159-696: The Schuman Declaration , or Schuman Plan , was a proposal to place French and West German production of coal and steel under a single authority that later became the European Coal and Steel Community , made by the French foreign minister, Robert Schuman , on 9 May 1950 (now celebrated in the EU as Europe Day ), the day after the fifth anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The alliance would later be opened to other European countries. The ultimate goal
318-590: A "chancellor democracy". In a speech on 20 September 1949, Adenauer denounced the entire denazification process pursued by the Allied military governments, announcing in the same speech that he was planning to bring in an amnesty law for the Nazi war criminals and he planned to apply to "the High Commissioners for a corresponding amnesty for punishments imposed by the Allied military courts". Adenauer argued
477-598: A "competent Federal Government effectively from a standing start was one of the greatest of Adenauer's formidable achievements". Contemporary critics accused Adenauer of cementing the division of Germany, sacrificing reunification and the recovery of territories lost in the westward shift of Poland and the Soviet Union with his determination to secure the Federal Republic to the West. Adenauer's German policy
636-523: A Catholic Rhinelander who had long chafed under Prussian rule, Adenauer believed that Prussianism was the root cause of National Socialism, and that only by driving out Prussianism could Germany become a democracy. In a December 1946 letter, Adenauer wrote that the Prussian state in the early 19th century had become an "almost God-like entity" that valued state power over the rights of individuals. Adenauer's dislike of Prussia even led him to oppose Berlin as
795-461: A European federation indispensable to the preservation of peace." The Declaration had several aims: The Schuman Declaration marked the beginning of post-World War II Franco-German cooperation and the re-integration of West Germany into Western Europe. Konrad Adenauer , Chancellor of West Germany, said "[t]hat's our breakthrough" in regards to the Declaration. The legacy of this initiative was
954-451: A French Zone in the far west; a British Zone in the northwest; an American Zone in the south; and a Soviet Zone in the East. Berlin was separately divided into four zones. These divisions were not intended to dismember Germany, only to designate zones of administration. By the subsequent Potsdam Agreement , the four Allied Powers asserted joint sovereignty over "Germany as a whole", defined as
1113-607: A High Authority to monitor compliance with competition rules and ensure price transparency. Schuman was a proponent of further European integration through an (ultimately unratified) European defence community. In 1958 he became the first President of the predecessor to the European Parliament . When he left office, the Parliament bestowed on him the title "Father of Europe". May 9 has been designated " Europe Day " to celebrate peace and unity in Europe because of
1272-515: A State of Emergency") and the labour unions . Demonstrations and protests grew in number, and in 1967 the student Benno Ohnesorg was shot in the head by a policeman. The press, especially the tabloid Bild-Zeitung newspaper, launched a campaign against the protesters. By 1968, a stronger desire to confront the Nazi past had come into being. In the 1970s environmentalism and anti-nationalism became fundamental values among left-wing Germans. As
1431-541: A caretaker. However, he ruled for 14 years. The grand statesman of German postwar politics had to be dragged—almost literally—out of office in 1963. In October 1962 the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel published an analysis of the West German military defence. The conclusion was that there were several weaknesses in the system. Ten days after publication, the offices of Der Spiegel in Hamburg were raided by
1590-413: A cash settlement for his house, which had been taken over by the city of Cologne; his unpaid mortgage, penalties and taxes were waived. With reasonable financial security he managed to live in seclusion for some years. After the failed assassination attempt on Hitler of July 1944, he was imprisoned for a second time as an opponent of the regime. He fell ill and credited Eugen Zander [ de ] ,
1749-416: A city that was the setting for The Student Prince , at the time a popular American operetta based on the drinking culture of German student fraternities . As chancellor, Adenauer tended to make most major decisions himself, treating his ministers as mere extensions of his authority. While this tendency decreased under his successors, it established the image of West Germany (and later reunified Germany) as
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#17327658072791908-562: A coalition would be far from a majority. Neither condition changed until 1998. Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German politics, judiciary, society, culture, press and economy of Nazi ideology and personnel following the Second World War . It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Party or SS members from positions of power and influence, by disbanding the organizations associated with Nazism, and by trying prominent Nazis for war crimes . The program
2067-399: A common foundation for economic development and "will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible." Importantly, by pooling basic production and by instituting the new High Authority — whose decisions bind France, Germany and other member countries — "this proposal will lead to the realization of the first concrete foundation of
2226-723: A fall in the unemployment rate from 8% in 1950 to 0.4% in 1965. in addition, an advanced welfare state was established. In the spring of 1954, opposition to the Pleven plan grew within the French National Assembly ., and in August 1954, it died when an alliance of conservatives and Communists in the National Assembly joined forces to reject the EDC treaty under the grounds that West German rearmament in any form
2385-635: A final Peace Treaty. Following wartime commitments by the Allies to the governments-in-exile of Czechoslovakia and Poland, the Potsdam Protocols also agreed to the 'orderly and humane' transfer to Germany as a whole of the ethnic German populations in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Eight million German expellees and refugees eventually settled in West Germany. Between 1946 and 1949, three of
2544-674: A former municipal worker in Cologne and a communist, with saving his life. Zander, then a section Kapo of a labor camp near Bonn, discovered Adenauer's name on a deportation list to the East and managed to get him admitted to a hospital. Adenauer was subsequently rearrested (as was his wife), but was released from prison at Brauweiler in November 1944. Shortly after the war ended, the American occupation forces once again installed him as Mayor of Cologne, which had been heavily bombed . After
2703-557: A full alignment with the NATO rather than neutrality, and secured membership in the military alliance. Adenauer was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union . When the G6 was established in 1975, there was no serious debate as to whether West Germany would become a member. Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc , symbolised by the opening of
2862-650: A future capital. Adenauer viewed the most important battle in the postwar world as between the forces of Christianity and Marxism , especially Communism. Marxism meant both the Communists and the Social Democrats as the latter were officially a Marxist party until the Bad Godesberg conference of 1959. The same anti-Marxist viewpoints led Adenauer to denounce the Social Democrats as the heirs to Prussianism and National Socialism. Adenauer's ideology
3021-634: A leading FDP official, became Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Schmidt, a strong supporter of the European Community (EC) and the Atlantic alliance, emphasized his commitment to "the political unification of Europe in partnership with the USA". Mounting external problems forced Schmidt to concentrate on foreign policy and limited the domestic reforms that he could carry out. The USSR upgraded its intermediate-range missiles, which Schmidt complained
3180-546: A main reason for the assassination attempt by Zionists against Adenauer. On 27 March 1952, a package addressed to Chancellor Adenauer exploded in the Munich Police Headquarters, killing one Bavarian police officer, Karl Reichert. Investigations revealed the mastermind behind the assassination attempt to be Menachem Begin , who would later become the Prime Minister of Israel . Begin had been
