Helmut Schmidt

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Helmut Schmidt

(born Dec. 23, 1918, Hamburg, Ger.) German politician, chancellor of West Germany (1974 – 82). A member of the Social Democratic Party, he served in the Bundestag (1953 – 61, 1965 – 87). He was minister of defense (1969 – 72) and minister of finance (1972 – 74) before succeeding Willy Brandt as chancellor in 1974. A popular and capable chancellor, he continued the policy of Ostpolitik while maintaining West Germany's key position in NATO and the European Community. His refusal to cut West Germany's social welfare programs prompted the centrist Free Democrats to defect from his governing coalition. Losing his majority in the Bundestag, Schmidt resigned the chancellorship after a vote of no confidence in the Bundestag in October 1982. He was succeeded as chancellor by Helmut Kohl. Schmidt has written numerous books on German politics and international relations.

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Political Biography: Helmut Schmidt

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(b. Hamburg, 23 Dec. 1918) German; Chancellor of the Federal Republic 1974 – 82, deputy chairman of the SPD 1968 – 83 The son of a schoolteacher, Schmidt spent the war as a lieutenant in the anti-aircraft artillery. He studied economics at Hamburg University before taking up work in the transport department of the city, becoming its head in 1952. He became a committed Social Democrat at university, having been influenced by fellow prisoners of war. He was elected chairman of the Socialist German Students"League in 1947 and used the opportunity to build up international contacts. His professor, Karl Schiller, also a Social Democrat, helped his rise.

Schmidt was first elected to the Bundestag in 1953. He remained in parliament until 1961 when he took over as Senator (minister) for internal affairs in Hamburg. He won sympathy for his decisive leadership during the Hamburg floods of February 1962. In 1966 he took over as chairman of the SPD group in the Bundestag, declining a ministry in the grand coalition. In 1969 he was made Defence Minister, a key appointment. Schmidt had taken an interest in defence matters for many years as a colonel of the reserve, SPD spokesman, and writer on defence affairs. He had attempted to bring the SPD and the armed forces together against the opposition of the many pacifist-inclined SPD members. In 1972 he took over the Finance Ministry, where he remained until becoming Federal Chancellor in 1974. Both as Finance Minister and as Chancellor he had to deal with the two oil crises of 1973 and 1979/80 which ravaged the economies of the industrialized world. Inflation, increasing unemployment, and cuts in public expenditure were the results. Under Schmidt unemployment rose from a mere 582,000 to 1.8 million in 1982. Inflation also rose, though he got it down from its peak in 1974. Yet his government's achievements, despite the critics at home, were envied by other countries.

Another major concern which faced Schmidt was terrorism. Throughout his chancellorship the Red Army Faction (RAF) and other terrorist groups disturbed the peace in West Germany with a campaign of bombing, kidnapping, and murder in an effort to undermine the Federal Republic. The worst case for Schmidt was the hijacking of a Lufthansa airliner with ninety-one passengers and crew by a Palestinian group in October 1977. The pilot was killed and the plane landed at Mogadishu (Somalia). Schmidt took a tough stance and was prepared to resign if it failed. He ordered crack troops to storm the plane. This was successful, with no loss of life among either the hostages or the troops.

As Chancellor, Schmidt continued Brandt's Ostpolitik, taking every opportunity to meet the leaders of the Soviet Union, Poland, and East Germany. He was the first West German leader to visit the leader of the German Democratic Republic and developed a good working relationship with Honecker. He developed a close personal friendship with the French President Giscard d'Estaing, the two of them pushing forward the Franco-German alliance within the European Community. It was Schmidt who in 1978 proposed the introduction of European Monetary Union within the EC. In defence matters he got embroiled in the controversy over the modernization of NATO's nuclear deterrent in Europe. He hoped negotiations would persuade the Soviets not to deploy the medium range SS-20 rockets which were aimed at West European targets, but he believed that if they could not be convinced then NATO must respond. This was the so-called "dual track" approach discussed by Schmidt with President Carter, British Premier Callaghan, and Giscard d'Estaing in January 1979 in Guadeloupe and later adopted by NATO.

