The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Christian Social Union

(CSU; Christlich-Soziale Union), a bourgeois political party in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), in Bavaria. The CSU was founded in 1945. It is allied with the Christian Democratic Union, with which it forms a united bloc in the Bundestag, but the CSU maintains full organizational independence. Members of the CSU head the Landtag of Bavaria.

From 1949 to 1969, the CSU was included in the coalition governments of the FRG. The political orientation of the leaders of the CSU reflects the interests of the most reactionary circles of monopoly capital in the FRG; these circles oppose détente and the FRG’s normalization of relations with the European socialist countries. The CSU, which has been an opposition party since 1969, has adopted strongly negative positions toward the FRG’s treaties with the USSR, the Polish People’s Republic, and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, as well as the treaty that established the basis for relations between the FRG and the German Democratic Republic.

As of 1977, the CSU had 155,000 members. The party chairman is F. J. Strauss.

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References in periodicals archive

In the face of waning German business activity, the steering committees of the Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union plan to sound out "how the German economy can be stabilized and how trust can be restored in the future."

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It is expected to fare well in the election in Bavaria, long a stronghold of the conservative Christian Social Union, a member of the Chancellor Angela Merkel's federal coalition government.

'United against racism', Germans stage mass protest against far right

Merkel's conservatives, which include her CDU and their Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party, have seen support slide since last year's election.

Merkel's conservatives rule out working with Germany's far-right AfD

That has been postponed, but Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and Seehofer's Christian Social Union (CSU) hope to find a compromise on the plan this week, Seehofer said.

Who are the 'Willing' in Central Europe - Axis of the 1930s coming back ?

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, the leader of Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), told reporters after five hours of talks on Monday that he would maintain his post, saving Germany's fragile government coalition.

Merkel, Rebel Minister Forge Agreement, Ensures Coalition Cabinet

by Carl BildtGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel talks to parliamentary group leader of the CDU/CSU faction Volker Kauder and parliamentary group leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) Alexander Dobrindt during a German lower house of parliament Bundestag session in Berlin, Germany, June 28, 2018.

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The announcements came in a letter Merkel wrote to leaders of her Christian Democratic Union's Bavaria-only sister party, the Christian Social Union, as well as to her junior coalition government partner, the Social Democrats, after she attended a two-day EU summit in Brussels.

German chancellor says she's secured migrant deal

Her ultra-conservative coalition partner Christian Social Union (CSU) has pushed for unilateral measures and gave Merkel an end-of-the-month deadline.

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Commenting on the study findings, the Green party said the 'grand coalition,' established by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU) and German Social Democrats (SPD), had chosen to hold a special Cabinet meeting on the peak of the Zugspitze on Monday while failing to tackle climate change.

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Germany: Bavaria Orders Christian Crosses in State Buildings

Summary: More than five months after Germany's federal election last September, a new grand coalition government -- comprising Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) -- has finally been formed.

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