West Germany by World War II to become the world's third-largest economy. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for a full alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union. When the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. Following the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, there was a
Vice-Chancellor of Germany in any other way. It is the President who asks the Vice Chancellor to fulfill the Chancellor's duties until the Bundestag elects a new Chancellor. This has happened only once: Vice Chancellor Walter Scheel was acting Chancellor for nine days in May 1974 between Chancellor Willy Brandt’s resignation and Helmut Schmidt’s election. The office was initially established by the 1878 "Stellvertretungsgesetz" (Deputation Act), which provided for the Imperial Chancellor appointing a deputy, officially known as "Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers" (General Deputy to the Imperial Chancellor). In addition to the general deputy, who would be responsible for all the affairs of