Schmidt was regarded by many as the strongest Chancellor since Adenauer but he faced much opposition. He had to consider his Liberal coalition partners in the FDP especially his Vice-Chanellor and Foreign Minister Genscher. However, it is true that he had more trouble with the left wing of his own party than with the FDP. Although he maintained his position as deputy chairman of the SPD, a considerable section of the party was alienated from him. His tough line on terrorism, the economy, and defence won applause on the right-of-centre but lost the SPD support to the Greens. This opposition, and his health problems, caused him to retire from politics when the FDP decided to withdraw from his government in 1982. In retirement he remained a loyal supporter of the SPD, devoting much of his time to journalism, especially the prestigious weekly Die Zeit.

Helped by his excellent English, which enabled him to give informal speeches at many international gatherings, he increased the prestige of the Federal Republic.

Biography: Helmut Schmidt

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Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt (born 1918) served as chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) from 1974 to 1982. He led his nation into a more prominent role in European and Atlantic alliance affairs and strengthened the West German economy.

Helmut Schmidt was born in a working class section of Hamburg on December 23, 1918. His stern father and his brother were teachers, and he married a teacher. Schmidt received a good education, becoming fluent in English and an accomplished musician. He maintained a student's passion to always learn and the schoolmaster's impatience with those who are lazy. He was 14 when Hitler came to power and was 16 or 17 when he was told and then guarded the dangerous family secret: his paternal grandfather was Jewish.

In 1937 Schmidt was drafted, spending eight years in the army, participating in the 1941 invasion of Russia, and earning an Iron Cross as an artillery officer before being captured by the English in April 1945. He became politicized in the prisoner of war camp, formally joining the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1946. He studied economics at the University of Hamburg and entered the administration of his native city. At age 35 in 1953, he was elected Social Democratic deputy, establishing himself in the capital in Bonn as an expert on transportation and as a quick thinker and good speaker, often sharp and sarcastic but rarely boring. In the late 1950s he gained prominence by denouncing the government's bid for West German atomic weapons as nationalist "megalomania" while also participating as a reserve officer in army maneuvers. His book Defense or Retaliation (1961) established his expertise in strategic matters.

Entered City Politics

Tiring of his role as deputy in a seemingly perennial opposition, Schmidt turned to city politics and immediately demonstrated his organizational skills in coping with Hamburg's devastating flood of February 16, 1962, which killed more than 300 people. Schmidt returned to the national scene after the election of 1965, helping to steer the Social Democratic Party into the "Great Coalition" with the reigning Christian Democratic Party. As party floor leader between 1966 and 1969, Schmidt established himself as a politicians' politician. In 1969 when Willy Brandt became the first Social Democratic chancellor since 1930, Schmidt became the first Social Democratic defense minister since 1920. His book Balance of Power (1969) pointed to a policy of détente.

In the months preceding the 1972 elections Schmidt replaced his one-time teacher Professor Karl Schiller as "superminister" - minister of both finance and economics - when Schiller resigned over economic policy. As Brandt's crisis manager Schmidt restored confidence and helped secure the election victory for the Social Democratic/Free Democratic coalition. But, unhappy with the increasingly lax leadership style of Brandt, Schmidt contemplated leaving national politics, but stayed on as finance minister. When Brandt resigned in May 1974 amidst a spy scandal, Schmidt was the obvious choice for his replacement. He was the one politician who could revive and redirect the five year ruling coalition, and no one else had his command of economics, defense, and diplomacy.

The transfer of power to Schmidt was orderly and peaceful. This remarkable stability is in great contrast to the Weimar Republic, which during its fourteen years had twenty-one governments. Unlike the visionary - at times messianic - leadership of Brandt, the pragmatic Schmidt was intent on grounding his countrymen and his allies in the "given realities." In a matter-of-fact way he continued Brandt's policy of reconciling West Germany with her eastern neighbors, but he also made the West German presence more strongly felt in the Western alliance. "We are not small enough to keep our mouths shut, but we are too small to do more than talk," he would say. Stalemated Western European unity and the strains in the Atlantic alliance made the international community more receptive to Schmidt, the spokesman of West Germany, the symbol of a divided Europe trying to make peace with itself. A close working relationship with French President Giscard d'Estaing consolidated the ties between the two countries. Schmidt's chancellorship expressed a new national self-assurance within the void created by an America preoccupied with Vietnam and Watergate and by an aging Kremlin leadership.

