Adenauer, Konrad

Adenauer, Konrad (b. 5 Jan. 1876, d. 19 Apr. 1967). Chancellor of West Germany 1949–63 Born in Cologne, he joined the Centre Party in 1906, and was Lord Mayor of Cologne 1917–33. Deposed by the Nazis, he was reinstated by the American administration in 1945, though the British soon discharged him for ‘incompetence’. Elected CDU leader in the British Zone in 1946, he was elected chairman of the parliamentary council which drafted the Constitution in 1948. He was narrowly elected Chancellor in 1949, but won the subsequent elections of 1953, 1957, and 1961 with a handsome majority.

At a time when the majority of Germans sought reunification with the GDR as their first priority, Adenauer pursued the goal of Western integration, even if that made unification less likely in the short run. For this reason, Adenauer accepted the Schuman Plan which led to the ECSC, and he supported the creation of the European Defence Community even if this entailed the rejection of the Stalin Note. In a crucial further concession to France, he agreed to the Saarland referendum held in 1955. In that year, full sovereignty was finally achieved, and West Germany was admitted into NATO. The culmination of his policy of reconciliation with France came in the Franco-German friendship treaty of 22 January 1963. This signalled the start of a ‘special’ relationship between the two countries, e.g. through cultural exchanges and regular, twice-yearly consultations between the French President and German Chancellor. A further milestone of Adenauer's policies of normalization came in 1955, when in a visit to Moscow he negotiated the release of the remaining 10,000 German prisoners of war, and the initiation of diplomatic relations with the USSR. Through the Restitution Agreement he initiated the beginning of a long process of reconciliation between Germans and Jews.

These successes abroad were complemented by dramatic achievements in domestic policy. The Equalizations of Burdens Act provided compensation for those who had lost their possessions in the war, especially the German immigrants from the East. Adenauer also reaped the rewards of Germany's rapid economic recovery which set in with the start of the Korean War, and which were greatly helped by the liberal policies of his Finance Minister, Erhardt. Perhaps his most popular measure was the introduction of a generous pension scheme, just ahead of the 1957 elections. Adenauer was increasingly criticized for his autocratic and obstinate style of leadership. This had been crucial in the first years of government, but was increasingly out of place in the early 1960s. He was thus forced to resign by his coalition partners, the Liberal Party. Through his successful policies, Adenauer integrated a heterogeneous population, and integrated many former Nazi adherents into the democratic process. In this way, he created the conditions for the establishment of the first successful democracy on German soil.