Editing Konrad Adenauer (section)

=== Third government ===
[[File:Antonio Segni and Konrad Adenauer by Giuseppe Moro, August 1959.jpg|thumb|upright|Adenauer and Italian Prime Minister [[Antonio Segni]] in August 1959]]

In 1957 the [[Saarland]] was reintegrated into Germany as a federal state of the Federal Republic. The election of 1957 essentially dealt with national matters.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=444}} His re-election campaign centered around the slogan "Keine Experimente" ''(No Experiments)'' in response to the [[democratic experimentalism]] reform proposed by his opponents.<ref name="1970s" /><ref>{{cite book | last1=Hourdequin | first1=Marion | last2=Havlick | first2=David G. | title=Restoring Layered Landscapes | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | publication-place=Oxford; New York | date=2016 | isbn=978-0-19-024032-5 | page=79}}</ref> Riding a wave of popularity from the return of the last [[German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union|POWs]] from Soviet labor camps, as well as an extensive pension reform, Adenauer led the CDU/CSU to an outright majority, something never previously achieved in a free German election.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=445}} In 1957, the Federal Republic signed the [[Treaty of Rome]] and became a founding member of the [[European Economic Community]]. In September 1958, Adenauer first met President [[Charles de Gaulle]] of France, who was to become a close friend and ally in pursuing Franco-German rapprochement.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|pp=365–366}} Adenauer saw de Gaulle as a "rock" and the only foreign leader whom he could completely trust.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|pp=402–403}}

In response to the [[Ulm Einsatzkommando trial]] in 1958, Adenauer set up the [[Central Office of the State Justice Administrations for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes]].<ref name="Taylor, Frederick page 373">Taylor, Frederick ''Exorcising Hitler'', London: Bloomsbury Press, 2011 page 373.</ref>

On 27 November 1958 [[Berlin Crisis of 1958–1959|another Berlin crisis]] broke out when [[Nikita Khrushchev|Khrushchev]] submitted an [[ultimatum]] with a six-month expiry date to Washington, London and Paris, where he demanded that the Allies pull all their forces out of West Berlin and agree that West Berlin become a "free city", or else he would sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany.{{sfn|Gaddis|1998|p=140}} Adenauer was opposed to any sort of negotiations with the Soviets, arguing if only the West were to hang tough long enough, Khrushchev would back down.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=399}} As the 27 May deadline approached, the crisis was defused by the British Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]], who visited [[Moscow]] to meet with Khrushchev and managed to extend the deadline while not committing himself or the other Western powers to concessions.{{sfn|Gaddis|1998|p=141}} Adenauer believed Macmillan to be a spineless "appeaser", who had made a secret deal with Khrushchev at the expense of the Federal Republic.<ref name="Thorpe, D.R. page 428">Thorpe, D.R. ''Supermac'', London: Chatto & Windus, 2010 page 428</ref>{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=396}}

Adenauer tarnished his image when he announced he would run for the office of [[President of Germany|federal president]] in 1959, only to pull out when he discovered that he did not have political backing to strengthen the office of president and change the balance of power. After his reversal he supported the nomination of [[Heinrich Lübke]] as the CDU presidential candidate whom he believed weak enough not to interfere with his actions as Federal Chancellor. One of Adenauer's reasons for not pursuing the presidency was his fear that Ludwig Erhard, whom Adenauer thought little of, would become the new chancellor.

By early 1959, Adenauer came under renewed pressure from his Western allies to recognize the [[Oder–Neisse line]], with the Americans being especially insistent.{{sfn|Ahonen|1998|p=56}} Adenauer gave his "explicit and unconditional approval" to the idea of [[non-aggression pact]]s in late January 1959, which effectively meant recognising the Oder–Neisse line, since realistically speaking Germany could only regain the lost territories through force. After Adenauer's intention to sign non-aggression pacts with Poland and Czechoslovakia became clear, the [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–50)|German expellee lobby]] swung into action and organized protests all over the Federal Republic while bombarding the offices of Adenauer and other members of the cabinet with thousands of letters, telegrams and telephone calls promising never to vote CDU again if the non-aggression pacts were signed.{{sfn|Ahonen|1998|p=59}} Faced with this pressure, Adenauer promptly capitulated to the expellee lobby.{{sfn|Ahonen|1998|p=59}}

In late 1959, a controversy broke out when it emerged that [[Theodor Oberländer]], the Minister of Refugees since 1953 and one of the most powerful leaders of the expellee lobby, had committed war crimes against Jews and Poles during World War II.<ref>Tetens, T.H. ''The New Germany and the Old Nazis'', New York: Random House, 1961 pages 191–192</ref> Despite his past, on 10 December 1959, a statement was released to the press declaring that "Dr. Oberländer has the full confidence of the Adenauer cabinet".<ref name="Tetens, T.H. page 192">Tetens, T.H. ''The New Germany and the Old Nazis'', New York: Random House, 1961 page 192</ref> Other Christian Democrats made it clear to Adenauer that they would like to see Oberländer out of the cabinet, and finally in May 1960 Oberländer resigned.<ref>Tetens, T.H. ''The New Germany and the Old Nazis'', New York: Random House, 1961 pages 192–193</ref>