Prestige Abroad and a Firm Base at Home

Schmidt's astute handling of the West German economy in the aftermath of the oil crisis of 1973/1974 earned him prestige abroad and a firm base at home. Unlike Brandt, whose passionate following within the Social Democratic Party was never reflected in the German public, Schmidt's general popularity translated to only lukewarm support in and for his party. After the 1976 election he was chosen chancellor in Parliament by a one-vote majority. Yet Schmidt's prestige soared as he effectively rode out the wave of terrorism that reached its peak in 1977.

Germans have been the main beneficiaries of détente; they were also the most threatened by the decline of American nuclear superiority in Europe. Schmidt tried to steer the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) toward a two-track strategic policy: serious negotiations for arms control with the Russians while calling for medium-ranged nuclear weapons in Western Europe, mostly on German soil. Efforts to get superpower agreement on Euro-rockets led to frustration, and détente was undone by the ideological turn in world politics that came with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Polish crisis, and the election of Ronald Reagan in the United States.

The West German electorate repudiated Schmidt's conservative challenger, Franz Josef Strauss, in the 1980 elections, but Schmidt's party barely held its own. The chancellor found himself caught in the middle: the left-wing of his party was rebellious, while his junior coalition partner - the Free Democrats - moved to open defection and creation of a new conservative government under Helmut Kohl. Impaired by ill health, Schmidt's eight and a half years as chancellor came to an end in 1982.

In retirement Schmidt remained undaunted, as critical in A Grand Strategy for the West (1985) of the neutralists of his own party as he was of the American military build-up through deficit spending. In June of 1997, Schmidt called on his successor Helmut Kohl and Finance Minister Theo Waigel to resign over what he said was the government's fiscal mismanagement. Schmidt said he saw no way for Waigel to lead Germany out of its fiscal troubles and that Waigel himself was chiefly to blame. "The only thing left to do is to make room for people with new ideas," said Schmidt. "And that is even more applicable for his government chief."

Helmut Schmidt

Chancellor of Germany
In office 16 May 1974 – 1 October 1982
President	Gustav Heinemann (1974) Walter Scheel (1974-1979) Karl Carstens (1979-1982)
Deputy	Walter Scheel (1974) Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1974-1982) Egon Franke (1982)
Preceded by	Willy Brandt Walter Scheel (acting)
Succeeded by	Helmut Kohl
Federal Minister of Finance
In office 7 July 1972 – 16 May 1974
Preceded by	Karl Schiller
Succeeded by	Hans Apel
Federal Minister of Economics
In office 7 July 1972 – 15 December 1972
Preceded by	Karl Schiller
Succeeded by	Hans Friderichs
Federal Minister of Defence
In office 22 October 1969 – 7 July 1972
Preceded by	Gerhard Schröder
Succeeded by	Georg Leber

Born	23 December 1918 (1918-12-23) (age 90)
Political party	SPD
Spouse(s)	Hannelore "Loki" Glaser
Profession	Economist, Civil servant
Religion	Lutheranism
Signature

Background

Helmut Schmidt was born in Hamburg, as son of two teachers. He studied at Hamburg Lichtwark school, graduating in 1937. He was conscripted into military service and began serving with an anti-aircraft battery at Vegesack near Bremen during World War II. After brief service on the eastern front he returned to Germany in 1942 to work as a trainer and advisor at the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. Also in 1942, on 27 June, he married his childhood sweetheart Hannelore "Loki" Glaser, with whom he fathered two children: Helmut Walter (26 June 1944–February 1945, died of meningitis), and Susanne (b. 1947), who works in London for Bloomberg Television. Toward the end of the war, from December 1944 onwards, he served as Oberleutnant in the artillery on the western front. He was captured by the British in April 1945 on Lüneburg Heath and was a prisoner of war until August. During his service in World War II Schmidt was awarded the Iron Cross.^[1]

Schmidt's father was the illegitimate son of a Jewish businessman, although this was kept secret in the family.^[2]^[3] This was confirmed publicly by Helmut Schmidt in 1984, after Valéry Giscard d'Estaing had, apparently with Schmidt's assent, revealed the fact to journalists. Schmidt himself is a non-practicing Lutheran^{[citation needed]}.

Schmidt completed his education in Hamburg, studying economics and political science. He graduated in 1949.

Political career

Early years

Schmidt had joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1946, and from 1947 to 1948 was leader of the Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund, the then-student organisation of the SPD.

Upon leaving the university, he worked for the government of the city-state of Hamburg, working in the department of economic policy. Beginning in 1952, under Karl Schiller, he was a senior figure in the Behörde für Wirtschaft und Verkehr (the Hamburg State Ministry for Economy and Transport).

