Editing Konrad Adenauer (section)

== Chancellor of West Germany ==
{{Further|History of Germany (1945–1990)}}

=== First government ===
[[File:CDU Wahlkampfplakat - kaspl001.JPG|thumb|upright|Election poster, 1949: "With Adenauer for peace, freedom and unity of Germany, therefore CDU"]]
The first election to the [[Bundestag]] of West Germany was [[1949 West German federal election|held on 15 August 1949]], with the Christian Democrats emerging as the strongest party. There were two clashing visions of a future Germany held by Adenauer and his main rival, the Social Democrat [[Kurt Schumacher]]. Adenauer favored integrating the Federal Republic with other Western states, especially France and the United States in order to fight the [[Cold War]], even if the price of this was the continued division of Germany. Schumacher by contrast, though an anti-communist, wanted to see a united, socialist and neutral Germany. As such, Adenauer was in favor of joining NATO, something that Schumacher strongly opposed.

The Free Democrat [[Theodor Heuss]] was elected the first [[President of Germany|President of the Republic]], and Adenauer was elected Chancellor (head of government) on 15 September 1949 with the support of his own CDU, the [[Christian Social Union of Bavaria|Christian Social Union]], the liberal [[Free Democratic Party of Germany|Free Democratic Party]], and the right-wing [[German Party (1947)|German Party]]. It was said that Adenauer was elected Chancellor by the new German parliament by "a majority of one vote – his own".<ref name="Adenauer at 90">{{cite journal |last=Kellen |first=Konrad |title=Adenauer at 90 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/europe/1966-01-01/adenauer-90 |date=January 1966 |journal=[[Foreign Affairs]] |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=275–290 |doi=10.2307/20039164 |jstor=20039164 |access-date=6 July 2014 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=18 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218182722/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/europe/1966-01-01/adenauer-90 |url-status=live }}</ref> At age 73, it was thought that Adenauer would only be a caretaker Chancellor.<ref name="1970s">{{cite book |title=How We Got Here: The 1970s |last=Frum |first=David |author-link=David Frum |year=2000 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York, New York |isbn=0-465-04195-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/8 8] |url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/8 }}</ref> However, he would go on to hold this post for 14 years, a period spanning most of the preliminary phase of the [[Cold War]]. During this period, the post-war division of Germany was consolidated with the establishment of two separate German states, the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] (West Germany) and the [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany).

In the controversial selection for a "provisional capital" of the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]], Adenauer championed [[Bonn]] over [[Frankfurt am Main]]. The British had agreed to detach Bonn from their zone of occupation and convert the area to an autonomous region wholly under German sovereignty; the Americans were not prepared to grant the same for Frankfurt.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=340}} He also resisted the claims of [[Heidelberg]], which had better communications and had survived the war in better condition; partly because the Nazis had been popular there before they came to power and partly, as he said, because the world would not take them seriously if they set up their state in a city that was the setting for ''[[The Student Prince]]'', at the time a popular American operetta based on the drinking culture of [[Studentenverbindung|German student fraternities]].

As chancellor, Adenauer tended to make most major decisions himself, treating his ministers as mere extensions of his authority. While this tendency decreased under his successors, it established the image of West Germany (and later reunified Germany) as a "chancellor democracy".

==== Ending denazification ====
In a speech on 20 September 1949, Adenauer denounced the entire [[denazification]] process pursued by the Allied military governments, announcing in the same speech that he was planning to bring in an amnesty law for the Nazi war criminals and he planned to apply to "the High Commissioners for a corresponding amnesty for punishments imposed by the Allied military courts".{{sfn|Frei|2002|p=3}} Adenauer argued the continuation of denazification would "foster a growing and extreme nationalism" as the millions who supported the Nazi regime would find themselves excluded from German life forever.{{sfn|Herf|1997|p=217}} He also demanded an "end to this sniffing out of Nazis."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/from-dictatorship-to-democracy-the-role-ex-nazis-played-in-early-west-germany-a-810207.html|title = From Dictatorship to Democracy: The Role Ex-Nazis Played in Early West Germany|newspaper = Der Spiegel|date = 6 March 2012|last1 = Beste|first1 = Ralf|last2 = Bönisch|first2 = Georg|last3 = Darnstaedt|first3 = Thomas|last4 = Friedmann|first4 = Jan|last5 = Fröhlingsdorf|first5 = Michael|last6 = Wiegrefe|first6 = Klaus}}</ref> By 31 January 1951, the amnesty legislation had benefited 792,176 people. They included 3,000 functionaries of the SA, the SS, and the Nazi Party who participated in dragging victims to jails and camps; 20,000 Nazis sentenced for "deeds against life" (presumably murder); 30,000 sentenced for causing bodily injury, and about 5,200 charged with "crimes and misdemeanors in office.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/66780/amnesty-and-amnesia |title=Amnesty and Amnesia By Jeffrey Herf March 10, 2003 Adenauer's Germany Nazi Past: The Politics of Amnesty and Integration By Norbert Frei |magazine=The New Republic |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=25 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825025151/https://newrepublic.com/article/66780/amnesty-and-amnesia |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Opposition to the Oder–Neisse Line ====
The Adenauer government refused to accept the [[Oder–Neisse line]] as Germany's eastern frontier.<ref>Duffy, Christopher ''Red Storm on the Reich'', Routledge: London, 1991 page 302</ref> This refusal was in large part motivated by his desire to win the votes of [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|expellees]] and right-wing nationalists to the CDU, which is why he supported {{lang|de|Heimatrecht}}, i.e. the right of expellees to return to their former homes.{{sfn|Schwarz|1995|p=638}} It was also intended to be a deal-breaker if negotiations ever began to reunite Germany on terms that Adenauer considered unfavorable such as the neutralization of Germany as Adenauer knew well that the Soviets would never revise the Oder–Neisse line.{{sfn|Schwarz|1995|p=638}} Privately, Adenauer considered Germany's eastern provinces to be lost forever.{{sfn|Ahonen|1998|p=48}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F002449-0027, Bonn, Bundestag, Pariser Verträge, Adenauer.jpg|thumb|upright|Adenauer speaking in the {{lang|de|[[Bundestag]]}}, 1955]]

==== Advocacy for European Coal and Steel Community ====
At the [[Petersberg Agreement]] in November 1949 he achieved some of the first concessions granted by the Allies, such as a decrease in the number of factories to be dismantled, but in particular his agreement to join the [[International Authority for the Ruhr]] led to heavy criticism. In the following debate in parliament Adenauer stated:
:<blockquote>''The Allies have told me that dismantling would be stopped only if I satisfy the Allied desire for security, does the Socialist Party want dismantling to go on to the bitter end?''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110131043551/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,805208,00.html A Good European] ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' 5 December 1949</ref>{{sfn|Schwarz|1995|p=450}}</blockquote>
The opposition leader [[Kurt Schumacher]] responded by labeling Adenauer "Chancellor of the Allies", accusing Adenauer of putting good relations with the West for the sake of the Cold War ahead of German national interests.

After a year of negotiations, the [[Treaty of Paris (1951)|Treaty of Paris]] was signed on 18 April 1951 establishing the [[European Coal and Steel Community]]. The treaty was unpopular in Germany where it was seen as a French attempt to take over German industry.{{sfn|Schwarz|1995|p=608}} The treaty conditions were favorable to the French, but for Adenauer, the only thing that mattered was European integration.{{sfn|Schwarz|1995|p=612}} Adenauer was keen to see Britain join the European Coal and Steel Community as he believed the more free-market British would counterbalance the influence of the more [[Dirigisme|''dirigiste'']] French, and to achieve that purpose he visited London in November 1951 to meet with Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]].{{sfn|Schwarz|1995|pp=612–613}} Churchill said Britain would not join the European Coal and Steel Community because doing so would mean sacrificing relations with the U.S. and Commonwealth.{{sfn|Schwarz|1995|p=613}}

==== German rearmament ====
From the beginning of his Chancellorship, Adenauer had been pressing for [[German rearmament (post-WWII)|German rearmament]]. After the outbreak of the [[Korean War]] on 25 June 1950, the U.S. and Britain agreed that West Germany had to be rearmed to strengthen the defenses of Western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion. Further contributing to the crisis atmosphere of 1950 was the bellicose rhetoric of the East German leader [[Walter Ulbricht]], who proclaimed the reunification of Germany under communist rule to be imminent.{{sfn|Gaddis|1998|p=124}}{{sfn|Large|1996|p=66}} To soothe French fears of German rearmament, the French Premier [[René Pleven]] suggested the so-called [[Pleven plan]] in October 1950 under which the Federal Republic would have its military forces function as part of the armed wing of the multinational [[European Defense Community]] (EDC).{{sfn|Gaddis|1998|p=125}} Adenauer deeply disliked the "Pleven plan", but was forced to support it when it became clear that this plan was the only way the French would agree to German rearmament.{{sfn|Schwarz|1995|pp=592–594}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0062, Bonn, Ermekeilkaserne, Adenauer, Blank, Heusinger.jpg|thumb|upright|Adenauer in 1950 at the Ermekeil barracks in Bonn with [[Adolf Heusinger]] (right), one of the authors of the Himmerod memorandum]]

==== Amnesty and employment of Nazis ====
In 1950, a major controversy broke out when it emerged that Adenauer's State Secretary [[Hans Globke]] had played a major role in drafting anti-semitic [[Nuremberg Laws|Nuremberg Race Laws]] in Nazi Germany.<ref>Tetens, T.H. ''The New Germany and the Old Nazis'', New York: Random House, 1961 pages 37–40.</ref> Adenauer kept Globke on as State Secretary as part of his strategy of integration.{{sfn|Herf|1997|pp=289–290}} Starting in August 1950, Adenauer began to pressure the Western Allies to free all of the war criminals in their custody, especially those from the [[Wehrmacht]], whose continued imprisonment he claimed made [[West German rearmament]] impossible.{{sfn|Goda|2007|pp=101–149}} Adenauer had been opposed to the [[Nuremberg trials|Nuremberg Trials]] in 1945–46, and after becoming Chancellor, he demanded the release of the so-called "Spandau Seven", as the seven war criminals convicted at Nuremberg and imprisoned at [[Spandau Prison]] were known.{{sfn|Goda|2007|p=149}}

In October 1950, Adenauer received the so-called "[[Himmerod memorandum]]" drafted by four former Wehrmacht generals at the [[Himmerod Abbey]] that linked freedom for German war criminals as the price of German rearmament, along with public statements from the Allies that the [[Myth of the clean Wehrmacht|Wehrmacht committed no war crimes]] in World War II.{{sfn|Large|1996|pp=97–98}} The Allies were willing to do whatever necessary to get the much-needed German rearmament underway, and in January 1951, General [[Dwight Eisenhower]], commander of NATO forces, issued a statement which declared the great majority of the Wehrmacht had acted honorably.<ref>Bickford, Andrew ''Fallen Elites: The Military Other in Post–Unification Germany'', Stanford: 2011 pages 116–117</ref>

On 2 January 1951, Adenauer met with the American High Commissioner, [[John J. McCloy]], to argue that executing the [[Landsberg Prison|Landsberg prisoners]] would ruin forever any effort at having the Federal Republic play its role in the Cold War.{{sfn|Frei|2002|p=157}} At the time, American occupation authorities had 28 Nazi war criminals left on death row in their custody. In response to Adenauer's demands and pressure from the German public, McCloy and [[Thomas T. Handy]] on 31 January 1951 reduced the death sentences of all but the 7 worst offenders.{{sfn|Frei|2002|pp=164–165}}

By 1951 laws were passed by the [[Bundestag]] ending denazification. [[Denazification]] was viewed by the United States as counterproductive and ineffective, and its demise was not opposed.<ref>The Nazi-ferreting questionnaire cited 136 mandatory reasons for exclusion from employment and created red-tape nightmares for both the hapless and the guilty; see ''The New York Times'', 22 February 2003, p. A7.</ref> Adenauer's intention was to switch government policy to reparations and compensation for the victims of Nazi rule (''[[Wiedergutmachung]]'').<ref>Steinweis, Alan E., Rogers, Daniel E. ''The Impact of Nazism: New Perspectives on the Third Reich and Its Legacy.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 2003, p. 235</ref><ref name=Art />

Officials were allowed to retake jobs in civil service, with the exception of people assigned to Group I (Major Offenders) and II (Offenders) during the denazification review process.<ref name=Art>Art, David, ''The politics of the Nazi past in Germany and Austria'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 53–55</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?start=%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl151s0307.pdf%27%5D#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl151s0307.pdf%27%5D__1578237681963|title=Gesetz zur Regelung der Rechtsverhältnisse der unter Artikel 131 des Grundgesetzes fallenden Personen (Bundesgesetzblatt I 22/1951, p. 307 ff.)|date=11 May 1951|language=de|access-date=5 January 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803035403/https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?start=%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl151s0307.pdf%27%5D#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl151s0307.pdf%27%5D__1578237681963|url-status=live}}</ref> Adenauer pressured his rehabilitated ex-Nazis by threatening that stepping out of line could trigger the reopening of individual de-Nazification prosecutions. The construction of a "competent Federal Government effectively from a standing start was one of the greatest of Adenauer's formidable achievements".{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=391}}

Contemporary critics accused Adenauer of cementing the division of Germany, sacrificing reunification and the recovery of territories lost in the westward shift of [[Poland]] and the [[Soviet Union]] with his determination to secure the Federal Republic to the West. Adenauer's German policy was based upon ''Politik der Stärke'' (Policy of Strength), and upon the so-called "magnet theory", in which a prosperous, democratic West Germany integrated with the West would act as a "magnet" that would eventually bring down the East German regime.{{sfn|Large|1996|p=70}}

==== Rejecting the reunification offer ====
In 1952, the [[Stalin Note]], as it became known, "caught everybody in the West by surprise".{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=376}} It offered to unify the two German entities into a single, neutral state with its own, non-aligned national army to effect superpower disengagement from [[Central Europe]]. Adenauer and his cabinet were unanimous in their rejection of the Stalin overture; they shared the Western Allies' suspicion about the genuineness of that offer and supported the Allies in their cautious replies. Adenauer's flat rejection was, however, still out of step with public opinion; he then realized his mistake and he started to ask questions. Critics denounced him for having missed an opportunity for [[German reunification]]. The Soviets sent a second note, courteous in tone. Adenauer by then understood that "all opportunity for initiative had passed out of his hands,"{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=378}} and the matter was put to rest by the Allies. Given the realities of the [[Cold War]], German reunification and recovery of [[Former eastern territories of Germany#Potsdam Agreement, 1945|lost territories in the east]] were not realistic goals as both of Stalin's notes specified the retention of the existing "Potsdam"-decreed boundaries of Germany.

