Federal elections were held in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

on 6 March 1983 to elect the members of the 10th

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

. The

CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties ( ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian democratic and conservative political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social U ...

alliance led by

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

remained the largest faction in parliament, with Kohl remaining Chancellor.

Issues and campaign

The SPD/ FDP coalition under Chancellor

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 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. He was the longest ...

was returned to power in the

1980 West German federal election Federal elections were held in West Germany on 5 October 1980 to elect the members of the 9th Bundestag. Although the CDU/CSU remained the largest faction in parliament, Helmut Schmidt of the Social Democratic Party remained Chancellor. Iss ...

. The coalition parties grew more and more apart over economic policies. Schmidt asked for and won a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

on 5 February 1982. The FDP cabinet ministers resigned on 17 September 1982 and the SPD formed a minority government. On 1 October, Schmidt and the SPD government were dismissed from office by a

constructive vote of no confidence The constructive vote of no confidence (, ) is a variation on the motion of no confidence that allows a parliament to withdraw confidence from a head of government only if there is a positive majority for a prospective successor. The principle is i ...

by the votes of the

Union parties and a majority of the FDP deputies in the

. The

Leader of the Christian Democratic Union The leader of the Christian Democratic Union (''Vorsitzender der Christlich Demokratischen Union'') is the most senior political figure within the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. Since 31 January 2022, the office has been held by Friedric ...

and Leader of the CDU/CSU Group in the Bundestag

succeeded Schmidt. The new coalition had a majority in the Bundestag but early elections were arranged to legitimize it. Neither the

itself nor the Chancellor has a right to dissolve the Bundestag, so Kohl did this by deliberately losing a vote of no confidence on 17 December 1982. Federal President Karl Carstens then dissolved the Bundestag and held new elections. The

Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-W ...

upheld the constitutionality of the dissolution. The FDP was split by its change of coalition partners. The party leadership under

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

and

Otto Graf Lambsdorff Otto Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff, known as Otto Graf Lambsdorff (20 December 1926 – 5 December 2009), was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He was the German Federal Minister of Econom ...

drove the new policy, but they were rejected by a minority under Gerhart Baum,

Günter Verheugen Günter Verheugen (; born 28 April 1944) is a German politician who served as European Commissioner for Enlargement from 1999 to 2004, and then as European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry from 2004 to 2010. He was also one of five vic ...

and

Ingrid Matthäus-Maier Ingrid Matthäus-Maier (born 9 September 1945 in Werlte) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Early life and education In her childhood Matthäus-Maier lived in Mülheim and went to school in Duisburg. Since 19 ...

. The FDP was defeated in the 1982 Hessian state election on 26 September 1982, losing half its voters by gaining only 3.1 percent of the vote and failing to enter the state parliament thanks to an SPD campaign against the FDP's "betrayal in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

". The FDP was defeated again and lost all of its seats in the 1982 Bavarian state election on 10 October 1982. Helmut Schmidt renounced his chancellor candidacy and was replaced by former Federal Minister of Justice

Hans-Jochen Vogel Hans-Jochen Vogel (; 3 February 192626 July 2020) was a German lawyer and a politician for the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as List of mayors of Munich, Mayor of Munich from 1960 to 1972, winning t ...

. The SPD encountered difficulties because of the emergence of the Greens. A major issue in this election was the armament question after the NATO Double-Track Decision, something the SPD was deeply split on.

Results

Results by state

Constituency seats

List seats

Post-election

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, gaining 55.7% of the vote and 55.8% of the seats, with

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

. This was the first election in which the Greens secured representation in the

, and the first which saw a fourth (fifth) party in the parliament since 1960.

Notes

References

Sources

The Federal Returning Officer

Psephos
{{German federal elections Federal elections in Germany 1983 elections in Germany Helmut Kohl March 1983 in Europe 1983 in West Germany