List of German Chancellors (1949 - 2030)

Deleted member 117308

TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971:
Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]


[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification will take place in 1971.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971:
Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]


[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that to give amnesty to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 117308

TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971:
Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]


[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]


[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
 
TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]


[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising ganes by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ (Grüne Aktion Zukunft) on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
 
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TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]

[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 117308

I think most parties that were involved in 1975 coup have to rebrand themselves. I wonder what happened to Franz Josef Strauß.
 

Deleted member 117308

TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]
1987: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP-SLP-PVF) [16]


[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
[16] The last 4 years were succesful for chancellor Lambsdorf. The liberal coalition managed to get a lot of their program through the parliament including the legalisation of homosexuality and marijuana. The coalition also passed several tax cuts, to expand the new internet growth. Lambsorfs most famous project was the creation of a custom union with other neutral countries including Finland, Austria and Sweden. After the election of 1987 the FDP became the strongest party in the parliament and managed to surpass the SLP. Despite the general popularity of the liberal coalition, there remained one controversial problem. The far-left splinter groups that succeeded SED were still around and became more radical everyday. Some of them even denounced the reformist USSR and called it revisionary bureaucracy. Many citizens demanded stricter security laws. Will coalition bend to the will of the population or will they stay true to their liberal principles?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]
1987: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP-SLP-PVF) [16]
1989
: Matthias Wissmann (FDP-CSU) [17]


[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
[16] The last 4 years were succesful for chancellor Lambsdorf. The liberal coalition managed to get a lot of their program through the parliament including the legalisation of homosexuality and marijuana. The coalition also passed several tax cuts, to expand the new internet growth. Lambsorfs most famous project was the creation of a custom union with other neutral countries including Finland, Austria and Sweden. After the election of 1987 the FDP became the strongest party in the parliament and managed to surpass the SLP. Despite the general popularity of the liberal coalition, there remained one controversial problem. The far-left splinter groups that succeeded SED were still around and became more radical everyday. Some of them even denounced the reformist USSR and called it revisionary bureaucracy. Many citizens demanded stricter security laws. Will coalition bend to the will of the population or will they stay true to their liberal principles?
[17] The spring of 1989 brought a scathing response when a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit the country's largest cities. Chancellor Lambsdorff's response was to propose a new security law and to have the constitutional legality of extremist parties re-examined. This provoked an outcry in the majority, but the first text was approved thanks to the unexpected support of the Christian Social Union, now Germany's main conservative party. The coalition exploded, Lambsdorff resigned and a new minority government led by Interior Minister Matthias Wissmann. The announcement of an imminent state visit by French President of the Council of Ministers Simone Veil led to many questions.
 
Last edited:
TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]
1987: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP-SLP-PVF) [16]
1989
: Matthias Wissmann (FDP-CSU) [17]
1991: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP )


[1] After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.
[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
[16] The last 4 years were succesful for chancellor Lambsdorf. The liberal coalition managed to get a lot of their program through the parliament including the legalisation of homosexuality and marijuana. The coalition also passed several tax cuts, to expand the new internet growth. Lambsorfs most famous project was the creation of a custom union with other neutral countries including Finland, Austria and Sweden. After the election of 1987 the FDP became the strongest party in the parliament and managed to surpass the SLP. Despite the general popularity of the liberal coalition, there remained one controversial problem. The far-left splinter groups that succeeded SED were still around and became more radical everyday. Some of them even denounced the reformist USSR and called it revisionary bureaucracy. Many citizens demanded stricter security laws. Will coalition bend to the will of the population or will they stay true to their liberal principles?
[17] The spring of 1989 brought a scathing response when a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit the country's largest cities. Chancellor Lambsdorff's response was to propose a new security law and to have the constitutional legality of extremist parties re-examined. This provoked an outcry in the majority, but the first text was approved thanks to the unexpected support of the Christian Social Union, now Germany's main conservative party. The coalition exploded, Lambsdorff resigned and a new minority government led by Interior Minister Matthias Wissmann. The announcement of an imminent state visit by French President of the Council of Ministers Simone Veil led to many questions.
 

Deleted member 117308

TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]
1987: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP-SLP-PVF) [16]
1989
: Matthias Wissmann (FDP-CSU) [17]
1991: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP)

1995: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP-PSV) [18]


[1]
After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.