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P092352, Israel, Konrad Adenauer und Salmann Schasar.jpg|thumb|Adenauer with Israeli President [[Zalman Shazar]], 1966]]

==== Reparation to victims of Nazi Germany ====
Adenauer recognized the obligation of the West German government to compensate [[Israel]] for [[The Holocaust]].{{Failed verification|date=March 2021}} West Germany started negotiations with Israel for restitution of lost property and the payment of damages to victims of Nazi persecution. In the {{lang|de|[[Reparations Agreement between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany|Luxemburger Abkommen]]}}, West Germany agreed to pay compensation to Israel. Jewish claims were bundled in the [[Claims Conference|Jewish Claims Conference]], which represented the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany. West Germany then initially paid about 3 billion [[Deutsche Mark|Mark]] to Israel and about 450 million to the Claims Conference, although payments continued after that, as new claims were made.<ref name=bpb>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bpb.de/publikationen/JNSEQM,0,0,Wiedergutmachung.html |title=Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung – Wiedergutmachung |access-date=30 September 2011 |archive-date=10 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410071957/http://www.bpb.de/publikationen/JNSEQM,0,0,Wiedergutmachung.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the face of severe opposition both from the public and from his own cabinet, Adenauer was only able to get the reparations agreement ratified by the ''Bundestag'' with the support of the SPD.<ref name="Moeller, Robert pages 26-27">Moeller, Robert ''War Stories: The Search for a Usable Past in the Federal Republic of Germany'', Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2001 pages 26–27.</ref> Israeli public opinion was divided over accepting the money, but ultimately the fledgling state under [[David Ben-Gurion]] agreed to take it, opposed by political parties such as [[Herut]], who were against such treaties.

==== Assassination attempt ====
On 27 March 1952, a package addressed to Chancellor Adenauer exploded in the [[Munich]] Police Headquarters, killing one Bavarian police officer, Karl Reichert.<ref>{{cite book| author-last1= Gehler | author-first1= Michael |title= Three Germanies: West Germany, East Germany and the Berlin Republic | date = 1 October 2010 | publisher = Reaktion Books | isbn= 978-1861897787| page =62| edition= Illustrated paperback}}</ref> Investigations revealed the mastermind behind the assassination attempt to be [[Menachem Begin]], who would later become the Prime Minister of [[Israel]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,421441,00.html |title=Interview with H. Sietz, investigator (German) |access-date=15 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620034025/http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,421441,00.html |archive-date=20 June 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Begin had been the commander of [[Irgun]] and at that time headed [[Herut]] and was a member of the [[Knesset]]. His goal was to put pressure on the German government and prevent the signing of the [[Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany]], which he vehemently opposed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/germany/article/0,,1797768,00.html |title=Menachem Begin 'plotted to kill German chancellor' |newspaper=The Guardian |date=15 June 2006 |location=London |first=Luke |last=Harding |access-date=15 December 2016 |archive-date=13 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213144515/https://www.theguardian.com/germany/article/0,,1797768,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The West German government kept all proof under seal in order to prevent [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] responses from the German public.

=== Second government ===
==== Interior affairs ====
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F004214-0033, Konrad Adenauer und Ludwig Erhard.jpg|thumb|Konrad Adenauer with minister of economics [[Ludwig Erhard]], 1956]]
When the [[East German uprising of 1953]] was harshly suppressed by the Red Army in June 1953, Adenauer took political advantage of the situation and was handily re-elected to a second term as Chancellor.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=406}} The CDU/CSU came up one seat short of an outright majority. Adenauer could thus have governed in a coalition with only one other party, but retained/gained the support of nearly all of the parties in the Bundestag that were to the right of the SPD.

The [[German Restitution Laws]] ({{lang|de|Bundesentschädigungsgesetz}}) were passed in 1953 that allowed some victims of Nazi prosecution to claim restitution.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/beg/index.html |title=''Bundesgesetz zur Entschädigung für Opfer der nationalsozialistischen Verfolgung'' |access-date=30 September 2011 |archive-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014001635/http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/beg/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Under the 1953 restitution law, those who had suffered for "racial, religious or political reasons" could collect compensation, which were defined in such a way as to sharply limit the number of people entitled to collect compensation.<ref>Ludtke, Alf "'Coming to Terms with the Past': Illusions of Remembering, Ways of Forgetting Nazism in West Germany" pages 542–572 from ''The Journal of Modern History'', Volume 65, 1993 pages 564.</ref>

In November 1954, Adenauer's lobbying efforts on behalf of the "Spandau Seven" finally bore fruit with the release of [[Konstantin von Neurath]].{{sfn|Goda|2007|pp=129–131}} Adenauer congratulated Neurath on his release, sparking controversy all over the world.{{sfn|Goda|2007|pp=130–131}} At the same time, Adenauer's efforts to win freedom for Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] ran into staunch opposition from the British Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, [[Ivone Kirkpatrick]], who argued Dönitz would be an active danger to German democracy.{{sfn|Goda|2007|pp=149–151}} Adenauer then traded with Kirkpatrick no early release for Admiral Dönitz with an early release for Admiral [[Erich Raeder]] on medical grounds.{{sfn|Goda|2007|pp=152–155}}

Adenauer is closely linked to the implementation of an enhanced [[pension]] system, which ensured unparalleled prosperity for retired people. Along with his Minister for Economic Affairs and successor [[Ludwig Erhard]], the West German model of a "[[social market economy]]" (a [[mixed economy]] with [[capitalism]] moderated by elements of [[social welfare]] and [[Catholic social teaching]]) allowed for the boom period known as the {{lang|de|[[Wirtschaftswunder]]}} ('economic miracle') that produced broad prosperity, but Adenauer acted more leniently towards the trade unions and employers' associations than Erhard. The Adenauer era witnessed a dramatic rise in the standard of living of average Germans, with real wages doubling between 1950 and 1963. This rising affluence was accompanied by a 20% fall in working hours during that same period, together with a fall in the unemployment rate from 8% in 1950 to 0.4% in 1965.<ref>''Contemporary World History'' by William J. Duiker</ref> in addition, an advanced welfare state was established.<ref>''The Emergence of the Welfare State in Britain and Germany'', edited by [[Wolfgang Mommsen]]</ref>

