II.

The Adenauer Years

From 1949 to 1963 the government of West Germany was dominated by the Christian Democratic Union. Its leader, Konrad Adenauer, was elected the republic's chancellor in 1949. As West Germany's first leader, Adenauer sought to transform the country from a postwar occupied zone to an independent nation accepted as an equal by other countries. The goal of independence became more attainable after the United States, Britain, and France recognized that Western Europe could not withstand Soviet pressure without the aid of a strong West Germany. Accordingly, military occupation of West Germany was ended with the Bonn Convention of 1952.