Sigmar Welskopf-Henrich
Sigmar Ritter von Welskopf-Henrich | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait of Sigmar Welskopf-Henrich | |
| 33rd Premier of Werania | |
| In office 22 July 1969 – 7 March 1972 | |
| Monarch | Otto X |
| Preceded by | Rudolf Wiefelspütz |
| Succeeded by | Johannes Zollitsch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 June 1903 Bayhess, Wolfsfled, Werania |
| Died | 16 October 1986 (aged 83) Geifhagan, Cislania, Werania |
| Political party | OVP, NKP |
| Spouse | Karla Schmerling |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Imperial Academy of Wiesstadt |
Other offices held
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Sigmar Wilhelm Welskopf-Henrich (12 June 1903-16 October 1986, aged 83) is a Weranian politician who served as Premier of Werania from July 1969 to his resignation in March 1972 during the 1972 Weranian Protests. Coming from the Conservative and later National Consolidation Party's Welskopf-Henrich served as a minister in the Weranian government from 1959 to 1969 before becoming premier.
Born into a landowning family, Welskopf-Henrich during the Great War and its aftermath made a small fortune helping run a private investment bank which post-war would give low-interest credit in funding reconstruction. In 1938 he was elected to the House of Deputies as a member of the Conservative Party, being appointed as Minister of Trade and Customs in 1946 in the cabinet of Franz Rössler. Welskopf-Henrich was a supporter of the Kirenian-Weranian War and so resigned from cabinet in 1950 following the Colonels putsch although did remain in his post during the short-lived interim government of Johannes von Günther. Welskopf-Henrich returned to government in 1955 when Konstantin Vogel appointed him Minister of Agriculture, retaining the role until 1960 when he was moved to become Minister of Education. In 1963 Welskopf-Henrich became Minister of the Economy. Under his tenure as Economy Minister Welskopf-Henrich supported the growth of industrial conglomerates and an expansionary fiscal policy, continuing that advocacy after becoming Finance Minister in 1967.
In 1969 Welskopf-Henrich was elected as NKP leader succeeding Rudolf Wiefelspütz and thereby became premier. Welskopf-Henrich's tenure was for the most part uneventful with his focus being on continuing Werania's high economic growth, a slow rapprochement with Etruria and Soravia and maintaining the conservative pillars that had underpinned post-war Werania. However the lack of social reform despite an increasingly dominant cultural trend of counter-culture led to discontent with society - when the government introduced new control over university curriculum's this led to a series of protests that morphed into a general movement for more social justice, precipitating a wildcat general strike. The country briefly came to an economic standstill with the government fearing revolution; as a result Welskopf-Henrich resigned as premier whilst calling a snap election in March 1972. Although the government would easily win such an election it marked the end of Welskopf-Henrich's time in active politics, with Welskopf-Henrich retiring to the House of Lords. He would sit in the body until ill health led to him to leave the House of Lords in 1980 dying in 1986.
Welskopf-Henrich is largely seen as a transitional figure in Weranian history. His paternalistic conservatism meant that he is seen by many to have been part of the old-fashioned, out-of-touch NKP leaders who ruled the country during the 1960's which led to the 1972 protests. However some more recent historians have defended him on the grounds that the image of Welskopf-Henrich as an anachronistic throwback was largely manufactured by left-wing critics in the 1960's and that his legacy is more nuanced. Welskopf-Henrich was the last member of the Conservative Party to serve as premier (albeit during his premiership he was a member of the National Consolidation Party; the KP had merged into the NKP in 1957).
