WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:05.000 Bonn, on one of the most memorable
days in recent German history. 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:06.640 Chancellor Willy Brandt, 00:00:06.800 --> 00:00:09.600 winner of
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971, 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:14.500 and opposition leader Rainer Barzel at
the seventh Bundestag election. 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.960 They just finished
a short but intense election campaign. 00:00:25.060 --> 00:00:27.880 With an unprecedented
advertising campaign, 00:00:28.040 --> 00:00:31.920 the opposition tried to win back
the parliamentary majority. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:36.280 In the hectic of this election night, 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:40.320 which American senator Edward Kennedy
experienced up close, 00:00:40.480 --> 00:00:42.480 all discussions
focused on whether 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.760 the social liberal coalition
will once again have the chance 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:49.320 to continue its so far successful
policy on Germany and towards the East, 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:52.840 and its national
political reform programme. 00:00:56.360 --> 00:00:58.240 Minister of Foreign Affairs Scheel 00:00:58.400 --> 00:01:00.280 had also worked
towards a policy of détente 00:01:00.440 --> 00:01:02.440 that found world-wide recognition. 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:06.200 If only German voters
would honour this kind of politics. 00:01:07.440 --> 00:01:10.680 The CDU head office,
moments before the decision. 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:13.320 When opposition leader Barzel
enters the hall, 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:16.800 the election result
of 40 million Germans is certain. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.560 The CDU and CSU lost with
an unambiguity no one was expecting. 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.160 We will continue to fight to prevent disaster. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:28.480 We will continue to be the opposition. 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:32.120 Joy among the liberals
and the social democrats, 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:35.900 who now have a majority of
48 seats in the parliament. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000 Writers like Günter Grass 00:01:38.160 --> 00:01:41.800 and many scientists and journalists
assisted with voter initiatives. 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:44.360 For the first time
in Germany's post-war history, 00:01:44.520 --> 00:01:46.840 the Social Democrats
represent the largest faction 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:48.200 in the German Bundestag. 00:01:48.360 --> 00:01:50.520 The FDP, their coalition partner, 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:53.000 was able to stabilize itself
as the third power. 00:01:53.160 --> 00:01:57.800 This election has strengthened the new political center. 00:01:58.440 --> 00:02:01.460 I will do what is necessary 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.400 that in the next four years 00:02:04.500 --> 00:02:07.660 it will confirm itself 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:12.000 as the great binding power of our people. 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:17.400 Now we go back to work calmly, but with joy. 00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:20.840 For our Federal Republic of Germany, 00:02:21.720 --> 00:02:23.640 for peace, 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:26.280 dedicated to the words 00:02:26.440 --> 00:02:31.760 with which we started our way in the fall of 1969: 00:02:31.920 --> 00:02:35.800 We want to be a people of good neighbors 00:02:35.900 --> 00:02:38.720 both between ourselves and toward the outside. 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:43.200 This election not only
guarantees the continuity 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:44.960 of Germany's domestic and foreign policy. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.000 The high voter turnout 00:02:47.160 --> 00:02:49.360 of more than 90 percent illustrated 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:51.760 that the citizens of
the Federal Republic of Germany 00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:54.940 actively participate in politics. 00:02:55.480 --> 00:02:57.520 Copyright © 2012 TITELBILD, Berlin Subtitles: L. Corper et al.