3339-872: A major role in drafting the antisemitic Nuremberg Race Laws in Nazi Germany. In 1957, 77% of the West German Ministry of Justice 's senior officials were former Nazi Party members. In West Germany, most of the political agencies and buildings were located in Bonn, while the German Stock Market was located in Frankfurt which became the economic center. The judicial branch of both the German Federal Constitutional Court ( Bundesverfassungsgericht ) and
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#17327658072793498-781: A member of the subsequently founded Warsaw Pact . The former capital, Berlin , had been divided into four sectors, with the Western Allies joining their sectors to form West Berlin , while the Soviets held East Berlin . West Berlin was completely surrounded by East German territory and had suffered a Soviet blockade in 1948–49, which was overcome by the Berlin airlift . The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 led to U.S. calls to rearm West Germany to help defend Western Europe from
3657-769: A memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising crushed by the Germans, Brandt unexpectedly knelt and meditated in silence, a moment remembered as the Kniefall von Warschau . Brandt resigned as chancellor in 1974, after Günter Guillaume , one of his closest aides, was exposed as an agent of the Stasi , the East German secret service . Finance Minister Helmut Schmidt (SPD) formed a coalition and he served as Chancellor from 1974 to 1982. Hans-Dietrich Genscher ,
3816-586: A new generation of teachers, educated with the findings of historical studies, could begin to reveal the truth about the war and the crimes committed in the name of the German people, one courageous attorney, Fritz Bauer patiently gathered evidence on the guards of the Auschwitz concentration camp and about twenty were put on trial in Frankfurt in 1963. Daily newspaper reports and visits by school classes to
3975-554: A policy of alliance with the occupying Allies in the 1950s without facing charges of being a "sell-out". After being dismissed, Adenauer devoted himself to building a new political party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which he hoped would embrace both Protestants and Catholics in a single party. According to Adenauer, a Catholic-only party would lead to German politics being dominated by anti-democratic parties yet again. In January 1946, Adenauer initiated
4134-564: A political meeting of the future CDU in the British zone in his role as doyen (the oldest man in attendance, Alterspräsident ) and was informally confirmed as its leader. During the Weimar Republic, Adenauer had often been considered a future Chancellor and after 1945, his claims for leadership were even stronger. The other surviving Zentrum leaders were considered unsuitable for the tasks that lay ahead. Reflecting his background as
4293-622: A result, in 1979 the Greens were able to reach the 5% minimum required to obtain parliamentary seats in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen state election, and with the foundation of the national party in 1980 developed into one of the most politically successful green movements in the world. Another result of the unrest in the 1960s was the founding of the Red Army Faction (RAF). The RAF was active from 1968, carrying out
4452-705: A result, it officially considered West Germans and West Berliners as foreigners. The initialism BRD (FRG in English) began to prevail in East German usage in the early 1970s, beginning in the newspaper Neues Deutschland . Other Eastern Bloc nations soon followed suit. In 1965, the West German Federal Minister of All-German Affairs , Erich Mende , had issued the "Directives for the Appellation of Germany", recommending avoiding
4611-633: A sovereign state" on 5 May 1955 (although "full sovereignty" was not obtained until the Two Plus Four Agreement in 1990). The former occupying Western troops remained on the ground, now as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which West Germany joined on 9 May 1955, promising to rearm itself soon. West Germany became a focus of the Cold War with its juxtaposition to East Germany ,
4770-458: A special performance. Supporters of the Shah (later known as Jubelperser ), armed with staves and bricks attacked the protesters while the police stood by and watched. A demonstration in the centre was being forcibly dispersed when a bystander named Benno Ohnesorg was shot in the head and killed by a plainclothes policeman. (It has now been established that the policeman, Kurras, was a paid spy of
4929-541: A state in 1957 after it had been separated as the Saar Protectorate from Allied-occupied Germany by France (the separation had been not legal as it had not been recognized by the Allied Control Council ). In addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto eleventh state. While de jure not part of West Germany, for Berlin was under the control of
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5088-724: A statement which declared the great majority of the Wehrmacht had acted honorably. On 2 January 1951, Adenauer met with the American High Commissioner, John J. McCloy , to argue that executing the Landsberg prisoners would ruin forever any effort at having the Federal Republic play its role in the Cold War. At the time, American occupation authorities had 28 Nazi war criminals left on death row in their custody. In response to Adenauer's demands and pressure from
5247-541: A succession of terrorist attacks in West Germany during the 1970s. Even in the 1990s, attacks were still being committed under the name RAF . The last action took place in 1993, and in 1998 the group announced it was ceasing activities. In the 1969 election, the SPD gained enough votes to form a coalition government with the FDP. SPD leader and Chancellor Willy Brandt remained head of government until May 1974, when he resigned after
5406-531: A united, socialist and neutral Germany. As such, Adenauer was in favor of joining NATO, something that Schumacher strongly opposed. The Free Democrat Theodor Heuss was elected the first President of the Republic , and Adenauer was elected Chancellor (head of government) on 15 September 1949 with the support of his own CDU, the Christian Social Union , the liberal Free Democratic Party , and
5565-539: A whole despite the Soviets declaring the end of occupation of East Berlin unilaterally many decades before). The Two-plus-Four Agreement also saw the two parts of Germany confirm their post-war external boundaries as final and irreversible (including the 1945 transfer of former German lands east of the Oder–Neisse line ), and the Allied Powers confirmed their consent to German Reunification. From 3 October 1990, after
5724-407: Is closely linked to the implementation of an enhanced pension system, which ensured unparalleled prosperity for retired people. Along with his Minister for Economic Affairs and successor Ludwig Erhard , the West German model of a " social market economy " (a mixed economy with capitalism moderated by elements of social welfare and Catholic social teaching ) allowed for the boom period known as
5883-490: The Wirtschaftswunder ('economic miracle') that produced broad prosperity, but Adenauer acted more leniently towards the trade unions and employers' associations than Erhard. The Adenauer era witnessed a dramatic rise in the standard of living of average Germans, with real wages doubling between 1950 and 1963. This rising affluence was accompanied by a 20% fall in working hours during that same period, together with
6042-519: The Allied Control Council (ACC), West Berlin politically aligned itself with West Germany and was directly or indirectly represented in its federal institutions. The foundation for the influential position held by Germany today was laid during the economic miracle of the 1950s ( Wirtschaftswunder ), when West Germany rose from the enormous destruction wrought by World War II to become the world's second-largest economy. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer , who remained in office until 1963, worked for
6201-514: The Berlin Wall , both states took action to achieve German reunification . East Germany voted to dissolve and accede to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990. The five post-war states ( Länder ) were reconstituted, along with the reunited Berlin , which ended its special status and formed an additional Land . They formally joined the federal republic on 3 October 1990, raising the total number of states from ten to sixteen, and ending
6360-650: The Cold War , the western portion of Germany and the associated territory of West Berlin were parts of the Western Bloc . West Germany was formed as a political entity during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , established from 12 states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe
6519-642: The European Union . Following World War II, the Cold War split Europe between two spheres of influence on either side of the Iron Curtain . With the desire not to repeat the destruction seen in the First and Second World Wars, there was an inclination towards European co-operation. For example, Winston Churchill , called for the formation of a " Council of Europe ". The United States supported greater European cooperation, and when Marshall Plan aid
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6678-529: The German People's Party insisted that one of the conditions for entering into a coalition under Adenauer's leadership was that Gustav Stresemann stay on as Foreign Minister. Adenauer, who disliked Stresemann as "too Prussian," rejected that condition. When the Nazi Party won several municipal, state and national elections in between 1930 and 1932, Adenauer, a strong opponent of Adolf Hitler and
6837-573: The Guillaume affair , in which a senior member of his staff was uncovered as a spy for the East German intelligence service, the Stasi . However, the affair is widely considered to have been merely a trigger for Brandt's resignation, not a fundamental cause. Instead, Brandt, dogged by scandal relating to alcohol and depression as well as the economic fallout of the 1973 oil crisis , almost seems simply to have had enough. As Brandt himself later said, "I
6996-454: The International Authority for the Ruhr led to heavy criticism. In the following debate in parliament Adenauer stated: The Allies have told me that dismantling would be stopped only if I satisfy the Allied desire for security, does the Socialist Party want dismantling to go on to the bitter end? The opposition leader Kurt Schumacher responded by labeling Adenauer "Chancellor of the Allies", accusing Adenauer of putting good relations with
7155-405: The London and Paris Conferences , the Brussels Treaty was modified to include West Germany, and to form the Western European Union (WEU). West Germany was to be permitted to rearm (an idea many Germans rejected), and have full sovereign control of its military, called the Bundeswehr . The WEU, however, would regulate the size of the armed forces permitted to each of its member states. Also,
7314-429: The Oder–Neisse line as Germany's eastern frontier. This refusal was in large part motivated by his desire to win the votes of expellees and right-wing nationalists to the CDU, which is why he supported Heimatrecht , i.e. the right of expellees to return to their former homes. It was also intended to be a deal-breaker if negotiations ever began to reunite Germany on terms that Adenauer considered unfavorable such as
7473-596: The Oder–Neisse line as a post-war frontier to Poland . Under Adenauer, West Germany joined NATO . As a proponent of European unity , he signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Adenauer is claimed as one of the " Founding fathers of the European Union ". Konrad Adenauer was born as the third of five children of Johann Konrad Adenauer (1833–1906) and his wife Helene (née Scharfenberg; 1849–1919) in Cologne , Rhenish Prussia , on 5 January 1876. His siblings were August (1872–1952), Johannes (1873–1937), Lilli (1879–1950) and Elisabeth, who died shortly after birth c. 1880. One of
7632-426: The Red Brigades ( Brigate Rosse ), many students went to work in the factories, but with little or no success. The most notorious of the underground groups was the Red Army Faction which began by making bank raids to finance their activities and eventually went underground having killed a number of policemen, several bystanders and eventually two prominent West Germans, whom they had taken captive in order to force
7791-516: The Republic of Baden , which had derived ultimately from former independent German kingdoms and principalities. In the dominant post-war narrative of West Germany, the Nazi regime was characterised as having been a 'criminal' state, illegal and illegitimate from the outset; while the Weimar Republic was characterised as having been a 'failed' state, whose inherent institutional and constitutional flaws had been exploited by Hitler in his illegal seizure of dictatorial powers. Consequently, following
7950-409: The Treaty of Versailles were presented to Germany in June 1919, Adenauer again suggested to Berlin his plan for an autonomous Rhineland state and again his plans were rejected by the Reich government. He established a good working relationship with the postwar British military authorities, using them to neutralize the workers' and soldiers' council that had become an alternative base of power for
8109-474: The "Pleven plan", but was forced to support it when it became clear that this plan was the only way the French would agree to German rearmament. In 1950, a major controversy broke out when it emerged that Adenauer's State Secretary Hans Globke had played a major role in drafting anti-semitic Nuremberg Race Laws in Nazi Germany. Adenauer kept Globke on as State Secretary as part of his strategy of integration. Starting in August 1950, Adenauer began to pressure
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#17327658072798268-582: The "Spandau Seven" finally bore fruit with the release of Konstantin von Neurath . Adenauer congratulated Neurath on his release, sparking controversy all over the world. At the same time, Adenauer's efforts to win freedom for Admiral Karl Dönitz ran into staunch opposition from the British Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, Ivone Kirkpatrick , who argued Dönitz would be an active danger to German democracy. Adenauer then traded with Kirkpatrick no early release for Admiral Dönitz with an early release for Admiral Erich Raeder on medical grounds. Adenauer
8427-415: The "Two-plus-Four Agreement"); by which transitional status of Germany following World War II was definitively ended and the Four Allied powers relinquished their joint residual sovereign authority for Germany as a whole including the area of West Berlin which had officially remained under Allied occupation for the purposes of international and GDR law (a status that the Western countries applied to Berlin as
8586-436: The 'overall' German state that was held to have embodied the unified German people since the Frankfurt Parliament of 1848, and which from 1871 had been represented within the German Reich ; albeit that this overall state had become effectively dormant long before 8 May 1945. In 1949 with the continuation and aggravation of the Cold War (for example, the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49), the two German states that had originated in
8745-421: The 1970s, the West German state was to maintain that these 1937 boundaries continued to be 'valid in international law', although the Allies had already agreed amongst themselves that the territories east of the Oder-Neisse line must be transferred to Poland and the Soviet Union in any peace agreement. The conference agreed that post-war Germany, minus these transfers, would be divided into four occupation zones :
8904-423: The Allies stationed troops within West Germany for NATO defense, pursuant to stationing and status-of-forces agreements. With the exception of 55,000 French troops, Allied forces were under NATO's joint defense command. (France withdrew from the collective military command structure of NATO in 1966.) Konrad Adenauer was 73 years old when he became chancellor in 1949, and for this reason he was initially reckoned as
9063-433: The Atlantic alliance, emphasized his commitment to "the political unification of Europe in partnership with the USA". The goals of SPD and FDP however drifted apart in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On 1 October 1982 the FDP joined forces with the CDU/CSU to elect CDU Chairman Helmut Kohl as Chancellor in a constructive vote of no confidence . Following national elections in March 1983, Kohl emerged in firm control of both
9222-464: The Auschwitz trial reverberated decades later. The calling in question of the actions and policies of government led to a new climate of debate. The issues of emancipation, colonialism, environmentalism and grass roots democracy were discussed at all levels of society. In 1979 the environmental party, the Greens, reached the 5% limit required to obtain parliamentary seats in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen provincial election. Also of great significance
9381-716: The British proposal met with considerable approval. In the ensuing London conference , Eden assisted Adenauer by promising the French that Britain would always maintain at least four divisions in the British Army of the Rhine as long as there was a Soviet threat, with the strengthened British forces also aimed implicitly against any German revanchism. Adenauer then promised that Germany would never seek to have nuclear, chemical and biological weapons as well as capital ships, strategic bombers, long-range artillery, and guided missiles, although these promises were non-binding. The French had been assuaged that West German rearmament would be no threat to France. Additionally, Adenauer promised that
