In many Western European countries, social democratic parties retained power throughout the 1970s. In the case of West Germany in particular, the visionary Chancellor Willy Brand was succeeded in May 1974 by the realist Helmut Schmidt, after it was revealed that a close associate of Brand had been an agent of the Ministry of State Security (Stasi) of East Germany. Schmidt confirmed those who believed he could ensure the political dominance of the Social Democrats (SPD), winning two electoral contests (1976 and 1980), which allowed the SPD to repeatedly form coalition governments with the Free Democrats (FDP).
However, as early as September 1982 the prospect of Helmut Schmidt retaining power was extremely uncertain, following the collapse of the SPD – FDP coalition (17.9.1982) and the replacement of four liberal ministers. The quest of the Social Democratic Party, led by Helmut Schmidt, to remain in power as a minority government until early elections were held proved futile as the opposition sought to completely overturn the political affiliations. Therefore, the dissolution of Schmitt’s cooperation with the chairman of the Free Democratic party, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, brought about the end of the almost nine-year term of prime minister of the then 64-year-old leader of the Social Democrats, with the approval of the motion of no confidence tabled by the coalition Christian Democrats (CDU – CSU) – Free Democrats. As the Liberals did not simply leave the governing coalition but formed a governing alliance with the CDU, they simultaneously ensured a “changing of the guard” between Helmut Schmidt and Christian Democratic leader Helmut Kohl in the chancellorship. According to the West German constitution, in order to overthrow a government, the so-called “creative motion of no confidence” had to be approved, that is, there must be not only a majority for the fall of the existing government, but also for the emergence of a new one. This was achieved by the Christian Democrats and Helmut Kohl in October 1982.
Changing of the guard without an election
Since it was the first removal of a chancellor in the then 33-year history of the Federal Republic of Germany, the vote on the motion of no confidence (1.10.1982) was preceded by a charged five-hour debate in the Bundestag (Lower House). Schmitt’s accusations were directed against his former government partners (FDP), with whom the Social Democrats co-governed for 13 years (1969-1982). Schmitt even recalled that two years earlier, in the national elections of 1980, Social Democrats and Free Democrats had jointly received a popular mandate for the continuation of government cooperation, while he did not fail to blame the leadership of the Free Democrats, which after 1982 was now a government partner of the Christian Democrats, for unethical behavior aimed at keeping the FDP in power.
For the first time in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Parliament voted against the chancellor.
Not even the leader of the FDP, Genser, was spared from Schmitt’s arrows, who while he had declared on the eve of the 1980 elections that “those who vote for the Liberals are the guarantee that Mr. Schmitt will remain chancellor of the country”, he also maintained chancellor Helmut Kohl the position of vice chancellor and foreign minister of Germany. The FDP leadership’s decision to end government cooperation with the Social Democrats has not only angered SPD officials, but also within the ranks of the party itself. In fact, around 20,000 members of the FDP left the party in protest, such as Guinder Verheugen and Ingrid Matthäus-Mayer, who then made a career in the SPD. The widespread dissatisfaction with the attitude of the FDP leadership was epigrammatically captured by the party’s deputy, Hildegard Hamm-Briecher: “I do not think that Helmut Schmidt deserved to be overthrown without taking into account the will of the electorate, nor that Helmut Kohl should become chancellor without previous elections”.
The causes of the “defection” of the Liberals
Genscher, as early as the day after the 1980 elections, was campaigning with remarkable confidence against the Social Democrats, perhaps not taking into account that the FDP’s increased vote share (10.6%) was due to the fact that the CDU yielded to the demand of the Bavarian Franz- Josef Strauss to be that Schmitt’s opponent for the chancellorship, with the result that even conservative Germans “voted against” the extreme Strauss, turning to other neighboring parties. Thus, as early as August 1981, Genscher was taking initiatives that increased the tensions between the SPD and the FDP and the possibility of the dissolution of the governing coalition. In his statements, he stressed, among other things, the need to limit state interventionism and cut costs in the context of the consistent application of the principles of the market economy. And the liberal economic wing of the FDP, under Finance Minister Otto Lambsdorff, called for cuts even to child and unemployment benefits, at a time when a (negative) historical record of two million unemployed had been reached, paving the way for the end of cooperation with the Social Democrats, in order for the Free Democrats to ally with the Christian Democrats under the moderate Helmut Kohl.
Of course, the intensifying difference of opinion between SPD and FDP was not limited only to economic and social policy issues. The coalition government also had to deal with disputes within the SPD, as not only the left wing of the Social Democrats, but the majority of members were opposed to the installation of medium-range missiles on German soil, in the context of the so-called “dual-track decision”. decision) of NATO on the modernization of the nuclear arsenal. This development was particularly painful for Helmut Schmidt, as he had taken the lead in the negotiations with the American government for the installation of European missiles. In fact, since the beginning of the 1980s, Schmitt was faced with mass demonstrations organized in many German cities by the anti-nuclear – peace-loving movements of the time, with a basic demand for the cancellation of the installation of American missiles. Prominent figures of the Social Democrats, such as Earhart Eppler, Oscar Lafontaine or even former chancellor Willy Brandt, participated in the pacifism events.
According to FDP MP Ham-Brecher, the gap between the two government partners has also been widened by the refusal of the Social Democrats to accept the FDP’s request to grant amnesty to politicians involved in the scandal of financing government parties from “black” funds of the Friedrich Flick industrial complex. The investigation by the public prosecutor’s office in Bonn was directed at that time mainly against the Minister of Finance Otto Lambsdorff, an executive of the FDP and secondarily against the Social Democrat Minister of Coordination, Hans Matheffer, with the accusation that they exempted the German industry from the obligation to pay taxes amounting to 120 million. deutschmarks because it had strengthened the parties of the governing coalition. When the judicial authorities’ conclusion on the Flick scandal was finally issued, Lambsdorff was still finance minister, since Genscher had made his stay in the ministry a condition for supporting the Kohl government, and he resigned two years late (1984) when he was prosecuted for a bribe of 135,000 marks. Instead, Mathefer was fully cleared for lack of evidence.
The Schmitt imprint on the political scene
In the national elections of 6 March 1983 Helmut Schmidt was no longer a candidate for the chancellorship, as he withdrew from the central political scene. Electoral figures (38.2%) for the SPD fell by almost 5%, returning to 1965 levels. However, Helmut Schmidt remained a member of the Bundestag until the mid-1980s, completing a 25-year political career that started when he became Minister of the Interior of the local government of Hamburg (1961). He was, among other things, Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance under Chancellor Brandt, whom he succeeded, sealing the political life of West Germany with his many years of action and his militant personality. After the end of his prime ministership he was co-editor of the prestigious weekly newspaper Die Zeit, while as an elder statesman he continued to be present in the West German, but also in the international political scene. Moreover, Helmut Schmidt’s prestige made him, until the end of his life, an astute analyst of international politics and a sought-after interlocutor of many world leaders.
The chairman of the Free Democratic Party Hans-Dietrich Genser, foreign minister during the Schmitt government, retained his portfolio during the Kohl chancellorship.
Regarding Greece, it is worth underlining the decisive contribution of Schmitt to the country’s integration into the European Communities, which was facilitated by the close and friendly relationship with Konstantinos Karamanlis, whom he valued and trusted for his political insight.
*Mr. Nikos Papanastasiou is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Media of the Greek Academy of Sciences.
*Editor: Evanthis Chatzivasiliou