==== Military affairs ====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-27146-0001, Paris, NATO-Vertrag, Unterzeichnung Adenauer.jpg|thumb|Signing the [[North Atlantic Treaty]] in Paris, 1954 (Adenauer at the left)]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1998-006-34, Andernach, Adenauer besucht Bundeswehr.jpg|thumb|Minister [[Theodor Blank|Blank]] and Adenauer with General [[Hans Speidel|Speidel]] inspect formations of the newly created {{lang|de|Bundeswehr}} on 20 January 1955.]]
In the spring of 1954, opposition to the [[Pleven plan]] grew within the French [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]].,{{sfn|Large|1996|p=209}} and in August 1954, it died when an alliance of conservatives and Communists in the National Assembly joined forces to reject the EDC treaty under the grounds that West German rearmament in any form was an unacceptable danger to France.{{sfn|Gaddis|1998|p=134}}

The British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] told Adenauer that Britain would ensure that West German rearmament would happen, regardless if the National Assembly ratified the EDC treaty or not,{{sfn|Large|1996|p=211}} and Foreign Secretary [[Anthony Eden]] used the failure of the EDC to argue for independent West German rearmament and West German NATO membership.{{sfn|Gaddis|1998|p=134}} Thanks in part to Adenauer's success in rebuilding West Germany's image, the British proposal met with considerable approval.{{sfn|Gaddis|1998|p=134}} In the ensuing [[London and Paris Conferences|London conference]], Eden assisted Adenauer by promising the French that Britain would always maintain at least four divisions in the [[British Army of the Rhine]] as long as there was a Soviet threat, with the strengthened British forces also aimed implicitly against any German revanchism.{{sfn|Large|1996|p=217}} Adenauer then promised that Germany would never seek to have nuclear, chemical and biological weapons as well as capital ships, strategic bombers, long-range artillery, and guided missiles, although these promises were non-binding.{{sfn|Large|1996|p=217}} The French had been assuaged that West German rearmament would be no threat to France. Additionally, Adenauer promised that the West German military would be under the operational control of NATO general staff, though ultimate control would rest with the West German government; and that above all he would never violate the strictly defensive NATO charter and invade East Germany to achieve German reunification.{{sfn|Large|1996|p=220}}

In May 1955, West Germany joined NATO and in November a West German military, the {{lang|de|[[Bundeswehr]]}}, was founded.{{sfn|Gaddis|1998|p=134}} Though Adenauer made use of a number of former {{lang|de|[[Wehrmacht]]}} generals and admirals in the {{lang|de|Bundeswehr}}, he saw the {{lang|de|Bundeswehr}} as a new force with no links to the past, and wanted it to be kept under [[civilian control of the military|civilian control]] at all times.<ref>Fritz Erler, 'Politik und nicht Prestige,' in Erler and Jaeger, Sicherheit und Rustung, 1962, p.82-3, cited in Julian Lider, ''Origins and Development of West German Military Thought'', Vol. I, 1949–1966, Gower Publishing Company Ltd, Aldershot/Brookfield VT, 1986, p.125</ref> To achieve these aims, Adenauer gave a great deal of power to the military reformer [[Wolf Graf von Baudissin]].{{sfn|Large|1996|pp=177–178}}

Adenauer reached an agreement for his "nuclear ambitions" with a NATO Military Committee in December 1956 that stipulated West German forces were to be "equipped for [[nuclear warfare]]".{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=442}} Concluding that the United States would eventually pull out of Western Europe, Adenauer pursued nuclear cooperation with other countries. The French government then proposed that France, West Germany and Italy jointly develop and produce [[nuclear weapon]]s and [[nuclear weapons delivery|delivery systems]], and an agreement was signed in April 1958. With the ascendancy of [[Charles de Gaulle]], the agreement for joint production and control was shelved indefinitely.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=458}} President [[John F. Kennedy]], an ardent foe of [[nuclear proliferation]], considered sales of such weapons moot since "in the event of war the United States would, from the outset, be prepared to defend the Federal Republic."{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=490}} The physicists of the [[Max Planck Society|Max Planck Institute]] for Theoretical Physics at [[Göttingen]] and other renowned universities would have had the scientific capability for in-house development, but the will was absent,{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=444}} nor was there public support. With Adenauer's fourth-term election in November 1961 and the end of his chancellorship in sight, his "nuclear ambitions" began to taper off.

