List of Entries

Events, groups and developments

Related entries are listed at the end of an entry by ‘[See also: …]’. An asterisk indicates a cross-reference to Section 2, ‘Biographies’. For example, the entry for Colonels’ coup (Greece) has at the end ‘[See also: Enosis; Papandreou*]’. The entry for Enosis is in this section; that for Papandreou is in Section 2.

acquis communitaire

The French term: acquis communitaire (sometimes called Community patrimony) refers to the constantly evolving rights and obligations deriving from European Union (EU) treaty agreements, laws and regulations concluded by member states since the Treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic Community entered into force in 1958. Together, these agreements are held to represent the constitutional basis of the EU. Amongst other aims, the Single European Act (1987), the Treaty on European Union (TEU: the Maastricht Treaty) (1993) and the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) have attempted to revise and rationalise the acquis communitaire by simplifying and consolidating the existing Treaties of the Union. The acquis is now understood to comprise not only a strict definition of Community law, but also all acts adopted under the second and third pillars of the European Union and, more importantly, the common objectives laid down in the treaties. The acquis can therefore be understood to cover both the judicial decisions and the policy programme of the EU. The concept has played a major role in discussions concerning the enlargement of the EU to countries of Central and Eastern Europe. These countries are expected to accept the acquis communitaire and, to some extent, to have restructured their national legal, policy and administrative frameworks to accommodate it prior to entry.

[See also: Amsterdam Treaty; Maastricht Treaty; Single European Act; Treaties of Rome; Treaty of Nice]

Action Directe

A French anarchist/Maoist terrorist group founded in 1979, Action Directe played an active role in European terrorist networks until it was neutralised by a police operation in 1988. It had links with the Basque separatist movement ETA and with Middle Eastern pro-Palestinian groups. The group attacked public and government buildings. Two prominent members, Jean-Marc Rouillan and Nathalie Ménigon, were arrested in Paris in September 1980, but were controversially released under an amnesty declared by Mitterrand when he took office as President. Action Directe then began a bombing campaign against US and Israeli targets and was banned by the French government. The now illegal group split into factions. In January 1985 the ‘internationalist’ section led by Rouillan began a joint action with the West German Red Army Faction (RAF), announcing the formation of a united urban politico-military front in Western Europe, with NATO as its main target. That month Action Directe shot dead General Audran, the government minister responsible for French arms sales, and in April 1986 tried to kill Guy Brana, Deputy President of the employers’ federation CNPF. In July 1986 the group bombed the offices of the French police anti-terrorist unit and in November killed the Chairman of Renault. Four founder leaders of the group were arrested in February 1987 and sentenced to life imprisonment in January 1989, by which time the other members had been arrested and the group had collapsed.

[See also: ETA; Red Army Faction]

additionality

The European Union’s (EU) cohesion policy is a regional policy which sets out to reduce economic and social disparities between richer and poorer regions of the EU. The financial instruments used to effect cohesion policy are termed the structural funds. The additionality rule was introduced during a major reform of the structural funds of 1988 and maintains that EU funds for regional development must be allocated in addition to, rather than instead of, member state funds. The European Commission monitors member state compliance with additionality rules when structural funds are implemented.

[See also: Economic and Social Cohesion]

Additional Member System (AMS)

An electoral system based on the principle of proportional representation, but which combines election of candidates from (usually single-member) constituencies with some form of reserve or ‘top-up’ list, in order to produce an overall result that is more closely proportional to the percentages of votes which parties have received than if constituency-based election were used alone. The electoral system in use to elect the Bundestag in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949 has been based on the ‘additional member’ system, at first using a single vote to count for election of the candidate and for the party list of that candidate, but since 1953 using two, separate, votes: one for the candidate in a constituency contest, one for a party list, with that party list vote used to determine overall allocations of seats. Many of the German Länder also use AMS in some form to elect their Land legislatures. Italy combines election of three-quarters of its lower chamber of the legislature with election of the remainder from party lists. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly were both elected by means of versions of the Additional Member System in 1999, using two votes. The overall degree of proportionality attained in AMS elections depends to a large extent on the ratio of directly elected legislators to those chosen from top-up lists, and whether a national, regional or only a more local top-up list procedure is utilised.

[See also: Grabenwahlsystem (Germany)]

adversary politics

A political process in which two opposed political parties, or blocs of parties, debate and decide upon political issues by presenting competing arguments, representing radically opposed positions or derived from opposed ideologies, and the issue is settled by majority adoption of one of these arguments. Adversary politics contrasts with consensus politics, in which controversies concerning political issues are resolved by adoption of generally acceptable compromises. The term ‘adversary politics’ was applied particularly to the British House of Commons in the post-Second World War period, where the Labour and Conservative parties opposed each other on issues such as state control of industry, comprehensive education and housing policy (e.g. the iron and steel industry was twice nationalised and twice returned to private ownership). Adversary politics has been regarded as a product of the ‘first-past-the-post’ electoral system, which encourages the more extreme proponents of a policy to gain power in a party and thus in governments, leading to sub-optimal policy outcomes, lacking continuity and consistency. The term was publicised by S. Finer in the book edited by him: Adversary Politics and Electoral Reform (London, Antony Wigram, 1975), in which he advocated electoral reform in Britain as the way to avoid the negative consequences of adversary politics.

[See also: First-past-the-post system]

Aegean Sea dispute

Greece and Turkey have been in dispute over the rights to territorial waters and the continental shelf in the Aegean Sea since the early 1970s. While Greece has traditionally argued for the resolution of the matter by the International Court of Justice, Turkey has argued for the bilateral negotiation of a fair solution. In February 1974, the conflict escalated when oil was discovered within Greek territorial waters off the island of Thassos. In May 1974, Turkey underlined its counter-claim to these waters by sending a survey ship and 32 warships to patrol the western limits of the area. At this time, the dispute became entangled with a similar one over airspace jurisdiction in the Aegean and with a controversy over arrangements for Greek reintegration within the military structure of NATO. An agreement between Turkey and Greece to establish a commission to investigate the sea dispute lapsed during the Turkish military dictatorship of 1980–83. When the Turkish government recognised the newly declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Greece suspended all direct negotiations with Turkey. In 1987 the Greek Socialist government took steps to nationalise the North Aegean Petroleum Company (NAPC) and to have the state-owned Public Petroleum Corporation extend explorations of the area. Turkey again sent a research ship and warships to the area and a conflict was only avoided through NATO calls for restraint. The seriousness of the crisis led the then Greek and Turkish Prime Ministers, Papandreou and Özal, to conduct a number of secret negotiations in Davos, Switzerland, in 1988, in which they agreed to avoid hostilities and to pursue confidence-building measures between their two countries.

Algerian conflict (1954–62)

The Algerian conflict brought about the transition from the French Fourth Republic to the Fifth Republic under de Gaulle, the former leader of the Free French during the Second World War. The Algerian conflict began in November 1954 with the anti-colonial struggle of the Algerian nationalist movement, the National Liberation Front (FLN), founded by Ben Bella. The French Algerian territories had a population of some nine million indigenous Muslim Algerians who were subordinate to a colonial population of one million French settlers, the ‘pieds noir’. The FLN started anti-French riots and launched a spate of co-ordinated attacks on French soldiers and police. As the violent conflict escalated to involve atrocities against activists and civilians alike, the French army developed strong sympathies for the French settlers and were enraged by the French government’s apparent inability to bring the situation under control. On 12 May 1956 a new government was formed under Pflimlin, who made known his intention to negotiate a cease-fire with the FLN. The following day, the army in Algiers took power, set up a military government, the Committee of Public Safety under General Massu, and called for de Gaulle to form a national government capable of maintaining a French Algeria. On 17 May, the French Parliament awarded the Pflimlin government emergency powers to try to resolve the conflict. Meanwhile, a rival government was established in Algiers and on 24 May a Committee of Public Safety took power in Corsica. On 28 May the French President, Coty, intervened by asking de Gaulle to form a ‘government of national safety’. De Gaulle was confirmed as Prime Minister by Parliament on 1 June and proceeded to erode the army’s political power by a combination of institutional reforms and key appointments. Between 1958 and 1962, reciprocal terror campaigns were conducted by the FLN and the rival pro-French Algerian Secret Army Organisation (OAS) led by General Jouhaud and General Salan. In 1959 de Gaulle granted self-determination to Algeria, a measure which was roundly approved by referenda both in France and Algeria. The Évian Agreements of March 1962 gave full independence to Algeria in exchange for guarantees to protect the rights of the pieds noir. However, resentment by extremist Algerian Europeans fuelled widespread violent conflict with militant Muslims and by the end of 1962 some 800,000 European settlers had fled to France.

[See also: Évian Agreements; Secret Army Organisation; Coty*; de Gaulle*; Pflimlin*]

Alternative Vote System (AV)

An electoral system using single-member constituencies, where voters place the candidates in order of preference, using the numbers 1, 2, 3 … etc., rather than place a cross by the name of one candidate. A candidate securing more than 50 per cent of ‘first preference’ votes is elected. In constituencies where no candidate has obtained that absolute majority of first preferences, the candidate with the lowest number of first preference votes is eliminated, and the second preference votes of that candidate are distributed among the other candidates. This elimination and redistribution procedure, using second, third and later preferences if necessary, continues until one candidate secures an absolute majority. No West European state uses this system, though it has been proposed as a replacement for the simple-majority first-past-the-post British system, either by itself or – as the Jenkins Commission on the Electoral System proposed – in conjunction with local ‘top-up’ lists.

[See also: Additional Member System; Single Transferable Vote]

Amsterdam Treaty

The Amsterdam Treaty of the European Union (EU) was signed on 2 October 1997. The Treaty had two central aims: to revive popular interest in the EU by making it appear more relevant and accountable; and to prepare the EU for the planned enlargement to incorporate new members from Central and Eastern Europe. The Treaty encompasses six main areas: freedom, security and justice; the Union and its citizens; external policy; the Union’s institutions; co-operation and flexibility; and the simplification and consolidation of the existing Treaties of the Union: the acquis communitaire. The Treaty negotiations were marred by a general unwillingness by member state governments to make concessions to the Union; growing divisions between large and small member states; and a rocky period in the Franco-German relationship. As a result, the Treaty is an unwieldy document which experts fear will not serve its stated aims well.

[See also: acquis communitaire; democratic deficit; Maastricht Treaty; Treaty of Nice]

animal rights

In Western European countries, campaigners for animal rights have formed organisations to protect animals from abuse and to promote their welfare. Ongoing animal rights campaigns have included calls for a ban on the use of animals in scientific experimentation, particularly in medical research and in the production of toiletries, where the concept of ‘cruelty-free beauty’ has attained mass popularity in recent years. Similarly, animal rights campaigns against intensive and inhumane farming methods have dovetailed with environmentalist and consumer concerns for ‘safe’ foods to reach a mass public. Animal rights campaigners have also regularly targeted blood sports. Although most groups campaign peacefully, extremist movements such as the UK’s Animal Liberation Front (ALF) have been active since the early 1970s. These engage in more militant protests, even terrorist activity, including attacks on animal testing sites, on staff of companies engaged in animal testing, and on shops selling luxury animal products, particularly furs.

anti-capitalist riots

Between 30 November and 3 December 1999, demonstrations against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) brought the retail centre of Seattle to a standstill. Militant, non-violent protesters tried to block access to the meeting. Over 40,000 workers, students and environmental activists took part in a legal march organised by the AFL-CIO. These peaceful demonstrations were usurped by small groups of self-proclaimed anarchists, who, dressed in black, smashed windows. The police responded with anti-riot measures and running battles took place between police and protesters on the street. Those arrested in the police action became known as the Seattle 580. Such protests were then emulated in Western European countries, for example during the European Union summit in Nice in December 2000 and in Genoa, where the G-8 was meeting in July 2001. These riots followed a number of earlier instances of violent demonstrations in London and elsewhere by anti-capitalist groups.

[See also: Group of Eight]

antifa groups [See: anti-fascism]

anti-fascism

A general term denoting opposition to fascism, including nazism. More particularly, it has been employed as a legitimising principle and integrative idea by communist organisations and regimes, including the Soviet occupation regime in Germany and the GDR, based on the idea that fascism had been defeated primarily by the USSR and communist resisters elsewhere. In the GDR, non-communist political parties and social organisations such as the trade union and youth associations were linked to the SED (the communist party) through membership of an ‘anti-fascist bloc’.

A number of ‘anti-fascist’ (‘antifa’) groups were formed throughout Germany at the end of the Second World War, to act as organisations for the purging of Nazis from public life and to provide an organisational basis for the regeneration of political and social life in devastated German towns and cities. These were chiefly made up of socialists and other trade unionists. In the Soviet zone of occupation, the autonomy of these groups was perceived as potentially dangerous to the claims of the Communists to be the ‘leading party’, and they were swiftly disbanded by the Soviet authorities.

[See also: fascism]

anti-Semitism

The term in its literal sense means hostility towards ‘Semites’: people from the Middle East defined by their use of the Semitic language. It has, since the nineteenth century, come to refer to hostility towards the Jews, though such hostility predates the use of the term, since anti-Jewish rhetoric and persecution date back to the first century AD. Such anti-Jewish sentiment has been based on two main strands: the biological – that the Jews were an inferior race and had the capacity by inter-breeding with non-Jewish races to harm the qualities of other races, and a socio-economic and cultural strand – that Jews sought domination in areas of finance and commerce, that they sought to constitute themselves as a social elite and that they posed a threat to indigenous culture. Both strands contributed to anti-Semitism as defined and fostered by the Nazi regime, and which culminated in the Holocaust. Since the Second World War anti-Semitism has been evident in other countries, especially the former USSR and, since the downfall of communism, in Russia and some other former communist states.

[See also: final solution; Holocaust; nazism; xenophobia]

Armed Forces Movement (Portugal)

A right-wing dictatorship had been established in Portugal by Salazar in 1932, led by Caetano from 1968. On 24–25 April 1974, this regime was overthrown by a military group, the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), in a bloodless coup known as the ‘revolution of carnations’. A military administration led by General de Spínola, the Committee of National Salvation, was established as a temporary measure pending a return to democracy. Although democratic reforms were introduced, there followed a period of uncertainty as the MFA split into left and right factions. Spínola resigned in September 1974 and was succeeded by General da Costa Gomes. An unsuccessful counter-coup led by senior military officers in March 1975 prompted a shift to the left in government policy. The organs of the MFA were dissolved and a Supreme Revolutionary Council was created. The promised constitutional democracy was introduced in 1976, and, after free elections, the army Chief of Staff General Eanes was selected as President by the Parliament. In 1982, a substantial constitutional review removed the direct political influence of the army by effectively replacing the Council of the Revolution with an explicitly civilian Council of State; it also reduced the powers of the presidency, still occupied at this time by Eanes. A further revision of 1989 removed Portugal’s constitutional commitment to Marxist principles.

[See also: Eanes*; Salazar*]

asylum

The countries of Western Europe allow individuals who claim political persecution in their own country to cross their national borders and apply for political asylum. While the asylum principle is upheld in the Geneva Convention of 1949, asylum entitlement is regulated by each country’s national laws or constitution. Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland and West Germany were popular destinations for asylum seekers because of their generous asylum policies and good employment prospects. Since the 1980s, claims for asylum have rapidly escalated to a scale which causes problems for Western European governments. Between 1981 and 1991 the annual number of asylum applications to European countries increased five-fold, exceeding half a million in 1991. Numbers have risen because of continued population growth, economic weakness, and unrest in the developing countries of Africa and Asia. Also, in the late 1980s, the political transitions from communism in Central and Eastern Europe created widespread economic uncertainty and a rise in nationalist feeling, spilling over into civil war in the former Yugoslavia. These pressures sent thousands of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants to nearby western borders, particularly to Germany and, to a lesser extent, to Austria and Sweden. Many asylum claims are ruled by the authorities to be unfounded and ‘false’ asylum seekers are increasingly used as scapegoats for social problems in Western European countries. Western European countries have begun to amend their asylum legislation to restrict applicants to those who genuinely face political persecution in their home countries, rather than those who are looking for better employment prospects and a better standard of living.

[See also: immigration]

Atlanticists and Gaullists

Terms used to designate groups within the West German CDU which differed regarding the priority which the Adenauer and Erhard governments should give to relations with the USA (the Atlanticists) or relations with France and other West European allies (the Gaullists). The Atlanticists warned against following French policy concerning especially security and trade too slavishly, while the Gaullists played on fears of American dominance in military and foreign policy, and wished to further the ‘European integration project’, building on the Franco-German Treaty. Neither group went as far as proposing disregard of the policies of the USA or France. The Atlanticists included Erhard and his Foreign Minister, Schröder, and were supported by most of the CDU, the SPD, the FDP, the trade unions and economic elites and most of the mass media. The Gaullists had the support of Adenauer, Strauss (leader of the CSU) and Gerstenmaier, a prominent and respected ‘elder statesman’ in the CDU, as well as the CSU and some in the rise in nationalist feeling, spilling over CDU.

[See also: Adenauer*; Strauss*]

ausserparlamentarische Opposition (APO) [See: extra-parliamentary opposition]

Aussiedler

A German term meaning: a person who is resettled. It is a technical term within German law relating to immigrants, referring to those migrating into the Federal Republic who can claim German nationality by virtue of former residence in German territory or in certain other states (mainly of Eastern Europe) before 1945. It especially applied to ethnic Germans deported from former German territories in Poland, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. Such persons had privileged status in the Federal Republic with regard to the right to reside there and receive social benefits, compared with other immigrants or asylum seekers.

[See also: immigration]

Austrian State Treaty

Following the Second World War, although democracy was restored in Austria in 1945, that country remained under the occupation of the four victorious Allied Powers: the USA, the Soviet Union, Britain and France, each with its own zone of occupation. The capital, Vienna, was subject to four-power control. As the Cold War developed, there were fears that Austria might be lastingly divided into pro-Western and pro-Soviet part-states in the same way as post-war Germany. However, on 15 May 1955 the Allied Powers signed the State Treaty with Austria, ending the occupation. The Treaty recognised Austria as a sovereign, independent and democratic state. Moreover, it recognised the regime of the second Austrian Republic. It banned political or economic union between Austria and Germany and also required Austrian neutrality by banning the country from aligning itself with either of the two Cold War alliances which formed around the USA and the Soviet Union. In a constitutional law of 26 October 1955, Austria declared its permanent neutrality, but chose to interpret this stance actively rather than passively. Austria joined the UN in December 1955 and has frequently participated in UN peace-keeping operations. In 1956, the country allowed refugees from the Hungarian uprising to cross its borders to safety.

[See also: Cold War]

Autonomen (the Autonomous)

The German Autonomen are an alienated group of anarchists who take part in demonstrations (irrespective of the specific aims of these) to confront their enemy, the police. While they appear to have no links with terrorists, in the late 1980s, the federal office for the protection of the constitution estimated that of the 6,500 active Autonomen, some 1,500–2,000 were militants prepared to use force. They made a sinister impression in their ‘uniform’ of masks, black helmets and black clothes. In June 1985, the federal Parliament passed a bill to prohibit the wearing of masks (except during the annual Carnival). The bill also made it a criminal offence to carry ‘protective’ weapons, or to refuse a police order to disperse if a demonstration turned violent. In November 1987, two policemen were killed by an unidentified perpetrator at a small demonstration at Frankfurt airport, at which Autonomen were present.

Baader-Meinhof group

The Baader-Meinhof group was an extreme left-wing terrorist organisation active in West Germany in the early 1970s. On 14 May 1970 the members of the Baader-Meinhof group founded their political organisation, the Red Army Faction (RAF), as an urban guerrilla liberation group. The ideology of the Baader-Meinhof group was set out in four papers written in 1971 and 1972, one by Horst Mahler and three by Ulrike Meinhof. These papers identified the RAF as anti-imperialist and anti-fascist, and sought to justify the need for an ‘armed struggle’ against what they perceived as the oppressive political system of the FRG. The authorities’ handling of the Baader-Meinhof trials and conditions of imprisonment was criticised by some as heavy-handed. The deaths of Holger Meins following a hunger strike and Meinhof through suicide appear to have been the catalyst for the ‘Offensive ’77’ launched by the ‘second generation’ of the RAF. When the Offensive failed to secure the release of the original RAF members from prison, they attempted suicide. Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe succeeded. The fourth member, Irmgard Möller, survived her suicide attempt and was eventually released from prison on 1 December 1994.

[See also: Red Army Faction; Schleyer Affair]

Bad Godesberg Programme [See: Godesberg Programme]

Barschel Affair

Barschel, the leader of the Schleswig-Holstein Christian Democrats, was accused of initiating a series of ‘dirty tricks’ against his Social Democrat opponent, Engholm, in the 1987 Land election campaign. These included investigation of Engholm’s private life, and spreading rumours about Engholm’s evasion of taxes. Barschel insisted at a press conference that he had nothing to do with such improper actions. However, when evidence was offered that seemed to implicate him, Barschel resigned as Prime Minister of the Land government, and days later was found dead in a Swiss hotel room, apparently having committed suicide, though this has been the topic of speculation. In May 1988 the SPD won an overwhelming victory in a new Land election. Engholm was later damaged by admissions that he had not revealed everything he knew about the affair when questioned by an investigatory committee. He resigned as SPD leader and Land Prime Minister in 1993.

[See also: Engholm*]

Basic Law

The name given to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany drawn up by the Parliamentary Council in 1948–49 and promulgated in May 1949. This name (Grundgesetz in German) was deliberately chosen rather than the term: constitution (Verfassung) to emphasise the expectation of the Parliamentary Council that Germany would soon be reunited, and that therefore this constitutional provision was temporary until such time as all Germans could freely choose their own constitution: an expectation embodied in the Preamble to the Basic Law and in its concluding Article (Art. 146), which provided for its termination when such a constitution for a unified Germany came into force. In fact the Basic Law not only lasted for 41 years until the reunification of Germany; it was then retained as the constitution for reunified Germany (with only minor revisions and adjustments) by decisions of the legislatures of the two German states. A Joint Commission of the two chambers of the legislature of the Federal Republic to consider whether further changes were desirable following reunification reported in 1993. As a result, a small number of changes were adopted in 1994.

Basic Treaty (1972)

An important part of the Ostpolitik of the Brandt government, the Basic Treaty was a treaty-like agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. It was deliberately not given the status of an international treaty because the Federal Republic of Germany would not recognise the German Democratic Republic as a foreign state. The Basic Treaty, ratified and taking effect from 1973, bound the partners to promote good relations between the two German states, recognised the inviolability of the border between them, and renounced the use or threat of force in their mutual relations. Both states accepted the restriction of their claim of sovereignty to their territories within their own borders, and explicitly stated their mutual respect for the internal and external independence of both German states (which paved the way for their admission to the United Nations Organisation and other international organisations). Supplementary protocols regulated free access for journalists within both German states, easier travel between the two states, better conditions for reuniting families and other such measures.

An attempt by refugee organisations and the Christian Democrats in the Federal Republic to have this treaty declared unconstitutional (on the grounds that it improperly diluted the constitutional principle of national unity) failed. The Constitutional Court rejected a case brought by Bavaria, and stated that the treaty fell within the obligations of the state to promote German reunification.

[See also: Ostpolitik]

Basque separatism

The Basques are a distinct ethnic, cultural and linguistic group found in a cross-border area of Spain and France equated by Basques with ‘Euskadi’, the historic Basque homeland. Although an independent Basque state has never existed, the Spanish Basque provinces had a semi-autonomous relationship with the Spanish Kingdom until the nineteenth century. After the Spanish civil war most of the Basque regions were harshly treated by the victorious nationalist forces as punishment for their support for the republicans. However, government policy to stamp out the distinctive Basque language and culture backfired. The existing regional identity was consolidated by a new sense of grievance over the community’s treatment as an alienated minority. The traditional nationalist political groups and movements were supplemented by new radical and militant separatist forces, of which the group Basque Nation and Liberty (ETA) is the most notorious. The containment of tensions in the Basque region was one of the main challenges facing Spain in its transition to democracy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1980 the Basque region was granted its own autonomous government with potentially more far-reaching powers than any other region of Spain. However, there have been constant disagreements between the region and successive central governments about the interpretation and implementation of Basque autonomy. Local Basque nationalist parties compete alongside Spanish parties in elections and include the traditional Christian Democratic PNV, founded in 1895; the Basque Left (EE), a workers’ movement founded in 1976 to work peacefully for independence; and Herri Batasuna (HB), founded in 1978 as ETA’s political wing.

[See also: ETA; Spanish civil war]

Belgrano Affair [See: Falklands War]

Benelux

In 1956, to help promote economic recovery after the Second World War, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands formed a treaty community known as the Benelux economic union. In fact, the treaty was a formal recognition of an existing arrangement. Plans for a customs union between the three countries had been drawn up in 1944 and had come into operation in 1948. By 1956 practically all trade between the countries was tariff-free. The Benelux union provided for free movement of persons, goods, services and capital between the member states; the co-ordination of national economic policies; and a common trade policy towards other countries. The Benelux model strongly influenced the European Economic Community (1958), of which Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were founder members.

Berlin airlift [See: Berlin blockade]

Berlin blockade

The closure by the USSR occupying power of the road, rail and inland waterway access from the western zones of occupation to West Berlin. This commenced in June 1948, after a period since April 1948 of harassment of military and civilian transport to and from West Berlin. The reasons for the blockade were the steps being taken by the Western occupation powers (a) to introduce a new, more stable currency to their zones (a currency which had been offered to the Soviet zone also, but refused because of conditions attached to that offer) and (b) to promote the founding of a – temporary – West German state pending a peace treaty and the reunification of Germany. The USSR sought in this way to force West Berlin to accept USSR control in return for food, fuel and other necessities. The blockade was broken by the Berlin airlift, by means of which the basic necessities were flown into West Berlin from West Germany, and gradually stockpiles were built up and the West Berlin economy enabled to operate reasonably effectively. Air corridors from West Germany to West Berlin had been guaranteed by four-power agreements, unlike surface transport routes. The success of the airlift and thus the failure of the blockade constituted a propaganda defeat for the USSR, and strengthened the determination of West Berliners to reject any negotiations or compromises with the Soviet occupying power. The blockade was lifted in May 1949, and the airlift concluded in September 1949.

[See also: Cold War]

Berlin uprising 1953

A general strike and public street protest against policies imposed by the communist government of the GDR which involved longer hours and increased production by workers but without compensating increased wages. A strike by East Berlin construction workers on 16 June was followed by a general strike which spread from East Berlin to nearly 400 other localities in the GDR. Economic demands of the protesters were soon supplemented by demands for political reforms, such as free elections, the release of political prisoners and the reunification of Germany. A state of emergency was declared by the Soviet military command, and martial law was imposed. Demonstrations were prohibited; ringleaders were arrested; Soviet tanks and troops occupied the streets. The communist leadership of the GDR explained the uprising as ‘fascist provocation’ engineered by West German leaders. Critics of the repressive policies of the USSR military leadership and the GDR government were punished. The uprising did show clearly that without the support of Soviet military forces, the GDR regime would not survive. It also provoked a harsher regime of surveillance and control of the population in the GDR than existed in many other states of the Soviet bloc.

Berlin Wall

A wall erected in August 1961 by the German Democratic Republic, with the encouragement of the USSR. It was intended to control more absolutely movement of individuals from one part of Berlin to the other, following a period in which increasing numbers of East Germans were migrating from the GDR to the Federal Republic through Berlin (where border controls were more lax than elsewhere between the two parts of Germany). The Berlin Wall came to consist of the concrete wall itself, and a cleared area on the East Berlin side of the wall which was floodlit, mined and patrolled. Many East Germans, wishing to escape to West Berlin by crossing the Wall, lost their lives or were wounded by gunfire from the border guards. Controls were relaxed on 9 November 1989 in the period of crisis leading to the collapse of the communist regime in the GDR a few weeks later, and soon afterwards the Berlin Wall was physically demolished by individuals on both sides of the Wall and by the GDR government. Only a few remnants have been preserved in situ, though other sections are in various museums.

[See also: Cold War; reunification of Germany]

Beveridge Report (UK)

A government report on the social services produced in 1942, whose author was Sir William Beveridge, an economist, a former Director of the London School of Economics and at the time the master of University College, Oxford. The Report recommended a comprehensive and universal system of social insurance, a national health service and family allowances. It became the source of ideas for policies relating to the welfare state, especially those of the Labour government which came to power in 1945. Beveridge was given a peerage in 1946.

Bizonia

The term applied to the merged British and US zones of occupation from 1 January 1947, formally known as the United Economic Area (Vereinigtes Wirtschaftsgebiet). A set of institutions was developed to bring West Germans themselves into the decision-making process, including initially an indirectly elected Economic Council, an Executive Committee (a kind of cabinet) consisting of one representative from each Land in the two zones, and a set of Directors, to manage policy sectors such as transport and agriculture. These institutions were revised in 1948, to give more political freedom to the West Germans, especially the Länder. These institutions served as models upon which the Parliamentary Council which drafted the Basic Law could draw in constructing a political system for the Federal Republic of Germany.

Bizonia improved the economic situation of the two zones of occupation, and was used as the instrument for the introduction of the Deutschmark in the currency reform of 1948 and for the groundwork for the ‘economic miracle’: the rapid growth of the economy of the Federal Republic in the 1950s and 1960s. The French zone of occupation joined the Bizonia scheme (which then became ‘Trizonia’) in April 1949, a few weeks before the Federal Republic came into being.

[See also: Basic Law; economic miracle]

Bonn Republic–Berlin Republic transition

The reunification of Germany involved decisions concerning the seat of government of the enlarged Federal Republic. Prior to reunification, Bonn was the seat of government, though Berlin was always regarded as the capital of the German state, a fact that was confirmed in the Treaty of Reunification.

The issue of whether to retain Bonn as the seat of government or to move most or all of the governing institutions located in Bonn to Berlin was settled in principle by a vote in the Bundestag on 20 June 1991. 338 Members of the Bundestag voted for Berlin, 320 for Bonn. Those in favour of the move to Berlin emphasised the advantages which Berlin could offer because of its size and status, and its role in fostering the integration of Germany because of its more easterly location, close to the ‘new Länder’. Those arguing that Bonn should remain the seat of government stressed the role which Bonn had played in the development of a peaceful, prosperous Federal Republic and its proximity to places such as Brussels and Luxembourg, symbolic of European integration. The costs and disruption involved in moving to an already crowded Berlin were also emphasised. On 26 June 1991 the government instituted a working group of senior civil servants to prepare for the move to Berlin. On 5 July 1991 the Bundesrat decided to remain in Bonn, though retaining the right to reconsider that decision in the light of circumstances. In December 1991, the federal government announced that some ministries would remain in Bonn, while others would have parts of their organisation in Bonn though their main activities would be located in Berlin. The year 2000 was taken as the target date for completing most of the move to Berlin. Certain federal institutions would move from other parts of Germany to Bonn, and the government would make efforts to attract European Community and other international organisations to Bonn. Bonn would also receive subsidies to off-set the loss of income and employment until the year 2004. On 23 November 1998, the first institutional transfer took place when the office of Federal President Herzog moved to Berlin. The former Reichstag was renovated and is now used as the location of the Bundestag. In recognition of this institutional transfer and of other subtle changes in the FRG regime since reunification, commentators refer to the post-unification FRG as the Berlin Republic.

[See also: reunification of Germany; Herzog*]

Bundesbank

The central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany, located in Frankfurt (Main). It was created in 1957 on the basis of a Law implementing provisions of Art. 88 of the Basic Law, and replaced the Bank of the German Länder, which from 1949 had co-ordinated banking activity in the Federal Republic. The Bundesbank acted independently of the federal government to protect the value of the currency of the Federal Republic, using interest rates, intervention in currency markets and control over the money supply as instruments to this end. This independence sometimes led to conflicts between the government and the bank. A notable example concerned the proper rate of exchange of East German Marks for Deutschmarks when currency union was introduced between the two German states in July 1990. An amendment to Art. 88 of the Basic Law in 1992 provided for the Bundesbank to transfer its duties to a European Central Bank, once such a bank was created and in position to act independently to protect the value of the currency.

[See also: Pöhl*]

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

Founded in 1958 to promote the cause of unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, CND developed into a large and influential movement in the 1960s, of which prominent Labour Party politicians such as Foot, Kinnock and Blair (all future party leaders) were members at some time. Briefly, the Labour Party officially adopted unilateral nuclear disarmament as official policy following a party conference resolution in 1960, but the government of Harold Wilson refused to implement such a policy. In opposition after the Conservative election victory of 1979, CND again developed influence within the Labour Party. Electoral defeat in 1983 under Foot’s leadership led many in the Labour Party to blame CND for the Party’s unpopularity. CND has become politically impotent since the downfall of communism and the end of the Cold War, though it did sponsor demonstrations following the terrorist attack on the USA in September 2001.

[See also: Blair*; Foot*; Kinnock*]

‘cash for questions’ affair

A parliamentary scandal arising from accusations that certain MPs had accepted payments from private interests in return for them tabling questions (whose answers would be beneficial to those who made the payments) to be raised in the House of Commons at Question Time. The Sunday Times in 1994 used subterfuge to demonstrate that two MPs were in fact prepared to accept payment for this activity. Another MP, Neil Hamilton, was accused later of this same practice, and threatened to sue the Guardian for reporting that accusation. Hamilton decided not to go through with the court case, and in the 1998 general election was defeated by an Independent candidate, the former television news reporter Martin Bell. The Labour and Liberal parties declined to present their own candidates to enhance Bell’s chances of victory. The affair contributed to the creation of a Commission under Lord Nolan to inquire into ‘Standards in Public Life’. The Nolan Report in 1995 made several recommendations designed to reduce the likelihood of improper links between MPs and private interests.

chancellor democracy

A term applied at first to describe Adenauer’s interpretation and utilisation of the office of chancellor in the Federal Republic of Germany, then by extension used to refer either to the system of government of the Federal Republic of Germany generally, or to the assertive style of certain chancellors in particular.

Adenauer used the constitutional powers afforded the chancellor by the Basic Law to exert his supremacy over his own cabinet, the whole of the government and the political system more generally. These powers included the authority to set general guidelines for the government (Richtlinienkompetenz: Article 65), the power of the chancellor to nominate and remove ministers, the lack of political powers of the federal president and the inability of the Bundestag to remove the chancellor except by a constructive vote of no confidence which provided a majority for a named successor. The fact that at first the Federal Republic did not have foreign or defence policy competence also buttressed the authority of the chancellor. Indeed, in 1951 Adenauer became his own Foreign Minister when the restrictions imposed by the occupation authorities were removed, retaining that post until 1955. Thus Adenauer was able to impose his authority in any and all the policy areas in which he had an interest, often taking key political decisions without formal consultation in the cabinet or with his parliamentary party group. The development of the Chancellor’s Office (bearing some resemblance to the US White House staff ) also was a factor in the growth of ‘chancellor democracy’, as has been the general trend for the mass media to personalise the reporting of politics. Adenauer’s control of government meant that he was able to restrict the independent powers of his Party (the Christian Democratic Union: CDU), which anyway in those early days of the Federal Republic was little more than an organisation to elect the chancellor. His electoral victories, especially the absolute majority he obtained in 1957, reinforced his personal authority.

His successors could, on the one hand, draw on the precedents set by Adenauer, but several, on the other hand, lacked his personal qualities or a desire to govern in the dominating style adopted by Adenauer. The growth in the power of the Party (particularly of the CDU after it went into opposition in 1969) and the increasing assertiveness of the Free Democrats (FDP) as a coalition partner – already apparent in the Adenauer period: e.g. the ‘Young Turks’ revolt’ in 1956 and the Spiegel Affair in 1962 – also restricted the autonomy of the chancellor. Erhard could not escape from the shadow of Adenauer, who remained as party Chairman for much of Erhard’s period as chancellor; Kiesinger was limited by the special constraints of the grand coalition; Brandt, though a very assertive chancellor, did not seek to mimic Adenauer’s patrician style; Schmidt was hampered by his own left wing and by the fact that he was not party leader. Only Kohl came close to reinventing the style of Adenauer in terms of most of its attributes, and he had to accept to a considerable degree the autonomy of Genscher (FDP) as Foreign Minister. However, Kohl did dominate his party, was able to resist challenges to his authority from Strauss and the Christian Social Union, was personally responsible for key decisions concerning German reunification and European integration, and, like Adenauer, was the party’s chief electoral asset. Schröder, now that he is also party leader, may also come to exert a very personal and dominant style of government, though his coalition partners, the Greens, act as a constraint in some policy areas.

[See also: constructive vote of no confidence; Spiegel Affair; Young Turks’ revolt; Adenauer*; Brandt*; Erhard*; Genscher*; Kiesinger*; Kohl*; Schmidt*]

church tax

A supplementary income tax imposed in the Federal German Republic to help to finance religious organisations. After the income tax of a person is assessed, a supplement of between 8 and 10 per cent of the tax payable is added, and that extra tax is passed on to the church to which the taxpayer belongs (if only nominally). This form of taxation was found in the constitution of the Weimar Republic, and is now based on Art. 140 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic. The product of the church tax is very high, and means that the main denominations in the FRG are very wealthy. Taxpayers can ‘opt out’ of the church tax, but have to take action to do so. Such opting-out may have consequences if the taxpayer then wishes to have church ceremonies for weddings, christenings or funerals.

citizen initiative groups

Citizen initiative groups emerged in Western Europe in the late 1960s as informal, voluntary and usually temporary associations of citizens outside the established political parties and interest groups, whose aim was to influence policy makers on a specific issue. Initially they were largely preoccupied with planning decisions affecting a local community, especially decisions relating to environmental issues. Citizen initiatives were common in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1970s and many of their members were later active in the Green Party.

[See also: green movement]

citizens in uniform

The concept at the heart of the revived post-war armed forces of the German Federal Republic. There was considerable conflict within the Federal Republic concerning the decision of the Adenauer government, in association with the USA and its West European partners, to revive the military. Those who did support such a decision (in the context of the Cold War) were aware of the criticisms which had been made of German armies before 1945: especially the unthinking obedience and strong military discipline which characterised the armed forces. Consequently, it was decided that a democratic state should possess a democratic military, and that in future members of the military should be regarded as ‘citizens in uniform’, which meant two things. First, they were still in possession of all the rights of other citizens of the Federal Republic, including those fundamental rights listed in the Basic Law. Such rights could only be modified or restricted by explicit legislative provision, when necessary for the effective operation of the armed services. Examples of such restrictions are: freedom of speech and expression within barracks and overt support for political parties or causes in certain situations. Second, members of the armed forces were personally responsible for their actions with regard to their morality and legality. They could not abandon responsibility behind the excuse of ‘only obeying orders’. Of course, disputes about interpretation of these principles have occurred, involving for example the rights of soldiers to join trade unions and the extent of freedom of speech in the Military College. But these have not called into question the principles themselves.

An important constitutional innovation is the creation of an Inspector-General of the Armed Services (Wehrbeauftragter) who is appointed by the Bundestag and reports to the Bundestag on matters relating to the armed forces. Any member of the armed forces can direct a complaint directly to this official, by-passing the normal ‘chain of command’ and the Inspector-General has unconditional rights (subject only to requirements of state security) to information from the Ministry of Defence and the armed services. This official is sometimes referred to as the ‘military Ombudsman’ in Germany.

civil society

The term: civil society is used in many different ways. At its loosest, it means simply ‘the citizenry’ or even ‘the public’. In democratic theory there is a tension between the state as the source of authority and civil society as the embodiment of popular sovereignty. The concept of a civil society distinct from that of the state first emerged with the Enlightenment, when civil society was viewed as a guardian against the authoritarian potential of the state. Major structural economic upheavals in European life brought about a reversal in the way philosophers conceptualised the state–citizen relationship. With the progressive differentiation of society which accompanied the transition to market economies, civil society came to be seen as consisting of competing, selfish interests. Thinkers such as Hegel looked to the state to regulate civil society. De Toqueville identified a sphere of civil organisation between economy and state, now referred to as ‘political society’. For de Toqueville, the function of political society was to counteract both the egotism of private interests and the tyrannical potential of the modern state. In practice, this mediating sphere is the associational activity comprising local self-government, parties, churches, the media and public opinion. Work of sociologists such as Durkheim and Simmel developed the notion of civil society as associational activity founded on social infrastructures. However, during the twentieth century, previously apparently stable social and economic structures in Western European countries began to change under pressures such as globalisation, technological change and post-Fordism. In response, political scientists and sociologists have continued to reconceptualise the state–citizen relationship. They tend to present a picture of an educated and self-aware civil society progressively disenchanted with traditional forms of representative government.

Clause Four

Clause Four of the constitution of the Labour Party in its 1918 version committed the party to the pursuit of policies which would lead to the common ownership of ‘the means of production, distribution and exchange’. All members of the party had to agree to accept this pledge as a condition of joining the party. It tied the party to radical policies of extensive nationalisation, in theory far beyond the nationalisation policies implemented by the Attlee government of 1945–51. Such policies were not acceptable to moderate social democrats such as Gaitskell nor likely to be supported by the electorate if brought forward in a Labour Party electoral manifesto, so Gaitskell sought to remove that clause from the party’s constitution, but was defeated by his party’s left wing. Though the proposed policies were never included in party election programmes, Clause Four was considered to be symbolic of the Labour Party’s commitment to socialism. However, Blair, once elected as party leader, undertook as part of his campaign to modernise the party an intensive and skilful campaign to substitute a new statement of party principles for the old Clause Four, and succeeded in doing this in 1995 whilst still retaining the support of most of his party.

[See also: Blair*; Gaitskell*]

‘clean hands’ operation [See: Mani pulite]

clientelism

The term refers to the practice of offering favours to groups and individuals in return for political support. In democratic countries, there are laws to restrict or prohibit clientelistic practices as these are seen to distort the democratic process. Clientelism is both informal and particularistic: these characteristics conflict with democratic principles of equality and regulated access to the political system. In some Western European countries, though, clientelism – legal or otherwise – remains a significant feature of political life. The worst affected has been Italy, particularly the southern regions of the Mezzogiorno. The Italian term partitocrazia (‘partyocracy’) refers to the way in which the country’s political parties have not remained separate from other social and economic institutions as is desirable in a democracy, but have come to penetrate and influence all areas of state and social life. The parties have used clientelism to build up power networks, and, in the process, corruption has become endemic. Moreover, collusion between the parties in maintaining their networks of relationships and in ensuring the free flow of favours had, by the early 1990s, seriously undermined the development of an effective democratic opposition in Italy.

[See also: Mani pulite; Mezzogiorno; Tangentopoli]

co-determination

Arrangements in industrial policy whereby employees (or their representatives) are provided with institutionalised means of participating in decision-making by a firm or other employing organisation (such as a school or hospital), on topics which directly affect employee interests, such as mergers, personnel policies or safety issues. Such arrangements were developed in the Federal Republic of Germany, first in the coal and steel industries, then in other industries; the detailed arrangements depend upon the size and legal status of the firm. It is to be found in other countries in Western Europe (such as Austria), and it has been proposed that the system should be extended to member states of the EU under social policy arrangements.

‘cod wars’

The conflicts between the United Kingdom and Iceland in the period 1972–76 concerning the territorial limits for fishing in the Atlantic ocean claimed by Iceland. Fearful that fishing boats from other countries were depleting stocks of cod and other fish, upon which much of the Icelandic economy depended, Iceland unilaterally declared a 50-mile limit within which no foreign vessels would be permitted to fish. A series of clashes involving fishing boats from the United Kingdom and naval vessels from Iceland and the UK led to a negotiated settlement in 1976, which largely accepted Iceland’s claims.

cohabitation

A term applied to the pattern of executive government in the French Fifth Republic where the president and the prime minister come from opposed party blocks. It has occurred so far three times: twice when Mitterrand (Socialist Party) had to appoint a Gaullist prime minister (Chirac in 1986 and Balladur in 1983), and once when Chirac (a Gaullist president) in 1997 had to appoint Jospin (Socialist Party) as Prime Minister. The situation arises because the constitution of the Fifth Republic allows the president to appoint the prime minister, but the prime minister still needs the confidence of a parliamentary majority in order to pass legislation and a budget. The constitution also – if at times slightly ambiguously – provides the president and prime minister with separate and autonomous spheres of responsibility. When the president and prime minister are from the same party or party block there is no problem, but, because the president and National Assembly are elected at different times (and until 2001 the president has been elected for seven years, the National Assembly for a five-year term), it can happen that changes in the mood of the electorate produce a parliamentary majority opposed to the president. The president has powers of dissolution, so if a president is elected at a time when the National Assembly has a majority opposed to the president, a dissolution can be arranged immediately after the president takes office.

Cohesion Fund [See: Economic and Social Cohesion]

Cold War

A ‘Cold War’ was so called because a state of armed conflict had not yet arisen. The term is applied to the situation whereby the Western powers on the one side (in particular the USA and its NATO allies) and the USSR and its satellite states on the other side, regarded each other with hostility. They therefore directed military and foreign policy under the assumption that war with the other side was a likely future event. They engaged in a competitive arms race, and sought through cultural, economic and diplomatic means to influence other countries in their favour, especially countries whose geographic location or natural resources (such as oil) could be of crucial significance in affecting the outcome of such a future war.

The Cold War was based on each side’s perceptions of the other as ideological enemies whose intentions, whether declared or denied, would be to expand territorially and to weaken and eventually overcome the other side. The West could point to the USSR’s hegemony in Eastern Europe after the Second World War, its communisation of its zone of occupation in Germany and its support for communist groups in Western countries and for anti-Western groups in third world states such as Egypt and Cuba. The USSR regarded the West as a group of countries which had failed to eradicate fascist and imperialist tendencies in their countries, whose reliance on capitalism protected the propertied classes and exploited the working class, and which, because of imperialism, sought to retain or extend its powers in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The failure of the USSR and the Western occupying powers in Germany to agree on policies for the treatment of Germany after the war both exacerbated the situation of mutual distrust and provided each side with propaganda to use against the other side. Some would include Asian communism and the reaction of the West to the crises in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan within their definition of the ‘Cold War’.

It is difficult to put a precise date on the commencement of the Cold War. Some date it to the 1920s or the 1930s when Stalin came to rule the USSR. Others consider the start of the Cold War to date from the Potsdam conference, the Berlin blockade or the creation of two separate states in Germany in 1949. Most would agree that it ended – at least in its European version – in or around 1990, with the reunification of Germany and the commencement of transitions to democracy in the USSR and its former satellite states. This termination owed much to the reform policies of Gorbachev, but also to the realisation in communist states that economic and technological backwardness and a failure to afford to keep pace with Western developments in armaments meant that the communist camp had ‘lost’ the Cold War.

[See also: Berlin blockade; glasnost; perestroika; Potsdam conference; reunification of Germany]

collaboration

The term: collaboration is applied to those governments, groups and individuals who actively co-operated with Nazi occupying forces in European countries during the Second World War. The term originated in France, where General Pétain of the Vichy government announced that he would ‘enter into the way of collaboration’ in October 1940. After the liberation of France in 1944 the tide turned against collaborators. It was rumoured that over 100,000 were executed, although estimates now suggest a figure of some 10,000. There was no thorough purge of public officials needed to lead France’s reconstruction after the war, nor of commerce and business. In spite of the anti-collaborator policy, some Vichy officials were even elected to Parliament after 1945.

