Kohl, Helmut, << HEHL moot >> (1930-2017), was chancellor of reunified Germany from 1990 to 1998. He had served as chancellor of West Germany from 1982 to 1990, and he remained as chancellor of united Germany following the country’s reunification. From 1949 to 1990, Germany had been divided into two countries—West Germany and East Germany.
Kohl played a major role in the reunification of Germany. He also supported close ties between West Germany and the United States and established new links with the Soviet Union. He was a strong supporter of a common currency for Europe. In domestic economic policy, Kohl worked to stimulate free enterprise. However, his government faced increasing problems after reunification. Unemployment rose, especially in the eastern German states. Neo-Nazis and other right-wing groups protested immigration and made attacks on foreigners. Some critics charged that Kohl moved too slowly in reacting to the attacks.
Kohl was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany, on April 3, 1930. He attended the University of Frankfurt and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Heidelberg University. Kohl served in the parliament of the West German state of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1959 to 1976. He was prime minister of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1969 to 1976. In 1976, he became a member of West Germany’s lower house of parliament. He was chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998.
Kohl became chancellor of West Germany in 1982. The upper house of parliament had voted to remove Helmut Schmidt from office and replace him with Kohl. In 1983 and 1987 elections, Kohl’s Christian Democratic Union won the most seats in parliament and formed a coalition government with the small Free Democratic Party. Kohl remained chancellor. West Germany and East Germany were reunified into the nation of Germany on Oct. 3, 1990, with Kohl as chancellor. Kohl’s coalition won a majority in the parliamentary elections of 1990 and 1994, and Kohl remained chancellor. But Kohl’s coalition failed to win a majority in 1998.
In 1999, Kohl admitted that the Christian Democratic Union engaged in illegal fund-raising while he was chairman. He retired from parliament in 2002. Kohl died on June 16, 2017.
