Helmut Kohl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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| Order: | 32nd Chancellor of Germany (6th of the Federal Republic) |
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| Term of Office: | 1 October 1982–27 October 1998 |
| Predecessor: | Helmut Schmidt |
| Successor: | Gerhard Schröder |
| Date of Birth: | 3 April 1930 |
| Political Party: | CDU |
| Profession: | Historian |
Dr. Helmut Kohl (full name Helmut Josef Michael Kohl) (born 3 April 1930) is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 (West Germany between 1982 and 1990) and also the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973-1998. His 16-year tenure was the second longest of any German chancellor, behind only Otto von Bismarck, as well as the longest tenure for any democratically elected leader in German history.
Early Life
Born in Ludwigshafen, Germany, not far from the French border, to a Catholic and conservative family, Kohl participated in the late stage of World War II (in which his older brother was killed) as a teenage soldier.
Political Career
Kohl joined the CDU in 1947. He then went on to earn a doctorate (dr. phil.) in history. From 1969-1976 he was Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate state. In 1976 he was elected to the Bundestag from that state, and became the leader of the CDU opposition against the coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Free Democratic Party of the time. He was the CDU's candidate for Chancellor in the [[German federal elections 1976 federal elections, won again by the reigning coalition of SPD and Free Democratic Party. In 1980 Kohl had to pay tribute to his inner conservative rival, the Bavarian Minister-President Franz Josef Strauss, who claimed to become candidate and lost the federal elections.
On October 1, 1982, Kohl succeeded Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor by means of a constructive vote of no confidence,the first of only two in post-war German history that was successful to date(the other in 2005,against gerhard schroeder). This came as the Free Democrats, led by Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher broke off their coalition with the Social Democrats. Genscher and Kohl were reportedly negotiating a coalition agreement as the vote occurred. Kohl was only elected by seven votes, and deliberately lost a motion of confidence in order to get a clearer majority. Polls indicated strong support for the CDU/CSU, and this was borne out in elections held in 1983, which delivered a smashing victory for Kohl. He was reelected in 1987 with a slightly reduced majority.
Especially in the earlier days of his tenure, Kohl faced stiff opposition from the German political left. His adversaries frequently referred to him by the widely known disparaging nickname of "Birne" (German word for pear; after unflattering cartoons showing Kohl's head as a pear). Such initially common public ridicule however subsided somewhat over time and in the later years of Kohl's tenure the moniker was rarely used anymore.
German reunification
Kohl is widely recognized even by some of his political adversaries for managing the process of German reunification that started with the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and formally completed on October 3, 1990.
Prior to reunification, Kohl followed the principles of Ostpolitik by welcoming a state visit by East German leader Erich Honecker in 1987. As communism in East Germany crumbled, Kohl persuaded the leadership of the Soviet Union to accept the idea of a reunited Germany remaining in the NATO alliance. Post-reunification elections were held in December 1990--the first free, fair and democratic all-German elections since the Nazi era--and Kohl won a crushing victory. He was reelected with a slightly reduced majority in 1994.
While not all has been well economically in Germany during and since his government, most people would agree that Kohl managed to convince international leaders that a unified Germany would represent no threat to its neighbors by tying German reunification with the tighter integration of Germany into the European Union.
Defeat
By the late 1990s, the aura surrounding Kohl had largely worn off amid rising unemployment figures. He came under considerable heat for underestimating the cost of reunification. In the 1998 elections, Kohl was heavily defeated by the Social Democrats and Greens under Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder. He immediately resigned as CDU leader and largely retired from politics.
Party funding scandal
Despite his earlier successes, Kohl's political heritage was, among others, damaged by a massive party financing scandal starting in 1999, when it was discovered that the CDU had received and maintained illegal funding under his leadership.
Investigations by the Bundestag into the sources of illegal CDU funds, mainly stored in Geneva bank accounts, revealed two sources:
- Sales of German tanks to Saudi Arabia (kickback question),
- Privatization fraud in collusion with the late French President François Mitterrand who wanted 2,550 unused allotments in the former East Germany for the then French owned Elf Aquitaine.
In December 1994 the CDU majority in the Bundestag enacted a law that nullified all rights of the current owners. Over 300 million DM in illegal funds were discovered in accounts in the canton Geneva. The fraudulently acquired allotments were then privatized as part of Elf Aquitaine and ended up with TotalFinaElf, now Total S.A., after amalgamation.
Kohl himself claimed that Elf Aquitaine had offered (and meanwhile made) a massive investment in East Germany's chemical industry together with the takeover of 2,000 gas stations in Germany which were formerly owned by national oil company Minol. Elf Aquitaine is supposed to have financed CDU illegally as ordered by François Mitterrand, as it was usual practice in African countries.
In 2003 it became known that Kohl was paid 300,000 € (then 600,000 Deutsche Mark) by private television mogul Leo Kirch for an advisory contract. This became a rather delicate matter, considering the fact that Leo Kirch had only been put into the position to build his private television empire as a result of reforms championed by Helmut Kohl in the 1980s.
