7th Socialist Government: 1963 - 1973

The 7th Socialist Government was formed on the 23rd of April 1963 and dissolved on the 10th of July 1973. The government was led by three Prime Ministers: Leonardo Müller from 1963 to 1970, returning as Prime Minister for a second time, Otis Berne from 1970 to 1972, and Klaus Schaffner from 1972 to 1973. In the 1963 Parliamentary Election the Socialist Party won a minority of seats in parliament and was forced to form a four-party government just to receive a majority of seats. This caused my problems over passing legislation, mainly with eh Workers' Party and when the 1967 Parliamentary Election came around they intended to form a government without the Workers' Party. They ended up removing the Workers' Party from government and bringing in the Centre Party but only two years later a snap election would be called and the original lineup of parties was returned as it was in 1963.

Around a year after thew 1969 Parliamentary Election Leonardo Müller would resign as Prime Ministers, citing exhaustion from politics as a reason for leaving. He was replaced by Otis Berne who was much younger than Müller at the age of 42 when he became Prime Minister. Berne did not last very ling in office as he resigned from his position as Prime Ministers almost two years later. After Berne resigned the Socialist Party elected a much older, Klaus Schaffner as Prime Minister. The Socialists noticed that the Hanover Nationals had been transitioning their traditionalist policies into more progressive conservative policies under the leadership of Günter Vogel. This increased the popularity of the Hanover Nationals who were noticed considered "reachable for young people" and so they appointed Schaffner to "instill traditional socialist values" as he was a good public speaker. In the 1973 Parliamentary Election the Socialists failed to form a government after the Hanover National Party and Free Conservative Party formed a majority government. After the election the Socialists would be forced out of government for another four elections, 17 years.

## Policies

### Domestic Policies

* Drinking Age Act 1964 allowed 18, 19, and 20 year-olds to drink and allowed drinking in public, outside of legal drinking venues.
* Compulsory Military Training Act 1964 ended compulsory military training.
* Free School Provisions Act 1965 introduced stationary and free school lunches for primary school students and free school text books for secondary school students provided for by the government.
* Education Act 1966 increased the school leaving age to 16.
* Racial Discrimination Act 1967 made it illegal to discriminate somebody on the grounds of the colour of their skin, ethnic background, and nationality.
* Countryside Paths Act 1969 encouraged local councils to create paths in the countryside for walking.
* Progressive Income Tax 1970 set up three rates of income tax: Low Rate, Average Rate, and High Rate that were set at 15%, 25%, and 40% at the time.
* Sex Discrimination Act 1970 mad it illegal to discriminate against somebody of the grounds of their sex.
* Nurseries Act 1971 introduced public preschools/nurseries for those aged 3 to 5 years old.
* Property Act 1972 banned landowners from entering your property and taking possession to cover unpaid rent.
* Crimes Act 1972 stopped the publications of the name of the person who committed a crime in the news until they were proven to have committed that crime. The act also straight up banned publicly revealing the name of the person who committed a crime if they were under the age of 13.
* Income Tax was gradually decreased between 1963 and 1967, down by 5%, and increased during 1968 to 1973 by around 3%.
* The national minimum wage was increased between 1963 and 1969 but decreased in 1970, 1971, and 1972, until seeing an increase in 1973.

### Foreign Affairs

The 7th Socialist Government's Prime Ministers: Leonardo Müller, Otis Berne, and Klaus Schaffner all opposed the Vietnam War but Müller would send a division of troops to Vietnam in 1966 to aid the United States but after four years, Prime Minister, Otis Berne, withdrew the divisions in Vietnam who had mostly been lost in the conflict.

## Demise

### Hanover New Nationals

The Hanover New Nationals were a group of members in the Hanover National Party that agreed on making the party more moderate and ushering in a new conservative idea, formed in the mid-60s. Their economics shifted from a division on the idea of nationalization to a anti-nationalization stance with most of the party finally agreeing to denationalize many industries in the country. The Hanover New Nationals wanted to reform social policy and put a stop to many traditionalist policies of past. The new policies they wanted to stop/introduce was: accepting the legalization of homosexuality, accepting a strict version of abortions, equalizing the rights of women, and increasing welfare spending. Their platform became a real threat to the Socialists when a New National member of the party called Günter Vogel who was a major advocate of the Hanover New Nationals movement and propelled them to a massive lead in opinion polls.

### 1973 Parliamentary Election

The 1973 Parliamentary Election was dominated by the Hanover New Nationals who were leading the Hanover National Party to victories in their campaigning. It was expected that the party would win a massive majority along with the Free Conservative Party but instead, they failed to win a massive majority but still a good one. The small majority didn't matter as the party would go on to win the 1977, 1981, 1985, and 1988 Parliamentary Elections, leading to a 17 year long government and the fear that the Socialists would never get elected again.