History UsefulNotes / TheChancellorsOfGermany

* Johann Ludwig "Lutz" Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1945) -- National Socialist. Officially "Leading Minister of the acting Reich Government" and also foreign minister and finance minister under Dönitz. About a week in office, apart from finance minister, which he held since before Hitler's takeover. Since most of Germany was already occupied, his only significant act (as foreign minister) was to declare the unconditional surrender of the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Wehrmacht]]. At the 1949 Ministries Trial (which took place in Nuremberg just like the main ones in 1945-1946), he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His sentence was commuted in 1951.

* [[UsefulNotes/JosephGoebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels]] (1945) -- National Socialist. Nazi Germany's infamous Minister of "Public Enlightenment and Propaganda", whose name ended up a shorthand for the evils of totalitarian state propaganda. Hitler's political testament broke up the combined government office into President and Chancellor once again after his death. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz became the new ''Reichspräsident'', while Goebbels succeeded Hitler as ''Reichskanzler'' for a few hours before he took his own life as well (and those of his family) when UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}} was conquered by [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets the Red Army]].

* Paul Joseph Goebbels (1945) -- National Socialist. Nazi Germany's infamous Minister of "Public Enlightenment and Propaganda", whose name ended up a shorthand for the evils of totalitarian state propaganda. Hitler's political testament broke up the combined government office into President and Chancellor once again after his death. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz became the new ''Reichspräsident'', while Goebbels succeeded Hitler as ''Reichskanzler'' for a few hours before he took his own life as well (and those of his family) when UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}} was conquered by [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets the Red Army]].

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet and vice chancellor, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. The economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} starting in early 2022 put Germany in a difficult position, as the country was vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' didn't help). Nonetheless, while tending to that natural resource issue, Scholz's government responded to the invasion with financial, humanitarian and military material help to Ukraine (while initially lukewarm, it has since increased considerably).

The Federal Chancellor (''Bundeskanzler'') is directly elected by the parliament (''Bundestag''; the lower house) and runs the country indirectly through the ministers. His/her term is bound to that of the Bundestag and automatically expires with it. The Bundeskanzler can appoint and dismiss the Ministers through the Präsident. The German Basic Law is a bit vague on the relationship between chancellor and cabinet on the one had and chancellor and parliament on the other, but the important line "Der Kanzler bestimmt die Richtlinien der Politik"[[note]]"The chancellor decides the guiding principles of policy"[[/note]] is often seen as giving the chancellor the power of the final say over cabinet and has been interpreted very much that way by Adenauer or Schröder but interpreted as a more limited power by more collegial leaders like Erhard or Merkel. Unlike previous eras where the Kaisers and Presidents are much better known than the chancellors (save Bismarck and Hitler, of course), German chancellors from this era are household names while the Presidents are obscure figures. The two chancellors that were only in office for three years are somewhat less known, but Erhard is still famous for his tenure as minister of the economy. Unlike in the Weimar Republic, the chancellor ''cannot'' be sacked by the President on his own say-so and the Bundestag can ''only'' remove the chancellor by electing a new one at the same time - something which has been attempted twice and succeeded once in the history of the Bonn Republic (see below). The Bundestag can also declare with majority that they have lost confidence in the chancellor which has never ''genuinely'' happened but has been used thrice as LoopholeAbuse to get the president to dissolve Parliament early.

* UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck (1871-1890) -- Nicknamed "Der eiserne Kanzler" ("The Iron Chancellor"). Most famous for his ''{{Realpolitik}}'' that led to the unification of Germany (minus Austria), the creation of the welfare state[[note]]Despite being a staunch conservative, Bismarck essentially invented the welfare state... as a way of undercutting any attempts of Marxists and other socialists to appeal to the German populace.[[/note]] and his complex system of alliances to keep the peace in Europe by isolating France and being allies or neutral with all other powers. Most infamous for censorship laws, the anti-socialist law, and weakening the democratic organs of the German Empire via the constitution he wrote, a CultureWar against the Catholic church (''Kulturkampf'' - struggle about culture), and [[TheChessmaster his complex system of alliances to keep the peace in Europe]]. He opposed German colonialism, but ended up getting colonies for Germany anyway. Emperor Wilhelm I mostly let Bismarck do whatever he wanted. UsefulNotes/WilhelmII however, wanted to govern the country himself and forced Bismarck to resign after several disagreements over social reforms and anti-socialist laws. During his retirement, [[IgnoredExpert Bismarck]] warned the Emperor several times that his foreign policy would lead to war--and not the "good" kind where Germany wins quickly with minimal losses. He famously predicted both the trigger of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI ("some damned silly thing in the Balkans") as well as the year it broke out. In 2003, he was voted 9th greatest German of all time.

* UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck (1871-1890) -- Nicknamed "Der eiserne Kanzler" ("The Iron Chancellor"). Most famous for his ''{{Realpolitik}}'' that led to the unification of Germany (minus Austria), the creation of the welfare state[[note]]Despite being a staunch conservative, Bismarck essentially invented the welfare state... as a way of undercutting any attempts of Marxists and other socialists to appeal to the German populace.[[/note]] and his complex system of alliances to keep the peace in Europe by isolating France and being allies or neutral with all other powers. Most infamous for censorship laws, the anti-socialist law, and weakening the democratic organs of the German Empire via the constitution he wrote, a CultureWar against the Catholic church (''Kulturkampf'' - struggle about culture), and [[TheChessmaster his complex system of alliances to keep the peace in Europe]]. He opposed German colonialism, but ended up getting colonies for Germany anyway. Emperor Wilhelm I mostly let Bismarck do whatever he wanted. Wilhelm ''II'' however, wanted to govern the country himself and forced Bismarck to resign after several disagreements over social reforms and anti-socialist laws. During his retirement, [[IgnoredExpert Bismarck]] warned the Emperor several times that his foreign policy would lead to war--and not the "good" kind where Germany wins quickly with minimal losses. He famously predicted both the trigger of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI ("some damned silly thing in the Balkans") as well as the year it broke out. In 2003, he was voted 9th greatest German of all time.

In the German Empire, the Imperial Chancellor (''Reichskanzler'') was appointed by the Emperor (''Kaiser''). The parliament (''Reichstag'') could do jack shit about it and was mostly there to argue about the budget or wait for the chancellor to initiate a bill (which they couldn't do themselves). The Reichskanzler was technically a one-man administration, who appointed secretaries to assist him. Today, all of the chancellors of the German Empire are rather obscure outside of historical buff circles. Except for Bismarck, of course.

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet and vice chancellor, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. The economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} starting in early 2022 put Germany in a difficult position, as the country was vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' didn't help). Nonetheless, while tending to that natural resource issue, Scholz's government responded to the invasion with financial and military help to Ukraine (while initially lukewarm, it has since increased considerably).

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet and vice chancellor, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. The major hurdles his government has to face concern the economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} in 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' doesn't help), as well as the backlash to both the (comparatively to many other European countries) meager German support in military furnitures and vehicles to Ukraine (though it has ramped up since).

The reunified Germany continued to use the West German system (see above).

* Johann Ludwig "Lutz" Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1945) -- National Socialist. Officially "Leading Minister of the acting Reich Government" and also foreign minister and finance minister under Dönitz. About a week in office, apart from finance minister, which he held since before Hitler's takeover. Since most of Germany was already occupied, his only significant act (as foreign minister) was to declare the unconditional surrender of the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Wehrmacht]]. At the 1949 Ministries Trial (which took place in Nuremberg just like the main ones in 1945-1946), he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His sentence was commuted in 1951

* UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler (1933-1945) -- National Socialist. After being appointed, Hitler wasted no time and formed a coalition of anti-democratic/anti-communist parties, talked Hindenburg to give him more powers and used the Reichstag Fire to pass the Enabling Act (''Reichsermächtigungsgesetz''). In the ''Night of the Long Knives'' (aka Röhm-Putsch), Hitler's SS killed several SA competitors and drove many of his allies (including von Papen) out of politics. Upon Hindenburg's death, Hitler merged the offices of chancellor and president into one position called "(Supreme) Leader and Reich Chancellor" (''"Führer und Reichskanzler"''). As the years passed and the Nazis tightened their control over Germany, the trappings of parliamentary government faded away--the Cabinet met as a body for the last time in 1938, the Reichstag met for the last time in 1942, and in the later years Hitler was referred to only as ''Führer'', with ''Reichskanzler'' being dropped. [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany The rest]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is history]].