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In an effort to ease the tensions that have contorted Central Europe since the end of World War II, they are committed to launch bold new initiatives toward the Soviet Union and its East European allies. At home, the Socialists promised to bring an innovative approach to problems of university reform, youthful unrest and individual rights. Among their first acts is likely to be an upward revaluation of the muscular German mark, probably fixing its price around the 26.50 level to which it has floated since it was cut loose from its old 250 price the day after the election (see BUSINESS). Also expected swiftly is ratification of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty—a move that could persuade several smaller, weaker countries to sign the document.
A change of power was bound to be beneficial for West Germany. Twenty years in office is a long time for any party, especially in Germany, with its authoritarian heritage. Furthermore, West Germany has lacked an effective political opposition since the Socialists joined Chancellor Kurt Kiesinger's Grand Coalition three years ago.
There were also risks. Willy Brandt's partnership with the Free Democrats might prove precarious from a practical standpoint because the Free Democrats are a schizophrenic party. It was formed in 1948, composed largely of business and professional men who found the C.D.U. too "black" or Catholic and the S.P.D. too "red" or socialistic. At first the F.D.P. was dominated by a right wing of nay-sayers—businessmen who thought there was too much welfare spending, Protestants wary of the C.D.U.'s heavy Catholic influence, nationalists who felt Bonn was too pro-American. Scheel belonged to the Free Democrats' younger left wing, and when he took over 21 months ago, he set about transforming party policy from right of the C.D.U. to left of the S.P.D. on a number of important issues. Since there are still conservatives in his party that resent the leftward move, the party could conceivably break apart under the strain of government and leave Brandt stranded without a majority in the Bundestag.
There is some question whether Brandt will make a good Chancellor. Reserved and thin-skinned, Brandt may find the perpetual pummeling that high office brings unbearable. Furthermore, his own past—his illegitimate birth, his "defection" from Nazi Germany and acceptance of Norwegian citizenship—turns many Germans from him. Those very credentials, however, enable him to speak far more candidly about Germany's past than Kiesinger, who had been a Nazi official. As mayor of West Berlin and later as Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister in the Grand Coalition, Brandt performed admirably. In Berlin, he coolly faced down the Soviets during the 1959 crisis, when Nikita Khrushchev threatened the city's links to the West. As Bonn's foreign policy expert since 1966, he began an Ostpolitik diplomacy, seeking new amity with the East that his government is certain to emphasize with new vigor.