TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > History > Christian Democracy - From Fascism to the CDU
Rise of Fascism represented a major setback for Christian Democracy
- Totalitarian nature of fascism: i.e.: in Germany Churches were brought under tight Gov. control, curriculum of Catholic schools was supervised.
- In the early years of fascism the Church seemed willing to support the dictators (seen as a means of preventing the spread of atheistic communism) i.e.: in Italy agreements w/ Mussolini, in Germany it only criticized the Nazi regime in 1937! (Encyclical "With Burning Faith")
The development of Christian Democracy after 1945
After WWII, CD developed rapidly and became a major political force. The reasons for this are:
- Added the 'appeal of the absolute' to the traditional appeal of a moderate political party.
- Atheistic regimes had been totally discredited (i.e.: Germany)
- Seemed to offer the possibility of real change w/out recourse to either the extremes of left or right.
- No longer seen as purely Catholic.
- Provided an element of cohesion for the groups of the center of the political spectrum.
- Benefited from active support of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church (of influence in areas where the majority of the pop. was Catholic: Italy, southern Germany, Belgium)
- In the former Axis states the CD benefited from the support of the occupying powers (i.e.: in Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union in the Federal Republic of Germany
Reasons for the Success of the C.D.U.
- Discrediting of the two extremes.
- Support from the Allies.
- Skillful leadership (Adenauer in 1950s and Kohl in 1980-90s)
- Part of a wider trend towards conservatism.
- Rapid economic recovery of Federal Republic in 1950s.
- C.D.U. played down the Catholic origins to allow for a wider appeal.
- Successful programmes of 'social equalization' (gave workers many rights.)
- Electoral law prevented fragmentation and favored the larger political parties of the center b/c party w/ under 5% of nationwide votes is not entitled to any seats in the parliament.
Christian Democracy in Italy
CD held power from 1948 until a series of scandals in early 1990s. The main reasons for their success were:
- Very wide political base (appealed to all levels of society)
- Received considerable support from the Vatican and C.C.
- Enjoyed overwhelming support in rural south with its religious and conservative population.
- Fear of communism (which seemed as the only real alternative to the CDs).
- Supported by allies in the first elections (i.e.: victory for the left in 1948 might have meant being excluded from the Marshall Aid programme)
- Truman would not tolerate a communist Gov. in Italy and the communist were precisely the only alternative to the CDs.
From 1953 onwards the CDs are obliged to seek coalition partners to remain in power. They were able to survive until 1990s with the following consequences:
- Lack of stability in Gov. (i.e.: 1948-1988 on change of Gov. per year on average)
- Real issues not dealt with b/c attempts to do so would threaten the coalition Gov.Apathy toward the political process and contempt for politicians.
- Economic drift: part of Italy's economy became "unofficial" b/c of the lack of firm Gov.
- Rise of the communist party but its failure to achieve power nationally.
The Collapse of Christian Democracy in Italy
(Main reasons for - 1990s)
- Failed to deliver real changes.
- Widespread corruption (i.e.: involvement w/ Mafia)
- Stagnation of the economy: Italy lags behind its European partners / growing divide between North and South.
- Belief that only a total reorganization of the system would enable progress to be made (b/c of corruption and killings by Mafia)
- Constitutional problems (i.e.: proportional representation system / coalition governments / fragmentation)
How Christian are Christian Democrats?
Christian faith doesn't have the same close relationship between Church and state as in Islam, therefore a high degree of intermixing of religion and law or constitution was not expected.
However, there were some areas of involvement which were:
- Moral issues - esp. related to marriage, divorce and abortion (i.e.: in Ireland)
- Control of education - still issue in France where the solution was government funding for 'private' Catholic schools.
- Funding of Churches - i.e. in Germany recognized Churches receive Gov. funding.
- Social programmes - i.e. Church speaking out against Gov. plans to cut benefits or programmes for low-income earners.
- Direct constitutional links (sometimes) i.e. in Britain, King or Queen is the head of the Church of England and must be Protestant.
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