Abstract
The study aims to examine the behaviour and nature of the parliamentary opposition in the Federal Republic of Germany between 1969 and 1972, with special reference to the Ostpolitik of the first Brandt/Scheel government. An account of the conceptual background to the study of opposition in general, and of opposition in Germany and in the Federal Republic in particular, establishes the framework of the study, which seeks to give a detailed account of the plenary sessions of the 6th Bundestag relevant to the opposition to the Ostpolitik. Special attention is paid to the Bundestag members' perception of the roles of government and opposition, to their attitudes to conflict in the area of foreign policy and to the style of this conflict. At the same time a chronological account is provided of the progress of the SPD/FDP Ostpolitik and Deutschlandpolitik as it is revealed by the stenographic reports of the plenary sessions of the 6th Bundestag. The approach of the CDU/CSU to loyal opposition is analysed and an attempt is then made to characterize a specifically Vest German concept of opposition and to explain the ambivalent and confused attitudes shown towards it. The period chosen is particularly informative about these, due to the nature of the constitutional crises arising from the controversy over the Ostpolitik. The consequences of this experience for future political conflict and political stability in the Federal Republic are assessed.