FRG

The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) is the state established in 1949 in the western zones of occupied Germany, commonly referred to in English as West Germany during the Cold War. It bordered the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the east.

The FRG was founded under the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) adopted in May 1949 as a provisional constitution, with Bonn as seat of government. It established a parliamentary republic with a chancellor as head of government, a largely ceremonial president, a bicameral legislature (Bundestag and Bundesrat), and the Federal Constitutional Court.

The FRG pursued Western integration, joining NATO in 1955 and the European Economic Community in 1957, and developed a social market economy that spurred the Wirtschaftswunder. It maintained the Hallstein Doctrine in early years but pursued Ostpolitik in the 1970s, improving relations with East Germany and other Eastern bloc states.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German reunification in 1990, the FRG continued as the Federal Republic of Germany; Berlin was established as the capital, with the government gradually moving there and the Bundestag meeting in Berlin since 1999. The constitutional framework remained the Basic Law, amended to reflect a unified Germany.

Today, the designation FRG is primarily historical, used to distinguish West Germany before 1990 from the unified state. The country is a federal parliamentary republic with a social market economy, a member of NATO and the European Union, and a constitutional framework rooted in the Basic Law.