[See also: Resistance groups; Vichy regime]

Colonels’ coup (Greece)

Following a series of centre-left governments in Greece in the 1960s, a military coup was carried out in Greece in April 1967 by a group of officers, led by Colonel Papadopoulos. This military junta – which claimed, falsely, to have the support of King Constantine (who had come to the throne on the death of his father, King Paul, in 1964) – declared a state of emergency, suspending the constitution and abolishing civil liberties. Parties were persecuted, and many politicians imprisoned. The failure later that year of a counter-coup instigated by King Constantine led to the King going into exile. In 1973 an attempt to develop a more democratic form of regime was crushed by the military. In 1974 a failed attempt to secure the union of Cyprus with Greece, which provoked an invasion of northern Cyprus by the Turkish military, led to withdrawal of the military from government and the transfer of political power to a government of national unity. Free elections took place in November 1974. In December 1974 a referendum voted by a large majority to abolish the monarchy.

[See also: Enosis; Papandreou*]

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

The Common Agricultural Policy played a key role in the negotiations between the founder members of the European Economic Community (EEC) which came into being in 1958. At this time some 20 per cent of the workforce was engaged in agricultural production and France in particular wanted to establish a scheme for agricultural co-operation which would protect its smaller-scale farmers. The principles of the CAP were established in Articles 38–47 of the EEC’s founding Treaty of Rome. The fundamental objectives of the policy are (originally Article 39, now Article 33, EC Treaty) to increase agricultural productivity, thereby ensuring a fair standard of living for workers in agriculture; to stabilise markets; and to ensure the availability of food supplies at reasonable prices. The CAP proved to be an enormous drain on the resources of the EU – in 2002 it cost about 42 per cent of the EU’s budget. The policy’s intervention mechanisms tended to encourage over-production, resulting in the scandals of the EC ‘wine lake’ and ‘butter mountain’. Reforms in 1992 on beef and cereals did little to alleviate the problem. Further reforms were proposed by the Commission in Agenda 2000 (July 1997) to enable EU enlargement to countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which have large agricultural sectors. In response, a reform package was adopted in 1999 for the period 2000–06. The reforms reinforce the 1992 measures, moving away slightly from the CAP’s traditional focus on pricing policy towards an emphasis on food safety; environmental directives; sustainable agriculture; greater price competitiveness; direct income support for farmers; and a genuine integrated rural development policy.

[See also: Treaties of Rome]

consociationalism

Consociationalism is a principle for governance designed for ‘segmented’ societies: that is, societies which are deeply divided according to sectional loyalties such as religion, language, culture, etc. There are four main principles behind consociationalism: executive power-sharing by the sectors in a grand coalition; a high degree of autonomy for each sector in the management of its own concerns; the proportional representation of the sectors in representative and policy-making institutions; and veto rights for each sector over policy-making. Elements of consociationalism can be found in the political systems of Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

constitutionalism

Constitutionalism is a liberal democratic doctrine. It dates from the bourgeois revolutions in European countries which brought absolutist government under legal control. Designed to prevent arbitrary government, it encompasses principles such as commitment to the rule of law; standard procedures of government; and ‘balanced’ government, where institutions of government check each other’s authority so as to avoid a concentration of power. Constitutionalism requires that governments and legislatures defer to a body of superior rules, in practice codified in a constitution. A constitution upholds the legality of the state and guarantees the individual citizen respect for his or her liberties. Constitutionalism implies that respect for the constitutional order is the foundation of a country’s political consensus and stability. The fascist regimes in Italy and Germany during the inter-war period revealed the vulnerability of European political systems to non-liberal, arbitrary government. Following the Second World War, political elites have looked to constitutionalism as a means of strengthening their democratic systems. There is a growing belief that all government acts must conform to constitutional law to be considered legitimate. Western democracies have taken steps to standardise individual liberties and civil rights through international treaties and implement them through national and international courts. The Charter of the United Nations of 1945 and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights were followed in 1953 by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. At a domestic level, there has been a ‘judicialisation’ of politics, in many countries promoted by the work of a constitutional court.

[See also: judicialisation]

constructive vote of no confidence

A device included in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (Art. 67) which restricts the power of the Bundestag to remove a chancellor from office to cases where it can simultaneously provide a different chancellor with a majority. The constructive vote of no confidence requires that a vote of no confidence in the chancellor be combined with the nomination of a successor chancellor. If this motion receives a majority, the chancellor is compelled to resign in favour of the named successor. It has been employed twice in the history of the Federal Republic: without success in 1972, when the Brandt government had lost its majority due to defections to the opposition by some Members of the Bundestag, and successfully in 1982 when the liberal Free Democratic Party had abandoned their coalition with the SPD and promised to support the nomination of Kohl, the Christian Democratic nomination for chancellor. The device is a deliberate scheme to improve on the ‘simple’ vote of no confidence which was frequently used – or was threatened to be used – against chancellors in the Weimar Republic. This would bring about the downfall of a government without imposing on those who voted in favour any requirement to ensure that a majority for an alternative government was available.

[See also: chancellor democracy]

corporatism [See: neo-corporatism]

Crichel Down

An area in southern England which was compulsorily acquired by the state, but later returned to private ownership. It is famous as an apparent case of a ministerial resignation on grounds of civil service errors, though this is not clear, and some commentators view it as a case of ministerial resignation on grounds of policy disagreement with the cabinet.

When the Crichel Down land was returned to private ownership, it was done by invitation, rather than the required tendering process. This was criticised by the opposition, and an inquiry was held which exonerated the minister and civil servants from any charges of corrupt behaviour, but which did confirm the failure to abide by agreed rules. The then Minister of Agriculture, Sir Thomas Dugdale, made a speech on 20 July 1954 in Parliament outlining the situation, but announced his resignation at the end of that speech.

cumul des mandats

A French term, meaning ‘cumulation of offices’, which refers to the practice in France of politicians holding several elected offices (e.g. being simultaneously a member of the National Assembly and a local mayor or town councillor). Though there have been some advantages from this practice, such as strengthening representation of local interests at national level, it has also been criticised for its potentially corrupting effects and its inefficiency. Since a law was passed in April 2000, legally politicians may not hold more than two public elected offices.

democratic deficit

The term reflects concerns about the institutions and operation of the European Community, now the European Union (EU), concerns which have been mounting since the 1980s. It is suggested that powers of decision-making which are binding on European populations are being transferred from the member state national Parliaments to EU institutions which are not sufficiently democratically accountable. One aspect of the problem is that institutional checks on EU decision-making are seen as inadequate. Within the EU, executive and legislative functions are not divided between a government and a Parliament respectively, as is the case in national politics in most European countries. Instead, they are largely shared between three EU institutions: the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. As the EU has no single ‘executive’, it is difficult to control by the traditional means of parliamentary scrutiny or a constitutional court. Many decisions are made behind closed doors and it has been left to the media to expose major problems of fraud, mismanagement and corruption. This view is encouraged by the complexity of decision-making processes within the EU. Further, there is a widespread public perception of EU politicians and bureaucrats as being elitist and out of touch with the realities of life in the member states. The Amsterdam Treaty (1997) attempts to address part of the problem by providing for an extension of the powers of the European Parliament and for providing a regular flow of information to national Parliaments.

[See also: Amsterdam Treaty]

denazification

One of the core policies agreed upon by the Allied powers at the Potsdam conference in July–August 1945. It came to involve the total dissolution of the Nazi Party and all its auxiliary and associated organisations and the removal of members of the Nazi Party from public office. It also required the capture and trial of suspected war criminals and the process of investigation of all citizens (for example, by means of questionnaires) as a means of determining what, if any, sanctions should be imposed on them before they could resume a normal existence as citizens. In fact many of the intended measures had to be abandoned or diluted. The occupation authorities in West Germany found that they could not administer their zones or local areas without the assistance of Germans, most of whom had – of necessity or by choice – been members of the Nazi Party, and the questionnaire procedure proved too much of an administrative burden to carry out in a comprehensive and equitable manner. One adjunct to denazification was the policy of ‘education for democracy’, involving the reshaping of the German educational system to emphasise democratic values. Others included the political resocialisation of the citizenry to develop a democratic electorate, and the process of licensing of political parties, trade unions and other associations, and the mass media, to ensure that they were free from any taint of nazism.

In the Soviet zone of occupation, denazification was pursued very vigorously, and became combined with the policy of creating a communist society in that zone. Consequently many persons were imprisoned or even executed, often without any proper judicial process, and the Soviet occupation authority was able to proclaim in February 1948 that denazification had officially been successfully completed in that zone.

[See also: fascism; nazism; Nuremberg tribunal; Potsdam conference; Vergangenheitsbewältigung]

détente

A term generally applied to relations between the Western nations and communist states in the Cold War. It refers to the condition of decreased international tension, resulting from foreign and defence policy decisions. It can be applied to various periods in the Cold War (and there is no logical reason why the term should not be applied to periods in relations between other sides in a situation of international tension, such as between India and Pakistan concerning Kashmir, or Western powers and post-Shah Iran). However, it is more commonly applied to the period in the 1970s when the USA and West European states deliberately sought to develop improved relations with the USSR and China. This involved steps such as Nixon’s visit to China and formal diplomatic relations between the USA and China in President Carter’s term of office. Germany’s Ostpolitik (policy towards Eastern Europe) developed especially by the government of Chancellor Brandt, and the Helsinki accords (1975), also made a contribution, though the failure of the USSR and its bloc partner states to observe the human rights provisions of those accords and renewed international interventions (for example in Angola and Afghanistan) by the USSR led to a deterioration in relations with the West. The accession to power of Gorbachev in the USSR produced another period of détente which lasted until the replacement of communism by democracies in the USSR and Eastern European states.

[See also: Helsinki Agreement; Ostpolitik; Brandt*]

economic miracle

A term applied to the rapid growth of the post-Second World War economy in West Germany. The Germans used the word Wirtschaftswunder to refer to this growth period, which resulted especially from a reform of the currency, by which the new Deutschmark was exchanged for the old occupation currency, and the stimulus of aid supplied through the Marshall Plan (officially known as the European Recovery Programme), which received the approval of the US Congress in 1948. The ‘economic miracle’ owed much to the social market economy policies developed by the Economic Council of Bizonia, and by the first government of the Federal Republic, under Chancellor Adenauer and his Economics Minister, Erhard, from 1949 onwards. Production, exports and personal incomes grew rapidly for several years, and the Deutschmark became the strongest currency in Europe.

The term has also, by extension, been applied to rapid economic expansion in some other countries, such as Italy, whose miracolo economico between 1958 and 1963 produced an annual average growth rate of 6.6 per cent.

[See also: Bizonia; Marshall Plan; Adenauer*; Erhard*]

Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)

Economic and Monetary Union was the process of transition from existing national currency areas to a single currency area encompassing 12 member states of the European Union (EU). Under EMU, the 12 member states come under the authority of the independent European Central Bank (ECB), whose main task is to maintain price stability. EMU is provided for in the Treaty on European Union (TEU: the Maastricht Treaty), which came into force in November 1993. Steps towards EMU took place in three stages. Stage one (1 July 1990–31 December 1993) concerned the free movement of capital between member states, closer co-ordination of economic policies and closer co-operation between national central banks. Stage two (1 January 1994–31 December 1998) involved the convergence of the economic and monetary policies of the member states. Stage three (from 1 January 1999) required the establishment of the European Central Bank, the fixing of exchange rates and the introduction of a single currency. The single currency, the Euro, became the participants’ sole legal tender on 28 February 2002. The TEU established entry criteria for prospective members of EMU to ensure the system’s credibility: (i) an inflation rate not to exceed that of the three best performing member states by more than 1.5 per cent; (ii) an interest rate not to exceed the average of the three best performing member states by more than 2 per cent; (iii) a two-year membership of the ERM, without a devaluation, is to precede entry into EMU; (iv) the deficit-to-GDP ratio must not exceed 3 per cent; (v) the debt-to-GDP ratio of all levels of government must not exceed 60 per cent. The Stability and Growth Pact agreed at the European Council in Dublin in 1995 aims to ensure that member states continue to exercise budgetary discipline now that the single currency has been introduced. The Pact offers the Council the potential to sanction member states which fail to take appropriate action to reduce a large budgetary deficit. EMU is now considered part of the EU’s acquis communitaire (existing body of law) and applicant states must be prepared to accept its terms on joining the Union. Nevertheless, some existing member states have qualms about exchanging their traditional currencies and independent monetary control for a common scheme, and it remains uncertain whether the UK, Denmark and Sweden will subscribe to EMU at all.

[See also: acquis communitaire; European Central Bank]

Economic and social cohesion

Economic and social cohesion became a Communities objective with the Single European Act (1986). It aims to create a balanced and sustainable development, reducing structural disparities between regions and member states and thereby securing equal opportunities for all European citizens. Cohesion policy is implemented through a variety of funding processes, principally through the Structural Funds. The Cohesion Fund of the European Union (EU) was established in 1994 under the terms of the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty). This fund is used to part-finance environmental and transport infrastructure projects in economically underdeveloped member states to help them meet the convergence criteria for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The Cohesion Fund was negotiated to persuade the poorer member states – Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain – to support EMU during the negotiations of the Maastricht Treaty. From 1994 to 1999, the funding of economic and social cohesion was the Community’s second largest budget item (after the CAP), costing around 35 per cent of the budget. With the prospect of EU enlargement, expected to bring in new and relatively poor countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Community’s structural policy was reformed in 1999 to improve its effectiveness. Its budgetary allocation was increased from EUR 208 billion to EUR 213 billion for 2000–2006, including EUR 195 billion for the Structural Funds and EUR 18 billion for the Cohesion Fund.

[See also: additionality; Common Agricultural Policy; Economic and Monetary Union; Single European Act]

empty chair crisis

In July 1965, France precipitated a crisis in the European Economic Community by walking out of the Council of Ministers and the Committee of Permanent Representatives. This blocked the decision-making processes of the Community until the crisis was resolved with the Luxembourg compromise in January 1966. The French delegation had objected to a Commission proposal: to link a financial provision for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with an institutional reform which would increase its own power and that of the European Parliament. France was in favour of supporting the CAP, but not of increasing the power of the ‘supranational’ institutions of the Community. The French also objected to the introduction of majority voting in the Council of Ministers, which, according to the terms of the Treaty of Rome, was due to come into effect in January 1966. The final outcome was as follows: a temporary funding scheme for the CAP was adopted; the proposed institutional reform was deferred; and the Luxembourg compromise adopted the principle of majority voting in the Council of Ministers, but acknowledged the right of any member state to require unanimous decision-making on issues concerning its own special interests.

[See also: Common Agricultural Policy; Luxembourg compromise; Treaties of Rome]

Enosis

A movement originating in the 1930s in Cyprus to bring about union between Cyprus and Greece. It attracted much support in the 1950s, especially the EOKA (the underground organisation of Cypriot nationalists) and the religious leader, Archbishop Makarios. Terrorist outrages against the British colonial government of the island became frequent. The United Kingdom gave Cyprus its independence in 1960, but the demand of Greek Cypriots for union with Greece continued. An attempt to declare unilateral union with Greece led to the partition of Cyprus, because the Turkish minority invited the Turkish military to come to their aid as protection against such union.

[See also: Makarios*]

ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna; Basque Nation and Liberty)

ETA was formed in the late 1950s as a radical and militant breakaway movement from the traditional Basque nationalist party, the PNV. The movement was formed in the context of the active repression of the Basque culture and language by the Spanish state, and of regional autonomy in general, under the Franco regime. Although heavily factionalised and prone to divisions over tactics, the movement shares a rationale of armed struggle with the Spanish state. ETA has carried out kidnappings, assassinations and bombings. It has targeted individuals it sees as representative of the Spanish state and has also engaged in more indiscriminate violence, such as the bombing of tourist areas in Spain. In December 1973 the group killed Franco’s appointed Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. In 1978 the political party Herri Batasuna (HB) was founded as ETA’s political wing. Governments of democratic Spain have attempted to negotiate a cease-fire with ETA leaders, but, although temporary cessations of violence have been achieved, the movement remains an active terrorist threat. By 1988 the main parties of the Spanish Parliament had signed an anti-terrorist pact with all of the Basque parties except HB. In 1992 police operations managed to prevent ETA from disrupting the Barcelona Olympic Games and tensions began to emerge between ETA and HB as the political wing believed that continued ETA terrorism would damage their electoral base. Several of ETA’s leaders were captured in 1994, but the violence continued. In April 1995 Aznar, leader of the christian democratic People’s Party (PP), narrowly avoided death in a car bomb attributed to ETA; in July 1997 the group kidnapped and later shot dead a local PP councillor, Miguel Angel Blanco, when the government refused to meet demands that ETA prisoners be transferred to the Basque country to serve their sentences. This incident provoked massive popular demonstrations against ETA. In 1998 ETA declared an end to its military activity, but has since resumed the armed struggle.

[See also: Basque separatism; Aznar*; Carrero Blanco*; Franco*]

eurocommunism

A term applied to the reformist strategies pursued by several West European communist parties (especially those of Spain and Italy) in the 1970s, and given formal expression in a joint statement by the leaderships of the Spanish and Italian Communist parties in 1975. This strategy emphasised independence from the ideological leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, acceptance of parliamentary multi-party political procedures and emphasis on legislative reform at the expense of revolution as a method of promoting communist goals. Democracy, pluralism and tolerance were accepted as features of the political system within which communist parties should function, and the existing constitutional arrangements were respected. However, relatively little electoral benefit resulted from adoption of eurocommunist principles, and the significance of this development tended to fade away, until the reforms of Gorbachev in the USSR made the notion superfluous.

[See also: historic compromise]

European Central Bank (ECB)

The European Central Bank of the European Union came into operation during stage three of the plans outlined in the Maastricht Treaty on Economic and Monetary Union on 1 January 1998. It took over from the European Monetary Institute (EMI). The ECB is an independent body with sole responsibility for formulating and implementing the EU’s single monetary policy. It pursues price stability, ensuring noninflationary money supply and monetary growth and conducting monetary policy for the single currency area. Now that the ECB has come into operation, the member states’ existing central banks will function as ‘regional’ central banks. Together with the ECB, they form the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The ECB makes policy through its Governing Council, composed of the governors of the member state central banks and the ECB’s six-member executive board. The ECB is accountable to the European Parliament, and is based in Frankfurt, Germany.

[See also: Economic and Monetary Union]

European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC)

The first supranational institution in Europe after the Second World War, and a forerunner of the European Union. The ECSC was formed as a response to the unresolved problem posed by West Germany’s coal and steel industries, which were to be controlled by some form of international authority as a guarantee that they would not be a resource for future German aggression. The Schuman Plan (1950) set out a proposal to combine the coal and steel productive resources of several states under international control. The intention was to ensure that France and Germany would not be able to go to war with each other in the future, because of this mingling of their coal and steel resources, and to promote European co-operation more generally. Germany and France were joined by Italy and the Benelux countries to form a six-state group, which signed the Treaty of Paris in 1951 to initiate the ECSC in 1952. A Council of Ministers supervised a supranational executive (the High Authority), and both a legislative assembly consisting of a selection of members of national parliaments, and a court to adjudicate on disputes, were included in the Treaty. A levy on sales of coal and iron and steel products provided the ECSC with its financial resources. The success of this scheme and the pattern of institutions which had been devised led directly to the Treaties of Rome, creating for the same six states a European Economic Community (EEC) and EURATOM. Together with EURATOM (the supranational atomic energy authority) the ECSC and EEC were merged into the European Community (EC) in 1967.

[See also: Monnet*; Schuman*]

European Currency Unit (ECU)

The European Currency Unit (ECU) functioned as the currency of the European Communities (EC) prior to the introduction of the Euro. It was used to calculate the Communities’ accounts, replacing the European Unit of Account (EUA) when the European Monetary System (EMS) was established in 1979. The EC budget was represented in ECU, as were grants received from the EC or fines levied by the European Court of Justice. Also, each member state participating in the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) had a bilateral exchange rate against the ECU. On 1 January 1999, the ECU was replaced by the Euro on a one-for-one basis in all contracts.

[See also: Economic and Monetary Union]

European Defence Community (EDC): Pleven Plan

Shortly after the Second World War, there was an attempt to create the European Defence Community as a Western European defence structure with a common army and a common European political authority, the European Political Community (EPC). The scheme was first proposed by the French Prime Minister, René Pleven, on 24 October 1950 as a way of meeting the threat of Soviet conventional military superiority in Europe. The EDC was launched by a treaty signed on 27 May 1952 in Paris by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. The UK supported the EDC but refused to join on account of conflicting commitments outside Europe; Denmark and Norway opposed the project. By this time, though, Western European leaders were growing less convinced of the need for full political and defence integration and conflicts over the creation of a common army prevented the further development of the EDC. The EDC collapsed when the French Parliament refused to ratify the Paris Treaty in August 1954. By this time, the Soviet threat in Europe appeared to have receded. Stalin had died, the Korean war had ended and the Soviet Union seemed content to consolidate its hold on its existing satellites. In 1955 a number of European countries formed the Western European Union (WEU), a defence organisation based on a far less integrated model of co-operation than the EDC. West German military forces were incorporated into NATO.

European enlargement

Enlargement refers to the four successive waves of new membership acceding to the European Communities in addition to the six founder members: Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Luxembourg, Italy and the Netherlands. The first enlargement took place in 1973 and brought in Denmark, Ireland and the UK as members. In 1981, Greece joined, and, in 1986, Portugal and Spain. Austria, Finland and Sweden joined in 1995. Countries applying to join the EU include Turkey, Cyprus, Malta and many of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC). In June 1993 the European Council in Copenhagen recognised the right of the CEEC to join the EU on condition that they met political and economic criteria set down by the EU and incorporated the acquis communitaire. This demand was later detailed in the ‘accession partnerships’ set out in the Commission’s document: Agenda 2000. These are pre-accession framework agreements made bilaterally between the EU and each applicant country setting out priorities and a timetable for the adoption of the Community acquis. With the opening of membership to CEEC, the European Union faces its most ambitious phase of enlargement. It is widely acknowledged that further enlargement on the scale now proposed must be accompanied by institutional reform if the EU is to function effectively in future. Institutional reform with respect to enlargement was addressed in the Amsterdam Treaty (1997), the document: Agenda 2000 adopted by the Commission in 1997 and in the Treaty of Nice (signed 2001).

[See also: Amsterdam Treaty; Treaty of Nice]

European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

An organisation created as an alternative to the European Economic Community by seven countries which had not become members of the EEC. It was initiated under the Treaty of Stockholm in 1960, signed by the UK, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Portugal. Finland and Iceland joined later. It was an arrangement to promote free trade among its member states, but without the common external tariff or the supranational institutional arrangements which were to be found in the EEC. However, changes of policy direction especially by the British government under Macmillan and Wilson meant that the UK and Denmark, two of the most important EFTA member states, left to join the EEC in 1972, and Portugal also joined the EEC in 1985. Despite closer trading arrangements with the EC, EFTA soon became almost irrelevant to its member states, and Austria, Finland and Sweden also joined the EU (as it had become) in 1995. EFTA is now a very small and relatively insignificant trading organisation.

European Unit of Account (EUA) [See: European Currency Unit (ECU)]

euro-sceptic

A term applied to those – principally in Britain, Denmark, Sweden and some of the applicant countries – who support the idea of European integration in general terms, but who question either specific key policies of the EU (such as the common currency enterprise), or the degree of detailed control exercised by the European Commission in areas such as weights and measures, norms and standards, social and cultural policies or civil rights, or the extension of harmonisation to new areas of policy. Euro-sceptics challenge the economic, political and social assumptions made by those who favour greater integration, especially with regard to the effects this would have on national economies. However, euro-sceptics do not support British withdrawal from the EU.

