Failure

June 8, 1972

My friends have betrayed me. Erich Mende, Heinz Starke, Siegfried Zoglmann, Herbert Hupka, Wilhelm Helms, Knud von Kuhlman-Stumm, and Gerhard Kienbaum from the Social Democratic Party and the Federal Republic Party have all turned against me. Why? Why have people who had originally supported me so vigorously before changed their minds? It was all due to the fact that my Ostopolitik policy had led to the ruining of the coalition in Bundestag. In May 1972, the opposition CDU believed it had the majority in the Bundestag (German parliament) and demanded a vote on a motion of no confidence (Misstrauensvotum). Had this motion passed, Rainer Barzel would have replaced me as chancellor. To everyone's surprise, the motion failed. The margin was extremely narrow (two votes) and much later it was revealed that one or perhaps two members, namely Julius Steiner and Leo Wagner, of the CDU had been paid off by the Stasi of East Germany to vote for me. Not only were my fellow socialists switching sides on me, but I was also being accused of bribing others in order to save my position. Though I remained chancellor, I had lost my majority. Subsequent initiatives in the Bundestag, most notably on the budget, failed. Because of this stalemate, the Bundestag was dissolved and new elections were called. To counter any notions about being sympathetic to communism or soft on left-wing extremists, I implemented tough legislation that barred "radicals" from public service ("Radikalenerlass"). The feelings of security and friendship have both left me.