==== Foreign policy ====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-101-01A, Moskau, Besuch Konrad Adenauer.jpg|thumb|[[Nikolai Bulganin|Bulganin]], [[Georgy Malenkov|Malenkov]], [[Khrushchev]] greeting Adenauer in [[Moscow]] in September 1955]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-107546, Köln-Bonn, Adenauer, Mutter eines Kriegsgefangenen.jpg|thumb|Adenauer with the mother of a German [[POW]] brought home in 1955 from the [[Soviet Union]], due to Adenauer's visit to Moscow]]
In return for the release of the last German prisoners of war in 1955, the Federal Republic established diplomatic relations with the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], but refused to recognize East Germany and broke off diplomatic relations with countries (e.g., [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]) that established relations with the East German régime.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=450|loc=this principle became known as the [[Hallstein Doctrine]]}} Adenauer was also ready to consider the [[Oder–Neisse line]] as the German border in order to pursue a more flexible policy with Poland but he did not command sufficient domestic support for this, and opposition to the Oder–Neisse line continued, causing considerable disappointment among Adenauer's Western allies.{{sfn|Ahonen|1998|pp=44–46}}

In 1956, during the [[Suez Crisis]], Adenauer fully supported the Anglo-French-Israeli attack on Egypt, arguing to his Cabinet that Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] was a pro-Soviet force that needed to be cut down to size.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|pp=241–242}} Adenauer was appalled that the Americans had come out against the attack on Egypt alongside the Soviets, which led Adenauer to fear that the United States and Soviet Union would "carve up the world" with no thought for European interests.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=242}}

At the height of the Suez crisis, Adenauer visited Paris to meet the French Premier [[Guy Mollet]] in a show of moral support for France.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=243}} The day before Adenauer arrived in Paris, the Soviet Premier [[Nikolai Bulganin]] sent the so-called "Bulganin letters" to the leaders of Britain, France, and Israel threatening nuclear strikes if they did not end the war against Egypt.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=243}} The news of the "Bulganin letters" reached Adenauer mid-way on the train trip to Paris. The threat of a Soviet nuclear strike that could destroy Paris at any moment added considerably to the tension of the summit.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=244}} The Paris summit helped to strengthen the bond between Adenauer and the French, who saw themselves as fellow European powers living in a world dominated by Washington and Moscow.{{sfn|Schwarz|1997|p=245}}

Adenauer was deeply shocked by the Soviet threat of nuclear strikes against Britain and France, and even more so by the apparent quiescent American response to the Soviet threat of nuclear annihilation against two of NATO's key members.<ref>Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: A European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Volume 43, Issue # 2, April 2008 p. 273</ref> As a result, Adenauer became more interested in the French idea of a European "Third Force" in the Cold War as an alternative security policy.<ref>Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: A European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Volume 43, Issue # 2, April 2008, pp. 273–274.</ref> This helped to lead to the formation of the [[European Economic Community]] in 1957, which was intended to be the foundation stone of the European "Third Force".<ref>Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: A European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from ''Journal of Contemporary History'', Volume 43, Issue # 2, April 2008, p. 274.</ref>

Adenauer's achievements include the establishment of a stable democracy in West Germany and a lasting reconciliation with [[France]], culminating in the [[Élysée Treaty]]. His political commitment to the Western powers achieved full sovereignty for West Germany, which was formally laid down in the [[General Treaty]], although there remained Allied restrictions concerning the status of a potentially reunited Germany and the state of emergency in West Germany. Adenauer firmly integrated the country with the emerging Euro-Atlantic community ([[NATO]] and the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|Organisation for European Economic Cooperation]]).

=== 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>

=== Fourth government ===
[[File:Kennedy, Brandt und Adenauer - geo.hlipp.de - 26870.jpg|thumb|U.S. president [[John F. Kennedy]], [[Willy Brandt]], and Adenauer at Berlin Wall in 1963]]
In 1961, Adenauer had his concerns about both the status of Berlin and US leadership confirmed, as the Soviets and East Germans built the Berlin Wall. Adenauer had come into the year distrusting the new US president, [[John F. Kennedy]]. He doubted Kennedy's commitment to a free Berlin and a unified Germany and considered him undisciplined and naïve.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kempe |first=Frederick |title=Berlin 1961 |year=2011 |publisher=Penguin Group (USA) |isbn=978-0-399-15729-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/98 98] |url=https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/98 }}</ref> For his part, Kennedy thought that Adenauer was a relic of the past. Their strained relationship impeded effective Western action on Berlin during 1961.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kempe |first=Frederick |title=Berlin 1961 |year=2011 |publisher=Penguin Group (USA) |isbn=978-0-399-15729-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/101 101] |url=https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp/page/101 }}</ref>

The construction of the [[Berlin Wall]] in August 1961 and the sealing of borders by the East Germans made Adenauer's government look weak. Adenauer continued his campaign trail and made a disastrous misjudgement in a speech on 14 August 1961 in [[Regensburg]] with a personal attack on the SPD lead candidate [[Willy Brandt]], Lord Mayor of West-Berlin, saying that Brandt's illegitimate birth had disqualified him from holding any sort of office.{{sfn|Granieri|2004|p=135}} After failing to keep their majority in the general election on 17 September, the CDU/CSU again needed to include the FDP in a coalition government. Adenauer was forced to make two concessions: to relinquish the chancellorship before the end of the new term, his fourth, and to replace his foreign minister.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=494|loc=Foreign Minister [[Heinrich von Brentano]] was considered too subservient to the Chancellor and [[Gerhard Schröder (CDU)|Gerhard Schröder]] became foreign minister [Williams, p. 495}} In his last years in office, Adenauer used to take a nap after lunch and, when he was traveling abroad and had a public function to attend, he sometimes asked for a bed in a room close to where he was supposed to be speaking, so that he could rest briefly before he appeared.<ref name="John Gunther">[[John Gunther]]: ''Inside Europe Today'', Harper and Brothers, New York, 1961; Library of Congress catalog card number: 61-9706</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F015892-0010, Bonn, Konrad Adenauer und Charles de Gaulle.jpg|thumb|Adenauer with French president Charles de Gaulle (1963)]]