9540-493: The EDC while maintaining independent control of their own armed forces. Though the EDC treaty was signed (May 1952), it never entered into force. France's Gaullists rejected it on the grounds that it threatened national sovereignty, and when the French National Assembly refused to ratify it (August 1954), the treaty died. The French Gaullists and communists had killed the French government's proposal. Then other means had to be found to allow West German rearmament. In response, at
9699-438: The East German leader Walter Ulbricht , who proclaimed the reunification of Germany under communist rule to be imminent. To soothe French fears of German rearmament, the French Premier René Pleven suggested the so-called Pleven plan in October 1950 under which the Federal Republic would have its military forces function as part of the armed wing of the multinational European Defense Community (EDC). Adenauer deeply disliked
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#17327658072799858-479: The East German security forces.) Protest demonstrations continued, and calls for more active opposition by some groups of students were made, which was declared by the press, especially the tabloid Bild -Zeitung newspaper, as a massive disruption to life in Berlin, in a massive campaign against the protesters. Protests against the US intervention in Vietnam , mingled with anger over the vigour with which demonstrations were repressed led to mounting militance among
10017-420: The Federal Republic of Germany, so Bundesrepublik Deutschland became the official name of reunified Germany. In East Germany, the terms Westdeutschland (West Germany) or westdeutsche Bundesrepublik (West German Federal Republic) were preferred during the 1950s and 1960s. This changed under its constitutional amendment in 1974, when the idea of a single German nation was abandoned by East Germany. As
10176-440: The Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany. The expanded Federal Republic retained West Germany's political culture and continued its existing memberships in international organisations, as well as its Western foreign policy alignment and affiliation to Western alliances like NATO and the European Union. The official German reunification ceremony on 3 October 1990
10335-447: The Federal Republic subject to the terms of the Unification Treaty between the two states; and then both West Germany and East Germany radically amended their respective constitutions in accordance with that Treaty's provisions. East Germany then dissolved itself, and its five post-war states ( Länder ) were reconstituted, along with the reunited Berlin which ended its special status and formed an additional Land . They formally joined
10494-440: The Free Democratic Party (FDP) in order to lay the groundwork for an eventual return to power. Although this effort was exposed and disrupted, many former Nazis still attained positions of power and influence in the political system. West German President (1974–1979) Walter Scheel and Chancellor (1966–1969) Kurt Georg Kiesinger were both former members of the Nazi Party. Konrad Adenauer's State Secretary Hans Globke had played
10653-402: The German constitution prohibited any military action, except in the case of an external attack against Germany or its allies ( Bündnisfall ). Also, Germans could reject military service on grounds of conscience, and serve for civil purposes instead. The three Western Allies retained occupation powers in Berlin and certain responsibilities for Germany as a whole. Under the new arrangements,
10812-407: The German public, McCloy and Thomas T. Handy on 31 January 1951 reduced the death sentences of all but the 7 worst offenders. By 1951 laws were passed by the Bundestag ending denazification. Denazification was viewed by the United States as counterproductive and ineffective, and its demise was not opposed. Adenauer's intention was to switch government policy to reparations and compensation for
10971-415: The Nazis should join the Reich government in a leading role. At the end of 1932, Adenauer had indeed demanded a joint government by his Zentrum party and the Nazis for Prussia. During the next two years, Adenauer changed residences often for fear of reprisals against him, while living on the benevolence of friends. With the help of lawyers in August 1937 he was successful in claiming a pension. He received
11130-426: The Nazis to power on 30 January 1933. By early February, Adenauer finally realized the futility of all discussions and any attempts at compromise with the Nazis. Cologne's city council and the Prussian parliament had been dissolved; on 4 April 1933, he was officially dismissed as mayor and his bank accounts were frozen. "He had no money, no home and no job." After arranging for the safety of his family, he appealed to
11289-412: The Nazis, still believed that improvements in the national economy would make his strategy work: ignore the Nazis and concentrate on the Communist threat. He thought that based on election returns, the Nazis should become part of the Prussian and Reich governments, even when he was already the target of intense personal attacks. Political maneuverings around the ageing President Hindenburg then brought
11448-567: The Rhineland and that the new currency Rentenmark , which had replaced the now worthless Mark would not circulate in the Rhineland. To save the Rhineland economy, Adenauer opened talks with the French High Commissioner Paul Tirard in late October 1923 for a Rhenish republic in a sort of economic union with France which would achieve Franco-German reconciliation, which Adenauer called a "grand design". At
11607-461: The SPD. The German Restitution Laws ( Bundesentschädigungsgesetz ) were passed in 1953 that allowed some victims of Nazi prosecution to claim restitution. Under the 1953 restitution law, those who had suffered for "racial, religious or political reasons" could collect compensation, which were defined in such a way as to sharply limit the number of people entitled to collect compensation. In November 1954, Adenauer's lobbying efforts on behalf of
11766-574: The Schuman Declaration, Jean Monnet had input from Paul Reuter , a consultant in international law to the French foreign ministry and Professor of Law at Aix-en-Provence; and Etienne Hirsch . (The draft documents of the Declaration were published by the Jean Monnet Foundation.) The Schuman proposal was agreed on after the French cabinet discussion on 9 May 1950. Earlier in the day, Schuman had been assured that it had
11925-524: The Social Democrats. In a speech on 1 February 1919 Adenauer called for the dissolution of Prussia, and for the Prussian Rhineland to become a new autonomous Land (state) in the Reich . Adenauer claimed this was the only way to prevent France from annexing the Rhineland. Both the Reich and Prussian governments were completely against Adenauer's plans for breaking up Prussia. When the terms of
12084-578: The Stalin overture; they shared the Western Allies' suspicion about the genuineness of that offer and supported the Allies in their cautious replies. Adenauer's flat rejection was, however, still out of step with public opinion; he then realized his mistake and he started to ask questions. Critics denounced him for having missed an opportunity for German reunification . The Soviets sent a second note, courteous in tone. Adenauer by then understood that "all opportunity for initiative had passed out of his hands," and
12243-489: The State Counsel Siegfried Buback . In October 1969 Willy Brandt became chancellor. He maintained West Germany's close alignment with the United States and focused on strengthening European integration in western Europe, while launching the new policy of Ostpolitik aimed at improving relations with Eastern Europe. Brandt was controversial on both the right wing, for his Ostpolitik , and on
12402-408: The U.S. and Commonwealth. From the beginning of his Chancellorship, Adenauer had been pressing for German rearmament . After the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, the U.S. and Britain agreed that West Germany had to be rearmed to strengthen the defenses of Western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion. Further contributing to the crisis atmosphere of 1950 was the bellicose rhetoric of
12561-475: The United Kingdom, and the United States. During his years in power, he worked to restore the West German economy from the destruction of World War II to a central position in Europe with a market -based liberal democracy , stability, international respect and economic prosperity. Adenauer belied his age by his intense work habits and his uncanny political instinct. As a strong anti-communist , Adenauer
