Free Democratic Party

The Free Democratic Party is a liberal political party in Germany. The FDP was founded in 1948 by members of former liberal political parties in Germany before World War II, namely the German Democratic Party and the German People's Party. For most of the second half of the 20th century, when West Germany was mainly a two-party country, particularly from 1961 to 1982, the FDP as third party determined the balance of power in the Bundestag. It has been a junior coalition partner to both the CDU/CSU and Social Democratic Party.