Word: christian
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...convention the Social Democratic Party has refused to accept Allied proposals on the constitution because it thinks the directives make for a future weak central government. While Social Democrats claim that a weak state cannot be economically successful or properly defend itself against aggression, their opponents at Bonn, the Christian Democrats, want the weak central government as proposed. This dispute has deadlocked the convention...
Although the Christian Democratic Party has many members in the industrial Ruhr area, where there is a more liberal attitude, it must maintain its strength in conservative Bavaria. This agricultural state has no need or wish for possible government interference in its economy and has threatened to withdraw from any strong state that may be established. In Bavaria the Christian Democrats are joined in a weak coalition with far-right Christian Socialists; any concession at Bonn by the C.D.'s would destroy the uneasy union, and lose for them this second most populous of the eleven West German States...
...their latest memo to Bonn, the Allies asked that financial powers in the constitution be left largely in the hands of the separate states. This was a big pat on the back for the Christian Democrats and their conservative backers. Although the Social Democrats still refused to make any compromise with their opponents or with the Allies, they may back down. They know there will probably be no more concessions from the united allies, or from the Christian Democrats who are now certain of Allied support...
This constitution is supposed to come from the German people themselves, according to an agreement made last June. 65 German politicians (representing the Social Democratic, Christian, Democratic and smaller parties) met at Bonn last September to draw up a satisfactory form of government. Their instructions were to make the future government relatively weak, leaving much of the power in the hands of the eleven separate states. Disagreement among the Allies themselves, however, affected the council's deliberations all along, and the Bonn group has presented no acceptable document to the Military Governors...
Whether Germany should have a strong or a weak central government is the dispute between the Social Democrats and the Christian Democratic party, just as it was among the occupying powers themselves. While the Socialists have argued for centralization, the Christian democrats, who have the same number of votes at Bonn, have fought for a weak, federal government. Since neither side will compromise its position, the split has deadlocked the convention's latest attempts to draft the constitution...