He was elected to the Bundestag in 1953, and in 1957 he became member of the SPD parliamentary party executive. A vocal critic of conservative government policy, his outspoken rhetoric in parliament earned him the nick-name "Schmidt-Schnauze".^[4] In 1958, he joined the national board of the SPD (Bundesvorstand) and campaigned against nuclear weapons and the equipping of the Bundeswehr with such devices. In 1958, he gave up his seat in parliament to concentrate on his tasks in Hamburg.

From 27 February 1958, to 29 November 1961, he was a Member of the European Parliament, which was not directly elected at the time.

Senator

The government of the city-state of Hamburg is known as the Senate, and from 1961 to 1965 Schmidt was the Innensenator, that is Minister of the Interior. He gained the reputation as a Macher (doer) – someone who gets things done regardless of obstacles – by his effective management during the emergency caused by the 1962 flood. Schmidt used all means at his disposal to alleviate the situation, even when that meant overstepping his legal authority, including federal police and army units (ignoring the German constitution's prohibition on using the army for "internal affairs"; a clause excluding disasters was not added until 1968). Describing his actions, Schmidt said, "I have not been put in charge of these units; I have taken charge of them!"

This characteristic was coupled with a pragmatic attitude and opposition to political idealism, including those of student protests, best symbolised by his well known remark that "People who have a vision should go see a doctor."

Return to Federal politics

In 1965, he was re-elected to the Bundestag. In 1967, after the formation of the Grand Coalition between SPD and CDU, he became chairman of the Social Democrat parliamentary party, a post he held until the elections of 1969.

In 1967, he was elected deputy party chairman.

In October 1969, he entered the government of Willy Brandt as defence minister. In July 1972, he succeeded Karl Schiller as Minister for Economics and Finances, but in November 1972, he relinquished the Economics department, which was again made a separate ministry. Schmidt remained Minister of Finances until May 1974.

From 1968 to 1984, Schmidt was deputy chairman of the SPD (unlike Willy Brandt and Gerhard Schröder, he was never actually chairman of the party).

Chancellor

He became Chancellor of West Germany on 16 May 1974, after Brandt's resignation in the wake of an espionage scandal. The worldwide economic recession was the main concern of his administration, and Schmidt took a tough and disciplined line. During his term, Germany had to cope with the oil crisis of the 1970s; according to some judgments, Germany managed better than the most of the industrial states. Schmidt was also active in improving relations with France. Together with the French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, he was one of the fathers of the world economic summits, the first of which assembled in 1975.

In 1975, he was a signatory of the Helsinki Final Act to create the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the precursor of today's OSCE.

He remained chancellor after the 1976 elections in coalition with the FDP.

Regarding the terrorist Red Army Faction he held to a tough, no compromise line. Specifically, he authorized the GSG 9 anti-terrorist unit to end the hijacking of the Lufthansa aircraft Landshut by force in the German Autumn of 1977.

During his tenure as chancellor Schmidt drew criticism from Israel for commenting that Palestine should receive an apology because the Holocaust of European Jewry seemingly prompted the establishment of the State of Israel.^[5]

Concerned about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Soviet superiority regarding missiles in Central Europe, Schmidt issued proposals resulting in the NATO Double-Track Decision concerning the deployment of medium-range nuclear missiles in Western Europe should the Soviets not disarm. He was re-elected as chancellor in November 1980. In October 1981, Schmidt was fitted with a cardiac pacemaker.

At the beginning of his period as Bundeskanzler, Schmidt was a proponent of Keynesian economics, by the end of his term, however, he had turned away from deficit spending. Large sections of the SPD increasingly opposed his security policy while most of the FDP politicians strongly supported that policy; while representatives of the left wing of the social democratic party opposed reduction of the state expenditures, the FDP began proposing a monetarist economic policy. In February 1982, Schmidt won a Motion of Confidence, however on 17 September 1982, the coalition broke apart, with the four FDP ministers leaving his cabinet. Schmidt continued to head a minority government composed only of SPD members, while the FDP negotiated a coalition with the CDU/CSU. During this time Schmidt also headed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On 1 October 1982, parliament approved of a Vote of No-Confidence and elected the CDU chairman Helmut Kohl as the new Chancellor. This was the first time in the history of the Federal Republic that a Chancellor was ousted from office in this way.

