List of Entries

Biographies

Related entries are listed at the end of an entry by ‘[See also: …]’. An asterisk indicates a cross-reference to Section 1, ‘Events, groups and developments’. For example, the entry for Auriol, Vincent has at the end ‘[See also: de Gaulle; Vichy regime*]’. The entry for de Gaulle is in this section; that for Vichy regime is in Section 1.

Adams, (Gerry) Gerard

Leader of the Northern Ireland party Sinn Féin (Ourselves). Born in the Falls Road area of Belfast in 1948, Adams was a founder member of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and a member of the Belfast Housing Action Committee. He joined the Republican movement in 1964. In March 1972 Adams was interned in Long Kesh under suspicion of terrorism but was released in July 1972 to take part in secret talks between the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He was rearrested in 1973 and tried to escape from the Maze Prison. After his release in 1977, he was charged in 1978 with membership of the Provisional IRA but released after seven months through lack of evidence. Vice-President of Sinn Féin 1978–83, he became President of the party in 1983. He was elected MP for Belfast West 1983–92 and again from 1997. In 1988 and 1993 he met with John Hume, leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), to discuss proposals for the future of Northern Ireland. He has been the key representative of the nationalist Catholic community in negotiations with the UK government. He has been member for Belfast West of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998.

[See also: Hume; Irish Republican Army*]

Adenauer, Konrad

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949–63; leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 1950–66. Adenauer was born in Cologne in 1876. He studied law and economics, then practised law in Cologne. He joined the Catholic Centre Party in 1906, and was elected to the Cologne city council in 1908, becoming Lord Mayor in 1917, an office he filled until 1933. In the Weimar Republic he was elected to the Prussian legislature. He was dismissed from his offices by the Nazis, and was twice imprisoned by them. Appointed Lord Mayor of Cologne in 1945 by the US occupation authorities, when the British took over the administration of the region, they dismissed Adenauer for non-co-operation. He was active in founding the CDU in the British zone of occupation, and became Chairman of the Parliamentary Council (1948–49) which met in Bonn to draft the Basic Law (the provisional constitution for the Federal Republic). He was elected by the Bundestag as the first federal Chancellor in September 1949, and led his party to victory in the federal elections in 1953, 1957 and 1961. Following coalition negotiations which required of Adenauer that he resign the chancellorship before the 1965 elections, and a series of governmental crises (including the Spiegel Affair) which damaged his authority, he left the chancellorship in 1963. He was elected as federal Chairman of the CDU in 1950, when the CDU created an organisation for the Federal Republic (having previously existed as zonal and Land parties). Adenauer was tempted to seek the office of federal president in 1959, but withdrew when he was assured that he could not extend the very limited powers of that office. His chancellorship was marked by a search for the security of the Federal Republic through close alliances with other West European countries and with the USA, leading to the Federal Republic becoming an enthusiastic partner in the institutions of European integration and NATO. The Friendship Treaty between the Federal Republic and France in 1963 was another indication of this diplomatic policy. Adenauer was accused of being insufficiently enthusiastic about promoting German reunification, and it was under his leadership that the Hallstein Doctrine was promulgated. The Federal Republic became extremely prosperous during Adenauer’s chancellorship. As Chancellor, Adenauer frequently experienced difficulties with his coalition partners, especially the FDP. His authoritarian style similarly led to problems within his own party. Nevertheless, his undoubted success in developing the new Federal Republic as a secure and prosperous democratic state during the period of the Cold War, and his active utilisation of the office of federal chancellor to promote his policies, led commentators to apply the term ‘chancellor democracy’ to the period of his leadership. Adenauer died in 1967.

[See also: Basic Law*; chancellor democracy*; economic miracle*; German question*; Hallstein Doctrine*; Spiegel Affair*; Stalin Note*; Young Turks’ revolt*]

Andreotti, Giulio

Andreotti was Prime Minister of Italy 1972–73; 1976–79; and 1989–92. Born in Rome in 1919, Andreotti graduated in law from the University of Rome and served as President of the Federation of Catholic Universities 1942–45. A member of the Christian Democrats (DC), he was elected to the Italian Constituent Assembly in 1945 and served in the Chamber of Deputies from 1946, becoming a life senator in 1992. In a ministerial career spanning four decades, Andreotti had responsibility for many policy areas including the interior, finance, the treasury, defence, industry and commerce, the budget and economic planning and foreign affairs. He was Chairman of the DC parliamentary party group 1948–72. In February 1972 he became Prime Minister for the first time at the head of a single party interim government. He then formed a coalition government of the centre, but resigned in June 1973. From 1976, Andreotti led a DC government with the support of the Communist Party until the Communists withdrew their backing in 1979. In July 1989 he formed a five-party coalition which fell after the elections of 1992. In 1993 he became embroiled in the Tangentopoli scandal: in 1993 his immunity was lifted and in March 1995 he was charged with links to the Mafia (acquitted in 1999), with complicity in murder in November 1995, and with financial corruption.

[See also: Tangentopoli*]

Arias Navarro, Carlos

General Franco’s feared head of security and Prime Minister of Spain 1973–76. Arias Navarro was born in 1908 in Madrid and received a doctorate in law from the Central University of Madrid. He worked at the Ministry of Justice as a civil servant before becoming a public prosecutor in Malaga in 1933. He supported the rebellion led by General Franco during the Spanish civil war and was arrested by the republican government in 1936. He was freed by pro-Franco Falangist forces and joined Franco’s army. When Franco won the civil war, Arias Navarro was appointed to a series of provincial governorships before becoming Director General of security in 1957, renowned for his harsh dealings with enemies of the regime. He was appointed Minister of the Interior in Carrero Blanco’s government of 1973. When Carrero Blanco was assassinated by terrorists in December 1973, Arias Navarro succeeded him as Prime Minister. He was faced with the difficult task of promoting a gradual political liberalisation to ensure a peaceful transfer of executive power from the failing Franco to King Juan Carlos. He was reappointed by King Juan Carlos after Franco’s death in 1975 but the King was critical of his slow progress in democratising Spain. Arias Navarro resigned in 1976 and retired from politics. He died on 27 November 1989.

[See also: Carrero Blanco; Franco; Juan Carlos, King; Spanish civil war*]

Ashdown, Paddy

Former leader of the British Liberal Democratic Party. Ashdown was born in New Delhi in 1941. After a career as an officer in the Royal Marines (1959–72), work for the Foreign Office and a period in private industry, he entered the House of Commons in 1983. He became leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1988, but resigned in 1999. He led the party to an astonishing electoral success in 1997, when – thanks to a successful electoral campaign focused on ‘target’ seats and a clear identity as an anti-Conservative party – it acquired nearly fifty MPs, more than at any time since the 1920s (though it had a slightly lower vote-share in 1997 than in 1992). Ashdown had hopes that Blair would invite him to take a cabinet post, as a symbol of cross-party co-operation, but the large size of Labour’s majority dissuaded Blair from doing this. Ashdown did obtain the creation of a cabinet committee to deal with constitutional issues, upon which the Liberals had representation, and the appointment of a Commission to examine the case for some kind of electoral reform, though it soon became clear that electoral reform would not be brought forward as Labour policy in the foreseeable future.

[See also: Blair]

Attlee, Clement

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1945–51; leader of the Labour Party 1935–55. Attlee was born in London in 1883, and studied at Oxford University. He became a lawyer, then a lecturer in social sciences. He served in the First World War, and was then briefly mayor of Stepney, in London. He became an MP in 1922, and served as a junior minister in the Labour governments led by Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929–31. As leader of the Labour Party during the Second World War, he was brought into Churchill’s coalition cabinet. After the general election of 1945 had taken place (but before votes had been counted, a delay because of the large numbers of votes from the armed forces serving overseas), Attlee accompanied Churchill to the Potsdam conference, in case it turned out that Labour would form a government after the election results were known. Attlee’s Labour government introduced an ambitious programme of radical policies, particularly implementation of welfare state provisions (including the National Health Service) outlined in the Beveridge Report, and nationalisation of public utilities such as the coal mines, railways and gas and electricity supply, as well as policies to cope with post-war reconstruction in a context of severe austerity and adjustments of Britain’s international status during a period when parts of the British Empire were seeking self-rule. Attlee died in 1967.

[See also: Beveridge Report*; Potsdam conference*]

Auriol, Vincent

President of the French Fourth Republic 1947–53. Auriol was born in the Haute-Garonne in 1884. After studying law, he practised as a lawyer, entering the Parliament of the Third Republic as a Socialist deputy in 1914. He served as Finance Minister and Justice Minister in 1936–38. After internment as an opponent of Marshal Pétain and the Vichy regime, he fled to Britain in 1942 and became associated with de Gaulle’s Free French group in London. After representing France at the United Nations, then serving briefly as president of the National Assembly, he was elected as first President of the new Fourth Republic in 1947. He died in 1966.

[See also: de Gaulle; Vichy regime*]

Aznar López, José María

Prime Minister of Spain since 1996. Born in 1953 in Madrid, Aznar studied law at the University Complutense of Madrid before working as a tax inspector. He joined the Alianza Popular (AP) in 1978 (the forerunner of the Partido Popular (PP)) and was elected to the Spanish Parliament in 1982. In 1987 he was elected President of the autonomous community of Castilla-León, a position he held until 1989. He has been president of the PP since 1990. He re-entered Parliament in 1989. He became Prime Minister of Spain in 1996 following the general election that year, and again following his party’s successes in the general election in March 2000. He played a major role in modernising his party, enabling it to discard its Francoist legacy and bringing it electoral success. His leadership of the government has been largely responsible for Spain’s economic growth in recent years. He survived a car-bomb attack by ETA terrorists in 1995.

[See also: ETA*]

Bahr, Egon

Bahr was born in 1922 in Treffurt (Thuringia). He became a journalist, and joined the West German Social Democratic Party in 1957. Bahr was given a leading foreign policy advisory role during the grand coalition, serving under Foreign Minister Brandt. When Brandt became Chancellor in 1969, Bahr became a senior negotiator of the agreements later embodied in the ‘Ostpolitik’ treaties with the USSR, Poland and the German Democratic Republic. Having been elected to the Bundestag in 1972, he was appointed as Minister without Portfolio 1972–74, and Minister for Overseas Development 1974–76. He served as federal business manager (the equivalent of party general secretary) of the SPD 1976–81.

[See also: Ostpolitik*]

Bahro, Rudolf

East German dissident and one of the founders of the German Green Party. Bahro was born in Bad Flinsberg in 1935, and studied philosophy at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He was a member of the SED (the East German communist party). Employed first in journalism, then as an economist in a factory, Bahro became increasingly critical of the regime of the German Democratic Republic. This criticism, based on the conclusion that the ruling party in the GDR had distorted true communism, was laid out in his book: The Alternative, which was published in West Germany in 1977. The decision to publish led to his arrest and Bahro was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment in 1978 on grounds of anti-socialist and subversive activity, but under an amnesty was then allowed to emigrate to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1979. There Bahro associated himself with the nascent Green movement, helping to found the Green Party in 1980, and aligning himself with the fundamentalist wing of that party. His Marxist and environmentalist beliefs led him to resign from the party in 1985 in protest at the party’s failure to persist with ‘pure’ ecological policy positions.

[See also: Realos and Fundis*]

Balladur, Edouard

Prime Minister of France 1993–95. Balladur was born in 1929 at Smyrna in Turkey. He studied law at Aix-en-Provence and at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and graduated from the National College of Administration in 1957. In 1963 he joined the staff of Prime Minister Pompidou to advise on social and industrial relations. He was part of Pompidou’s May 1968 crisis team, taking part in the Grenelle negotiations with the unions. When Pompidou became President, Balladur worked for him, becoming the Elyseé Secretary-General in 1972. After Pompidou’s death in 1974, Balladur moved to the private sector. From 1980, Chirac often consulted him informally on political and economic issues. Balladur was elected a Deputy of the National Assembly on the Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) list in 1986. A supporter of ‘cohabitation’, he joined Prime Minister Chirac’s cabinet as Minister of the Economy and Finance, taking responsibility for the government’s free-market programme. Re-elected in 1988, Balladur worked to transform the alliance between the RPR and the Union pour la Démocratie Française (UDF) into a moderate conservative grouping putting forward a single presidential candidate. He was Prime Minister of France 1993–95.

[See also: Chirac; Pompidou]

Barre, Raymond

Prime Minister of France 1976–81. Barre was born on the island of Réunion in 1924. After studying political science and law at the University of Paris, he entered the civil service, became a professor at Paris University, and joined the EEC Commission as Vice-President responsible for financial and economic affairs (1967–73). In 1976 he served briefly as Minister for Foreign Trade in Chirac’s government, before succeeding Chirac in August 1976 as Prime Minister, serving as his own Minister for Economics and Finance until 1978. His ‘Barre Plan’ sought to deal with the economic and currency problems facing France. He became Prime Minister for a second term following the general election of 1978, but resigned in 1981 following Mitterrand’s election as President. He stood unsuccessfully as presidential candidate in 1988.

[See also: Chirac]

Barzel, Rainer

Leader of the West German Christian Democrats 1971–73. Born in 1924 in East Prussia, Barzel qualified as a lawyer. He was elected as a Christian Democratic candidate in the Bundestag election of 1957. He served briefly as Adenauer’s Minister for All-German Affairs (1962–63). On the death of von Brentano in 1964, Barzel became leader of the Christian Democrat parliamentary party, retaining that post until he resigned in 1973. Barzel was elected as party leader in 1971, was the unsuccessful nominee for chancellor in the first ever ‘constructive vote of no confidence’ in 1972 and was selected as chancellor-candidate for the Christian Democrats for the 1972 Bundestag election. After resigning as party leader and leader of the parliamentary party in 1973, he returned as Minister for Inner-German Relations in Kohl’s cabinet in 1982, and became Chairman of the Bundestag in 1983 (equivalent to the Speaker in the House of Commons), a post he retained until he resigned in 1984 because of his involvement in the scandal surrounding the Flick Affair.

[See also: Adenauer; constructive vote of no confidence*; Flick Affair*]

Bastian, Gerd [See: Kelly, Petra]

Baudouin, King of Belgium

King of Belgium 1951–93. Baudouin was born in 1930 in Stuyvenberg, near Brussels. Reflecting the divisions in Belgian society, his education was conducted half in French, half in Flemish. The reigning King Leopold’s clumsy attempts at intervening in politics during the inter-war period caused resentment against the royal family in Belgium, and, after the Second World War, they went into exile in Switzerland. Leopold was only allowed to return to the throne in 1950 on condition that his son Baudouin take on most of his powers, becoming Prince Royal of Belgium and head of state. Leopold abdicated on 16 July 1951 in Baudouin’s favour. Unlike his father, Baudouin was widely respected, particularly for his scrupulously neutral dealings with the Flemish and Walloon (French-speaking) communities and for his part in securing the country’s long transition to a federal state. His reign restored faith in the monarchy in Belgium. The extent of his popularity was revealed when he caused a potential constitutional crisis in April 1989. The Belgian Parliament had passed legislation to legalise abortion, but Baudouin, childless and a staunch Catholic, could not in good conscience sign the bill. The crisis was resolved through the co-operation of the government: the Council of Ministers ruled that Baudouin was unfit to govern, giving them the right to enact the abortion measure on their own authority. The following day, Parliament was convened and Baudouin’s royal powers were returned to him in full. Baudouin died on 31 July 1993 and was succeeded by his brother, Prince Albert.

Bérégovoy, Pierre

Prime Minister of France 1992–93. Bérégovoy was born in Deville-les-Rouen in 1925. He left school at 16, becoming a manual worker who eventually became Director of the national gas utility in 1978. A member of the French resistance, after the Second World War he joined the Socialist Party (SFIO), but broke with the party over his opposition to the Algerian War. A prominent member of various left-wing groups, Bérégovoy played a leading role in the Parti Socialiste (PS) as it consolidated 1969–71. One of Mitterrand’s closest supporters, Bérégovoy managed the PS co-operation with the Communist Party (PCF). He failed, though, to revive the 1972 electoral pact (the Joint Programme for Government between the PS, PCF and left radicals) for the 1978 elections. Bérégovoy was campaign manager for Mitterrand in the Socialist presidential election victory of 1981, and again in 1988. Under Mitterrand, he was appointed Secretary-General of the President’s Office, the first in the Fifth Republic not to have been a senior civil servant. As Minister of Social Affairs and National Solidarity (1982–84), he improved the social security system and as Minister of Finance (1984–86), he modernised the financial markets and implemented the Socialists’ policy of economic austerity. After the 1988 campaign, he returned as Minister of Finance under the Rocard government, becoming Prime Minister in 1992. When the PS suffered a major defeat in the parliamentary election of 1993, Bérégovoy was replaced by Edouard Balladur. Bérégovoy was implicated in a minor financial scandal concerning the personal use of campaign funds. Blaming himself for the Socialist Party’s parliamentary defeat, he committed suicide on 1 May 1993.

[See also: Balladur; Mitterrand; Rocard; Resistance groups*]

Berlinguer, Enrico

Former leader of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). Berlinguer was born in Sardinia in 1922. He led the PCI at the height of its ‘eurocommunist’ phase. 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 form of regime. Berlinguer in 1973 adopted the strategy of ‘historic compromise’, aiming to establish the PCI as a mainstream party. The strategy culminated in the agreement in 1976 to tolerate DC Prime Minister Andreotti’s coalition government, but was abandoned in 1980 after anticipated electoral gains had failed to materialise. Berlinguer died in 1984.

[See also: Andreotti; eurocommunism*; historic compromise*]

Berlusconi, Silvio

Berlusconi, controversial politician and businessman, leader of the Italian party Forza Italia (FI). He became Prime Minister of Italy in 1994 and again in June 2001. Born in Milan in 1936, Berlusconi studied at the University of Milan before embarking on a successful business career. Starting with a building and property development business at the age of 26, his business empire came to span commercial TV, the printed media, publishing, advertising, insurance and financial services, retailing and football (through AC Milan football club). In 1993 he formed the populist, right-wing political movement FI and began a full-time political career in 1994, leading his party to win the general elections of that year in alliance with the separatist Northern League and far-right National Alliance. As Prime Minister of this coalition government (called the ‘Freedom Pole’) in 1994 he broke with standard conventions of liberal democracy. The coalition terminated through inter-party disagreements at the end of 1994, and Berlusconi became leader of the opposition. In 1996 he was charged with fraud, bribery of tax officials and illegal party financing and in 1998 was sentenced to over five years’ imprisonment for these offences. On 9 May 2000 various convictions on charges of bribery were overturned on appeal. He became Prime Minister again following the general election in May 2001, when his party formed a coalition with the Northern Alliance and Northern League.

[See also: Northern Leagues*]

Bevan, Aneurin

Minister of Health 1945–51 and Minister of Labour 1951; deputy leader of the Labour Party (1959–60). Bevan, son of a Welsh coalminer, was born in Tredegar in 1897, and worked as a coalminer from the age of 13. He became an active trade unionist, leading the Welsh miners during the 1926 general strike. He was first elected to Parliament in 1929 as an Independent Labour Party candidate. He joined the Labour Party in 1931. He was frequently in trouble with the party leadership because of his outspoken left-wing views, and was expelled briefly from the party in 1939 and resigned as Minister of Labour in 1951, along with Harold Wilson, over Chancellor of the Exchequer Gaitskell’s imposition of charges within the National Health Service (of which Bevan had been the principal founder in 1948). In opposition, Bevan was the standard-bearer of the left wing in the party, and his followers acquired the name of ‘Bevanites’, seeking to reduce defence expenditure and expand social services, though Bevan himself renounced unilateral disarmament in a speech at the party conference of 1957. He sought the party leadership in 1955, but was defeated by Gaitskell. He died in 1960.

[See also: Gaitskell; Wilson]

Bevin, Ernest

Trade union leader and Labour Party minister during and after the Second World War. Bevin was born in Somerset in 1881, and became a trade union official, then creator and General-Secretary (1921–40) of the Transport and General Workers’ Union (a federation of numerous smaller separate trade unions). Bevin was a leading organiser of the general strike in 1926. In 1940 Churchill invited him to join the all-party war cabinet, as minister responsible for employment and national service. Attlee selected him as his Foreign Secretary in the Labour government of 1945–51, during which period he coped capably with the many challenges of post-war diplomacy and the Cold War. He was regarded as a stalwart of the moderate centre of the Labour Party, attracting the scorn of left-wingers as a result. Bevin died in 1951.

[See also: Attlee; Churchill]

Bildt, Carl

Prime Minister of Sweden, 1991–94 and international statesman. Bildt was born in 1949 in Halmstad. He studied at the University of Stockholm and was Chairman of the Confederation of Liberal and Conservative Students 1973–74 and of the European Democratic Students 1974–76. He worked as an adviser on policy co-ordination for the Swedish Ministry of Economic Affairs 1976–78 and with the cabinet office 1979–81. He joined the executive committee of the conservative Moderate Party (MP) in 1981 and was the party’s Chairman from 1986 to 1999. He successfully led the moderate coalition in the elections of 1991 and replaced Social Democrat Carlsson as Prime Minister. Sweden was renowned for the highly developed welfare state which had been promoted under Social Democratic rule, but Bildt stood for rolling back the state, reducing taxation and government interference in private enterprise. He also pressed for Sweden to join the European Union (EU). He became EU peace envoy to the former Yugoslavia in 1995 and acted as High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1995–97. He was Vice-Chairman of the International Democrat Union 1989–92 and Chairman 1992–99. In 1999 he was appointed Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Balkans.

Blair, Tony

British Prime Minister since 1997 and leader of the British Labour Party. Blair was born in Edinburgh in 1953, studied at Oxford University and qualified as a lawyer. He entered Parliament in 1983, and was appointed to a shadow cabinet position responsible for employment policy by Neil Kinnock in 1988; he later became opposition spokesman for home affairs. On the death of John Smith, he became a candidate for the party leadership in 1994, and was elected by a large margin. In the period between his election as leader and the general election in 1997, Blair made radical changes to the organisation of the party, making it a more centralised and efficiently managed organisation, and improving dramatically its public relations performance. He also did all he could to rid the party – which he referred to as ‘new Labour’ – of those aspects of its policy likely to arouse distrust among uncommitted voters; this involved the abandonment of Clause Four of the party’s constitution, which committed the party to nationalisation of ‘the means of production and exchange’. Labour’s overwhelming victory (in terms of seats, though not in terms of vote-share) in the 1997 election made Blair’s position as leader totally secure, despite continuing criticism from a minority of socialists within the party. In government, he has introduced a number of major constitutional changes, ranging from the introduction of elected assemblies for Scotland and Wales and a directly elected mayor for London to removal in stages of the hereditary peers from the House of Lords. His government’s economic policies, implemented by Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer, have been conservative and have produced large public sector surpluses. He has made statements expressing commitment to European integration and favours eventual British membership of the European currency project, provided economic conditions permit this. Blair has been criticised for seeking to exercise control over the party at the expense of democratic choice by members, in matters such as selection of the candidate for mayor of London and leadership of the Labour Party group in the Welsh Assembly. He has also diluted several conventional practices connected with cabinet government, such as using cabinet meetings less than his predecessors, and he attends the House of Commons very infrequently. He led his party to another sweeping general election victory in 2001. He played a significant international role in the diplomatic and military developments following the 11 September 2001 attack by terrorists on New York.

[See also: Kinnock; Smith; Clause Four*]

Bohley, Bärbel

Campaigner active in the citizen movement during the fall of the GDR regime. Bohley was born in Berlin in 1945. She became an artist in the GDR. Her activities as a peace campaigner brought her into conflict with the authorities, leading on two occasions to her arrest and then to her expulsion from the GDR. Pressure from her associates in West Germany led to revocation of that expulsion. During the period of crisis for the communist regime in Autumn 1989, Bohley was among those instrumental in founding New Forum, the best known of the new groups which tried to provide a structure for discussion within the burgeoning citizen movement. The pace of events in the GDR in 1989–90 tended to force the citizen movement to the margins of the political process, and Bohley became an opponent of the rush to reunification, arguing for a ‘third way’ which would produce a democratic but socialist form of state within the GDR.

[See also: reunification of Germany*]

Böll, Heinrich

German author and political campaigner. Böll was born in Cologne in 1917. After the Second World War he became renowned for his novels and short stories, dealing with life in the Nazi period, the war and the post-war years. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972. Böll’s fame enabled him to publicise his views on political matters such as the radicals’ decree and what he regarded as the revival of militarism in the Federal Republic of Germany. His commitment to the protection of the persecuted was demonstrated by his welcome to Solzhenitsyn when that author left the Soviet Union in 1974. Böll died in 1985.

[See also: nazism*; radicals’ decree*]

Bossi, Umberto

Leader of the Italian party, the Lombardy League, then of the Northern League. Born in 1941 in Varese, Bossi studied at Pavia University. He co-founded the Lombardy Autonomy League in 1982 and has led the party (which changed its name to Lombardy League) since 1984. He was elected as a Senator in 1987 and has been leader of the Federation of Northern League Movements from 1989. In 1991 he played a leading part in creating the Northern League from five regional parties, and became its leader. He served as minister responsible for reform and devolution in Berlusconi’s coalition government in 1994, one of five Northern League ministers in that government. Personal and political disagreements between Bossi and Berlusconi led to the break-up of that coalition at the end of 1994. In 1995 he called for the secession of the northern area of Italy to form a new state called: ‘Padania’. He rejoined Berlusconi in the new coalition formed in 2001. In 1995 he was sentenced to five months’ imprisonment for libel and eight months’ for illegal party financing.

[See also: Northern Leagues*]

Brandt, Willy

Chancellor of the FRG 1969–74 and leader of the SPD 1964–87. Brandt (born as Herbert Frahm) was born in Lübeck in 1913. He joined the SPD in 1930, and then the Socialist Workers’ Party – which had broken away from the SDP – in 1931. When Hitler came to power in 1933 Brandt fled to Norway, assuming the name ‘Willy Brandt’ which he was to retain after the war, and spent the war in that country and Sweden, studying history and law and working as a journalist, reporting for a time on the Spanish civil war. Having rejoined the SPD in 1947, Brandt was elected to the Bundestag in 1949 and remained a Member until 1957, then again from 1969 to 1992. He was elected to the Berlin city legislature in 1950 and became lord mayor of West Berlin in 1957, a post he held until 1966, including the period of the erection of the Berlin Wall. He was chancellor-candidate of the SPD in the federal elections of 1961 and 1965. After a period as Deputy Chancellor and Foreign Minister in the grand coalition (1966–69), Brandt was again chancellor-candidate of his party in 1969, and because after that election the FDP preferred to ally with the SPD rather than the CDU, Brandt was elected as Chancellor. He pursued a very active policy of improvement of relations with the Soviet Union, the GDR and other East European states, in contrast to the policies of the Adenauer government. Having survived the first ever constructive vote of no confidence in the Bundestag in 1972, Brandt led his party to victory in the Bundestag election later that year. He resigned as Chancellor in 1974 following the Guillaume Affair, but remained as party leader. He had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his Ostpolitik achievements, and went on to take an active role in several international organisations, including the Socialist International. He served for a period as a Member of the European Parliament, and was Chairman of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues (the Brandt Commission) which produced reports on the North–South divide and other ‘third world’ issues. Brandt died on 9 November 1992.

[See also: Adenauer; Hitler; Berlin Wall*; Guillaume Affair*; Hallstein Doctrine*; Ostpolitik*; Spanish civil war*]

Brundtland, Gro Harlem

Norwegian Prime Minister February–October 1981; 1986–89; 1990–96 and leading international politician. Born in Oslo in 1939, Brundtland studied medicine at the Universities of Oslo and Harvard. She acted as a consultant to the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Social Affairs 1965–67, was medical officer for Oslo city health department 1968–69 and Deputy Director of Oslo’s school health service in 1969. Minister of the Environment 1974–79, she was deputy leader of the Labour Party 1975–81 and leader of the parliamentary party group 1981–92. In 1981, she became Norway’s first woman Prime Minister. During her first two periods in office, she introduced several controversial economic reforms to reduce Norway’s budget deficit. She became active internationally as a leading spokeswoman on the environment, the equality of women, and international co-operation. Her report as Chair of the UN World Commission on the Environment and Development (1987) established the concept of sustainable growth. She was a leading figure in the 1995 UN womens’ conference in China, and was appointed Director-General of the WHO in 1998. A pro-European, she was unable to mobilise the majority of Norwegians to agree to entry of the EU, but remains a popular leader.

Callaghan, James

British Prime Minister 1976–79. Callaghan was born in Portsmouth in 1912. He became a civil servant, and was elected to the House of Commons in 1945. He failed in his attempt to be elected as Labour Party leader in 1963, following the death of Gaitskell. He was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary by Wilson in the period 1964–76 (one of the few politicians ever to hold all three of these leading ministerial positions). Following Wilson’s resignation in 1976, Callaghan was elected as party leader and thus became Wilson’s successor as Prime Minister. The Labour government lost its small majority due to defeats in by-elections, and Callaghan had to negotiate with, first, the Liberals, then the Scottish and Welsh Nationalists and Northern Irish MPs, to retain a majority over the Conservative opposition. He was Prime Minister during the ‘winter of discontent’ when strikes plagued the British economy. That, and his misjudgement concerning the timing of the general election, are generally held to have contributed to the heavy defeat of his party in the 1979 general election. He continued as party leader and thus as leader of the opposition only until 1980, when he was replaced by Kinnock. He became a member of the House of Lords in 1980.

[See also: Gaitskell; Kinnock; Wilson; Lib–Lab pact*; winter of discontent*]

Carrero Blanco, Luis

Prime Minister of Spain June–December 1973. Carrero Blanco was born in Santona in 1903. He graduated from the Spanish naval academy, becoming an ensign in 1922, a lieutenant in 1926 and later a submarine commander. He joined the staff of the naval academy in 1934 and in 1966 was promoted to admiral. He joined the Nationalist navy during the Spanish civil war and in 1939 became Franco’s chief of naval operations. He was appointed Under-Secretary to the presidency of the government in 1941 and became Vice-President of the Parliament, the Cortes, in 1942. In 1951 he joined Franco’s cabinet and was a trusted adviser throughout the 1950s and 1960s, serving as Deputy Prime Minister from 1968, and was viewed as the likely successor to Franco. He favoured changes in the regime which would restore the monarchy, though he did not favour political reform of a democratic type. In 1973, when a new constitution was introduced in Spain, Franco kept the presidency, but handed his powers as head of government to Carrero Blanco. On 20 December 1973 Carrero Blanco was killed in a car-bomb attack, believed to have been carried out by ETA, the Basque separatist organisation. His death made political reform in Spain more likely.

[See also: Franco; ETA*]

Carrillo, Santiago

Leader of the Spanish Communist Party (CP), 1960–82 and of the United Communists (UC) since 1985. Born in 1915 in Gijón, Carrillo became leader of the United Socialist Youth in 1936. Having close links to the Italian Communist Party, Carillo tried to introduce their ideas of eurocommunism to his party, with some success. A member of the Congress of Deputies from 1977, he was expelled from the Communist Party in 1985, becoming President of the United Communists in the same year, a party which became absorbed in the PSOE. He left politics in 1993, and has since published his memoirs and several other books.

[See also: eurocommunism*]

Carstens, Karl

CDU politician and President of the Federal Republic of Germany 1979–84. Carstens was born in Bremen in 1914. He studied law and political science in Germany, France and the USA. After service in the army in the Second World War he practised law and served the Bremen government. He followed this with a period as a professor combined with diplomatic service. He was appointed as State Secretary, first in the Defence Ministry in 1967, then in the Chancellor’s Office from 1968 to 1969. He was elected to the Bundestag in 1972, and became parliamentary leader of the Christian Democrats in 1973 until his election as President of the Bundestag in 1976. He then served a single term as federal President, during which he became noted for his plan to walk – in stages and accompanied by local citizens – the length of the Federal Republic from the Danish border to the Lake of Constance. He died in 1992.

Chaban-Delmas, Jacques

A leading Gaullist figure in post-war French politics and Prime Minister of France 1969–72. Born Jacques Delmas in 1915 in Paris, he studied law and politics and worked as a journalist for the Radical Socialist economic daily L’Information before fighting in the Italian campaign. From 1941 to 1943 he worked in the Ministry of Industrial Production and joined the resistance, afterwards adopting ‘Chaban’, his resistance pseudonym, as part of his surname. He became the national military delegate of de Gaulle’s provisional government and was closely involved in the liberation of Paris. After a brief association with the Radical Party, in 1947 he joined the Gaullist Rassemblement du Peuple Français (RPF). He served as Minister of Public Works, Transport and Tourism; Minister of State and Defence Minister. Following the upheavals of 1968, in 1969 Pompidou appointed Chaban-Delmas as Prime Minister to try to stabilise the situation. Chaban-Delmas formed a government which included two members of the social democratic opposition. He promised his government would create a ‘new society’ in France, setting out to reduce the inequalities and rigidity of French society through progressive social measures including more effective collective bargaining and the liberalisation of government, particularly in public sector broadcasting. However, Chaban-Delmas’ initiative failed to integrate the more hard-line Gaullists and the parties of the left. Pompidou increasingly came to see Chaban-Delmas as irresponsible and in danger of alienating conservative support for the party. Relations between President and Prime Minister deteriorated and in 1972 Pompidou was furious when Chaban-Delmas called (and won) a parliamentary vote of confidence on his own initiative. Six weeks later, the President dismissed him. Chaban-Delmas at first appeared to be consolidating his position as a future leader of the Gaullist party, but in the presidential election of 1974 he lost heavily to his rival, Giscard d’Estaing, and withdrew to his provincial stronghold of Bordeaux, allowing Chirac to take over leadership of the Gaullists. He continued to figure large in parliamentary politics (he was three times President of the National Assembly), but did not regain a party leadership role.

[See also: Chirac; de Gaulle; Giscard d’Estaing; Pompidou; resistance groups*]

Chirac, Jacques

Prime Minister of France 1974–76; 1986–88 and President of France 1995–. Chirac was born in 1932 in Paris and studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies. After active service in Algeria, he graduated from the National College of Administration in 1959. During the early part of his political career, Chirac was appointed to Prime Minister Pompidou’s staff and forged close links with him. His ministerial career spanned employment (1967–68); finance (1968–71); relations with Parliament (at which he was not judged a success, having little interest in Parliament) (1971–72); agriculture (1972–73; 1973–74) and the interior (1974). He was instrumental in Giscard d’Estaing’s nomination as Gaullist presidential candidate in 1974 and was rewarded by Giscard with the post of Prime Minister. Giscard and Chirac soon clashed personally and over policy and in 1976, following Giscard’s refusal to dissolve the Parliament and hold fresh elections, Chirac resigned. Chirac then became party leader of the new Gaullist Rassemblement pour la Republique (RPR), a post which he held until 1994. He was elected mayor of Paris (1977–95), an important power base. After his resignation as Prime Minister, Chirac worked to undermine Giscard. In the presidential elections of 1981, he split the right by standing against Giscard, consolidating his reputation for being divisive and ambitious. During Mitterrand’s first presidency, Chirac was effectively leader of the opposition in France. When the right won a narrow majority in the parliamentary elections of 1986, Mitterrand called on Chirac to form a ‘cohabitation’ government to work in tandem with his Socialist presidency. France’s poor economic performance during Chirac’s premiership (1986–88) hampered him in the presidential race of 1988, again won by Mitterrand. Chirac finally succeeded in his ambition to become President in 1995. He resumed a Gaullist foreign policy in launching nuclear testing at Mururoa and through adopting a Eurosceptic stance. His economic policy had two central but conflicting aims: to fight unemployment and to reduce the budget deficit. Chirac’s popularity plummetted during his first year as President, but he was able to shift much of the blame for his policies onto his Prime Minister, Juppé. He made a political blunder by calling an early general election, which the Socialists won, forcing Chirac to govern in cohabitation with Prime Minister Jospin.

[See also: Giscard d’Estaing; Mitterrand; Pompidou; Algerian conflict*]

Churchill, Winston

British Prime Minister 1940–45 and 1951–55. Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in 1874. He took up a military career after training at Sandhurst military college. He was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1900, but switched to the Liberal Party in 1906, and held various ministerial posts, including Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty, a post he resigned following the failed Dardanelles military landings in 1915. Churchill served in the army in France until, in 1917, Lloyd George appointed him Minister for Munitions. Changing back to the Conservatives in 1924, Churchill was Chancellor of the Exchequer 1924–29. His critical attitude towards the Baldwin and Chamberlain governments’ appeasement policies towards European dictators aroused hostility towards him among the more orthodox members of his party, but when the Second World War commenced, he accepted office as First Lord of the Admiralty again. The downfall of Chamberlain in 1940 left the way open for Churchill to become Prime Minister and lead an all-party national government. After the war, this government broke up, and in the general election of 1945 Churchill, despite the accolades given him for his leadership in the war, was heavily defeated by the Labour Party. He returned as Prime Minister in 1951, but was by then ageing and unwell. He was persuaded to retire in 1955. He remained an MP until 1964. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953, and was made a Knight of the Garter in that same year. On his death in 1965 he was given a state funeral.

Ciampi, Carlo

Italian Prime Minister 1993–94. Born in Livorno in 1920, Ciampi studied at the University of Pisa, and, after serving with the Italian army 1941–44, joined the Bank of Italy in 1946 and pursued a career as a research economist. He was Governor of the Bank of Italy 1979–93, after which he was asked to form a ‘government of technocrats’ in order to restore confidence in the collapsing parliamentary institutions while constitutional reform was pursued. After his term as Prime Minister he served as Minister of the Treasury and the Budget in the d’Alema government (1996–98). From 1998 until 1999 he was Chairman of the IMF Interim Committee and has been a member of numerous economic institutions. In 1999 he was elected President of Italy.

[See also: Tangentopoli*]

Constantine II of Greece

Deposed King of Greece. Born in 1940 near Athens, Constantine studied law at Athens University and received military training 1956–58. He won a gold medal in the Rome 1960 Olympic Games for yachting. When his father King Paul I died in March 1964, he succeeded to the throne. Constantine had a tense relationship with the left-wing Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and dismissed him in 1965. This launched a period of civil disorder and a vacuum in government culminating in a military coup on 21 April 1967. Constantine had little choice but to accept the military dictatorship which was imposed after the coup. He called for a return to a democratic civil regime, but, when an attempt in 1967 to topple the military government failed, he was forced to leave Greece for Rome, then London. Constantine was formally deposed on 1 June 1973. The abolition of the Greek monarchy was confirmed by popular referendum in December 1974. In 1994 Constantine was deprived of his Greek citizenship and the property he owned in Greece was nationalised.

[See also: Papandreou; Colonels’ coup (Greece)*]

Cosgrave, Liam

Leader of the Irish Fine Gael (FG) party 1965–77; Prime Minister of Ireland 1973–77. Cosgrave was born in 1920 in Templeogue, County Dublin. His father was William T. Cosgrave, President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State 1922–32. Liam Cosgrave studied in Dublin and Kings Inns and was called to the Bar in 1943, becoming a Senior Counsel in 1958. In 1943 he was elected to Parliament as a representative of the FG. He acted as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister for Industry and Commerce 1948–51. In 1956, as Minister for External Affairs, he led the first Irish delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. In 1965 he was elected leader of the FG and in 1973 became Prime Minister at the head of an FG–Labour coalition. He was respected as a moderate leader who tried to ease tensions between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, although his attempt to promote compromise through the Sunningdale Agreement of December 1973 met with little success. In 1977 the National Coalition government was defeated by the Fianna Fail (FF) and Cosgrave stepped down both as Prime Minister and as leader of the FG. He retired from politics in 1981.

Cossiga, Francesco

Prime Minister of Italy 1979–80; President of Italy 1985–92. Cossiga was born in 1928 in Sassari, Sardinia, and received a law degree from Sassari University in 1948. He joined the Christian Democrats (DC) in 1945, becoming a provincial secretary 1956–58 and a member of the party’s national council 1956–85. In 1958 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. He was Under-Secretary of State for Defence 1966–70 and Minister for Public Administration 1974–76. As Minister of the Interior 1976–78 in the cabinet of Aldo Moro he had to deal with an upsurge in urban violence and political terrorism. In April 1977, his offices were bombed by radicals. In March 1978 Cossiga took charge of the investigation into the kidnapping of Aldo Moro. He refused to negotiate with the terrorists and when Moro was murdered in May 1978, Cossiga resigned. In 1979 he agreed to form a coalition government and immediately introduced legislation to curb terrorism. He resigned as Prime Minister in March 1980 in the face of a vote of no confidence, but immediately formed another coalition government of Christian Democrats and Socialists. He resigned again in October 1980 when his economic plan to support the value of the lira was defeated in Parliament. He was President of the Italian Senate 1983–85 before being elected President of the Republic 1985–92. He was implicated in the corruption crisis which engulfed the Italian political elite in the early 1990s and resigned early in 1992.

[See also: Moro; Tangentopoli*; terrorism*]

Coty, René

As President of the Fourth French Republic 1954–59, Coty guided the peaceful transition between the Fourth and the Fifth Republics. Coty was born in Le Havre in 1882 and studied law at the University of Caen. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1923, sitting with the left Republican party group. From 1935 to 1940 he was a member of the Senate, and was amongst those who supported the transfer of powers to Pétain. After the Second World War he led the Independent party group in the National Assembly and was Minister for Reconstruction and Town Planning 1947–48. In the presidential election of 1953, it took seven days of negotiations and thirteen ballots before Coty, an outsider who entered the field only on the eleventh ballot, emerged as President. Aware of his shaky mandate, he worked to restore the dignity and unity of the parliamentary institutions, exercising his powers with restraint and adopting a conciliatory stance towards the Communist Party. In 1958, when France faced a crisis over Algerian independence and the threat of military intervention, Coty helped to secure the transition to the Fifth Republic. He threatened to resign, potentially leaving the way open for a Popular Front government, unless de Gaulle was allowed to introduce the new republic. Once the Fifth Republic was inaugurated, Coty stepped down as President in favour of de Gaulle. Coty died on 22 November 1962.

[See also: de Gaulle; Algerian conflict*; Vichy regime*]

Craxi, ‘Bettino’ (Benedetto)

Prime Minister of Italy 1983–87 and leader of the Italian Socialist Party. Born in 1934 in Milan, Craxi joined the Italian Socialist Youth Movement in the early 1950s and became active in the Socialist Party. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1968. He became Deputy Secretary of his party in 1970, and General Secretary in 1976 and succeeded in integrating the various factions of the party. In 1983 he became the first Socialist Italian Prime Minister. His government’s austerity programme was met with a series of strikes. In October 1985, the Italian liner the Achille Lauro was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. Craxi’s government negotiated with the terrorists through the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and released the suspected organiser of the hijacking. These events caused a government crisis, but Craxi was able to stay in power until 1987. After his resignation he remained sufficiently powerful to force the resignation of several subsequent governments. He resigned as leader of the Socialist Party in February 1993 following allegations of political corruption. He fled to Tunisia and in 1994 he was sentenced in his absence to eight and a half years’ imprisonment for having accepted 7 billion lire from the corrupt Milanese Banco Ambrosiano for the Socialist Party. He died in January 2000.

[See also: Tangentopoli*]

Cresson, Edith

First woman Prime Minister of France 1991–92. Born in Boulogne-sur-Seine in 1934, Cresson graduated from a prestigious Paris business school and took a doctorate in demography before beginning a career in economic investment and marketing. She was national secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) 1974–79 and was also responsible for its youth section. She was elected to the European Parliament in 1979 and to the National Assembly in 1981. She was a member of all three Mauroy cabinets: Minister for Agriculture 1981–83; Foreign Trade and Tourism 1983–84; and Industrial Restructuring and Foreign Trade 1984–86. From 1988 to 1990 she was Minister for European Affairs, famously attacking Mrs Thatcher by declaring that the EC was ‘more than a glorified grocer’s shop’. As Prime Minister 1991–92 she often caused offence with her rash comments and failed to promote the popularity of the PS. When the party lost support in the March 1992 parliamentary elections, she stood down. From 1994 to 1999 she was EU Commissioner for Science, Research and Development. She was deeply implicated in the scandal which brought down the commission team in 1995.