12720-812: The United Nations, NATO, OECD , and the European Economic Community . Before reunification, Germany was divided between the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany; commonly known as West Germany) and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR; German Democratic Republic; commonly known as East Germany). Reunification was achieved by accession ( Beitritt ) of the German Democratic Republic to
12879-567: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union held the Yalta Conference where future arrangements regarding post-war Europe and Allied strategy against Japan in the Pacific were negotiated. They agreed that the boundaries of Germany as at 31 December 1937 would be chosen as demarcating German national territory from German-occupied territory; all German annexations after 1937 were automatically null. Subsequently, and into
13038-520: The West for the sake of the Cold War ahead of German national interests. After a year of negotiations, the Treaty of Paris was signed on 18 April 1951 establishing the European Coal and Steel Community . The treaty was unpopular in Germany where it was seen as a French attempt to take over German industry. The treaty conditions were favorable to the French, but for Adenauer, the only thing that mattered
13197-645: The Western Allies to draft a constitution for the three western zones of Germany. He was the chairman of this constitutional convention and vaulted from this position to being chosen as the first head of government once the new " Basic Law " had been promulgated in May 1949. The first election to the Bundestag of West Germany was held on 15 August 1949 , with the Christian Democrats emerging as
13356-725: The Western Allied and the Soviet Zones respectively became known internationally as West Germany and East Germany. Commonly known in English as East Germany , the former Soviet occupation zone in Germany , eventually became the German Democratic Republic or GDR . In 1990 West Germany and East Germany jointly signed the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (also known as
13515-601: The Western Allies to free all of the war criminals in their custody, especially those from the Wehrmacht , whose continued imprisonment he claimed made West German rearmament impossible. Adenauer had been opposed to the Nuremberg Trials in 1945–46, and after becoming Chancellor, he demanded the release of the so-called "Spandau Seven", as the seven war criminals convicted at Nuremberg and imprisoned at Spandau Prison were known. In October 1950, Adenauer received
13674-593: The Western Front. He paid special attention to the civilian food supply, enabling the residents to avoid the worst of the severe shortages that beset most German cities during 1918–1919. In 1918, he invented a soy-based sausage called the Cologne sausage to help feed the city. In the face of the collapse of the old regime and the threat of revolution and widespread disorder in late 1918, Adenauer maintained control in Cologne using his good working relationship with
13833-594: The abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Maria Laach for a stay of several months. According to Albert Speer in his book Spandau: The Secret Diaries , Hitler expressed admiration for Adenauer, noting his civic projects, the building of a road circling the city as a bypass, and a "green belt" of parks. However, both Hitler and Speer concluded that Adenauer's political views and principles made it impossible for him to play any role in Nazi Germany . Adenauer
13992-539: The area to an autonomous region wholly under German sovereignty; the Americans were not prepared to grant the same for Frankfurt. He also resisted the claims of Heidelberg , which had better communications and had survived the war in better condition; partly because the Nazis had been popular there before they came to power and partly, as he said, because the world would not take them seriously if they set up their state in
14151-489: The back garden as a child, which was not welcomed by his father who told him "One should not try to meddle with the Lord's hand", then in 1904 he invented a reaction steam engine which was supposed to filter out dust produced by cars. However, as his hobby of inventing grew ever more costly, Adenauer's activities in this area slowly diminished. After final school examination ( Abitur ) in 1894, Adenauer studied law and politics at
14310-582: The city was transferred into the British zone of occupation , however, the Director of its military government, General Gerald Templer , dismissed Adenauer for incompetence in December 1945. Adenauer considered the Germans the political equals of the occupying Allies, a view that angered Templer. Adenauer's dismissal by the British contributed much to his subsequent political success and allowed him to pursue
14469-539: The city's left wing. During the Weimar Republic , he was president of the Prussian State Council from 1921 to 1933, which was the representation of the provinces of Prussia in its legislature. A major debate had occurred within his Centre Party since 1906 regarding the question of whether it should "leave the tower" (i.e. allow Protestants to join, becoming a multi-faith party) or "stay in
14628-551: The commander of Irgun and at that time headed Herut and was a member of the Knesset . His goal was to put pressure on the German government and prevent the signing of the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany , which he vehemently opposed. The West German government kept all proof under seal in order to prevent antisemitic responses from the German public. When the East German uprising of 1953
14787-428: The concern (which dated to the prewar period) was that coal would be available on more favourable terms to the German market and so provide an advantage to German industry. Schuman aimed to prevent coal and steel firms from acting as cartels which could restrict supply by national market. The Schuman Plan would mean the pooling of markets and the expansion of production. This was viewed as a force for peace in Europe, since
14946-826: The continuation of denazification would "foster a growing and extreme nationalism" as the millions who supported the Nazi regime would find themselves excluded from German life forever. He also demanded an "end to this sniffing out of Nazis." By 31 January 1951, the amnesty legislation had benefited 792,176 people. They included 3,000 functionaries of the SA, the SS, and the Nazi Party who participated in dragging victims to jails and camps; 20,000 Nazis sentenced for "deeds against life" (presumably murder); 30,000 sentenced for causing bodily injury, and about 5,200 charged with "crimes and misdemeanors in office. The Adenauer government refused to accept
15105-479: The court in Cologne for four years. As a devout Catholic, he joined the Centre Party ( German : Deutsche Zentrumspartei or just Zentrum ) in 1906 and was elected to Cologne's city government in the same year. In 1909, he became Vice-Mayor of Cologne, an industrial metropolis with a population of 635,000 in 1914. Avoiding the extreme political movements that attracted so many of his generation, Adenauer
15264-542: The court that they regarded their action as a legitimate act in what they described as the "struggle against imperialism". The student movement began to split into different factions, ranging from the unattached liberals to the Maoists and supporters of direct action in every form—the anarchists. Several groups set as their objective the aim of radicalising the industrial workers and taking an example from activities in Italy of
15423-490: The death of Hitler in 1945 and the subsequent capitulation of the German Armed Forces, the national political, judicial, administrative, and constitutional instruments of both Nazi Germany and the Weimar Republic were understood as entirely defunct, such that a new West Germany could be established in a condition of constitutional nullity. Nevertheless, the new West Germany asserted its fundamental continuity with
15582-562: The division of Germany. The reunited Germany is the direct continuation of the state previously informally called West Germany and not a new state, as the process was essentially a voluntary act of accession: the Federal Republic of Germany was enlarged to include the additional six states of the German Democratic Republic. The expanded Federal Republic retained West Germany's political culture and continued its existing memberships in international organisations, as well as its Western foreign policy alignment and affiliation to Western alliances such as