After politics

In 1982, along with his friend Gerald Ford, he cofounded the annual AEI World Forum.

In 1983, he joined the nationwide weekly Die Zeit newspaper as co-publisher. In 1985, he became Managing Director. With Takeo Fukuda he founded the Inter Action Councils in 1983. He retired from the Bundestag in 1986. In December 1986, he was one of the founders of the committee supporting the EMU and the creation of the European Central Bank.

Contrary to the current line of his party, Helmut Schmidt is a determined opponent of Turkey's entry into the EU. He also opposes phasing out nuclear energy, something that the Red-Green coalition of Gerhard Schröder supported.

Schmidt is author of numerous books on on his political life, on foreign policy and political ethics. He remains to be one the most renowned political publicists in Germany.

In recent years, Schmidt has been afflicted with increasing deafness.

2007 Criticism of the United States

In November 2007, Schmidt wrote in the German weekly Die Zeit that the United States was a greater threat to world peace than Russia. He argued that Russia had not invaded its neighbors since the conclusion of the Cold War and that he was surprised that Russia allowed Ukraine and other former components of the Soviet Union to secede peacefully. He noted that the United States' invasion of Iraq under George W. Bush was "a war of choice, not a war of necessity."

Personal life

He is a great admirer of the philosopher Karl Popper, and contributed a Foreword to the 1982 Festschrift in Popper's honor.^[6]

The University of Germany's Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg was renamed Helmut Schmidt University - University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg in 2003 in honour of the politician who – as minister of defence – had introduced obligatory academic education for German career officers.

Schmidt is also a talented pianist, and has recorded piano concertos of both Mozart and Bach with the well-known German pianist and conductor, Christoph Eschenbach.

Schmidt and his wife are both smokers. He is well known for lighting up cigarettes on TV interviews or talkshows. In January 2008, German police launched an enquiry after Schmidt was reported by an anti-smoking initiative for defying the recently introduced smoking ban. The initiative claimed that Helmut Schmidt had been flagrantly ignoring laws "for decades". Despite pictures in the press, the case was subsequently dropped after the public prosecution service decided that Schmidt's actions had not been a threat to public health.^[7]

Schmidt's first term as Federal Chancellor, 16 May 1974–15 December 1976

Helmut Schmidt (SPD) - Chancellor
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Georg Leber (SPD) - Minister of Defense
Werner Maihofer (FDP) - Minister of the Interior
Hans Apel (SPD) - Minister of Finance
Hans-Jochen Vogel (SPD) - Minister of Justice
Hans Friedrichs (FDP) - Minister of Economics
Walter Arendt (SPD) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
Josef Ertl (FDP) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
Kurt Gscheidle (SPD) - Minister of Transport, Posts, and Communications
Karl Ravens (SPD) - Minister of Construction
Katharina Focke (SPD) - Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
Hans Matthöfer (SPD) - Minister of Research and Technology
Helmut Rohde (SPD) - Minister of Education and Science
Erhard Eppler (SPD) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
Egon Franke (SPD) - Minister of Intra-German Relations

Changes

4 July 1974 - Egon Bahr (SPD) succeeds Eppler as Minister of Economic Cooperation.

Schmidt's second term as Federal Chancellor, 15 December 1976–5 November 1980

Helmut Schmidt (SPD) - Chancellor
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Georg Leber (SPD) - Minister of Defense
Werner Maihofer (FDP) - Minister of the Interior
Hans Apel (SPD) - Minister of Finance
Hans-Jochen Vogel (SPD) - Minister of Justice
Hans Friedrichs (FDP) - Minister of Economics
Herbert Ehrenberg (SPD) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
Josef Ertl (FDP) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
Kurt Gscheidle (SPD) - Minister of Transportation, Posts, and Communications
Karl Ravens (SPD) - Minister of Construction
Antje Huber (SPD) - Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
Hans Matthöfer (SPD) - Minister of Research and Technology
Helmut Rohde (SPD) - Minister of Education and Science
Marie Schlei (SPD) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
Egon Franke (SPD) - Minister of Intra-German Relations

Changes

7 October 1977 - Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP) succeeds Friedrichs as Minister of Economics.
16 February 1978 - Hans Apel (SPD) succeeds Leber as Minister of Defense. Hans Matthöfer (SPD) succeeds Apel as Minister of Finance. Volker Hauff succeeds Matthöfer as Minister of Research and Technology. Dieter Haack (SPD) succeeds Ravens as Minister of Construction. Jürgen Schmude (SPD) succeeds Rohde as Minister of Education and Science. Rainer Offergeld (SPD) succeeds Schlei as Minister of Economic Cooperation.
8 June 1978 - Gerhart Baum (FDP) succeeds Maihofer as Minister of the Interior.

