State election in Carinthia in 1921
The state elections in Carinthia 1921 were carried out on June 19, 1921 in the Austrian state of Carinthia . This was the first state election in Carinthia that was carried out under the general, equal suffrage. On the basis of this election, the new Carinthian Landtag (12th legislative period) and the Gröger regional government were formed.
Due to the referendum in Carinthia in 1920 , the first state elections after the First World War could not be held until 1921. Until then, the so-called provisional state assembly , which had already been replaced in other federal states after elections in 1919, had administered the state with the Lemisch I state government . The National Council election of 1920 could not be held in Carinthia on the actual date and was made up for in the state in parallel to this state election.
Election campaign & issues
Not least because of the National Council election that was made up at the same time, the election campaign was less influenced by country-specific issues than by fundamental ideological issues. The Greater German People's Party postulated three major worldviews: clerical (represented by the Christian Social Party ), Marxist (represented by the Social Democratic Workers' Party ) and völkisch or anti-clerical. She claimed the latter for herself. The Carinthian farmers' union was also strongly folkish, but did not support the anti-clerical claim of the GDVP. Nevertheless, until shortly before the election, both parties had formed an alliance in the state parliament under the name of the German Democratic Party . After the two parties fell out with each other, the Bauernbund joined the German National Socialist Workers' Party (DNSAP) and other splinter groups under the name of “Carinthian Wahlgemeinschaft”.
The common enemy of all parties (except of course the Social Democrats) was Marxism . The anti-Marxist criticism was also enriched with strongly anti-Semitic tones. The Social Democrats were infiltrated by Jews, and the Jews were responsible for the economic misery of the post-war period. Although the topic was most present in the Greater German People's Party, the Christian Socials were also very active in spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. The desire for a “connection” to Germany was also common well beyond the GDVP's borders. In order to create a demarcation from one another, the GDVP accused the Christian Socialists of a close relationship with the Carinthian Slovenes and thus instrumentalized the border conflict that had just been painstakingly settled, including an attack on the Carinthian Slovenes , which was emerging for the first time . However, the GDVP avoided conflicts with the “Carinthian electoral community”, to which there was the greatest overlap in terms of content and sometimes also personnel.
Results
In the run-up to the election, it was agreed to reduce the national assembly, which originally comprised 58 people, to 42 mandataries. In the election, the Social Democratic Workers' Party of German Austria (SDAPDÖ) achieved a relative majority with 19 seats. The second strongest parliamentary group was the “Carinthian Electoral Community” (KWG) with 9 mandates (including 7 farmers' union, DNSAP 1, trade list 1). The Christian Social Party (CS) had 8 seats in the Landtag, the Greater German People's Party (GDVP) had 4 seats and the Carinthian Slovenes had 2 seats. Corresponding to the settlement area of the Carinthian Slovenes, the party owed its entry into the state parliament to the good performance in the Völkermarkt district , where it was the second strongest force behind the Social Democrats with 32.90%. The Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ), however, failed to make it into the state parliament. At only 69.67%, the turnout was comparatively low.
The result brought a stalemate in the state parliament and thus a difficult government formation. The Social Democrats narrowly missed the absolute majority and could not find a partner among the “bourgeois” parties (CS, KWG, GDVP). These in turn quickly agreed on a joint state parliament club, which, however, did not represent an absolute majority. A collaboration with the Carinthian Slovenes was excluded for all parties. Ultimately, it was agreed that the social democrat Florian Gröger should become governor. However, Vinzenz Schumy (KBB) and Sylvester Leer (CS) were put by his side. Gröger was required to make decisions only in consensus with both of them, which undermined his office and brought with it great potential for conflict. The state government of Gröger therefore only lasted from July 22, 1921 to 1923.
Preliminary final result
| Political party | be right | Percentages | Mandates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Workers' Party of German Austria (SDAPDÖ) | 60,572 | 42.74% | 19th |
| Carinthian electoral community (KWG) | 28,714 | 20.26% | 9 |
| Christian Social Party (CS) | 25,908 | 18.28% | 8th |
| Greater German People's Party (GDVP) | 15,917 | 11.23% | 4th |
| Party of the Carinthian Slovenes (KSS) | 9,862 | 6.96% | 2 |
| Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) | 735 | 0.52% | 0 |
| total | 141,708 | 100.00% | 42 |
Preliminary final result by constituency
| Constituency | total | SDAPDÖ | KWG | CS | GDVP | KSS | KPÖ | |||||||||||||
| be right | Mandates | Stim. | % | Md. | Stim. | % | Md. | Stim. | % | Md. | Stim. | % | Md. | Stim. | % | Md. | Stim. | % | Md. | |
| Upper Carinthia | 54,547 | 16 | 24,583 | 45.07% | 8th | 11,441 | 20.97% | 4th | 10,437 | 19.31% | 3 | 5,499 | 10.08% | 1 | 2,484 | 4.55% | 0 | 103 | 0.19% | 0 |
| Lower Carinthia | 87.161 | 26th | 35,989 | 41.29% | 11 | 17,273 | 19.82% | 5 | 15,471 | 17.75% | 5 | 10,418 | 11.95% | 3 | 7,378 | 8.46% | 2 | 632 | 0.73% | 0 |
| Overall result | 141,708 | 42 | 60,572 | 42.74% | 19th | 28,714 | 20.26% | 9 | 25,908 | 18.28% | 8th | 15,917 | 11.23% | 4th | 9,862 | 6.96% | 2 | 735 | 0.52% | 0 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Dachs, Herbert; Dippelreiter, Michael; Schausberger, Franz: Radical phrase, electoral alliances and continuities. State election campaigns in Austria's federal states 1919 to 1932 (= publication series of the Research Institute for Political-Historical Studies of the Dr. Wilfried Haslauer Library No. 57 ). Böhlau, Vienna, ISBN 978-3-205-20498-5 , pp. 95 f . ( Google Books ).
- ↑ Law on the convening of the constituent state parliament . In: LGBl. No. 20/1919 ( onb.ac.at ).
- ^ Dachs, Herbert; Dippelreiter, Michael; Schausberger, Franz: Radical phrase, electoral alliances and continuities. State election campaigns in Austria's federal states 1919 to 1932 (= publication series of the Research Institute for Political-Historical Studies of the Dr. Wilfried Haslauer Library No. 57 ). Böhlau, Vienna, ISBN 978-3-205-20498-5 , pp. 99 f . ( Google Books ).
- ↑ a b Constituent Parliament of Carinthia. 2nd meeting on July 6, 1921
