Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt

Since 1966 Willy Brandt has been Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor in the "grand coalition" of the CDU/CSU and the SPD under Federal Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU). The only opposition in the German Parliament in the years 1966 to 1969 is the small fraction of the FDP.

The relationship among the major parties in the "grand coalition" often leads to strong public controversy. Critics point to the danger faced by parliamentarism when the government faces no strong opposition. In this connection an "extraparliamentary opposition (Ausserparlamentarische Opposition or APO) is formed, with the support particularly of the student protest movement against the Vietnam War.

Protests against the Vietnam War ©Bundesbildstelle

Particularly controversial are the emergency laws that the Grand Coalition tries to pass long with the appropriate Constitutional changes. The emergency laws establish the executive powers of the state in case of a crisis or defense emergency, and provide that the personal freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution (secrecy of the mail; freedom of assembly; etc.) can be restricted in case of a national emergency.

Willy Brandt supports the emergency laws. He considers them an important step taken by the Federal Republic on the route to domestic sovereignty and the elimination of the last legal reservations of the three Western allies.

In the spring of 1969 Gustav Heinemann is elected Federal President. After the Liberal Theodor Heuss and the Christian Democrat Heinrich Lübke a Social Democrat for the first time occupies the office of Chief of State of the German Federal Republic.

In the Federal elections of 1969 Willy Brandt appears again as the SPD candidate for Chancellor. His party gains over 40 percent of the votes. Willy Brandt agrees with Walter Scheel, the Chairman of the FDP, to form a social-liberal coalition. On October 21, 1969 the Bundestag elects Willy Brandt Federal Chancellor.

Willy Brandt is sworn in as Federal Chancellor ©Bundesbildstelle

In his policy declaration Willy Brandt challenges the citizens of the country to "dare more democracy". Mutual determination and mutual responsibility of various social sectors are to be the moving forces in the coming years. Brandt encourages the citizens "we are not at the end of our democracy; we are only beginning in earnest."

The SPD is now enabled to realize its social and economic goals. Willy Brandt proclaims in his policy declaration that "We face a need for comprehensive reforms in the Federal Republic." The reform program agreed upon by the SPD and FDP, looks toward construction of the social and welfare state and improvements in the living standards of workers and their families.

In foreign policy, Willy Brandt wants to establish for the German Federal Republic a climate of confidence and reconciliation with its eastern neighbors, after the horrors of the Second World War. Reconciliation and understanding, particularly with the UdSSR, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, presupposes recognition of the postwar territorial and political status quo in central Europe. Willy Brandt is prepared for this step. In his German policy, Brandt favors official contacts with the DDR and a regulated neighborliness for the two German states. He wants thereby to ease the lives of citizens of the divided Germany and to maintain a consciousness of the unity of the nation.

Willy Brandt does not view his new Eastern and German policies as a limited to Germany but rather sees them as the German contribution to Western détente policies. Many Federal citizens share the desire for change and reform, for which Willy Brandt stands. They see the change in government as a turning point in the history of the German Federal Republic.
 

Ergebnisse der Bundestagswahl 1969
(Statistisches Bundesamt)