Personal Life
Kohl has always been an intensely private person and the only real glimpse of his childhood has come from the recollections of his last-surviving sibling, Hildegard Getrey. Speaking to Stern magazine (13 September 1996), Mrs Getrey recalled a specific number of incidents from Helmut's youth. She claims that Kohl enjoyed pretending to be a bishop, which he would do by putting a teacosy on his head and draping a sheet over his shoulders. He would then have friends carry the ends of his make-believe robe while he walked around the family yard with a solemn expression. Mrs Getrey also says that Helmut once hypnotised a chicken into walking along a chalk line, but she did not reveal his technique. "He was always a wild boy," she said, "and he sometimes got a beating."
Kohl was married to the late Hannelore Kohl and has two sons from that marriage.
On December 28, 2004, Kohl was air-lifted by the Sri Lankan Air Force after having been stranded in a hotel by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
Quotes
"I have been underestimated for decades. I've done very well that way."
"We never want to wage war again against each other. We want to honour the dead and tend to the graves but we never again want to have soldiers' tombs in Europe. That is the most important reason for a united Europe."
See also
Kohl's First Ministry, 4 October 1982 - 29 March 1983
- Helmut Kohl (CDU) - Chancellor
- Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Manfred Wörner (CDU) - Minister of Defense
- Friedrich Zimmermann (CSU) - Minister of the Interior
- Gerhard Stoltenberg (CDU) - Minister of Finance
- Hans Engelhard (FDP) - Minister of Justice
- Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP) - Minister of Economics
- Norbert Blüm (CDU) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
- Josef Ertl (FDP) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
- Werner Dollinger (CSU) - Minister of Transport
- Oscar Schneider (CSU) - Minister of Construction
- Heiner Geissler (CDU) - Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
- Heinz Riesenhuber (CDU) - Minister of Research and Technology
- Dorothee Wilms (CDU) - Minister of Education and Science
- Jürgen Warnke (CSU) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
- Christian Schwarz-Schilling (CDU) - Minister of Posts and Communications
- Rainer Barzel (CDU) - Minister of Intra-German Relations
Kohl's Second Ministry, 29 March 1983 - 11 March 1987
- Helmut Kohl (CDU) - Chancellor
- Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Manfred Wörner (CDU) - Minister of Defense
- Friedrich Zimmermann (CSU) - Minister of the Interior
- Gerhard Stoltenberg (CDU) - Minister of Finance
- Hans Engelhard (FDP) - Minister of Justice
- Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP) - Minister of Economics
- Norbert Blüm (CDU) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
- Ignaz Kiechle (CSU) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, And Forestry
- Werner Dollinger (CSU) - Minister of Transport
- Oscar Schneider (CSU) - Minister of Construction
- Heiner Geissler (CDU) - Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
- Heinz Riesenhuber (CDU) - Minister of Research and Technology
- Dorothee Wilms (CDU) - Minister of Education and Science
- Jürgen Warnke (CSU) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
- Christian Schwarz-Schilling (CDU) - Minister of Posts and Communications
- Heinrich Windelen (CDU) - Minister of Intra-German Relations
Changes
- 27 June 1984 - Martin Bangemann (FDP) succeeds Lambsdorff as Minister of Economics.
- 15 November 1984 - Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) enters the ministry as Minister of Special Tasks
- 26 September 1985 - Rita Süssmuth (CDU) succeeds Geissler as Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
- 6 June 1986 - Rita Süssmuth (CDU) becomes Minister of Youth, Family, Women, and Health. Walter Wallmann (CDU) enters the ministry as Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Security.
Kohl's Third Ministry, 12 March 1987 - 17 January 1991
- Helmut Kohl (CDU) - Chancellor
- Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Manfred Wörner (CDU) - Minister of Defense
- Friedrich Zimmermann (CSU) - Minister of the Interior
- Gerhard Stoltenberg (CDU) - Minister of Finance
- Hans Engelhard (FDP) - Minister of Justice
- Martin Bangemann (FDP) - Minister of Economics
- Norbert Blüm (CDU) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
- Ignaz Kiechle (CSU) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, And Forestry
- Jürgen Warnke (CSU) - Minister of Transport
- Oscar Schneider (CSU) - Minister of Construction
- Rita Süssmuth (CDU) - Minister of Youth, Family, Women, and Health
- Heinz Riesenhuber (CDU) - Minister of Research and Technology
- Jürgen Möllemann (FDP) - Minister of Education and Science
- Hans Klein (CSU) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
- Walter Wallmann (CDU) - Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Security
- Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) - Minister of Special Tasks
- Christian Schwarz-Schilling (CDU) - Minister of Posts and Communications
- Dorothee Wilms (CDU) - Minister of Intra-German Relations
Changes
- 22 April 1987 - Klaus Töpfer (CDU) succeeds Wallmann as Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Security.
- 18 May 1988 - Rupert Scholz (CDU) succeeds Wörner as Minister of Defense.
- 9 December 1988 - Helmut Haussmann (FDP) succeeds Bangemann as Minister of Economics.
