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GLOSSARY
(See also Note on Political Parties, p. 13, and Biographies, pl. 15)
A
ADVISORY COUNCIL (Zonenbeirat) -
a German advisory body to the British
Control Commission 1946-1948, representing
the four Lander of the British Zone.
AHLEN PROGRAM
platform  adopted at Ahlen (Westphalia) by
the British-Zone CDU in February 1947. It
opposes both private and state capitalism and
advocates a greater share for labor in the
management of basic industries.
ALTSPARER
owner of prewar savings accounts who saved
money for many years.
AUSWARTIGES AMT -
German Foreign Office.
B
BADEN (formerly Stidbaden)
Land in the French Zone, pop. 1,300,000.
BASIC LAW -
the provisional Constitution of the German
Federal Republic, adopted in May 1949 at
Bonn.
BAVARIA (Bayern) -
largest Land in the American Zone, pop.
9,350,000.
BAVARIAN PEOPLE'S PARTY (Bayrische Volks-
partei) -
Catholic party, Bavaria's biggest 1920-1933,
sister party of Zentrum.
BAYRISCHER BAUERNVERBAND
the Bavarian Farmers' Association.
BAYERNPARTEI (BP) -
the strongly federalistic Bavarian Party (see
p. 13).
BERECHTIGUNGSWESEN -
a system in which certain rigid and partly
irrelevant academic qualifications, or a back-
ground of non-commissioned officer status
during a twelve-year army enlistment, are
almost indispensable for civil-service ap-
pointm-ents which then guarantee lifetime
tenure and special social prerogatives.
BIZONAL AREA
Area of the combined US and British Zones
of Occupation (1946-1949).
BIZONAL ECONOMIC ADMINISTRATION -
supreme German economic agency in com-
bined Anglo-American Zones from 1947 to
1949.
BIZONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL
see Economic Council.
BIZONAL LANDERRAT -
see Landerrat, Bizonal
BLOCK POLITICS
Soviet practice of making all political parties
and semi-political groups part of a catchall
organization dominated by Communists;
specifically, the forced cooperation of all
political parties and semi-political groups in
the Soviet Zone of Germany.
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BONN
provisional capital of the German Federal
Republic. University town in the British
Zone, pop. approximately 110,000.
BP -
see Bayernpartei.
BREMEN -
an American Zone enclave in the British
Zone of Occupation, and one of the four
Lander in the American Zone, pop. 550,000.
BRIDGE THEORY -
the thesis that Germany, rather than ranging
herself on the side of the Western, or Eastern
powers, should strive to form a "neutral"
bridge between them.
BUND (Federation) -
the Germain Federal Republic.
BUNDESRAT (Federal Council)
Upper House of the Federal Parliament. Its
forty-three delegates are appointed by the
Lander Governments.
BUNDESREPUBLIK (Federal Republic)
the Western German state, consisting of the
eleven Lander of the US, British and French
Zones.
BUNDESTAG (Federal Parliament) -
Lower House of the Federal Parliament. 402
representatives were elected on 14 August
1949, approximately 60 per cent by majority
vote in single districts, about 40 per cent on
the basis of proportional representation Land
lists.
C
CDU/CSU (Christlich-Demokratische Union I Christ-
lich-Soziale Union)
the major Government Party, composed of
the Christian Democratic Union in ten.
Lander and the Christian Social Union of
Bavaria (see p. 13).
CENTER PARTY (Zentrum)
now a small Catholic party in the British
Zone, to the left of CDU/CSU (see p. 13); be-
fore 1933, when iCDUJCSU did not exist, one
of three major parties and the sole Catholic
one, outside Bavaria.
COMMUNIST PARTY (KPD)
see p. 13
CONSTITUTION
The provisional Constitution or Basic Law of
the German Federal Republic adopted in
May 1949 at Bonn.
COUNCIL OF STATES -
see Ltinderrat.
D
DEMOCRATIC PARTY (Deutsche Demokratische
Partei) -
pre-Hitler  middle-of-the-road  democratic
party, one of FDP's predecessors changed its
name to State Party (Deutsche Staatspartei)
in 1929.