[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
[16] The last 4 years were succesful for chancellor Lambsdorf. The liberal coalition managed to get a lot of their program through the parliament including the legalisation of homosexuality and marijuana. The coalition also passed several tax cuts, to expand the new internet growth. Lambsorfs most famous project was the creation of a custom union with other neutral countries including Finland, Austria and Sweden. After the election of 1987 the FDP became the strongest party in the parliament and managed to surpass the SLP. Despite the general popularity of the liberal coalition, there remained one controversial problem. The far-left splinter groups that succeeded SED were still around and became more radical everyday. Some of them even denounced the reformist USSR and called it revisionary bureaucracy. Many citizens demanded stricter security laws. Will coalition bend to the will of the population or will they stay true to their liberal principles?
[17] The spring of 1989 brought a scathing response when a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit the country's largest cities. Chancellor Lambsdorff's response was to propose a new security law and to have the constitutional legality of extremist parties re-examined. This provoked an outcry in the majority, but the first text was approved thanks to the unexpected support of the Christian Social Union, now Germany's main conservative party. The coalition exploded, Lambsdorff resigned and a new minority government led by Interior Minister Matthias Wissmann. The announcement of an imminent state visit by French President of the Council of Ministers Simone Veil led to many questions.
[18] Chancellor Engholms coalition almost did not survive, when the SLP only narrowly making it over the 5-percent hurdle. The left wing KLP performs equally bad. After the election SLP and KLP discuss a unification with the SPD, but only if the SPD does not unify with the other. After the elections a coalition with the green PSV is formed, but Engholm has to make a choice. Does he want be a left wing chancellor and unify with the KLP or does he want to save his coalition with the SLP and unify with them?
 
I like this new timeline a lot.
Especially that no OTL chancellor is in the list.

I am still thinking about another Herbert to become chancellor, but the name lost its popularity, so that there aren't that many Herberts around any more.
Willy Brandt under his birthname would have been possible, but we missed that. And we can have Herbert Grönemeyer go into politics, can't we?
 
I am still thinking about another Herbert to become chancellor, but the name lost its popularity, so that there aren't that many Herberts around any more.
I hope to present you with a solution to this "problem" - but I can't promise for now. There are enough people still called Herbert at this time (it would be more difficult from the 2010s onwards)...



TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]
1987: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP-SLP-PVF) [16]
1989
: Matthias Wissmann (FDP-CSU) [17]
1991: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP)

1995: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP-PSV) [18]
1999: Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU-DDP) [19]

[1]
After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.

[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
[16] The last 4 years were succesful for chancellor Lambsdorf. The liberal coalition managed to get a lot of their program through the parliament including the legalisation of homosexuality and marijuana. The coalition also passed several tax cuts, to expand the new internet growth. Lambsorfs most famous project was the creation of a custom union with other neutral countries including Finland, Austria and Sweden. After the election of 1987 the FDP became the strongest party in the parliament and managed to surpass the SLP. Despite the general popularity of the liberal coalition, there remained one controversial problem. The far-left splinter groups that succeeded SED were still around and became more radical everyday. Some of them even denounced the reformist USSR and called it revisionary bureaucracy. Many citizens demanded stricter security laws. Will coalition bend to the will of the population or will they stay true to their liberal principles?
[17] The spring of 1989 brought a scathing response when a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit the country's largest cities. Chancellor Lambsdorff's response was to propose a new security law and to have the constitutional legality of extremist parties re-examined. This provoked an outcry in the majority, but the first text was approved thanks to the unexpected support of the Christian Social Union, now Germany's main conservative party. The coalition exploded, Lambsdorff resigned and a new minority government led by Interior Minister Matthias Wissmann. The announcement of an imminent state visit by French President of the Council of Ministers Simone Veil led to many questions.
[18] Chancellor Engholms coalition almost did not survive, when the SLP only narrowly making it over the 5-percent hurdle. The left wing KLP performs equally bad. After the election SLP and KLP discuss a unification with the SPD, but only if the SPD does not unify with the other. After the elections a coalition with the green PSV is formed, but Engholm has to make a choice. Does he want be a left wing chancellor and unify with the KLP or does he want to save his coalition with the SLP and unify with them?
[19] And Engholm does decide: He offers unification to the KLP rather than the SLP with which there were many disagreements during the 1991-1995 term. The new party was, though erroneously often called SPD or just Linkspartei or linke Partei, officially called EAPD (Europäische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands), with most mergers of - sometimes very successful, notably PEC in Italy - Eurocommunist parties with - sometimes fringe - social democratic parties across Europe succeeding, resulting in a first pan-European democratic socialist party with the explicit aim of federalising Europe and contesting European elections united, despite de jure national parties running. The exception to this trend were the Netherlands, where social democracy remains strong and uncontested by Eurocommunism, and Greece, where the left remained splintered.
On an European level, the EAPD did extremely well and dreams of European federation by the 2010s soared higher than ever before, but on a national level, it was world champion of 1974 and several-time champion with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Herbert "Hacki" Wimmer, with the first coalition since the 1970s campaigning on socially openly conservative issues, who won the election. The FDP once again joined the coalition, together with the SLP which rebranded itself towards liberalism-libertarianism and gave itself the name of the DDP. The libertarian-to-minarchist PVF soon joined the new DDP.
Domestic politics were the focus of Wimmer and his cabinet. No openly regressive laws (factions within the CSU, for example, advocated re-criminalisation of marihuana) could be passed, but the SED was clamped down upon with new laws regarding domestic security and camera surveillance increasing. Economically, rather liberal policies dominated much like during the Lambsdorff and Wissmann chancellorships, with Germany being and stayng a centre of digitalisation - now in the areas of new business models like online trading (Arnis, named after the home"town" of founder Daniel Kirchweger) and primitive versions of social networks (ASSV founded by Emanuel Lilienthal and Fredi Bobic).
Towards the end of the first term of Chancellor Wimmer, some feared that the digital/new technology bubble had become overheated and could burst soon - and the cloning of the first sheep by Karl Illmensee et al. in Lindau, soon after followed by the human genome approaching sequencing, made promises in the field of life sciences soar, but also raised environmental and ethical concerns.
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 117308