- 21 April 1989 - Gerhard Stoltenberg (CDU) succeeds Scholz as Minister of Defense. Theo Waigel (CSU) succeeds Stoltenberg as Minister of Finance. Jürgen Warnke (CSU) succeeds Klein as Minister of Economic Cooperation. Friedrich Zimmermann (CSU) succeeds Warnke as Minister of Transport. Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) succeeds Zimmermann as Minister of the Interior. Gerda Hasselfeldt (CSU) succeeds Schneider as Minister of Construction. Hans Klein (CSU) and Rudolf Seiters (CDU) becomes Ministers of Special Tasks.
- 3 October 1990 - Five East German Ministers - Lothar de Maizière (CDU), Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (CDU), Günther Krause (CDU), Rainer Ortleb (FDP), and Hans Joachim Walther (DSU) - enter the ministry as Ministers of Special Tasks.
- 19 December 1990 - De Maizière leaves the ministry.
Kohl's Fourth Ministry, 18 January 1991 - 15 November 1994
- Helmut Kohl (CDU) - Chancellor
- Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Gerhard Stoltenberg (CDU) - Minister of Defense
- Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) - Minister of the Interior
- Theo Waigel (CSU) - Minister of Finance
- Klaus Kinkel (FDP) - Minister of Justice
- Jürgen Möllemann (FDP) - Minister of Economics
- Norbert Blüm (CDU) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
- Ignaz Kiechle (CSU) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, And Forestry
- Günter Krause (CDU) - Minister of Transport
- Irmgard Adam-Schwaetzer (CSU) - Minister of Construction
- Hannelore Rönsch (CDU) - Minister of Family and Senior Citizens
- Angela Merkel (CDU) - Minister of Women and Youth
- Gerda Hasselfeldt (CDU) - Minister of Health
- Heinz Riesenhuber (CDU) - Minister of Research and Technology
- Rainer Ortleb (FDP) - Minister of Education and Science
- Carl-Dieter Spranger (CSU) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
- Klaus Töpfer (CDU) - Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Security
- Rudolf Seiters (CDU) - Minister of Special Tasks
- Christian Schwarz-Schilling (CDU) - Minister of Posts and Communications
Changes
- 26 November 1991 - Rudolf Seiters (CDU) succeeds Schäuble as Minister of the Interior. Friedrich Bohl (CDU) succeeds Seiters as Minister of Special Tasks.
- 1 April 1992 - Volker Rühe (CDU) succeeds Stoltenberg as Minister of Defense.
- 6 May 1992 - Horst Seehofer (CSU) succeeds Hasselfeldt as Minister of Health.
- 18 May 1992 - Jürgen Möllemann (FDP) succeeds Genscher as Vice Chancellor, remaining also Minister of Economics. Klaus Kinkel (FDP) succeeds Genscher as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP) succeeds Kinkel as Minister of Justice.
- 17 December 1992 - Wolfgang Bötsch (CSU) succeeds Schwarz-Schilling as Minister of Posts and Communications.
- 21 January 1993 - Klaus Kinkel (FDP) succeeds Möllemann as Vice Chancellor, remaining also Minister of Foreign Affairs. Günter Rexrodt (FDP) succeeds Möllemann as Minister of Economics. Jochen Borchert (CDU) succeeds Kiechle as Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry. Matthias Wissmann (CDU) succeeds Riesenhuber as Minister of Science and Technology. Carl-Dieter Spranger (CSU) becomes Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, rather than Minister of Economic Cooperation.
- 13 May 1993 - Matthias Wissmann (CDU) succeeds Krause as Minister of Transport. Paul Krüger (CDU) succeeds Wissmann as Minister of Research and Technology.
- 7 July 1993 - Manfred Kanther (CDU) succeeds Seiters as Minister of the Interior.
- 4 February 1994 - Karl-Hans Laermann (FDP) succeeds Ortleb as Minister of Education and Science.
Kohl's Fifth Ministry, 15 November 1994 - 27 October 1998
- Helmut Kohl (CDU) - Chancellor
- Klaus Kinkel (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Volker Rühe (CDU) - Minister of Defense
- Manfred Kanther (CDU) - Minister of the Interior
- Theo Waigel (CSU) - Minister of Finance
- Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP) - Minister of Justice
- Günter Rexrodt (FDP) - Minister of Economics
- Norbert Blüm (CDU) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
- Jochen Borchert (CDU) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
- Matthias Wissmann (CDU) - Minister of Transport
- Klaus Töpfer (CDU) - Minister of Construction
- Claudia Nolte (CDU) - Minister of Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth
- Horst Seehofer (CSU) - Minister of Health
- Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) - Minister of Education, Science, Research, and Technology
- Carl-Dieter Spranger (CSU) - Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development
- Angela Merkel (CDU) - Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Security
- Friedrich Bohl (CDU) - Minister of Special Tasks
- Wolfgang Bötsch (CSU) - Minister of Posts and Communications
Changes
- 17 January 1996 - Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig (FDP) succeeds Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger as Minister of Justice.
- 31 December 1997 - The Ministry of Posts and Communications is abolished.
- 14 January 1998 - Eduard Oswald succeeds Töpfer as Minister of Construction.
| Preceded by: Helmut Schmidt |
Chancellor of Germany 1982–1998 |
Succeeded by: Gerhard Schröder |
