[3] It was a Christian, pacifist, centre-left[2] party that opposed the re-armament of West Germany because it believed that the remilitarisation and NATO integration would make German reunification impossible, deepen the division of Europe and pose a danger to peace.

Most members were dissidents from the Christian Democratic Union or German Centre Party who disagreed with the foreign and intra-German policy of Konrad Adenauer's government.

It refused to monopolise Christian faith for anticommunist positions and advocated to fight antisemitism and religious prejudice.

On economic issues, the party refrained from taking a definite position given that its members' views were too diverse.

Most noteworthy, Gustav Heinemann and Johannes Rau, two of the only three SPD Presidents of Germany, had both been earlier GVP members.