West German federal election, 1950

   The 1950 referendums were a victory for parliamentarism. Not only would the Chancellor hold all of the real power himself/herself, but even the President would be chosen by the Bundestag. In spite of emphatic intervention by Adenauer on behalf of Bonn, Ollenhauer's government chose Frankfurt am Main as the new capital of the BRD. While Marshall Plan aid was slowly assisting the reconstruction of the country, poverty persisted, and disagreements within the new government over how to alleviate it made it clear that the government wouldn't last long. In the meantime, however, the awkward coalition had to decide on who should be the BRD's first President. Ultimately, each group nominated its own candidate.
   Schumacher considered running himself, but decided that with the President's ceremonial role now set in stone, he should try to win the Chancellory. SPD old-timer Paul Löbe, who had served as Speaker of the Reichstag for a brief period of time in the Weimar Republic and had worked actively in the opposition Sopade group during the Nazi era, was selected as the SPD's candidate. The Union selected former Center Party politician, Andreas Hermes, now the President of the German Farmers' Association, whose background in the anti-Nazi resistance made him something of a hero. The FDP nominated its own hero of the Nazizeit, Theodor Heuss, for the Presidency. Meanwhile the KPD selected its leader, Max Reimann. The three far-right parties agreed on the DP's Hans-Joachim von Merkatz, leading to much speculation that a merger of these three parties was in the cards. The final ballot was between Löbe and Hermes. Löbe won thanks to FDP leader Franz Blücher's decision to allow his party a free vote on the final ballot (and Heuss's explicit endorsement of Löbe after narrowly being eliminated himself).
   One final act committed by the Ollenhauer government was to arrange a meeting with the Soviet government. West German Foreign Minister Carlo Schmid (an SPD member) and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov met in Vienna. Schumacher's theory that a guarantee of neutrality would be enough to convince the Soviets to allow German reunification proved untrue. The thought of a non-aligned united Germany was just as scary to the Russians as that of a NATO-allied one, since a great fear existed in Moscow that Germany could once again turn toward fascism and threaten the motherland. Stalin wanted Germany weak and divided more than anything, and that the Germans wanted to reclaim their former territory east of the Oder-Neisse line didn't help at all. Thus, the meeting ended in failure for West Germany. Yet before the meeting, the government passed an electoral law stating that any political party seeking representation in the Bundestag must win at least 5% of the national vote in order to win list representation in the Bundestag (as opposed to the 1949 system, wherein any party that surpassed that number in at least one state would win list representation). Exemptions would be made for parties which won in at least three constituencies. The bill passed with the support of both government parties over the FDP's opposition.