Schmidt's third term as Federal Chancellor, 5 November 1980–17 September 1982

Helmut Schmidt (SPD) - Chancellor
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) - Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hans Apel (SPD) - Minister of Defense
Gerhart Baum (FDP) - Minister of the Interior
Hans Matthöfer (SPD) - Minister of Finance
Hans-Jochen Vogel (SPD) - Minister of Justice
Otto Graf Lambsdorff (FDP) - Minister of Economics
Herbert Ehrenberg (SPD) - Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
Josef Ertl (FDP) - Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry
Volker Hauff (SPD) - Minister of Transport
Dieter Haack (SPD) - Minister of Construction
Antje Huber (SPD) - Minister of Youth, Family, and Health
Andreas von Bülow (SPD) - Minister of Research and Technology
Jürgen Schmude (SPD) - Minister of Education and Science
Rainer Offergeld (SPD) - Minister of Economic Cooperation
Kurt Gscheidle (SPD) - Minister of Posts and Communications
Egon Franke (SPD) - Minister of Intra-German Relations

Changes

28 January 1981 - Jürgen Schmude (SPD) succeeds Vogel as Minister of Justice. Björn Engholm succeeds Schmude as Minister of Education and Science.
28 April 1982 - Hans Matthöfer (SPD) succeeds Gscheidle as Minister of Posts and Communications. Manfred Lahnstein (SPD) succeeds Matthöfer as Minister of Finance. Heinz Westphal (SPD) succeeds Ehrenberg as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. Anke Fuchs (SPD) succeeds Huber as Minister of Youth, Family, and Health.
17 September 1982 - All the Free Democratic ministers quit the government. Helmut Schmidt (SPD) succeeds Genscher as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Jürgen Schmude (SPD) succeeds Baum as Minister of the Interior, remaining also Minister of Justice. Manfred Lahnstein (SPD) succeeds Lambsdorff as Minister of Economics, remaining also Minister of Finance. Björn Engholm (SPD) succeeds Ertl as Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry, remaining also Minister of Education and Science.

Bibliography

Memoirs

Menschen und Mächte (Persons and Powers), Siedler, Berlin 1987. Memoirs with focus on cold war politics.
Die Deutschen und ihre Nachbarn (The Germans and their Neighbours), Siedler, Berlin 1990. Strong focus on European politics.
Kinder und Jugend unter Hitler, with Willi Berkhan et al. (Childhood and Youth under Hitler). Siedler, Berlin 1992.
Weggefährten (Companions), Siedler, Berin 1996. Personal memoirs, with focus on personal relations with domestic and foreign politicians

Recent political books (selection)

Balance of Power, Kimber, 1971, ISBN 978-0718301125
The Soviet Union: Challenges and Responses As Seen from the European Point of View, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1984, ISBN 978-9971902759
A Grand Strategy for the West: The Anachronism of National Strategies in an Interdependent World, Yale University Press, reprint 1987, ISBN 978-0300040036
Men and Powers: A Political Retrospective, Random House, 1989, ISBN 978-0394569949
A Global Ethic and Global Responsibilities: Two Declarations, with Hans Kung, SCM Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0334027409
Bridging the Divide: Religious Dialogue and Universal Ethics, Queen's Policy Studies, 2008, ISBN 978-1553392200
Auf der Suche nach einer öffentlichen Moral (In Search of a Public Morality), DVA, Stuttgart 1998.
Die Selbstbehauptung Europas (The Self-Assertion of Europe), DVA, Stuttgart 2000.
Die Mächte der Zukunft. Gewinner und Verlierer in der Welt von morgen (The Powers of the Future. Winners and Losers in the World of Tomorrow) Siedler, Munich 2004
Nachbar China, with Frank Sieren (Neighbour China), Econ, Berlin 2006
Ausser Dienst (Out of Service), Siedler, Munich 2008. A political legacy

