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1969 West German federal election

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Field	Value
country	West Germany
type	parliamentary
previous_election	1965 West German federal election
previous_year	1965
outgoing_members	List of members of the 5th Bundestag
election_date
elected_members	List of members of the 6th Bundestag
next_election	1972 West German federal election
next_year	1972
seats_for_election	All 496 seats in the Bundestag
majority_seats	249
registered	38,677,235 0.4%
turnout	33,523,064 (86.7%) 0.1pp
image_upright	1
image1
leader1	Kurt Georg Kiesinger
party1	CDU/CSU
last_election1	47.6%, 245 seats
seats1	242
seat_change1	3
popular_vote1	15,195,187
percentage1	46.1%
swing1	1.5 pp
image2
leader2	Willy Brandt
party2	Social Democratic Party of Germany
last_election2	39.3%, 202 seats
seats2	224
seat_change2	22
popular_vote2	14,065,716
percentage2	42.7%
swing2	3.4 pp
image3
leader3	Walter Scheel
party3	Free Democratic Party (Germany)
last_election3	9.5%, 49 seats
seats3	30
seat_change3	19
popular_vote3	1,903,422
percentage3	5.8%
swing3	3.7 pp
map_image	1969 West German federal election.svg
map_size	400px
map_caption	The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows party list winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours.
title	Government
before_election	Kiesinger cabinet
before_party	CDU/CSU–SPD
posttitle	Government after election
after_election	First Brandt cabinet
after_party	SPD–FDP

A federal election was 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 (SDP) 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 (FDP) and the former's leader Willy Brandt became the first Social Democratic Chancellor in West Germany's history, bringing an end to 20 years of CDU/CSU rule.

Campaign

After the resignation of Chancellor Ludwig Erhard on 1 December 1966, a grand coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats had governed West Germany under Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU), with SPD chairman Willy Brandt as vice-chancellor and foreign minister.

Minister of Economic Affairs Karl Schiller (SPD) had proposed revaluing (increasing the external value of) the Deutsche Mark, West Germany's currency, to reduce the country's inflation rate and the rate of growth of the country's businesses' income. He also sought to reduce West Germany's economic dependence on the exports. However, Finance Minister Franz-Josef Strauss (CSU) rejected the Deutsche Mark's revaluation because Bavarian farmers, an important part of his constituency, opposed it. The European Economic Community's food commodity prices were paid in U.S. dollars, and the Deutsche Mark's revaluation would have made West German exports less competitive (i.e. more expensive for other Western Europeans to buy).

The coalition had already effectively ended before the election because of the revaluation dispute. In addition, enough West German voters were willing to give the Social Democratic leader, Foreign Minister Willy Brandt, a chance to govern West Germany. Brandt, who ran for the third time after 1961 and 1965, had shown sympathy towards groups, including left-wing intellectuals and activists of the German student movement, who had felt ignored by the Christian Democrat-led coalition governments. In addition, his intellect, self-control and reputation for honesty appealed to ordinary West Germans.

Results

Results by state

Constituency seats

State	Total
seats	Seats won	SPD	CDU	CSU	Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"	Christian Democratic Union of Germany}};"	Christian Social Union in Bavaria}};"	Baden-Württemberg	36	Bavaria	44	Bremen	3	Hamburg	8	Hesse	22	Lower Saxony	30	North Rhine-Westphalia	73	Rhineland-Palatinate	16	Saarland	5	Schleswig-Holstein	11	Total	248	127	87	34
9	27
10		34
3
8
20	2
18	12
47	26
6	10
2	3
4	7

List seats

State	Total
seats	Seats won	CDU	SPD	FDP	CSU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany}};"	Social Democratic Party of Germany}};"	Free Democratic Party (Germany)}};"	Christian Social Union in Bavaria}};"	Baden-Württemberg	34	Bavaria	40	Bremen	2	Hamburg	9	Hesse	24	Lower Saxony	33	North Rhine-Westphalia	78	Rhineland-Palatinate	15	Saarland	3	Schleswig-Holstein	10	Total	248	106	97	30	15
10	18	6
	21	4	15
2
6	2	1
17	4	3
18	11	4
43	26	9
6	7	2
1	2
3	6	1

Aftermath

Brandt speaks to the press on election night, 28 September

Willy Brandt, against the will of several party fellows like Herbert Wehner or Helmut Schmidt, chose to leave the grand coalition with the CDU/CSU, forming a social-liberal coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) instead. On 21 October 1969 he was elected Chancellor of Germany, the first SPD chancellor in the postwar period, after the last Social Democrat holding this position had been Hermann Müller from 1928 to 1930. FDP chairman Walter Scheel succeeded Brandt as vice-chancellor and foreign minister. Brandt's government proceeded with the revaluation Schiller had proposed, raising the value of the mark by 9.3% in late October.

Disappointed Kiesinger bitterly complained about the faithless liberals. Though he had again achieved the plurality of votes for the CDU, he had to lead his party into opposition. He was succeeded as chairman by Rainer Barzel in 1971.

However the Cabinet Brandt I could only rely on an absolute majority (Kanzlermehrheit) of twelve votes in the Bundestag. Several party switches in protest against Brandt's Ostpolitik of FDP and SPD members resulted in the snap election of 1972.

Notes

References

(1984). "Grimberg's History of the Nations, volume 22: From Peace to the Cold War". WSOY.
"Grimberg's History of the Nations, volume 23: The Rich West".
(1989). "A History of West Germany, volume 2: Democracy and Its Discontents, 1963–1988". Basil Blackwell.
(2006). "The Economics of Global Turbulence: The Advanced Capitalist Economies from Long Boom to Long Downturn, 1945-2005". Verso.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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federal-elections-in-germany 1969-elections-in-germany 1969-in-west-germany september-1969-in-europe kurt-georg-kiesinger

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