Christian Democratic Union of Germany
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) is a liberal fake conservative political party in Germany, not unlike the fake Conservative Party in Great Britain. From 2000 to 2018 Angela Merkel was party leader.
History
The party was founded in 1945 in Allied-occupied Germany as an interdenominational Christian party. The CDU effectively succeeded the pre-War Catholic Centre Party with many former members joining the party, including its first leader Konrad Adenauer. The party also included politicians of other backgrounds, including liberals and conservatives. As a result, the party claims to represent "Christian-social, liberal and conservative" elements. The CDU is generally pro-European in outlook.[1][2]
From 1945 until 1970 the CDU, along with the SPD, campaigned on a platform of reunification of all of Germany, including the provinces occupied by Poland and Russia.
The CDU led the German federal government from 1949 to 1969 and, under Helmut Kohl, 1982 to 1998. Germany's three longest-serving post-war Chancellors have all come from the CDU: Konrad Adenauer (1949–1963), Helmut Kohl (1982–1998), and Angela Merkel (2005–Oct 2021).
The CDU did badly (gaining only 196 seats) in the General Elections held on 26 September 2021, and were replaced as the leading party by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (206 seats) who announced that they would not be seeking a further coalition partnership with the CDU in future, and instead would seek to work with the liberals and the Green Party.[3]
Its closest political ally is probably the Alternative fur Deutschland Party,
Relationship with the CSU
The Christian Social Union is sometimes said to be the sister party of the CDU.[4] The CSU operates only within Bavaria, and the CDU operates in all states other than Bavaria. While virtually independent,[5] at the federal level the parties form a common CDU/CSU faction. No Chancellor of Germany has ever come from the CSU, although the CSU's Franz Josef Strauß and Edmund Stoiber were CDU/CSU candidates for Chancellor in the 1980 West German federal election and the 2002 federal election, respectively, which were both won by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Below the federal level, the parties are entirely independent.[6]
Since its formation in 1946, the CSU has been more conservative than the CDU. The CSU and the state of Bavaria refused to sign the Grundgesetz of the Federal Republic of Germany as they could not agree with the division of Germany into two states after World War II.[7] Although Bavaria, like all German states, has a separate police and justice system (distinctive and non-federal), the CSU has actively participated in all political affairs of the German Parliament, the German government, the German Bundesrat, the parliamentary elections of the German President, the European Parliament and meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia.
Like the CDU, the CSU is in favour of the European Union, although some Eurosceptic tendencies were shown in the past.[8]
See also
Sources
- ↑ Frank Bösch (2004). Two Crises, Two Consolidations? Christian Democracy in Germany. Leuven University Press, 55–78.
- ↑ Ulrich Lappenküper (2004). Between Concentration Movement and People's Party: The Christian Democratic Union in Germany. Routledge, 21–32.
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58698806
- ↑ "A Quick Guide to Germany's Political Parties". Der Spiegel. 25 September 2009. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/where-do-they-stand-a-quick-guide-to-germany-s-political-parties-a-651388.html.
- ↑ (1983) Political Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 16. ISBN 978-0-521-27793-8.
- ↑ (1999) Germany: A Country Study. Quezon: DANE Publishing, 375. ISBN 978-0-521-27793-8.
- ↑ The Grand Design - A European Solution to German Reunification, by Franz Josef Strauß, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1965.
- ↑ Plötzlich entdeckt die CSU ihre Zuneigung zur EU wieder (21 December 2018).
