Rainer Candidus Barzel (20 June 1924 – 26 August 2006) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

The 1972 election is commonly regarded as an indirect referendum on Chancellor Brandt's Ostpolitik (Eastern Policy), which called for normalized relations with East Germany and the Soviet Union, which Barzel vehemently opposed.

Persuasive evidence subsequently emerged that two members of Barzel's caucus, Julius Steiner [de] (CDU) and Leo Wagner (CSU) had been bribed by the East German Ministry for State Security.

[3] The government, in consideration of the fact that it had lost its effective parliamentary majority and that parliamentary work was stalled, reacted by deliberately losing a vote of confidence, which then allowed President Gustav Heinemann to dissolve the Bundestag and call early elections, which Brandt and the SPD handily won.

It was the refusal by the parliamentary group to support a government bill for the accession of both German states to the United Nations.