West Germany 1963–1990, Spain's Transition, and Country Case Studies

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A crisis of left-wing terrorism in West Germany: the RAF kidnapped employer-chief Hanns Martin Schleyer and hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181. Chancellor Schmidt refused to negotiate; a GSG-9 unit stormed the plane at Mogadishu. Baader and two RAF leaders then died in Stammheim Prison. The state won, but the crisis tested West German democracy severely.

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Ostpolitik ('Eastern policy') was introduced by Chancellor Willy Brandt (SPD, 1969–1974). It normalised relations between West Germany and the Soviet-bloc states. Key outcomes: the 1972 Basic Treaty recognised East Germany, and both Germanys joined the UN in 1973. Brandt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971.

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Signed September 1990 by both Germanys plus the US, USSR, UK and France. It gave international legal approval for German reunification and restored full German sovereignty. Without it, the four wartime Allied powers could have legally obstructed reunification. Germany was formally united on 3 October 1990.

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1. The army (Franco himself was a general; the military was the ultimate guarantor of power). 2. The Catholic Church (which gave the regime religious legitimacy). 3. The Falange (the fascist party, used for mobilisation and propaganda). 4. The bureaucracy (staffed by loyal Francoists who controlled the state machine).

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The Transición was Spain's peaceful transition from Franco's dictatorship to liberal democracy (1975–1982). Engineered by Juan Carlos I and PM Adolfo Suárez using existing Francoist legal mechanisms, it produced free elections (1977), a new constitution (1978), and survived a coup attempt (1981). It became a global model for peaceful democratic transition.

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Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero stormed the Cortes with armed Civil Guards, taking MPs hostage in a coup attempt. Juan Carlos I appeared on national television in military uniform ordering the army to remain loyal to the constitution. Army units that had mobilised stood down. The coup collapsed within 18 hours — Juan Carlos's personal intervention was decisive.

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EU (then EEC) membership brought structural funds that financed infrastructure, foreign direct investment, and full integration into European institutions. GDP per capita more than doubled between 1985 and 2000. Politically it anchored Spain's democracy within a community of liberal states, making a return to authoritarianism far harder. EU membership also required Spain to modernise its legal and regulatory systems.

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A massive corruption investigation that exposed systematic bribery involving hundreds of politicians, officials and businessmen. The Christian Democrats — who had dominated Italian politics since 1948 — dissolved. The old party system collapsed, and Silvio Berlusconi formed Forza Italia in 1994. Tangentopoli ended Italy's First Republic and opened the Second Republic era.

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Both were Marxist terrorist groups active in the 1970s that targeted capitalist institutions. RAF: founded 1970 by Baader and Meinhof; peak crisis 1977 German Autumn; state defeated them through non-negotiation and special policing; disbanded 1998. Red Brigades: kidnapped and killed former PM Aldo Moro (1978); state used repentance laws and tougher policing; largely dismantled by mid-1980s. Neither succeeded in overthrowing democracy, but both provoked emergency legislation that tested civil liberties.

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The Historic Compromise was Communist Party (PCI) leader Enrico Berlinguer's strategy of cooperating with the Christian Democrats rather than seeking revolutionary change — accepting the political system and aiming for gradual reform. Former PM Aldo Moro had brokered this arrangement. The Red Brigades kidnapped and murdered Moro in 1978 precisely to destroy this consensus. His death shocked Italy and set back centre-left cooperation.

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A special income tax levied on West German (later all German) taxpayers to fund the reconstruction of the former East Germany after reunification in 1990. It was introduced because reunification proved far more costly than Kohl had promised — East German industry collapsed after monetary union and the region needed massive infrastructure investment. The surcharge remained in place until 2021.

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1949–1960s: conservative Catholic values dominated; Gastarbeiter (guest workers) from Turkey and southern Europe arrived from 1955. 1968: student revolt challenged ex-Nazi professors, American involvement in Vietnam, and emergency power laws. 1970s: feminist movement challenged abortion laws (§218); environmental awareness grew. 1980: the Green Party was founded; elected to Bundestag 1983. By 1990: c.1.9 million Turks lived in West Germany; citizenship was still based on ethnicity (jus sanguinis), not birthplace.