During this time, Adenauer came into conflict with the Economics Minister [[Ludwig Erhard]] over the depth of German integration to the West. Erhard was in favor of allowing Britain to join to create a trans-Atlantic free trade zone, while Adenauer was for strengthening ties amongst the original founding six nations of West Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy.{{sfn|Granieri|2004|p=153}} In Adenauer's viewpoint, the Cold War meant that the NATO alliance with the United States and Britain was essential, but there could be no deeper integration into a trans-Atlantic community beyond the existing military ties as that would lead to a "mishmash" between different cultural systems that would be doomed to failure.{{sfn|Granieri|2004|pp=154–155}} Though Adenauer had tried to get Britain to join the [[European Coal and Steel Community]] in 1951–52, by the early 1960s Adenauer had come to share General de Gaulle's belief that Britain simply did not belong in the EEC.{{sfn|Granieri|2004|p=155}} The [[Élysée Treaty]] was signed in January 1963 to solidify relations with France.

In October 1962, [[Spiegel scandal|a scandal erupted]] when police arrested five ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' journalists, charging them with espionage for publishing a memo detailing weaknesses in the West German armed forces. Adenauer had not initiated the arrests, but initially defended the person responsible, Defense Minister [[Franz Josef Strauss]], and called the Spiegel memo "abyss of treason". After public outrage and heavy protests from the coalition partner FDP he dismissed Strauss, but the reputation of Adenauer and his party had already suffered.<ref>Eleanor L. Turk, ''The history of Germany'' (1999) p. 154</ref><ref>Ronald F. Bunn, ''German politics and the Spiegel affair: a case study of the Bonn system'' (1968) pp. 159–60</ref>

[[File:Konrad Adenauer - 14. CDU-Bundesparteitag-kasf0094.JPG|thumb|Adenauer delivering a speech at the March 1966 CDU party rally, one year before his death]]

Adenauer managed to remain in office for almost another year, but the scandal increased the pressure already on him to fulfill his promise to resign before the end of the term. Adenauer was not on good terms in his last years of power with his economics minister [[Ludwig Erhard]] and tried to block him from the chancellorship. In January 1963, Adenauer privately supported General [[Charles de Gaulle]]'s veto of Britain's attempt to join the [[European Economic Community]], and was only prevented from saying so openly by the need to preserve unity in his cabinet as most of his ministers led by Erhard supported Britain's application.<ref>Jenkins, Roy. ''Portraits and Miniatures'', London: Bloomsbury Reader, 2012. p. 83</ref> A [[Francophile]], Adenauer saw a Franco-German partnership as the key for European peace and prosperity and shared de Gaulle's view that Britain would be a disputative force in the EEC.<ref>Jenkins, Roy. ''Portraits and Miniatures'', London: Bloomsbury Reader, 2012. p. 97</ref> Adenauer failed in his efforts to block Erhard as his successor, and in October 1963 he turned the office over to Erhard. He remained chairman of the CDU until his resignation in December 1966.{{sfn|Granieri|2004|p=191}}

Adenauer ensured a generally free and democratic society, and laid the groundwork for Germany to re-enter the community of nations and to evolve as a dependable member of the Western world. The British historian [[Frederick Taylor (historian)|Frederick Taylor]] argued that in many ways the Adenauer era was a transition period in values and viewpoints from the authoritarianism that characterized Germany in the first half of the 20th century to the more democratic values that characterized the western half of Germany in the second half of the 20th century.<ref>Taylor, Frederick ''Exorcising Hitler'', London: Bloomsbury Press, 2011 page 371.</ref>