I like this new timeline a lot.
Especially that no OTL chancellor is in the list.

I am still thinking about another Herbert to become chancellor, but the name lost its popularity, so that there aren't that many Herberts around any more.
Willy Brandt under his birthname would have been possible, but we missed that. And we can have Herbert Grönemeyer go into politics, can't we?
Agree. Every TL so far had its own traits. The first TL had the FDP as a major party, the second TL had an independent CSU (CSP), the Gauland leaks and Chancellor Röttgen and Chancellor Moukoko. This TL has got the Herbert invasion and a competition between FDP and SPD. Really good stuff so far.
 
TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]
1987: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP-SLP-PVF) [16]
1989
: Matthias Wissmann (FDP-CSU) [17]
1991: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP)

1995: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP-PSV) [18]
1999: Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU-DDP) [19]
2003:
Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU) [20]

[1]
After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.

[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
[16] The last 4 years were succesful for chancellor Lambsdorf. The liberal coalition managed to get a lot of their program through the parliament including the legalisation of homosexuality and marijuana. The coalition also passed several tax cuts, to expand the new internet growth. Lambsorfs most famous project was the creation of a custom union with other neutral countries including Finland, Austria and Sweden. After the election of 1987 the FDP became the strongest party in the parliament and managed to surpass the SLP. Despite the general popularity of the liberal coalition, there remained one controversial problem. The far-left splinter groups that succeeded SED were still around and became more radical everyday. Some of them even denounced the reformist USSR and called it revisionary bureaucracy. Many citizens demanded stricter security laws. Will coalition bend to the will of the population or will they stay true to their liberal principles?
[17] The spring of 1989 brought a scathing response when a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit the country's largest cities. Chancellor Lambsdorff's response was to propose a new security law and to have the constitutional legality of extremist parties re-examined. This provoked an outcry in the majority, but the first text was approved thanks to the unexpected support of the Christian Social Union, now Germany's main conservative party. The coalition exploded, Lambsdorff resigned and a new minority government led by Interior Minister Matthias Wissmann. The announcement of an imminent state visit by French President of the Council of Ministers Simone Veil led to many questions.
[18] Chancellor Engholms coalition almost did not survive, when the SLP only narrowly making it over the 5-percent hurdle. The left wing KLP performs equally bad. After the election SLP and KLP discuss a unification with the SPD, but only if the SPD does not unify with the other. After the elections a coalition with the green PSV is formed, but Engholm has to make a choice. Does he want be a left wing chancellor and unify with the KLP or does he want to save his coalition with the SLP and unify with them?
[19] And Engholm does decide: He offers unification to the KLP rather than the SLP with which there were many disagreements during the 1991-1995 term. The new party was, though erroneously often called SPD or just Linkspartei or linke Partei, officially called EAPD (Europäische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands), with most mergers of - sometimes very successful, notably PEC in Italy - Eurocommunist parties with - sometimes fringe - social democratic parties across Europe succeeding, resulting in a first pan-European democratic socialist party with the explicit aim of federalising Europe and contesting European elections united, despite de jure national parties running. The exception to this trend were the Netherlands, where social democracy remains strong and uncontested by Eurocommunism, and Greece, where the left remained splintered.
On an European level, the EAPD did extremely well and dreams of European federation by the 2010s soared higher than ever before, but on a national level, it was world champion of 1974 and several-time champion with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Herbert "Hacki" Wimmer, with the first coalition since the 1970s campaigning on socially openly conservative issues, who won the election. The FDP once again joined the coalition, together with the SLP which rebranded itself towards liberalism-libertarianism and gave itself the name of the DDP. The libertarian-to-minarchist PVF soon joined the new DDP.
Domestic politics were the focus of Wimmer and his cabinet. No openly regressive laws (factions within the CSU, for example, advocated re-criminalisation of marihuana) could be passed, but the SED was clamped down upon with new laws regarding domestic security and camera surveillance increasing. Economically, rather liberal policies dominated much like during the Lambsdorff and Wissmann chancellorships, with Germany being and stayng a centre of digitalisation - now in the areas of new business models like online trading (Arnis, named after the home"town" of founder Daniel Kirchweger) and primitive versions of social networks (ASSV founded by Emanuel Lilienthal and Fredi Bobic).
Towards the end of the first term of Chancellor Wimmer, some feared that the digital/new technology bubble had become overheated and could burst soon - and the cloning of the first sheep by Karl Illmensee et al. in Lindau, soon after followed by the human genome approaching sequencing, made promises in the field of life sciences soar, but also raised environmental and ethical concerns.
[20] The end of Chancellor Wimmer's term of office was marked by renewed tensions in the coalition over ethical standards and by the FDP's adoption of a radical pro-Europeanism, like the left wing parties. Negotiations began with the british Conservatives, the diverses Benelux Christian Democrats and the french Radical Party for the creation of a common centre-right European party also promoting European federalism. The weight of the FDP in the negotiations was reassessed when the coalition was largely re-elected, the triumph of the FDP was such that the DDP fell below 5% and many of its most influential pro-European members abandoned it to rejoin the FDP. A strengthened Liberal-Conservative majority was thus preparing to lead Germany into a new century of revolutions in all areas.
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 117308

TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]
1987: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP-SLP-PVF) [16]
1989
: Matthias Wissmann (FDP-CSU) [17]
1991: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP)

1995: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP-PSV) [18]
1999: Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU-DDP) [19]
2003:
Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU) [20]
2007: Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU) [21]

[1]
After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.