15741-492: The dominant force in the country under his leadership. As a devout Roman Catholic , Adenauer was a leading politician of the Catholic Centre Party in the Weimar Republic , serving as Mayor of Cologne (1917–1933) and as president of the Prussian State Council . In the early years of the Federal Republic, he switched focus from denazification to recovery, and led his country to close relations with France,
15900-676: The entry into the Bundestag of the Greens , who received 5.6% of the vote. In January 1987 the Kohl–Genscher government was returned to office, but the FDP and the Greens gained at the expense of the larger parties. Kohl's CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, slipped from 48.8% of the vote in 1983 to 44.3%. The SPD fell to 37%; long-time SPD Chairman Brandt subsequently resigned in April 1987 and
16059-437: The face of severe opposition both from the public and from his own cabinet, Adenauer was only able to get the reparations agreement ratified by the Bundestag with the support of the SPD. Israeli public opinion was divided over accepting the money, but ultimately the fledgling state under David Ben-Gurion agreed to take it, opposed by political parties such as Herut , who were against such treaties. Those treaties were cited as
16218-482: The first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany , responded positively to the Declaration, as did the governments of the Netherlands , Belgium , Italy , and Luxembourg . On 18 April 1951, the six founding members signed the Treaty of Paris . It created the European Coal and Steel Community – Europe's first supranational community, which paved the way for the European Economic Community and subsequently
16377-619: The formative influences of Adenauer's youth was the so-called Kulturkampf , the struggle of the Prussian state with the Catholic church, an experience that as related to him by his parents left him with a lifelong dislike for " Prussianism ", and led him like many other Catholic Rhinelanders of the 19th century to deeply resent the Rhineland 's inclusion in Prussia. Having a passion for inventing, Adenauer started experimenting with plants in
16536-468: The government and the CDU. The CDU/CSU fell just short of an absolute majority, because of the entry into the Bundestag of the Greens, who received 5.6% of the vote. In January 1987 the Kohl–Genscher government was returned to office, but the FDP and the Greens gained at the expense of the larger parties. The Social Democrats concluded that not only were the Greens unlikely to form a coalition, but also that such
16695-457: The government, demanding the resignation of Franz Josef Strauss , Defence Minister, who had decidedly overstepped his competence during the crisis. Adenauer was still wounded by his brief run for president, and this episode damaged his reputation even further. He announced that he would step down in the fall of 1963. His successor was to be Ludwig Erhard. In the early 1960s, the rate of economic growth slowed down significantly. In 1962 growth rate
16854-492: The highest Court of Appeals, were located in Karlsruhe . Konrad Adenauer Defunct Defunct Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a newly founded Christian-democratic party, which became
17013-438: The initialism BRD. On 31 May 1974, the heads of West German federal and state governments recommended always using the full name in official publications. From then on, West German sources avoided the abbreviated form, with the exception of left-leaning organizations which embraced it. In November 1979, the federal government informed the Bundestag that the West German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF had agreed to refuse to use
17172-559: The initialism. The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code of West Germany was DE (for Deutschland , Germany), which has remained the country code of Germany after reunification. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes are the most widely used country codes, and the DE code is notably used as a country identifier, extending the postal code and as the Internet's country code top-level domain .de . The less widely used ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code of West Germany
17331-497: The introduction of new emergency acts : the grand coalition gave the ruling parties the two-thirds majority of votes required for their ratification. These controversial acts allowed basic constitutional rights such as freedom of movement to be limited in case of a state of emergency. During the time leading up to the passing of the laws, there was fierce opposition to them, above all by the Free Democratic Party ,
17490-583: The larger cities, especially in West Berlin, where homosexuality had been widely accepted during the twenties in the Weimar Republic. Anger over the treatment of demonstrators following the death of Benno Ohnesorg and the attack on Rudi Dutschke, coupled with growing frustration over the lack of success in achieving their aims led to growing militance among students and their supporters. In May 1968, three young people set fire to two department stores in Frankfurt; they were brought to trial and made very clear to
17649-595: The left wing, for his support of American policies, including the Vietnam War , and right-wing authoritarian regimes. The Brandt Report became a recognised measure for describing the general North-South divide in world economics and politics between an affluent North and a poor South. Brandt was also known for his fierce anti-communist policies at the domestic level, culminating in the Radikalenerlass (Anti-Radical Decree) in 1972. In 1970, while visiting
17808-475: The matter was put to rest by the Allies. Given the realities of the Cold War , German reunification and recovery of lost territories in the east were not realistic goals as both of Stalin's notes specified the retention of the existing "Potsdam"-decreed boundaries of Germany. Adenauer recognized the obligation of the West German government to compensate Israel for The Holocaust . West Germany started negotiations with Israel for restitution of lost property and
17967-521: The most memorable sessions of parliament, the Bundestag concluded on 20 June 1991, with quite a slim majority, that both government and parliament should move to Berlin from Bonn . Political life in West Germany was remarkably stable and orderly. The Adenauer era (1949–63) was followed by a brief period under Ludwig Erhard (1963–66) who, in turn, was replaced by Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1966–69). All governments between 1949 and 1966 were formed by
18126-533: The neutralization of Germany as Adenauer knew well that the Soviets would never revise the Oder–Neisse line. Privately, Adenauer considered Germany's eastern provinces to be lost forever. At the Petersberg Agreement in November 1949 he achieved some of the first concessions granted by the Allies, such as a decrease in the number of factories to be dismantled, but in particular his agreement to join
18285-522: The occupation zones began to merge. First, the British and American zones were combined into the quasi-state of Bizonia . Soon afterwards, the French zone was included into Trizonia . Conversely, the Soviet zone became East Germany . At the same time, new federal states ( Länder ) were formed in the Allied zones; replacing the geography of pre-Nazi German states such as the Free State of Prussia and
18444-705: The payment of damages to victims of Nazi persecution. In the Luxemburger Abkommen , West Germany agreed to pay compensation to Israel. Jewish claims were bundled in the Jewish Claims Conference , which represented the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany. West Germany then initially paid about 3 billion Mark to Israel and about 450 million to the Claims Conference, although payments continued after that, as new claims were made. In
18603-427: The perceived Soviet threat. Germany's partners in the European Coal and Steel Community proposed to establish a European Defence Community (EDC), with an integrated army, navy and air force, composed of the armed forces of its member states. The West German military would be subject to complete EDC control, but the other EDC member states ( Belgium , France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands ) would cooperate in
18762-482: The police and quantities of documents were seized. Chancellor Adenauer proclaimed in the Bundestag that the article was tantamount to high treason and that the authors would be prosecuted. The editor/owner of the magazine, Rudolf Augstein spent some time in jail before the public outcry over the breaking of laws on freedom of the press became too loud to be ignored. The FDP members of Adenauer's cabinet resigned from
