Editing Helmut Kohl (section)

== Life ==
=== Youth and education ===
Kohl was born on 3 April 1930 in [[Ludwigshafen]]. He was the third child of Hans Kohl (3 January 1887 – 19 October 1975),<ref>{{cite book|title=Helmut Kohl: Virtuose der Macht|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHMsAQAAIAAJ&q=Hans+Kohl+6.+Januar+1887+–+20.+Oktober+1975|page=11|first1=Heribert|last1=Schwan|first2=Rolf|last2=Steininger|publisher=Artemis & Winkler|date=2010|isbn=9783538072725}}</ref> a [[Bavarian army]] veteran and civil servant, and his wife, Cäcilie (''née'' Schnur; 17 November 1892 – 1 August 1977).

Kohl's family was conservative and Catholic and remained loyal to the [[Centre Party (Germany)|Catholic Centre Party]] before and after 1933. His elder brother died serving in the [[Wehrmacht]] in [[World War II]] at the age of 19.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pletter |first=Roman |date=2017-06-16 |title=Helmut Kohl, German statesman who united his country after Cold War, dies at 87 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/helmut-kohl-german-statesman-who-united-his-country-after-cold-war-dies-at-87/2017/06/16/873ee8ea-52a8-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f_story.html |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |quote=His only brother, Walter, died in 1944 at age 19 while serving in the German army.}}</ref> At the age of ten, Kohl joined, like most children in Germany at the time,{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} the ''[[Deutsches Jungvolk]]'', a section of the [[Hitler Youth]]. Aged 15, on 20 April 1945, Kohl was sworn into the Hitler Youth by leader [[Artur Axmann]] at [[Berchtesgaden]], just days before the end of the war, as membership was mandatory for all boys of his age. Kohl was also [[conscription|drafted]] for military service in 1945; he was not involved in any combat, a fact he later referred to as the "mercy of late birth" (German: ''Gnade der späten Geburt'').{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=42–43}}

Kohl attended the Ruprecht Elementary School and continued at the Max-Planck-Gymnasium.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=38}} After graduating in 1950, Kohl began to study law in [[Frankfurt]] am Main, spending two semesters commuting between Ludwigshafen and Frankfurt.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=62}} Here, Kohl heard lectures from [[Carlo Schmid (German politician)|Carlo Schmid]] and [[Walter Hallstein]], among others.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=63}} In 1951, Kohl switched to [[Heidelberg University]], where he studied history and [[political science]]. Kohl was the first in his family to attend university.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pp=61–62}}

=== Life before politics ===
After graduating in 1956, Kohl became a fellow at the Alfred Weber Institute of Heidelberg University under [[Dolf Sternberger]]{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=64}} where he was an active member of the student society [[AIESEC]].<ref>{{cite web |title=60 Years AIESEC: Thinking Globally, Acting Socially |url=https://www.kit.edu/kit/english/pi_2013_13577.php |website=kit.edu |access-date=10 June 2015 |date=27 June 2013}}</ref> In 1958, Kohl received his doctorate degree in history for his dissertation ''Die politische Entwicklung in der Pfalz und das Wiedererstehen der Parteien nach 1945'' ("The Political Developments in the Palatinate and the Reconstruction of Political Parties after 1945"), under the supervision of the historian Walther Peter Fuchs.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=68–69}} After that, Kohl entered business, first as an assistant to the director of a foundry in Ludwigshafen,{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=90}} then, in April 1960, as a manager for the Industrial Union for Chemistry in Ludwigshafen.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=90}}

