All-German People's Party

The total German People's Party ( short name: GVP ) was a party in the Federal Republic of Germany, which opposed the integration with the West, as it had been envisaged by the Christian Democratic Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

The party was founded in 1952, but broke up for lack of electoral success in 1957 again. Many members joined the SPD, including the most influential spokesman, Gustav Heinemann, as well as Johannes Rau, both later Federal President.

Foundation

The later founder of the GMPs were often influenced by the Confessing Church, which was created in 1934 to ward off effects of the Nazi state to the Protestant church. They applied generally to a compound of throne and altar against the front thinking and for a co-responsibility of Christians for the ( whole ) world. In the years after 1945 did not succeed in this direction, to enforce its claim to leadership in the Evangelical Church in Germany compared to a more traditional Lutheranism. Even outside the church saw these Christians their views under-represented and rejected, for example, the anti-communism of the CDU from.

Currently politically came to the discomfort this direction 1950, the question of rearmament added (triggered by the Korean War ) Germany. CDU Federal Interior Minister Gustav Heinemann, who had been a member of the Confessing Church, was dissatisfied with a memorandum of Chancellor Adenauer and stepped back. In his opinion, the Allies were responsible for the external security of Germany since the surrender. A West German defense contribution should not be offered to the Western Allies, otherwise the division of Germany would be further deepened. A West German rearmament would be provocative to Russia.

On November 21, 1951 Heinemann founded in Dusseldorf with a group of friends, the emergency association for the peace of Europe. She had ten founding members, including next to the CDU member Heinemann center politician Helene Wessel, Adolf shyness and Diether Posser. The emergency community must not only by the West, but also the Soviet security needs to be recognized. A West German rearmament would " close the Iron Curtain dense " and the reunification would hopeless. Germany as a whole should be neutralized.

The group sought to build an organization and collected signatures for example, but eventually came to the conclusion to be able to pursue their goals best as a party. The government parties and the opposition SPD were the main perpetrators of the wrong policies and with them could not be worked. 29-30. November 1952 saw the establishment of the All-German People's Party in Frankfurt am Main.

Program

In foreign policy, called the Party in its manifesto of the founding meeting the "immediate removal of the armament of two German armies in East and West Germany ( ... ) Total German attitude requires independence of East and West".

Domestically, the party criticized the lack of a living bridge between the government and parliament and the people. Referendums should be introduced, racial, religious and ideological prejudices are turned away. Christianity should not be exploited, for example, against communism. Barbara Jobke interprets it in her thesis so that the foreign policy theme of relaxation should be reflected in the company policy. Economic policy, the party was not interested in a more precise formulation of objectives, also because of the great diversity of ideas in the following.

Political action

Immediately after its establishment, the GVP was represented in the Bundestag, namely 1952/1953 by Helene Wessel and Thea Arnold (formerly Centre) and Hans Bodensteiner (formerly CSU), who had left their respective parties and joined the GVP.

For the parliamentary elections in 1953, the GVP tried to build alliances with several other parties, such as the Federation of German. An electoral alliance with the block of center / free Social Union broke up even before the election. The GVP handed in all countries, a country lists and placed in 232 of 242 constituencies candidates. She was christened on election day but only 286 465 of the first preference votes (1.0 %) and 318 475 second votes ( 1.2%). It is best to cut with 1.7% in Hesse. The highest individual score had the GVP 8.5% in Heinemann's constituency victories. This area had been for decades noticed by a rather atypical voting behavior and before 1933, the most important stronghold of the Christian Social People's Service ( CSVD ).

In 1955, the GVP involved in the St. Paul's Church movement against the rearmament.

In state elections, the GVP called for abstention or to select the SPD. Because of the high proportion of Protestants in the population of Baden-Württemberg tried it in the forthcoming state election on March 4, 1956. Garnering 50,618 votes, which was 1.5%. In the NRW elections in October of the same year, however, cut the GVP in some communities, especially in Siegen, Reydt and in the district of Siegen, quite well and came to a total of 78 seats.

Talks with the SPD on cooperation in the general election in 1957 resulted in the February of that year that the SPD would only accept their own party members on their lists. In response, the GVP dissolved on 19 May 1957. Members were accession to the SPD recommended Erhard Eppler had the already been implemented, and in which also Heinemann and other GVP members continued their political career. The transfers from the GVP helped the SPD to open slowly and the bourgeoisie.

Former members of the party arrived in the 1957 Bundestag: Heinemann came first and Wessel again as SPD members to parliament on safe list places in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.

Members and organization

The GVP was founded by 140 participants of the inaugural meeting and had a four-member Presidium instead of a chairman. For this purpose, a larger federal board was elected at the inaugural meeting, initially with 28 members. In the spring of 1953, the party had only 53 district associations, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Baden- Württemberg. There, in the same year, state associations emerged.

When the party broke up in 1957, they had about a thousand members, said board member Adolf Scheu 1968, the doctoral Barbara Jobke. The party newspaper had 3000 subscribers. Based on a conveyor circuit, which promoted the party financially, she comes to a sympathizer figure of 300,000.

At the management level, the formation citizens predominated; among them were rather few pastors because the party did not want to do with the religious policy. Nevertheless, there were many ministers in the membership, which was predominantly Protestant. The party leadership did not explicitly create a Protestant counterpart to the perceived rather than Catholic CDU / CSU. In public, the Protestant and the Catholic Heinemann Wessel came to realize often together. This willed from above separation of politics and religion was preparing those assets difficulties which operated local advertising and even came out of church circles.

Known members of the CTP were:

  • Carl Amery
  • Thea Arnold
  • Hans Bodensteiner
  • Erhard Eppler, later Federal Minister
  • Diether Posser, later state ministers
  • Johannes Rau, later President
  • Erwin Respondek, state financial expert and super spy " Ralph "
  • Gottfried Gurland, later mayor of Wuppertal
  • Robert Scholl
  • Jürgen Schmude, later Federal Minister
  • Konrad temple, Quakers
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