Helmut Schmidt

Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Schmidt
	Schmidt in 1977
Chancellor of West Germany
	In office; 16 May 1974 – 1 October 1982
President	Gustav Heinemann; Walter Scheel; Karl Carstens;
Vice-Chancellor	Hans-Dietrich Genscher; Egon Franke;
Preceded by	Willy Brandt
Succeeded by	Helmut Kohl
Minister of Finance
	In office; 7 July 1972 – 16 May 1974
Chancellor	Willy Brandt
Preceded by	Karl Schiller
Succeeded by	Hans Apel
Minister for Economics
	In office; 7 July 1972 – 15 December 1972
Chancellor	Willy Brandt
Preceded by	Karl Schiller
Succeeded by	Hans Friderichs
Minister of Defence
	In office; 22 October 1969 – 7 July 1972
Chancellor	Willy Brandt
Preceded by	Gerhard Schröder
Succeeded by	Georg Leber
Leader of the Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag
	In office; 14 March 1967 – 22 October 1969
Deputy	See list Alex Möller; Karl Schiller; Egon Franke; Martin Hirsch; Ernst Schellenberg; Hans-Jürgen Junghans; Hans Apel; Friedrich Schäfer;
Preceded by	Fritz Erler
Succeeded by	Herbert Wehner
Senator of the Interior of Hamburg
	In office; 13 December 1961 – 14 December 1965
First Mayor	Paul Nevermann; Herbert Weichmann;
Preceded by	Wilhelm Kröger
Succeeded by	Heinz Ruhau
Preceded by
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the Bundestag; for Hamburg
	In office; 20 October 1969 – 18 February 1987
Preceded by	Nikolaus Jürgensen
Succeeded by	Rolf Niese
Constituency	Hamburg-Bergedorf
	In office; 19 October 1965 – 20 October 1969
Electoral list	Social Democratic Party
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Multi-member district
	In office; 15 October 1957 – 19 January 1962
Preceded by	Willy Max Rademacher
Succeeded by	Eugen Glombig
Constituency	Hamburg VIII
	In office; 6 October 1953 – 15 October 1957
Electoral list	Social Democratic Party
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Multi-member district
Member of the European Parliament; for West Germany
	In office; 27 February 1958 – 29 November 1961
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Multi-member district
Personal details
Born	Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt; 23 December 1918; Barmbeck, Hamburg, German Reich
Died	10 November 2015 (aged 96); Hamburg, Germany
Resting place	Ohlsdorf Cemetery
Political party	SPD (from 1946)
Spouse	Hannelore "Loki" Glaser (m. 1942; died 2010)
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Hamburg
Occupation	Politician; civil servant; publisher; economist;
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Germany
Branch/service	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1937–1945
Rank	Oberleutnant (d.R.)
Unit	1st Panzer Division
Battles/wars	Second World War Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa Siege of Leningrad; Battle of Moscow; ; ; Western Front Battle of the Bulge; ; ;
Awards	Iron Cross 2nd Class

Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (German: [ˈhɛlmuːt ˈʃmɪt] ^ⓘ; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982.

Before becoming chancellor, he served as the minister of defence (1969–1972) and the minister of finance (1972–1974) in the government of Willy Brandt. In the latter role he gained credit for his financial policies. He had also briefly been minister of economics and acting foreign minister.

As chancellor, he focused on international affairs, seeking "political unification of Europe in partnership with the United States" amidst the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and issuing proposals that led to the NATO Double-Track Decision in 1979 to deploy U.S. Pershing II missiles to Europe.^[1] He was an energetic diplomat who sought European co-operation and international economic co-ordination and was the leading force in creating the European Monetary System in 1978. He was re-elected chancellor in 1976 and 1980, but his coalition fell apart in 1982 with the switch by his coalition allies, the Free Democratic Party.

He retired from Parliament in 1986, after clashing with the SPD's left-wing, which opposed him on defence and economic issues. In 1986, he was a leading proponent of European monetary union and a European Central Bank.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ Max Otte; Jürgen Greve (2000). A Rising Middle Power?: German Foreign Policy in Transformation, 1989–1999. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-312-22653-4.

[2] Max Otte; Jürgen Greve (2000). A Rising Middle Power?: German Foreign Policy in Transformation, 1989–1999. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-312-22653-4.

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