=== Early political career ===
[[File:KAS-Kohl, Helmut-Bild-6906-3.jpg|thumb|left|Kohl as the CDU [[Rhineland-Palatinate]] state party chairman]]
In 1946, Kohl joined the recently founded [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]],{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=52}} becoming a full member once he turned 18 in 1948.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=57}} In 1947, Kohl was one of the co-founders of the [[Junge Union]]-branch in Ludwigshafen, the CDU youth organisation.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=57}} In 1953, Kohl joined the board of the Palatinate branch of the CDU. In 1954, Kohl became vice-chair of the Junge Union in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]],<ref name=fruehejahre>{{cite web |title=Jugendjahre und erste politische Erfahrungen 1930–1959 |url=http://www.helmut-kohl.de/jugendjahre.html |website=helmut-kohl.de |access-date=18 June 2015 |language=de |archive-date=27 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527094933/http://www.helmut-kohl.de/jugendjahre.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> being a member of the board until 1961.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=74}}

In January 1955, Kohl ran for a seat on the board of the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU, losing just narrowly to the state's Minister of Family Affairs, [[Franz-Josef Wuermeling]].<ref name=fruehejahre /> Kohl was still able to take up a seat on the board, being sent there by his local party branch as a delegate.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=75}} During his early years in the party, Kohl aimed to open it towards the young generation, turning away from a close relationship with the churches.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=78–80}}

In early 1959, Kohl was elected chairman of the Ludwigshafen district branch of the CDU, as well as a candidate for the upcoming state elections. On 19 April 1959, Kohl was elected as the youngest member of the state diet, the [[Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate]].{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=91–92}} In 1960, he was also elected to the municipal council of Ludwigshafen where he served as leader of the CDU party until 1969.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=93}} When the chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Landtag, [[Wilhelm Boden]], died in late 1961, Kohl moved up into a deputy position. Following the next state election in 1963, he took over as chairman, a position he held until he became Minister-President in 1969.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=98–99}} In 1966, Kohl and the incumbent minister-president and state party chairman, [[Peter Altmeier]], agreed to share duties. In March 1966, Kohl was elected as chairman of the party in Rhineland-Palatinate, while Altmeier once again ran for minister-president in the state elections in 1967, agreeing to hand the post over to Kohl after two years, halfway into the legislative period.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=103}}

=== Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F028914-0002, Ludwigshafen, CDU-Kongress, Helmut Kohl.jpg|thumb|Kohl in 1969]]
Kohl was elected [[Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate|minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate]] on 19 May 1969, as the successor to Peter Altmeier. As of 2017, he was the youngest person ever to be elected as head of government in a German ''Bundesland''.<ref name=swr>{{cite web |title=Kohl – der Reformer |url=http://www.swr.de/archiv/diekohlstory/biografie-der-junge-wilde-mischt-die-partei-auf/kohl-der-reformer/-/id=6008018/did=6011708/mpdid=6115530/nid=6008018/fxq4r7/index.html |publisher=SWR |access-date=18 June 2015 |language=de |date=12 March 2010 |archive-date=31 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031054229/https://www.swr.de/archiv/diekohlstory/biografie-der-junge-wilde-mischt-die-partei-auf/kohl-der-reformer/-/id=6008018/did=6011708/mpdid=6115530/nid=6008018/fxq4r7/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Just a few days after his election as minister-president, Kohl also became vice-chair of the federal CDU party.<ref name=swr /> While in office, Kohl acted as a reformer, focusing on school and education. His government abolished [[school corporal punishment]] and the parochial school, topics that had been controversial with the conservative wing of his party.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=101–114}}<ref name=swr /> During his term, Kohl founded the [[University of Kaiserslautern|University of Trier-Kaiserslautern]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vogel |first1=Bernhard |title=Wie alles begann: Die Gründung der Universität Trier-Kaiserslautern vor 40 Jahren |url=https://www.uni-trier.de/fileadmin/organisation/Presse/andere_Publikationen/Reden-40_Jahre_01.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.uni-trier.de/fileadmin/organisation/Presse/andere_Publikationen/Reden-40_Jahre_01.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |publisher=Universität Trier |access-date=26 June 2015 |language=de |year=2010}}</ref> He also finalised a territorial reform of the state, standardising codes of law and re-aligning districts, an act that he had already pursued under Altmeier's tenure, taking the chairmanship of the Landtag's committee on the reform.<ref name=swr />{{sfn|Köhler|2014|pages=126–127}} After taking office, Kohl established two new ministries, one for economy and transportation and one for social matters, with the latter going to [[Heiner Geißler]], who would work closely with Kohl for the next twenty years.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=104}}

