West Germany (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Federal Republic of Germany Bundesrepublik Deutschland Timeline: Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum OTL equivalent: West Germany
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit (German) ("Unity and Justice and Freedom")
Anthem:  Das Lied der Deutschen
Location of West Germany (in green) with West Berlin (in lighter green) that is claimed by West Germany but de jure under the Allied occupation administration.
Capital		Berlin (de jure) Bonn (de facto)
Other cities		Munich; Cologne; Frankfurt am Main
Official language		German
Ethnic groups		Germans; Austrians; Illyrians; Japanese; Polish; French
Religion		Christianity; Irreligion; Islam; Judaism
Demonym		German; West German
Government		Federal state; Parliamentary republic; Multi-party system
-	President	Frank-Walter Steinmeier
-	Chancellor	Ursula von der Leyen
-	Upper house	Bundesrat
-	Lower house	Bundestag
Establishment
-	Promulgation of the Groundset of the Federal Republic	May 23, 1949
Currency		Euro (EUR)
Time zone		CET (UTC+1)
Internet TLD		.db
Calling code		+49

The Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), commonly known as West Germany (German: Westdeutschland) or the FRG (German: BRD), is a federal parliamentary republic in western-central Europe. It has the borders with East Germany, West Austria, East Austria, Czechoslovakia, Littleborough, Wallonia, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Switzerland. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven German states formed in the four Allied zones of occupation held by American, British, French and Scandinavian forces at the end of World War II according to the Potsdam Agreement.

Like the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany claiming an exclusive mandate for all of Germany although only has the sovereignty over the western half. The administrative centre of the Federal Republic is in Bonn, although it still claims Berlin as its de jure national capital. Eastern sector of Berlin, however, is controlled by the East German government since 1949 and now serves as the national capital of German Democratic Republic.

West Germany is considered a great power; it has Europe's largest economy, the world's fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the world's fifth-largest economy by PPP. It is the world's third-largest exporter and importer in the industrial, scientific, and technological sectors. As a highly developed country, it ranks ninth on the Human Development Index, provides social security and a universal health care system, environmental policies, tuition-free higher education, and is recognized as the world's sixteenth most peaceful country. In addition to being a member of the United Nations since 1973, West Germany is also a member of the European Community, NATO, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Politics and government

Plenary chamber of the German Bundestag in Bonn

West Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The country consists of ten constituent states (land): Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein. West Berlin, while officially not part of the Federal Republic, is largely integrated to West Germany and considered as a de facto state. Each state has its own constitution and is largely autonomous in regard to its internal organization.

The German political system operates under a constitutional framework laid out in the 1949 Groundset for the Federal Republic (Grundgesetz). Unlike its Eastern counterpart, West Germany is a fully-functioning multi-party democracy with three major parties have been dominated the country's political scene since 2005: centre-right Republicans (Die Republikaner, REP), centre-left Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) and centrist Democratic Centre Party (Demokratische Zentrumspartei, DZP).

Hammerschmidt Villa, the official residence of President of West Germany

The country's law-making authority is vested in the legislature of West Germany, consisting of the Bundestag ("Federal Day") and Bundesrat ("Federal Rede"). The members of the Bundesrat represent and are appointed by the governments of ten federated states and of West Berlin. The lower house, the Bundestag, is elected through direct elections using the first-past-the-post system, representing the 497 single-member constituencies. The Bundestag is more powerful than the Bundesrat and only needs the latter's consent for proposed legislation related to revenue shared by the federal and state governments, and the imposition of responsibilities on the states.

The Federal President (Bundespräsident) is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. They are elected by the Bundesversammlung ("Federal Forsamening"), consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The office is mostly ceremonial and the constitution has mandated all actions and directions of the president require the countersignature of the chancellor or the corresponding federal minister in charge of the respective field of politics. The Federal President does have a role in the political system, especially at the establishment of a new government and the dissolution of the Bundestag. This role is usually nominal but can become significant in case of political instability.

Palais Schaumburg, the official seat of Chancellor of West Germany

The head of government is the Federal Chancellor (Bundeskanzler), who is appointed by the Federal President after being elected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the Bundestag. The 1949 Groundset invests the Federal Chancellor with central executive authority as the head of the federal government. The Chancellor cannot be removed from office during a four-year term unless the Bundestag has agreed on a successor. Under political precedents which have developed since 1949, the chancellor has acquired enough ex officio authority (in addition to his/her constitutional powers) that West Germany is often described as a "chancellor democracy."

The building of the Federal Constitutional Court, located in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg

West Germany follows the civil law tradition based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law. The Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) is the supreme court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review. The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) is the highest ordinary court and also the highest court of appeals. In criminal and administrative law, West Germany uses an inquisitorial system where the judges are actively involved in investigating the facts of the case. West Germany's court system is also specialized on the five distinct areas: administrative, labour, social, fiscal and patent law.

History

Allied occupation of Germany (1945–1949)

On February 4–11, 1945, leaders from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union held the Yalta Conference where future arrangements as regards post-war Europe was negotiated. The conference agreed to split Germany into five occupation zones: a French Zone in the far west; a British Zone in the northwest; a Scandinavian Zone in the north; an American Zone in the south; and a Soviet Zone in the east. At the time, the intention was not to split Germany, only to designate zones of administration.

