Sources for PowerPoint:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel -slide 3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volker_Kauder -slide 4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Adenauer -slide 12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Democratic_Union_%28Germany%29#Special_organizations -slide13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Democratic_Union_%28Germany%29 slides 2,18, and 19
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
The Christian Democratic Union
(CDU) is a major political party in Germany. It was created in 1945 right after
World War II had ended. It is currently the second largest political party in
Germany, having approximately 484,000 members. It has a sister party which is
called the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). Together these two parties
make up what is called the Union. The CDU is the second largest party in
Germany. Currently the leader of the CDU is Angela Merkel, who also happens to
be the Chancellor of Germany. With that being said, let’s now take a look at
the values of the CDU.
The CDU is based on Christian
values and relates to principles of the Christian Democracy. It supports a free
market economy along with social welfare programs. Although it supports both of
these it is still viewed as very conservative. Its’ members come from many different
religious backgrounds, some even coming from a non- religious background. Although
it is the second largest political party it still has a few opponents. The
opponents consist of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, The Left Party,
and The Greens.
As mentioned earlier it has a
sister party that is that CSU. Both of these parties have very similar views
when it comes to federal policies. The only main difference between the two
parties is that the CSU is a little bit more socially conservative compared to
the CDU.
Today the CDU has many
organizations. Some of the most known organizations of the CDU are the Junge
Union, Christian Democratic Employees’ Association, Evangelical Working Group
of the CDU/CSU, and the Association of Christian Democratic Students.
Since 1950 the CDU has had 5
different German Chancellors from the CDU. The very first was Konrad Adenhauer,
who was also the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Today
Konrad has a foundation named after him called “The Konrad Adenhauer
Foundation.” After Konrad’s 14 years of serving the CDU, Ludwig Erhard took
over. He is most known for the Germany economic postwar reform and economic
recovery. After his three year of
serving, Kurt Georg Kiesinger took over for the next three years. Next in
office was Helmut Kohl. Helmut is now well known for his architects of the
German reunification. After Helmut’s 16 years in office, Angela Mekel took
over. She is Germany’s present day Chancellor of the CDU. She also happens to
be the first female Chancellor of Germany.
Sources for Summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Democratic_Union_%28Germany%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Adenauer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Erhard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Georg_Kiesinger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kohl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel
