On this day in 1974–on May 16–Helmut Schmidt succeeded Willy Brandt as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Only days earlier, Guenter Guillaume, one of Willy Brandt’s personal assistants, had been exposed as an agent of the Stasi, the East German secret service. A disgraced Brandt had resigned in the wake of the espionage expose. Since that time, it is widely believed however, that the Guillaume affair was only the trigger, not the cause, for Brandt’s resignation. Willy Brandt’s leadership had also been plagued by scandals about serial adultery. And he had reportedly struggled with alcohol and depression.

From 1957 to 1966, Willy Brandt was the Mayor of West Berlin, a time when East-West tension peaked and ultimately led to the construction of the Berlin Wall. Brandt spoke out openly against Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s 1958 proposal that Berlin become a “free city.” His relationship with President John F. Kennedy was such that in early 1961, a year before elections in the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States were hoping that Brandt would replace Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor of West Germany. However, following the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961, Brandt was so disappointed in Kennedy that he criticized him publicly by stating, “Berlin expects more than words.”

A fellow Social Democrat, Helmut Schmidt, succeeded Brandt as the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. He successfully led his country through a worldwide economic recession and the oil crisis of the 1970s.

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on the home page of http://www.walled-in-berlin.com. Walled-In is a story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War.