18921-592: The prime cause of the violence against students. Trucks carrying newspapers were set on fire and windows in office buildings broken. In the wakes of these demonstrations, in which the question of America's role in Vietnam began to play a bigger role, came a desire among the students to find out more about the role of the parent-generation in the Nazi era. The proceedings of the War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremberg had been widely publicised in Germany but until
19080-465: The proceedings revealed to the German public the nature of the concentration camp system and it became evident that the Shoah was of vastly greater dimensions than the German population had believed. (The term "Holocaust" for the systematic mass-murder of Jews first came into use in 1979, when a 1978 American mini-series with that name was shown on West German television.) The processes set in motion by
19239-585: The reformation of the GDR's Länder , the East German states and East Berlin joined the Federal Republic . With territories and frontiers that coincided largely with the ones of old Middle Ages East Francia and the 19th-century Napoleonic Confederation of the Rhine , the Federal Republic of Germany was founded on 23 May 1949 under the terms of the Bonn–Paris conventions , whereby it obtained "the full authority of
19398-404: The release of prisoners sympathetic to their ideas. In the 1990s attacks were still being committed under the name "RAF". The last action took place in 1993 and the group announced it was giving up its activities in 1998. Evidence that the groups had been infiltrated by German Intelligence undercover agents has since emerged, partly through the insistence of the son of one of their prominent victims,
19557-403: The right-wing German Party . It was said that Adenauer was elected Chancellor by the new German parliament by "a majority of one vote – his own". At age 73, it was thought that Adenauer would only be a caretaker Chancellor. However, he would go on to hold this post for 14 years, a period spanning most of the preliminary phase of the Cold War . During this period, the post-war division of Germany
19716-624: The rising West German student movement , a group calling itself Notstand der Demokratie ("Democracy in Crisis") and members of the Campaign against Nuclear Armament. A key event in the development of open democratic debate occurred in 1967, when the Shah of Iran , Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , visited West Berlin. Several thousand demonstrators gathered outside the Opera House where he was to attend
19875-438: The ruling parties the two-thirds majority of votes required to see them in. These controversial acts allowed basic constitutional rights such as freedom of movement to be limited in case of a state of emergency . Leading up to the passing of the laws, there was fierce opposition to them, above all by the FDP, the rising German student movement , a group calling itself Notstand der Demokratie [ de ] ("Democracy in
20034-545: The same time, Adenauer clung to the hope that the Rentenmark might still circulate in the Rhineland. Adenauer's plans came to naught when Stresemann, who was resolutely opposed to Adenauer's "grand design", which he viewed as borderline treason, was able to negotiate an end to the crisis on his own. In 1926, the Zentrum suggested Adenauer becoming Chancellor, an offer that he was interested in but ultimately rejected when
20193-624: The significance of the Schuman Declaration on 9 May 1950. West Germany in Europe (dark grey) in Europe (dark grey) West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic (German: Bonner Republik ) after its capital city of Bonn . During
20352-640: The signing of the Treaty of Paris on 18 April 1951 by six European countries (France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands). The Treaty established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the first of three European Communities, and a predecessor of the European Union . The ECSC introduced a common market for steel and coal across the member countries, with freely set market prices, free movement of products, and without customs duties or taxes, subsidies, or restrictive practices. It set up
20511-562: The single market would make a war between France and Germany "materially impossible." Schuman promoted initiatives to unite Europe while he was the Prime Minister of France (1947–48) and foreign minister from 1948–52. He spoke about the principles of sharing European resources in a supranational union at the signing of the Statute of the Council of Europe in London , 5 May 1949. In drafting
20670-653: The so-called " Himmerod memorandum " drafted by four former Wehrmacht generals at the Himmerod Abbey that linked freedom for German war criminals as the price of German rearmament, along with public statements from the Allies that the Wehrmacht committed no war crimes in World War II. The Allies were willing to do whatever necessary to get the much-needed German rearmament underway, and in January 1951, General Dwight Eisenhower , commander of NATO forces, issued
20829-428: The strongest party. There were two clashing visions of a future Germany held by Adenauer and his main rival, the Social Democrat Kurt Schumacher . Adenauer favored integrating the Federal Republic with other Western states, especially France and the United States in order to fight the Cold War , even if the price of this was the continued division of Germany. Schumacher by contrast, though an anti-communist, wanted to see
20988-437: The students at the universities in Berlin. One of the most prominent campaigners was a young man from East Germany called Rudi Dutschke who also criticised the forms of capitalism that were to be seen in West Berlin. Just before Easter 1968, a young man tried to kill Dutschke as he bicycled to the student union, seriously injuring him. All over West Germany, thousands demonstrated against the Springer newspapers which were seen as
21147-493: The support of German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. The Schuman Declaration says "The coming together of the nations of Europe requires the elimination of the age-old opposition of France and Germany." The French government "proposes that Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an organization open to the participation of other countries of Europe." The pooling of coal and steel production should allow for
21306-405: The totality of the territory within the occupation zones. Former German areas east of the rivers Oder and Neisse and outside of 'Germany as a whole' were officially separated from German sovereignty in August 1945 and transferred from Soviet military occupation to Polish and Soviet (in the case of the territory of Kaliningrad) civil administration, their Polish and Soviet status to be confirmed at
21465-490: The tower" (i.e. continue to be a Catholic-only party). Adenauer was one of the leading advocates of "leaving the tower", which led to a dramatic clash at the 1922 Katholikentag , the annual meeting of German Catholics under the presidency of Adenauer. Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber publicly admonished Adenauer for wanting to take the Zentrum "out of the tower". In mid-October 1923, the Chancellor Gustav Stresemann announced that Berlin would cease all financial payments to
21624-428: The united caucus of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), either alone or in coalition with the smaller Free Democratic Party (FDP) or other right-wing parties. Kiesinger's 1966–69 "Grand Coalition" was between West Germany's two largest parties, the CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). This was important for the introduction of new emergency acts—the Grand Coalition gave
21783-400: The universities of Freiburg , Munich and Bonn , demonstrating competent but not exceptional academic ability. In 1896, he was mustered for the Prussian army , but did not pass the physical exam due to chronic respiratory problems he had experienced since childhood. He was a member of several Roman Catholic students' associations. He graduated in 1900, and afterwards worked as a lawyer at
21942-417: The victims of Nazi rule ( Wiedergutmachung ). Officials were allowed to retake jobs in civil service, with the exception of people assigned to Group I (Major Offenders) and II (Offenders) during the denazification review process. Adenauer pressured his rehabilitated ex-Nazis by threatening that stepping out of line could trigger the reopening of individual de-Nazification prosecutions. The construction of
22101-409: Was 4.7% and the following year, 2.0%. After a brief recovery, the growth rate slowed again into a recession, with no growth in 1967. A new coalition was formed to deal with this problem. Erhard stepped down in 1966 and was succeeded by Kurt Georg Kiesinger . He led a grand coalition between West Germany's two largest parties, the CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). This was important for