=== Federal party level, election as chairman of the CDU ===
Kohl moved up into the federal board (''Vorstand'') of the CDU in 1964.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=139}} Two years later, shortly before his election as chairman of the party in Rhineland-Palatinate, he failed at an attempt to be voted into the executive committee (''Präsidium'') of the party.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=144}} After the CDU lost its involvement in the federal government for the first time since the [[End of World War II in Europe|end of World War II]] in the [[1969 West German federal election|1969 election]], Kohl was elected into the committee.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=156}} While former chancellor [[Kurt Georg Kiesinger]] remained chairman of the CDU until 1971, it was now parliamentary chairman [[Rainer Barzel]] who led the opposition against the newly formed social-liberal coalition of [[Willy Brandt]].{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=157}}

As a member of the board and the executive committee, Kohl pushed towards party reform, supporting liberal stances in education and social policies, including employee participation. When a proposal by the board was put to vote at a party convention in early 1971 in [[Düsseldorf]], Kohl was unable to prevail against protest coming from the conservative wing of the party around [[Alfred Dregger]] and the sister party [[Christian Social Union in Bavaria|CSU]], costing him support at the liberal wing of the party. To make matters worse, in a mistake during the voting process, Kohl himself voted against the proposal, further angering his supporters, such as party treasurer [[Walther Leisler Kiep]].{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=158–159}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F041437-0013, Hamburg, CDU-Bundesparteitag, Helmut Kohl.jpg|thumb|Kohl at the CDU national party convention in [[Hamburg]], 1973]]
Nevertheless, when Kiesinger stepped down as party chairman in 1971, Kohl was a candidate for his succession. He was unsuccessful, losing the vote to Barzel 344 to 174.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=162}} In April 1972, in the light of Brandt's ''[[Ostpolitik]]'', the CDU aimed to depose Brandt and his government in a [[constructive vote of no confidence]], replacing him with Barzel. The attempt failed, as two members of the opposition voted against Barzel.<ref>{{cite web|title=Zwei Stimmen fehlten der Opposition|url=http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2012/38507921_kw17_misstrauensvotum_brandt/208272|publisher=Deutscher Bundestag|access-date=26 June 2015|language=de|year=2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Saxon|first1=Wolfgang|title=Rainer Barzel, 82, Force in Postwar Germany, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/world/europe/30BARZEL.html |url-access=subscription |work=The New York Times|access-date=26 June 2015|date=30 August 2006}}</ref> After Barzel also lost the [[1972 West German federal election|general election later that year]], the path was free for Kohl to take over. After Barzel announced on 10 May 1973 that he would not run for the post of party chairman again, Kohl succeeded him at a party convention in [[Bonn]] on 12 June 1973, amassing 520 of 600 votes, with him as the only candidate.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|pages=164–165}} Facing stiff opposition from the left wing of the party, Kohl initially expected only to serve as chairman for a couple of months, as his critics planned to replace him at another convention set for November in [[Hamburg]].{{sfn|Köhler|2014|p=215}} Kohl received the support of his party and remained in office, not least due to the lauded work of [[Kurt Biedenkopf]], whom Kohl had brought in as Secretary General of the CDU.{{sfn|Köhler|2014|pages=218–222}} Kohl remained chairman until 1998.{{sfn|Schwarz|2012|p=166}}

When chancellor Brandt stepped down in May 1974 following the unravelling of the [[Guillaume Affair]], Kohl urged his party to restrain from ''[[Schadenfreude]]'' and not to use the position of their political opponent for "cheap polemics".{{sfn|Köhler|2014|pages=223–224}} In June, Kohl campaigned during the state elections in [[Lower Saxony]] for his party colleague Wilfried Hasselmann, leading the CDU to a strong result of 48.8% of the vote, even though it proved not enough to prevent a continuation of the social-liberal coalition in the state.{{sfn|Köhler|2014|p=226}}

