Editing Helmut Schmidt (section)

== Return to federal politics ==
In 1965, he was re-elected to the [[Bundestag]]. In 1967, after the formation of the [[Grand Coalition (Germany)|Grand Coalition]] between the SPD and the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU), he became [[Parliamentary leader|chairman]] of the Social Democratic parliamentary party, a post he held until the elections of 1969. In 1968, he was elected deputy party chairman, a post that he held until 1983. Unlike [[Willy Brandt]] and [[Gerhard Schröder]], he never became chairman of the party.<ref name="Lebendiges Museum Online"/>

In October 1969, he entered the government of Willy Brandt as defense minister.<ref>{{cite news|title=Die Erwartungen sind verdammt hoch: Neue Minister für die Reform-Ressorts|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-45520455.html|access-date=2015-11-10|work=Der Spiegel|issue=44/1969|date=1969-10-27|language=de}}</ref> During his term in office, the military [[conscription]] time was reduced from 18 to 15 months, while at the same time increasing the number of young men being conscripted.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Becker|first1=Kurt|title=Wer muß unter die Soldaten?|url=http://www.zeit.de/1971/06/wer-muss-unter-die-soldaten|access-date=2015-11-10|work=Die Zeit|date=1971-02-05|language=de}}</ref> Additionally, Schmidt decided to introduce the [[Bundeswehr]] universities in [[Helmut Schmidt University|Hamburg]] and [[Bundeswehr University Munich|Munich]] to broaden the academic education of the German officer corps, and the situation of non-commissioned officers was improved.<ref>{{cite web|title=Helmut Schmidt|url=http://www.hsu-hh.de/hsu/index_J6ZVOJXUfS44PbZs.html|publisher=Helmut-Schmidt-Universität Hamburg|access-date=2015-11-10|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106223420/http://www.hsu-hh.de/hsu/index_J6ZVOJXUfS44PbZs.html|archive-date=2015-11-06}}</ref> In July 1972, he succeeded [[Karl Schiller]] as Minister for Economics and Finance, but in November 1972, he relinquished the Economics department, which was again made a separate ministry. Schmidt remained Minister of Finance and faced the prospect of rising inflation. Shortly before the Oil Shock of 1973, which rattled Britain and the United States, Schmidt agreed that European currencies should be floated against the US dollar. He remained in charge of finance until May 1974.<ref name="Lebendiges Museum Online"/>