Eurosclerosis

During the 1970s, the European Community (EC) was afflicted by a period of ‘Eurosclerosis’ when it seemed incapable of effective management and decision-making. At a procedural level, an increasing workload and the need for unanimity in the Council of Ministers slowed the decision-making processes of the EC and contributed to a serious loss of confidence in its institutions. Between 1973 and 1974 the European economy came under intense pressure from the first oil crisis, in which the price of oil quadrupled. Unable to reach agreement on a joint EC response to the energy crisis, they became increasingly protectionist. Alarmed by the lack of political leadership within the EC, President Giscard d’Estaing of France and Chancellor Schmidt of West Germany proposed regular summit meetings between the heads of government of the member states. The summits were intended to provide a forum for economic planning and policy development within the EC. In 1974 this forum became known as the European Council and in 1987 it gained formal recognition under the Single European Act (SEA).

[See also: Luxembourg compromise; Single European Act; Giscard d’Estaing*; Schmidt*]

Events of May (1968) [See: May Events]

Évian Agreements

A set of agreements signed in Évian in March 1962 between the French government and representatives of the Algerian independence fighters, which brought an end to the state of war between the independence movement and France in Algeria, and paved the way for Algerian independence, following referenda in France. These referenda produced majorities supporting Algerian independence, though the OAS (the ‘secret army’) continued by violent means to oppose independence.

[See also: Algerian conflict; Secret Army Organisation; de Gaulle*; Soustelle*]

Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM)

The Exchange Rate Mechanism was the central tool of the European Community’s European Monetary System (EMS). The EMS, in operation from March 1979 to the introduction of the Euro, was a scheme designed to preserve a reasonable level of price stability between the member states in the context of fluctuating national exchange rates. The ERM allowed the member states’ currencies to shift in value in relation to one another only within predetermined parameters. The UK joined the ERM in 1990, but was forced out on 17 September 1992, along with Italy. Similar to the original ERM (ERM I), ERM II regulates the valuation of the Euro in relation to other (non-EMU) member state currencies.

[See also: Economic and Monetary Union]

extra-parliamentary opposition (APO)

The German term APO (Ausserparlamentarische Opposition) referred to a loose alliance of radical democrats and Marxists in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), which had a strong influence on the development of radical politics in the FRG. From 1966 to 1969, the government coalition in the FRG comprised the two main parties, the christian democratic CDU/CSU and the social-democratic SPD, which had previously opposed one another. The only parliamentary party left outside the coalition was the small, liberal FDP, too marginal a force to act as an effective parliamentary opposition. In this context, the APO emerged, arguing that opposition had to be exercised from outside Parliament. The APO saw itself as part of a world revolutionary movement. It opposed the USA’s involvement in Vietnam and supported the protests comprising the May Events in France (1968). The APO was dominated by the Socialist German Student Association (SDS), a group debarred from the SPD because of its radical extremism. The APO pressed for reforms to the outmoded system of higher education and also for radical reforms to the state institutions. It was particularly opposed to the use of emergency laws and anti-radical loyalty tests for state employees. It found support from university students and from some of the citizen initiative groups, but its failure to secure much support amongst the working class and trade unions led to the fragmentation of the movement from 1969. It collapsed after the government introduced reforms in higher education. Some APO members decided to work within the system, joining the SPD or the civil service: an approach termed the ‘long march through the institutions’. Others retained a radical approach, turning to environmentalism or even terrorism – the Baader-Meinhof group had its roots in the APO.

[See also: Baader-Meinhof group; May Events]

Falklands War

The military conflict in 1982 in the Falkland Islands, a British colony in the south Atlantic, provoked by the Argentinean invasion. Argentina had long disputed the right of the British to exert sovereignty over the islands, and negotiations concerning the islands had taken place under United Nations auspices for some years, without result. The British military force sent to the islands by sea and air eventually compelled the surrender and withdrawal of the Argentinean invasion force. Mrs Thatcher and her Conservative government benefited from popular support for her actions, and her party won a resounding victory at the general election the following year, due, according to many experts, in large measure to ‘the Falklands factor’. Currently the Falkland Islands remain under British sovereignty, in conformity with the wishes of the inhabitants.

A long-running controversy concerned the circumstances under which the Argentine cruiser ‘Belgrano’ was sunk by a British submarine. Claims were made that, when sunk, it was outside the exclusion zone (an area of the sea surrounding the Falkland Islands) imposed by Britain.

fascism

A name first used by Mussolini for his nationalist and authoritarian movement which later took power in Italy. It was then applied to other movements or political parties whose ideologies shared many of the principal characteristics of Italian fascism, especially the Nazis in Germany, but also Franco’s Falange movement and radical right-wing parties in France, Britain and several other European countries in the 1930s.

There remain deep disputes concerning the definition and the applicability of the term: fascism. For communists, it is equivalent almost to anti-communism, and anti-fascism has been used – by the USSR in its zone of occupation in Germany and in the Eastern European states over which the USSR exercised hegemony – to mobilise the population in favour of communism and against perceived enemies of communism. Definitions focus upon several distinguishing features of fascist ideology. These include belief in a charismatic leader, such as Franco, Hitler and Mussolini; active promotion of nationalism, in defence against alien immigration or racial integration, and perhaps involving territorial expansion and military strength; and hostility to liberal democracy as a political system based on divisive pluralism and effete tolerance of views and interests hostile to the nation or race. Fascism also often includes acceptance of ideological pronouncements, especially from the leader, as scientifically irrefutable. However, the variations found in Nazi Germany, Franco’s Spain and Mussolini’s Italy, as well as among fascist parties and movements in countries where fascism has not been the ideology of the government, and the necessary differences in details of policy to be found among parties and movements which emphasise – different – nationalisms mean that it is difficult to form a generally accepted definition of fascism. It is unhelpful to apply the term indiscriminately to all radical right-wing or nationalist political parties, some of which are little more than populist in their doctrines and policies.

[See also: anti-fascism; anti-Semitism; nazism; populism; Spanish civil war; xenophobia; Franco*; Haider*; Hitler*; Le Pen*; Mussolini*; Schönhuber*]

Felipeism (Felipismo)

A term applied in Spanish politics to refer to the style and approach of the PSOE and its leader, Felipe Gonzalez. This approach to party politics involved the abandonment of class-based politics by the party, with emphasis placed on the dominant leadership style of Gonzalez and a modernised, centrally directed and professionally managed party organisation. The term was applied as criticism by the opponents of the PSOE, to emphasise the tendency of Gonzalez and his government to by-pass Parliament and the lack of transparency of that government in its policy-making. Some of the characteristics of ‘Felipismo’ match the defining features of ‘catch-all’ parties, as analysed by Kirchheimer.

[See also: Gonzalez*]

final solution

The term used to refer to the policy of Hitler’s Third Reich to eliminate the Jewish population from Europe. The specifics of this policy were presented to the ‘Wannsee conference’ on 20 January 1942 by Heydrich, Himmler’s closest associate, to participants which included Adolf Eichmann. The measures involved the deportation and murder of Jews in a systematic fashion, and this conference is regarded as the signal for the commencement of the Holocaust.

[See also: Holocaust; Eichmann*]

Finlandisation

A polemical term describing those policies of Finland which were adjusted to take account of the interests of its dominant neighbour, the USSR, especially in relation to foreign affairs and security policy. By extension, the term is sometimes applied to other small, independent states, when these appear to be arranging their policies, particularly concerning security matters, to accommodate the interests of a more powerful neighbour. In the case of Finland, defeat in war against the USSR and threat of occupation by the USSR encouraged such a policy stance. A treaty between Finland and the USSR in 1948 seemed to give formal expression to this stance. After the collapse of the USSR, Finland declared itself to be no longer bound by that treaty, and negotiated a treaty with Russia signed in 1992 which contained no terms that could deserve any continued application of the term: Finlandisation.

First-past-the-post system (FPTP)

An electoral system, usually but not necessarily based on single-member constituencies, in which the candidate with the most votes is elected. Variants of the system, such as that used in France, may require that a candidate secure an absolute majority (more votes than all other candidates) to be elected on the first ballot; if that condition is not fulfilled, a second ballot, with a limited number of candidates, is then held, in which a simple majority is required for election. Elections to the British House of Commons use the FPTP system, as do British local council elections. Most ‘Additional Member Systems’ utilise FPTP voting to elect a part of the legislature (the Federal Republic of Germany and Italy, for instance, as well as in elections to the Scottish and Welsh devolved assemblies). Used without the election of additional members, the FPTP system is likely to provide a very disproportional result in terms of the percentage of seats a party obtains and the percentage of votes it has secured. The FPTP system does have advantages of simplicity and transparency, and enables elected representatives to develop close links with their constituencies.

[See also: Additional Member System]

Flick Affair

A scandal concerning party financing in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Flick concern, a large industrial company, had sold a large holding of shares in the Daimler-Benz company in 1975, reinvesting most of the proceeds. The Ministers of Economics (Friderichs, then later Lambsdorff ) certified as required by law that the reinvestment was beneficial to the country’s economy, and so these funds escaped profits tax. It later came to light that a series of secret donations by the Flick company to political parties (including the Free Democrats, to which Friderichs and Lambsdorff belonged) could have influenced the decisions of these ministers. Lambsdorff resigned as minister in 1984 when charges were brought against him. Charges of bribery were not pursued due to lack of sufficient evidence, but in 1987 Lambsdorff, Friderichs and the agent of Flick, von Brauchitsch, were found guilty of tax evasion (since the donations had improperly escaped taxation) and fines were imposed. A series of constitutional court cases on party financing and reforms of the Party Law relating to donations were direct consequences of the Flick Affair.

floating voter

Voters who do not admit to long-term identification with a particular political party, and who are prepared to assess their likely voting decision at every election, sometimes switching from one party to another at successive elections. It is generally accepted that over the past two decades the proportion of floating voters has increased (even if in fact some do vote for the same party as at the previous election).

Fundis [See: Realos and Fundis]

G-7 [See: Group of Eight]

G-8 [See: Group of Eight]

Gang of Four

The name associated in British politics with four former Labour Party ministers: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams, who resigned from the party in 1981 to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP). They did so because of concern about the leftward direction of the party under its new leader, Foot, and its hostility to British participation in the progress of European integration. The SDP had hoped to attract a substantial number of Labour MPs and peers, but few others joined the ‘gang of four’. To avoid splitting the centre-left vote at the general election of 1983, the SDP formed an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party, and in that election the Alliance secured the highest third-party share of the vote since the Second World War (25.4 per cent, just over 2 per cent behind the Labour Party) and for a time in late 1981 and early 1982 the Alliance was more popular than the Conservatives or the Labour Party in opinion polls. The SDP had over 55,000 members for most of its existence. Though the Alliance did moderately well in the 1987 general election (22.5 per cent), it had failed to displace the Labour Party as the chief opposition party in Britain. A decision was therefore made by the two Alliance parties to merge into a single party. Though Owen and a small number of SDP politicians remained outside this merged party (as did a small number of Liberals), the merger, supported by membership ballots following decisions by each party’s delegate conference, took place in early 1988. Owen and his small group of supporters continued as an independent political force for two years, but with no success.

Gastarbeiter

A German term (meaning ‘guest-worker’) which refers to the foreign employees brought to the Federal Republic of Germany, originally on the basis of a short period of residence, to be followed by a return to the home country and the entry of replacement workers on a kind of rotation system. However, large numbers of such workers stayed on in the Federal Republic, many of whom have married and had children in Germany, which leads to issues concerning naturalisation. Originally brought to the Federal Republic to meet labour shortages, guest-workers are the target in times of unemployment of racial abuse and campaigns for their repatriation.

GCHQ case

In 1984, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) case established an important precedent: that the UK government could no longer be considered immune from a legal challenge on the grounds of the ancient prerogatives of the Crown. The UK government had debarred staff of GCHQ, who dealt with highly confidential government matters, from trade-union membership. GCHQ staff challenged the ban on the grounds that it had been made without consultation. In defending its action, the UK government claimed that prerogative powers could not be reviewed by the courts and that their decision was therefore unchallengeable. The staff lost their case as it was deemed to be against the interests of national security for them to be unionised. Nevertheless, it was ruled that a decision taken under prerogative powers may be the subject of judicial review.

[See also: judicialisation]

German question

In general terms, the ‘German question’ has referred to issues of Germany’s identity as a nation and boundaries as a state, and thus also to its status in international politics and its relations with other states, especially its neighbours. Thus even prior to German unification in 1871, the ‘German question’ arose in the diplomatic settlements following the Napoleonic wars and in the debates in the Frankfurt Parliament (1848–49), for example. Following the creation of the Second Empire by Bismarck in 1871, the ‘German question’ was a factor in the causes of the First World War and the peace settlement that followed its conclusion. The territorial losses and humiliating terms of the Versailles Treaty (1919) provided political ammunition for Hitler and contributed to his rise to power and to the expansionist policies of Germany leading to the Second World War. Since 1945, the Potsdam conference, the occupation of Germany, Germany’s division, the Oder–Neisse and Saarland issues, and the diplomacy which led to the reunification of Germany were all caused by, or affected, the ‘German question’. If ever it could be claimed that the ‘German question’ has been resolved, it would appear to be so now, following the treaties in 1990 which established the diplomatic and territorial status of reunified Germany.

[See also: Cold War; Hallstein Doctrine; Oder–Neisse line; Ostpolitik; Potsdam conference; reunification of Germany; Saarland question; ‘Two plus Four’ talks]

Gibraltar

Gibraltar forms a peninsula on the Spanish coast. It is of strategic importance as it allows control of the Gibraltar straits which link the Atlantic and the Mediterranean seas. Under Spanish control since 1462, it was taken by the British navy in 1704, became a British possession in 1713 and a Crown Colony in 1830. After a counter-claim by Spain, Gibraltar was awarded self-government in 1964. Negotiations between Britain and Spain followed, but broke down in 1966. In a referendum in 1967, a 95 per cent majority voted against becoming part of Spain. In response, General Franco closed the border in 1969. The issue resurfaced in the 1980s with Spain’s application to join the EC. In order to gain the UK’s support for its membership, Spain allowed some border traffic from 1982 and reopened the border in 1985.

glasnost

Glasnost (openness) was one of the innovative principles adopted by Gorbachev after his appointment as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985. Gorbachev believed that the Soviet Union was stagnating as a superpower because of the decline of discipline, order and morality. He saw greater openness as both a desirable end in itself and as a means of reviving an inert society. Problems should be faced openly and honestly and not denied as had been the practice under past Soviet leaderships. Debate began on formerly ‘closed’ issues such as the role of women in Soviet society, the environment (particularly after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Kiev on 26 April 1986) and the problem of crime in the Soviet Union. The notion of glasnost widened to encompass freedom of speech and of publication. Criticism was tolerated, first of Stalin, then even of Lenin, the main founder of the Soviet state. Previously banned works by authors such as Solzhenitsyn, Shalamov and Koestler were openly published for the first time. Together with perestroika (reconstruction), the term glasnost entered into common currency also in Western Europe, symbolising the new approach to government and international relations promoted by Gorbachev. The two concepts galvanised a reform process throughout Central and Eastern Europe and eventually helped to overthrow Communist rule in these countries and in the Soviet Union itself.

[See also: perestroika]

Godesberg Programme

The new basic programme of the West German Social Democratic Party, approved in 1959 at the party’s congress in Bad Godesberg (near Bonn). It replaced the then-valid Heidelberg Programme (1925), which still bound the SPD to a Marxist, class-based collection of policies and attitudes, out of place in the rapidly modernising post-war society of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Godesberg Programme accepted the market economy, whilst emphasising the continuing role of the state in regulating the economy. It abandoned phraseology which seemed to attack the churches. It accepted the need for German contributions to its own defence and membership of regional defence organisations such as NATO. The party in fact had already been operating as a more modern and less class-related party, and this Programme, the product of a long period of discussion within the party, was as much a means of bringing the programmatic basis of the SPD in line with its actual attitudes and policies as it was a significant reformist document. Following the acceptance of the Godesberg Programme, the SPD gained 2–3 per cent at every federal election until in 1972 it overtook the Christian Democrats for the first time and became the largest single party in the Bundestag. This was largely due to the extension of its electoral appeal to groups beyond the working class and trade union members. It thus became, like the Christian Democrats, a ‘catch-all party’.

Good Friday Agreement

The Treaty of 22 May 1998 which formed the basis for a peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland. Following nearly two years of talks involving the various parties and political groups in Northern Ireland, as well as the British and Irish governments, an agreement was reached on 10 April 1998. The core of the Treaty resulting from that agreement was a consensus that ‘reaffirms total and absolute commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences on political issues’. It involved changes to British law and the Irish constitution to ensure that the future status of Northern Ireland could only be settled by the consent of the people of Northern Ireland. It provided a basis for the creation of a legislative assembly with devolved powers which would represent proportionally the various Northern Irish parties, and a power-sharing executive government based on that assembly. Cross-border structures would provide for co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, and a British–Irish Council would link the Irish government to the government of the United Kingdom and the devolved Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish authorities. Prisoners with paramilitary status would be released over a 3-year period, and there was a commitment to decommission armaments held by non-state organisations. The Good Friday Agreement was confirmed by referenda in Northern Ireland (where 94 per cent voted in favour on a 56 per cent turnout) and in the Irish Republic (71 per cent in favour on an 81 per cent turnout). Implementation of the Treaty has proved problematic, mainly because of disagreements concerning the timing and modalities of decommissioning of armaments. A number of brief suspensions of the Assembly have been imposed by the British government to allow time for talks to be held to resolve such disputes. Conflicts concerning traditional parades and terrorist activity by paramilitary organisations which were not parties to the agreement have also proved disruptive to the ‘peace process’ since 1998.

[See also: Irish Republican Army; Adams*; Paisley*; Trimble*]

Grabenwahlsystem (Germany)

An electoral system which institutes a ‘ditch’ (‘Graben’) between seats won under a first-past-the-post electoral system and those awarded through proportional representation. The name was applied to the proposed revision in 1956 of the two-vote proportional representation system of election used in the Federal Republic of Germany, under which the allocation of seats on a proportional basis would be confined to the 50 per cent of Bundestag seats drawn from party lists, and would not (as the Electoral Law of 1953 had provided) take into account in such allocation any constituency seats won by a party. Since small parties tend in Germany not to win constituency seats, this would have, in effect, halved their Bundestag representation compared to the existing two-vote system. For example, if the Free Democratic Party (FDP) secured 10 per cent of list votes, they would expect to win about 50 seats in the pre-reunification Bundestag (10 per cent of 496 seats). The fact that the party won no constituencies would be irrelevant. Under the Grabenwahlsystem, the 10 per cent would be calculated only for the 248 list seats available, giving the party only about 25 seats. The larger parties would win their proportional share of list seats, plus the constituency seats they had won. Thus the Christian Democrats, with, say, 47 per cent of list votes (their vote-share in the 1965 Bundestag election) would get about 116 list seats (47 per cent of 248); since they also won 154 constituency seats, they would have had 270 seats, providing an absolute majority, rather than the 242 seats which they were in fact allocated. Though the idea was floated by Christian Democratic politicians in 1956, it was soon abandoned, especially after strong opposition from the FDP.

[See also: Young Turks’ Revolt]

grand coalition

A coalition composed of the two largest parties in a party system, usually parties which would normally be in direct opposition to each other. A grand coalition could also include one or more smaller parties, though this would not normally be necessary to provide a majority, so such a coalition would be over-sized. Austria was governed by grand coalitions consisting of the christian democratic People’s Party and the Social Democrats from the end of the post-war occupation regime until 1966, and from 1986 until 1999, and the Federal Republic of Germany was governed by a grand coalition of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats from 1966 until 1969. Grand coalitions have also sometimes been formed at Land level in the Federal Republic of Germany. They are generally criticised for removing effective opposition in Parliament.

green card system (of immigration)

The term ‘green card’ refers to a controversial new policy trend in Western European countries, based on practices in the USA. Amongst would-be immigrants, highly skilled and well-qualified individuals are selected by host state immigration procedures for special ‘fast-track’ entry. In March 2000, Chancellor Schröder of Germany proposed to meet a shortfall of specialists in Germany’s industrial technology sector by giving temporary work permits to as many as 30,000 foreign computer experts. In March 2002 a law was passed to allow up to 1.5 million skilled workers to migrate to Germany. The proposal met with criticism from trade unions and opposition christian democrats. In a report of February 2001, EU Commission President Romano Prodi distinguished between mass immigration and a programme of co-ordinated admission of skilled workers, arguing that the EU would need at least 1.6 million new ‘qualified immigrants’ to achieve its goal of becoming the world’s most competitive economic area by 2010.

[See also: immigration]

green movement

The green movement was one of the new social movements which, from the 1960s to the 1980s, challenged the post-war consensus in Western European countries. The green movement began with specific ecologist or environmentalist campaigns at the local level. It then extended its organisation to the national level in order to strengthen its political impact, beginning with the formation of umbrella organisations of green activists in the early 1970s. Concern over the use of nuclear energy helped to consolidate the green movement. After the 1970s oil crisis, many European governments decided to expand their civil nuclear energy programmes. Green activists found this alarming, both because of the potential for accidents and the chance that civil nuclear capacity might later be diverted to military uses. In the late 1970s, these concerns were compounded by the NATO twin-track decision on intermediate nuclear forces and the eventual stationing of cruise missiles and Pershing II in Western Europe. In many countries, peace activists and environmentalists joined forces over the issue of nuclear power, creating a broad-based movement with links with other countries. In the early 1980s, most green movements tried to persuade the socialists or social democrats in their national Parliaments to take up their proposals. Whereas some socialist factions were prepared to promote anti-nuclear or environmentalist issues, they could not support the greens’ more radical demands, particularly calls for limits to economic growth to secure sustainable development. The established political parties have always seen constant economic growth as the key to improving the quality of life of the population and thereby to maintaining their support at elections. Finding their efforts blocked, many of the European green movements decided to set up their own parties to pursue their specific interests.

[See also: NATO twin-track decision; new social movements; Fischer*; Kelly*]

Group of Eight (G-8)

The name given to meetings of finance ministers and heads of central banks of the economically most important states and the EU. These meetings are to settle issues relating to the state of the global economy, exchange rates and financial issues affecting particular countries. The countries involved are: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the USA (the ‘Group of Seven’: G-7), and, since 1991, Russia. It can also be applied to summit meetings of the heads of government of those states. Depending on the agenda, at meetings of the finance ministers the EU is represented by the Economics Commissioner, the president of the European Central Bank and the finance minister of the country holding the presidency of the EU at the time (who might also be attending as a national representative, if that country is one of the G-8 states). At meetings of heads of governments, the president of the EU will attend.

Guillaume Affair

In April 1974 it was discovered by the German secret service that Günter Guillaume, a member of Chancellor Brandt’s personal staff, was in fact an agent of the GDR Stasi, who had entered the FRG as a refugee and had acquired employment on the staff of the Social Democratic Party. He had been promoted in 1970 to a position on Brandt’s staff in the Chancellor’s Office, and had then used this opportunity to pass secret government information to the GDR. Brandt took personal responsibility for this embarrassing scandal, and resigned as Chancellor (though he retained his post as party leader). Guillaume was sentenced to thirteen years’ imprisonment, but was released in 1981 as part of an exchange of prisoners, and returned to the GDR, where he was decorated for his espionage achievements.