   The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is running Kurt Schumacher as its candidate for Chancellor again, and its campaign is focusing heavily on his heroic past during the war and his commitment to democracy, personal liberties, social justice, and peace. Once again, the socialists are campaigning on promises to nationalize every major industry in West Germany, to keep Germany neutral in the Cold War, and to reunify Germany peacefully (though this has been toned down by the failure in Vienna) and to push for the re-adjustment of territory to pre-1933 borders in the East. It is campaigning heavily for an absolute majority, saying that the FDP and CDU/CSU bloc, as well as the far-right elements, will try to form a government of their own if they have a majority. Even if they don't, the SPD insists that they will block democratic socialism from coming to Germany from within a coalition with them [the SPD], as they did after the last election. The SPD's platform also unequivocally rejects the Communists as a coalition partner. Schumacher is also vowing to push for an end to the International Authority of the Ruhr.
   The Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc is surprisingly running Defense Minister Konrad Adenauer as its candidate for Chancellor again in spite of his age (74 years old). When he ran in 1949, most expected him simply to serve as an interim figure, but he has opted to try one more time. Once more, the Union is promising to create a capitalist "social market economy" with regulations, social welfare schemes, and strong public services. Again, support for humanistic, nonsectarian Christian Democracy is supported in the platform. Reunification is also promised, though NATO membership and Western integration seem to have higher priority for the party. Still, the hypothetical reunified Germany would attempt to include former territories East of the Oder-Neisse line. Adenauer has come under attack for implying insincerity on Schumacher's part by producing campaign posters with the slogan "All Marxist Roads Lead to Moscow!" and showing a picture of Schmid shaking hands with Molotov, implying that the SPD is closer to the Communists than it claims to be. He also said publicly that he suspects that if a "Marxist majority" is achieved, then the SPD and KPD may yet cooperate in spite of the SPD's stringent denials.
   The Free Democratic Party (FDP) has served as the Official Opposition for the past year. It has managed to attract a strange coalition of left-liberals, classical liberals, civil libertarians, and even secular Protestant conservatives in the North in the last election. While still lead by the center-right Franz Blücher, the FDP has been featuring the better-known leader of its left-wing, Theodor Heuss, extensively in its campaign. Speculation that Heuss may be planning to re-take the FDP's chairmanship is growing. The FDP platform includes a free-market economy with social mobility and social justice, civil liberties, secularism, and, of course, reunification with border re-adjustment. Like the CDU, the FDP appears to give Western integration higher priority than reunification.
   The Communist Party of Germany: (KPD) is promising to reunite East and West Germany under the GDR's flag. A centrally planned economy and friendship with the USSR are both expectedly supported in the platform.
   The German Party (DP) has managed to expand outside of the Northwest, still capitalizing on resentment of the Allied dismantling of the factories in the Ruhr region. Opposing any regulation of the free market economy and utilizing nationalist elements once again, it is the premium force of the far right. It has also absorbed the remainder of the German Right Party, which disintegrated after nearly all of its members bolted to the openly Neo-Nazi Socialist Reich Party.
   The Economic Reconstruction Union (WAV)is still lingering forward, though many of its MP's have ditched it for the more viable DP. It is still preaching national unity and pride, monarchism, and advocacy for internal expellees. Its leader, Alfred Loritz, is continuing to use his demagogic, fiery, nationalistic, and populistic rhetorical style in spite of the fact that many have noticed it to be strangely familiar.
   The South Schleswig Voters' Association is running once again to represent Danish minority interests. Once again, it is seeking a re-drawing of the border with Denmark so that the ethnic Danes now in Schleswig-Holstein would be in Denmark.
   The Bavaria Party (BP) is calling for the independence of Bavaria, or, at least, a right to independence via a referendum. At the very least, it is calling for a greater degree of autonomy.
   The Bloc of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (BHE) is a new political party lead by former Nazi politician Waldemar Kraft claiming to represent the interests of the ethnic Germans expelled from German territories east of Oder-Neisse line. The very phrase "deprived of rights" is a euphemism for former Nazis in the BRD (and GDR). Theodor Oberländer, a major participant in the Beer Hall Putsch, is among the other former Nazis who have joined this new group. Yet refugee groups with legitimate grievances are also in the party, and the platform is largely based around their interests, with housing projects for the refugees, a tougher anti-Polish foreign policy, Christian and völkish conservatism, and anti-communism at the top of their list.

   In spite of their preoccupation with Korea, the Americans have found time to firmly back the CDU's campaign. The French have also lined up behind Adenauer, whose pro-French views had earned him notoriety in the Weimar era. Even the SFIO is keeping its distance from Schumacher. The Labour government in London has also largely remained quiet, just as they did last time, almost certainly due to Schumacher's neutralist positions. The Cold Warrior British Foreign Secretary, Earnest Bevin, is rumored to have intensely disliked Schumacher during their meetings in the post-war interim period, and the latter's pledge to keep Germany neutral in the Cold War appears to have sealed off any hope of active British support for the SPD (it should also be noted that the Brits are, in proportion to its own size and financial situation, more burdened by the Korean War than the Americans.). The Labour Party's chief left-winger and neutralist, Nye Bevan, has backed the SPD's campaign passionately, but the cold tone from most of the government is clear.

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