Adenauer 1949-63

• In the period 1949-66, there was a series of coalitions dominated by the CDU/CSU with Konrad Adenauer as the head of government until 1963. Political stability during this period was supported by favourable economic conditions and rising living standards. Anti-democratic parties viewed as a threat were banned, such as the RW Socialist Reich Party (SRP) in 1952 and the communist KPD in 1956.
• Adenauer was a pragmatic politician who attempted to create as wide a constituency as possible. This included embracing former Nazis and emigrants from Eastern Europe and the GDR. He was able to hold together a group of parties to maintain his coalition and establish an effective national party organisation.
• Hans Globke, as director of the federal chancellery and key aide to Adenauer established an effective and widespread party apparatus which could maintain voter support throughout the FRG. The party developed effective local branches and simple slogans, such as 'Affluence for All' and 'No Experiments', which appealed to conservative voters.
• Adenauer developed policies that appealed to both rural and urban voters. His policies attracted the middle ground of politics. They appealed to the moderates who favoured stability over experiment.
• Adenauer sought the support and votes of former supporters of the Nazis and ethnic Germans who had been expelled from Eastern Europe. Often these were not welcomed by their compatriots but Adenauer developed policies towards their integration and acceptance.
• Adenauer also attracted support because of strong anti-communist sentiment during the 1950s, which was fermented further by cold war tensions and events such as the Hungarian uprising of 1956.
• Adenauer was willing to use Germans who had a range of skills but close connections to the Nazi regime to rebuild West Germany. For example, Hans Globke had helped draw up the Enabling Act in 1933. Adenauer's new foreign ministry in 1949 contained 39 former Nazi Party members. This allowed him to rebuild West Germany more effectively.
• However, Adenauer never tried to minimise German guilt over the Holocaust and signed an agreement with Israel to pay the Israeli state DM100 billion for the horrors committed by the Nazis. The government also made payments to the victims of Nazi war crimes, especially the Jews.
• One key focus for Adenauer was the rebuilding of German infrastructure, towns and cities. In April 1950, the Construction Law resulted in grants being provided to the Lander and cities to encourage large scale building projects and to reduce the need for temporary accommodation. By 1957, this resulted in the building of 4 million new homes for Germans and helped German refugees and those expelled from other countries.
• In 1952, the Equalisation of Burdens Act offered compensation to the victims of the wartime bombing campaigns on Germany and those expelled from the lands in the east. This saw the most significant redistribution of income in German history, being financed to a large degree by tax of 5% on every citizen with a total net worth of more than DM5000, payable in 30 instalments. By 1983, DM126 billion had been raised.
• The government also supported welfare reform, such as the 1957 Pensions Act, which saw a rise of 60-75% in pension payments. In an arrangement known as 'contract between generations', those presently working would make contributions through their taxes towards the pensions of those who were retired. For those workers currently paying, the value of their eventual pension was linked to the level of contribution - so earnings-related pensions were introduced.
• The Collective Bargaining Law on Industrial Relations 1949 maintained labour relations. Unions had legal rights to negotiate on behalf of their members and to take industrial action if needed. Significantly, the government supported the policy of co-determination. The 1952 Works Consultation Law further encouraged the establishment of worker consultive councils, reducing tensions between employers and employees, meaning fewer strikes.
• Adenauer's foreign policy also helped to solidify the future of the FRG and consolidate its existence. When the Allied Control Council gave the FRG control over its foreign policy in 1951, Adenauer took the role of foreign minister himself. His principal aims were to place the FRG in the western camp and achieve full acceptance for the FRG both as an independent country in its own right and as the voice of Germany. The FRG didn't accept the GDR as a legitimate state.
• Adenauer believed that the long-term stability of the FRG remained with the West and USA. In 1949, he sought and achieved the FRG's entry into the Council of Europe and direct representation on the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), which raised the international status of the FRG.
• Adenauer's emphasis was on identification with the West and seeking to participate fully in the western alliance rather than focusing on German unification. While the SPD initially opposed this, as West Germans became more prosperous, reunification became less of a priority, so much so that in 1959, the SPD itself changed its priorities.
• The establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in April 1949 revealed the commitment of the USA to defend Europe from further expansion of communism. In 1950, Adenauer began to seek the reintroduction of rearmament within the FRG and by 1954, gained the agreement of the Western Powers to do so. As a condition, the FRG had to renounce the adoption of nuclear weapons and limit the size of the army, which would remain under direct civilian control. In May 1955, the FRG was admitted to NATO and allowed to rearm.
• The FRG had been a key member of the European Economic Community (EEC) since its inception. Significantly, since the early 1960s, Adenauer was committed to strengthening economic and political ties within Europe and not allowing the FRG to become to dependent on the USA. As a result, Adenauer supported the French president's opposition to Britain entering the EEC in 1963, as they believed Britain would undermine the EEC due to its economic and political closeness to the USA.
• Relations between the Western Powers and the GDR remained frosty during the 1950s and 1960s. Adenauer supported the Hallstein Doctrine of 1955, which stated that the FRG would cut of diplomatic relations with any country except the USA, which recognised the GDR.
• By 1961, the FRG had emerged as a stable, prosperous state at the heart of Europe. Its stability was evidenced by overwhelming support for the democratic parties and no real protests when extremist parties were banned.
• Adenauer made some political mistakes between 1969-63 which made him less popular, such as his failure to visit Berlin immediately in 1961 when the Berlin Wall was being constructed. The CDU/CSU vote fell to 46% in the 1961 elections from 50% in 1957. Although he managed to establish another coalition with the FDP, his position was seriously weakened.
• Adenauer's failed attempt to put himself forward for the position of president in 1959 while chancellor (going against the constitution) gave the appearance of political arrogance.
• Adenauer's reputation was damaged during the Der Spiegel Affair of 1962, in which the editors of Der Spiegel magazine were arrested, due to defence minister Strauss, after the magazine had written articles criticising the army's ability to defend the country. The arrests had resulted in widespread protests as many feared the government was becoming too authoritarian. 5 FDP ministers in the cabinet resigned. Adenauer convinced the FDP to return under the condition that Strauss would resign. Adenauer, who was close to Strauss, agreed to retire by October 1963.
• By the late 1950s, the SPD was modernising its policies in line with new political realities, shaking off its socialist past and developing as a viable alternative to the CDU/CSU.
• The SPD had emerged from the Nazi years with its socialist policies intact. Its leader, Kurt Schumacher, had spent time in Nazi concentration camps but had returned to politics until he died in 1952. His successor, Erich Ollenhauer, continued his policies. While the party remained anti-communist, it supported government intervention in the economy, a neutral foreign policy and concentration on German reunification. It had opposed membership of the EEC and NATO.
• The SPD had seen its share of the popular vote grow from 29% in the 1949 election to 32% by 1957, however the CDU/CSU remained well ahead with 50% in 1957. This caused the SPD to reconsider many policies at the Bad Godesberg Party Congress in 1959.
• SPD changes at the Bad Godesberg Party Congress 1959:

  • it emerged with a new commitment to defence and European economic integration, including support for FRG membership of NATO, the social market economy and continued membership of the EEC
  • it amended its constitution, which had demanded the overthrow of capitalism
• The SPD had effectively reinvented itself, not only to give it greater chance of winning power but also due to a genuine concern at what was considered excessive government centralisation. By the early 1960s, the SPD seemed to provide a real alternative to the CDU/CSU coalition.