Gerhard Schroeder - Federal Chancellor of Germany: Biography

One of Germany's most famous politicians of the early 21st century - Gerhard Schroeder (Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schroeder - so his full name sounds). His fate can not be called simple and easy. All that he managed to achieve in life, completely his credit.

The beginning of the life path

Gerhard was born in Mossenberg, in Lower Saxony (now it is the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia). The Schröder family belonged to the poorest sections of the population. As Gerhard himself once said, they were "antisocial elements".

Parents did not have an education. Before the Second World War Father Fritz worked as a day-laborer and received very little. Money constantly was not enough, because the family grew up with children. Three girls (Gunhilda, Heiderosa and Ilsa) and the boy Lothar were constantly in need. But this income ceased after the man's conscription for the war in 1940. Once Fritz managed to escape home for a short stay. It was at the end of 1943. After this visit, another hungry mouth appeared in the family - Gerhard was born on April 7, 1944. The wife was informed about the birth of her son in a letter he received in the summer. He did not succeed in seeing his son, a few months after his birth (October 4, 1944), Sr. Schroeder was killed in Transylvania near the small village of Cheanu-Mare (Romania).

Gerhard's mother Erika worked on the farm. To feed the children, took up any additional work: washed floors, washed clothes. After the war she remarried. My stepfather was a sick tuberculosis. In moments of relief I liked to drink hard. Do not die of hunger helped the handouts of good neighbors, social benefits and grandmother's pension.

School years

Gerhard Schroeder could not study at school for a long time. It was necessary to somehow make a living. Classmates often hurt a weak and small boy. Gerhard learned to use his advantages to mitigate the disadvantages. Force was not, but had the ability. The boy studied well for the joy of his mother. His knowledge, he put himself in the service: he gave write off to the strongest classmates in exchange for protection.

More bravely, Gerhard Schroeder felt with the teachers. Being confident in his convictions, he could spend hours arguing with them, proving his rightness. Noticing his oratorical abilities, even then the teachers predicted a great destiny for him.

From the age of fourteen the boy began to combine his studies and work. In 1958, he moved to the evening department and began earning money in a hardware store. The sale of a variety of metal things (nails, screws, staples, hinges, hooks, latches and any trifles necessary for repair) did not bring much profit. Receiving for a month of 150 marks, the persistent student aspired to receive the certificate. All his life spent among construction materials was not the limit of his dreams. He decided for himself and promised his mother that he would become a lawyer.

On the way to a dream

Gerhard Schroeder was able to fulfill his dream only in 22 years. At this age, he entered the Faculty of Law at the University of GцTttingen. Among the students from the well-to-do families of doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs, he was the only one who had to combine study with work. On the progress of this did not affect, he studied almost perfectly.

Even before joining the University of Göttingen (in 1963), Schröder became a member of the SPD. Work, study, political activity - all was managed by the purposeful student.

Professional activity

Having received the long-awaited diploma in 1971, the future German politician remains in his native university. He works at the department of law. In 1978 he began to practice private legal practice. A new place of life and work is the capital of Lower Saxony, the city of Hanover. Here he stayed until 1990. He began his career as a lawyer with the protection of his clients' rights in the simplest labor disputes. Gradually grew to participate in criminal cases. He became a well-known lawyer in Hannover and its environs.

It was this city that initiated the political career of a talented lawyer. Almost simultaneously with the formation of himself in the profession, he becomes the head of the "Young Socialists". This is the name of the youth movement of the party SPD.

Career in politics

Work on the legal path soon became close. In 1980, Gerhard Schroeder was elected first deputy to the Bundestag. Since that time, the person's biography is closely connected with the history of Germany. Already in 1986 he became the head of the faction of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in Lower Saxony. Three years later he took the place of a member of the Presidium of the SPD.

June 21, 1990 - a landmark date in the life of the politician. Schroeder Gerhard is elected Prime Minister of Lower Saxony.

The middle of the nineties brought a loss of votes for the SPD. Although Schröder Gerhard was nominated as a candidate for the post of foreign minister, the minister did not succeed. The party did not gain the required percentage of votes and did not participate in the formation of the government.

At the head of Germany

The 1998 elections showed the effectiveness and correctness of the conclusions made after the defeat at the previous elections. Having concluded an alliance with the Green Party, the Social Democrats came to power. The coalition was headed by Gerhard Schroeder. His promises to put an end to unemployment, to start economic development of the country, the electorate believed. Moreover, the German Federal Chancellor promised to modernize the economy by supporting entrepreneurs and maintaining the integrity of the social protection system.

The first term at the head of Germany became a test of the strength of the politician's convictions. Schroeder was forced to choose between two possible ways of development of the country. Neo-liberals proposed to carry out structural changes with curtailing social programs for the population. The left-wing Social Democrats insisted on increasing taxes for the richest sections of the population. It was on the first option that Schroeder Gerhard stopped, Minister of Economy Oscar Lafontaine followed the second path. This led to their rupture and the fall of the party's authority among the population.

In September 2000, after sixteen years, Helmut Kohl resigned. Schroeder is chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The next election in 2002 almost ended in a new defeat. Unfulfilled promises led to discontent with Schroeder's policy. Only a persistent confrontation with the US invasion of Iraq helped to get a minimal advantage over the CDU. Flooding in East Germany, effective government assistance to the victims also played a role in the victory of the SPD. Although such a policy led to stagnation in the relations of the FRG-USA, the reality of the formation of the Germany-Russia-France alliance appeared on the horizon.

The next year was the launch for Agenda 2010 (Agenda 2010). The main goal of the program was the liberalization of labor legislation. To reduce unemployment, a policy was introduced to stimulate the creation of jobs, reduced spending on pension and social benefits, and limited allocations for health care. His Chancellor fulfilled his campaign promise to fight unemployment: the number of unemployed fell to 8.8% of the total able-bodied population by the middle of 2007, which was about 3.7 million people.

The policy of the Federal Chancellor, not taking into account the wishes of the left-wing Social Democrats, led to their withdrawal from the party. In 2005, the Left Party was formed, consisting of the communists of the former GDR and the radicals emerging from the SPD. A year before that event, Schröder Gerhard, German Chancellor, had handed over the reins of the party to his successor Franz Müntefering.

In May 2005, the SPD was defeated in local elections. The 37.1% of the votes of the electors showed discontent with the policy of the party. And although the party rules in this land for the last thirty-nine years, the majority of the votes were in the CDU (44.8%). This arrangement led to the loss of the SPD of the majority in the Bundesrat, which was transferred to the union of the CDU-CSU. Therefore, Schroeder took the initiative to hold early elections in September 2005, a year before the expiration of his term.

The elections were scheduled for September 18. No one could predict their result. The Social Democratic Party and the CDU-CSU coalition won almost the same number of votes. Neither one nor the other bloc got the right to create a one-party government. The parties went to the talks and agreed to create a "big coalition" of the SPD-CDU-CSU. On October 10, 2005, Angela Merkel became Chancellor of Germany.

The SPD managed to obtain eight portfolios. The following ministries have become key under the leadership of the Social Democrats: finance, justice, foreign affairs, economic cooperation and development, labor, health, environmental protection, transport. The former chancellor rejected the offer to take any position in the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, announced the refusal of the mandate in the Bundestag.

Life after politics

Schroeder Gerhard (Chancellor of Germany in 1998-2005) moved away from politics and deepened into business. According to him, the age of sixty-one years can not be the reason for his dismissal from business. To sit at home, to irritate his wife and raise children, he does not intend. Therefore, after his resignation, he occupies the most important posts in international projects.

Schroeder took over the committee of shareholders of the operator of the construction of the North European Gas Pipeline on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Every year only Gazprom pays him a quarter of a million euros. Since 2006, he has been working as an advisor to the advisory board of the European Investment Banking Group Rothschild Croup.

Family: consistency in unpredictability

Gerhard Schroeder tried to create his own family four times. This fact alone indicates its unpredictability. Gerhard himself considers this to be a consistency.

The first marriage was the shortest, only four years. Student love passed quickly, Eva Shubah in 1972 filed for divorce. Soon Gerhard married again. The second wife, Anna Tashenmacher, withstood the family life with Schroeder for twelve years. In 1984, the family disintegrates in order to create conditions for a third attempt. The marriage with Hiltrud Hansen ended thirteen years later.

Now Schröder is married to Doris Köpf. This young journalist is younger than her husband at nineteen. From the first marriage she has Clara's daughter. Schroeder does not have any children. The couple decided to adopt two children. Both children from the Russian orphanage in St. Petersburg. Thus, in 2004, a three-year-old Victoria appeared in their family, and in 2006 - a small orphan Gregor.

A big family is fond of tennis. The father tries to instill in everyone the desire to learn foreign languages, primarily English, which is the language of business communication. Gerhard adores jazz, so even the youngest member of the Gregor family knows him.

Gerhard did not know his father, but his devotion to his ancestors is strongly developed. On the desktop, politics is always a picture of Fritz Schröder in the form of a Wehrmacht soldier. In 2004, Gerhard first visited the mass grave in Cheanu-Mar, where his father was buried. This happened when he became older than his father (at that time he was 60 years old).

An illiterate mother, who once did not believe in the words of her son, does not understand his life. He always tried to do everything for his mother.

Criticism of Schroeder's policy

The presence of discontent with the results of the activity of the politician speaks of him as an accomplished figure. Gerhard Schroeder, whose policy is full of contradictions, is no exception.

First of all, many leaders of the countries remained at a loss after the signing of the agreement on the NEGP (North European Gas Pipeline on the bottom of the Baltic Sea) between Russia and Germany. Alexander Lukashenko even called this project "the most stupid" by Russia. The head of one of the parties in Germany, Guido Westerwelle, suspected the outgoing chancellor of corruption. True, such an accusation was appealed against by Schroeder in court, on the decision of which one can not blame the ex-chancellor for personal interest in the NEGP.

The second policy direction that aroused resentment was the refusal of the Schroeder government in 2004 to support the US during their invasion of Iraq. Congressman Tom Lantos at the opening in Washington of a memorial dedicated to the victims of communism, in 2007, called the actions of Schroeder "political prostitution."

Voters began to express discontent after the publication in Bild. The addiction to expensive wine from France, the love of Cuban cigars (about fifty euros apiece), the worship of chic Italian costumes for twenty thousand euros pushed the electorate away once the beloved politician.

The election of 2005 to win Schroeder just could not. It would seem that it does not matter, but negatively voters reacted to the fact that the politician paints his hair.

Results of the seven-year rule

The results of the rule of Schroeder became ambiguous laws. It was with him that the inclusion of prostitution in the list of professions took place, same-sex marriages became legal. At the same time, women have achieved the right to serve in the Bundeswehr. And the famous law of Hartz IV in general caused bewilderment. Such an antisocial law could be expected from anyone, but not from a person who knew extreme poverty in childhood.

Positively, the residents of the country reacted to the bold confrontation of the US when they refused to take part in the war in Iraq through the lips of the Federal Chancellor. The slogan "Make the world stable" is being implemented in a planned way. Germany agrees all its foreign policy steps with the common European interests. Being a binding element of the EU, the country does not present itself outside the European context.

The ex-chancellor himself does not conceal a positive assessment of his life's path. From the half-starved, fatherless boy to the head of a united Germany, that is the result of his political career.