Concerning political parties, in AMZON the SPD continued to gain in preference over the CDU/CSU, although the gain was only marginal. In West Berlin the SPD got much higher preference than in AMZON. Since 1945 both parties lost favor among the population.
Economic Affairs. Popular opinion on economic matters mirrored the German economic recovery. The trend in confidence in the D-Mark was upward, gaining twenty points from July 1948 to February 1949. Approval of currency reform measures remained at a very high level, averaging about nine out of ten. Although money and high prices in general were great cause for concern, after June 1948 majorities felt that prices would go down. In January 1949, 52 per cent of the AMZON Germans claimed to be better off than they had been a year earlier, at which time 57 per cent had said they were worse off than a year prior to that time. Nonetheless, in February 1949, 57 per cent claimed that they could not make ends meet on their income.
In January 1948, more people thought that conditions would get worse than thought they would get better, but immediately after the currency reform almost three-fourths expected an improvement in the near future. By January 1949, however, it had again fallen, but only to approximately the two-thirds level.
Well over half the respondents continued to feel that a local black market existed to a serious degree and majorities thought that local officials ought to increase their efforts to do something about it.
Food. In the spring of 1946 six in ten AMZON Germans claimed that they did not get enough food to do their work well. By January 1949 the situation had been reversed and only four in ten made this claim. Confidence in the fairness of the food-rationing system also appeared to be enjoying an upturn following a decline from the very high point registered in the fall of 1945 and spring of 1946.
International Relations. Since February 1948 majorities of varying sizes favored a Western European Union. The consistently large proportion of respondents with no opinion indicated concern over WEU's effect on future war or peace; within a period of eight months the majority tendency was that it would lessen the chances for war but, at the same time, the fraction seeing war as a possible result grew. During 1948 there was a steady upward trend in awareness of the Marshall Plan; by December the figure had risen to 83 per cent in AMZON. A majority consistently thought that the prime motive for American aid to Europe was to prevent the spread of communism, although during 1948 belief in an altruistic motive rose nine points. Half the population feared that the United States would not adequately meet Europe's future needs; very few (about four per cent), however, ever stated that the United States would stop all assistance. Nearly seven in ten felt that the United States would have the most influence on world affairs during the next ten years. From August 1948 to February 1949, the proportion thinking that the Soviet Union would be the dominant world power nonetheless rose from 11 to 16 per cent. During the previous year, about six in ten people felt that there would be another world war in the next 25 or 30 years, but an optimistic three in ten said there would be a good chance to avoid it.
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