Helmut Kohl

I

Introduction

Helmut Kohl (1930- ), German politician and Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1982-1998). Kohl was the longest-serving German chancellor of the 20th century. A career politician with the moderately conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Kohl is best known as the chancellor who presided over German reunification in 1990 and as an influential proponent of European integration. Although he faced criticism throughout his career for his provincial image and his occasional public relations blunders, his four terms in office reflect his political shrewdness. Kohl stepped down in 1998 after the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Gerhard Schröder ousted his ruling coalition of the CDU and the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Helmut Kohl rose through the ranks of the West German government as a proponent of European unity. He became chancellor of West Germany in 1982 and his governing coalition retained power in the 1983 and 1987 elections. After the 1989 fall of Communism in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (or East Germany), Kohl became the architect of German political unification. In December 1990 he won the first election open to all Germans since 1950 and became chancellor of the reunified Germany, a position he held until 1998.

II

Childhood and Education

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl was born on April 3, 1930, in the industrial city of Ludwigshafen on the River Rhine, in what is now the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. He was raised in a household and community that stressed Roman Catholic and conservative values. As a boy Kohl was shaped by the experience of World War II. He lived through several years of devastating bombings of his home city by the Allies and then suffered the loss of his older brother, who was killed in action. Kohl never saw military action, but the war left him with a deep commitment to prevent future European conflict.

Five years after the war's conclusion, Kohl passed the Abitur, Germany’s college entrance exam, and began his studies at the universities of Frankfurt and Heidelberg. He was awarded a doctorate in history from the latter institution in 1958. Kohl married Hannelore Renner in 1960 and the couple had two children.

III

Early Political Career

Kohl pursued an interest in politics from a young age. He joined the CDU in 1946. The party had been founded by German Catholics and Protestants shortly before the end of the war. Some members of these groups had put aside long-standing political differences between them in order to oppose the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler, which had taken control of Germany (see National Socialism). Kohl distinguished himself quickly in the new organization. He became the youngest member of the Rhineland-Palatinate state legislature in 1959, and he was elevated to party chairman in that body four years later. As he rose through the party ranks, Kohl built a reputation as an energetic party leader and a shrewd back-room negotiator.

Two events in 1969 thrust Kohl into the national spotlight. In May he was elected minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate. At 39 years old, Kohl was the youngest leader of any West German state. Then, in November, Kohl was picked by party members to be vice-chairman of the national CDU organization.

In 1971 Kohl suffered one of his few defeats, when he made an unsuccessful run for the national CDU party chairmanship. His standing within the party was bolstered, however, after the CDU was soundly defeated in national elections the following year. After calls for change within the party, the reform-minded Kohl was chosen as party chairman in 1973. The following year the CDU and its Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union (CSU), scored impressive gains in state and local elections, which encouraged party officials to believe that they could return to power in the next national election.

With his position as CDU leader secure and the party's membership expanding, Kohl ran for the German chancellorship in the 1976 election. Stressing his opposition to socialism, the party’s intensified efforts against terrorism, and a re-emergence of national pride, Kohl took on the incumbent chancellor Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). When the votes were tallied, however, the CDU/CSU had fallen just short of victory.

Thereafter, Kohl clung to his new, additional post as the CDU/CSU parliamentary leader amid growing criticism from coalition partners, who attacked him for his dull speeches and his provincial image. Despite this criticism, Kohl remained confident, claiming that defence and economic policy disputes within the SPD coalition would eventually cause the breakup of Schmidt’s government. That finally occurred in 1982, when the Free Democratic Party (FDP) deserted the coalition. In October, Schmidt was forced out of office after parliament passed a no-confidence vote, which simultaneously elevated Kohl to the post, making him the first post-war chancellor of West Germany to take power in this way.

IV

Chancellor

Kohl and the CDU/CSU were returned to power by German voters in the 1983 national election. His new government sought moderate cuts in government spending and renewed support for West German commitments to allow troops and weapons of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to be stationed on West German soil. In addition, Kohl worked closely with French president François Mitterrand and other European leaders to increase cooperation among the European nations. By applying these policies successfully, Kohl was able to improve West Germany's economy and the nation's standing among European allies and with the United States.

But Kohl still faced trouble at home. His policies of limiting welfare benefits and funding for social programmes in order to cut government spending raised substantial protest from labour leaders. Additionally, Kohl faced criticism from those who resented the stationing of NATO missiles in West Germany. Kohl was also hampered by quarrels among his coalition's parties, which—along with a party finance scandal and other embarrassments—undercut his popularity.

Kohl's coalition government was able to retain power after the 1987 national elections, but its majority in parliament had slipped. New disputes within the government undermined proposed plans for reforming social welfare programmes and lowering taxes. Kohl's coalition also bickered over cooperation with Communist countries and a controversial 1987 state visit by East German leader Erich Honecker.

In 1989 small radical right-wing parties drew votes away from the more centrist CDU/CSU in regional elections. Later that year, after Kohl discharged one of his critics from the CDU, other rivals in the party tried to oust him. The effort failed, but the dispute further hurt CDU unity and Kohl's image. Yet throughout these difficulties Kohl managed to survive politically, and many Germans believed that Kohl was a suitable leader for a nation enjoying prosperous but relatively unremarkable times.