Allied attitudes on the issue of German rearma-
ment was not universally popular, since only a few
years before German militarism had been con-
demned as the root of all evil. But the Second
World War had brought about a great change in
German thinking: if a third world war broke out,
it would be fought in Germany, and everyone
understood that it would totally destroy the
country. Militarism was dead. Indeed, in the
1950s, a strong extra-parliamentary movement
opposed to rearmament made itself felt.
The Federal German Republic had a better
start than Weimar, because its birth in May 1949
did not coincide with the hour of defeat, as had
that of the Weimar Republic. Instead, it was the
Allies and their occupation policies that were
blamed for the hardship of the early years. The
evolution of a fully sovereign parliamentary
democratic state was a gradual one that was not
completed until six years later in 1955. Political
parties, assemblies and administrations had been
set up in ten Länder(regional territories), though
West Berlin was not included in the Federal
Republic. In the spring of 1948, France, Britain
and the US had agreed to the formation of a
central German government for the Western
zones, but ultimate powers still remained in the
hands of the three Allied governments. The
minister presidents of the Länderwere invited to
call a constituent assembly to draft a constitution.
But the minister presidents, fearing that this
would make the division of Germany permanent,
would agree only to call a ‘council’ and to draft
a ‘basic law’, thus emphasising the transitional
nature of what they were doing: Germany would
not have a constitution until it was reunited. The
two major parties, the SPD and the CDU/CSU,
sent the same number of delegates to the parlia-
mentary council; Adenauer by astute management
secured the presidency, so establishing an ascen-
dancy in German politics that was to last for
fifteen years.
Given the bitter personal relations and conflict
between the SPD and the CDU/CSU, not to
mention the deep divisions within the parties
themselves over the extent of federal powers, over
regional self-government, over voting procedures
and over a host of other practical questions, the
framing of an agreed basic law was a remarkable
achievement. Behind all these questions always lay
assessments of how, eventually, complete sover-
eignty could be achieved and how reunification
could be brought about. Reunification was still
the goal; it appeared unthinkable then that
Germany would remain divided for long.
The Basic Law, or West German constitution,
stood the test of time and by the 1980s had lost
its provisional appearance just when it turned out
to be, indeed, provisional. Voting was by a com-
bination of proportional representation (with can-
didates drawn from party lists in each of the
Länder) and constituency representation by
simple majority; a barrier was created on the
Länderlist, so that no party with less than 5 per
cent of the vote in the Federal Republic could win
a seat in the parliament, the Bundestag (although,
if three seats were won in direct constituency elec-
tions in one Land, the per cent rule was set aside).
Presidential powers, largely ceremonial were less
extensive than those held by the presidents of the
Weimar Republic. The chancellor became the
most powerful member of the executive; he and
his government could gain office only if he
enjoyed the support of a parliamentary majority.
But a vote against him by a majority would bring
about his fall only if the Bundestag could agree
by majority on a successor. The rationale for this
‘constructive vote of no confidence’ was to
prevent a repetition of the extinction of Weimar,
brought about by the combination of two anti-
democratic parties, the National Socialists and the
communists. The constitution could be changed
only by a two-thirds majority and was buttressed
by nineteen articles defining inviolable funda-
mental rights; a constitutional court was set up to
decide claims that the constitution was not being
observed. Legislation by the elected Bundestag
could be delayed by the Bundesrat, a second
chamber to which the Ländersent representatives
and whose purpose is to scrutinise legislation
which affects particularly the Länder.
The constitution is a long and complex docu-
ment and only its salient features are here
described. As a written constitution embodying
individual rights and a constitutional court to
enforce them, it provides safeguards against their504 THE RECOVERY OF WESTERN EUROPE IN THE 1950s AND 1960s