[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
[16] The last 4 years were succesful for chancellor Lambsdorf. The liberal coalition managed to get a lot of their program through the parliament including the legalisation of homosexuality and marijuana. The coalition also passed several tax cuts, to expand the new internet growth. Lambsorfs most famous project was the creation of a custom union with other neutral countries including Finland, Austria and Sweden. After the election of 1987 the FDP became the strongest party in the parliament and managed to surpass the SLP. Despite the general popularity of the liberal coalition, there remained one controversial problem. The far-left splinter groups that succeeded SED were still around and became more radical everyday. Some of them even denounced the reformist USSR and called it revisionary bureaucracy. Many citizens demanded stricter security laws. Will coalition bend to the will of the population or will they stay true to their liberal principles?
[17] The spring of 1989 brought a scathing response when a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit the country's largest cities. Chancellor Lambsdorff's response was to propose a new security law and to have the constitutional legality of extremist parties re-examined. This provoked an outcry in the majority, but the first text was approved thanks to the unexpected support of the Christian Social Union, now Germany's main conservative party. The coalition exploded, Lambsdorff resigned and a new minority government led by Interior Minister Matthias Wissmann. The announcement of an imminent state visit by French President of the Council of Ministers Simone Veil led to many questions.
[18] Chancellor Engholms coalition almost did not survive, when the SLP only narrowly making it over the 5-percent hurdle. The left wing KLP performs equally bad. After the election SLP and KLP discuss a unification with the SPD, but only if the SPD does not unify with the other. After the elections a coalition with the green PSV is formed, but Engholm has to make a choice. Does he want be a left wing chancellor and unify with the KLP or does he want to save his coalition with the SLP and unify with them?
[19] And Engholm does decide: He offers unification to the KLP rather than the SLP with which there were many disagreements during the 1991-1995 term. The new party was, though erroneously often called SPD or just Linkspartei or linke Partei, officially called EAPD (Europäische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands), with most mergers of - sometimes very successful, notably PEC in Italy - Eurocommunist parties with - sometimes fringe - social democratic parties across Europe succeeding, resulting in a first pan-European democratic socialist party with the explicit aim of federalising Europe and contesting European elections united, despite de jure national parties running. The exception to this trend were the Netherlands, where social democracy remains strong and uncontested by Eurocommunism, and Greece, where the left remained splintered.
On an European level, the EAPD did extremely well and dreams of European federation by the 2010s soared higher than ever before, but on a national level, it was world champion of 1974 and several-time champion with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Herbert "Hacki" Wimmer, with the first coalition since the 1970s campaigning on socially openly conservative issues, who won the election. The FDP once again joined the coalition, together with the SLP which rebranded itself towards liberalism-libertarianism and gave itself the name of the DDP. The libertarian-to-minarchist PVF soon joined the new DDP.
Domestic politics were the focus of Wimmer and his cabinet. No openly regressive laws (factions within the CSU, for example, advocated re-criminalisation of marihuana) could be passed, but the SED was clamped down upon with new laws regarding domestic security and camera surveillance increasing. Economically, rather liberal policies dominated much like during the Lambsdorff and Wissmann chancellorships, with Germany being and stayng a centre of digitalisation - now in the areas of new business models like online trading (Arnis, named after the home"town" of founder Daniel Kirchweger) and primitive versions of social networks (ASSV founded by Emanuel Lilienthal and Fredi Bobic).