Former German areas east of the rivers Oder and Neisse were put under Polish administration. Millions of Germans were expelled and replaced by Poles. In a similar fashion, the Soviet Union took over areas of eastern Poland and East Prussia.

An escalating Cold War antagonism between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies were manifested in the refusal in 1947 of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (Sowjetische Militäradministration in Deutschland, SMAD) to take part in the USA's Marshall Plan. The Western Allies then turned over increasing authority to West German officials and moved to establish a nucleus for a future West German government by creating a central Economic Council for their zones. The program later provided for a West German constituent assembly, an occupation statute governing relations between the Allies and the German authorities, and the political and economic merger of the French and the Scandinavian with the British and American zones.

Berliners watch a Douglas C-54 Skymaster land at Tempelhof Airport, 1948.

In February 1948, the Western Allies permitted Ludwig Erhardt and the German Central Bank to carry a currency reform, establishing the Deutsche Mark as the new currency in the Western zones. The currency reform that conducted without even informing the Soviets marking a final break between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union responded by leaving the Allied Control Council. The Soviets then blockading Berlin from Western Allied soldiers and supplies on June 18, 1948 as there had been no previous treaties giving the Western Allies free access to West Berlin through Soviet-occupied zone.

In response to this, the Western Allies instituted the Berlin Airlift on June 21, 1948, in order to provide West Berlin with food and fuel transported by the cargo planes. The SED and the Soviets then organized a putsch for control of all of Berlin through a September 6 takeover of the city hall by the city assemblymen from the SED. Non-SED members of Greater Berlin's city-wide parliament then arrested by SED-controlled policemen. On November 30, 1948, the SED then declared the democratically elected city government to be deposed and replaced it with a new one led by Lord Mayor Friedrich Ebert, Jr. The Western Allies refused to recognize the SED-led Berlin government and imposed direct control over three western sectors of Berlin.

Drafting of the Groundset (1948–1949)

The CDU's campaign poster with Konrad Adenauer as its leader at the Western sectors.

On May 23, 1949, the Groundset (Grundgesetz), the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, was promulgated. Following elections in August, the first federal government was formed on September 20, 1949, by Konrad Adenauer, the leader of Christian Democratic Union (Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands, CDU), as the Chancellor. Adenauer's government was a coalition of the CDU, the Christian Social Union, and the Free Democratic Party. The next day, the occupation statute came into force, granting powers of self-government with certain exceptions.

On September 12, 1949, the eighty-one-year-old Hugo Eckener was elected first President of the Federal Republic by the Federal Convention (Bundesversammlung) as a compromise between the CDU and the opposition SPD.

Social upheavals (1963–1969)

Chancellor Kiesinger had determined to end the political deadlock resulted from the 1965 election by introducing proposal to have all Bundestag members to be elected by the first-past-the-post system rather than having half of the house elected by a proportional party list system. Willy Brandt and other SPD leaders supported the proposal, while the FDP strongly opposed it.

Brandt and Schmidt administrations (1969–1980)

The 1969 federal election was the first election of the Bundestag members solely under the first-past-the-post system. Kiesinger's intention to have a sole CDU majority, however, was backfired. The SPD gained the plurality of 249 seats in the Bundestag, opposite to the CDU-CSU combined 248 seats, making it possible to form a minority government. The FDP, on other hand, was left only two seats. Willy Brandt was elected chancellor on October 21, 1969, the first Social Democrat to be elected to the office since the division.

Helmut Kohl era and the decline of CDU-CSU (1980–1991)

Strauss's defeat in 1976 and his approval to the controversial loan of 3 billion Deutsche Marks to East Germany in 1983 led several CSU members to split off and form the Republicans (Die Republikaner, REP), as a right-wing alternative to the CDU and CSU. On other hand, Strauss's attempt to expand the CSU at the federal level resulted to Kohl's approval of the CDU to expand in Bavaria and supported joint candidates of CDU-FDP to boost the party's support. With the tactical coalition with the FDP, the CDU was slowly re-oriented itself toward the center of political spectrum and was increasingly liberal in social and economic issues. Many conservatives who disagreed with this leftward turn left the party and joined REP.

Return of SPD under Rau and New Ostpolitik (1991–1999)

With the split of conservative votes between the CDU and the rising REP, the SPD returned to the government with 246 seats in the 1991 federal election; Johannes Rau was elected chancellor.

Gerhard Schröder era (1999–2005)

In 2004, the CDU leader, Norbert Blüm, forwarded a motion during the CDU party convention to merge the party with the smaller FDP, resulting to the foundation of Democratic Centre Party (Demokratische Zentrumspartei, DZP). With its slogan "Alternative for Democracy!" (Alternative für Demokratie!), the DZP presented itself as a pro-European, centrist party. It attracted many younger and urban voters who have previously voted for the SPD during the previous elections, but did not want to vote the REP for its perceived right-wing populism for the next election.

Further readings