[See also: Mauroy]

Debré, Michel

Prime Minister of France 1959–62 and designer of the constitution of the Fifth French Republic. Debré was born in Paris in 1912. After studying law, he served as an officer in the Second World War, became a prisoner of war but escaped in 1940 and fled to England. Here he worked closely with de Gaulle’s Free French resistance movement. He became a Senator in the Fourth Republic, and, when de Gaulle accepted the call to introduce a new constitution in 1958, Debré played a leading role in drafting that constitution. After serving as Prime Minister, he later became Foreign Minister and Defence Minister. In 1981 he was a candidate for the presidency, but received only about 1 per cent of the vote on the first round of balloting.

[See also: de Gaulle; resistance groups*]

Delors, Jacques

French christian democrat/socialist and President of the EC/EU Commission 1985–95. Delors was born in 1925 in Paris, where he studied law and banking before joining the Bank of France in 1944. He acted as consultant in social and economic affairs in the preparation of the Fifth Plan (1962–69), a position he gained partly through his ties with the Catholic union, the CFTC. He associated briefly with the Mouvement Républicain Populaire and with socialist splinter groups before leading the Catholic Citoyen 60 club. After the social upheaval of May 1968, his vision of a less authoritarian, consensus-led mode of conducting industrial relations became more popular. In 1969, Prime Minister Chaban-Delmas, keen to promote a ‘new society’ in France, appointed Delors as his adviser on social affairs. In 1974, Delors joined the Socialist Party (PS) and became a supporter of Mitterrand. When Mitterrand became President in 1981, Delors was appointed Minister of Finance. He kept France in the European Monetary System (EMS), and, in the Spring of 1982, implemented an austerity programme aimed at curbing consumption to reduce the trade deficit. A second, more stringent phase adopted in March 1983 curtailed collective bargaining, particularly in the public sector. Although the government proved unpopular, Delors’ performance was approved by the financial community. First elected MEP in 1979, Delors became President of the EC Commission in 1985. As President, he engineered major changes including a restructuring of the EC’s finances and agricultural policy and significant constitutional and institutional reform. Encouraged by a proactive Franco-German leadership (Mitterrand and Kohl), he moved the EC towards further integration. His efforts were consolidated in the Single European Act (SEA) and the Treaty on European Union (TEU or Maastricht Treaty). In addition to various EU posts, he has acted as special adviser on economic and social affairs to the OECD since 1999.

[See also: Chaban-Delmas; Kohl; Mitterrand; Maastricht Treaty*; Single European Act*]

Dewar, Donald

First Minister (Prime Minister) of the Scottish Executive 1999–2000. Dewar was born in Glasgow in 1937. He studied history and law at Glasgow University. Dewar was first elected as a Labour Party MP to the House of Commons in 1966, but was defeated in the 1970 general election. He returned as an MP in 1978, and became the Opposition spokesman on Scottish affairs in 1983, a post he held until 1992. He became a strong supporter of the idea of a devolved Parliament for Scotland, campaigning in favour of devolution in the unsuccessful 1979 referendum, supporting the Scottish Constitutional Convention created in 1988 which investigated ways and means of bringing about a Scottish Parliament, and managing the campaign in 1997 which produced an overwhelming majority in a referendum favouring a Scottish Parliament. When that Parliament was elected in 1999, Dewar, as leader of the largest parliamentary party group, became the First Minister and formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. In 2000 he had treatment for a heart condition, and died in October 2000.

Dini, Lamberto

Leading Italian economist and ‘technocratic’ Prime Minister of Italy 1995–96. Dini was born in 1931 in Florence and studied at the Universities of Florence, Minnesota and Michigan. He became an economist with the IMF in Washington and took various consultancy posts before joining the Bank of Italy, first, in 1979, as Assistant General Manager, then as General Manager. He was a member of the Monetary Committee of the EU. He was Minister of the Treasury 1994–95, Prime Minister 1995–96 and Minister of Foreign Affairs 1996–2000. In spite of a bitterly divided Parliament in the wake of Berlusconi’s failed government of 1994, Dini was able to find majorities to pass a new budget in March 1995 and a significant pension reform to introduce a new system of benefits by 2008. However, he was not able to pass anti-cartel laws directed against Berlusconi’s control of the media: the measure was rejected by referendum by 57 per cent of the vote. He resigned as Prime Minister under growing pressure from the established parties, but formed a new party: the centrist Italian Renewal Party, shortly before the 1996 general election, and became a prominent member of Prodi’s ‘Olive Tree’ coalition government in 1996.

[See also: Berlusconi; Prodi; Tangentopoli*]

Duncan Smith, Iain

Leader of the Conservative Party since 2001. Duncan Smith was born in Edinburgh in 1954 and educated at Sandhurst, following which he became an army officer, then a business executive. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1992. He established a reputation within the party for his outspoken opposition to further developments in European integration, and especially British entry into the single European currency scheme. He was appointed by Hague in 1997 as opposition spokesman for social security policy. In the leadership election in 2001, he rather surprisingly obtained more votes from Conservative MPs than Portillo, and competed successfully against Clarke in the membership ballot among the top two contenders.

[See also: Hague]

Dutschke, Rudi

Leading figure in the German student movement, especially in the late 1960s. Dutschke was born in Schönefeld near Luckenwalde (south of Berlin) in 1940. As a conscientious objector in the GDR he was excluded from higher education, so moved to West Berlin to study sociology. As a leading member of the left-wing Socialist German Student Association (SDS), he organised demonstrations in the late 1960s, including a protest demonstration against the visit of the Shah of Iran in 1967, against the grand coalition and its policies and against what the SDS perceived to be undemocratic dominance in universities and other institutions by elites. In April 1968 Dutschke was shot by an assassin, and for a time his life was in danger. He made a recovery, eventually finding employment at Aarhus University (Denmark). He supported the founding of the Green Party in Germany. Dutschke died in 1979 from the effects of his gunshot injuries.

[See also: extra-parliamentary opposition*]

Eanes, General António

An army officer, General Eanes was President of Portugal 1976–86. Eanes was born in 1935 in Alcains. He studied psychology and law before military training in 1953. He was commissioned to Portuguese India 1958–60; Mozambique 1962–64, 1966–67; Portuguese Guinea 1969–73; and Angola 1973–74. He became a General in 1978. After the April Revolution he was named to the first ‘Ad hoc’ Committee for mass media in June 1974 and subsequently to other media posts, but resigned after accusations of ‘probable implication’ in the abortive counter-coup of March 1975. He was later cleared of this charge. He was a member of the Military Committee of the Council of the Revolution and was responsible for the Constitutional Law approved in December 1975. In addition to the presidency, Eanes was Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Force 1976–80, 1980–81. After his presidency, he led the Portuguese Democratic Renewal Party 1986–87.

Eden, Anthony

British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader 1955–57. Eden was born in 1897 in Durham. After studying at Oxford, he was awarded the Military Cross during his service in the First World War. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1923. After holding junior ministerial posts, he was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1935. Disagreements with Prime Minister Chamberlain, especially concerning the need actively to resist aggression by Italy in Abyssinia, caused Eden to resign from the cabinet in 1938. Eden became Dominions Secretary in Chamberlain’s government when the Second World War commenced in 1939. Churchill appointed him in 1940 as Secretary of State for War, then as Foreign Secretary, which involved Eden closely in the war-time conferences with the USA and USSR. When Churchill returned as Prime Minister in 1951, Eden became Foreign Secretary for the third time, and was the recognised successor-in-waiting to the aged and ailing Churchill. He became Prime Minister when Churchill resigned in 1955, but in 1956 became embroiled in the Suez crisis, which led to his humiliation as Prime Minister and to divisions within his party. He resigned as Prime Minister on grounds of ill-health in January 1957. He became Earl of Avon in 1961. He died in 1977.

[See also: Churchill; Suez crisis*]

Eichmann, Karl Adolf

Nazi war criminal responsible for administration of the Holocaust. Eichmann was born in Solingen in 1906. He joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and was recruited to the SS (state security service). As a high-level bureaucrat with experience in managing anti-Jewish policies in Vienna, he attended the Wannsee conference which planned the so-called ‘final solution’ and was in charge of administration of this policy of eliminating Jews in Europe by murder in concentration camps. Escaping from American custody after the war, he fled to Argentina, but a group of so-called ‘Nazi hunters’ located his residence there in 1960 and he was kidnapped by Israeli security agents, transported to Israel and put on trial. Found guilty of crimes against the Jewish people, he was sentenced to death and executed in 1962.

[See also: anti-Semitism*; final solution*; Holocaust*; nazism*]

Engholm, Björn

Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, 1988–93 and leader of the West German Social Democratic Party 1991–93. Engholm was born in Lübeck in 1939. He had been a Member of the Bundestag, and, briefly, a minister in Helmut Schmidt’s coalition government. Engholm was a popular politician, who seemed set to become chancellor-candidate for the SPD for the 1994 Bundestag election. However, his admission that he had given false evidence to an inquiry into the Barschel Affair led to his resignation from party and public office in 1993. He was replaced as SPD leader by Rudolf Scharping.

[See also: Scharping; Schmidt; Barschel Affair*]

Eppelmann, Rainer

Dissident and leading eastern German politician during German reunification (1989–90). Eppelmann was born in Berlin in 1943. After his trade apprenticeship he was jailed as a conscientious objector. He studied theology and became a leading pacifist and critic of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). As a pastor, he housed meetings for opponents of the regime in his East Berlin church. He was co-founder of the political movement: Democratic Renewal (Demokratische Aufbruch) and represented it at the Round Table talks on constitutional and political reform which took place in late 1989 and early 1990 under the Modrow government. From February 1990 he was Minister without Portfolio in the Modrow cabinet. When the leader of Democratic Renewal, Wolfgang Schnur, resigned over alleged links with the GDR state security police (Stasi), he was replaced by Eppelmann. Eppelmann was Minister for Disarmament and Defence in the de Maizière cabinet in 1990 following the parliamentary elections. He became a member of the CDU when Democratic Renewal was merged with the CDU shortly before reunification, and took a leading role in the CDU employees’ organisation. He chaired committees of inquiry into past events in the GDR. He has been a Member of the Bundestag since 1990.

[See also: de Maizière; Modrow; reunification of Germany*; Round Table*; Stasi*]

Erhard, Ludwig

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany 1963–66. Erhard was born in 1897 in Fürth (Bavaria). Prior to and during the Second World War he directed an economics research institute. In 1944 he produced a scheme for the economic recovery of post-war Germany based on the notion of a social market economy, a combination of the free market and welfare state provisions, which guided West German economic policy after the war. After the war he was appointed as Professor of Economics at Munich University, served as Bavarian Minister for Industry in 1945–46 and became Economic Director in the Bizone Economic Council Executive in 1948. In this post he implemented the currency reform of 1948, designed to produce a stable currency and eliminate the black market in the western zones of occupation. He was elected to the Bundestag in 1949, and became Minister of Economics in Adenauer’s government, serving in that post until he succeeded Adenauer as Federal Chancellor in 1963. His skills as an economist and administrator, though earning him the title of ‘Father of the Economic Miracle’, did not benefit him in election campaigns, and the failure of the CDU–CSU to do as well as expected in the 1965 Bundestag election left Erhard in a vulnerable position. When the Free Democrats forced a coalition crisis in 1966 over taxation policy, Erhard was forced to resign as Chancellor, and was replaced by Kiesinger. Erhard succeeded Adenauer briefly as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (1966–67). Erhard died in 1977.

[See also: Adenauer; Kiesinger; economic miracle*; social market economy*]

Erlander, Tage

Prime Minister of Sweden 1946–69. Erlander was born in Ransäter in 1901. He entered the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) in 1933 as a Social Democrat, and rapidly rose to become a member of the cabinet in 1944. In 1946 he was elected as party leader and became Prime Minister. His main achievement was the development of Sweden’s welfare state system. He emphasised consensus in his relations with other parties, which enabled many of his policies to be adopted without much political controversy. He defended the policy of neutrality for Sweden, but combined this with internationalism expressed through generous foreign aid and Swedish membership in the European Free Trade Association.

Fabius, Laurent

Prime Minister of France 1984–86, the youngest to hold this office since Decazes in 1815. Fabius was born in Paris in 1946 and studied there at the Institute of Political Studies and at the National College of Administration. In 1973 he joined the Council of State, France’s highest administrative tribunal, becoming Master of Petitions in 1981. In 1974 he joined the Socialist Party (PS) and rose rapidly from economic adviser to Mitterrand in 1975 to First Secretary of the party, and, in 1976, Director of Mitterrand’s advisory staff. Together with Jospin, Fabius worked to secure Mitterrand’s power base within the party. In 1978, Fabius became PS parliamentary spokesman on budgetary matters, and, in 1981, Minister for the Budget. His reflationary budget of 1982 aimed to implement the series of social and economic reforms proposed by the Socialist–Communist coalition. In March 1983, Fabius was promoted to the flagship ‘superministry’ of Research, Industry and Telecommunications, intended to mastermind France’s ‘third industrial revolution’. When Mauroy resigned as Prime Minister in 1984, Mitterrand replaced him with Fabius, who introduced the surprisingly successful austerity programme. Popular with the public, Fabius clashed with rivals in the party, and also with Mitterrand. He was criticised for his pragmatism and viewed as not being a true socialist: he was dubbed the ‘Giscard of the left’. Lacking an independent political power base, Fabius lost public profile when the right regained the government in 1986. He failed to gain the leadership of the PS during the election year of 1988 and his selection as President of the National Assembly in that year was understood as a consolation prize. He was briefly First Secretary of the PS (1992–93) and led the PS party group in the National Assembly 1995–97.

[See also: Giscard d’Estaing; Jospin; Mauroy; Mitterrand]

Fini, Gianfranco

Leader of the right-wing National Alliance party in Italy, and Deputy Prime Minister in Berlusconi’s government. Fini was born in Bologna in 1952, and studied education and psychology at university. He played a leading role in Italy’s neo-fascist youth group (the Fronte della Gioventú) and was elected to Parliament for the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) in 1983. He became leader of that party in 1987, but, because of problems affecting that party, decided to form a new party in 1994: the National Alliance (AN), which took a more moderate and orthodox political stance than had the MSI. That same year the AN joined in Berlusconi’s coalition government, and it also became a partner in Berlusconi’s 2001 coalition government.

[See also: Berlusconi]

Finnbogadóttir, Vigdís

President of Iceland 1980–96. Finnbogadóttir was born in 1930 in Reykjavik and studied at the Universities of Iceland, Grenoble and the Sorbonne before becoming a French teacher. She became involved in the Icelandic tourist industry, was Director of the Reykjavik Theatre Company 1972–80 and taught French drama at the University of Iceland. In politics, she was first a Member, then Chair, of the Advisory Committee on Cultural Affairs in the Nordic countries 1976–80 before becoming President of Iceland 1980–96.

Fischer, Joschka

Foreign Minister of Germany, and leading personality in the Green Party. Fischer was born in Gerabronn in 1948. He was one of the more notorious radicals of the ‘1968 movement’. He joined the Green Party in 1982, as it was first developing into a national political force. In 1985 he became Minister for the Environment in the Hesse Land government, in what was the first Land coalition government in which the Green Party had participated. He retained that office until 1987, and was again Minister for the Environment in the second SPD–Green Party coalition in Hesse, from 1991 to 1994. He had been a Member of the Bundestag 1983–85, and was again elected to the Bundestag in 1994. In the period 1987–94 he was a Member of the Hesse Land Parliament. Fischer was always seen to be a supporter of a more pragmatic policy for the Green Party: one of the ‘Realos’. He was the most widely recognised personality in that party, certainly since the death of Petra Kelly. When the SPD formed a governing coalition after the 1998 Bundestag election, Fischer became Foreign Minister and Deputy Chancellor. His policies whilst in office have sometimes met with strong disapproval from elements within his own party, such as his support for German military participation in peacekeeping in areas of the former Yugoslavia. In 2001 allegations concerning his radical activities in the early 1970s cast a shadow over his position in the Schröder government.

[See also: Kelly; Realos and Fundis*]

Fitzgerald, Garret

Leading Irish and EU politician and economist, leader of the Fine Gael (FG) party 1977–87 and Prime Minister of Ireland 1981–82, 1982–87. Fitzgerald was born in 1926 in Dublin, where he graduated in law from University College. From 1947 to 1958 he worked as a manager for Aer Lingus before taking up posts in political economy at Dublin University 1958–73. He was a member of the Irish Senate (Seanad Éireann) 1965–69, then of the lower house (Dáil Éireann) for Dublin South-East 1969–92. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs 1973–77 before first becoming Prime Minister (Taoiseach) in 1981. During this period in office he set up an Inter-Governmental Council on Northern Ireland with the UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. His coalition government with the Labour Party fell when its budget was defeated in 1982, and fresh elections gave power to the opposition, the Fianna Fail (FF). Fitzgerald led the FG from 1977 to 1987. He again became Prime Minister in December 1982. On 15 November 1985 he signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement with Thatcher. This gave the Republic a consultative role in Northern Ireland for the first time, while recognising the right of the majority in Northern Ireland to decide the political allegiance of the province. With respect to domestic policy, Fitzgerald failed to reduce government spending or bring down the rate of unemployment and barely survived a no-confidence motion in October 1986. His government collapsed, again over the budget, in January 1987, and Fitzgerald promptly resigned from the leadership of FG. He has held numerous national and international positions relating to economics and in association with the EU. While Minister for Foreign Affairs, he was President of the Council of Ministers of the EEC January–June 1975. He was a leading figure in the European People’s Party of the European Parliament. He has been active as a political journalist, working for the BBC, the Financial Times, The Economist and the Irish Times.

[See also: Thatcher]

Foot, Michael

Leader of the British Labour Party 1980–83. Foot was born in Plymouth in 1913. Educated at Oxford University, he became a journalist noted for his left-wing views. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1960 and became a minister in the 1974 Wilson government. He was leader of the House of Commons 1976–79. He was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party in 1976, and then leader in succession to Callaghan in 1980. His left-wing views were blamed for the heavy defeat of the Labour Party in the 1983 general election, after which Foot resigned as party leader. He has always been associated with pacifist causes, in particular the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

[See also: Callaghan; Wilson; Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament*]

Fraga Iribarne, Manuel

Leader of the former Spanish party Alianza Popular (AP) (now Partido Popular (PP)) 1979–86, 1989–90 and a leading writer and diplomat. Fraga was born in 1922 in Villalba, Lugo and studied at the Universities of Santiago and Madrid before becoming a Professor at the Universities of Valencia (1945) and Madrid (1948). He was active in the diplomatic service from 1945. From 1951 to 1961 he held various public posts related to culture, education and political studies. He was Minister of Information and Tourism 1962–69 and also Secretary-General of the cabinet 1967–69. He was Ambassador to the UK 1973–75. After Franco’s death, Fraga became Minister for the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister 1975–76. In 1976 he formed the AP which he led for much of the 1980s. He was a Member of the European Parliament 1987–89 and was involved in regional politics in Galicia, becoming the President of the region in 1990 (and re-elected to that post in 1993, 1997 and 2000). During the Franco regime he was a supporter of partial liberalisation, both of the ruling party and of the regime. He removed aspects of censorship of the press by legislation in 1966, for instance. However, he was too closely linked to Franco’s regime to be a key figure in the transition to democracy in Spain.

Franco, Francisco

Military leader of Spain from the civil war until his death in 1975. Franco was born in Galicia in 1892. He entered upon a military career, and became Chief of Staff in 1935. His overt opposition to the democratic regime in Spain at the time led to his posting as military commander in the Canary Islands, and Franco’s decision in 1936 to lead a military uprising against the socialist government. This led to the Spanish civil war, which ended in a victory for the military forces in 1939. He then ruled Spain as a dictatorship in which he was head of state and Prime Minister, with the aid of his Falange party. Other parties were prohibited, democratic rights were abolished, regional identity was suppressed and a corporate form of economic regulation introduced. Franco was regarded by some as fascist and he benefited during the civil war from military aid sent by the Nazi government. Nevertheless, he refused to join in the Second World War, maintaining Spanish neutrality. Before his death, Franco arranged that the monarchy should be restored and that Juan Carlos should succeed him as head of state, in the hope that his style of regime would persist after his death.

[See also: Juan Carlos, King; Spanish civil war*]

Gaitskell, Hugh

Leader of the British Labour Party 1955–63. Gaitskell was born in London in 1906. He studied at Oxford University and then became a lecturer in economics. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1945 and held a number of ministerial positions in the Attlee governments, becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1950. His decision to introduce charges for certain National Health Service provisions led to a bitter feud with Bevan (who resigned from the government on this issue) and the left wing of the party, and to criticism of Gaitskell’s revisionism. In 1955 Gaitskell defeated Bevan in the election for the party leadership. He tried to modify Labour’s commitment to nationalisation, and strongly opposed attempts to impose unilateral nuclear disarmament as party policy. He died in 1963.

[See also: Bevan]

de Gasperi, Alcide

Prime Minister of Italy 1945–53 during the reconstruction period after the Second World War. De Gasperi was born in 1881 in Pieve Tesino in Trentino. He studied at the University of Vienna before becoming editor of the newspaper Nuovo Trentino. He was elected to the Austrian Parliament in 1911 as a representative of the Italian Irredentist movement. After the union of his province with Italy, he was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1921. An opponent of Mussolini’s dictatorship, he was arrested in 1926 and his newspaper was banned. He was jailed for 16 months. During the Second World War, de Gasperi was an active member of the Italian resistance. When Mussolini fell, de Gasperi joined the Bonomi government of 1944, becoming Foreign Minister in December. He was elected leader of the newly founded Christian Democrats (DC) and in 1945 became Prime Minister, introducing a period of DC participation in government which was to last until the party’s dissolution in 1994. As Prime Minister, de Gasperi committed the Italian Republic to NATO, promoted links with the USA, established a fairly liberal economic policy and remained staunchly anti-communist. He grew increasingly committed to the goal of European integration. During his period in office, Italy recovered its international standing and the economy improved. After losing a vote of confidence in June 1953, de Gasperi stepped down. He resigned as leader of the DC in June 1954 and died on 19 August 1954.