Towards the end of the first term of Chancellor Wimmer, some feared that the digital/new technology bubble had become overheated and could burst soon - and the cloning of the first sheep by Karl Illmensee et al. in Lindau, soon after followed by the human genome approaching sequencing, made promises in the field of life sciences soar, but also raised environmental and ethical concerns.
[20] The end of Chancellor Wimmer's term of office was marked by renewed tensions in the coalition over ethical standards and by the FDP's adoption of a radical pro-Europeanism, like the left wing parties. Negotiations began with the british Conservatives, the diverses Benelux Christian Democrats and the french Radical Party for the creation of a common centre-right European party also promoting European federalism. The weight of the FDP in the negotiations was reassessed when the coalition was largely re-elected, the triumph of the FDP was such that the DDP fell below 5% and many of its most influential pro-European members abandoned it to rejoin the FDP. A strengthened Liberal-Conservative majority was thus preparing to lead Germany into a new century of revolutions in all areas.
[21] In 2007 Chancellor Wimmer´s coalition got relected. While there were many disagreements between FDP and CSU on national level, the coalition was really succesful on European level. In 2005 the Central European Union including the former neutral countries Germany, Austria, Sweden and Finland and the Western Union (which developed from the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community) were form formally abolished. Both organisations were cooperating since Lambsdorf´s chancellorship. The newly created European Union stretches from Britain to Algeria and from Portugal from Finland, with Strasbourg as its capital. On national level Lambdorf was still facing many challenges. Germanys big tech industries like the Social Media Platform "Freundebuch" were rapidly growing, but were paying almost no taxes. The EAPD who held a majority in the "Bundesrat", announcd that they would refuse to cooperate until the taxes would be raised. Wimmer´s third term seems to become the most challenging of his chancellorship.
 
TL #4 - Big Tent Politics!
What if the SPD and CDU formed a coalition in 1949?

1949: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [1]
1952: Kurt Schumacher (SPD - CDU) [2]
1954:
Erich Ollenhauer (SPD - CDU) [3]
1956:
Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [4]
1960: Gerhard Schröder (FDP - CDU) [5]
1962: Herbert Hupka (SPD-
GB/BHE) [6]
1964: Herbert Hupka (SPD-VP) [7]

1966: Gustav Heinemann (GVP-CDU) [8]
1970: Rainer Barzel (GVP-CDU) [9]
1971: Reiner Barzel (GVP -CDU) [10]
1975:
Ulrich de Maizière (FDP-GVP-CDU) [11]
1976:
Franz Josef Strauß (FDP-GVP-CDU) [12]
1979: Herbert Wehner (SPD-KLP-PSV) [13]
1981: Herbert Gruhl (GAZ-PSV) [14]
1983:
: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (SLP-FDP-PVF) [15]
1987: Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP-SLP-PVF) [16]
1989
: Matthias Wissmann (FDP-CSU) [17]
1991: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP)

1995: Björn Engholm (SPD - SLP-PSV) [18]
1999: Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU-DDP) [19]
2003:
Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU) [20]
2007: Herbert Wimmer (FDP-CSU) [21]
2011: Herbert Reul (CSU-FDP) [22]

[1]
After the Social Democrats narrowly win the first election in West Germany a coalition with the CDU is formed. The former CDU chairman Adenauer was sidelined, after his declining health became publicly known. Parts of the CDU and the FDP are still worried, that the Schumacher´s foreign policy would turn Germany into a Soviet satellite.