[See also: Brandt*]

Gulf War

The war between military forces of the UN and Iraq, following Iraq’s attempted forceful annexation of Kuwait in August 1990. Iraq had long claimed that Kuwait really belonged to the territory of Iraq, and disputes concerning oil production levels, as well as Saddam Hussein’s territorial ambitions, led to the Iraqi invasion. A UN resolution requiring Iraqi withdrawal and the imposition of economic and diplomatic sanctions failed to produce an Iraqi withdrawal, so a military invasion of Iraq took place in January and February 1991 from bases in Saudi Arabia and from ships in the Gulf. British and French military forces were involved; Germany supplied only non-military resources. Iraq accepted UN resolutions and withdrew from Kuwait, but Iraqi refusal to destroy chemical and nuclear weapons resulted in the imposition of sanctions by the UN and a long-running dispute concerning UN inspection of suspected weapons facilities.

Hallstein Doctrine

Arising from the claim by the FRG that it alone was the legitimate representative of Germany, since, unlike the government of the GDR, its government had been freely elected, the Hallstein Doctrine (named after its author, Walter Hallstein) was included in Adenauer’s ‘Government declaration’ on 23 September 1955. It stated that the FRG would not have diplomatic relations with any state (the USSR excepted) which gave diplomatic recognition to the GDR. The dilemma for many states, especially those which were neutral in the Cold War, was that the trade and development aid which the FRG could supply were often very advantageous, and the gains from diplomatic relations with the GDR were limited, so it proved an effective diplomatic instrument for the Adenauer government. The Hallstein Doctrine lost its validity with the onset of the Ostpolitik, which produced a degree of détente between the FRG and the GDR and other communist states.

[See also: Cold War; Ostpolitik; Hallstein*]

Helsinki Agreement

The Helsinki Agreement (also called the Helsinki Final Act) was drawn up by 35 nations which took part in the Helsinki Conference of 1975, on European security, East–West economic co-operation and human rights. It did not have the status of an international treaty, but was rather a statement of joint commitment and political intent. The signatories included all the European states (except Albania), the USA and Canada. The Helsinki Conference also established the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), which until 1990 was the only forum in which both the capitalist and communist European states, together with the USA and Canada, met to discuss common concerns. In working towards the Helsinki Agreement, the member states of the European Communities co-ordinated their foreign policies through the mechanism of European Political Co-operation (EPC) for the first time. The human rights provisions of the Helsinki Agreement were used both in dialogue between the superpowers and increasingly within the Soviet Union to legitimise protest against the system. President Carter of the USA used the Helsinki Final Act to spotlight human rights abuses in the Soviet Union, particularly those concerning the treatment of dissidents. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, those Russian dissidents who attempted to monitor the Soviet Union’s fulfilment of the human rights clauses in the Helsinki Agreement were jailed.

historic compromise (Italy)

The historic compromise refers to the decision of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) to try to enter effective parliamentary politics through collaboration with other political parties. Since the Second World War, the PCI had been marginalised in Italian politics through the successful tactics of its rival, the christian democratic DC. The PCI had retreated into a stance of fundamental opposition and alignment with the Soviet Union. After the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, though, the party adopted an independent, Eurocommunist position which aimed to achieve socialism within the existing democratic framework. The party’s leader, Berlinguer, established the strategy of historic compromise in 1973. His efforts established the PCI as a mainstream party and eventually as a de facto party of government. In 1976 the PCI tolerated DC Prime Minister Andreotti’s coalition government, abstaining from parliamentary votes to preserve the government. After the murder of Aldo Moro, the PCI even voted with the coalition, although it was never formally a part of the government. The strategy failed through the opposition of other parties who objected to the collaboration of the country’s two largest political forces, the DC and the PCI. PCI leaders became disillusioned with the strategy when it failed to bring added electoral support, and Berlinguer dropped it in 1980.

[See also: eurocommunism; Andreotti*; Berlinguer*; Moro*]

Historikerstreit (historians’ dispute)

The bitter dispute which erupted between rival schools of historians in West Germany between 1986 and 1987 centred around the question of whether it is admissible to relativise the atrocities of the Third Reich (as suggested by the historian Ernst Nolte), or whether these must be set apart as incomparable in historical experience (as argued by the historians Ernst Jäckel and Hagen Schulze and by the philosopher Jürgen Habermas). This debate was perceived as having a direct bearing on questions of German identity and moral integrity as a nation. In short, it posed the question as to whether the Germans could ever recover from the taint of nazism. The debate developed from an academic dispute to a nationwide concern. It took on a party political slant, with representatives of parties on the centre-right arguing for relativisation and those of the centre-left arguing against.

[See also: nazism]

Holocaust

A term applied to the actions taken by the Nazi government in the Third Reich to physically eliminate the Jewish population, first in Germany, then in territories occupied by Germany during the war, by processes of mass killings, especially in concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Treblinka. It has been estimated that as many as 6 million Jews were killed by the policy of genocide adopted by the Hitler government. There has been a long and continuing debate concerning whether the Holocaust should be regarded as a unique event in history, unable to be compared to any other occurrence in any country of the world, or whether it can be classed alongside policies of mass extermination instigated in Stalin’s Soviet union, Pol Pot’s Cambodia or, more recently, in parts of Africa such as Rwanda.

[See also: anti-Semitism; Historikerstreit; nazism; Nuremberg tribunal]

immigration

Immigration concerns the entry of foreign-born people into a ‘host’ state, with the intention of living and/or working in that state on a temporary or permanent basis. Since the Second World War, long-term immigration has been steadily changing the national, ethnic and cultural balance of Western European populations. European states differ in their attitudes to and policies on immigration, but since the mid-1970s all popular host countries have tried to restrict immigration. Legal entry falls into the following main categories: temporary labour migrants, family reunion (e.g. of spouses and children of immigrants already working in the host country), asylum-seekers claiming political persecution in their own country, and refugees seeking entry on humanitarian grounds. With increasing restrictions on legal labour entry, host countries have experienced an increase in the ‘abuse’ of asylum provision, with many asylum claimants suspected of entering the country not primarily out of fear of political persecution, but in the hope of finding work. There has also been an increase in illegal immigration, often supported by ‘trafficking’ in immigrants by criminal gangs.

[See also: asylum]

informateur

A politician, often an elder statesman, appointed by a head of state to make inquiries concerning which coalition of parties might most probably command a majority and be able to form a coherent and stable government. Informateurs are employed, for example, in Belgium and the Netherlands. This procedure enables the head of state to be detached from the political process of coalition formation.

International Brigades

The International Brigades were composed of volunteers who supported the Republican cause in the Spanish civil war of 1936–39. The volunteers were communist and republican sympathisers from Europe and the United States who viewed the Spanish struggle against General Franco’s Nationalist forces as part of a more general battle against European fascism. In 1996, the surviving members of the International Brigades were awarded Spanish citizenship.

[See also: fascism; Spanish civil war]

Irish Republican Army (IRA)

An organisation which was formed in 1919, to take action first in relation to the struggle for Irish independence, then in protest at the 1922 partition of Ireland. It did this by raids on arms depots and bomb attacks, in Northern Ireland and on the British mainland. It was proscribed as an illegal organisation by the Irish government on several occasions before the Second World War. During the war it engaged in pro-German actions. After a period in the immediate post-war years when it was more or less dormant, from the mid-1950s it initiated sporadic raids on military targets in Northern Ireland and the British mainland. The commencement of civil rights protests in Northern Ireland gave the IRA a new opportunity to engage in terrorist activities, though a split concerning strategy led to the formation of an Official IRA and a Provisional IRA: the latter became the terrorist organisation which focused on securing a withdrawal by British troops from Northern Ireland. A series of bomb attacks in Britain led to the Irish government again denouncing the organisation. The IRA consented to a cease-fire agreement in 1994, and, following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, its political arm (Sinn Féin) became a partner in the all-party government formed by Trimble in 1998. However, the refusal of the IRA to give up its arsenal of weapons has been a sticking-point in the promotion of a system of peaceful and democratic politics for Northern Ireland. A breakaway group, the ‘Real IRA’, continued terrorist bombings in 2000 and 2001.

[See also: Good Friday Agreement; Adams*; Paisley*; Trimble*]

judicialisation

Western European countries have experienced a ‘judicialisation’ of politics: a development in which political debate and decision-making are becoming more strongly influenced by legal norms and court rulings. A process linked to constitutionalism, judicialisation has in many countries been promoted by the work of a constitutional court. Constitutional courts have begun to exert a significant influence over legislation and policy-making. Their rulings can set a precedent not only for future court rulings, but also for decisions of the legislative and executive branches of government. For example, a court ruling may incorporate detailed guidelines regarding the implementation of a piece of legislation which in practice channel future legislative and executive decisions in a particular direction. This role of the courts as ‘policy makers’ is a controversial one.

[See also: constitutionalism]

Kiessling Affair

General Kiessling was a senior officer in NATO headquarters. On the basis of intelligence reports accusing him of homosexuality and thus indicating that he would be a security risk, he was sent into compulsory retirement in 1983 by the Defence Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, Wörner. When these reports were shown to have been erroneous, Wörner offered Chancellor Kohl his resignation, but Kohl refused to accept it. Kiessling was unconditionally reinstated in 1984.

[See also: Wörner*]

Kopp Affair

A scandal in Switzerland, involving the first woman ever appointed as a minister in the Swiss federal government. Elisabeth Kopp was accused of using her position to inform her husband about possible links between a company with which he was concerned and investigations into laundering of drug money. She was acquitted on all charges in 1990. Repercussions from this affair included a commission of inquiry which criticised the state security services for partiality in its investigations.

Lib–Lab pact

The pact between the Labour government headed by Callaghan and the Liberal Party from March 1977 to May 1978. It resulted from the loss by the Labour government of its overall majority through by-election defeats. Steel, on behalf of the Liberal parliamentary party, offered to support the government in return for being consulted on key policies and obtaining a promise of a free vote on proportional representation for European Parliament elections (the proposal was defeated). The Liberals did not receive any ministerial posts, so the pact fell short of a formal government coalition, though an inter-party Consultative Committee was formed to institutionalise cross-party co-ordination. There was opposition to the pact in both parties, and disappointment for the Liberals regarding the timing of the general election and policy decisions.

Loi Defferre

The ‘Defferre Law’ (named for the Interior Minister in Mitterrand’s first government) which in 1982 created a legislative basis for a series of other laws extending decentralisation in France. This decentralisation programme involved transferring powers from the prefects of the Departments to presidents of elected regional assemblies and various formerly centrally controlled field services were also put under the authority of the regional councils. A new corps of local civil servants was established, equating their status with the central civil service. Prefects were replaced by Commissioners, and changes were made in the planning process to the advantage of regional and local government. Other measures, such as local electoral reform and restriction of multiple office-holding, were designed to promote local political participation and foster greater democratic accountability.

Lombardy League [See: Northern Leagues]

Lomé Convention

Based on the requirement in the Preamble to the Rome Treaty obligating member states of the EEC to maintain and foster links with their former colonial possessions, the EEC in 1963 concluded the Youandé Convention with 18 such former colonies, providing privileged arrangements for exports from those states to countries of the EEC. The entry of the UK to the EEC meant that a new arrangement, covering the many former British colonial possessions and former dominions, had to be developed. This was the Lomé Convention of 1975, providing for free trade between 44 such countries and the EEC. The number of states covered by the Convention (which has been renewed at intervals since 1975) is now over 77. These countries also benefit from subsidies, loans on specially favourable terms and development aid from the EU. The Lomé arrangements have led to disputes with GATT concerning their compatibility with global free trade arrangements; the ‘banana disputes’ by which bananas from Lomé states are given privileged access compared to Latin American bananas, is an example. Lomé V (also known as Cotonou) of June 2000 features political conditionality and aims to create a free trade area by 2020.

Luxembourg compromise

An agreement among member states of the EEC in 1966 which allowed national veto power for any member state which declared that its vital national interests would be adversely affected by a proposed decision. It resulted from the rejection by France in 1965 of proposals for reform of financing of the Common Agricultural Policy and for extension of majority voting in the Council of Ministers. France refused to attend meetings of the Council of Ministers until some compromise on these issues had been reached. The main effect of this compromise was to prevent large-scale reform of the Community for many years, and, by emphasising the inter-governmental aspects of the EEC, delayed extension of supranational policies.

[See also: empty chair crisis]

Maastricht Treaty

The Maastricht Treaty (formally known as the Treaty on European Union (TEU)), which came into force in 1993, established the European Union (EU). It provides for an EU based on three ‘pillars’: the European Communities (the EEC, ECSC and EURATOM); a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); and co-operation in the fields of justice and home affairs (JHA). While foreign and security policies remain under the authority of national institutions, the Maastricht Treaty requires systematic co-operation among EU member states on matters of concern in this area, including immigration and asylum policy; police co-operation to combat drug trafficking and other serious crime; and judicial co-operation. The Treaty provisions on CFSP and JHA are open-ended, allowing for future moves towards integration in these areas. All member states except the UK agreed to co-operate over social and economic policy under the Social Chapter. The Treaty consolidated the Single European Act (SEA) by setting a strategy and timetable for implementing Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It also created the Cohesion Fund: a regional fund to channel financial support for the improvement of transport infrastructures and for environmental upgrading in the poorer member states.

[See also: Economic and Monetary Union; Economic and Social Cohesion; Single European Act]

mafia

Originally linked specifically with eighteenth-century Sicily, the term: mafia is now used to refer generically to organised crime in the southern Italian Mezzogiorno. The mafia is no longer believed to be a single organisation with an integrated structure, but rather a network of criminal groups with local organisations, bound by strong personal connections and family ties. The network extends to Italian communities in other countries, such as the USA. The groups within the mafia network sometimes clash violently, but usually respect each other’s status within the overall hierarchy and sphere of influence. Mafia members operate the principle of omertà (the ‘anti-law’ of silence) and vendetta (revenge), making it difficult for the authorities to penetrate the organisation. The network has infiltrated and entrenched corrupt relationships with the police, local government and the courts throughout the Mezzogiorno, through which it offers patronage. In spite of violent reprisals against informers, a series of ‘maxi-trials’ involving large numbers of mafia began in 1986 on the basis of inside evidence. The network is so significant in Italian politics that at the national level there is a High Commissioner responsible for the fight against the mafia. The extent of the mafia’s involvement with Italy’s political and administrative elites was one of the main reasons for the collapse of the traditional political parties in the Tangentopoli scandal of 1992–93.

[See also: Mezzogiorno; Tangentopoli]

Mani pulite (‘clean hands’ operation)

In 1992 it was found that the Milan branch of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), a traditional party of the left, had broken the party finance laws. This discovery launched a thorough investigation into party and government affairs known as the mani pulite, or ‘clean hands’ operation. Mani pulite was the initial investigation which snowballed in 1993 as ‘Tangentopoli’ (bribe city), becoming a national investigation of corruption amongst Italian political elites.

[See also: Tangentopoli]

maquis

A name given to sections of the French resistance in the Second World War, usually those located in rural areas especially of southern France. The word derives from the scrubby undergrowth found especially in the mountainous areas where they had their bases.

[See also: Resistance groups]

Marshall Plan

A plan proposed by US Secretary of State General George Marshall in June 1947 to revive the war-devastated economies of Europe by offering financial and other forms of economic aid to those countries. It was initiated because the USA feared that the physical destruction and economic dislocation of European economies might both lead to increased support for communist parties in Europe and hamper the recovery of world trade, to the disadvantage of US commerce. European states were to propose their own plans for utilising US aid (the European Recovery Programme). The USSR, though invited to participate, rejected the conditions required, including publication of economic data, and anyway could not view such external aid as congruent with its tightly controlled centralised economic policies. This rejection led to the self-exclusion of other East European states from the scheme. An organisation, the OEEC, was created to administer and co-ordinate Marshall Aid (as US assistance under the scheme came to be known), and sixteen countries benefited from the food, raw materials, investment goods and financial aid supplied by the USA from 1948 onwards. Marshall later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the scheme.

May Events (1968)

The May Events were a series of strikes and demonstrations culminating in riots which took place in France in May 1968, producing a situation so volatile as to threaten the French Fifth Republic. The events began with student protests in Paris over the outmoded system of higher education and the lack of facilities for study. Radical student leaders saw the protests as the basis for a full-scale social and political revolution and the demonstrations escalated into riots. When the police took violent counter-measures, the rioting spread from Paris to the provinces of France. The unions called a one-day strike to express solidarity with the students, but lost control of the action which developed into a general strike. The protests collapsed when President de Gaulle enlisted the support of the army, but a conciliatory approach was then adopted by Prime Minister Pompidou, who promised education and economic reforms. The May Events inspired similar student actions in other countries, particularly Germany, and were later judged to have damaged the authority of de Gaulle.

[See also: de Gaulle*, Pompidou*]

Médiateur [See: Ombudsman]

Mezzogiorno

The term: Mezzogiorno is applied to the southern regions of Italy: Abruzzi; Basilicata; Calabria; Campania; Molise; Puglia; Sardinia and Sicily. The Mezzogiorno has remained significantly less developed than the rest of Italy in socio-economic terms and as such represents a major problem for the national government. Several factors help to account for the north–south divide. The hotter, drier climate and the mountains in much of the Mezzogiorno have restricted the development of agriculture, road and rail communications, and services to support larger settlements. Moreover, the area is prone to earthquakes. The regime history of the Mezzogiorno was more repressive than that of other areas of Italy, which experienced a wider range of government styles in the past. The mafia, the notorious network of organised crime, has its stronghold in the Mezzogiorno to this day, where it has infiltrated local government structures and represents an important (and illegal) source of patronage for the area. In political terms, the south is more reactionary and pro-monarchist than the north; also, national political leaders are more likely to be recruited from the northern regions. The term: Mezzogiorno was also applied in unified Germany in the early 1990s, when some economists drew speculative parallels between Italy and the new Germany concerning the prospects for future economic development. They feared that, as for the Italian Mezzogiorno, the new eastern Länder (formerly the German Democratic Republic, GDR) of unified Germany might become permanently dependent on subsidies from the wealthier western Länder, those of the former Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

[See also: mafia; reunification of Germany]

Modell Deutschland (the German model)

The ‘German model’ is the term used to indicate the system of political economy in Germany with its emphasis on social consensus and political regulation of the market economy. The success of this system, especially in the twenty years from 1960 to 1980 when the West German economy became dominant in Europe, led other countries to consider adopting elements of its structures. Co-determination, legal regulation of trade unions and industrial relations (but with guarantees for the status and role of the trade unions), the short-lived ‘concerted action’ system of tripartite discussion about economic parameters and, more recently, the ‘Alliance for Jobs’ (Bündnis für Arbeit) which has renewed that system of tripartite discussions have been significant elements of the ‘German model’. The term is very similar in its meaning to the ‘Rhineland model’.

[See also: co-determination; Rhineland model]

Mogadishu Affair

In 1977 the Red Army Faction (RAF) hi-jacked a West German plane, forcing it to land at Mogadishu airport in Somalia. The hostages were rescued by a daring raid on the plane by a special unit of the West German border guards. The failure of the hi-jacking (which had been intended to secure their release) led Baader and Meinhof to kill themselves in their cells in Stammheim prison.

[See also: Baader-Meinhof group; Red Army Faction]

Morgenthau Plan

A plan (formally: the ‘Programme to Prevent the Initiation of a Third World War by Germany’) proposed by Henry Morgenthau, US Secretary of the Treasury, which was adopted by the UK and USA at the 1944 Quebec conference as a basis for the treatment of Germany once the Second World War came to an end. Starting from the premise that Germany had been to blame for the war, and that the country had been dangerous because of its industrial strength as well as because of its aggressive leadership, the Plan proposed severe reduction of Germany’s industrial capacity, turning the country into an agricultural region. The Plan was abandoned in 1945 because of the severity of these proposals, and assessment of the effect which the Plan’s restriction of manufacturing and therefore on Germany’s export trade would have on the ability of the Germans to feed themselves.

NATO twin-track decision

A policy pursued by NATO, based on a decision by the NATO Council in 1979. It involved simultaneously (a) making attempts to foster détente by negotiation with the USSR and (b) ensuring by means of the stationing of medium-range nuclear missiles in Western Europe that the USSR would be deterred from nuclear attack on Western European states. Despite protests in many West European states, those missiles were put in place.

[See also: détente]

nazism

The ideology of the Nazi Party and movement founded by Hitler after the First World War, and applied as state policy during the Third Reich (1933–45).

There is dispute concerning which features are distinctive to nazism, and which belong to more general categories such as fascism or totalitarianism. However, it is generally agreed that three core elements were at the heart of Nazi ideology. First was the belief in the racial superiority of the Aryan (and especially the German) people, and consequently the racial inferiority of Slavs, Jews and other races – as set out in Hitler’s book: Mein Kampf (My Struggle). Second was the absolute authority of the leader (the Führer) and, through him, of the Nazi Party and its organisations. Third, the benefit of what the Nazis understood by ‘community’ and the harm done, as the Nazis perceived it, by political parties and other ‘divisive’ organisations to that sense of unifying community. From these ideas derive other elements, such as the threat to civilisation posed by communism, the need to ‘correct’ the penalties and humiliations imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, and the right of Germany to expand territorially: first to take in other areas regarded as rightfully ‘German’ (such as Austria, parts of Poland and Czechoslovakia, and Alsace-Lorraine), then to expand into Eastern Europe to acquire ‘living space’ (Lebensraum) for the German people.

The methods used to attain these goals involved the imposition of a totalitarian state apparatus, which involved genocide, terror, the forced inclusion of all social associations and institutions within the Nazi movement (from churches to trade unions) and the militarisation of German society.

Though nazism in this sense terminated with the destruction of Hitler’s regime at the end of the Second World War, some extreme right-wing groups – within but also outside Germany – adopt some of the ideological elements of nazism and may cherish the symbols and memories of the Hitler period. These groups are sometimes called ‘neo-Nazi’ groups. However, not all European extreme right-wing groups possess this link to nazism.

[See also: anti-fascism; anti-Semitism; denazification; fascism; Holocaust; Nuremberg tribunal; Hitler*]

neocorporatism

Neocorporatism is a system of functional representation, that is, representation according to socio-economic interest or sector. Under neocorporatism, organisations which each represent a distinct socio-economic interest have institutionalised representation within government and key decision-making bodies. In Western European democracies, neocorporatist structures supplement the channels of representation effected by plural elections and competing political parties. It is clearest in the close and formalised collaboration between government and major socio-economic interests such as employers’ federations and trade unions which takes place in countries such as Austria and the Scandinavian countries.

new politics

‘New politics’ or ‘new paradigm politics’ refers to a major shift in social attitudes and values which distinguishes Europeans growing up after the Second World War from previous generations. Writers in the ‘new social movement’ school generally agree that, in the post-war period, the increased economic development and prosperity of advanced Western industrialised societies have transformed the basic value priorities of succeeding generations of people. The ‘old politics’ of the years immediately following the Second World War encompassed values such as sustained economic growth; law and order; rigorous national security; and traditional, family-based lifestyles. These were the values embodied by and represented by the established political parties of Western Europe. The characteristic values of ‘new politics’ are environmental quality; social equality; alternative lifestyles; minority rights; and participation in political decision-making. These new issue demands initially manifested themselves in the new social movements of the 1960s to the 1980s.

[See also: new social movements]

new social movements

Social movements can be described as a conscious attempt to bring about a change in the established power structures and dominant norms and values in society and to have these new values reflected in national politics: a political challenge which attracts some mass support. The ‘new social movements’ were active across Western Europe from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. The ideologies and issues which prompted their protest action included feminism, nuclear disarmament and peace, and environmentalism (the ‘green’ movement). The new social movements challenged their states at various levels. They shared a common ideological outlook which was critical of the customary liberal democratic order and processes. They also challenged the values and policy consensus of the 1950s and 1960s. They demanded a radical new interpretation of democracy. They tried to promote individual participation in political decision-making in place of ‘ritual’ political activity, which was often in practice limited to voting. This effectively challenged the principle of representative democracy, which rests on established channels of representation through parties and parliaments. At the height of their activity, the new social movements sometimes posed a threat to public order through their unconventional protest tactics. The green movement became established as a new partisan family of political parties in Western Europe. The other movements did not translate to comprehensive party organisations in the same way.

[See also: Green movement; new politics; women’s movement]

Northern Leagues

A number of political organisations formed in the north of Italy from 1979, to press for greater autonomy and a reduction in the economic burden imposed on the more prosperous northern areas of Italy in order to subsidise the poorer southern regions. Allegations of corruption in the central government and in southern regions such as Sicily, the perceived preference in public service appointments apparently given to southerners and the heavy tax burden on small businesses were other complaints of the supporters of these Leagues. The most successful of the Leagues was the Lombard League, led by Bossi, which in 1990 won a substantial share of the vote in regional elections. Following the creation in 1991 of an umbrella organisation (the Northern League), further electoral successes, in local and national elections, followed. For a time, the Northern League participated in Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition government. The Northern League now wants a federal basis for the Italian state, in which the northern, central and southern areas would be responsible autonomously for many areas of domestic policy. Some of the more extreme supporters of the League want an independent northern state: Padania.

[See also: Berlusconi*; Bossi*]

Nuremberg tribunal

An international court created in 1945 to put leading German war criminals on trial. It was set up as a result of discussion among the Allies from 1943, as one of the methods by which denazification would be promoted. Judges were appointed by the British, French, American and Soviet Union governments. The tribunal sat from November 1945 until it delivered its verdicts in October 1946. Leading Nazi politicians, military leaders and others who occupied leading positions in the Nazi state were accused of various crimes, including ‘crimes against humanity’, and twelve were sentenced to death (including Goering, who committed suicide before he could be executed, Himmler and General Jodl), seven to periods of imprisonment (including Doenitz and Hess, who died in prison whilst serving a life sentence) and three were found not guilty and released. Other trials of lesser-known war criminals and organisations involved in Hitler’s military and racial policies subsequently took place.

The Nuremberg tribunal in particular was criticised for lacking a firm basis in international law and for the clear political basis of some of the verdicts, especially by the Soviet Union judge. However, it did attempt to elevate standards of law above political expediency and emphasise that even war was subject to certain international standards of behaviour. It also served as a symbol of the Allies’ determination to eradicate nazism from German society. The tribunal also set a precedent, which has been followed, for example, in the attempts to bring before an international court war criminals who were involved in the Yugoslavian conflicts.

[See also: denazification; nazism]

Oder–Neisse line

The post-war settlement concerning Germany reached at the Potsdam conference included a supposedly provisional agreement on the borders of Poland. As compensation for the territory formerly belonging to Poland which the Soviet Union had retained at the end of the Second World War, part of the former German state, east of the rivers Oder and Neisse, was placed under Polish administration pending a peace treaty with Germany which would officially terminate the Second World War and define Germany’s future boundaries. With the intensification of the Cold War and the division of Germany, it seemed that a peace treaty would never be negotiated, and Poland came to claim the Oder–Neisse boundary as permanent. The German Democratic Republic signed a treaty with Poland in 1950 which officially recognised this boundary between the two states. The German Federal Republic, however, claimed that the boundary could not be accepted by the Federal Republic nor be recognised in international law until such a peace treaty was signed, though in the Ostpolitik treaties it renounced any intention to use force to change existing boundaries. This attitude, though based on constitutional requirements included in the Basic Law, was regarded especially by states in the communist bloc as ravanchist, since it seemed to imply that a reunited Germany might claim back what had become de facto Polish territory. In fact, the Two plus Four talks and the agreements resulting from these made clear that a reunified German state would abandon all claims not only to territory east of the Oder–Neisse line, but anywhere in Europe.

[See also: Ostpolitik; Potsdam conference; ‘Two plus Four’ talks]

oil crisis

The first, and best-known, oil crisis occurred in 1973–74. The Arab oil-producing states used their control over a large proportion of the world’s oil production to cut off supplies to states which had been in the forefront of support for Israel in the Arab–Israeli war which had commenced in October 1973, and by reduction of output increased the world price of oil very considerably. This had a shock effect on the economies of most developed states, many of which experienced a period of negative economic growth. Unemployment increased, and remained high for several years and inflation also increased, in some countries (including the United Kingdom) to very high levels at times. Developing states and those in the communist bloc also suffered economically.

A second oil crisis, similarly produced by Arab states limiting oil production, took place in 1979 following the overthrow of the Shah of Iran. While the price of oil had quadrupled in 1973–74, it more than doubled again in 1979–80, though this price increase was relatively short lived, since Iran and Iraq, at war with each other, were forced to export more than their quota to produce revenue to pay for the war.

The oil price increases, based upon agreed production quotas, were made possible by the authority of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), founded by five states in 1960, but which by 1973 had twelve member states. The price increases encouraged states to reduce their reliance on oil as a fuel, to promote energy conservation and to intensify the search for economic alternative fuels. The fact that states such as Norway and the United Kingdom were able to produce oil outside the quotas set by OPEC buffered the effect which such quotas would otherwise have had on national economies, and by the 1990s oil production by OPEC states accounted for less than half of total production outside the communist bloc.

There was talk of a third oil crisis in 2000, when oil producers, who had experienced a decline in the price of oil (and thus their revenues) throughout the 1990s, attempted with some success to engineer an increase in the price of oil by limiting production. However, though the world market price of oil did increase, this was nothing like as large an increase as had occurred in the two previous crises. Demonstrations and protests in Western states by farmers, lorry drivers and others dependent upon oil for their commercial activities were directed, with good reason, more at governments because of levels of taxation on oil fuels than at increases in producer prices. There was justification for this, since such producer price increases constituted only a small proportion of the total price of petrol and diesel.

Ombudsman

A Swedish word, the title of an independent official responsible for receiving and investigating grievances submitted by citizens relating to maladministration by government officials. The office was originally founded in 1809. It has been adopted as a means of protecting the citizen against maladministration in other countries such as Denmark, Spain, Italy (at the regional level) and Austria. Such officials are generally appointed by, and report to, Parliament. The United Kingdom has several such officials; as well as the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, others exist for health service and local government matters, for example. Germany has an Inspector General of the Armed Forces (Wehrbeauftragter) to investigate complaints by members of the military. In France, where the office was created in 1973, the mediator (médiateur) is an official who reports to the president. The médiateur seeks an equitable solution to conflicts between citizens and the bureaucracy, on matters such as entitlements to pensions and subsidies.

Ostpolitik

Literally: ‘policy concerning the East’. The term refers to the innovative policy approach adopted by the coalition government of the Social Democrats (SPD) and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) in the Federal Republic of Germany following the 1969 Bundestag election. To some extent, Ostpolitik built upon developments which had already occurred in the period of the ‘grand coalition’ (1966–69), in which Brandt, the Chancellor of the SPD–FDP government from 1969, had served as Foreign Minister.

The Ostpolitik set out to replace confrontation with the communist bloc states of Central and Eastern Europe (a policy stance typified by the ‘Hallstein Doctrine’) with a policy focused upon diplomatic acceptance of the status quo in relation to state boundaries (especially the Oder–Neisse boundary between the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Poland) and de facto, though not de jure, recognition of the GDR as a separate state. It also included efforts to encourage trade, cultural exchanges and other contacts with those states in an atmosphere of peace. Ostpolitik included within it ‘Deutschlandpolitik’: policy towards the German Democratic Republic, where progress depended very obviously upon the consent of the leadership of the Soviet Union.

In its own terms, ‘Ostpolitik’ could be regarded as successful. In particular, four treaties were concluded which permitted improved relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and communist bloc states: the treaties with the USSR and Poland (both in 1970), an Agreement concerning the status of Berlin to which France, the United Kingdom, the USA and USSR – the four former occupying powers – were signatories (1971), and in 1972 a treaty-like Basic Agreement between the two German states (which was not called a ‘treaty’ because the Federal Republic always refused to regard the GDR as a foreign state). Because the coalition only had a small majority in 1969, and because a number of FDP and SPD Members of the Bundestag refused to support ‘Ostpolitik’ and in some cases transferred to the opposition, this policy had cost the coalition its majority by 1972. Chancellor Brandt survived a constructive vote of no confidence in April 1972, but this did not resolve the problem of not being able to put through legislation. So a premature Bundestag election was held in November 1972, which resulted in a safe majority for the Brandt coalition. Brandt himself was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his diplomatic initiatives in relation to Ostpolitik.

[See also: Basic Treaty; constructive vote of no confidence; the German question; Hallstein Doctrine; Oder–Neisse line; Brandt*]

paedophile scandal (Belgium)

The Belgian paedophile scandal challenged the judicial establishment in Belgium and the ruling Dehaene government. In August 1996 a senior magistrate uncovered a paedophile ring based in Belgium which practised the kidnapping and murder of young girls. His dismissal from the case in October 1996 led to accusations of police incompetence and official corruption. The revelations prompted strikes and public demonstrations, notably the ‘White March’ of October 1996, in which some 300,000 people took part to call for reforms to the police and judicial system. In April 1997, a parliamentary commission recommended the establishment of an integrated national police force, but in February 1998 the government opted instead to recommend voluntary agreements for co-operation between the country’s police services. In April 1998 claims of police incompetence were underlined by the temporary escape from custody of the man accused of heading the paedophile network. The Commander of the national police, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice all resigned in the aftermath of this incident.

pantouflage

A French term referring to the practice in the French political system of civil servants resigning to take up more profitable employment in the private sector.

peaceful revolution (East Germany)

The peaceful revolution of 1989 took place in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and proved to be the first step in the process of German unification. It took the form of large-scale, peaceful weekly demonstrations in urban centres throughout the GDR. The demonstrations gathered strength from late September 1989. Initially the demonstrators demanded the reform of the socialist state under the leading Communist Party, the Socialist Unity Party (SED), at least in line with the liberalisation achieved in Central and Eastern European countries. However, when the party leadership failed to respond to popular demands and even resisted calls for reform from Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, the demonstrators became disillusioned and some demanded reunification with the Federal Republic of Germany.

[See also: reunification of Germany]

perestroika

Perestroika (reconstruction) was one of the innovative principles adopted by Mikhail Gorbachev after his appointment as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985. Together with glasnost (openness), the term: perestroika entered into common currency also in Western Europe, symbolising the new approach to government and international relations promoted by Gorbachev. The two concepts galvanised a reform process throughout Central and Eastern Europe and eventually helped to overthrow communist rule in these countries and in the Soviet Union itself. Gorbachev applied the perestroika principle to carry out institutional restructuring in the Soviet Union, but did not at first attempt a thorough economic reform. Economic policy remained heavily centralised and led by the 1986–90 Four Year Plan, and, in place of the anticipated upturn, the Soviet Union’s economic problems worsened dramatically. The Communist Party factionalised around Gorbachev’s programme, and he was soon under attack from all sides. Economic reform was finally introduced in January 1989, but by this time farmers had begun to establish their own means of distributing their produce for profit. The institutional reform process continued – a partly competitive election for the Parliament, the Congress of People’s Deputies, was held in 1989 – but opposition to Gorbachev mounted. By 1990 Gorbachev had acknowledged that reform of the existing system was not enough. He now advocated a comprehensive transformation, including the introduction of fully competitive elections and a free market economy. In August 1991 there was an attempted coup by right-wing elements and on Christmas day 1991 Gorbachev resigned. The following day, the Soviet Parliament dissolved the Soviet Union.

[See also: glasnost]

Petersberg Agreements (Germany)

A set of agreements between the Western Allied occupation authorities and the Adenauer government signed on 22 November 1949 in the hotel on the Petersberg (near Bonn) to revise some of the terms and conditions constraining the sovereignty of the new Federal Republic of Germany. The Federal Republic was permitted to have consular representation in other countries. Its foreign policy remained a responsibility of the occupation authorities, though the Federal Republic could become a member of certain international organisations (including the Council of Europe). The Agreements affected other matters such as limitation of dismantling of industrial production and restrictions on the merchant navy. The Agreements clarified several ambiguities in the occupation statute and the occasion was used by Adenauer as a symbolic gesture to assert the independent status of the Federal Republic.

pillarisation

A translation of a Dutch term (verzuiling), which refers to the social and political structures in the Netherlands by which the major groupings in society (especially Catholics, Protestants, socialists and liberals) control a proportion of political and social institutions, and individuals utilise the institutions related to their social grouping, such as schools, newspapers, broadcasting stations, churches and trade unions. These proportions reflect the weight of social groups within society. Modernisation of the economy and society (and the consequent erosion of deep-seated class conflicts) and the decline in affiliation to religious groups and religious-based or ideologically-based political parties have meant that pillarisation is no longer as relevant in present-day Dutch society.

political asylum [See: asylum]

Politikverdrossenheit

Literally: alienation from politics. The term became fashionable in the early 1990s in Germany to refer to a set of developments, ranging from much-reduced electoral turnout to declines in party membership and activism, from distrust of politicians and the political process to criticism of particular policies. A series of scandals since the 1970s, the apparent inability of politicians to deal effectively with perceived problems such as immigration, unemployment and criminality, the tensions created by reunification in 1990 and the long period in office of the ruling Christian Democrat–Free Democrat coalition are among the factors blamed for this phenomenon. It is also related to the unusual degree of penetration by political parties into the economic and social spheres within German society.

poll tax

A form of local taxation to provide finance for local government authorities, introduced by the Thatcher government in Scotland in 1988 and in the rest of Britain in 1990. Officially termed the ‘community charge’, it replaced an out-moded system of taxes (the rates) based on historic valuations of homes, shops and other premises. This system of rates was inequitable, since it took no direct account of either aggregate household income or the number of earners in a household. It was not even based on up-to-date assessments of property values. The community charge was based upon the number of income-earners in a household, so was fairer in that respect, but took no account of levels of income. It was also intended to link payment of local taxes to levels of spending by local councils, and thus act as an electoral restraint on high-spending councils, where previously those who benefited from costly levels of services often escaped any payment towards them through the rating system. Protests against the inequity of the new system were immediate and became violent, coupled with a campaign of non-payment of the charge. It was asserted that the new system would benefit the wealthier sections of local communities. The poll tax damaged the image and popularity of both the Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, and her party, and was a factor in her replacement as Prime Minister by John Major. Major abandoned the poll tax, and instead introduced a different system of local taxation: the council tax, based on property values, with concession for single-person households.

popular front

The term: popular front referred to alliances of communists, socialists and liberal democrats which overcame their differences to fight fascism in Europe between 1935 and 1939. Popular front movements were brought about by a directive of the world communist movement, the Communist International, which reversed a previous policy of non-co-operation with other partisan groups to permit collaboration with other pro-democratic parties. Popular front governments formed in Spain and France in 1936. In Spain, the narrow victory of Azaña’s Popular Front government in the context of a deeply divided society precipitated the outbreak of the Spanish civil war. In France, the government, led by Léon Blum, tried to introduce social and economic reforms including the introduction of a 40-hour working week, paid holidays and collective bargaining. However, it faced difficulties in paying for the reforms in conjunction with a sharp rise in military expenditure. The Communist Party of France had refused to join the Popular Front government, but upheld its majority in Parliament. However, the Communists withdrew their support over Blum’s policy of non-intervention in the Spanish civil war.

[See also: Spanish civil war]

populism

Populist parties do not operate according to the pluralist principle in democratic politics. They do not seek to represent the interests of a particular sector of society against those of other sectors, but instead try to unite a whole society behind them. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the French Gaullist Party adopted a populist approach, appealing to the nation to support the personal leadership of General de Gaulle. De Gaulle saw himself as above politics, and did not align himself with any of the traditional ‘tendencies’ (political divisions) in French party competition. The contemporary Gaullist Party has modernised its approach. It no longer campaigns on a populist platform, instead competing with other sectoral parties for the vote of a centre-right electorate. A more extreme populist approach is found, for example, in European political parties of the extreme right.

[See also: de Gaulle*]

postmaterialism

Postmaterialism is a concept associated with the ‘new politics’ which developed from the students’ movements of the late 1960s. Postmaterialism is linked to the values of the new politics: environmental quality; social equality; alternative lifestyles; minority rights and participation in political decision-making. It is typically found in the first generation to be born after the Second World War in Western Europe and especially amongst the middle classes: people who are well-educated and who have grown up without the direct constraints of war, hunger or poverty. In particular, it criticises the ‘old politics’ values which prioritise material satisfaction, even to the point of material excess, above other life values such as spirituality and leisure. Postmaterialism has been expressed in electoral politics through environmentalist and ecologist movements (the latter is the more radical expression) and through the Green parties which developed in Western Europe from the late 1970s. Greens argue that constant economic growth is neither essential nor desirable: because of this they believe that they are fundamentally different from Western Europe’s traditional parties.

[See also: citizen initiative groups; Green movement; new politics]

Potsdam conference

The conference involving the USSR, USA and United Kingdom heads of government held in Potsdam (near Berlin) in July 1945, immediately after the end of the Second World War. It confirmed or asserted the principles upon which Germany should be governed by the occupation regime, including denazification, demilitarisation, removal of all cartels, democratisation and decentralisation of administration. Germany was to be treated as a single economic unit, with its industry to be so controlled that its people enjoyed a living standard below that of other European states. An agreement on reparations – in money and in plant and machinery – was reached. Parts of eastern Prussia were placed under Polish and USSR administration pending a peace conference to decide on Germany’s future borders (which gave rise to the Oder–Neisse border issue concerning Poland’s borders). As with the Yalta conference, differing interpretations of often rather ambiguously worded decisions led to the division of Germany and intensification of the Cold War.

Because the United Kingdom held a general election at about this time, Churchill took Attlee with him to the conference, and, when the election results showed that Attlee was to replace Churchill as Prime Minister, Churchill withdrew from the conference.

[See also: Cold War; denazification; German question; Oder–Neisse line; Petersberg Agreements; Yalta conference]

Poujadism

Poujadism, named after its founder Pierre Poujade, was a reactionary political movement which gained electoral support in France in the mid-1950s. Poujadism was anti-state (particularly anti-taxation), anti-socialist, anti-intellectual and anti-European. Its members were drawn largely from shopkeepers and the petit-bourgeoisie. The movement’s political arm was the Union for the Protection of Businesses and Craftsmen (UDCA). Initially a small sectoral group, the party soon took on a wider protest role, attacking aspects of modernisation including foreign influences in France, republicanism, bureaucracy, Paris and urbanisation. In 1955 Poujade formed a new political party, the Union and Fraternity of the French (UFF) and conducted major rallies throughout France. In the 1956 elections, the UFF won 52 seats in the parliament, the National Assembly, but declined from 1958 under the French Fifth Republic with its modernising ethos.

[See also: Poujade*]

privatisation

The transfer of ownership of economic enterprises, such as water supply or telephone services, from the state or other public authorities to private ownership. One of the first instances was the denationalisation of the iron and steel industry by the Conservative government in 1953 (though it was renationalised by the Wilson Labour government in 1967) but the policy in Britain is especially associated with the Thatcher government from 1979 onwards, when the public utilities and other state-owned commercial assets were transferred to private ownership. This policy was imitated by several West European countries for at least some of their state-owned assets (especially telecommunications, power supply and aviation) and, though in a different context, by states of the former Soviet bloc following the collapse of communist rule.

Profumo Affair

John Profumo was a minister in Macmillan’s cabinet. He resigned in disgrace from his government post and as an MP in 1963 after admitting that he had earlier lied to the House of Commons concerning a relationship with Christine Keeler. Ms Keeler was associated with, among others, a diplomat from the Soviet Union, which raised fears concerning breaches of security by Mr Profumo. The scandal was a factor in weakening support for the Conservative government, which narrowly lost the 1964 general election.

proportional representation

In the context of parliamentary and other public elections, any electoral system designed to reflect the proportion of votes cast for a particular political party in the proportion of seats obtained by that party. Proportional representation systems vary in the details of their operation. Some are based on fixed party lists of candidates, so that the elector votes for a party directly. Others allow electors to influence the order of the list, and thus which candidates are elected. The German system (imitated by New Zealand, Scotland and Wales, for example) uses an ‘additional member system’ to combine local constituency representation with overall proportionality. Many political scientists claim the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system to be one of proportional representation. Under STV, though, the vote of any single elector cannot be easily identified as being a vote for a particular party since that vote may be significant in electing the second or third or later preference candidate. It is therefore difficult to see how anyone can calculate the percentages of votes which each party has received, and thus compare that with the percentages of seats for each party.

[See also: Additional Member System; Single Transferable Vote]

quango

The word is a short form of ‘quasi non-governmental organisation’. A quango differs from other non-governmental organisations because it is usually founded by a government, and is wholly or largely financed from government sources, though such an organisation operates independently (within regulatory parameters). This form of organisation can be found in the USA as well as in Western European states. Quangos include: public sector broadcasting authorities such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the political party foundations such as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in Germany, organisations concerned with public funding of scientific research and university education, agencies with a quasi-judicial function such as labour relations tribunals, and institutions concerned with racial or gender discrimination. Some political scientists prefer to emphasise the role of the state in creating and maintaining these institutions, rather than their independent operation, so instead use the term: ‘quagos’ (quasi governmental organisations).

radicals’ decree

A joint decision in 1972 by the governments of the Länder and the federal government concerning the application of standards of political loyalty to those wishing to enter the public service in the German Federal Republic. These standards included the readiness ‘at all times’ to defend actively the democratic and constitutional principles embodied in the Basic Law (the constitution of the Federal Republic), and avoidance of any appearance of toleration or support of extremist groups or movements which might be regarded as critical of the constitutional order. Though the utilisation of this decree in fact resulted in a very small minority of applicants for employment in the public service being rejected, it was nevertheless criticised strongly particularly by left-wing opponents as amounting to an anti-democratic ‘ban on pursuit of a profession’ (Berufsverbot), the more so as in the Federal Republic of Germany various types of career, such as teachers, university professors, some postmen and even railway employees, were classified as ‘civil servants’. The fact that many more applicants were rejected because of association with extreme left-wing, rather than right-wing, groups, also gave rise to criticism.

Realos and Fundis

Opposed factions within the German Green Party. The terms are shortened versions of the German words for ‘realists’ and ‘fundamentalists’. The ‘Realos’ pursue a pragmatic political strategy, and are willing to compromise in order to secure desired political changes. They have participated as junior coalition partners in Land and national governments as a means of securing such changes. ‘Fundis’ have taken a more radical and uncompromising stance, regarding many issues, especially those relating to the environment, as matters of principle and as non-negotiable, even though that stance may well prevent any progress being made by governments towards goals desired by the Greens generally and the ‘Fundis’ in particular. Some, indeed, will not co-operate with ‘old paradigm’ parties at all. Such factional conflicts have also extended to matters of Green Party organisation, such as rotation in office and quotas among office-holders. The ‘Realos’ have been dominant in the national and regional parties since the unexpectedly poor results secured by the Greens in the Bundestag election of 1990. Since then, the Greens have modified their organisational rules to become more like orthodox political parties, and have participated in several Land coalition governments. Many ‘Fundis’ have left the party, though several are still very active in the environmental movement.

The terms: ‘realos’ and ‘fundis’ have been applied to factions in Green parties in other countries.

[See also: Kelly*]

Rechtsstaat

A German term to refer to a state based on the rule of law, anchored in the constitution, as contrasted to a state based on ideology, dictatorship or some other principle. The Rechtsstaat incorporates values of liberal constitutionalism, including: the separation of powers, the equality of all persons under the law, the supremacy of the constitution over other legislation or regulations, and the guarantee of personal liberties (such as freedom of speech) especially vis-à-vis the organs of the state. The Basic Law, the constitution of the German Federal Republic, includes all these attributes. Article 3 refers to equality before the law, and Article 28 refers to the state and its component Länder being based on the principles of a republican, democratic and social state based on the rule of law.

