Helmut Schmidt

This page is about Helmut Schmidt, the German politician. For the parapsychologist, see Helmut Schmidt (parapsychologist)

**Helmut Schmidt**

Order:	31st Chancellor of Germany (5th of the Federal Republic)
Term of Office:	May 6, 1974–October 1, 1982
Predecessor:	Willy Brandt
Successor:	Helmut Kohl
Date of Birth:	December 23, 1918
Date of Death:
Political Party:	SPD
Profession:	Economist

Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (born December 23, 1918) is a German SPD politician. He was Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1974-1982, as well as briefly serving as Foreign Minister and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance and Economics.

He was born in Hamburg, the son of two teachers. He was educated at Hamburg Lichtwark school, graduating in 1937. He was conscripted into military service and began WW II serving with Bremen air defences, after brief service on the eastern Front he returned to Germany in 1942 to work as a trainer and advisor at the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. Also in 1942 he married Hannelore "Loki" Glaser. Towards the end of the war, from December 1944 onwards, he served as First Lieutenant in the artillery on the western Front. He was captured by the British in April 1945 in the Lüneburg Heath and was a prisoner of war until August.

Schmidts father was the illegitimate son of a Jewish businessman, although this was kept secret in the family.

He completed his education in Hamburg, studying economics and political science. In 1949 he graduated. He had joined the SPD in 1946, and from 1947-48 he was leader of the Sozialistische Deutsche Studentenbund (SDS), the then student organisation of the SPD.

On leaving university he entered local government in Hamburg, working in the department for economic policy and then from 1952, under Karl Schiller, he was a senior figure in the Behörde für Wirtschaft und Verkehr (the Hamburg State Ministry for Economy and Transport). From 1953 until 1962 he worked for the SPD on the Bundestag.

He was elected to the Bundestag in 1953, and in 1957 he became member of the SPD parlamentary party executive. He was a vocal critic of conservative government policy. In 1958 he joined the board of the SPD (Bundesvorstand) and campaigned against nuclear weapons and the equipping of the Bundeswehr with such devices. In 1958 he lost his seat.

From 1961 he was 1965 he was Minister of the Interior (Innensenator) on the Hamburg Senate. He improved his reputation with his active efforts during the 1962 flooding in the city. In 1965 he was re-elected to the Bundestag and became head of the SPD faction in 1967 and deputy chairman of the party in 1968. He had his first cabinet post in October 1969 as Defence Minister under Willy Brandt. From July 1972 to November he was both Minister for Economics and Minister of Finance, and from December onwards until May 1974 Minister of Finance.

He became Chancellor of Germany on May 16, 1974 after the resignation of Brandt. The worldwide economic recession was the main concern of his government, Schmidt took a tough and conservative line. He was also active in improving relations with France and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and in 1975 he was a signatory of the Helsinki Final Act to create the OSCE. He remained chancellor after the 1976 elections in coalition with the FDP. His policy over the terrorist Rote Armee Fraktion was uncertain but he usually held to a tough, no compromise line. Specifically, he authorized the GSG-9 anti-terrorist unit to end the hijacking of a Lufthansa aircraft by force.

He tied his political future strongly to NATO expansion following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and tied his party firmly to the "double resolution" for the elections in 1980. He was reappointed as chancellor in November 1980. In October 1981 he was fitted with a cardiac pacemaker.

In 1982 he won a vote of no confidence in February, but in September four FDP ministers left his cabinet. After attempts to continue with a minority SPD only government he was forced to resign by a Constructive Vote of No Confidence on October 1, the first in German history to be successful. He was succeeded by Helmut Kohl.

In 1983 he joined the nationwide weekly Die Zeit newspaper as co-editor, in 1985 he became Managing Director. With Takeo Fukuda he founded the Inter Action Councils in 1983. He retired from the Bundestag in 1986 but remained active, in December 1986 he was one of the founders of the committee supporting the EMU and the creation of the European Central Bank.

