that the economy would stay healthy
- However, they simply led to an increase in national debt
53
What was Brandt’s foreign policy? Who hates it? What does that lead to?
- Ostpolitik
- CDU hate it and want a vote of no confidence to make Rainer Barzel chancellor
54
How many votes did Barzel fall short of in trying to become Chancellor?
2
55
What was suggested in 1990 about Brandt’s vote of no confidence?
Brandt only won because the GDR paid two CDU reps not to vote for Barzel
56
Why was there an election in 1972?
- After only just winning the vote of no confidence, Brandt didn’t have a stable parliamentary majority
- This meant an election was called as a referendum on Ostpolitik
57
What did election posters look like in 1972 for the SPD?
Slogans like “Willy must stay!” “Vote for Willy, who else is there?”
58
How did the 1972 election go for the SPD?
- Biggest victory in their history — majority of 45.8%
- More citizens than ever begin to get involved
59
What was the Basic Treaty?
Where Willy Brandt’s government established diplomatic relations with the GDR and recognised them as a sovereign state
60
What was the Anti-Radical Decree?
- In the face of rising terrorism, the gov introduced this
- It meant that the gov could suspend the rights of those suspected of having terrorist links
- It actually resulted in some of those on the left of the SPD coming under suspicion and being targeted
61
How did Brandt respond to the oil crisis in Germany?
- Bans Sunday driving
- Implements energy saving measures
62
What did the unions do that plummeted Brandt’s popularity?
Increased pay by 11% for civil service jobs against his expressed will
63
What was the Guillaume Affair?
- Where one of his personal secretaries was arrested and found to actually have been an East German secret service officer
- Led to Brandt’s resignation