[See also: constitutionalism]

Red Army Faction (Germany)

The West German Red Army Faction was originally founded by members of the Baader-Meinhof group in 1971. The ‘second generation’ RAF, the successors of the original Baader-Meinhof group, became active from the mid-1970s. In their terrorist activity, the second generation was more ruthless even than their forerunners, and have been described as the most serious threat to the internal security of the FRG to date. In the spring of 1977, the second generation RAF embarked on their ‘Offensive ’77’, apparently with the main aim of releasing their RAF comrades from prison. The ‘Offensive ’77’, which ran until the end of 1978, was directed at first against ‘representatives of the system’. It involved taking prominent personalities as hostages, some of whom were killed. Among the victims of the Offensive were Chief Public Prosecutor Siegfried Buback; Jürgen Ponto, head of the Dresden Bank and uncle of one of the RAF members, Susanne Albrecht; and Hanns-Martin Schleyer, president of the West German employers’ federation and president of the Federal Association of German Industry. There were plans also to kidnap the FDP leader Genscher and NATO commander Haig. In an attempt to increase pressure on the West German government, Palestinian associates of the RAF took a Lufthansa plane hostage at Mogadishu. The hostages, a group of tourists, were freed by the West German commando unit GSG-9. The Offensive prompted the introduction of increased security and anti-terrorist legislation in what was later referred to as the ‘German autumn’. In 1982, the second generation RAF published their tract the ‘May paper’, which depicted various forms of military and political uprisings as evidence of a world-wide anti-imperialist front with revolutionary potential. A late victim of the RAF was Rohwedder, head of the privatisation agency for East Germany, killed in 1991. In January 1992, the ‘Kinkel initiative’ headed by the Federal Minister of Justice Klaus Kinkel, paved the way for a ‘reconciliation’ between the state and the RAF. On 20 April 1998, the RAF issued an eight-page statement announcing its formal dissolution. The statement may speak for only a faction within the group: jailed hard-liners such as Brigitte Mohnhaupt, Christian Klar and Adelheid Schulz have always argued against dissolution. Further, in 1995 a new extremist organisation, apparently a further successor organisation to the RAF, became active under the name of the Anti-Imperialist Cells (AIZ).

[See also: Baader-Meinhof group; Mogadishu Affair; Schleyer Affair]

Red Brigades (Italy)

During the 1970s, Italy suffered terrorist attacks by extremist groups of both the right and the left. The most notorious of the left-wing groups were the Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse – BR) founded by Renato Curcio in Milan in 1970. The Red Brigades at first kidnapped their victims without physically harming them. However, after Curcio was jailed in 1976, the group’s tactics became more violent. From 1977 to 1978, they adopted a ‘strategy of annihilation’, targeting ‘servants of the state’ including policemen, magistrates and journalists. On 16 March 1978, the BR kidnapped the former Prime Minister Moro. When the government refused to accede to their demands, the group ‘tried’ him and killed him. The incident lost the BR their public support and launched an anti-terrorist campaign. Sixty-three members of the BR were tried in 1982–83 and 32 received life sentences for the murder of Moro. These included Mario Moretti, who was believed to have directed the kidnapping, and Prospero Gallinari, one of the group thought to have carried out the murder. By the end of the 1970s the activity of the BR had declined, but isolated attacks continued into the 1980s. In December 1981 a senior NATO officer, US Brigadier-General Dozier, was kidnapped, but was later freed by police unharmed. In 1985 a new BR faction emerged, the Union of Fighting Communists (UCC), which carried out a number of murders. The UCC was believed to have links with other European left-wing extremist groups, notably Action Directe in France and the Red Army Faction in Germany. A further splinter group, the Fighting Communist Party (PCC), claimed responsibility for the murder in 1988 of one of Prime Minister de Mita’s chief advisers, Ruffili.

[See also: Action Directe; Red Army Faction; Moro*]

resistance groups

The resistance was the popular term for the organised opposition to Germany’s Nazi regime, both within Germany itself and in those European countries occupied by Germany during the Second World War. The resistance movements engaged in guerrilla warfare and sabotage against Nazi Germany and collaboration governments. They also prepared plans for reform in Europe for when the war was over. From January 1942, the Free French began to organise resistance groups and in May 1943 the maquis liberated Corsica. By 1945 resistance groups were active throughout Europe, but were often divided on ideological grounds. After the war, political parties whose members had been active in the resistance initially gained an electoral bonus with the voters and in some countries communist parties were viewed for the first time as responsible and electable on account of their resistance record. The participation of resistance leaders in the foundation of new political systems in post-war Europe initially helped to promote the ideal of a united Europe.

[See also: maquis; nazism]

reunification of Germany

The process whereby the two former German states, divided from each other in 1949 by the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) as a result of the Cold War, merged on 3 October 1990 to become a single state. The process was made possible by the events of the second half of 1989, when citizen protests in the GDR relating to fraudulent local council election results in May and the migration of large numbers of GDR citizens through the border between Hungary and Austria during the summer led to further protests and demonstrations, and to the formation of new political groups, such as New Forum. The celebrations of the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the GDR in October were an occasion for further demonstrations, and soon afterwards the GDR communist leader, Honecker, was compelled to resign his offices. Krenz, the new party leader, was widely distrusted and was unable to introduce political reform swiftly enough to satisfy protesters and dissidents. Efforts to introduce a more liberal set of arrangements for travel outside the GDR led to the opening of the Berlin Wall on 9 November. By the end of 1989 the communist regime had been displaced by a provisional government, ruling in conjunction with a ‘Round Table’ on which dissident groups and established political parties and other organisations were represented. Democratic elections to the People’s Chamber (Volkskammer), originally scheduled for May 1990, were brought forward to March because of the economic and political situation in the GDR. That election gave victory to the right-wing electoral alliance led by the Christian Democrats, whose leader, de Maizière, formed a coalition government which aimed at introducing currency union with the Federal Republic without delay. This was achieved on 1 July 1990, but by then it was obvious that a political union would soon have to follow. Following negotiations, it was agreed to merge the GDR with the Federal Republic, using the route offered by Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic, which permitted ‘other parts’ of Germany to join the Federal Republic. This meant that the Basic Law was retained as the constitutional foundation of the enlarged Federal Republic, rather than using the mode envisaged in Article 146 of the Basic Law, by which a totally new constitution for reunified Germany would have had to have been designed and presented to the public for ratification by referendum. The former GDR was divided into the five ‘new’ Länder, plus East Berlin, which merged with West Berlin to form one Land.

Some authorities prefer to use the term: ‘unification’ to indicate the merger of the two German states, on the grounds that there never was a ‘Germany’ which only consisted of the territories of the Federal Republic and GDR, therefore they could not be re-unified. However, the existence of an earlier ‘unification of Germany’ (in 1871) means that there could be ambiguity if the term were used also to describe the events of 1990.

[See also: Berlin Wall; Bonn Republic–Berlin Republic transition; Cold War; German question; Round Table; Stalin Note; Honecker*; Krenz*; de Maizière*]

Rhineland model

Alternatively known as ‘Rhineland capitalism’, this term is applied to the system of political economy developed in the Federal Republic of Germany, at least until German reunification, and, some would assert, even to the present day. It is distinguished from the Anglo-Saxon model of political economy by its emphasis on corporate structures which encourage consensus among the principal economic actors (the government, the trade unions, owners of business enterprises, the banks, etc.). Unlike economic systems in other parts of the world which also emphasise corporatist consensus, this model requires the existence of a market economy and a democratic political system, combined with a complex and comprehensive system of social welfare provision, as provided by Erhard’s social market system. Globalisation, privatisation of formerly state-owned enterprises and greater emphasis on shareholder interests are all tendencies which recently have eroded the distinctive structure of the Rhineland model.

[See also: social market economy]

Round Table

Several ‘round tables’ have occurred in recent history, providing relatively informal modes of discussion involving representatives of conflicting groups. The most famous is that created in December 1989 in East Berlin, which played a role in the transition of the GDR from a communist dictatorship to a multi-party democracy. It arose from an appeal on 21 November 1989 by the new citizen movement group: ‘Democracy Now’ to all parties to join in a series of discussions about the desperate political and economic situation of the GDR and possible paths of development in the future. It was to serve as a democratically based forum at a time when the institutions of party and state in the GDR had lost all legitimacy, and a democratically elected parliament had not yet been created. Several parties, including the Socialist Unity Party and its former associated ‘bloc parties’, accepted the formal invitation issued by the Protestant and Catholic churches on 30 November 1989, and a first meeting was held on 7 December 1989. There was a balance of representatives from, on the one hand, the SED, its affiliated communist organisations and the former bloc parties, and newly formed citizen movement organisations on the other. Two clergy served as impartial chairs of the meetings of the Round Table.

Several key issues were discussed, such as the future of the State Security Service, the draft of a new, democratic, constitution for the GDR and the economic situation. The Round Table was instrumental in bringing forward the planned May date for new elections to the Volkskammer (the GDR Parliament) to 18 March, because of the increasing crisis situation of the GDR.

However, once the Volkskammer election had been held and it was clear that German reunification was inevitable in the near future, the Round Table was dissolved, having no longer a useful role.

[See also: reunification of Germany; Stasi]

Saarland question

The Saarland is a territory in south-west Germany bordering France and Luxembourg. Because of its strategic location and its large coal reserves and steel production capacity, it has been of great significance in conflicts involving Germany and France. After the First World War it was ceded to France for a period of fifteen years under a League of Nations mandate, with rights to extract minerals in that period. The plebiscite at the end of that term, which took place in the period of Hitler’s dictatorship, led to a majority of over 90 per cent voting to rejoin Germany. At the end of the Second World War, France was again given control of the Saarland. As it became clear that the Federal Republic of Germany was becoming much more prosperous than France or the Saarland, opinion among Saarland residents was strongly in favour of inclusion in the Federal Republic. Attempts by France to repress opposition to French rule and to place the Saarland under some form of international control came to nothing. In 1957, following a plebiscite, the Saarland became a Land of the Federal Republic.

[See also: Young Turks’ revolt]

Schengen Agreement

An agreement entered into by the Benelux countries (which already enjoyed open borders with each other), Germany and France to remove border controls on persons and goods moving from one of those states to another. It was originally agreed at a meeting in 1985 of delegates from the signatory states in Schengen, a Luxembourg town on the Moselle across the river from Germany. It was not implemented until 1994, and even then some limitations on its application still existed. The limited number of states which signed the Schengen Agreement did so because it was clear that the introduction of open borders between all member states of the EU under the terms of the Single European Act would not occur in the foreseeable future. A Declaration accompanying that Act provided for retention of border controls where required to combat immigration from countries outside the EU, terrorism, crime, drug trafficking and smuggling of works of art. The United Kingdom, in particular, stood firm against opening its borders to intra-EU traffic. Later all other states of the EU (together with Iceland and Norway as associate signatories) with the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland, joined the Schengen arrangements. A complex system of co-operation on matters such as cross-border pursuit of criminals, extradition and the treatment of asylum-seekers has developed under the umbrella of this Agreement. The terms of the Schengen Agreement were incorporated into the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), allowing states to adopt or not adopt the conditions of the Schengen Agreement.

[See also: Benelux]

Schleyer Affair

Dr Hanns-Martin Schleyer was a victim of the ‘Offensive ’77’ conducted by the extreme left-wing terrorists, the West German Red Army Faction (RAF). President of the West German employers’ federation and president of the Federal Association of German Industry, Schleyer was targeted by the group as a ‘representative of the system’ and was taken hostage by the group in an attempt to pressurise the West German government into releasing imprisoned RAF members. When Schleyer was kidnapped, his four companions were killed. In an attempt to increase pressure on the government, Palestinian associates of the RAF took a Lufthansa plane hostage at Mogadishu. The hostages, a group of tourists, were freed by the West German commando unit GSG 9. Hours later, the RAF took revenge by murdering Schleyer.

[See also: Baader-Meinhof group; Mogadishu Affair; Red Army Faction]

Secret Army Organisation (OAS)

The Organisation de l’Armée Secrète (OAS) was an extreme pro-French nationalist organisation of French Algerian settlers led by General Jouhad and General Salan. The group was founded in 1961 and conducted reciprocal terror campaigns with the rival Algerian nationalist National Liberation Front (FLN). The OAS wanted to retain the French colonial control of Algeria and did not accept the French government’s decision to award Algeria self-determination with the prospect of independence. Once it became clear that they had lost their cause, the OAS reacted with an unsuccessful revolt in Algiers and with a spate of terrorist bomb attacks in Algeria and metropolitan France. The French public turned against the movement and several large anti-OAS demonstrations took place. Some 1,200 OAS members were arrested and Jouhad and Salan were sentenced to life imprisonment. The movement made two attempts to murder General de Gaulle, who had devised the settlement, but failed. When the independence referendum was confirmed by 75 per cent of the vote, Muslim nationalists took revenge on the OAS. On 5 July 1962 over 100 Europeans were killed in Oran. Soon afterwards, some 500 Europeans suspected of being OAS sympathisers were kidnapped: some were tortured and released, others disappeared.

[See also: Algerian conflict; de Gaulle*]

Single European Act (SEA)

The central aim of the Single European Act (SEA), which came into force in 1987, was to improve the economic efficiency of the EC by creating a single European market (SEM) between member states by 1992. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome had removed tariff barriers among the member states. In practice, though, non-tariff barriers continued to restrict trade, reducing the competitiveness of the EC in world trade. The SEA provided for tighter control of EC economic policy and related areas. It formally expanded the EC’s policy competences to include environmental policy, research and technological development and regional policy (termed ‘economic and social cohesion’). It established new legislative procedures to improve the efficiency and control of decision-making in specific policy areas (the ‘co-operation’ and ‘assent’ procedures) which gave the European Parliament slightly more influence in EC decision-making.

[See also: Economic and Social Cohesion; Treaties of Rome]

Single Transferable Vote (STV)

An electoral system utilising preferential voting, in which voters indicate their preferences by placing numbers: 1, 2, 3, … etc., by the names of candidates. Unlike the otherwise similar Alternative Vote System, STV must be used in multi-member constituencies, usually of up to about 5 seats. Larger numbers are possible, but involve increased complication of the counting procedure and increased length of the ballot paper. Ireland uses constituencies electing 3–5 members each. Candidates are elected if they receive a quota of votes. This quota is the lowest number of votes which will elect the required number of candidates, but no more. As a formula: the Quota = the number of valid votes cast, divided by the number of seats to be filled plus one, and one is added to that sum; so Q = V/(S+1) + 1. Votes in excess of the quota for a candidate are redistributed according to indicated next preferences, and, where candidates are eliminated because they have fewest votes, the next preferences of votes they have received are also redistributed until sufficient candidates are elected.

Though not an electoral system designed to produce a close correspondence between a party’s share of the vote and its share of seats, the STV system does give results which are much closer to proportionality than first-past-the-post systems such as that used in House of Commons elections in Britain. The principal advantage of the system is that it provides the voter with great freedom of choice as to the criteria the voter uses to select candidates, and greatly reduces wasted votes. A voter may choose to vote for all the candidates of one party first (but even then can exercise choice among them), for candidates irrespective of party who support or oppose some particular policy issue, for candidates on the basis of personal qualities such as gender, occupation, age or place of residence, or whatever other criteria the voter wishes to employ. As well as Ireland, Malta uses STV for its legislative elections, and Northern Ireland uses it for the election of its representatives to the European Parliament.

[See also: Alternative Vote System]

social capital

A term applied to the network of voluntary associations in a political system, with reference to the political resources which such a network contributes to a democracy. The hypothesis underlying the use of the term is that groups such as sports clubs, trade unions, churches, professional organisations, charitable groups and leisure-based groups such as dramatic societies and choirs, contribute to democracy in various ways. On occasion, they may act as pressure groups to promote policies advantageous to the group or its clients (such as working mothers or pensioners). Moreover, even if a group never becomes engaged in political activity directly, its members learn skills of participation, activist involvement (such as office-holding) and leadership. Therefore a society where membership of such groups is low or declining may have a less robust democratic base than one where membership of such groups is high and rising. Some studies of non-participation in elections have found a link between propensity of an individual to vote in an election and membership of that individual in such voluntary organisations.

social market economy

The label applied to the system of political economy developed in the Federal Republic of Germany by Erhard (Minister of Economics in Adenauer’s government). The system sought to combine production and sales based upon the principle of the free market, qualified by protection against cartels and monopolies and by regulatory legislation concerning health and safety in the workplace, with provision of social welfare, based upon the insurance principle, to provide employees with adequate pensions, unemployment and sickness benefits and other payments. This system depended upon the co-operation of the trade unions and business organisations. Such co-operation was made easier by the introduction after the Second World War of a system of industrial trade unions, in which employees, of whatever trade or skill, in, say, the chemical industry were all members of the Chemical Workers’ Union – in contrast to the United Kingdom, where each factory could contain employees in a dozen or more different trade unions. Legislation promoting co-determination in industry, at first in the coal and steel sectors, then from 1976 in medium- and large-sized firms in all sectors of industry, also played a role in developing the social market economy. The system of workers’ councils, whose representatives were elected by employees, and the short-lived system of tripartite discussions on economic and industrial policy known as ‘Concerted Action’ (konzertierte Aktion) or the new version called ‘Alliance for Jobs’ (Bündnis für Arbeit) introduced in 1998 by the Schröder government to focus especially on reduction of unemployment are other examples of policy initiatives designed to promote the social market economy.

The term has been used in other countries to describe either actual or desired economic systems, but the German version is the most developed example of such a system.

[See also: Erhard*]

South Tyrol question

South Tyrol is an area in north Italy consisting of a mainly German-speaking population. Previously part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, it was given to Italy as part of the peace settlement after the First World War. Mussolini took measures to suppress the German language and culture of the region, and agreed with Hitler to resettle German speakers in Germany (though only a small number were transferred). After the Second World War, a degree of protection for the German-speaking population was provided in the 1948 Italian constitution. However, actions by the Italian government to repress the German-speaking inhabitants by merging the area into a larger area so that Italian-speakers would be in a majority led to increased support for the South Tyrol People’s Party, to mass demonstrations and even violence and terrorist activity. An agreement was negotiated which was embodied in a treaty in 1971, guaranteeing proportional provision of resources to both the Italian-speaking and German-speaking communities in the area, and in 1992 the region (in Italian: Alto Adige-Trentino) was given special status within the system of regional government in Italy.

Spanish civil war

Spain’s democratic Second Republic was founded in 1931 by centre-left political forces, but the regime was not fully acceptable to the country’s reactionary elements. In July 1936 a military uprising against the leftist ‘Popular Front’ government led by Manuel Azaña led to a bitter civil war between the Republicans and the opposition Nationalists which lasted until 1939. The Republicans were supported by organised labour, regional nationalists and secular forces in society. The Nationalists based their support on the Catholic church (except in the Basque country), the business community and landowners, the peasantry, most of the military and traditional monarchists. The Nationalists won the civil war, aided in their military campaign by the country’s armed forces and by subsidies from Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, more substantial than those provided to the Republicans by Stalin. The Nationalists were able to ban and disperse political parties, movements and trade unions which did not support their stance. The civil war cost between 75,000 and 200,000 lives and caused major economic problems. The victorious Nationalists established a repressive authoritarian state under General Franco, which continued to persecute those forces which had supported the Republican cause. It was not until Spain’s transition to democracy from the mid-1970s that Spanish society began to recover from this war.

[See also: fascism; nazism; Franco*]

Spanish coup attempt (1981)

Spain’s current constitutional monarchy was established in 1978, but many powerful interests remained suspicious of the new democratic regime. On 23 February 1981, reactionaries in the army were alarmed by moves towards regional autonomy and mounting terrorist action, so attempted a coup against the democratic state. A paramilitary Civil Guard unit led by Lieutenant-Colonel Tejero Molina broke into the Cortes, the parliament building, and took the elected MPs hostage. There was no agreement amongst the army officers involved as to the desired outcome: some, like Tejero, wanted a Chilean-style coup, while others wanted a ‘soft’ coup leading to the formation of a national government. King Juan Carlos acted quickly to restore the status quo. He contacted those military leaders not involved in the coup to assure them that he did not support it. He told the coup leaders that he was not prepared to abdicate or to leave the country and would rather be shot than accept the take-over. He then made a television address to the nation to declare that the Crown would not tolerate the coup. The coup collapsed and the captured MPs were released.

[See also: Juan Carlos*]

Spiegel Affair

In October 1962 the Hamburg news weekly, Der Spiegel, published a report of recent NATO military manoeuvres which criticised the performance of the German military in those exercises. A fortnight later the federal state prosecutor ordered the arrest of Augstein (the publisher), Ahlers (chief editor), and several other staff on charges of treason and bribery, since it was suspected that members of the military had sold secret information to the magazine. Police occupied the editorial offices of the magazine in Hamburg and Bonn and copies of the magazine were seized. This high-handed and seemingly anti-democratic action was severely criticised by the mass media and the public, as well as by politicians from the liberal Free Democrats (coalition partner to the governing Christian Democrats) and the opposition Social Democrats. The way in which action was taken, at night and without warning, as well as the dubious procedures concerning the arrest of Ahlers, who was on holiday in Spain, were compared to methods used in the Hitler regime against opponents. It was revealed that the Minister of Defence, Strauss, had been largely responsible for initiating the action against the magazine, and that, in a debate in the Bundestag, he had made misleading statements about his responsibility for what had occurred. Adenauer’s own position was affected by opposition criticism and the threat of the FDP to resign from his government. To avoid having to dismiss Strauss, Adenauer reshuffled his cabinet, excluding some FDP ministers and some other Christian Democrat ministers from the previous cabinet, as well as Strauss. The affair was a factor in Adenauer’s decision to resign as Chancellor in 1963, finally fulfilling his promise made at the time of the formation of the coalition in 1961.

Neither charges of treason against Augstein and Ahlers, nor a constitutional court complaint by Der Spiegel concerning the government’s breach of the constitutional guarantee of press freedom, were successful. The FDP insisted that Strauss be excluded from Erhard’s cabinets in 1963 and 1965, though he returned as a minister in the grand coalition. However, the FDP managed also to prevent Strauss gaining the Foreign Ministry in 1982 and 1983, which meant, since Strauss would take no lesser post, that after 1969 he never again became a federal minister.

[See also: Adenauer*; Strauss*]

spin doctor

A term applied in recent years to those public relations advisers in politics whose function is to put the best possible interpretation (or ‘spin’) on events relevant to the government or party which they serve, and to try to ensure that stories favourable to their party or government appear prominently and at the best times in the press or the broadcasting media. In Britain Peter Mandelson and Alistair Campbell have been among the most prominent ‘spin doctors’ for the Labour Party, and were held to have contributed considerably to the Labour Party victory in the 1997 general election. The US president and other US politicians have employed the services of ‘spin doctors’, and the campaigns of German and French politicians in recent years have also laid emphasis on the work of ‘spin doctors’.

Stability and Growth Pact [See: Economic and Monetary Union]

Stalin Note

Following initiatives in 1950 and 1951 from the Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic, Grotewohl, offering all-German negotiations leading to the reunification of Germany, Stalin made an offer (the ‘Stalin Note’) on 10 March 1952 to the Western Allies. This proposed that a German state should be created within the borders of Germany as they were at the end of the Second World War. This new German state would be neutral, but would be allowed to possess its own defence force. A peace treaty would be signed by the Allies and Germany, following which free elections would be held. As this Note was communicated during negotiations for Germany’s membership in a European Defence Community, it was regarded in the West as a delaying tactic, so its offer was not pursued. Some historians consider the offer to have been genuine, and its rejection therefore a missed opportunity for early reunification. Others, however, consider it to have been only a tactical manoeuvre, which Stalin would not have permitted to have led to German reunification. Certainly a large majority of West Germans supported rejection of Stalin’s proposals in opinion polls at the time.