=== First candidacy for the chancellorship and the 1976 Bundestag election ===
On 9 March 1975, Kohl and the CDU faced re-election in Rhineland-Palatinate. What placed Kohl, who intended to run for chancellor, under increased pressure was the fact that the sister parties of CDU and CSU were set to decide upon their leading candidate for the [[1976 West German federal election|upcoming federal elections]] in mid-1975. CSU chairman [[Franz Josef Strauss]] had ambitions to run and publicly put Kohl under pressure over what result would be acceptable in the state elections. On election day, the CDU achieved a result of 53.9 per cent, the highest-ever result in the state, consolidating Kohl's position. Strauß's bid for the chancellorship was further put into jeopardy when in March 1975 the magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' published a transcript of a speech held in November 1974, in which Strauß claimed that the [[Red Army Faction]], a West German armed struggle group responsible for multiple attacks at the time, had sympathizers in the ranks of the SPD and FDP. The scandal deeply unsettled the public and effectively ruled out Strauß for the candidacy.{{sfn|Köhler|2014|pages=232–234}}

On 12 May 1975, the federal board of the CDU unanimously nominated Kohl as the candidate for the general elections, without consulting their Bavarian sister party beforehand. In reaction, the CSU nominated Strauß and only a mediation by former chancellor Kiesinger was able to resolve the issue and confirm Kohl as the candidate for both parties.{{sfn|Köhler|2014|p=236}} In June 1975, Kohl was also re-elected as party chairman, achieving a result of 98.44 per cent.{{sfn|Köhler|2014|p=237}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F049283-0016, Berlin, CDU Bundestagswahlkampf, Kohl.jpg|thumb|Kohl in [[West Berlin|Berlin]] at a campaign event for the [[1976 West German federal election]]]]
Strauß took the discord as a starting point to evaluate chances of expanding the CSU on the federal level, such as having separate electoral lists in the states of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], Lower Saxony, Hamburg, and [[Bremen (state)|Bremen]]. He hoped to draw away right-wing voters from the FDP towards the CSU and went as far as having private meetings with industrialists in North Rhine-Westphalia. These attempts led to discomfort within the membership base of the CDU and hampered both parties' chances in the upcoming elections. Kohl himself remained silent during these tensions, which some interpreted as a lack of leadership, while others such as future president [[Karl Carstens]] praised him for seeking a consensus at the centre of the party.{{sfn|Köhler|2014|pages=242–244}} In the 1976 federal election, the CDU/CSU coalition performed very well, winning 48.6% of the vote. They were kept out of government by the centre-left cabinet formed by the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD) and [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP), led by Social Democrat [[Helmut Schmidt]]. Kohl then retired as minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate to become the leader of the CDU/CSU in the [[Bundestag]]. He was succeeded by Bernhard Vogel.<ref>"Regierungen in Rheinland-Pfalz", in ''Wahlergebnisse in Deutschland'', p. 41, Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, 2005</ref>

=== Leader of the opposition ===
In the [[1980 German federal election|1980 federal elections]], Kohl had to play second fiddle, when CSU leader Franz Josef Strauss became the CDU/CSU's candidate for chancellor. Strauß was also unable to defeat the coalition of the SPD and the FDP. Unlike Kohl, Strauß did not want to continue as the leader of the CDU/CSU and remained Minister-President of [[Bavaria]]. Kohl remained as leader of the opposition, under the third Schmidt cabinet (1980–82). On 17 September 1982, a conflict of economic policy occurred between the governing SPD/FDP coalition partners. The FDP wanted to radically liberalise the labour market, while the SPD preferred greater job security. The FDP began talks with the CDU/CSU to form a new government.<ref>Mary Fulbrook, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=1E7YBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 A History of Germany 1918–2014: The Divided Nation]'', p. 176, John Wiley & Sons, 2014, {{ISBN|9781118776131}}</ref>