Page "Willy Brandt" Paragraph 24

Brandt, however, represented a figure of change, and he followed a course of social, legal, and political reforms.

In 1969, Brandt gained a small majority by forming a coalition with the FDP.

In his first speech before the Bundestag as the Chancellor, Brandt set forth his political course of reforms ending the speech with his famous words, " Wir wollen mehr Demokratie wagen " ( literally: " We want to take a chance on more Democracy ", or more figuratively, " Let's dare more democracy ").

This speech made Brandt, as well as the Social Democratic Party, popular among most of the students and other young West German baby-boomers who dreamed of a country that would be more open and more colorful than the frugal and still somewhat-authoritarian Bundesrepublik that had been built after World War II.

However, Brandt's Neue Ostpolitik lost him a large part of the German refugee voters from East Germany, who had been significantly pro-SPD in the postwar years.