Rainer Barzel
Encyclopedia
Rainer Candidus Barzel was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 of the CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

.

Born in Braunsberg
Braniewo
Braniewo is a town in northeastern Poland, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 18,068 . It is the capital of Braniewo County...

, East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

 (present-day Braniewo, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

), Barzel served as Chairman of the CDU from 1971 and 1973 and ran as the CDU's candidate for Chancellor of Germany in the 1972 federal elections
German federal election, 1972
The 7th German federal election, 1972, was conducted on 19 November 1972, to elect members to the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany...

, losing to Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....

's SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

.

The 1972 election is commonly regarded as an indirect referendum on Chancellor Brandt's Ostpolitik
Ostpolitik
Neue Ostpolitik , or Ostpolitik for short, refers to the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republic beginning in 1969...

 (eastern policy), which called for normalized relations with the GDR and the USSR, and which Barzel vehemently opposed. In April 1972, an attempt by Barzel and the CDU/CSU to call a motion of no confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...

 against Brandt's government failed by two votes because of Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...

 bribes. Following the motion, Barzel would have succeeded Brandt as Chancellor of Germany. The government, in consideration of the fact that it had lost its parliamentary majority and that parliamentary work was stalled, reacted by calling new elections, which it won decisively—1972 was the only time before 1998 and after World War II that the SPD outpolled the CDU, it still represents the SPD's highwater mark as a vote share, and these elections had the highest turnout ever.

Within the CDU group of the German parliament, Barzel's credibility suffered when it became apparent that he had lied about substantial extra-income from work as a lawyer outside parliament.

Barzel served as Minister of All-German Affairs
Minister of Intra-German Relations
The Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations was a federal cabinet minister of the Federal Republic of Germany...

 (1962–63) under Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...

, as Parliamentary group leader
Parliamentary group leader
The leader or chairman of a parliamentary group holds an influential political post in a parliamentary system with strong party discipline...

 of the CDU/CSU (1964–1973), as Minister of Intra-German Relations
Minister of Intra-German Relations
The Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations was a federal cabinet minister of the Federal Republic of Germany...

 (1982–83) in Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...

's cabinet, and as President of the Bundestag
President of the Bundestag
The President of the Bundestag presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German order of precedence, his office is ranked second after the President and before the Chancellor...

 (1983–84).

It was not the lost non-confidence motion, nor the lost parliamentary elections that on May 8, 1973 eventually prompted Barzel to resign from both the CDU party chair and the leadership of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, but the refusal by the parliamentary group to support a government bill for the accession of both German states to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

.

He resigned from politics in 1984 after he was accused of being entangled in the Flick
Friedrich Karl Flick
Friedrich Karl Flick was a German-Austrian industrialist and billionaire....

 scandal—a charge which was rebutted by the Flick inquiry committee and the prosecuting authorities two years later.

Barzel died in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, after a long illness, on August 26, 2006.

The implications of this election were far-reaching. The initial reaction to Brandt was that he, along with his policy of Ostpolitik, was finished. German trade unions went on strike in anticipation of his loss in the no confidence motion. However, the final tally only received 247 votes, whereas 249 were needed to expel Brandt from office. Later it was found out that two members of Parliament, Julius Steiner (CDU) and Leo Wagner (CSU) had been bribed by the East German Ministry for State Security
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...

.

Further reading

  • Michael F. Feldkamp
    Michael F. Feldkamp
    Michael F. Feldkamp, is a German historian and journalist.-Career:Feldkamp was born in Kiel. After completing his high school studies at the Gymnasium Carolinum in Osnabrück, he studied history, Catholic theology, teaching, and philosophy at the Rhineland Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn...

     (ed.), Der Bundestagspräsident
    President of the Bundestag
    The President of the Bundestag presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German order of precedence, his office is ranked second after the President and before the Chancellor...

    . Amt - Funktion - Person.
    16. Wahlperiode, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-7892-8201-0
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK