Conclusion: Adenauer’s Party Leadership and the Reconstruction of Germany

Abstract

An evaluation of Konrad Adenauer’s leadership role within the CDU must begin with an understanding of the ways in which the fragmentation of the German political structure in 1945 hindered, and of the ways in which it favored, the growth of a new political party which was literally a product of its time. It necessitates, specifically, an understanding of the obstacles which had to be overcome in unifying a party which had its origins in the disparate groups within what were originally isolated zonal enclaves, and conceptually, an understanding of the role of unifying and decentralizing institutions during a reconstruction period. Such concepts suggest themselves when one considers that Germany’s post-war situation bore striking resemblances to earlier periods of disaster, when the destruction of centralized authority resulted in the fragmentation of the larger political system.