The Free Democratic Party is a liberal political party in Germany.
Germany is a democratic and federal parliamentary republic, where federal legislative power is vested in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Neue Ostpolitik, or Ostpolitik for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republic beginning in 1969. Influenced by Egon Bahr, who proposed "change through rapprochement" in a 1963 speech at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing, the policies were implemented beginning with Willy Brandt, fourth Chancellor of the FRG from 1969 to 1974, and winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize for Peace for his efforts to place this policy at the acme of the FRG.
Walter Scheel was a German statesman. A member of the Nazi Party that joined the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) in 1946, he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development from 1961 to 1966 and later as President of Germany from 1974 to 1979. He led the FDP from 1968 to 1974.
Federal elections were held in West Germany on 19 November 1972 to elect the members of the 7th Bundestag. In the first snap elections since the resumption of democratic elections in 1949, the Social Democratic Party became the largest party in parliament for the first time since 1930, winning 230 of the 496 seats. The coalition with the Free Democratic Party was resumed.
Federal elections were held in West Germany on 28 September 1969 to elect the members of the 6th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction and the Social Democratic Party remained the largest single party in the Bundestag, winning 237 of the 518 seats. After the election, the SPD formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party and SPD leader Willy Brandt became Chancellor.
Federal elections were held in West Germany on 17 September 1961 to elect the members of the fourth Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, winning 242 of the 499 seats. However, the loss of its majority and the All-German Party losing all its seats led to the CDU having to negotiate a coalition with the long-term junior coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party, leading to a demand for long-term chancellor Konrad Adenauer to leave office in 1963, halfway through his term.
Federal elections were held in West Germany on 14 August 1949 to elect the members of the first Bundestag, with a further eight seats elected in West Berlin between 1949 and January 1952 and another eleven between February 1952 and 1953. They were the first free federal elections in West Germany since 1933 and the first after the division of the country.
In German politics, a traffic light coalition is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, yellow, and green, matching the colour sequence of a traffic light (Ampel). The term is also used for similar coalitions between social democrats, liberals and greens in other countries.
Erich Mende was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the leader of FDP from 1960 to 1968 and the vice chancellor of Germany from 1963 to 1966.
Social–liberal coalition in the politics of Germany refers to a governmental coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). From 1969 to 1982 social–liberal coalitions led by Federal Chancellors Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt governed the Federal Republic of Germany.
Grand coalition is a term in German politics describing a governing coalition of the parties Christian Democratic Union (CDU) along with its sister party the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), since they have historically been the major parties in most state and federal elections since 1949. The meaning of the term may change due to the growth of some formerly minor parties in recent years.
Friedrich Middelhauve was a German publisher and a politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). From 1947 until 1956 he served as FDP state chairman for North Rhine-Westphalia and, between 1952 and 1956, he was the party's deputy federal chairman. From July 1954 until February 1956, he was Deputy Minister-president and Minister of Economics and Transport in North Rhine-Westphalia. He also served as a member of the state and federal legislatures. On the right-wing of the party, he tried unsuccessfully to steer the FDP into a united bloc with smaller conservative parties in an effort dubbed the "National Collective".
The First Schmidt cabinet was the government of West Germany between 16 May 1974 and 14 December 1976, during the 7th legislature of the Bundestag. Led by the Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt, the cabinet was a coalition between the Social Democrats (SDP) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The Vice-Chancellor was the Free Democrat Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP).
The Second Brandt cabinet was the government of West Germany between 15 December 1972 and 17 May 1974, during the 7th legislature of the Bundestag. Led by the Social Democrat Willy Brandt, the cabinet was a coalition between the Social Democrats (SDP) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). It followed the Cabinet Brandt I. Following Brandt's resignation as Chancellor on 7 May 1974, Vice-Chancellor Walter Scheel (FDP) served as Acting Chancellor for nine days, until the inception of the Cabinet Schmidt I.
The Second Schmidt cabinet was the government of West Germany between 16 December 1976 and 5 November 1980, during the 8th legislature of the Bundestag. Led by the Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt, the cabinet was a coalition between the Social Democrats (SDP) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The Vice-Chancellor was the Free Democrat Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP).
Peter Hintze was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 1990 until his death in 2016.
The First Erhard cabinet was the government of West Germany between 17 October 1963 and 26 October 1965. Led by the Christian Democratic Union Ludwig Erhard, the cabinet was a coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The Vice-Chancellor was the Free Democrat Erich Mende (FDP).
The Third Schmidt cabinet was the government of West Germany between 6 November 1980 and 1 October 1982, during the 9th legislature of the Bundestag. Led by the Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt. After the 1980 federal election, incumbent Chancellor Schmidt continued the social-liberal coalition between his SPD and the FDP.
