The Basic Law

• In May 1949, the FRG was created with its centre of government at Bonn, a city in the Rhineland. The Basic Law was enacted to give the new state of West Germany its constitution. However, those drawing it up saw it as provisional and merely 'a transitional phase' until unification was achieved.
• In 1949 the FRG was not fully independent as the Allied High Commission under the Occupation Statute passed in Washington September 1949 had the power to veto legislation. The new state also had no control over its foreign policy. Moreover, the Allied High Commission had the right to take over the government if democracy was at risk.
• The Bundestag, a federal parliament, was elected by universal suffrage. Half the seats were directly elected and half were taken from a list based on the percentage of votes each party received. This ensured the structure was as democratic as possible.
• To ensure extremist parties couldn't re-emerge, those receiving less than 5% of votes could not take any seats in the Bundestag.
• The FRG was a federal republic with power divided between central and regional governments. The Lander or states were represented in the Bundesrat, an upper house in parliament, which could either ask for legislation to be reconsidered or in many cases operate a veto. It's estimated that in the 1970s 50-60% of all legislation was subject to a Bundesrat veto. In addition, the Lander had specific responsibilities, such as the provision of education.
• The FRG was based on the rule of law. A federal constitution was empowered to uphold the law and ensure the government acted legally. It also had the power to guarantee basic civil rights and arbitrate in any disputes between central government and the lander.
• The central government was committed to the provision of social welfare such as pensions and healthcare.
• The most important politician in the new constitution remained the chancellor, who would normally be the leader of the largest party in the Bundestag. Again, to ensure the maintenance of democracy, the chancellor and his government could not to removed by a vote of no confidence unless an alternative party was ready to take power with sufficient support to form a majority.
• While technically head of state, the president, who could be elected for one term only, fulfilled what was essentially a ceremonial role with little political responsibility.
• The first federal elections took place in August 1949. The CDU/CSU emerged with a narrow victory, gaining 139 seats compared with the SPD with 131 seats. There was a 78.5% turnout. Adenauer of the CDU became the first chancellor and Theodor Heuss of the FDP became the first president.
• The new government faced enormous challenges, such as:

  • recovering from the destruction of WW2
  • dealing with large numbers of refugees from the GDR
  • establishing the FRG as a stable democracy
  • establishing the future of Germany as a whole