[See also: Mussolini; resistance groups*]

de Gaulle, Charles

Leader of the Free French resistance during the Second World War and President of France 1958–69. De Gaulle was born in Lille in 1890. He made a career in the army, and was a prisoner-of-war in the First World War. When France was defeated in 1940 by the German military, de Gaulle, at the time a General with a post in the Ministry of Defence, fled to London and set up a committee of the Free French to continue resistance to the Germans. Following the liberation of France in 1944–45, de Gaulle became head of the provisional government, until the Fourth Republic was established in 1946, following a referendum. He removed himself from an active role in national politics, but in 1958, as a result of the growing crisis in Algeria and the lack of support for the Fourth Republic, he was invited to become Prime Minister with the mandate to produce a new constitution. He became the first President of the new Fifth Republic, introduced direct election for the presidency and was re-elected in 1965 under this new system. He successfully managed the Algerian crisis, eventually ensuring that Algeria became independent. He played an active part in shaping the politics of European integration, though always with a view to protecting the interests of France. In particular, he negotiated the Franco-German treaty with Adenauer which was signed in 1963 and twice exercised a veto against the entry of the United Kingdom into the European Economic Community. He withdrew France from various aspects of NATO membership in 1966. The events surrounding the student and left-wing demonstrations in 1968 seemed to weaken his position, though he agreed to a range of reforms in an effort to meet popular demands. In 1969 de Gaulle’s plans for regional reform were defeated in a referendum which was perceived as a test of confidence in his leadership, and he resigned. He died in 1970.

[See also: Adenauer; Algerian conflict*; empty chair crisis*; May Events*; resistance groups*]

Genscher, Hans-Dietrich

Foreign Minister of the German Federal Republic 1974–92 and leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) 1974–85. Genscher was born near Halle, in what later became the German Democratic Republic, in 1927. He studied law at the Universities of Halle and Leipzig, then migrated to the Federal Republic in 1952, the year in which he joined the FDP. He was appointed to the staff of the FDP parliamentary party in the Bundestag in 1956, becoming business manager of that parliamentary party in 1959, and business manager of the FDP in 1962. He was first elected to the Bundestag in 1965. He was elected as a deputy leader of his party in 1968. He served as Minister of the Interior in the Brandt government from 1969 to 1974. The resignation in 1974 of the incumbent Foreign Minister and party leader, Scheel, allowed Genscher to assume both those positions. Genscher played a leading role in bringing about the fall of the Schmidt government and its replacement by a Christian Democrat–FDP coalition in 1982 by use of the constructive vote of no confidence. As Foreign Minister under two Chancellors of different parties: Helmut Schmidt (Social Democrats) and Helmut Kohl (Christian Democrats), Genscher provided continuity of foreign policy and was able to promote his strategy of combining the pursuit of détente with measures to ensure the military and diplomatic security of the Federal Republic – a policy stance that became known as ‘Genscherism’. He soon became the most prominent of all the FDP politicians, and his reputation and fame contributed much to the electoral survival of the FDP in 1983 and its electoral successes in 1987 and 1990. He played a leading role both in dealing with diplomatic incidents during the collapse of the communist regime in the GDR (such as emigration of GDR refugees in Western embassies in Eastern Europe in 1989) and in the diplomatic strategies which led to the reunification of Germany in 1990.

[See also: Brandt; Scheel; Schmidt; constructive vote of no confidence*; reunification of Germany*]

Giscard d’Estaing, Valéry

President of France 1974–81. Giscard was born in 1926 in Koblenz (Germany). He served in the Second World War and then received an elite civil service education, graduating from the newly created National College of Administration to take a post at the Bank of France. Minister of Finance Edgar Fauré appointed Giscard to his staff in 1954, keeping him on when Fauré became Prime Minister in 1955. In 1956 Giscard inherited his grandfather’s parliamentary seat of Puy-le-Dôme. In the 1958 crisis, Giscard backed de Gaulle and retained his seat at the first elections of the Fifth Republic. In 1962 he became Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs. From 1962 to 1974, Giscard led the development of liberalism in French politics. After the 1962 elections, his party group, the Independent Republicans, supported the Gaullist government as a coalition partner with the aim of promoting European integration and a less authoritarian style of government. In 1966 Giscard left the government and openly criticised de Gaulle, refusing to support him over the 1969 referendum on regional and senate reform. The failure of the referendum was to bring down de Gaulle’s presidency. Giscard transferred his loyalty to Pompidou and was rewarded by the new President with the Finance Ministry (1969–74). When Pompidou died in 1974, Giscard won the presidential elections. Determined to be a new-style ‘popular’ president, the high expectations at the start of his term of office faded to disillusionment. Giscard took office as the oil crises of 1973 and 1979 were taking their toll in economic recession and inflation. Giscard had promised liberal social reforms, but failed to deliver as anticipated. On Europe, Giscard backed significant initiatives including the establishment of the European Council, the EMS and the Franco-German entente, but his administration was not noticeably less nationalist than that of his predecessors. From 1976 to 1981, the Gaullists became increasingly critical of the way in which Giscard himself kept tight control over policy. Jacques Chirac, Giscard’s first Prime Minister, became his bitterest rival, and played a major part in Giscard’s defeat in the presidential election of 1981. Giscard’s presidency ended in a welter of scandals, including the murder of a Giscardian Deputy of the National Assembly and the suspicious suicide of a government minister. The last straw was Giscard’s refusal to account for his acceptance of a gift of diamonds from the African dictator Emperor Bokassa. Giscard returned to the National Assembly as a Deputy in 1984. He was President of a weakened UDF 1988–96. He became President of the European international movement 1989–97 and led the UDF–RPR list in the 1989 European elections. In 1997, he became President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions.

[See also: Chirac; de Gaulle; Pompidou; oil crisis*]

Goldsmith, James

Founder and principal financier of the Referendum Party, which presented candidates at the 1997 British general election. Goldsmith was born in Paris in 1933. He became a businessman, amassing great wealth as a result of founding and developing companies. He became convinced that British entry into the single European currency system would be a national disaster, so he first campaigned vigorously for a promise by the Conservative government that they would promise a referendum on the issue on his terms, and, when that demand was rejected, financed candidacies of Referendum Party supporters in constituencies where he and his party regarded the Conservative candidate as unsound on the referendum issue. None of his candidates was elected, but some received several thousand votes in their constituencies, and could, in some cases, be regarded as having cost the Conservative candidate that seat. The Referendum Party was wound up after the election. Goldsmith died in 1997.

González Márquez, Felipe

Prime Minister of Spain 1982–96 and leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) 1979–97. González was born in 1942 in Seville and studied law at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. Working in Seville as a lawyer, in 1966 he introduced the first labour law centre specifically for workers. During Franco’s regime, he was arrested several times for his association with the banned socialists. He had joined the Spanish Socialist Youth in 1962 and the PSOE in 1964 and rose rapidly in the party ranks, becoming a member of the Seville Provincial Committee 1965–69, the National Committee 1969–70, and the Executive Board in 1970. In 1972, he became leader of the largest faction within the party. He became first Secretary of the PSOE 1974–79, resigned for a brief period before being re-elected in September 1979 and then held the post of Secretary-General of the party until his resignation in 1997. In 1982, the Socialists won a landslide election and replaced Súarez’s centre-right government. González was Prime Minister of Spain 1982–96, as well as leading the PSOE party group in Parliament. Initially very popular, his government was increasingly troubled by economic problems and by corruption scandals, including the FILESA scandal, when a judge ordered searches of party records which revealed illegal payments to the PSOE and later the trial of several officials of the party. These scandals, although not directly involving González in criminal charges, affected his reputation and probably prevented him being considered as successor to the discredited Jacques Santer as President of the EU Commission. González has now retired from politics.

[See also: Franco; Suárez González; Felipeism*]

Grass, Günther

German leftist intellectual, writer and artist: a vocal critic of the values of the Federal Republic of Germany and particularly of the reunification project. Grass was born in 1927 in Danzig (now Gdánsk, Poland) and went to art school. Best known as an author, Grass received numerous prizes for literature and the arts, notably the West German Group 47 Prize 1959; the literary prize of the Association of German Critics 1960; the Thomas Mann prize 1996 and the Nobel Prize for Literature 1999. His best known works are the fictional Tin Drum (1959); From the Diary of a Snail (1972); and the political commentary Two States – One Nation? (1990). He was President of the Berlin Academy of the Arts 1983–86 and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A long-standing member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he resigned in 1992.

[See also: reunification of Germany*]

Grimond, Jo

Leader of the British Liberal Party 1956–67. Grimond was born in 1913. Trained as a lawyer, he fought in the Second World War, then entered Parliament in 1950 as MP for Orkney and Shetland. Elected as party leader in 1956, Grimond succeeded in increasing the very small number of Liberal MPs, and brought about a general, if limited, revival of the party. He acted briefly as provisional party leader in 1976 following the resignation of Jeremy Thorpe. He left Parliament in 1983. Grimond died in 1993.

[See also: Thorpe]

Gysi, Gregor

First leader of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), after its emergence from the Socialist Unity Party (SED) at the end of 1989. Gysi was born in Berlin in 1948. He joined the SED in 1967. He was a lawyer by profession, and gained a reputation as a defender of dissidents. He became known as a reformer within the SED in the closing months of the communist regime. This led to his election as Chairman of the SED at its emergency congress in December 1989, leading a provisional committee given the task of adapting the party to the change of regime in the German Democratic Republic. He led the PDS in its electoral campaign for the elections to the People’s Chamber in March 1990, and entered the Bundestag in 1990 as a delegate in October following reunification, and became an elected Member in December 1990. Gysi had to cope with accusations that the SED had misused funds and had improperly sought to avoid public accountability for its finances by sending large sums of money to foreign bank accounts. Despite suspicions of association with the Stasi, Gysi remained leader of the PDS until 1993, when he voluntarily gave up that office in order to concentrate on his activities as leader of the PDS parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Gysi was re-elected to the Bundestag in 1994 and 1998, retaining his Berlin constituency seat in each case.

[See also: reunification of Germany*; Stasi*]

Hague, William

Leader of the British Conservative Party and leader of the opposition in the House of Commons 1997–2001. Hague was born in 1961 in Rotherham and studied at Oxford University, where he was President of the Union 1981. After university he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey and Co. 1983–88 and acted as a political adviser to the Treasury. He made an early start to his political career when he addressed the annual Conservative Conference at the age of 15. He has been MP for Richmond, Yorkshire since 1989. Prior to becoming leader of the Conservative Party, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1990–93; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Social Security 1993–94; Minister for Social Security and Disabled People 1994–95; and Secretary of State for Wales 1995–97. He has been Chair of the International Democratic Union since 1999. Following the defeat of his party in the general election of 2001, he announced his intention to resign as party leader. Following a lengthy and complex electoral process, he was replaced by Iain Duncan Smith in September 2001.

[See also: Duncan Smith]

Haider, Jörg

Leader of the far right Austrian Freedom Party. Haider was born in 1950 in Carinthia and studied at Vienna University. He joined the Liberal Youth Movement in 1964 and the Freedom Party in 1971. He worked in private industry 1976–77 and was a Member of Parliament 1979–83 and again from 1986. His controversial and charismatic leadership of the Freedom Party promoted the party to the third force in Austrian politics. There was an international outcry, particularly amongst EU countries, when Haider’s party was asked to participate in a coalition government after the elections in February 2000, and EU states imposed various sanctions. He gave up the leadership of his party, but remains active in the regional politics of Carinthia.

Hallstein, Walter

German diplomat and first President of the European Commission 1958–67. Hallstein was born in Mainz in 1901. He studied law and became a Professor of Law at Rostock and Frankfurt Universities. He became a senior civil servant in Adenauer’s government, first in the Federal Chancellery, then in the newly established Foreign Office. In this position he was the chief negotiator for the Federal Republic in the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community and the Messina negotiations which led to the Treaty of Rome. In 1955 he formulated the famous ‘Hallstein Doctrine’ concerning relations with states which recognised the GDR. He served as President of the EEC Commission, but French opposition prevented him from accepting the presidency of the EC Commission following fusion of the EEC, ECSC and EURATOM institutions. He served as a Member of the Bundestag for the CDU 1969–72. Hallstein died in 1982.

[See also: ECSC*; Hallstein Doctrine*]

Haughey, Charles

Former Prime Minister of the Irish Republic. Haughey was born in County Mayo in 1925. After studying law and accountancy, he went into the property business before entering politics. He became a member of the Irish legislature for Fianna Fail in 1957, and held a number of ministerial posts from 1961 onwards. He resigned as Minister of Finance in 1970 because of allegations of links to Irish Nationalist groups, but following his acquittal on charges arising from those allegations he was again appointed as Minister in 1977, and became Prime Minister and leader of his party in 1979. He remained Prime Minister until 1981, and was again Prime Minister briefly in 1982. In opposition, internal party conflicts led to a break-away from Fianna Fail by some of its parliamentary group, to form a new party: the Progressive Democrats. Haughey was again Prime Minister from 1987. In 1992 he resigned as Prime Minister because of his association with cases of illegal phone-tapping by his government. In retirement, further accusations of financial impropriety were made against him concerning large political donations made by industrialists.

Havemann, Robert

German scientist and political dissident. Havemann was born in Munich in 1910. After studying chemistry at Munich and Berlin Universities, he was employed in a scientific research institute until forced from his post because of his membership of the Communist Party in 1933. He was active in resistance groups in the Hitler period, and on one occasion was caught, tried and sentenced to death, but reprieved because the research he was engaged in was of relevance to the German military. After the war, he became a Professor at the Humboldt University in East Berlin, a post he held until he was expelled from the SED in 1964 because of his dissident views. He was also an SED member of the Volkskammer (the GDR Parliament) 1950–63. He continued to publicise his dissident views, and was regarded as the leading theorist of a democratic form of socialism in the GDR. This led to his being placed under house arrest in 1976. He died in 1982.

[See also: Hitler; Resistance groups*]

Heath, Edward

Leader of the Conservative Party 1965–75 and British Prime Minister 1970–74. Heath was born in Broadstairs in 1916. He studied at Oxford University and served as an officer in the Second World War. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1950, becoming his party’s chief whip in 1955 and Minister of Labour in 1959. In 1960 he was appointed as Lord Privy Seal (a ministerial post without specific departmental responsibilities) and was principal negotiator – though unsuccessful – of British entry to the EEC. He was Secretary of State for Industry in Home’s government (1963–64). He became leader of the Conservatives in 1965 and, somewhat unexpectedly, led his party to victory in the 1970 general election. He called an early general election in February 1974 to try to defeat a series of strikes by coalminers. However, he failed to obtain a majority and the Labour Party formed the government. Heath also failed to win the general election in October 1974, and he was defeated in a leadership election by Margaret Thatcher in 1975. He never seemed to reconcile himself to this loss of party leadership, the more especially as Mrs Thatcher was electorally more successful than he had been and because she represented a very sceptical approach to further developments in European integration, developments which Heath seemed to welcome uncritically. Heath became ‘Father of the House of Commons’ in 1992, having served longer than any other sitting MP. He was re-elected in the 1997 general election, and as such presided over the controversial election of a Speaker in 2000, following the resignation of Mrs Boothroyd. When he left the House of Commons in 2001 Heath had served over half a century in the House of Commons.

[See also: Thatcher]

Herzog, Roman

President of Germany 1994–99. Herzog was born in 1934 in Landshut and studied at the University of Munich, the Free University of Berlin, and the College of Administrative Sciences at Speyer. He has held high office in protestant organisations and in the Christian Democratic Party (CDU). In the state of Baden-Württemberg he was Minister for Culture and Sport 1978–80 and Minister for the Interior 1980–83. He was a member of the Federal Committee of the CDU 1979–83. He was Vice-President of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) 1983–87 and President of the FCC 1987–94. He was nominated as the CDU candidate for President of the FRG after Kohl withdrew his proposal to nominate Heitmann, a minister in the Saxony Land government, whose lack of popularity within the party and outside it called into question his suitability as presidential candidate.

Heuss, Theodor

First President of the Federal Republic of Germany and first leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Heuss was born in Württemberg, in south-west Germany, in 1884. After a period as a journalist, he taught political science in Berlin (1920–33) and was elected to the Reichstag (the Parliament of the Weimar Republic) for the German Democratic Party 1924–28 and 1930–33. Having criticised Hitler in his books and journalism, Heuss was dismissed from his university post when the Nazis came to power. After the Second World War, Heuss helped to found the Liberal Party in south-west Germany, was the first Minister of Education for the Land of Württemberg-Baden, and a member of the Land Parliament. When a liberal party for West Germany was founded in 1948, he was elected as its first leader. He was an influential member of the Parliamentary Council, which drafted the Basic Law for the new Federal Republic. Coalition negotiations between the FDP and Adenauer’s Christian Democrats led to an agreement that Heuss would be supported by both parties for the position of Federal President when the Federal Republic was founded in 1949. Heuss was a much-respected President, and enjoyed a good relationship with Adenauer. He was re-elected as Federal President in 1954 for a second term. He died in 1963.

[See also: Adenauer; Hitler; nazism*]

Heym, Stefan

Controversial writer from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and latterly social democratic politician. Heym was born 10 April 1913 in Chemnitz and studied at the Universities of Berlin and Chicago. In 1933 he fled the National Socialist regime to Czechoslovakia where he worked as a journalist until 1935. He left for the USA in 1935, working as a waiter as he edited an anti-fascist newspaper. He served in the American army 1943–45. He was co-founder of the newspaper: the Neue Zeitung in Munich in 1945. In 1950 he led the American delegation to the Second World Peace Congress in Warsaw. In 1952 he returned to what was now the GDR. He was a member of the executive board of the GDR Writers’ Association but was expelled in 1979. After German unification he joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and was a Member of the Bundestag 1994–96. He died in 2001.

Hitler, Adolf

Chancellor and then President of the Weimar Republic; leader (‘Führer’) of the Nazi state – the Third Reich. Hitler was born in 1889 in Braunau (Austria). After failure to enter training courses for art and architecture, he served in the Bavarian army in the First World War, attaining the rank of corporal and being awarded the Iron Cross. After the war, he became employed in various tasks for the military, then joined and took over the National Socialist Workers’ Party (Nazi Party). In 1923 he attempted, with General Ludendorff (one of the military rulers of Germany during the war), to seize control of the Bavarian government by an armed putsch. This failed, and he was sentenced to imprisonment, during which time he commenced writing his manifesto: Mein Kampf (My Struggle). The crises which weakened the Weimar Republic provided opportunities for both electoral advances and direct action by the Nazis, and in 1933 President Hindenburg was compelled to ask Hitler to form a coalition government. Hitler used this opportunity to manufacture an election victory with the aid of the Reichstag fire (allowing him to exclude communists – blamed for starting the fire – from the Parliament) and then to pass emergency legislation (the Enabling Acts) which in effect marked the end of democracy and the commencement of the dictatorial Third Reich. Exerting a form of totalitarian rule in Germany, which included a policy of violent discrimination against the Jewish population and, later, their transfer to concentration camps and their mass murder, Hitler was able to commence what he regarded as ‘rectifications’ of the Versailles Treaty, including reoccupation of the Rhineland by the German military, the annexation of Austria and then seizure of territory from Czechoslovakia and Poland. This led to the Second World War, in which Hitler, after initial successes in northern and western Europe, sought to defeat the USSR. The entry of the USA into the war in 1941 marked the beginning of Hitler’s downfall. The German army was halted at Stalingrad and at El Alamein (North Africa), and Allied invasions of Italy (1943) and France (1944) led to the defeat of the German military, their unconditional surrender and the occupation of Germany in 1945. Hitler, who had been the target of assassination attempts (most notably the ‘July plot’ in 1944), committed suicide in his Berlin headquarters a few days before the surrender of German forces.

[See also: nazism*]

Home, Lord

British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party 1963–64. Alec Douglas-Home was born in London in 1903 and was educated at Eton and Oxford University. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1931, and became an aide to Chamberlain during pre-war negotiations with Hitler. He succeeded to the hereditary title of Earl of Home in 1951, and held several ministerial positions in Conservative governments before Macmillan appointed him as Foreign Secretary in 1960. When Macmillan announced his resignation as party leader and Prime Minister, he surprisingly recommended Lord Home as his successor. This led necessarily to Home resigning his peerage under the 1963 Peerage Act, and he was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election. Home never established his authority as Prime Minister, and was defeated in the 1964 general election. He resigned as party leader in 1965, and became Foreign Secretary for a second time in Heath’s 1970 government. He returned to the House of Lords as a life peer in 1974. He died in 1995.

[See also: Heath; Hitler; Macmillan]

Honecker, Erich

General Secretary (i.e. leader) of the ruling communist party (the Socialist Unity Party: SED) in the German Democratic Republic from 1971 until his forced resignation in 1989. He was born in the Saarland in 1912. He joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1929. Honecker was imprisoned during the Third Reich because of his underground political activities. In the Soviet zone of occupation, later the German Democratic Republic, he was leader of the communist youth organisation (the Free German Youth: FDJ) until 1955. He rose rapidly within the SED organisation, and was put in charge of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. As leader of the SED, he attempted to introduce a measure of economic modernisation, though remaining within the confines of a strictly controlled and planned economy. He was a loyal follower of the Soviet Union’s policies, eagerly committing the GDR to support of repression of reformist movements in other countries of the Soviet bloc. At Soviet insistence, he participated in the development of policies of détente in the 1970s, including signing of the Basic Treaty with the Federal Republic of Germany and the Helsinki Treaties. He made a long-awaited official visit to the Federal Republic in 1987. As events unfolded in the second half of 1989, Honecker maintained a stubborn refusal to adapt the policies of the regime in any way, even, in this case, rejecting the lead of Gorbachev and the Soviet Union Communist Party with their policies of glasnost and perestroika. Though he was still leader of the GDR when the state celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its foundation in October 1989, he was compelled by his colleagues (with the acquiescence of the USSR) to resign on 17 October 1989. After German reunification, he was charged with various offences, including the ‘shoot to kill’ orders which resulted in the deaths of many would-be escapees at the East German border. He escaped trial because of illness, and died of cancer in Chile in 1994.