External links

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Helmut Schmidt

^ Woolf, Harry (1976-07-16). "Verleihung der Ehrendoktorwürde der Johns-Hopkins-Universität; Laudatio verlesen von Harry W o o l f bei der Überreichung des Grades eines Doktors der Rechtswissenschaften an Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt am 16. Juli 1976:" (in German) (pdf). http://hsb.ub.hsu-hh.de/free/530569175.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-20. "Bundeskanzler Schmidt wurde 1918 in Hamburg als Sohn eines Lehrers geboren. Er besuchte die fortschrittliche Lichtwarkschule, wo er auch seine zukünftige Frau Hannelore kennenlernte. Im Zweiten Weltkrieg gehörte er einer Flak-Einheit an, wurde mit dem Eisernen Kreuz ausgezeichnet und geriet gegen Ende des Krieges in britische Gefangenschaft"
^ Lehrer, Steven (2000). Wannsee house and the Holocaust. McFarland. p. 74. ISBN 9780786407927.
^ "Told French President of Jewish Origins - Helmut Schmidt's Revelation Reported". Los Angeles Times. 1988-02-25. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-25/news/mn-45342_1_jewish-origins. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
^ The German word Schnauze designates the mouth and nose area of an animal like a dog or a wolf; so the epithet indicates a ready wit and a sharp tongue, suitable for (metaphorically) tearing his opponents' arguments to pieces.
^ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3550506,00.html Don't count on Europe, Ynet News
^ Helmut Schmidt, "The Way of Freedom," in In Pursuit of Truth: Essays on the Philosophy of Karl Popper, On the Occasion of his 80th Birthday, ed. Paul Levinson, Humanities Press, 1982, pp. xi-xii.
^ [1] and [2] Spiegel Magazine, online edition (German), 25.01.2008.

Political offices
Preceded by Wilhelm Kröger	Senator of the Interior of Hamburg 1961–1965	Succeeded by Heinz Ruhnau
Preceded by Fritz Erler	Chairman of the SPD faction 1967–1969	Succeeded by Herbert Wehner
Preceded by Gerhard Schröder	Minister of Defence 1969–1972	Succeeded by Georg Leber
Preceded by Karl Schiller	Minister of Finance 1972–1974	Succeeded by Hans Apel
Preceded by Karl Schiller	Minister of Economics 7 July–15 December 1972	Succeeded by Hans Friderichs
Preceded by Willy Brandt	Chancellor of Germany 1974–1982	Succeeded by Helmut Kohl
Preceded by Hans-Dietrich Genscher	Foreign Minister of Germany (acting) 17 September–1 October 1982	Succeeded by Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Preceded by James Callaghan	Chair of the G8 1978	Succeeded by Masayoshi Ohira

v • d • e Chancellors of Germany

German Empire (1871–1918)	Otto von Bismarck · Leo von Caprivi · Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst · Bernhard von Bülow · Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg · Georg Michaelis · Georg von Hertling · Prince Maximilian of Baden

Weimar Republic (1919–1933)	Philipp Scheidemann · Gustav Bauer · Hermann Müller · Konstantin Fehrenbach · Joseph Wirth · Wilhelm Cuno · Gustav Stresemann · Wilhelm Marx · Hans Luther · Wilhelm Marx · Hermann Müller · Heinrich Brüning · Franz von Papen · Kurt von Schleicher

Third Reich (1933–1945)	Adolf Hitler · Joseph Goebbels

Federal Republic (1949–)	Konrad Adenauer · Ludwig Erhard · Kurt Georg Kiesinger · Willy Brandt · Helmut Schmidt · Helmut Kohl · Gerhard Schröder · Angela Merkel

v • d • e Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries of Germany

German Empire (1871–1918)	Thile · Balan · B.E. v. Bülow · Radowitz · Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst · Limburg-Stirum · Busch · Hatzfeld zu Trachenberg · H. v. Bismarck · Bieberstein · B. von Bülow · Richthofen · Tschirschky-Bögendorff · Schoen · Kiderlen-Waechter · Jagow · Zimmermann · Kühlmann · Hintze · Solf · Brockdorff-Rantzau

Weimar Republic (1918–1933)	Brockdorff-Rantzau · Müller · Köster · Simons · Rosen · Wirth · Rathenau · Rosenberg · Stresemann · Curtius · Brüning · Neurath

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)	Neurath · Ribbentrop · Seyss-Inquart · Schwerin von Krosigk

German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (1949–1990)	Dertinger · Ackermann · Bolz · Winzer · O. Fischer · Meckel · de Maizière

