Germany
The expression Gaullist has also been used in the politics of the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1950s and 1960s. In the governing Christian Democratic party some wanted to strengthen the ties with the United States, the Atlantiker (Atlanticians), others wanted to build up a European counterweight, with the help of France, the Gaullists.
The most notable Gaullist was chancellor Konrad Adenauer, an outstanding Atlantiker his minister of foreign affairs, Schröder. A typical Atlantiker was Protestant and believed in free market economy, a typical Gaullist was Catholic and tended toward Rhine capitalism with its more regulated markets and state intervention.
A problem to the Gaullists has been that their concept of foreign relationships was based on a strong European integration, which needed support from France. French president Charles de Gaulle actually was reluctant to give more power to European institutions and advocated instead a less tight Europe of the nations.
After de Gaulle's retreat in 1969 and the end of Christian Democratic government in Germany the same year, the distinction lost its prominence. Anyway, even Gaullists always believed that the relationship to the United States was in general the most important.
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