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Assess the reasons why the CDU enjoyed electoral success, . A* essay marked by history A level teacher
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Assess the reasons why the CDU enjoyed electoral success, 1949-1960 (20)There were many reasons why the CDU enjoyed electoral success from 1949-1960, including
their successful policy, the strengths of party leader Adenauer, and the weaknesses of their
opposition: Schumacher/the SPD. The CDU remained victorious form the 1949 August
elections up until 1960. Germany looked keenly towards the democratic CDU following the
totalitarian reign of the Nazis. The CDUs decision to become active in the new post war
democracy and creating a welfare state, greatly aided their electoral success.
The CDU was founded in 1945 by diverse group of former Weimar republic politicians,
including both Catholics and Protestants, it was therefore made up of different political
parties and ideas, meaning no exclusion and political alliances were easier to form.
Therefore, the CDU managed to unite a variety of class, religious and ideological groups
across Germany through the appeal of ‘Christian socialism’, securing them a wider support
base and thus electoral success. The election of August 1949 had been fought on the nature
of the FRGs economy, with the SPD proposing a socialist, government controlled economic
system, against the CDUs proposed a 'social-market economy' which was already effective
and went onto drive the post-war economic miracle, securing electoral success for the CDU.
Further reasons for electoral success of the CDU include the economic system and insurance
policies pursued by the CDU in the 1950s which led to greater social mobility. More effective
CDU policies are seen within the 1950s whereby they greatly benefitted the economy. For
instance: the ECSC in 1951, the EEC in 1957, in 1957 they passed the law in Pensions
Insurance, and the economy was boosted by 7% by 1957. Therefore, the CDUs policy was
clearly successful, by 1958 it had nearly full employment, and by the 1950s it was nearly the
biggest economy in the world and the strongest economic power in Europe, the CDU
evidently were effective in replenishing Germany after WW2, allowing them to enjoy
electoral success from 1949-60. This can be evidenced through the 1957 elections, whereby
the CDU achieved a massive victory, gaining 50.2% of the vote and the first majority
government of the FRG era. The CDU had campaigned with the slogan 'No Experiments!',
thereby calling on West Germans to stick with the party that had positively led the country
through the 1950s and not to risk the unknown political direction the SPD represented. The
1957 landslide victory was a clear endorsement of Adenauer's policies throughout the
1950s.
Adenauer's strengths were fundamental to the CDUs electoral success from 1949-60. His
effective leadership led to him gaining wide-spread popularity across West Germany. His
opposition to East Germany, communism, and any form of German unification that would
require compromise with the German communist party, known as the SED, meant that the
CDU also enjoyed support of the catholic church, which viewed the party as a strong power
against communism. This was crucial to the CDUs electoral success from 1949-60, as the
regions that made up West Germany meant the population was now 45% catholic, as
opposed to only 30% in the old post-1945 unified Germany. Thus, the fact that Catholics
largely voted for the CDU, majorly because of their support for Adenauer, secured its
electoral success. Due to Adenauer's strength in terms of his international relations, the
CDU had the support of America and Western Europe. The CDU was thus backed by the
USA, which viewed it as a more reliable force against communism than the SPD, giving it
more power and influence in elections in the FRG throughout 1949-60.
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