Federal Republic of Germany (since 1949)	Adenauer · Brentano · Schröder · Brandt · Scheel · Genscher · Kinkel · J. Fischer · Steinmeier · Westerwelle

v • d • e Notable figures of the Cold War

United States	Harry S. Truman · George Marshall (Secretary of State) · Joseph McCarthy (Republican Senator) · Dwight D. Eisenhower · John F. Kennedy · Robert F. Kennedy · Lyndon B. Johnson · Richard Nixon · Henry Kissinger (Secretary of State) · Gerald Ford · Jimmy Carter · Ronald Reagan · George H. W. Bush

Soviet Union	Joseph Stalin · Nikita Khrushchev · Leonid Brezhnev · Yuri Andropov · Konstantin Chernenko · Mikhail Gorbachev · Boris Yeltsin · Andrei Gromyko (foreign minister) · Anatoly Dobrynin (ambassador to the U.S.)

United Kingdom	Winston Churchill · Clement Attlee · Ernest Bevin (Foreign Secretary) · Harold Macmillan · Harold Wilson · Margaret Thatcher

West Germany	Konrad Adenauer · Walter Hallstein · Willy Brandt · Helmut Schmidt · Helmut Kohl

People's Republic of China	Mao Zedong · Zhou Enlai (Premier) · Hua Guofeng · Deng Xiaoping · Zhao Ziyang (General Secretary)

France	Charles de Gaulle · Alain Poher · Georges Pompidou · Valéry Giscard d'Estaing · François Mitterrand

Italy	Alcide De Gasperi · Palmiro Togliatti · Giulio Andreotti · Aldo Moro · Enrico Berlinguer · Francesco Cossiga · Bettino Craxi

People's Republic of Poland	Bolesław Bierut · Władysław Gomułka · Edward Gierek · Wojciech Jaruzelski · Pope John Paul II · Lech Wałęsa

Eastern Europe	Enver Hoxha (Albania) · Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia) · Imre Nagy (Hungary) · Nicolae Ceauşescu (Romania) · Alexander Dubček (Czechoslovakia) · Walter Ulbricht · Erich Honecker (East Germany)

Far East	Chiang Kai-shek · Chiang Ching-kuo (Republic of China/Taiwan) · Syngman Rhee · Park Chung-hee (South Korea) · Kim Il-sung (North Korea) · Ho Chi Minh (North Vietnam) · Ngo Dinh Diem (South Vietnam) · Pol Pot (Cambodia) · U Nu · Ne Win (Burma) · Indira Gandhi · Jawaharlal Nehru (India) · Sukarno · Suharto · Mohammad Hatta · Adam Malik (Indonesia) · Nur Misuari · Jose Maria Sison · Ferdinand Marcos · Imelda Marcos (Philippines)

Canada	William Lyon Mackenzie King · Louis St. Laurent · John Diefenbaker · Lester Pearson · Pierre Trudeau · Joe Clark · John Turner · Brian Mulroney · Kim Campbell

Latin America	Fidel Castro (Cuba) · Che Guevara (Argentina/Cuba) · Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) · Salvador Allende · Augusto Pinochet (Chile) · João Goulart · Castelo Branco (Brazil)

Middle East	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi · Ayatollah Khomeini (Iran) · Saddam Hussein (Iraq) · Gamal Abdel Nasser · Anwar El Sadat (Egypt) · Muammar al-Gaddafi (Libya) · Menachem Begin (Israel)

Africa	Patrice Lumumba · Mobutu Sese Seko (Congo/Zaire) · Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) · Idi Amin (Uganda) · Agostinho Neto · José Eduardo dos Santos · Jonas Savimbi (Angola) · Mengistu Haile Mariam (Ethiopia)

Timeline of events · Portal · Category

Persondata
NAME	Schmidt, Helmut
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Schmidt, Helmut Heinrich Waldemar
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982
DATE OF BIRTH	23 December 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hamburg, Germany
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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Helmut Schmidt

Contents

Background

Political career

Early years

Senator

Return to Federal politics

Chancellor

After politics

2007 Criticism of the United States

Personal life

Schmidt's first term as Federal Chancellor, 16 May 1974–15 December 1976

Schmidt's second term as Federal Chancellor, 15 December 1976–5 November 1980

Schmidt's third term as Federal Chancellor, 5 November 1980–17 September 1982

Bibliography

Memoirs

Recent political books (selection)

Further reading

External links

References