[See also: Berlin Wall*; détente*; glasnost*; Helsinki Agreements*; nazism*; perestroika*; reunification of Germany*; Vergangenheitsbewältigung*]

Hume, John

Leader of the Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) since 1979. Born in 1937 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Hume studied at the National University of Ireland. He was appointed Research Fellow at Trinity College and then Associate Fellow at the Centre for International Affairs at Harvard. He was a founder member of the Credit Union in Northern Ireland and its President 1964–68. Opposed to violence, he was a civil rights leader 1968–69. Hume represented Londonderry in the Northern Ireland Parliament 1969–72 and the Northern Ireland Assembly 1972–73. He was Minister of Commerce in the power-sharing executive of 1974 and again represented Londonderry in the Northern Ireland Convention 1975–76. He has been a Member of the European Parliament since 1979. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1982–86 and from 1998. He participated in the SDLP New Ireland Forum 1983–84. He has held many national and international posts, particularly concerning workers’ issues, regional issues and civil rights.

Jenkins, Roy

Former senior British Labour Party politician, former President of the Commission of the European Community, and co-founder of the Social Democratic Party. Jenkins was born in Abersychan, Wales, in 1920. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1948, and was appointed to several ministerial offices in Labour governments, including those of Home Secretary (1965–67 and 1974–76) and Chancellor of the Exchequer (1967–70). He was elected as deputy leader of the British Labour Party in 1970. Jenkins served as President of the EC Commission 1977–81. As one of the ‘Gang of Four’ he founded the Social Democratic Party in 1981, and became its first elected leader in 1982, though he gave way as leader to David Owen in 1983. He entered the House of Lords as Lord Jenkins of Hillhead in 1988. He served as Chancellor of Oxford University, and has written several well-received books, especially biographies of Asquith, Dilke and Gladstone. In 1998 he was Chairman of a Commission on Electoral Reform, which reported in October 1998.

[See also: Gang of Four*]

Jospin, Lionel

Prime Minister of France since 1997; leader of the Socialist Party 1981–87; 1995–97. Jospin was born in 1937 at Meudon (Seine-et-Oise). He graduated from the Institute of Political Studies and the National College of Administration in Paris and embarked on a career in the Foreign Ministry (1965–70) before taking up a university post in economics (1970–81). A protégé of Mitterrand, he joined the Socialist Party (PS) in 1972 and was advanced rapidly as one of a new cadre of leaders who Mitterrand hoped would keep the party loyal to him. From 1973 to 1975 Jospin was the party’s National Secretary for Political Education before taking charge of Third World Relations (1975–79) and then International Affairs (1979–81). He was appointed First Secretary of the party in 1981, leading the party in a process of ideological transformation away from traditional socialism towards a new style of social democracy, which culminated in the party’s 1985 Congress at Toulouse. As party leader he was forced to adopt a rather passive leadership role during the cohabitation period from 1986 and faced growing criticism from within the PS. He stood down in 1987, but later took up the party leadership again (1995–97). After Mitterrand’s re-election as President in 1988, Jospin was rewarded with the prestigious post of Minister of State for Education, Research and Sport in Rocard’s government, keeping education as the ministerial responsibilities were restructured. In 1997 he was appointed Prime Minister following the general election called by newly elected President Chirac, and which resulted in ‘cohabitation’ when the PS won that election.

[See also: Mitterrand; Rocard; cohabitation*]

Juan Carlos, King

King of Spain since 1975. Juan Carlos was born in Rome in 1938. He was the grandson of King Alfonso XIII, who abdicated in 1931. Invited by Franco to return to Spain from exile in 1960, he was nominated in 1969 by Franco as heir to the Spanish throne (bypassing his father, Don Juan). On Franco’s death in 1975, Juan Carlos became King. Franco had believed Juan Carlos would be a reliable defender of the values of his authoritarian regime, but Juan Carlos proved to be a promoter of democracy, and sought to become a constitutional monarch on the model of the British and northern European monarchies. He bravely resisted the group of officers who attempted to engineer a military coup in February 1981. He has proved to be an integrative figure in the Spanish political system, characterised as it is by strong regional identities.

[See also: Franco; Spanish coup attempt*]

Karamanlis (Caramanlis), Konstantine

Prime Minister of Greece 1955–58, 1958–61, 1961–63, 1974–80; President of Greece 1980–85, 1990. Karamanlis was born in 1907 in Macedonia and graduated in law from the University of Athens in 1932. He was elected to Parliament in 1935. The dictator Ioannis Metaxas closed the Parliament in 1936 and offered Karamanlis a place in his government, but Karamanlis refused and stayed out of politics until after the Second World War. He was elected to Parliament again in 1946 and served in various ministerial positions until the mid-1950s, becoming popular particularly as Minister of Public Works 1952–54. During his first term as Prime Minister he formed the National Radical Union and won the elections of 1956. The defection of some of his party group to the opposition in 1958 led to his resignation, but he was again named Prime Minister after elections in May 1958. During this period he negotiated the establishment of an independent republic of Cyprus with Turkey. In spite of allegations of electoral fraud, his party was successful again in 1961 and he resumed as Prime Minister, resigning in 1963 over a dispute with King Paul I over the respective powers of the monarch and the prime minister. Karamanlis left Greece for Paris where he stayed for ten years. After the military takeover in 1967, he issued statements calling for the re-establishment of democratic rule. In 1974, following the crisis between Turkey and Greece over Cyprus, Karamanlis was asked to return and form a civilian government. He negotiated a settlement to the war in Cyprus and introduced democratic reforms. He lifted the military junta’s ban on free speech and the press and cancelled most of the martial law measures. He founded the New Democracy party which formed a majority government. He stepped down as Prime Minister to become President of Greece in 1980 and was again President in 1990.

[See also: Aegean Sea dispute*]

Kekkonen, Urho

President of Finland 1956–81. Kekkonen was born in Pielavesi in 1900. He studied law at Helsinki University, then was employed as a civil servant. He entered the Finnish Parliament in 1936 as a representative of the Agrarian Party, and became a minister in the coalition government. After the Second World War he helped to negotiate a treaty of friendship with the USSR in 1948. He became Prime Minister in 1950, and served, with one interruption, until 1956. He was a proponent of a policy of co-operation with the USSR, which has acquired the label: ‘Finlandisation’. He resigned as President on grounds of ill-health in 1981. He died in 1986.

[See also: Finlandisation*]

Kelly, Petra

Leading member of the West German Green Party in its early years. Kelly was born in Günzburg in 1947. She studied political science at university in the USA. She then was employed by the European Community as an administrator. She was a member of the SPD 1972–78, but resigned in protest at the moderate and compromising policies of the Schmidt government. She became involved in the feminist, peace and ecological movements in Germany, and played a leading part in establishing the Green Party in West Germany, including campaigning vigorously in the 1980 and 1983 Bundestag elections. She was elected to the Bundestag in 1983 and 1987, and was involved in the collective leadership of the party within and outside the Bundestag. She was associated with the ‘fundamentalist’ wing of the Green Party, rejecting any idea of forming coalitions with established parties, though she came to oppose several of the party’s organisational tenets, such as rotation of office, and came to view the party’s organisation as primitive and amateurish. Her views and her obvious charisma (which led to her being seen by the media as the personification of the Green movement) led to her increasing unpopularity within the Green Party. She committed suicide with her partner, the former General Gerd Bastian, in 1992.

Kennedy, Charles

Leader of the British Liberal Democratic Party since 1999. Kennedy was born in Fort William in 1959. He studied at Glasgow University and commenced a career in broadcasting before being elected for the Social Democratic Party for the constituency of Ross, Cromarty and Skye in 1983. In 1988 he agreed to support the merger of the SDP with the Liberals. In 1999, following the resignation as party leader of Paddy Ashdown, Kennedy was elected leader by a vote of the party membership.

[See also: Ashdown]

Kiesinger, Kurt Georg

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany 1966–69. Kiesinger was born in Württemberg in 1904, and qualified as a lawyer. He was employed in the German Foreign Office during the Second World War. He was elected to the Bundestag as a Christian Democrat in 1949, but resigned his seat in 1958 to become Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg. When Erhard was compelled to resign as Chancellor in 1966, Kiesinger was chosen to take his place at the head of a ‘grand coalition’ between the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats (SPD). That coalition was responsible for several achievements, including the stabilisation of the economy, some improvements in relations with Eastern European states, and the preservation of a democratic regime challenged by extremists from the left-wing student movement and the radical right-wing National Democratic Party. Though his party secured the largest share of votes in the 1969 federal election, Kiesinger had to make way for Chancellor Brandt who led a coalition between the SPD and Free Democratic Party. Kiesinger was leader of the CDU 1967–71 and was again a Member of the Bundestag from 1969 to 1980. He died in 1988.

[See also: Brandt; Erhard; grand coalition*]

Kinnock, Neil

Leader of the British Labour Party 1983–92. Kinnock was born in Tredegar in 1942. He engaged in socialist political activity while a student, and was elected to the House of Commons in 1970. He was elected to succeed Michael Foot as party leader. Though he, like Foot, had a left-wing reputation, being among other things a staunch supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Kinnock realised that for Labour to win general elections in future it would have to discard many of its ideological attitudes. He thus introduced measures of organisational and policy reform. Defeated in the 1987 general election, Kinnock had high hopes of winning in 1992. When Labour was defeated again, even though more narrowly than in the 1980s, Kinnock resigned as party leader. He became a Commissioner of the European Union in 1994, and survived the scandals that led to the resignation of Santer and his fellow Commissioners in 1998, being reappointed with the responsibility of reforming the administration, financial control and practices of the Commission.

[See also: Foot; Santer; Smith; Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament*; Clause Four*]

Kohl, Helmut

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany 1982–98; leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 1973–98; Prime Minister of Rhineland-Pfalz 1969–76. Kohl was born in 1930 in Ludwigshafen, and was awarded his doctorate in political science from Heidelberg University in 1958. He joined the CDU in 1946, and held numerous party offices at local and Land levels. He was chancellor-candidate in the 1976 Bundestag election, but, though securing the highest vote-share for the Christian Democrats since Adenauer’s absolute majority of votes in 1957, this was insufficient to defeat the Social Democrat–Free Democrat (FDP) coalition. He became Chancellor when the FDP withdrew from that coalition in 1982, and supported Kohl in the first ever successful use of the constructive vote of no confidence, which dismissed Helmut Schmidt from the office of Chancellor. Though Kohl had successes in politics prior to 1990, and led his coalition to election victories in 1983 and 1987, his place in history will be based mainly upon his leading role in promoting the reunification of Germany in 1990. His ten-point plan of 28 November 1989 referred to the possibility of reunification. However, his negotiations with the government of the GDR in December 1989 and February 1990; his personal popularity in the GDR in early 1990 and his successful sponsorship of the Christian Democrat-led electoral ‘Alliance for Germany’ in the first free elections to the GDR People’s Chamber in March 1990; his promotion of economic and monetary union of the two German states; and his role in negotiations with other states (especially the USSR) to lay the diplomatic foundations for German reunification will all be seen as great personal achievements. Following German reunification, he led his coalition to a narrow victory in the 1994 Bundestag election, a victory which owed much to his personal popularity. He was unable to capitalise on that popularity in the 1998 election, following which some experts stated that he should have made way for a replacement chancellor-candidate well before that election campaign got under way. Immediately after the election result was known on 27 September 1998 he announced his intention to resign as leader of the CDU, and later that year was replaced by his protégé, Wolfgang Schäuble. In 1999 revelations of secret donations to the CDU led to a scandal, in which Kohl was centrally involved.

[See also: Adenauer; Schmidt; constructive vote of no confidence*; reunification of Germany*]

Kreisky, Bruno

Chancellor of Austria 1970–83. Kreisky was born in Vienna in 1911. He studied law at university, and became active in politics as a socialist. He was imprisoned following the socialist uprising in Austria in 1934, and was again briefly imprisoned in 1938 after the Nazis took over Austria. He emigrated to Sweden later in 1938, returning to Austria after the end of the war. After periods in the diplomatic service and as a civil servant, he was appointed Austrian Foreign Minister in 1959, a position he retained until 1966. In 1967 he became leader of the Social Democratic Party (the SPÖ). Though head of a minority government in 1970, Kreisky’s personal popularity contributed to his party’s successes in elections in 1971, 1975 and 1979, where in each case it secured an absolute majority of seats. As leader of the government of a neutral state, Kreisky was able to play a role (with others such as Olaf Palme) in mediation in several international conflicts, especially in the Middle East. He resigned as Chancellor following the loss of a parliamentary majority in the 1983 elections.

[See also: Palme; nazism*]

Krenz, Egon

The last leader of the communist regime in the German Democratic Republic. Krenz was born in 1937 in Pomerania, now part of Poland. Krenz developed a career within the Socialist Unity Party (the SED) which he joined in 1955, becoming leader of the Free German Youth in 1974. He was long regarded as the probable successor to Honecker, and when Honecker was compelled to resign his offices in October 1989 because of manoeuvres initiated by Krenz and others, Krenz took over as party General-Secretary and head of state. In his short period as leader, he attempted to introduce concessions on issues such as freedom to travel, but these reforms were always too little to satisfy the growing numbers of discontented East Germans. The opening of the border on 9 November 1989 (the ‘fall of the Berlin Wall’) seemed to result from a misunderstanding rather than a considered policy decision. Krenz resigned his offices in December 1989. In 1999 he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for his implication in fraud.

[See also: Honecker; reunification of Germany*]

Lafontaine, Oskar

Former leader of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the SPD’s chancellor-candidate in the 1990 Bundestag election. Lafontaine was born in Saarlouis (Saarland) in 1943 and studied physics at university. He joined the SPD in 1966, and was elected to the Saarland legislature in 1970. He became lord mayor of Saarbrücken in 1976 (at the time, he was the youngest city leader in West Germany). In 1985 he became Prime Minister of the Saarland after the SPD’s first post-war election victory in the Saarland parliamentary elections. He became a deputy leader of the SPD in 1987. He was unable to revive the fortunes of the SPD in the 1990 all-German Bundestag election: the SPD only secured 33.5 per cent, its worst showing for thirty years. In that campaign, Lafontaine was stabbed in the neck by a deranged person, who inflicted a serious wound. Lafontaine’s sceptical stance vis-à-vis German reunification, especially concerning its likely costs, is thought to have been a factor in that 1990 election defeat. In 1995, Lafontaine successfully challenged the incumbent party leader, Scharping, for the party leadership. This meant that when the SPD came to power in the 1998 Bundestag election, Lafontaine could take much of the credit, and could demand an important government post; Schröder appointed him as Finance Minister. However, Lafontaine’s traditionalist social democratic views were at odds with the more modernistic policies pursued by Chancellor Schröder and the two were frequently in conflict. Lafontaine unexpectedly announced his resignation from government and party offices on 11 March 1999.

[See also: Scharping; Schröder; reunification of Germany*]

Lambsdorff, Otto Graf

Leader of the German FDP 1988–93. Lambsdorff was born in Aachen in 1926. He served in the Second World War, and was seriously wounded in the closing days of that conflict. Following study of law at university, after the war was over he practised as a lawyer, then worked in the banking and insurance sectors. He joined the FDP in 1951, and became a member of the party executive in 1972, the year of his first election to the Bundestag. After a period as economics spokesman for his parliamentary party group, he became Minister of Economics in the Schmidt government in 1977. His strongly liberal and free-enterprise attitude to the economy led to conflicts with Schmidt and eventually to the termination of the SPD–FDP coalition in 1982. He remained as Economics Minister in the Kohl government, but resigned in 1984 because of his implication in the Flick Affair. As party leader, he decided to remain outside the government, and led his party to an excellent result in the 1990 Bundestag election.

[See also: Kohl; Schmidt; Flick Affair*; ‘Wende’*]

Laval, Pierre

Prime Minister of the Vichy government in war-time France, and executed for treason in 1945, Laval bore the brunt of recriminations against the Vichy regime which had collaborated with Nazi Germany. Born in the Auvergne in 1883, Laval studied science at Lyons and law in Paris. He founded a law practice and a radio and press empire, which funded his political activities. A socialist, he was elected to the Parliament of the French Third Republic in 1914. More interested in his constituency than in ideology, when the Socialist and Communists split in 1920, Laval continued as an independent and was elected to the Senate in 1927. He was Minister and Prime Minister in a series of governments 1925–35, moving progressively to the right of the political spectrum in reaction to the success of the left-wing Popular Front and through his increasing attraction to fascism. Convinced that Bolshevism posed the main threat to European civilisation, Laval tried actively to promote Franco-German relations. He joined Marshal Pétain’s right-wing Vichy government, first as Deputy Prime Minister (1940), then as Prime Minister (1942–44). After the armistice with Germany on 22 June 1940, Laval masterminded the suspension of the 1875 constitution and the transfer of full powers to Pétain on 10 July 1940, ending the Third Republic. As Prime Minister, Laval made growing concessions to Hitler, including the authorisation of French labour for the Nazi war effort and the deportation of Jews. After the fall of the Vichy regime, he was executed after a notional trial on 15 October 1945.

[See also: Hitler; nazism*; Vichy regime*]

Lemass, Sean Francis

Irish revolutionary and Prime Minister of Ireland 1959–66. Lemass was born in 1899 in Dublin and took part in the Irish independence movement that culminated in the Easter Week Rebellion in 1916. When the rebellion collapsed he was arrested by the British forces, but his young age saved him from imprisonment or execution. Lemass joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and was again arrested for revolutionary activities. He was kept in prison until July 1921 when a truce was declared. When civil war broke out in July 1922, Lemass fought with the IRA, was captured, but managed to escape. Recaptured in December 1922 he stayed in prison until the Republicans were defeated in the spring of 1923. Lemass resigned from the Sinn Féin party and joined de Valera’s new Fianna Fail (FF) party. In 1924 he was elected to the Irish Parliament. In 1932, he became de Valera’s Minister of Industry and Commerce. In 1939 he became Minister of Supplies, a post he kept until 1945. After the Second World War he was Deputy Prime Minister until Fianna Fail was defeated in the 1948 elections. Lemass then worked for the party newspaper: the Irish Press until FF returned to power in 1951 and he again became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Commerce. When, in 1959, de Valera resigned as Prime Minister to become President, Lemass was his successor. He negotiated with Northern Ireland in the hope of reuniting the country. In 1965 he arranged a free trade pact with Britain. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1966 but remained in Parliament until his retirement in 1969. Lemass died in 1971.

[See also: Irish Republican Army*]

Leone, Giovanni

Prime Minister of Italy June–November 1963; June–December 1968; President of Italy 1971–78. Giovanni Leone was born in 1908 in Naples. He studied at the University of Naples, then became a Professor of Law there. He began a long parliamentary career as a Christian Democrat (DC) representative with his election to the Constituent Assembly in 1946. He was Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies 1948–49 and its President 1955–63. After his first premiership, he became a life senator in 1967. He was elected President of Italy in 1971 as a compromise candidate after 23 ballots. His presidency coincided with a period of terrorist campaigns in Italy. He was forced to resign his presidency through his implication in a corruption scandal: the first Italian president to suffer this disgrace. He died in 2001.

Le Pen, Jean-Marie

Leader of the radical right-wing National Front party in France. Born in 1928 at La Trinité-sur-Mer (Morbihan), Le Pen studied in Paris, graduating in law and political science. Violently anti-Marxist, he was a student leader 1949–51 and was often in trouble with the police for taking part in fights. In 1953 he joined the Foreign Legion and went to Indo-China as a parachutist, where he worked as a political journalist for the military’s press. He returned to his studies and his activities in student politics in 1954. In 1956 he was elected as a Poujadiste (reactionary, anti-taxation party) Deputy and gained a reputation as a charismatic speaker. He rejoined his former regiment 1956–57. In 1957 he was accused of torturing a young Algerian arrested by the parachutists, but was not prosecuted. Back in France, Le Pen lost an eye in a fight at an electoral meeting trying to defend a Muslim friend. In late 1957, he left the Poujadistes and sat first as an independent in the National Assembly, then, from 1958 to 1962, with the conservative party group Independents and Peasants. Le Pen was sued for allegedly pro-Nazi statements. He actively supported the presidential campaign of the right-wing candidate Tixier-Vignancourt in 1965. In 1972 he launched his own party, the far right Front National (FN), on a platform of nationalism, morality, anti-communism and law and order. He and his family survived a bomb attack at their home in 1976. After a disastrous return of 0.74 per cent of the vote at the presidential election of 1974, the FN made little impact until the 1980s, when it made a credible showing at local and European elections and Le Pen became a media celebrity. Le Pen was returned to Parliament for the FN in 1986, where he was an outspoken advocate of the repatriation of immigrants and tougher policing, but was damaged by a very public and acrimonious divorce and by his comments which played down the Holocaust. In 1987, a cheap joke he made about gas ovens resulted in the one FN Deputy in Parliament leaving the party and the RPR ruling out any future local or national electoral alliance with the FN.

[See also: Poujade; Holocaust*; immigration*; nazism*]

Lubbers, Ruud

Prime Minister of the Netherlands 1982–86 and 1989–94. Lubbers was born in Rotterdam in 1939. After studying economics, he managed the family machinery production business. A Christian Democrat, he served as Economics Minister 1973–77. In 1982 he became the youngest ever Netherlands Prime Minister. He played a significant role in bringing about the Maastricht Treaty in December 1991, since the Netherlands held the presidency of the Council of Ministers at the time.

[See also: Maastricht Treaty*]

Lübke, Heinrich

President of the Federal Republic of Germany 1959–69. Lübke was born in Enkhausen, Westphalia in 1894. Having studied engineering, his employment before the Second World War included that of director of the German Farmers’ Association. During the war he was engaged in the design of buildings for war purposes, including the factories which produced the V–1 ‘flying bombs’ in Peenemunde (an activity which was used by his opponents to attack Lübke during his presidency). After the war he was active in founding the CDU, and served first in the Land government of North Rhine-Westphalia, then in the federal government, as Minister for Food and Agriculture. When Adenauer decided that he himself would not seek the presidency in 1959, and when other leading CDU politicians such as Erhard also refused to be candidates, Lübke was chosen. He was criticised during his presidency for his blunders in public speaking, although it was subsequently suggested that these might have been caused by advancing illness. He used his second term as President (1964–69) to promote the idea of a ‘grand coalition’ of the CDU–CSU and SPD, an idea which became reality in 1966. Lübke died in 1972.

[See also: Adenauer; Erhard; grand coalition*]

Macmillan, Harold

British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party 1957–63. Macmillan was born in London in 1894 and educated at Eton and Oxford University. He served and was wounded in the First World War. While directing the family publishing firm, he entered the House of Commons in 1924. He held various posts in Churchill’s war-time government, and in the post-war Conservative governments of Churchill and Eden, including the post of Foreign Secretary in 1955 and then Chancellor of the Exchequer. On Eden’s retirement, Macmillan became Prime Minister. He is particularly remembered for presiding over a period of economic growth in the late 1950s, coining the phrase: ‘you’ve never had it so good’; for his acceptance of the decline of British power in its former African possessions, where he used the phrase: ‘the winds of change’ to describe the process of African states asserting their independence; and for making an unsuccessful attempt to take the United Kingdom into the European Economic Community. Though he won the general election of 1959 with a large majority, illness and a series of debilitating political crises (including the Profumo scandal) persuaded him to resign in 1963, before the 1964 general election, handing over as Prime Minister and leader to Lord Home. He became the Earl of Stockton in 1984, and died in 1986.

[See also: Churchill; Eden; Home; Profumo Affair*]

de Maizière, Lothar

Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic following the first (and only) free elections to the People’s Chamber (Volkskammer) in 1990. De Maizière was born in Nordhausen in 1940. He studied music and law, and joined the East German CDU (a party within the block-party arrangement of GDR parties, under the dominance of the communist party, the SED). As a lawyer, he defended several dissidents prior to the collapse of the communist regime in 1989. He was active in church affairs and held high office within the East German Protestant church. During the political turbulence following Honecker’s resignation in 1989, de Maizière was elected in November 1989 as Chairman of the GDR–CDU when the previous Chairman, associated with the years of CDU subservience to the SED, had to resign. He led the CDU-dominated electoral ‘Alliance for Germany’ to victory in the 1990 elections to the People’s Chamber, becoming Prime Minister after that election. He enthusiastically pursued negotiations with the government of the Federal Republic and with foreign governments, leading to economic and monetary union, then to political fusion, with the FRG. Following reunification he served briefly in Kohl’s government as a minister without portfolio, and was elected to the Bundestag in December 1990. However, as with many other prominent East German politicians, accusations of association with the GDR secret police (the Stasi) proved to be such a political embarrassment to de Maizière that he resigned from his party offices, his political career at an end.

[See also: Honecker; Kohl; reunification of Germany*; Stasi*]

Major, John

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party 1990–97. John Major was born in 1943 in Carlshalton, Surrey. He entered a career in banking, combining this with local government activities in London. He became an MP in 1979. He rose rapidly within the ranks of the Thatcher government, serving as Foreign Minister and then Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1989. In 1990 he persuaded Mrs Thatcher to allow Britain to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, which limited currency fluctuations. However, Britain had to abandon its membership of that currency system in 1992. Though he had, somewhat surprisingly, led the Conservatives to victory in the 1992 general election, his small majority in the House of Commons soon eroded. This meant that he could not afford to offend either the pro-European or the ‘euro-sceptic’ wings of his party, which gave the impression of indecisive leadership. He was unable to prevent the Conservative Party suffering a heavy defeat in the 1997 general election. Major took responsibility for that defeat, and resigned as party leader shortly afterwards.

[See also: Thatcher; Exchange Rate Mechanism*; euro-sceptic*]

Makarios, Archbishop

President of the Republic of Cyprus 1959–77. Makarios was born as Mihail Mouskos in Cyprus in 1913. He became a priest of the Orthodox church in 1946, a bishop in 1948, and archbishop in 1950. He was a leader of the Enosis movement in Cyprus, which sought to link Cyprus to Greece. The British colonial authorities arrested Makarios and deported him to the Seychelles in 1956. He returned to Cyprus in 1959 and became Prime Minister in the government which combined Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders. Ousted by a military coup in 1974, he returned as Prime Minister of the Greek part of Cyprus in 1975 and held that office until his death in 1977.

[See also: Colonels’ coup*; Enosis*]

Marchais, Georges

Leader of the French Communist Party. Born into a working-class background at La Hoguette (Calvados) in 1920, Marchais was a skilled mechanic in the aeronautics industry. Later, his political career was dogged by controversy over his war-time record: Marchais denied the allegation that he worked voluntarily at the German Messerschmidt factory in Neu-Ulm before the introduction of compulsory labour regulations in 1943. After the Second World War, he became involved in trade union activity and in 1947 joined the French Communist Party (PCF). In 1956, he became Secretary of the Seine-South federation of the party and joined the Central Committee and Political Bureau in 1959. In 1961, he was made responsible for party organisation and in 1972 became leader of the PCF. He stood in the presidential elections of 1981, losing to his socialist rival Mitterrand. Throughout the 1960s, Marchais was known as a plain-speaking pro-Soviet. Controversially, he did not see the social unrest of May 1968 as an opportunity for socialist revolution. Instead he criticised the student leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit as a ‘German anarchist’ and saw the groups taking part in the protest as ‘false revolutionaries’ and splinter groups. Marchais led the PCF to assert the legitimacy of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia. In 1972 Marchais signed the historic Common Programme for the alliance of the left with the Socialist Party (PS) and left-wing Radicals, and later joined a coalition governmnent with the PS (1981–84). During the 1970s, Marchais presented the PCF as ‘eurocommunist’, adopting a specific French path to communism in place of the model of the Soviet Union. Under eurocommunism, the PCF dropped some aspects of Marxist–Leninist doctrine, accepted full democratic rights as understood in Western countries, and acknowledged the principle of pluralism in free elections and a multi-party system, social and religious life. However, when electoral gains in support fell in favour of the Socialists rather than the Communists, Marchais withdrew the PCF from the co-operation with the PS and turned the party back to a more pro-Soviet line, particularly on world issues such as the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and on events in Poland. As the PCF’s electoral support declined rapidly from 1981 to 1986, Marchais’ support within the party crumbled. He was accused of authoritarianism and dissident ‘renovators’ began to contest the leadership from the late 1980s.

[See also: Mitterrand; eurocommunism*]

Martens, Wilfried

Prime Minister of Belgium 1979–81, 1981–92 and prominent European christian democrat. Martens was born in 1936 at Sleidinge. He studied at Louvain University and in 1960 became a lawyer at the Court of Appeal in Ghent. He was a leader of the Flemish People’s Movement before becoming a christian democrat. He joined the Christian People’s Party (CVP) in 1962 and was President of its youth organisation 1967–71. He was adviser to the Harmel cabinet (1965), the Vanden Boeynants cabinet (1966) and with the Ministry of Community Relations in 1968. He was President of the CVP 1972–79, a Member of Parliament 1974–91 and a Member of the senate 1991–94. His first term as Prime Minister ended in his resignation in April 1981 when the Socialists in his government refused to accept Martens’ economic plan to beat Belgium’s rising unemployment and budgetary problems. In 1976 he was co-founder of the European People’s Party (EPP). During his second term as Prime Minister (1981–92), he introduced legislation promoting regional autonomy in Belgium, but had difficulties in getting the bill through Parliament. His government collapsed in 1991 and he became Minister of State in 1992. He became the EPP’s President 1990–99 and also acted as President of the EPP party group in the European Parliament 1994–99. From 1993 to 1996 he was President of the European Union of Christian Democrats.

Mauroy, Pierre

The first Socialist Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic (1981–84). Mauroy was born in 1928 at Cartignies. He was General-Secretary of the Socialist Party’s (SFIO) Young Socialists 1950–58. A secondary school teacher from 1952, he was a branch General-Secretary of the main teacher’s union FEN 1955–59. In 1966, he became Deputy General-Secretary of the Socialist Party, but party leader Guy Mollet backed Savary rather than Mauroy to succeed him as leader of the newly formed Socialist Party (PS) in 1969. Mauroy backed Mitterrand’s successful challenge to the party leadership in 1971 and was rewarded with the party position of National Co-ordination Secretary. An experienced and committed socialist, he successfully integrated the different and sometimes conflicting factions within the party, particularly the Christian and secular tendencies. Mauroy clashed with Mitterrand after the left’s defeat in the 1978 elections and was ousted from the ranks of the party leadership at the party congress of 1979. However, in 1980, he was appointed as director of Mitterrand’s presidential election campaign. Mauroy was appointed Prime Minister in 1981 and headed three successive governments. The second of these included four Communist ministers and carried through the major reforms of the Mitterrand presidency. Mauroy resigned in 1984 after a disagreement with Mitterrand over secondary school policy, but continued to promote the unity of the left. In 1988, Mauroy succeeded Jospin as First Secretary of the PS (a post he held until 1992) in spite of Mitterrand’s preference for the moderniser Fabius.

[See also: Fabius; Jospin; Mitterrand; Mollet]

Mendès France, Pierre

A controversial figure whose political career spanned three Republics, Mendès France was Prime Minister in the Fourth Republic from June 1954 to February 1955. Born in Paris in 1907, Mendès France was a brilliant student who became the youngest lawyer in France at age 19. He later graduated in politics and took a doctorate in law at 21. Politically active from an early age, he joined the Radical Party at 16. In 1932 he became the youngest Deputy in the Parliament and in 1938, as Under-Secretary of State for the Treasury, the youngest member of a government in the Third Republic. Falsely charged with desertion during the Second World War, he escaped from prison to England, joined General de Gaulle’s Free French air force and served with a bomber squadron 1942–43. He worked with de Gaulle in Algiers as ‘minister’ of finance in what was to become the Provisional Government of France in May 1944. In 1944 he led the French delegation to the 1944 Bretton Woods conference on international monetary issues and participated in the creation of the World Bank. In September 1944, after the liberation of Paris, he was named by de Gaulle as Minister of the National Economy. Dynamic and stubborn, he pursued unpopular anti-inflationary measures and currency reform, but was opposed by Finance Minister René Pleven. De Gaulle opted to support Pleven and Mendès France resigned in May 1945. He took a principled stance, refusing a ministerial post in 1946 as he believed he would not be permitted sufficient autonomy to carry out his duties, and instead accepted numerous national and international economic assignments. During his short premiership (1954–55), Mendès France launched a radical programme. Serving also as Foreign Minister, he brought the war in Indo-China to a close; he resolved an explosive situation in Tunisia by granting its autonomy; allowed a vote in the National Assembly to decide an entrenched controversy over the European Defence Community (the vote went against the project, which was dropped); and helped to negotiate the terms for German rearmament and entry into NATO. His bold handling of controversial issues mobilised various forces against him and he was voted out of office in February 1955, ostensibly over his Algerian policy. From 1955 to 1957 he tried to renovate the Radical Party, but failed, and resigned as leader. After serving briefly as Minister without Portfolio (1956) in Guy Mollet’s government, he remained in an opposition role for the next twenty-five years. Mendès France opposed both the institutional framework of the Fifth Republic and the way in which de Gaulle came to power at the head of the new Republic, which he saw as illegitimate. During the Fifth Republic, Mendès France associated briefly with left-wing groups but was politically active largely on the basis of his personal experience and reputation. During the 1970s, he devoted his attention to trying to broker an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Mendès France supported Mitterrand in the presidential elections of 1981. He died in October 1982.

[See also: de Gaulle; Mitterrand; Mollet; Algerian conflict*; European Defence Community*]

Mitterrand, François

Leader of the French Socialist Party and President of France 1981–95. Mitterrand was born in Jarnac (in the Charante region) in 1916. He studied law, and worked in law and publishing. In the Second World War he became a prisoner-of-war in 1940, but escaped via Algeria to London. He served in de Gaulle’s provisional government until 1946, then became a member of the National Assembly, serving in various capacities in eleven different governments during the Fourth Republic. He played a leading role in various efforts to reorganise the Socialists, and in 1971 became leader of the newly formed Socialist Party, remaining leader until 1981. He was the losing candidate in the second round of voting in the presidential elections of 1965 and 1974 (against de Gaulle and d’Estaing). He defeated d’Estaing in 1981 to become the first Socialist President of the Fifth Republic, and was re-elected in 1988. In his second term he twice had to govern under conditions of cohabitation, with a prime minister from the right wing as a consequence of the outcome of elections to the National Assembly. Mitterrand had to confront rumours that he had collaborated with the Vichy regime during the war and of corruption within the ranks of his own party. He died in 1996.

[See also: de Gaulle; Giscard d’Estaing; cohabitation*; Vichy regime*]

Modrow, Hans

Head of government of the GDR 1989–90. Modrow was born in West Pomerania in 1928. He joined the SED in 1949, involving himself at first especially in its youth organisation (the Free German Youth), in which he became a full-time employee, moving then to a staff position in the SED. He became head of the party organisation in Dresden in 1973, but was always regarded as something of an outsider in the party, and failed to attain positions within the party that his experience and qualifications would seem to have deserved. This was associated with a reputation in Dresden for resistance to, and criticism of, some policies of the SED central committee in Berlin. Thus when the SED came under pressure during the citizen movement protests in Autumn 1989, Modrow was seen as a potential reformer who could rescue the party, and Krenz persuaded him to take the post of Prime Minister. This post he retained until the first democratic elections for the Volkskammer in March 1990, but during his period in office he was seen as too reactionary for the times, being opposed by the Round Table and by other parties within and outside his coalition government. Following the reunification of Germany, Modrow became a Member of the Bundestag for the PDS. Accusations of electoral manipulation in Dresden in 1989 led to his trial and conviction in 1993. He later became Honorary Chairman of the PDS.

[See also: Krenz; reunification of Germany*; Round Table*]

Mollet, Guy

Secretary-General of the Socialist Party (SFIO) 1946–69 and Prime Minister of France 1956–57, Mollet played a key role in the transition between the French Fourth and Fifth Republics. Mollet was born into a working-class family in Flers (Normandy) in 1905 and was educated through a state scholarship. He joined the Young Socialists in 1921 and the SFIO proper in 1923. A school teacher, Mollet helped to found the union, the General Federation of the Teaching Profession. During the Second World War he worked with the resistance and was a German prisoner-of-war 1940–41. Elected Secretary-General of the SFIO in 1946, he brought ideological and strategic change to the party. He was elected to the first National Assembly of the Fourth Republic in 1946 and appointed Minister of State in Léon Blum’s government 1946–47, a post he returned to under Pleven in 1950 before becoming Deputy Prime Minister 1950–51. After the parliamentary elections of 1956, Mollet became Prime Minister of a coalition government comprising mainly Socialists and Radicals. His programme featured stabilising the situation in Algeria and social welfare reforms, but mounting problems led to his resignation in 1957. In 1958 Mollet was instrumental in bringing de Gaulle’s Fifth Republic into being, believing that this was the only way France could avoid a military dictatorship. Mollet was appointed Minister of State in de Gaulle’s government, and helped to draw up the new constitution of the Fifth Republic, but moved the Socialists into opposition in 1959. By 1965, Mitterrand had emerged as the leading individual on the left of the political spectrum. When the Socialists formed a new party (PS) in 1969, Mollet resigned as Secretary-General and devoted himself instead to his socialist research institute OURS. He died in 1975.

[See also: de Gaulle; Algerian conflict*; resistance groups*]

Monnet, Jean-Marie

The key thinker behind French post-war economic planning and the visionary strategist behind European integration, Jean Monnet never held elected office, nor did he follow a regular civil service career path. Monnet was born in Cognac in 1888, was apprenticed in London to learn English, and at 18 became an international salesman for his father’s wholesale brandy co-operative. Unfit for service in the First World War, he helped to initiate the creation in 1916–18 of eight Allied Executives co-ordinating scarce supplies of commodities and pooling transport. After the war, he became Deputy Secretary-General of the new League of Nations and was concerned with rehabilitation programmes. In 1938, Monnet was co-opted by the Prime Minister, Edouard Daladier, to help with preparations for the Second World War. He negotiated aeroplane orders with the neutral USA and took a leading role in Anglo-French co-ordination. Sent to the British Supply Council in Washington by Churchill, by 1941 Monnet was acting as an adviser to Beaverbrook and Roosevelt, promoting war production. Sent to Algiers to advise the Allies in North Africa, Monnet helped de Gaulle to gain control of the French committee of national liberation. Back in France, in 1946 Monnet took charge of the new, independent General Planning Commission attached to the Prime Minister, where he devised the ‘Monnet Plan’ on investment priorities for economic reconstruction through American funding. The plan was intended to modernise France’s economic capacity, to be responsive to changing economic needs and to integrate affected interests, including the trade unions. It provided the foundations for French economic co-operation and competition with Germany. In 1950, Monnet turned his attention to European integration, preparing a plan for the future European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was promoted by the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. Monnet chaired the conference which produced the Treaty of Paris (18 April 1951) formally establishing the ECSC. He also participated in plans for a European Defence Community (EDC), abandoned when the French National Assembly refused to ratify it. In spite of this setback, Monnet and the Belgian Foreign Minister Spaak managed to maintain the momentum towards European economic integration. In 1955, Monnet presented Spaak with plans for a European Atomic Energy Community. Together with Dutch proposals for a Common Market, this proposal culminated in the Rome Treaties of 1957, which established the EEC and EURATOM. De Gaulle’s return to power in 1958 restored a nationalist mentality to French politics and undermined Monnet’s internationalist stance and his personal influence in France. In 1959 he persuaded the USA to co-found the OECD. Monnet died in 1979.

[See also: Churchill; de Gaulle; Schuman; Spaak; European Coal and Steel Community*; European Defence Community*; European Free Trade Association*]

Moro, Aldo

Prime Minister of Italy 1963–68, 1974–76, Moro was kidnapped and murdered by Red Brigade terrorists in 1978. Moro was born in 1916 in Maglie and studied at the University of Bari, where he took part in Catholic student politics and gained a PhD in law in 1940. After the Second World War, Moro joined the Christian Democratic party (DC) and was elected to Italy’s Constituent Assembly in 1946. Moro took part in the drafting of the constitution which established the Republic of Italy in June 1946. In 1948 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and became a leading member of the DC party group. He served as Under-Secretary of State in de Gasperi’s government in May 1948. In 1955 he became Minister of Justice and carried out a reform of the prison system. He was appointed Minister of Education in May 1957 and in 1959 became leader of the DC. In 1963 he formed a centre-left government which he successfully steered and reorganised until June 1968, when the Socialists refused to take part. He then took the post of Foreign Minister until he again formed a coalition government with the Republican Party. From February 1976 he maintained a minority government in power until July 1976. He then became President of the DC and it was anticipated that he might be chosen as President of the Republic. However, on 16 March 1978, he was kidnapped by Red Brigade terrorists, ‘tried’ and killed. His body was found in Rome on 9 May 1978.

[See also: de Gasperi; Red Brigades*]

Mussolini, Benito

Fascist dictator of Italy. Born in 1883 in the Romagna, Mussolini became a socialist agitator in his youth. He fought in the First World War, then became a representative of an ex-servicemen’s association. In 1919 he began to promote fascist beliefs, based on radical nationalism and authoritarian rule, and engaged in terrorising his former socialist allies. He became Prime Minister of Italy following his ‘March on Rome’ by his blackshirted fascist supporters, but soon turned this post into that of a dictator (Il Duce). He then developed a policy of overseas expansion, to rival Hitler’s territorial ambitions in Europe. The invasion of Abbysinia was followed by engagement on the side of General Franco in the Spanish civil war, then the occupation and annexation of Albania. He entered into a pact with Hitler (the Axis pact). Joining in the Second World War once France had collapsed, Mussolini’s military advances in Greece and North Africa were soon followed by serious defeats. He was forced to resign from his position as head of the government in 1943 and was then imprisoned. A daring glider rescue from this imprisonment by German troops permitted Mussolini to set up a puppet regime in German-occupied Italy, but as the war came to an end in April 1945 Mussolini was caught by partisans when attempting to escape to Switzerland, and was summarily hanged.

[See also: Franco; Hitler; Spanish civil war*]

Ollenhauer, Erich

Leader of the West German Social Democratic Party (SPD) 1952–60. Born in Magdeburg in 1901, Ollenhauer joined the SPD in 1916 and became a member of the party’s paid staff. He was a member of the SPD contingent on the Parliamentary Council which drafted the Basic Law, was elected to the Bundestag in 1949, and, following the death of Schumacher, became party leader in 1952. He was the SPD chancellor-candidate in the 1953 and 1957 Bundestag elections. His failure in the 1957 election (when Adenauer secured an absolute majority of votes and seats) and his discomfiture with the 1959 Bad Godesberg SPD reform programme led to his resignation as party leader in 1960. He died in 1963.

[See also: Adenauer; Schumacher; Godesberg Programme*]

Paisley, Ian

Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland). Paisley was born in Armagh in 1926. After a theological education, he was ordained as minister in 1946 and became involved in Unionist politics. He was a member of the Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont 1970–72, and of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–74. He has been an MP in the House of Commons since 1970 and was elected to the new Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. He was elected leader of his party in 1979. Paisley has a reputation as an intemperate orator, an uncompromising opponent of Northern Ireland political Catholicism and nationalism, a propagator of fundamentalist Protestantism and a bitter critic of the British government whenever proposals for a compromise settlement in Northern Ireland are mooted. Paisley opposed the Sunningdale Agreement in 1972, for instance. His behaviour in the House of Commons has resulted in his exclusion on several occasions.

[See also: Good Friday Agreement*; Stormont*]

Palme, Olaf

Prime Minister of Sweden 1969–76 and 1982 until his assassination in 1986. Palme was born in Stockholm in 1927. He studied law, but began a career in politics within the organisation of the Swedish Social Democratic Labour Party. He was elected to the Swedish Parliament in 1957 and from 1963 was appointed to several governmental positions, before becoming party leader and Prime Minister in 1969. While out of office between 1976 and 1981, he was a member of several international commissions concerned with third-world development and disarmament. His government undertook several important constitutional reforms in Sweden, including making the Swedish Parliament unicameral and eliminating almost entirely the political role of the monarch. He was killed by gunfire from an unknown assailant in Stockholm in February 1986.

Papandreou, Andreas

Prime Minister of Greece 1981–89 and 1993–96. Papandreou was born in Chios in 1919, the son of the former Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou. He studied law at the University of Athens and became a Trotskyist critic of the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas. Arrested and tortured in 1939, he left in 1940 for the USA, where he studied at Columbia University and received a doctorate from Harvard in 1943. Papandreou took US citizenship, served in the US navy and began an academic career in economics. He returned to Greece in 1959 and became Director of the Centre of Economic Research. He renounced his American citizenship in January 1964 and was elected to Parliament as a representative of his father’s Centre Union Party. When Georgios Papandreou became Prime Minister in 1964, his son Andreas became his chief adviser. Andreas was an outspoken critic of the King and the military and was forced to step down in November 1964 on charges of corruption. He was reinstated in the Spring of 1965, but fell with his father’s government in July 1965. When the military staged a coup in April 1967, Andreas Papandreou was charged with high treason and was kept in solitary confinement until he was released in an amnesty in December 1967. He went into exile as an opponent of the junta, again working as an academic. He founded the anti-junta Panhellenic Liberation Movement in 1968. Papandreou returned to Greece in 1974 when the military government fell. He refused to lead his father’s former party, the Centre Union Party, and instead founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement. For the rest of the 1970s, Papandreou vigorously attacked the Karamanlis government. In the elections of 1981, his Panhellenic Socialist Movement beat Rallis’ New Democratic Party and Papandreou became Prime Minister. His government introduced a series of socialist reforms. In 1988 his government’s popularity fell and he was accused of corruption and the misuse of power. He stepped down in 1989 after electoral defeat. Once his parliamentary immunity was lifted, Papandreou was charged with corruption, but was acquitted in January 1992. He led his party to an election victory in 1993, but his health deteriorated from 1995, and he resigned as Prime Minister in January 1996. He died later that year.

[See also: Karamanlis]

Pétain, Marshal [See: Vichy regime*]

Pflimlin, Pierre

Prime Minister of France 1958. Pflimlin was born in Roubaix in 1907. He was educated in Mulhouse (in Alsace) and universities in Paris and Strasbourg and qualified as a lawyer. He was a prisoner-of-war in 1940, and on release joined the resistance. Elected to the National Assembly in 1946 as a Republican Party deputy, he became a minister in many of the – usually short-lived – cabinets of the Fourth Republic. After his very brief term as last Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic (except for de Gaulle himself ), Pflimlin served in de Gaulle’s Fifth Republic government in 1962. He served as mayor of Strasbourg from 1959 until 1984, and was a Member of the European Parliament 1979–89, holding the office of President of the Parliament 1984–87. He was an enthusiastic supporter of European integration. He died in 2000.

[See also: de Gaulle; Algerian conflict*; resistance groups*]

Pöhl, Karl Otto

President of the German Federal Bank (Bundesbank) 1980–91. Pöhl was born in Hanover in 1929. After an early career as a journalist, he became Vice-President of the Bundesbank in 1977, and became President in 1980. Though a member of the Social Democratic Party, he resisted several measures of the SPD–Liberal coalition designed to decrease unemployment through state expenditures. Pöhl is particularly remembered for his criticism in 1990 of the plan by the Kohl government for an exchange rate of 2:1 (and parity for some transactions) when the German Democratic Republic and the German Federal Republic entered into a Treaty of Economic and Monetary Union. Pöhl warned that such a generous exchange rate would prove to be inflationary and would damage the East German economy.

[See also: Kohl; Bundesbank*]

Pompidou, Georges

Prime Minister, then President, of the Fifth French Republic. Pompidou was born in the Auvergne in 1911. After studying classics, he became a secondary school teacher. Involved in the resistance during the Second World War, he joined de Gaulle’s staff in 1944, and held various political appointments before entering banking in 1955. He returned to politics when the Fifth Republic was established in 1958, and was principal negotiator of the Évian Agreements, ending French involvement in the Algerian struggle for independence. De Gaulle made Pompidou Prime Minister in 1962. In 1968, Pompidou played a major role in calming the riots and protests initiated by the students and workers. De Gaulle held Pompidou responsible for what he saw as unwise concessions to the workers and dismissed him as Prime Minister that same year. However, following de Gaulle’s sudden resignation as President in 1969, Pompidou was elected as de Gaulle’s successor. Pompidou set about extending the powers of the president into economic and other domestic policy areas, in a drive to modernise the French economy, especially in relation to its infrastructure. He died in office in 1974.

[See also: de Gaulle; Évian Agreements*; resistance groups*]

Poujade, Pierre-Marie

Born in 1920 in Saint-Céré (Lot), Poujade was a political activist who challenged processes of modernisation in France. Brought up as a monarchist, he at first supported the Vichy regime. However, by 1942 Poujade was disillusioned by Vichy’s subservience to the Germans and tried to leave France for Spain. He was arrested but was freed in 1943. After the war he went back to Saint-Céré and set up a wholesale book business. By the early 1950s such small businesses, a strong feature of France’s economy, were threatened by the rise of big business. In 1953, Poujade began to organise demonstrations against the way the complicated tax system was implemented with respect to smaller businesses. In 1954 he formed the pressure group, the Union for the Protection of Businesses and Craftsmen, (UDCA), which soon took on a wider protest role, attacking aspects of modernisation including foreign influences in France, republicanism, bureaucracy, the dominance of Paris and urbanisation. In 1955 Poujade formed a political party, the Union and Fraternity of the French (UFF) and conducted major rallies throughout France. In the 1956 elections, the UFF gained 52 seats in the National Assembly. However, the party was organisationally and electorally unstable, and did not survive the transition to the Fifth Republic in 1958 as a credible political force. Poujade remained a wild card in French politics until the mid-1960s, when he became reconciled to the Fifth Republic and even became adviser to Pompidou on small businesses. He launched a further party (UDI) for the 1979 European elections, but it was not successful. In 1981, he supported Mitterrand’s candidacy for the presidential elections.

[See also: Mitterrand; Vichy regime*]

Prodi, Romano

Prime Minister of Italy 1996–98 and President of the European Commission. Born in 1939 in Scandiano, Prodi studied at the Catholic University of Milan. He became Professor of Economics and Industrial Policy at the University of Bologna in 1971. He was Minister of Industry 1978–79. During the 1980s and 1990s he held high-ranking posts related to economic and industrial research and has published widely on such issues. In 1995, following the public collapse in confidence in the traditional parties, he founded the Olive Tree, a coalition of centre-left parties, and after the electoral success of the coalition he became Prime Minister 1996–98. In 1999 he became President of the European Commission.

[See also: Tangentopoli*]

Rau, Johannes

President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1999, and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) 1978–97. Rau was born in Wuppertal in 1931. He went into a career in the book trade. He joined the Social Democratic Party in 1957, and was elected to the NRW Land Parliament in 1958. After serving as lord mayor of his home town, Wuppertal, he became a minister in the NRW Land government from 1970 until his election by his party in 1978 as NRW Prime Minister. He led his party to a series of electoral successes in NRW, making what had previously been a marginal Land for his party into one which provided the SPD with absolute majorities. He was SPD chancellor-candidate in the 1987 federal election, but was unable to attract many additional votes to his party. He served in several senior positions in the national SPD organisation, becoming a deputy chairman in 1982. He ran as SPD candidate for the office of federal president in 1994, but without success. However, in 1999, supported by the large number of SPD Members of the Bundestag elected in 1998, Rau was elected President of the republic on the second ballot. Rau has always had close links to the Protestant church in West Germany.

Robinson, Mary

Former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Robinson was born in 1944 in County Mayo, Ireland. She studied law at Trinity College, Dublin and Harvard University. She then practised as a lawyer and became a professor at Trinity College. She was a member of the Irish Senate 1969–89. In 1990 she was elected as President of Ireland and served until 1997. As President, she lent her support to several measures promoting a more liberal society in Ireland. She was then appointed as UN Commissioner for Human Rights, in which role she has been involved in various crises all over the world, for example in East Timor.

Rocard, Michel

French Prime Minister 1988–91, Rocard was born in 1930 at Courbevoie (Seine). He studied at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and at the National College of Administration. He pursued a dual career as an inspector of finances and in the ‘new left’ in politics, using the pseudonym Georges Servet for his political activities until the mid-1960s. Rocard was National Secretary of the Association of Socialist Students 1955–56. The group was allied to the Socialist Party (SFIO), but Rocard split with the party over the Mollet government’s Algerian policy. In 1958, he became a member of the Autonomous Socialist Party (PSA) which joined with the Unified Socialist Party (PSU) in 1960. He was National Secretary of the PSU 1967–73, the youngest leader of an organised political party. Opposed to violence, he did not join the street protests of 1968, but later became spokesman of that movement. In 1974 Rocard supported Mitterrand’s presidential campaign and joined the new Socialist Party (PS) later that year, following the party’s integration of the bulk of the non-communist left of the party spectrum. He soon became the leading voice of the new left or ‘realist’ social democracy within the PS and the only serious rival to Mitterrand for the party’s leadership. Popular with the public in the late 1970s, in the 1980s he had to contend with a new generation of ‘Mitterrandists’, particularly Fabius and Jospin. Rocard was Minister of the Plan 1981–83 and Minister of Agriculture 1983 but resigned in 1985 in protest over the PS’s tactical decision to introduce proportional representation for the 1986 parliamentary elections. He distanced himself from the party to prepare his candidacy for the presidential elections of 1988, but withdrew when Mitterrand declared he would stand. Rocard became Prime Minister of France (1988–91). He was Secretary of the Socialist Party 1993–94 and has been a Member of the European Parliament since 1994.

[See also: Fabius; Jospin; Mitterrand; Mollet; Algerian conflict*]

Rohwedder, Detlev

Head of the Treuhandgesellschaft (Trustee Agency) responsible for privatisation and restructuring of East German business enterprises following reunification. Rohwedder was born in Gotha in 1932. He studied law at the Universities of Mainz and Hamburg, then was employed by various business companies. He joined the SPD in 1969, and that same year was appointed as the chief civil servant (State Secretary) in the Ministry of Economics when the SPD–FDP coalition was formed. He retained that post until 1978. In 1990 he was appointed Chairman of the Treuhandgesellschaft. In 1991 he was assassinated by a bomb set by the Red Army faction.

[See also: Treuhandanstalt*]

Salazar, Antonio

Prime Minister of Portugal 1932–68. Salazar was born in Santa Comba Dao in 1889. He studied economics and finance at university, and became a professor of economics in 1916, before entering politics. He was elected to Parliament in 1921 and became Minister of Finance in 1926 and again from 1928. He ruled as a dictator. He maintained Portugal’s neutral stance in the Spanish civil war and the Second World War, though he gave support to Franco. He set himself firmly against the introduction of steps towards autonomy for Portugal’s overseas colonies. He reluctantly agreed to allow a multi-party system to develop after the Second World War, though the secret police kept opposition activities in check. He survived a number of attempts to overthrow him and his regime by communists and elements of the military. He retired on grounds of ill-health in 1968 and died in 1970.

[See also: Armed Forces Movement*]

Santer, Jacques

Prime Minister of Luxembourg 1984–89 and 1989–94 and President of the European Commission 1994–99. Born in 1937 in Wasserbillig, Santer studied at the Universities of Paris and Strasbourg and at the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He became an advocate at the Luxembourg Court of Appeal 1961–65. He worked with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security 1963–65 and was a government attaché 1965–66. He was President of the Christian Social Party 1974–82. He was Secretary of State for Cultural and Social Affairs 1972–74. He was a member of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies 1974–79 and of the European Parliament 1975–79, becoming its Vice-President in 1975–77. He then returned to Luxembourg politics, acting as Minister of Labour, of Finance and of Social Security 1979–84. While Prime Minister he was simultaneously Minister of State and of Finance 1984–89 and Minister of State, of Cultural Affairs and of the Treasury and Financial Affairs 1989–94. Santer became President of the European Commission in 1994 but a series of scandals led to his resignation, together with his Commission team, in 1998.

Scalfaro, Oscar

President of Italy 1992–99, Scalfaro promoted the ongoing process of constitutional reform in Italy during the 1980s. Born in 1918 in Novara, Scalfaro studied at the Catholic University of Milan. He was elected Christian Democratic (DC) deputy for Turin-Novara-Vercelli in 1948. He played a leadership role in the DC, acting as Secretary, then Vice-Chair of the parliamentary party group and participating in the party’s national council. During de Gasperi’s leadership, Scalfaro joined the DC central office. He was Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in the Fanfani government, Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Under-Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior 1959–62. He was Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in the Moro, Leone and Andreotti governments, Minister of Education in the second Andreotti government, and Minister of the Interior 1983–87. In April 1987 he tried to form a government, but was not successful. He became President of the Republic on 28 May 1992.

[See also: Andreotti; de Gasperi; Leone; Moro; Tangentopoli*]

Scharping, Rudolf

Former leader of the German Social Democratic Party and chancellor-candidate in the 1994 Bundestag election. Scharping was born in Niederelbert in 1947. After studying law, politics and sociology at the University of Bonn, he became an assistant to two Members of the Bundestag (1969–75) and was Land Chair of the Young Socialists 1969–74, and Deputy Chair of the federal Young Socialists 1974–76. He was elected to the Rhineland-Pfalz Land Parliament in 1975, remaining a Member until 1994. He served as Chair of the Land parliamentary party from 1985 to 1991, Chair of the Rhineland-Pfalz SPD 1985–94 and Minister-President 1991–94. Elected to the Bundestag in 1994, he became leader of the SPD Bundestag party group, a post he held until the 1998 election. He was elected leader of the SPD in 1993 but his failure to win the 1994 Bundestag election and poor Land election results after that election led to a successful challenge by Lafontaine at the 1995 party conference. Following the 1998 election, as a result of which the SPD formed a government with the Greens, Scharping was unsuccessful in his efforts to retain the leadership of the parliamentary party, and instead was persuaded to become Minister of Defence.

[See also: Lafontaine]

Scheel, Walter

Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and federal President. Scheel was born in 1919 in Solingen. He served in the German air force during the Second World War, afterwards pursuing a business career. He joined the FDP and entered local politics before his election to the Bundestag in 1953. He was one of the group of young FDP members whose campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1956 resulted in the termination of the Land governing coalition of the FDP and CDU, and its replacement by a coalition with the SPD, in protest at Adenauer’s proposed electoral system changes. He became a deputy leader of the FDP in 1958, and was elected as leader in 1968, taking the FDP into coalition with the SPD after the Bundestag election of 1969. As Foreign Minister in the Brandt government, Scheel played a significant role in Brandt’s Ostpolitik. Scheel resigned as Foreign Minister and leader of his party in 1974 on health grounds, and was elected as federal President that same year, serving one term (1974–79).

[See also: Adenauer; Brandt; Grabenwahlsystem*; Ostpolitik*; Young Turks’ revolt*]

Schmid, Carlo

Prominent politician in the West German Social Democratic Party after the Second World War. Schmid was born in 1896 in Perpignan, in southern France. He was a lawyer by training, becoming a professor of law and then of political science. He served as Minister of Justice in the Land of Württemberg-Hohenzollern 1947–50, and as a member of the SPD delegation to the Parliamentary Council which drafted the Basic Law 1948–49. As a member of the Praesidium of the SPD Schmid had great influence on the drafting and adoption of the Godesberg Programme. He was a Member of the Bundestag 1949–72, and played a leading role in the parliamentary party of the SPD and in Bundestag committees, as well as acting as a Vice-President of the Bundestag 1949–66 and 1969–72. He served as Minister responsible for co-ordination with the Länder in the grand coalition (1966–69). He was also author of several distinguished books on political and historical topics, and did much to foster Franco-German relations. He died in 1979.

[See also: Godesberg Programme*; grand coalition*]

Schmidt, Helmut

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany 1974–82. Born in Hamburg in 1918, Schmidt served in the German army in the Second World War and was awarded the Iron Cross. He then attended Hamburg University, and joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1946. He was employed as a manager by the city government after graduation. First elected to the Bundestag in 1953, he resigned in 1962 to become a minister in the Hamburg Land government, where his actions during the severe 1962 flooding of the city were praised. He returned to the Bundestag in 1965, and, following service as Chairman of the SPD parliamentary party group during the ‘grand coalition’, became Minister of Defence in the Brandt coalition in 1969. When Schiller resigned in 1972 as Finance and Economics Minister, Schmidt took those ministries, then served as Finance Minister after the Bundestag election in 1972 until 1974. In 1974 he was the undisputed successor as Chancellor, after Brandt resigned that office in the wake of the Guillaume scandal. As Chancellor, Schmidt was effective and efficient, but, with Brandt remaining as party leader, was not successful in integrating the various factions in the SPD. In particular, the hostile attitudes of his own left wing towards defence and economic policies led to a breach within the coalition. The FDP’s decision to support Kohl (the leader of the CDU) in a constructive vote of no confidence against Schmidt in October 1982 led to the replacement of Schmidt’s government by a coalition of Christian Democrats and the FDP. Schmidt in political retirement took on a role as elder statesman, and from 1983 became involved in the editorship of the news weekly: Die Zeit.

[See also: Brandt; Kohl; constructive vote of no confidence*; grand coalition*; Guillaume Affair*]

Schönhuber, Franz

Co-founder and former leader of the German Republican party. Schonhüber was born in Trostberg (Bavaria) in 1923. In the Second World War he served as a member of the Waffen-SS (the military arm of the SS). After the war he commenced a career in journalism, which led to an important post with the Bavarian broadcasting service, including having his own talk-show, but was dismissed because of public and media reaction to his memoirs (published in 1981) in which he defended the Waffen-SS and the ‘idealism’ of its members. In 1983 he was a co-founder of the Republican party, a breakaway party of former CSU politicians, which soon developed a radical right-wing identity and anti-foreigner rhetoric once Schönhuber became Chairman. The Republicans had surprising successes in the Berlin Land election and European parliamentary election of 1989 (Schönhuber himself serving as an MEP until 1994) and in the Baden-Württemberg Land election in 1992. Schönhuber lost the chairmanship of the Republicans in 1994 and resigned from the party in 1995. He remained active in far-right political circles, and was a candidate for the German People’s Party (DVU) in the 1998 Bundestag election.

[See also: xenophobia*]

Schröder, Gerhard

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany since 1998 and leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 1999. Schröder was born in 1944 in Mossenberg, near Detmold. He studied law at the University of Göttingen. He joined the SPD in 1963, and in 1986 became leader of the SPD parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony Land Parliament. In 1989 he was elected to the Praesidium of the SPD, and in 1990 he became Minister President of Lower Saxony, winning the elections in 1994 and 1998 also. Though he had lost to Scharping in the membership ballot for the post of party leader in 1993, his electoral successes in Lower Saxony made him the obvious choice to be chancellor-candidate for the 1998 Bundestag election. He led his party to an overwhelming electoral victory in that election, and formed a coalition with the Greens. In 1999 he replaced Lafontaine as party leader, after Lafontaine resigned from his governmental and party positions.

[See also: Lafontaine; Scharping]

Schumacher, Kurt

Leader of the Social Democratic Party of West Germany after the Second World War. Schumacher was born in Prussia in 1895. His wounds in the First World War resulted in the amputation of an arm. He studied law and political science at university. He then involved himself in socialist politics in the Weimar Republic, being elected to the Reichstag in 1930. He spent much of the Hitler period in concentration camps. Involving himself in the revival of the SPD even before the Second World War had ended, Schumacher became a leading politician in the British zone of occupation. He vehemently opposed the scheme in the Soviet occupation zone to merge the SPD and the Communist Party, rejecting it for the western zones. He was elected leader of the West German SPD in 1946. The result of the Bundestag election in 1949 meant that the SPD was in opposition, and Schumacher, as leader of the opposition, criticised many of Adenauer’s policies, especially concerning the market economy and Adenauer’s preference for western integration rather than the pursuit of German reunification. Schumacher died in 1952.

[See also: Adenauer; Hitler]

Schuman, Robert

Schuman held high office in France, but is best known for his work for European integration. Schuman was born in Luxembourg in 1886, grew up in Metz (then German) and studied law at Bonn, Munich and Berlin. When Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France in 1918, Schuman entered French politics, being elected to Parliament in 1919 as a christian democrat. In 1940 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Refugees in Reynaud’s war cabinet. After briefly supporting Pétain, Schuman resigned from the Vichy government and forged links with the resistance instead. After the Second World War Schuman joined the new christian democratic party: the Mouvement Républicain Populaire (MRP) and was re-elected to Parliament. He was Minister for Finance in the governments of Bidault (1946) and Ramadier (1947). He became Prime Minister (1947–48) under conditions of financial crisis and industrial unrest. From 1948 to 1953 Schuman was Minister for Foreign Affairs in ten successive governments, faced with the task of restraining Germany in the context of European co-operation. In May 1950 he adopted Monnet’s plan to merge the French and German coal and steel industries. This ‘Schuman Plan’ led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and eventually the EEC. His close association with the failed ‘Pleven Plan’ for a European Defence Community ended his spell as Foreign Minister in 1953. Schuman died in 1963.

[See also: Monnet; European Coal and Steel Community*; European Defence Community*; Vichy regime*]

Smith, Iain Duncan [See: Duncan Smith, Iain]

Smith, John

Leader of the British Labour Party from 1992 until his death in 1994. John Smith was born in 1938, and qualified as a lawyer. He became an MP in 1970, and held office in the Wilson and Callaghan governments. Having held various senior posts in the opposition’s ‘shadow cabinet’ from 1979 onwards, he was elected as party leader in succession to Neil Kinnock, following Kinnock’s resignation after the election of 1992. Smith continued and developed some of the processes of reform of the Labour Party’s policies, image and organisation which had commenced under Kinnock’s leadership, and which were continued by Tony Blair.

