Demonstrations continue in the FRG. In April the German Communist Party (Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, DKP) is founded as a successor to the banned KPD. In September, a walkout by Dortmund steelworkers is the first of numerous strikes for wage increases.
The Grand Coalition dissolves in the fall, replaced by a social-liberal version—a government formed by the SPD and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The reform platform of new chancellor Willy Brandt promises a rapprochement between both German states on equal footing.
Due to the conflict brewing with China, Moscow also begins to send signals of détente toward the West, but this does not fit in with the hard-line dogmatism of the Ulbricht government in the GDR.
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the U.S. and the USSR begin in Helsinki; known as SALT I, this first round of talks lasts until 1972.
1969 More Democracy
“So that you can live in peace tomorrow too.” The SPD-FDP’s social-liberal coalition emerges victorious from the parliamentary election. The new chancellor, Willy Brandt, aims to “risk more democracy,” and announces comprehensive reforms.
October 7: Free German Youth parade with oversized portrait of Walter Ulbricht marking the twentieth anniversary of the GDR.
