Basic Law: Based on 4 Key Principles

FRG: 1949=1963

Basic Law: based on 4 key principles:

The rule of law

Democratic participation for all

Federalism

Social welfare

Established the Federal Republic of Germany as a federal parliamentary democracy with separation of powers between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government.

Bi-cameral parliament:

Bundestag – Elected every 4 years through universal suffrage. 50% of members directly elected, 50% elected through party lists. Parties need to win over 5% of the vote to gain additional proportional representatives.

Bundesrat – Made up of representatives of the Länder, has the power to approve or veto legislation.

President of the Republic – a largely ceremonial head of state elected by Bundestag members & representatives of the federal Länder.

Chancellor – head of government & elected by the Bundestag. Can only be removed from office through a constructive vote of no confidence.

Länder have extensive powers over administration, education, law & order.

Federal Constitutional Court – based on the US Supreme Court, designed to protect the constitution and had powers to settle disputes between the federal government and the Länder.

Political parties

SPD – (Social Democratic Party) Continuity from 1875.

Espoused a programme calling for public ownership & a planned economy.

Committed to reunification and opposed European integration in the 1950s. In 1959 at Bad Godesberg

Officially renounced its Marxist roots.

Christlich Demokratische Union (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) – Formed in June 1945. Represented a break from the pre-1933 parties and amalgamated the constituency of the old Centre Party with a number of centre-right groups

Based on the principles of Christian Socialism

Stood for free market economics

Opposed social democracy.

Freie Demokratische Partei (Free Democratic Party, FDP) - Founded in Dec. 1948

Stood for individualism and liberalism

Appealed to those who were alienated by the socialism of the SPD & the Clericalism of the CDU

Despite its small size & limited electoral strength it wielded considerable power & influence, often acting as ‘kingmaker’

Members of the FDP served in nearly every federal coalition between 1949 & 1990, and it provided 2 of West Germany’s 5 Presidents

Why weren’t extremist parties successful? Allied control: parties needed concession of High Commissioner.

SRP banned in 1952 by Federal Constitutional Court.

KPD banned in 1956 by Federal Constitutional Court.

Right wing parties as Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteteten (BHE) absorbed by CDU/CSU.

Nationalist takeover of Liberal party (FDP) prevented by Allies (arrest of leaders).

The Economic miracle

Dramatic economic growth after 1949

Reasons for ‘economic miracle’:

Introduction of the Deutschmark halted inflation.

US investment through the Marshal Plan ($4.4 million).

Large, adaptable workforce (partly made up of refugees from Eastern Europe).

German determination to pull together for the national good – few disputes between labour and capital.

Germany had fewer burdens on her exchequer than other powers – no overseas commitments, colonial wars etc.

The Korean War (1950-53) increased demand for industrial goods and removed reluctance to buy German goods – exports boomed.

Unemployment fell from 1.9 million in 1950 to 200,000 in 1961.

GNP trebled during the 1950s, annual growth averaged just under 8%

Gap between rich and poor widened, but standards of living rose across the board – average income for industrial workers rose by 250% between 1950 and 1962.

Society

Defeat and division wrought profound changes in German society:

The old Prussian Junker class had lost their economic and political power

The ‘Ruhr Barons’ who had dominated German industry were in decline.

Gradual increase in social mobility and a ‘levelling out’ of German society. Women outnumbered men due to war-time losses, and under the Federal Republic there were changes in gender roles:

The Basic Law guaranteed equal rights for women

Law of Equality of the Sexes (1957) extended property rights

More employment opportunities with economic growth

But women still earned 40% less than men on average

Nevertheless, West German society in the 1950s and 60s was still conservative and patriarchal.

‘The Natural Order’

Dealing with the Nazi legacy

Measures to confront the Nazi past limited in the 1950s.

Moves to compensate victims of National Socialism, extremist parties banned by the Constitutional Court.

Many former Nazis in the civil service such as Hans Globke, head of the Chancellors Office (1953-1963). Globke drafted Nazi anti-Semitic legislation in the 1930s.

The judiciary reluctant to censure sadistic Nazi judges.

Damaged Germany’s reputation abroad & led to a feeling that the Germans had buried their heads in the sand rather than confronting the legacy of National Socialism.

Foreign Policy

Adenauer’s aims:

International recognition via economic cooperation, cultural integration, and democratisation

Reconciliation with France

Close relationship with United States – essential for security in bipolar international system (Soviet Threat)

Aims of the Western Powers:

Defeat German militarism and idea of revenge by integration.

Factors which helped rehabilitation: Perceived Soviet Threat: especially after 1949 (Soviet Atomic Bomb) – German participation needed, good bargaining position for Adenauer: concessions.

Korean War (1950-1953).

1951: Signing (in Paris) of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

1952: Signing (in Paris) of the European Defense Community (EDC). The ‘Stalin note’ offering a united neutral Germany.

1954: Signing of the Paris Agreements. FRG/BRD is invited to join NATO permitting West German rearmament and Italy and the FRG/BRD accede to the Western European Union (WEU).

1955: Full sovereignty returned to the Federal Republic.

1957: The Treaty of Rome is signed establishing the European Economic Community. The Saar returns to Germany as a Land (to be followed in 3 years by economic reintegration).

1963: French-German Friendship Treaty is signed in Paris.

The Spiegel Affair-Led to the downfall of Adenauer

The affair tested limits of freedom of the press and showcased the development of democracy in the Federal Republic

News magazine Spiegel had reported the Bundeswehr’s limited readiness for conflict with Russians.

Spiegel offices were occupied by police, Augstein arrested, as well as the article’s author.

Popular demonstrations began to free Augstein; beginnings of widespread protest culture?