[See also: Blair; Callaghan; Kinnock; Wilson]

Soares, Mário

Prime Minister of Portugal three times 1976–85; President of Portugal 1986–96. Soares was born in 1924 in Lisbon. His father was João Soares, a liberal who had served in the republican government overthrown by a military coup in 1926. Mário Soares studied at the University of Lisbon, where he founded the United Democratic Youth Movement in 1946, and, later, at the Sorbonne in Paris. An active opponent of Salazar’s dictatorship, Mário Soares was jailed 12 times on political grounds. He was first arrested for anti-government activities in 1947. In 1958 Soares was active in the unsuccessful presidential campaign of the opposition candidate General Delgado. When Delgado was murdered in Spain in 1965, Soares acted as the lawyer for his family and attracted international attention by revealing how Salazar’s secret police were implicated in the crime. He was deported to São Tomé March–November 1968 and went into exile in France during the early 1970s. In West Germany in 1973, he founded the Portuguese Socialist Party and was its Secretary-General until 1986. Soares represented the Portuguese Socialists at various European socialist congresses and was the Portuguese representative to the International League of Human Rights. After the coup of April 1974, Soares returned to Portugal. As Minister of Foreign Affairs 1974–75, he led negotiations on the independence of the Portuguese overseas colonies of Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Angola. He was Vice-President of the Socialist International 1976–86 and its honorary president thereafter. The Socialists won a majority in the Constituent Assembly elections in 1975, but a tense period followed when the leftist military at first refused to acknowledge the result. In further elections of April 1976, the Socialists again won a majority of seats and Soares became Prime Minister until 1978, and again 1983–85. During his period in office he pursued negotiations leading to Portuguese membership of the European Community and signed the Treaty of Accession in 1985. In 1986 he became President of Portugal. He has held numerous other national and international positions.

[See also: Salazar; Armed Forces Movement*]

Soustelle, Jacques

Leading member of the French ‘Secret Army’ opposed to de Gaulle’s Algerian policies. Soustelle was born in 1912. He worked closely with de Gaulle during the Second World War and its immediate aftermath. He was General Secretary of the RPF, de Gaulle’s party after the war. He served as Governor of Algeria, but his intemperate statements concerning Algeria led to his recall in 1956. He supported the recall of de Gaulle and the creation of the Fifth Republic, serving in de Gaulle’s first government. After his exclusion from the government following riots in Algeria in 1960, Soustelle joined the leadership of the ‘Secret Army’, and was exiled in 1962, only returning to France when pardoned after the 1968 student riots.

[See also: de Gaulle; Algerian conflict*; May Events*]

Spaak, Paul-Henri

Prime Minister of Belgium 1938–39, March 1946, 1947–49, and leading international politician. Spaak was born into a wealthy family of political activists in 1899 in Schaerbeek. He spent two years as a German prisoner-of-war during the First World War. After the war, he graduated in law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He joined the Socialist Party in the 1920s and in 1932 he was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Deputies, where he led the Socialists’ left faction. He served in ministerial posts in 1935–36 before becoming Prime Minister in 1938. When Germany occupied Belgium, he fled to London and acted as Foreign Minister in the Belgian government-in-exile. After the liberation, Spaak returned to Belgium as Deputy Prime Minister, but also took an active role in European and international politics. Leading the Belgian delegation to the United Nations (UN) Conference in 1945, he helped to draft the UN charter and served as the first President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946. Spaak promoted the formation of the Benelux customs union between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and later played a leading role in the creation of the European Common Market in March 1957. He was Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) 1957–61, after which he returned to Belgian politics as Foreign Minister. He welcomed Britain’s first application to join the EEC and was angered by the French veto on British membership in 1963. He worked to ease tense relations between Belgium and its former colony, the African Congo. When he retired from politics in 1966, Spaak continued to work as a commercial international adviser. He died in 1972.

[See also: de Gaulle; Benelux*]

Spring, Dick

Irish Foreign Minister and leader of the Irish Labour Party. Spring was born in Tralee in 1950. He studied and practised law before entering the Irish Parliament in 1981. He served as Deputy Prime Minister in coalition governments in 1982–87 and 1993–97; in the second of those coalitions he was Foreign Minister. He was leader of the Irish Labour Party 1982–97.

Springer, Axel

German publisher and media entrepreneur. Springer was born in Altona, near Hamburg, in 1912. In the period immediately after the Second World War he began his career as a newspaper publisher, founding a number of newspapers and magazines, including in 1952 the enormously successful Bild tabloid daily paper, and acquiring the respected Die Welt newspaper in 1953. The student movement which developed in the late 1960s targeted Springer as a ‘monopoly capitalist’ because of his ownership of a large share of the newspaper and magazine markets. Among other incidents such as blockades of distribution centres to prevent circulation of his publications, a bomb attack on the Hamburg headquarters of the Springer companies in 1972 wounded 17 people. Springer was unremitting in his critiques of the left-wing-dominated student movement, promoted the idea of German reunification and the illegitimacy of the GDR regime, and defended his position in the publishing market against those who claimed his dominance should be weakened by new legal constraints. Springer expanded into broadcasting, including involvement in the Sat–1 commercial television channel. He was generous in his contributions to charities, including to various charitable causes in Israel. He died in 1985.

[See also: May Events*]

Steel, David

Leader of the British Liberal Party 1976–88, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to become the Liberal Democratic Party. Steel was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, in 1938. Following study at Edinburgh University, Steel became a journalist, then was elected to the House of Commons in a by-election in 1965. He became well known following the success of his 1967 Private Member’s bill to reform legal restrictions on abortion. After serving as chief whip of his party, he was elected leader in 1976 following the resignation of Thorpe (Grimond, the former leader, serving as interim leader). In 1977 he took his party into an alliance with Callaghan’s Labour government that was less than a formal coalition, and seemed to bring little counter-rewards to the Liberal Party in return for guaranteeing Callaghan a majority in the House of Commons. This move was criticised within and outside Steel’s own party ranks. It resulted in electoral defeats for his party before and after the dissolution of that alliance in 1978. In 1983 he succeeded Roy Jenkins as leader of the Liberal–SDP electoral alliance. He decided not to seek leadership of the Liberal Democrat Party at the time of the merger between the Liberals and the SDP in 1988. In 2000 he became the first Speaker of the new Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

[See also: Callaghan; Grimond; Jenkins; Thorpe; Lib–Lab pact*]

Stoiber, Edmund

Leader of the Christian Social Union in Germany and Prime Minister of Bavaria. Stoiber was born in Oberaudorf in 1941. He studied law at Munich University and became a civil servant in the Bavarian Land government. He has been a Member of the Bavarian Land Parliament since 1974. He served as General-Secretary of the CSU 1982–86. He was appointed Interior Minister in the Bavarian government in 1988, and served until 1993, when he became Prime Minister of Bavaria. He has been leader of the CSU since 1999. He became the chancellor-candidate for the 2002 Bundestag election on 11 January 2002, following the announcement by Merkel that she would not seek that position herself.

Stoph, Willi

Head of the government (in effect, Prime Minister) of the German Democratic Republic 1964–73 and 1976–89. Stoph was born in Berlin in 1914. He joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1931. After military service in the Second World War, he made a career within the communist Socialist Unity Party (SED) in the Soviet zone of occupation, then in the GDR. He served as head of state 1973–76. He represented the GDR in talks with Brandt in Erfurt and Kassel in 1970, as a prelude to later steps towards improving relations between the two German states. He was dismissed as Prime Minister in November 1989 during the last days of the communist regime, and was succeeded in that office by Hans Modrow. Court cases following reunification against Stoph on grounds of corruption in office and responsibility for the ‘shoot-to-kill’ orders concerning would-be escapees from the GDR were later dropped, mainly on grounds of his age and state of health.

[See also: Brandt; Modrow; German question*; Ostpolitik*]

Strauss, Franz Josef

Leader of the CSU, Prime Minister of Bavaria and Minister in the governments of Adenauer and Kiesinger. Strauss was born in Munich in 1915. Following university studies of history and economics, and from 1943 military service in the Second World War, he was one of the founders of the CSU in 1945 and became its General Secretary in 1949, then its Deputy Chairman in 1952. He was elected as Chairman in 1961, a post he retained until his death, and was largely responsible for consolidating, then expanding, the party within Bavaria and in its relations with the CDU. He was elected to the Bundestag in 1949, and was appointed to Adenauer’s government in 1953, becoming Defence Minister in 1956. Forced to leave the government because of his responsibility for the improper imposition of sanctions on the magazine Der Spiegel in 1962, he was kept out of the Erhard government by FDP insistence. In the grand coalition led by Chancellor Kiesinger, Strauss became Finance Minister (1966–69). Strauss was the unsuccessful chancellor-candidate of the Christian Democrats in the 1980 Bundestag election. When the Christian Democrats returned to government in 1982, the insistence of the FDP that Strauss should not displace Genscher as Foreign Minister effectively kept Strauss out of the cabinet, as he would accept no other position. He instead remained Prime Minister of Bavaria, a post he had taken in 1979. Strauss was seen as being on the right of the Christian Democrats, and his various independent initiatives in foreign policy (such as his visit to China in 1972) and in German–German relations (his unauthorised promises of credits to the GDR government on a visit in 1983) earned him publicity, but were also grounds for criticism and concern even within his own party. He was also involved in scandals concerning possible improper dealings with the arms trade. Strauss died in 1988.

[See also: Adenauer; Erhard; Kiesinger; Spiegel Affair*]

Suárez González, Adolfo, Duke of

Prime Minister of Spain 1976–81 during the transition to democracy in Spain and leader of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) 1977–82. Born in 1932 in Cebreros in the Province of Avila, Suárez studied at the University of Salamanca and received a doctorate from the University of Madrid. He became governor of Segovia in 1969, then took high-ranking positions in radio and television and in tourism. He was involved with the Falange until 1975, when he founded the UCD and became its leader. He was appointed Prime Minister by King Juan Carlos in 1976 and his post-Franco government effected the transition to democracy in Spain. It allowed the formation of political parties and organised free elections. Suárez’ UCD won the elections of 1977 and 1979 but then his popularity fell over his handling of the economy and the issue of Basque terrorism. He resigned in January 1981, nominating Calvo Sotelo as his successor. The King named him Duke of Suárez later that year. In 1982 he left the UCD to form and lead another party, the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) but the party was not an electoral success and he stepped down as leader in 1991. He was President of the International Liberals 1988–91.

[See also: Franco; Juan Carlos, King]

Thatcher, Margaret

British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party. Born Margaret Roberts in Grantham in 1925, she studied chemistry at Oxford University, then qualified as a lawyer. She was first elected to the House of Commons in 1959. As well as holding various posts within the Conservative ‘shadow cabinets’ 1967–70 and from 1974, she was Minister of Education in Heath’s government 1970–74. She replaced Heath as party leader in 1975, and became Prime Minister following the 1979 general election. She led her party to victories in the 1983 and 1987 elections also. Her policy strategy became increasingly right wing, emphasising market forces and national sovereignty. This strategy, revealed in policies which limited trade union power, promoted the return of state-owned commercial activities, such as the telephone service and power supply, to private ownership, restricted local government autonomy and defended British interests in negotiations within the European Community (EC), was given the label: ‘Thatcherism’. She became extremely popular as a result of the successful outcome of the Falklands War, overturning Argentinean invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. However, her increasingly strident criticism of the EC and the unpopularity of policies such as a new system of local government taxation (the ‘poll tax’) led to growing discontent with her leadership within her own party. After an unsuccessful challenge to her in a leadership election in November 1989, another challenge was mounted in 1990. Thatcher narrowly failed to obtain sufficient votes on a first round of balloting to win that election, and was persuaded not to remain in the contest for a second round, since it was almost certain she would be defeated. She entered the House of Lords in 1992.

[See also: Heath; Falklands War*; poll tax*]

Thorez, Maurice

Leader of the PCF 1930–64. Thorez was born in 1900 in Noyelles-Godault. He was a founding member of the PCF in 1920. He was elected to the French Parliament in 1932, and in 1936 agreed to participate in the ‘Popular Front’ government led by Blum. He refused to fight in the Second World War and deserted from the army, at a time when the USSR was still linked to Nazi Germany by the Treaty between Germany and the USSR. Thorez went to Moscow, and only returned to France after its liberation. Apart from a brief period when Thorez was a member of a coalition government (1946–47) he and his party took a stance of uncompromising opposition to the Fourth Republic regime, using links to the trade unions to promote strikes. He was a convinced supporter of Stalin, and ensured that the PCF kept rigidly to a Stalinist political programme and Stalinist organisation of the party itself. He died in 1964.

[See also: nazism*; popular front*]

Thorn, Gaston

Prime Minister of Luxembourg 1974–79 and a leading European liberal, President of the European Commission 1981–84. Thorn was born in 1928 in Luxembourg and studied at the Universities of Montpellier, Lausanne and Paris. He became President of the Luxembourg National Union of Students. A Member of the Luxembourg Parliament since 1959, he was also a Member of the European Parliament 1959–69, where he was Vice-President of the Liberal group. He became President of the Democratic Party of Luxembourg in 1961. Prime Minister and Minister of State 1974–79, from 1969 to 1980 he also held ministerial responsibility (often overlapping) in foreign affairs and foreign trade; physical education and sport; national economy and the middle classes; and justice, as well as acting as Deputy Prime Minister 1979–80. In tandem with his national political career, he was a leading figure in the Liberal International and in European politics. He was President of the Liberal International 1970–82; President of the 30th Session of the UN General Assembly 1975–76; President of the Federation of Liberal and Democratic Parties of the European Community 1976–80; and President of the European Commission 1981–84.

Thorpe, Jeremy

Leader of the British Liberal Party 1967–76. Thorpe was born in London in 1929. Educated at Oxford University, he became a lawyer before becoming an MP in 1959. He remained in the House of Commons until 1979. He was elected as leader of his party in succession to Grimond, but resigned when he became involved in a scandal which led to a series of court cases.

[See also: Grimond]

Tindemans, Léo

Prime Minister of Belgium 1974–78 and a leading European christian democrat. Tindemans was born in 1922 in Zwijndrecht and studied at the University of Ghent and the Catholic University of Louvain. He became national Secretary-General of the Social Christian Party in 1958. He was a member of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies 1961–89. He was Minister of Community Affairs 1968–71; Minister of Agriculture and Middle Class Affairs 1972–73; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Budget and Institutional Problems 1973–74. Named Prime Minister in 1974, he formed a Social Christian–Liberal minority government and introduced an austerity programme to counter the country’s economic problems, a plan which was endorsed by the electorate in the elections of 1977. He resigned in October 1978 when the Flemish faction of his own party refused to support his plan to divide Belgium into three linguistic regions. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs 1981–89; and Minister of State in 1992. He was President of his party, the Belgian Christian People’s Party (CVP) from 1979 to 1981. From the mid-1970s onwards he also played a very active role in European politics. He was President of the European People’s Party (EPP) 1976–85 and a Member of the European Parliament 1979–81 and again from 1989, acting as President of the EPP party group from 1992.

Trimble, David

Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Trimble was born in Bangor (Northern Ireland) in 1944. He studied law at Queen’s University, Belfast, and then became a lecturer in law. He became a Member of the House of Commons in 1990. Trimble was elected leader of the UUP in 1995, and in that capacity was a central figure in the negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement and the institutional and political arrangements which followed from that. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with John Hume in 1998 for his efforts in producing a peace settlement in Northern Ireland. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, and, as leader of the largest party, became First Minister (Prime Minister) that same year. Because of continued violence in Northern Ireland by extremist Protestant and Catholic groups, the refusal of the IRA satisfactorily to commence abolishing its arsenals of weapons, and the concessions demanded of Unionists in relation to changes in the Royal Ulster Constabulary and various other matters, Trimble has been hard put to retain the support of a majority within his own party. In July 2001 he resigned as First Minister of the Northern Ireland government in protest at the failure of progress on arms decommissioning by the IRA, but was re-elected to that post later the same year, following negotiations relating to arms decommissioning.

[See also: Hume; Good Friday Agreement*; Irish Republican Army*]

Ulbricht, Walter

Leader of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) 1949–71. Ulbricht was born in 1893 in Leipzig. He became a qualified carpenter. He joined the Social Democratic Party in 1912, fought in the First World War, and joined the Communist Party (KPD) in 1919. He quickly rose within the party to become a member of its Central Committee in 1923. He was elected first to the Saxony Land Parliament, then to the Reichstag in 1928. When Hitler took power, Ulbricht emigrated first to France, then to the Soviet Union. Here he was trained to assume power after the defeat of Hitler. He was sent to Berlin in April 1945, and established the authority of the refounded Communist party in the Soviet occupation zone, working closely as political adviser with the Soviet Union occupation authorities. As leader of the KPD, Ulbricht played a major role in compelling the fusion of the KPD and SPD in 1946. Ulbricht became General Secretary (and therefore leader) of the SED in 1950 and in 1960 became head of state. He was generally a loyal follower of the policies of the Soviet Union, though this meant severe disadvantages for the economy of the GDR, and was responsible for agreeing to the violent suppression of the workers’ uprising in Berlin in 1953 and the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961. In 1971 he resigned as party leader on grounds of age (but also under pressure from the USSR) and was succeeded by Honecker. Ulbricht remained head of state until his death in 1973.

[See also: Hitler; Honecker; Berlin uprising*; Berlin Wall*; German question*]

de Valera, Eammon

President of the Irish Republic 1959–73. De Valera was born in 1882 in New York but moved to Ireland as a child. Trained as a teacher, he became involved with groups which espoused republicanism for Ireland. He was one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and imprisoned afterwards, but released under an amnesty. He became leader of the nationalist organisation: Sinn Féin. Escaping from another prison term in 1919, he went to the USA. Though he opposed the 1921 Treaty between the United Kingdom and the Irish nationalists and for a time promoted direct action against the British, he became founder and leader of Fianna Fail in 1926, and became leader of the Irish government in 1932, a post he held until 1948 and then twice more (1951–54, 1957–59). He died in 1975.

Waldheim, Kurt

General Secretary of the UN 1971–82 and Austrian President 1986–92. Waldheim was born near Vienna in 1918. After service in the German army, he entered the diplomatic service, holding a number of posts, including that of Foreign Minister (1968–70), before becoming UN General Secretary. He was nominated as candidate of the Austrian People’s Party for the presidency of Austria in 1986. During the campaign, allegations surfaced that Waldheim, as a young officer, had been involved in atrocities in the Balkans during the Second World War. Several countries refused to have dealings with Waldheim during his presidency because of these allegations. Though an investigation cleared Waldheim of the more serious allegations made against him, it did confirm that he had knowledge of the atrocities and that he had not made full admissions of such knowledge when questioned. He decided not to seek a second term as President because of this affair.

Wehner, Herbert

Leading member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Federal Republic of Germany. Wehner was born in Dresden in 1906. He joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1927, and went into exile from 1935. Returning to Germany after the Second World War, he joined the SPD in 1946. He was elected to the Bundestag in 1949, and became a deputy chairman of the SPD in 1958. He was a supporter of the idea of a grand coalition in the 1960s, and when that coalition was created in 1966 he became a minister in Kiesinger’s government. He was leader of the SPD parliamentary party in the Bundestag from 1969 until his resignation in 1983. Wehner is considered to have played a major role in securing the resignation of Chancellor Brandt in 1974, following revelations about the espionage activities of Guillaume. Wehner died in 1990.

[See also: Brandt; grand coalition*; Guillaume Affair*]

von Weizsäcker, Richard

President of the Federal Republic of Germany 1984–94. Von Weizsäcker was born in 1920 in Stuttgart. After military service in the Second World War and a period as prisoner-of-war, he trained as a lawyer. He joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1954, and was a Member of the Bundestag 1969–81. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of federal president in 1974. He became lord mayor of West Berlin from 1981 until his election as federal President. He was federal President during the events leading to German reunification. As President, he became respected, especially outside the Federal Republic, for the measured statements he made concerning Germany’s past and its responsibilities in the future, such as his speech on the 40th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, which he called a ‘day of liberation’ for Germany. He gave a controversial press interview in 1992 in which he criticised the way in which political parties in the Federal Republic seemed to have neglected their representative role in favour of their own institutional interests. He moved the presidential offices and his private residence to Berlin in 1993.

[See also: reunification of Germany*; Vergangenheitsbewältigung*]

Wilson, Harold

James Harold Wilson was leader of the British Labour Party from 1963 to 1976 and Prime Minister from 1964–70 and 1974 until he resigned in 1976. He was knighted in 1976 and entered the House of Lords in 1983. He was born in Huddersfield in 1916. After studies at Oxford University, and a brief period as a lecturer in economics, Wilson became a civil servant. He became an MP in 1945, and held various ministerial offices, including that of President of the Board of Trade from 1947 until he resigned in 1951 (along with Bevan) over the issue of charges being imposed within the National Health Service. When Gaitskell died in 1963, Wilson was elected as leader of the Labour Party. He won the 1964 general election with a majority of only 4 seats, but called an election in 1966, which gave Labour a comfortable overall majority. In 1970 Wilson was replaced as Prime Minister by Edward Heath after unexpectedly losing the 1970 general election. He became Prime Minister again in 1974, first heading a minority government, then after a second general election that year in charge of a government with a small overall majority. He tried, unavailingly, to take Britain into the EEC in 1967. In 1975 he instituted the first official national referendum in British politics, on the issue of the terms of British membership of the European Community which Heath had accepted for British entry in 1973.

[See also: Bevan; Callaghan; Gaitskell; Heath]

Wörner, Manfred

Defence Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany 1982–88 and Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) from 1988–94. Wörner was born in Stuttgart in 1934, and studied law at university. First elected to the Bundestag in 1965, he soon developed a reputation for expertise on military matters within the Christian Democratic (CDU) parliamentary party. In 1983 Wörner took decisive action in dismissing General Kiessling (a highly placed German officer within NATO) on grounds of homosexual behaviour, but as this action was based on false intelligence information Wörner had to make a public apology to the Bundestag. As NATO Secretary-General he had to guide NATO through the period leading up to German reunification and the collapse of the Soviet bloc, including NATO’s East European counterpart, the Warsaw Pact. He died in 1994.

[See also: Kiessling Affair*]