[See also: Cold War; European Defence Community; the German question; reunification of Germany]

Stammheim trials [See: Baader-Meinhof group]

Stasi

A German term, an abbreviation of ‘Staatssicherheitsdienst’ (state security service), referring to the secret police employed by the Ministry for State Security in the GDR and beyond its borders for purposes of spying on its own citizens and foreign visitors, for gathering intelligence and other activities required by the government of a totalitarian system. It was regarded as an essential mechanism by which the GDR communist party (the SED) could retain power. When the SED lost its monopoly of political power in late 1989, the public sought to occupy the offices of the Stasi, and – though many files and other forms of data were destroyed – a large number of files were rescued and passed into the custody of the reunified Federal Republic, which created a special agency (called the ‘Gauck agency’ after its first Director, Joachim Gauck, an East German associated with the citizen movement in 1989) to manage the archive of files and regulate access by individuals to those files.

Stormont

The name of the location of the legislature of Northern Ireland, and thus, by extension, applied to the legislature itself. This legislature was created by the Northern Ireland Act 1920, and, following the first elections in 1921, consisted of two chambers: a Senate and a House of Commons. Following a revival of civil unrest in Northern Ireland in the 1960s, the British Parliament passed a law in 1972 suspending the powers of the Northern Ireland legislature. Attempts were made from time to time to reach a settlement among the conflicting factions within Northern Ireland, which would have resulted in an agreed basis for an elected legislature; indeed, elections for a constitutional convention were held in 1975 and for an Assembly in 1982, but with no lasting effect. It was not until the Good Friday Agreement in 1999 produced a more settled agreement, validated by a referendum, that elections could be held for an Assembly and a devolved form of government could be established based on that Assembly, though even then the new Assembly at Stormont faced an uncertain future because of a failure by the IRA to comply with requirements to abandon their arsenals of weapons.

[See also: Good Friday Agreement; IRA]

streitbare Demokratie

A German term (translatable as ‘combative’, ‘militant’ or ‘aggressive’ democracy) which refers to constitutional, legislative and administrative provisions in the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany by which the democratic political order is able to defend itself against its potential enemies. This is in contrast to the Weimar Republic which, lacking those devices, through its own democratic tolerance allowed the enemies of democracy to threaten, pervert, destabilise and eventually overthrow the constitutional democracy of that Republic. Instruments of ‘streitbare Demokratie’ include: the provision in the constitution which allows the Federal Constitutional Court to prohibit the existence of political parties which are themselves internally undemocratic or which seek to overthrow the democratic regime; a constitutional provision to permit the minister of the interior to ban organisations (other than political parties) which pursue criminal or unconstitutional ends; an explicit listing of civic rights in the forefront of the constitution and an effective constitutional court which can protect those rights, but which can suspend or deny some of them by due process to those who engage in activity opposed to the constitutional order. Federal and Länder Offices for the Protection of the Constitution investigate and produce information concerning groups considered to be extreme and potentially dangerous to democracy. There is an emphasis on the obligation of state employees to defend the constitutional order at all times (which led to the formal codification of this obligation in the so-called ‘radicals decree’, requiring that applicants for posts in state employment with a record of association with anti-constitutional groups or parties should be refused appointment). Critics of some of these measures claim that their application sometimes necessitates undemocratic actions, so in themselves they may pose a danger to democracy.

[See also: radicals’ decree]

Structural Funds [See: Economic and Social Cohesion]

subsidiarity

Subsidiarity is a concept applicable to federal political systems or to those which operate in a similar way, such as the multi-tiered political system of the European Union (EU). It is a constitutional principle which holds that policy decisions should be taken by the lowest tier of government possible within the territorial hierarchy. If a policy matter cannot be dealt with effectively by the lowest tier in the territorial hierarchy, say, local government, then it should be passed to the next tier up, say, regional government, until it arrives at an appropriate level of government. The subsidiarity principle can enhance the accountability of decision-making and can also help to avoid problems of government overload at higher levels of government. The concept has been widely used in discussions about the development of the EU, but was at first rather ambiguous. In a speech in Bruges in September 1988, the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher used the concept to promote decision-making at the level of the member state national governments rather than by the supranational institutions of the EU. Other proponents have used the concept to promote an enhanced role for local and regional government. The Edinburgh European Council (December 1992) provided a working definition and laid down guidelines for interpreting Article 5 (formerly Article 3b) on subsidiarity in the EU. The Amsterdam Treaty (1997) produced a further protocol on how the principle of subsidiarity should be applied within the EU.

[See also: Amsterdam Treaty; Thatcher*]

Suez crisis

The Suez canal linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and thus to the Indian Ocean was jointly owned by British and French shareholders. In July 1956, one month after the withdrawal of British troops stationed in the Canal Zone under the terms of a Treaty between Britain and Egypt, the canal was threatened by nationalisation by the Egyptian government of President Nasser. This threat was in retaliation for withdrawal of development funding by the USA and Britain for Egypt’s Aswan Dam project. The Suez canal was of vital commercial and military importance to the Western powers.

In response to this threat, Britain and France colluded with Israel in order to produce a legitimate excuse for invasion of the ‘Canal Zone’, which would lead to their assumption of the direct operation of the Suez canal. France and Britain had been victims of Nasser’s anti-Western and anti-colonial policies (such as aid for Algerian nationalist groups). Israel, suffering from a naval blockade by Egypt, invaded Egyptian territory at the end of October 1956, the British and French took military action a few days later (as they claimed: to protect the canal’s viability) and Egypt retaliated by sinking ships to block the canal. The British and French were forced to withdraw their invasion forces by US diplomatic and financial threats. The canal was nationalised. Israel was compelled to withdraw from Egyptian territory. The crisis contributed to the collapse eighteen months later of the Fourth Republic in France. In Britain, Prime Minister Eden, who had seen Nasser as a new version of Hitler, resigned following deep divisions over his policies and actions in connection with the crisis, and was replaced in January 1957 by Macmillan. The crisis acted as a deterrent to British military involvement overseas for many years.

[See also: Eden*; Macmillan*]

Tangentopoli

The term: Tangentopoli (‘bribe city’) refers to a major corruption scandal which was uncovered in Milan in early 1992 and which challenged some of the highest office-holders in Italian politics, eventually resulting in the collapse of the traditional party system and in calls for a major constitutional review. By the end of the 1980s, political corruption in Italy, based on party clientelism, had become systemic and routine. On 17 February 1992 Mario Chiesa, the Socialist head of an old people’s home in Milan, was arrested for taking a 7 million lire bribe from the owner of a cleaning company. Chiesa was a ‘business politician’: a type familiar in the Italian politics of the 1980s as high-living, corrupt fixers involved in politics only for personal advantage. Chiesa’s confession implicated many others who were then obliged to confess corrupt dealings of their own. This uncovered a vast network of illicit dealings between the political parties and economic interests in Milan. The crisis soon spread far beyond Milan. By the end of 1993 251 members of Parliament were under judicial investigation, including four former prime ministers, five former party leaders, and seven members of the governing Amato cabinet. Amongst those implicated were the Christian Democrat (DC) President Cossiga who resigned early in 1992; Craxi, the leader of the Socialist Party (PSI) who resigned in February 1993; and Andreotti (DC), one of the country’s most influential politicians of the 1970s and 1980s. Tangentopoli thoroughly discredited Italy’s five traditional parties, which were either seriously weakened or were forced to reinvent themselves as ‘new’ parties, having undergone damaging splits. The parties and party system remain in a state of flux.

[See also: clientelism; Mani pulite; Andreotti*; Cossiga*; Craxi*]

terrorism

Terrorism involves the deliberate and systematic use of physical or psychological violence to intimidate others. In Europe, it has been used by various groups in an attempt to resolve political conflicts in their favour. Although typically only very small numbers of people have engaged in terrorism, it has been a recurrent problem for the countries of Western Europe and has at times caused the widespread disruption of social and working life. Terrorists in Europe have been motivated by three general causes: extreme ideologies of the left and right; centre–periphery or regional conflicts; and single issue conflicts. Terrorist actions have included arson, bombings, kidnappings, hijackings and killings.

[See also: Baader-Meinhof group; ETA; Irish Republican Army; Red Army Faction; Red Brigades; Secret Army Organisation]

Treaties of Rome

In 1957, two separate treaties, together known as the Treaties of Rome, established the European Communities (the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM)), taking effect in January 1958. The Treaties of Rome established a customs union amongst the six founder states (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany). This entailed a phased programme to remove all tariffs and quotas from trade between the member states while setting a Common External Tariff (CET) on imports from outside the EEC. Common policies, notably in agriculture and transport, were introduced to promote trade within the EEC. A common social policy was designed to offset hardship suffered in the transition to a more open market. The Rome Treaties established a set of governing institutions: a supranational Commission; a Parliamentary Assembly; a Court of Justice; and a Council of Ministers made up of government representatives of the member states.

[See also: Common Agricultural Policy; European Coal and Steel Community]

Treaty of European Union (TEU) [See: Maastricht Treaty]

Treaty of Nice

The Treaty of Nice was concluded at the European Union summit of 7–11 December 2000 and was signed on 26 February 2001. A target deadline for member state ratification of the Treaty has been set for December 2002. The Treaty proposes extensive reform of EU institutions to cater in particular for enlargement to the east. The ‘big five’ member states (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain) have agreed to reduce their allocation of EU commissioners from two to one. Otherwise, though, the proposed institutional reforms on qualified majority voting (QMV) and the post-enlargement composition of the European Parliament would generally strengthen the power of the large member states. Policy areas to be added to those in the QMV category include trade policy in services; some immigration and asylum matters; and the appointment of the Commission president.

Treuhandanstalt

A German term meaning: trustee agency. This was an institution created by the GDR government on 1 March 1990 to acquire and administer economic enterprises (with the exception of certain utilities such as the railways and postal service) which had previously been owned by the state, with the task of preparing the GDR economy for monetary union with the FRG, preparations which involved privatising the almost entirely state-owned economy. So the Treuhandanstalt had to investigate the financial situation of economic enterprises, undertaking restructuring where advisable, and, following a law passed by the GDR Parliament on 17 June 1990, disposing of them to private ownership. It became clear that many of these enterprises were unviable in an open and competitive economy, so about one-third of them had to be closed down, causing unemployment and economic and social dislocation. Following reunification, the processes of restructuring, sale and closure accelerated, but a variety of problems confronted the agency, including accusations of favouring certain bidders in sales of businesses and the high costs of restructuring. A process that had been hoped would produce a surplus for public funds ended by costing the German taxpayer several billion Deutschmarks. The second Director of the Treuhandanstalt, Rohwedder, was assassinated in 1991 by terrorists in protest against the economic hardships resulting from closures in eastern Germany. The Treuhandanstalt terminated its operations in 1994.

[See also: Rohwedder*]

Trizonia [See: Bizonia]

two-ballot electoral system

A system of election in which voters may cast two ballots, separated in time, in order to elect representatives. Such a system is used for elections to the National Assembly and to elect the president in the French Fifth Republic. For National Assembly elections, single-member constituencies are used. If a candidate wins more than 50 per cent of votes in the first round of balloting, he or she is elected. In constituencies where no candidate secures that absolute majority, a second round is held two weeks later. Only those candidates who secured on the first round votes equal to at least 12.5 per cent of the registered electorate (not just of those who turned out to vote) are eligible to participate in the second round. In fact, for reasons of political strategy, usually only two candidates present themselves: one from the right-wing and one from the left-wing party blocs. In the second round, the candidate with the most votes is elected, irrespective of whether an absolute majority is secured or only a relative majority. The system to elect the president is similar. The differences are that only the two candidates with the highest first-round votes contest the second round, and the interval between the two rounds is one week.

‘Two plus Four’ talks

In preparation for the reunification of Germany, a series of international conferences took place in 1990 involving representatives of the two German states and of the four former occupying powers (the USA, France, the United Kingdom and the USSR). No peace treaty had been concluded after the Second World War, so the previous occupying powers had retained responsibilities for Berlin and, though in a very restricted and formal manner, for the rest of Germany. The consent of these four former occupying powers was essential before reunification under conditions of complete sovereignty could come about. Four meetings took place between February and September 1990, two in Germany and one each in Paris and Moscow. The Paris meeting also involved representatives of Poland, since that meeting discussed the issue of the borders of reunified Germany, including the Oder–Neisse border with Poland. The Moscow meeting in September 1990 produced a Treaty between the four powers and the two German states which amounted to a post-Second World War peace treaty, including as it did acceptance of the right of Germany to be a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

[See also: Cold War; German question; Oder–Neisse line; reunification of Germany]

Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coming to terms with the past)

A German term used to describe the problems and processes connected with Germany’s ability to deal with its especially turbulent recent history. It was originally applied to dealing with the Nazi period: how and why Hitler came to power; the totalitarian policies of the Third Reich; the aggressive foreign policies of the Hitler regime; and especially the genocidal policies against the Jewish peoples of Europe. It could be applied to other countries, such as post-war France in relation to the Vichy regime and with Algeria. More recently, it has also been applied to the problems raised by the collapse of the Communist regime in the GDR and reunification, concerning the policies and activities of the state and the ruling Communist party in the GDR, such as the ‘shoot to kill’ orders relating to those seeking to flee across the border, or the crimes of the secret police (the Stasi). Methods employed to foster the process of ‘coming to terms with the past’ include the denazification procedures introduced by the occupation powers after the Second World War (including the Nuremberg tribunal), re-education policies, historical programmes on radio and television, publication of memoirs by those involved in the Third Reich or the GDR regime, the Bundestag Commission on the activities of the Communist regime in the GDR, and speeches of the federal president (whose functions include such moral interpretations of the country’s history).

[See also: denazification; Nuremberg tribunal; Stasi]

Vichy regime

When France capitulated following its invasion by Germany in 1940, the armistice agreement allowed for a rump state to be governed by the French, rather than be occupied as was the remainder of France. This government of this state, in southern France, was known as the Vichy regime (the town of Vichy being the seat of government). The government was led by President Pétain, a First World War hero, who presided over a government that collaborated with the German authorities on matters such as the deportation to Germany of Jews and recruitment of French workers for forced labour. Following the landing of Allied troops in Normandy in June 1944, the Vichy regime territory was occupied by the Germans and its leaders sent to Germany. After the war Pétain was sentenced to death by a French court for treason, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He died in 1951. Pétain’s Prime Minister, Laval, was executed after the war for treason.

[See also: Vergangenheitsbewältigung]

Voeren dispute (Belgium)

The Voeren dispute became a symbol of the tension between linguistic communities in Belgium. In 1962 the administrative authority for Voeren/Fourons, a largely French-speaking group of villages in north-eastern Belgium, passed from French-speaking Liège to Flemish-speaking Limburg, launching repeated clashes between the two linguistic groups. José Happart, a militant French speaker, was elected mayor of Voeren in 1986, but his nomination was rejected by the Flemish Chamber of the Council of State because he refused to take a competency test in Flemish, which was by now the official language of the villages. Happart’s repeated re-election obliged Belgian Prime Minister Wilfried Martens to resign in October 1987 and call an early general election. In December 1988 Happart agreed not to stand as mayor of Voeren again in exchange for a place on the French-speaking Socialist Party electoral list in the June 1989 European elections.

Volkspartei

A German term (literally: ‘people’s party’) referring to parties which seek to attract voting support and membership from many or all of the different groups in society, instead of being confined to a particular set of supporters (e.g. trade unions, farmers or Catholics), utilising policy programmes and electoral manifestos which are sufficiently diffuse to appeal to a broad spectrum of the electorate, rather than emphasising ideologically derived political aims. Such parties must, almost by definition, possess sufficiently large electoral support to be able to lead a government, alone or as principal partner in a coalition. The Christian Democrats and Social Democrats in Germany and Austria are obvious examples of the Volkspartei type. The decision of the SPD to adopt its Bad Godesberg Programme in 1959 is a clear example of a party seeking to become a Volkspartei after being very much a working-class party in earlier years.

[See also: Godesberg Programme]

Waldheim Affair

Dr Kurt Waldheim was President of Austria from 1986 to 1991. During his presidential campaign, he was accused of having been implicated in atrocities committed by the Nazis in the Balkans in 1942–45. When he took office, the allegations surrounding his wartime activities led him to be barred from entering the United States. During his incumbency, relations between Austria and many other states, particularly Israel, became strained. In 1988 an international commission of historians concluded that Waldheim must have been aware of the atrocities at the time they were taking place. He refused to stand down as President, but did not seek re-election when his term of office came to an end.

[See also: nazism; Waldheim*]

‘Wende’

A German term meaning ‘change of direction’. It has been utilised in two different political contexts. (a) The term was applied to the strategy of Helmut Kohl and his coalition when he became Chancellor in 1982. The change of direction he promised was especially to do with restrictions on public expenditure (especially social welfare payments and subsidies) and, in consequence, of the rising levels of public debt. (b) It is also applied to the situation in the GDR in 1989–90, and to German reunification. Here it refers to the downfall of the communist regime in the GDR, its replacement by a multi-party democracy, and then to its incorporation in the Federal Republic of Germany. Germans refer to events or developments in eastern Germany as occurring ‘before’ or ‘after’ the ‘Wende’.

West Lothian question

The Scottish MP Tam Dalyell is credited with raising the West Lothian question in debates on Scottish devolution in the 1970s. The West Lothian question refers to a constitutional anomaly which exists where only part of the United Kingdom possesses regionally devolved powers. In such a case, pointed out Dalyell, MPs in the House of Commons would be prevented from debating or voting upon laws affecting education in West Lothian (and other parts of Scotland), but would still be able to vote on laws affecting education in West Bromwich (and other parts of England). So a Scottish MP could vote on educational matters for England, but neither that MP nor any English MP could vote on educational matters for Scotland, since that would be one of the policy areas devolved to a Scottish parliament.

This potential has become a reality since the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. There is no equivalent parliament for England as such, though some have suggested that there should be such a parliament, or else that the House of Commons when dealing with matters parallel to those devolved to the Scottish parliament (such as education) should sit without Scottish MPs being allowed to vote. This, though, could mean that a government possessing a parliamentary majority dependent upon Scottish MPs would be outvoted by the opposition on such English policies. Others maintain that the anomaly really does not have much effect on policy, and that few members of the public are aware of its existence.

winter of discontent

A phrase from Shakespeare’s Richard III, applied to the winter of 1978–79 in Britain, when trade union action eventually made the Labour government so deeply unpopular that it suffered a heavy defeat in the May 1979 general election. It was caused especially by the combined effects of high levels of inflation and a restrictive incomes policy by the Wilson and Callaghan governments, which had reduced the standard of living of many employees. First strikes in the private sector produced pay increases of 17–20 per cent. Then a series of strikes by public sector employees, especially manual workers employed in local government, caused great inconvenience and hardship to the general public, closing schools and hospitals, leaving refuse to pile up in the streets, and even, in the most publicised case, preventing burials of the dead. The Labour government was hampered by its close financial connection to the trade unions and by a lack of legislation to prevent strikes. This was especially the case in key public services, where the closed shop existed (meaning that all employees had to be members of the trade union, and were subject to sanctions by that trade union if, for example, they refused to strike) and there were sometimes questionable practices concerning strike ballots. When the Conservative government won the election, it introduced legislation to restrict the powers of trade union leaders. The Labour Party started to question its reliance on the trade unions, leading eventually to reforms within the party initiated by Kinnock, John Smith and Blair.

[See also: Blair*; Callaghan*; Kinnock*; Smith J.*]

women’s movement

The feminist movement that emerged in Western Europe in the 1960s to 1970s was divided into two branches: the women’s rights movement and the women’s liberation movement. The women’s rights movement had its historical roots in the suffrage movement at the turn of the twentieth century, which secured women’s right of access to education and to professional qualifications. In the 1960s and 1970s, this branch of the feminist movement was particularly successful in France and Britain. The women’s rights activists were concerned with promoting gender equality; that is, the same rights as men to work and participate in society. They tried to secure political reforms largely by traditional methods, often working through political parties and trade unions. In contrast, the women’s liberation movement adopted the idea of gender difference. Their aim was to develop a feminist counter-culture. For them, influencing the political establishment took second place to changing women’s attitudes. The women’s liberation movement was organised at the grassroots level and their campaigns were conducted through mass protests. The women’s movements have succeeded in creating an ongoing public debate on women’s role in society, even if their values have been accorded rather limited recognition within national politics. One substantive area of success has been in their demand for easier access to legal abortion. Mainstream political parties have adopted a broadly supportive, if unspecific, stance on women’s issues, and European governments have introduced a range of state bodies to promote gender equality. However, some feminists feel that parties are only paying lip service to women’s issues, are using feminist ideas for their own purposes, or have failed to reflect their ideas accurately.

xenophobia

Literally: fear of strangers. Xenophobia has been regarded as a cause of race hatred and as an element in the politics of the extreme right-wing, manifesting itself as hatred of foreigners (especially immigrants) and their culture. It is therefore found especially in societies where either a sudden influx of immigrants occurs, immigrants whose cultural separateness makes them difficult to integrate into the host society, or in societies where contact with foreigners has been very restricted, such as the GDR before the fall of the Berlin Wall. After reunification, some of the worst acts of violence in Germany against foreigners occurred in the area of the former GDR.

[See also: anti-Semitism; immigration]

Yalta conference

One of a series of wartime conferences among leaders of the Allies in the Second World War. The conference at Yalta (in the Crimea) was held in February 1945, at a time when it was obvious that Germany would soon be defeated. It therefore focused on the post-war treatment of Germany. Decisions reached included the division of Germany into three zones of occupation (it was later agreed that France should also have a zone of occupation – in territory originally allocated to British and American occupation), confirmation of a policy of unconditional surrender of Germany and its total disarmament, acceptance of the Atlantic Charter and the founding of the United Nations Organisation, and the declaration of war on Japan by the USSR. Differing interpretation of the decisions reached at Yalta (as well as those reached at the Potsdam conference) contributed to the Cold War and the division of Germany.

[See also: Cold War; the German question; Potsdam conference]

Youandé Convention [See: Lomé Convention]

Young Turks’ revolt

In 1955–56 discussions took place within the parties in the Federal Republic of Germany concerning revision of the Electoral Law, ahead of the scheduled 1957 Bundestag election. Because Chancellor Adenauer had had a number of conflicts with his coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), over issues such as the Saarland question, he permitted some in his party to float the idea of a revised form of proportional representation in which only half the Bundestag (rather than all its membership, as was then the case) would be elected on the basis of proportional representation with the remainder being elected in constituencies on the basis of ‘first past the post’ but not taken into account when seats were distributed proportionally among parties: the Grabenwahlsystem (meaning two systems of election separated by a ‘ditch’). This would have greatly diminished the number of FDP candidates elected to the Bundestag and would very likely have eliminated their role as a coalition partner. The FDP sought to dissuade the Christian Democrats from proceeding with this idea. In the largest Land: North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the FDP withdrew from their coalition with the Christian Democrats and instead joined a coalition government led by the Social Democrats. This had the effect of switching votes to the opposition from the Christian Democrats in the upper chamber (the Bundesrat, where the Länder governments had veto powers over certain types of legislation), making it more difficult for Adenauer to govern. Because many of those involved in this coup in the NRW FDP, such as Weyer, Döring and Scheel, were relatively young, it became known as the Young Turks’ revolt. The principal consequences were that the Grabenwahlsystem idea was dropped, but a break-up of the coalition in Bonn followed. This forced Adenauer to govern with the aid of a number of renegade FDP Members of the Bundestag. In the Bundestag election in 1957, which took place under very much a similar electoral system to that used in 1953, Adenauer obtained an absolute majority for his party, and did not need the FDP as a coalition partner.

[See also: Grabenwahlsystem; Saarland question]