West Germany: Family Feud

Schmidt's luck turns sour

Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's re-election last October reaffirmed his political strength in West Germany and his stature as one of the leaders of the Western alliance. Recently, however, Schmidt has been faced by mounting problems that could pose the most serious challenge to his leadership in nearly seven years as Chancellor. Last week, amid flaring controversies within his own Social Democratic Party (S.P.D.), he hastily called an emergency meeting of party leaders. "We've got to get this mess under control fast," Schmidt told aides. "Too much is at stake."

The Chancellor's quandary is how to discipline the increasingly...