[2] Schumacher's brief tenure had an impact that couldn’t be measured in mere time. While many of SPD policies were tempered by the necessity of the coalition with the CDU rather than Schumacher’s own beliefs, he is still generally credited as an architect of the “Third Way”, an independent path between the West and East. The early 1952 election was dubbed the “Stroke Election”, called in an effort to head off challenges from the Opposition parties. While the SPD-CDU coalition returned to power, Schumacher played little role in campaigning and it was clear he would need to be replaced soon.
[3] In 1954 Erich Ollenhauer replaced Schumacher as chancellor. The coalition remained stable, but Ollenhauer was not as popular as his predecessor. The elections of 1956 seemed to be unpredictable. Will Ollenhauer remain in power, or will he be replaced by a CDU or even a FDP candidate?
[4] The 1956 elections began a changeover. Gerhard Schröder and the right-wing FDP succeeded in shifting the balance of power to the right and overtaking the SPD and convinced the Christian Democrats to form a coalition with them. Its governance initiated a shift of the country towards the west.
[5] After the elections chancellor Schröder announces further cooperation with the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community (FICSC). One day later the new Soviet general secretary Beria answers with blockade of West Berlin.
[6] The blockade of West Berlin was soon ended when it emerged that the FICSC members and the USA stood up to Beria, who, in an attempt to save face, offered the German leadership a unified, neutral Germany. The opposition SPD, in an effort to strengthen Schumacher's vision of a "Third Way", pressured to accept Beria's offer, but Schröder intended to stay on the Western course and talked about West Germany becoming part of FICSC. This prompted outcry among many CDU and FDP deputees, who switched their allegiance either to the SPD, or the nationalist All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights, the fiercest opposition to FICSC entry, and the party mostly in favour of a neutralist, unified Germany. With the coalition having lost its majority in the Bundestag, Schröder called for a vote of confidence through an early election. Controversially, the SPD chose Herbert Hupka as its candidate and won the majority of votes. As promised during the campaign, he put together a coalition with the GB/BHE in order to advance German unification.
[7] With its attempt to create a "third way", the government in Bonn is attracting the wrath of Westerners. Threats of economic sanctions in the event of a rapprochement force the coalition to act very cautiously and to offer guarantees to what is now called the "Western European Community". The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights reorganises itself into the "People's Party", which competes with the FDP on the right while the CDU moderates itself to attract SPD voters worried about the coalition.
[8]The rebranding does not end the left-nationalist coalition's troubles, however. With reunification negotiations stalling into 1966, SPD moderates incensed by Hupka and GB/BHE "blowing our chance at reunification over Ostelbien bullshit" desert the coalition en masse. Heinemann's GVP, a fringe splinter party in '60 and '62, finds itself in the role of the patriotic-but-sensible moderate choice needed in those times and wins a landslide victory in the 1966 elections.
[9] while the coalition is succesful in the 1970 election, Heinmann decides to retire at age 71, handing the chancellorship over to Barzel