22260-437: Was DEU, which has remained the country code of reunified Germany. The now deleted codes for East Germany, on the other hand, were DD in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and DDR in ISO 3166-1 alpha-3. The colloquial term West Germany or its equivalent was used in many languages. Westdeutschland was also a widespread colloquial form used in German-speaking countries, usually without political overtones. On 4–11 February 1945 leaders from
22419-459: Was European integration. Adenauer was keen to see Britain join the European Coal and Steel Community as he believed the more free-market British would counterbalance the influence of the more dirigiste French, and to achieve that purpose he visited London in November 1951 to meet with Prime Minister Winston Churchill . Churchill said Britain would not join the European Coal and Steel Community because doing so would mean sacrificing relations with
22578-458: Was an unacceptable danger to France. The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill told Adenauer that Britain would ensure that West German rearmament would happen, regardless if the National Assembly ratified the EDC treaty or not, and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden used the failure of the EDC to argue for independent West German rearmament and West German NATO membership. Thanks in part to Adenauer's success in rebuilding West Germany's image,
22737-399: Was an unacceptable threat to the balance of nuclear power, because it increased the likelihood of political coercion and required a western response. NATO responded in the form of its twin-track policy. The domestic reverberations were serious inside the SPD, and undermined its coalition with the FDP. One of his major successes, in collaboration with French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing ,
22896-536: Was announced the only condition imposed was that the aid be used by the European countries in a coordinated fashion. The Monnet Plan , France's plan to spur investment and modernize the French economy after World War II, created an impetus for the Schuman Plan. Prewar, France had been the world's biggest importer of coal, and the Monnet Plan anticipated coal imports from Germany. In Germany, there were concerns that France aimed to import coal from Germany "as cheaply as possible" to promote French steel production. In France,
23055-426: Was at odds with parts of the CDU, who wished to unite socialism and Christianity . Adenauer worked diligently at building up contacts and support in the CDU over the following years, and he sought with varying success to impose his particular ideology on the party. Adenauer's leading role in the CDU of the British zone won him a position at the Parliamentary Council of 1948 , which had been called into existence by
23214-579: Was based upon Politik der Stärke (Policy of Strength), and upon the so-called "magnet theory", in which a prosperous, democratic West Germany integrated with the West would act as a "magnet" that would eventually bring down the East German regime. In 1952, the Stalin Note , as it became known, "caught everybody in the West by surprise". It offered to unify the two German entities into a single, neutral state with its own, non-aligned national army to effect superpower disengagement from Central Europe . Adenauer and his cabinet were unanimous in their rejection of
23373-416: Was committed to bourgeois decency, diligence, order, Christian morals and values, and was dedicated to rooting out disorder, inefficiency, irrationality and political immorality. In 1917, he was unanimously elected as Mayor of Cologne for a 12-year period, and re-elected in 1929. During World War I , he worked closely with the army to maximize the city's role as a rear base of supply and transportation for
23532-404: Was consolidated with the establishment of two separate German states, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In the controversial selection for a "provisional capital" of the Federal Republic of Germany , Adenauer championed Bonn over Frankfurt am Main . The British had agreed to detach Bonn from their zone of occupation and convert
23691-425: Was deeply committed to an Atlanticist foreign policy and restoring the position of West Germany on the world stage. Adenauer was a driving force in re-establishing national military forces (the Bundeswehr ) and intelligence services (the Bundesnachrichtendienst ) in West Germany in 1955 and 1956. Adenauer refused the diplomatic recognition of the rival German Democratic Republic as an East-German state and
23850-409: Was divided between the Western and Eastern blocs . Germany was divided into the two countries. Initially, West Germany claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Germany, representing itself as the sole democratically reorganised continuation of the 1871–1945 German Reich . Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, and the Saarland joined West Germany as
24009-407: Was exhausted, for reasons which had nothing to do with the process going on at the time". Finance Minister Helmut Schmidt (SPD) then formed a government, continuing the SPD–FDP coalition. He served as Chancellor from 1974 to 1982. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a leading FDP official, was Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister in the same years. Schmidt, a strong supporter of the European Community (EC) and
24168-403: Was harshly suppressed by the Red Army in June 1953, Adenauer took political advantage of the situation and was handily re-elected to a second term as Chancellor. The CDU/CSU came up one seat short of an outright majority. Adenauer could thus have governed in a coalition with only one other party, but retained/gained the support of nearly all of the parties in the Bundestag that were to the right of
24327-415: Was held at the Reichstag building , including Chancellor Helmut Kohl , President Richard von Weizsäcker , former Chancellor Willy Brandt and many others. One day later, the parliament of the united Germany would assemble in an act of symbolism in the Reichstag building. However, at that time, the role of Berlin had not yet been decided upon. Only after a fierce debate, considered by many as one of
24486-432: Was hugely unpopular in West Germany and was opposed by the new government of Konrad Adenauer. In 1951, several laws were passed granting amnesties and ending denazification. As a result, many people with a former Nazi past ended up again in the political apparatus of West Germany. Between 1951 and 1953, there was even an effort by a clandestine group of former Nazi functionaries, known as the Naumann Circle , to infiltrate
24645-417: Was imprisoned for two days after the Night of the Long Knives on 30 June 1934; however, on 10 August 1934, maneuvering for his pension, he wrote a ten-page letter to Hermann Göring , the Prussian interior minister. He stated that as Mayor he had violated Prussian laws in order to allow Nazi events in public buildings and Nazi flags to be flown from city flagpoles, and that in 1932 he had declared publicly that
24804-455: Was succeeded by Hans-Jochen Vogel . The FDP's share rose from 7% to 9.1%, its best showing since 1980. The Greens' share rose to 8.3% from their 1983 share of 5.6%. With the collapse of eastern bloc in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall , there was a rapid move towards German reunification ; and a final settlement of the post-war special status of Germany . Following democratic elections, East Germany declared its accession to
24963-430: Was the launching of the European Monetary System (EMS) in April 1978. In October 1982 the SPD–FDP coalition fell apart when the FDP joined forces with the CDU/CSU to elect CDU Chairman Helmut Kohl as Chancellor in a constructive vote of no confidence . Following national elections in March 1983, Kohl emerged in firm control of both the government and the CDU. The CDU/CSU fell just short of an absolute majority, due to
25122-416: Was the steady growth of a feminist movement in which women demonstrated for equal rights. Until 1977, a married woman had to have the permission of her husband if she wanted to take on a job or open a bank account. Further reforms in 1979 to parental rights law gave equal legal rights to the mother and the father, abolishing the legal authority of the father. Parallel to this, a gay movement began to grow in
25281-486: Was to pacify relations, especially between France and West Germany, through gradual political integration to be achieved by creating common interests. Schuman said that "[t]he coming together of the countries of Europe requires the elimination of the age-old opposition of France and Germany ... the solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible." Konrad Adenauer ,
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