=== Social policies ===
Adenauer's years in the Chancellorship saw the realization of a number of important initiatives in the domestic field, such as in housing, pension rights, and unemployment provision. A major housebuilding programme was launched, while measures introduced to assist war victims<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wcEpHsC-RvgC&q=west+germany+1950+social+housing&pg=PA87 |title=Shouldering the Burdens of Defeat: West Germany and the Reconstruction of Social Justice |page=87 |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |date=1999|isbn=9780807824948 }}</ref> and expellees.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8O4nBQAAQBAJ&q=west+germany+Lastenausgleichsgesetz+1952&pg=PT83 |title=Germans as Victims: Remembering the Past in Contemporary Germany |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |date=2006 |isbn=9781137138729 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A savings scheme for homeownership was set up in 1952,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AW1P-ejQUScC&q=west+germany+Savings+housebuilding+1952&pg=PA154 |title=Bridging the Gap Between Social and Market Rented Housing in Six European countries |page=154 |publisher=Delft University Press |date=2009|isbn=9781607500353 }}</ref> while the Housebuilding Act of 1956 reinforced incentives for owner-occupation. Employer-funded child allowances for three or more children were established in 1954, and in 1957 the indexation of pension schemes was introduced, together with an old age assistance scheme for agricultural workers.<ref>The Federal Republic of Germany: The End of an era edited by Eva Kolinsky</ref> The 1952 Maternity Leave Law foresaw 12 weeks of paid leave for working mothers, who were also safeguarded from unfair dismissal,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Zbnxmd0dJsC&q=west+germany+1952+maternity+leave+law&pg=PA121 |title=The Politics of Parental Leave Policies: Children, Parenting, Gender and the labour market |page=121 |publisher=The Policy Press |date=2009|isbn=9781847429032 }}</ref> and improvements in unemployment benefits were carried out.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vNrwmI5zuzEC&q=west+germany+reform+of+unemployment+benefits+1956&pg=PT63 |title=Politics of Segmentation: Party Competition and Social Protection in Europe |publisher=Routledge |date=2012|isbn=9781136476815 }}</ref> The Soldiers' Law of 1956 laid down that soldiers had the same rights as other citizens, "limited only by the demands of military service."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02bfBQAAQBAJ&q=The+Soldiers%E2%80%99+Law+of+1956+limited+only+by+the+demands+of+military+service&pg=PA195 |title=West Germany (RLE: German Politics): Politics and Society |page=195 |date=1981|isbn=9781317537601 |last1=Childs |first1=David |last2=Johnson |first2=Jeffrey |publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Following a Federal Act of 1961, social assistance provided a safety net of minimum income "for those not adequately catered for by social insurance."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L6WqvxTeFUoC&q=west+germany+Federal+Social+Assistance+Act+1961&pg=PA184 |title=Social Work and the European Community: The Social Policy and Practice Contexts |page=184 |date=1996|isbn=9781853020919 |last1=Hill |first1=Malcolm |publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers }}</ref> Controversially, however, a school lunch programme was abolished in 1950.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ghi-dc.org/files/publications/bulletin/bu048/bu_48_059.pdf |title=Matters of taste: The Politics of Food in Divided Germany, 1945–1971 |access-date=3 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022102/http://www.ghi-dc.org/files/publications/bulletin/bu048/bu_48_059.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Intelligence services and spying ===
By the early 1960s, connections between the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] under Adenauer and the [[Federal Intelligence Service (Germany)|intelligence services (''"Bundesnachrichtendienst"'' / BND)]] had become significantly closer than would be generally known until more than 50 years later. Thanks to the [[Federal Intelligence Service (Germany)|BND]], information on the internal machinations of the opposition [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] party were available to the entire CDU leadership, and not merely to Adenauer in his capacity as [[Chancellor of Germany|chancellor]]. It was Adenauer himself who personally instructed the BND to spy on his SPD rival, the future [[Chancellor of Germany|chancellor]] [[Willy Brandt]].<ref name = KAuBNDlautSpiegel>{{cite journal |title=Spionage für die CDU |journal=Zeitgeschichte |page=23 |volume=18/2017 (reference is also made to a more detailed article in volume 15/2017<!---which I have not (yet) seen--->) |author=klw |date=29 April 2017 |publisher=[[Der Spiegel]]}}</ref>

=== Late years ===
Adenauer, who resigned as Chancellor at the age of 87 and remained head of the governing CDU until his retirement at 90, was often dubbed "Der Alte" ("the old one"). He also remained a Member of the [[Bundestag]] for the constituency of Bonn until his death.

In May 1966, the former Chancellor made a private visit to the new state of [[Israel]] and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the [[Weizmann Institute of Science|Weizmann Institute]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Israel und Judentum|website=Konrad-Adenauer.de|url=https://www.konrad-adenauer.de/politikfelder/seite/israel-und-judentum/|language=de|access-date=23 October 2023|archive-date=23 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023140942/https://www.konrad-adenauer.de/politikfelder/seite/israel-und-judentum/|url-status=live}}</ref> The friendship with [[France]] was particularly close to the ex-Chancellor's heart: he visited the neighbouring country three times in 1964, 1966 and 1967.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Rudolf Morsey|author2=Hans-Peter Schwarz|title=Adenauer – Die letzten Lebensjahre 1963–1967|year=2009|publisher=[[Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh]] |location=Munich; Vienna; Zurich|isbn=978-3-657-76776-2|url=https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657767762|language=de|doi=10.30965/9783657767762}}</ref> On his last trip abroad in February 1967, Adenauer met with [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]] and, as the art lover he had been all his life, took advantage of the stay to visit the [[Museo del Prado|Prado]]. His last major speech in Madrid's Ateneo Palace was marked by the admonition not to let up, to continue the process of [[European Federation|European unification]].<ref>On his last trip abroad in February 1967, Adenauer met with General Franco and, as the art lover he had been all his life, took advantage of the stay to visit the Prado. His last major speech in Madrid's Ateneo Palace was marked by the admonition not to let up, to continue the process of European unification.</ref>

As of 2021, Adenauer remains the oldest-ever European head of government and one of the oldest elected European statesmen (paralleled only by [[Sandro Pertini]] and [[Giorgio Napolitano]]); however, the governments of Tunisia and Malaysia had older heads of government during the 2010s.{{efn|E.g. [[Beji Caid Essebsi]] was Tunisian president (2014–2019) from age 88 to 92, and Malaysian prime minister [[Mahathir Mohamad]] (2018–2020) was in office aged 92 to 94; Italian president [[Giorgio Napolitano]] who turned 88 in 2013 and remained in office until 2015, age 89, was merely a titular leader and did ''not'' run the government of Italy).}}