[10] The negotiations with the USSR are successful and Germany finally unifies. But chancellor Barzel had to pay a price. Germany had to limit her army sieze and had to pay war reparations to the USSR. In addition Barzel had to accept that Germany would remain neutral during the Cold War and had to revoke the KPD ban. The most controversial demand was that amnesty was given to all SED members. The first elections after unification were scheduled in 1971.
[11] The global oil crisis was experienced with particular difficulty in Germany. In the run-up to the 1975 elections, the fear of a victory for a coalition of the SPD, KPD and SED with the support of the VP was growing. The moderate parties formed a pact and gave full powers to General Ulrich de Maizière. His mission was to safeguard the integrity of the federal republic.
[12] The appointment of de Maizière was followed by civil unrest and student protests. SPD, EKPD (the KPD renamed itself after the eurocommunists took over) and SED (traditional pro soviet communists) called for a general strike and demanded de Maizière to resign. Surprisingly de Maizière did resign, but his supporters did not give up. FDP, GVP and CDU appointed the popular right-wing CSU politician Franz Josef Strauß as the chancellor. The leader of the student protests, Alfred "Rudi" Dutschke, called for a march on Bonn in February. On the last day of January the SPD politician Helmut Schmidt and FDP politician Gerhard Baum met in Hannover, to discuss a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Will Schmidt and Baum be successful?
[13] Schmidt's and Baum's moderation is only moderately successful, despite Schmidt, Baum, POTUS Sargent Shriver and General Secretary of the CPSU Alexei Kosygin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 1977. They did prevent World War III and a revolutionary escalation in Germany, but they were only moderately successful in mediating the situation. Uprisings and strikes against Strauß continued for the whole year of 1977 and parts of 1978, increasingly sidelining the SED though. Radical splinter groups of the SED, calling themselves KPD-DA, RAD, DVBA, VBA-ML, etc. committed quite a few terrorist attacks and elections - with the SED banned, but all other parties from EKPD (soon renaming itself KLP, Kommunistische LInkspartei although the L is often misinterpreted as standing for Rosa Luxemburg in some form) to NPD being allowed. And indeed, the narrow majority of Germans elected SPD, KLP and PSV (Partei der Sozialen Veränderung, a green group formed from parts of the strikers who joined anti-nuclear and partly even luddite protests) into power under Herbert Wehner. Notably, Christof Kievenheim gained an important post as Minister of the Interior.
[14] The Wehner Coalition was ill fated. Social Democrats might have just gotten along with the Communists or the PSV (a party that was a very odd mixture and saw enough infighting for a century in just 2 years), but not with both of them together. Given good polls, Wehner orchastrated a failed vote of confidence, triggering a snap election. But in the three month till the election, there was another oil price shock, a nuclear meltdown and a very hot summer with discussion on climate change. This lead to surprising games by the 2 ecological parties, PSV on the left and especially the GAZ on the right, which also proffited from not having the stain of being involved in the 1975 coup.
[15] Far too much infighting in both green parties, being inexperienced, and several rushed ideas (e.g. a law demanding all nuclear power plants be decommissioned by 1987), along with the aftereffects of the 1981 Oil Crisis and the Lake Genezareth War (Fifth Arab-Israeli War) and the Soviet intervention in and invasion of Iran, laid a heavy burden on Germany's (and the Western Bloc's) economy. And as right-wing or socially conservative parties were discredited because of the coup, it was liberals in all forms who made the most gains: From the SPD, the SLP - Sozialliberale Partei - had split in 1978 to oppose any cooperation with the communists of the EKPD/KLP (and, many feared, the SED, but that didn't come to fruition). And the FDP itself (supported by a few GVP/CDU MPs) saw a splinter group arising, the economically liberal, Banksite (=neoliberal) and socially indifferent, libertarian-leaning, PVF (Partei für Vernunft und Fortschritt). The three formed a coalition, called just a liberal coalition (Liberale Koalition). And immediately, with the nuclear phase-out being revoked, privatisation of many state and state-owned enterprises, innovation and startups subsidised and entrepreneurship rising, economic prosperity started to return and Germany, assisted by their neutrality and ability to trade with any but the most rogue nations, became a hub of innovation and an attractive venue for startups.
In 1986, competing with the USA and a reformist USSR, it was a group around Karlheinz Förster and Karl Allgöwer who founded the first major digital information network, the Informationsnetz or, for short, Infonetz (Infonet). Also, their startup FA became the first company to produce affordable desktop computers compatible with most standards established to date, and thus established a new standard itself. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's company Apple on the other hand had gone bankrupt during the 1981-82 crisis, and some had already thought digitalisation to be a dead end...
[16] The last 4 years were succesful for chancellor Lambsdorf. The liberal coalition managed to get a lot of their program through the parliament including the legalisation of homosexuality and marijuana. The coalition also passed several tax cuts, to expand the new internet growth. Lambsorfs most famous project was the creation of a custom union with other neutral countries including Finland, Austria and Sweden. After the election of 1987 the FDP became the strongest party in the parliament and managed to surpass the SLP. Despite the general popularity of the liberal coalition, there remained one controversial problem. The far-left splinter groups that succeeded SED were still around and became more radical everyday. Some of them even denounced the reformist USSR and called it revisionary bureaucracy. Many citizens demanded stricter security laws. Will coalition bend to the will of the population or will they stay true to their liberal principles?