Due to his abilities as a really sharp orator he was nicknamed "Schmidt-Schnauze"

Contents

1 Schmidt's First Ministry, 16 May 1974 - 15 December 1976

2 Schmidt's Second Ministry, 15 December 1976 - 5 November 1980

3 Schmidt's Third Ministry, 5 November 1980 - 1 October 1982

4 External links

Schmidt's First Ministry, 16 May 1974 - 15 December 1976

Helmut Schmidt (SPD) - Chancellor
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Georg Leber (SPD) - Minister of Defense
Werner Maihofer (FDP) - Minister of the Interior
Hans Apel (SPD) - Minister of Finance
Hans-Jochen Vogel (SPD) - Minister of Justice
Hans Friedrichs (FDP) - Minister of Economics
Walter Arendt (SPD) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
Josef Ertl (FDP) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
Kurt Gscheidle (SPD) - Minister of Transport, Posts, and Communications
Karl Ravens (SPD) - Minister of Construction
Katharina Focke (SPD) - Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
Hans Matthöfer (SPD) - Minister of Research and Technology
Helmut Rohde (SPD) - Minister of Education and Science
Erhard Eppler (SPD) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
Egon Franke (SPD) - Minister of Intra-German Relations

Changes

4 July 1974 - Egon Bahr (SPD) succeeds Eppler as Minister of Economic Cooperation.

Schmidt's Second Ministry, 15 December 1976 - 5 November 1980

Helmut Schmidt (SPD) - Chancellor
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Georg Leber (SPD) - Minister of Defense
Werner Maihofer (FDP) - Minister of the Interior
Hans Apel (SPD) - Minister of Finance
Hans-Jochen Vogel (SPD) - Minister of Justice
Hans Friedrichs (FDP) - Minister of Economics
Herbert Ehrenberg (SPD) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
Josef Ertl (FDP) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
Kurt Gscheidle (SPD) - Minister of Transportation, Posts, and Communications
Karl Ravens (SPD) - Minister of Construction
Antje Huber (SPD) - Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
Hans Matthöfer (SPD) - Minister of Research and Technology
Helmut Rohde (SPD) - Minister of Education and Science
Marie Schlei (SPD) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
Egon Franke (SPD) - Minister of Intra-German Relations

Changes

7 October 1977 - Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP) succeeds Friedrichs as Minister of Economics.
16 February 1978 - Hans Apel (SPD) succeeds Leber as Minister of Defense. Hans Matthöfer (SPD) succeeds Apel as Minister of Finance. Volker Hauff succeeds Matthöfer as Minister of Research and Technology. Dieter Haack (SPD) succeeds Ravens as Minister of Construction. Jürgen Schmude (SPD) succeeds Rohde as Minister of Education and Science. Rainer Offergeld (SPD) succeeds Schlei as Minister of Economic Cooperation.
8 June 1978 - Gerhart Baum (FDP) succeeds Maihofer as Minister of the Interior.

Schmidt's Third Ministry, 5 November 1980 - 1 October 1982

Helmut Schmidt (SPD) - Chancellor
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hans Apel (SPD) - Minister of Defense
Gerhart Baum (FDP) - Minister of the Interior
Hans Matthöfer (SPD) - Minister of Finance
Hans-Jochen Vogel (SPD) - Minister of Justice
Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP) - Minister of Economics
Herbert Ehrenberg (SPD) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
Josef Ertl (FDP) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
Volker Hauff (SPD) - Minister of Transport
Dieter Haack (SPD) - Minister of Construction
Antje Huber (SPD) - Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
Andreas von Bülow (SPD) - Minister of Research and Technology
Jürgen Schmude (SPD) - Minister of Education and Science
Rainer Offergeld (SPD) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
Kurt Gscheidle (SPD) - Minister of Posts and Communications
Egon Franke (SPD) - Minister of Intra-German Relations

Changes

28 January 1981 - Jürgen Schmude (SPD) succeeds Vogel as Minister of Justice. Björn Engholm succeeds Schmude as Minister of Education and Science.
28 April 1982 - Hans Matthöfer (SPD) succeeds Gscheidle as Minister of Posts and Communications. Manfred Lahnstein (SPD) succeeds Matthöfer as Minister of Finance. Heinz Westphal (SPD) succeeds Ehrenberg as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. Anke Fuchs (SPD) succeeds Huber as Minister of Youth, Family, and Health.
17 September 1982 - All the Free Democratic ministers quit the government. Helmut Schmidt (SPD) succeeds Genscher as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Jürgen Schmude (SPD) succeeds Baum as Minister of the Interior, remaining also Minister of Justice. Manfred Lahnstein (SPD) succeeds Lambsdorff as Minister of Economics, remaining also Minister of Finance. Björn Engholm (SPD) succeeds Ertl as Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry, remaining also Minister of Education and Science.

External links

Biography at the German Historic Museum (German) (http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/SchmidtHelmut/)
Chancellor Site (German) (http://www.bundeskanzler.de/Helmut-Schmidt-.7980.htm)

Preceded by: Willy Brandt	Chancellor of Germany 1974–1982	Succeeded by: Helmut Kohl
Preceded by: Hans-Dietrich Genscher	Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs 1982	Succeeded by: Hans-Dietrich Genscher