Konrad Adenauer

German politician. Born in Cologne. Originally a lawyer. Joined the Center Party in 1906 and served as mayor of Cologne from 1917 to 1933. During this time he was a member of the Prussian House of Peers from 1917 to 1918 and President of the Prussian Privy Council from 1920 to 1933. At the time he advocated the separation of the Rhineland from Prussia, and as a leader of the Center Party he had great political influence, competing with Brüning for the position of Prime Minister at one point. With the establishment of the Nazi regime in 1933, he was stripped of his mayoral position and all other government positions in Cologne, and in 1944 he was briefly imprisoned in connection with the July 20 incident, the attempted assassination of Hitler. In 1945, he briefly returned to mayorship after the American occupation of Cologne, and in the same year he participated in the founding of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and in 1946 he was elected president of the CDU in the British occupied territories. In 1948, he served as chairman of the parliamentary council (Constituent Assembly) established in the US, UK and French occupied territories, and in 1949 he became the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (formerly West Germany). During his 14 years of rule, known as the "Adenauer Era," he consistently adopted a pro-American and anti-Communist stance, and with the aid of the US he rebuilt West Germany economically and militarily, while working to establish its international status. He also promoted a policy of cooperation with France and other Western European countries. However, he maintained a "position of strength" towards the former Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries, which led to him being called a "revanchist" by the Eastern Bloc countries. He resigned as Chancellor in 1963, and as President of the CDU in 1966.

[Mitsuo Fukaya]

"Adenauer Memoirs I and II, translated by Masamori Sase (1968, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの政治家。ケルン生まれ。弁護士出身。1906年中央党に入党し、1917～1933年ケルン市長。この間1917～1918年プロイセン貴族院議員、1920～1933年プロイセン枢密院議長を務めた。当時、ライン地方のプロイセンからの分離を主張し、また中央党指導者として一時はブリューニングと首相の地位を争うなど政治的に大きな影響力をもった。1933年ナチ政権成立とともにケルン市長職およびいっさいの官職を奪われ、1944年には、ヒトラー暗殺未遂事件（七月二〇日事件）との関連で短期間投獄された。1945年アメリカ軍のケルン占領とともに一時ケルン市長に返り咲き、同年キリスト教民主同盟（CDU）の創設に参加し、1946年イギリス占領地区CDUの総裁に選出された。1948年米英仏占領地区における議会的協議会（制憲議会）の発足とともにその議長を務め、1949年ドイツ連邦共和国（旧西ドイツ）の初代首相に就任した。「アデナウアー時代」とよばれる治政の14年間、一貫して親米・反共の姿勢をとり、アメリカの援助を得て西ドイツを経済的、軍事的に復興させるとともに、その国際的地位の確立に努め、またフランスその他西欧諸国に対しては協調政策を推進した。しかし、旧ソ連その他東側諸国に対しては「力の立場」を崩さず、このため東側諸国からは「報復主義者」とよばれた。1963年首相を辞任し、1966年CDU総裁も辞任した。

［深谷満雄］

『佐瀬昌盛訳『アデナウアー回顧録Ⅰ・Ⅱ』（1968・河出書房新社）』

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