[17] The spring of 1989 brought a scathing response when a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit the country's largest cities. Chancellor Lambsdorff's response was to propose a new security law and to have the constitutional legality of extremist parties re-examined. This provoked an outcry in the majority, but the first text was approved thanks to the unexpected support of the Christian Social Union, now Germany's main conservative party. The coalition exploded, Lambsdorff resigned and a new minority government led by Interior Minister Matthias Wissmann. The announcement of an imminent state visit by French President of the Council of Ministers Simone Veil led to many questions.
[18] Chancellor Engholms coalition almost did not survive, when the SLP only narrowly making it over the 5-percent hurdle. The left wing KLP performs equally bad. After the election SLP and KLP discuss a unification with the SPD, but only if the SPD does not unify with the other. After the elections a coalition with the green PSV is formed, but Engholm has to make a choice. Does he want be a left wing chancellor and unify with the KLP or does he want to save his coalition with the SLP and unify with them?
[19] And Engholm does decide: He offers unification to the KLP rather than the SLP with which there were many disagreements during the 1991-1995 term. The new party was, though erroneously often called SPD or just Linkspartei or linke Partei, officially called EAPD (Europäische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands), with most mergers of - sometimes very successful, notably PEC in Italy - Eurocommunist parties with - sometimes fringe - social democratic parties across Europe succeeding, resulting in a first pan-European democratic socialist party with the explicit aim of federalising Europe and contesting European elections united, despite de jure national parties running. The exception to this trend were the Netherlands, where social democracy remains strong and uncontested by Eurocommunism, and Greece, where the left remained splintered.
On an European level, the EAPD did extremely well and dreams of European federation by the 2010s soared higher than ever before, but on a national level, it was world champion of 1974 and several-time champion with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Herbert "Hacki" Wimmer, with the first coalition since the 1970s campaigning on socially openly conservative issues, who won the election. The FDP once again joined the coalition, together with the SLP which rebranded itself towards liberalism-libertarianism and gave itself the name of the DDP. The libertarian-to-minarchist PVF soon joined the new DDP.
Domestic politics were the focus of Wimmer and his cabinet. No openly regressive laws (factions within the CSU, for example, advocated re-criminalisation of marihuana) could be passed, but the SED was clamped down upon with new laws regarding domestic security and camera surveillance increasing. Economically, rather liberal policies dominated much like during the Lambsdorff and Wissmann chancellorships, with Germany being and stayng a centre of digitalisation - now in the areas of new business models like online trading (Arnis, named after the home"town" of founder Daniel Kirchweger) and primitive versions of social networks (ASSV founded by Emanuel Lilienthal and Fredi Bobic).
Towards the end of the first term of Chancellor Wimmer, some feared that the digital/new technology bubble had become overheated and could burst soon - and the cloning of the first sheep by Karl Illmensee et al. in Lindau, soon after followed by the human genome approaching sequencing, made promises in the field of life sciences soar, but also raised environmental and ethical concerns.
[20] The end of Chancellor Wimmer's term of office was marked by renewed tensions in the coalition over ethical standards and by the FDP's adoption of a radical pro-Europeanism, like the left wing parties. Negotiations began with the british Conservatives, the diverses Benelux Christian Democrats and the french Radical Party for the creation of a common centre-right European party also promoting European federalism. The weight of the FDP in the negotiations was reassessed when the coalition was largely re-elected, the triumph of the FDP was such that the DDP fell below 5% and many of its most influential pro-European members abandoned it to rejoin the FDP. A strengthened Liberal-Conservative majority was thus preparing to lead Germany into a new century of revolutions in all areas.
[21] In 2007 Chancellor Wimmer´s coalition got relected. While there were many disagreements between FDP and CSU on national level, the coalition was really succesful on European level. In 2005 the Central European Union including the former neutral countries Germany, Austria, Sweden and Finland and the Western Union (which developed from the Franco-Italian Coal and Steel Community) were form formally abolished. Both organisations were cooperating since Lambsdorf´s chancellorship. The newly created European Union stretches from Britain to Algeria and from Portugal from Finland, with Strasbourg as its capital. On national level Lambdorf was still facing many challenges. Germanys big tech industries like the Social Media Platform "Freundebuch" were rapidly growing, but were paying almost no taxes. The EAPD who held a majority in the "Bundesrat", announcd that they would refuse to cooperate until the taxes would be raised. Wimmer´s third term seems to become the most challenging of his chancellorship.
[22] After 12 years in Office, Herbert Wimmer had grown unpopular. But due to the constant Blockade of the EAPD in the Bundesrat it could not gain the centrists voters. Instead the CSU, running in all 15 Bundesländern surprisingly overtook the FDP in votes for the first time. After Wimmer made clear that he would go into retirement, Herbert Reul managed to win the majority in a party conference and was elected chancellor.
(found another Herbert!!!)
 
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