Reichstag election 1912
The Reichstag election in 1912 was the election for the 13th German Reichstag . It took place on January 12, 1912. It was the last election of the Reichstag before the First World War and the last in the German Empire at all.
Overall result
The renowned advanced banker John Kaempf (s. O.), President of the German trading day , was in the ballot only extremely short of nine votes ahead of the relatively unknown Essen Social Wilhelm Düwell prevail (1866-1936). As in 1907 and 1903, Kaempf won the only Berlin constituency that did not belong to the SPD. He was from 1912 until his death in 1918 president of the Reichstag .
The turnout was around 85%, about as high as in the 1907 Reichstag election .
The clear election winner was the SPD . It received around 4.25 million votes (34.8%) and thus more than ever before a party in the Reichstag elections . Despite the distortions caused by the majority voting system and the disadvantage caused by the constituency that has not changed since 1871, it was the largest parliamentary group for the first time with 110 members. Only the National Liberal Party won more constituencies in the first Reichstag elections .
The second largest parliamentary group was the center with 91 members, although it received less than half as many votes as the SPD.
Conservatives and national liberals, who had supported the government of Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg , clearly lost their votes and mandates. The Progressive People's Party , which was founded in 1910 as an amalgamation of several left-liberal parties, also lost several seats compared to its predecessors. She had made election agreements with the SPD and in some cases led a joint election campaign with the Social Democrats.
| Political Direction | Parties | Votes | Sit in the Reichstag | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in millions | proportion of | compared to 1907 | absolutely | proportion of | compared to 1907 | ||||
| conservative | German Conservative Party (DKP) | 1.042 | 8.5% | −0.9% | 43 | 10.8% | −17 | ||
| German Reich Party (DRP) | 0.367 | 3.0% | −1.2% | 14th | 3.5% | −10 | |||
| liberal | Right- | National Liberal Party (NLP) | 1.663 | 13.6% | −0.9% | 45 | 11.3% | −10 | |
| Left- | Progressive People's Party (FVP) 1) | 1.497 | 12.3% | +1.3% | 42 | 10.6% | −7 | ||
| Catholics | Center Party | 1.997 | 16.4% | −3.0% | 91 | 22.9% | −14 | ||
| Socialists | Social Democrats (SPD) | 4,250 | 34.8% | + 5.9% | 110 | 27.7% | +67 | ||
|
National minorities regional parties |
Poland | 0.442 | 3.6% | −0.4% | 18th | 4.5% | −2 | ||
| Alsace-Lorraine | 0.162 | 1.3% | + 0.4% | 9 | 2.3% | +2 | |||
| German-Hanoverian Party (DHP) | 0.085 | 0.7% | ± 0.0% | 5 | 1.3% | +4 | |||
| Danes | 0.017 | 0.1% | ± 0.0% | 1 | 0.3% | ± 0 | |||
| Others | Peasant parties 2) | 0.234 | 1.9% | + 0.2% | 7th | 1.8% | −2 | ||
| Anti-Semite parties 3) | 0.300 | 2.5% | −0.6% | 10 | 2.5% | −11 | |||
| Others | 0.152 | 1.2% | −0.8% | 2 | 0.5% | ± 0 | |||
| total | 12.208 | 100% | 397 | 100% | |||||
Notes :
- 1) Founded in 1910 by the merger of the Free People's Party (FVp) , Free Free People's Association (FVg) and German People's Party (DtVP) . The information on changes compared to the Reichstag election in 1907 refer to the cumulative results at that time
- 2) Seats (with change to 1907): Bund der Landwirte (BdL) 3 (−5), Bavarian Farmers 'Union (BB) 2 (+1), German Farmers' Union (DBB) 2 (new)
- 3) Seats (with change from 1907): German Reform Party (Ref) 3 (−3), Christian Social Party (CSP) 3 (± 0), German Social Party (DSP) 2 (−6), other 2 ( −2)
Elected MPs by constituency
In each of the 397 constituencies , a member was elected by absolute majority voting. If no candidate achieved an absolute majority in the first ballot, a runoff election was held between the two best-placed candidates.
Prussia
Bavaria
Saxony
Württemberg
to bathe
| Grand Duchy of Baden | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Constance , Überlingen , Stockach | Carl Diez | center | |
| 2 | Donaueschingen , Villingen | Josef Duffner | center | |
| 3 | Waldshut , Säckingen , Neustadt in the Black Forest | Ernst Adolf Birkenmayer | center | |
| 4th | Loerrach , Muellheim | Ernst Blankenhorn | NLP | |
| 5 | Freiburg , Emmendingen | Gerhart von Schulze-Gaevernitz | FVP | |
| 6th | Lahr , Wolfach | Constantin Fehrenbach | center | |
| 7th | Offenburg , Kehl | Leopold Koelsch | NLP | |
| 8th | Rastatt , Bühl , Baden-Baden | Franz Xaver Lender | center | |
| 9 | Pforzheim , Ettlingen | Albert Wittum | NLP | |
| 10 | Karlsruhe , Bruchsal | Ludwig Haas | FVP | |
| 11 | Mannheim | Ludwig Frank | SPD | |
| 12 | Heidelberg , Mosbach | Anton Beck | NLP | |
| 13 | Bretten , Sinsheim | Johannes Rupp | DKP | |
| 14th | Tauberbischofsheim , Buchen | Johann Anton tenth | center | |
Hesse
| Grand Duchy of Hesse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giessen , Grünberg , Nidda | Ferdinand Werner | Anti-Semites ( WV ) | |
| 2 | Friedberg , Büdingen , Vilbel | Adolf Strack | NLP | |
| 3 | Lauterbach , Alsfeld , Schotten | Friedrich Heck | NLP | |
| 4th | Darmstadt , Gross-Gerau | Ludwig Quessel | SPD | |
| 5 | Offenbach , Dieburg | Carl Ulrich | SPD | |
| 6th | Erbach , Bensheim , Lindenfels , Neustadt im Odenwald | Ludwig Hasenzahl | SPD | |
| 7th | Worms , Heppenheim , Wimpfen | Cornelius von Heyl zu Herrnsheim | NLP | |
| 8th | Bingen , Alzey | Jacob Becker | NLP | |
| 9 | Mainz , Oppenheim | Eduard David | SPD | |
Small states
Alsace-Lorraine
| Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Altkirch , Thann | Eugene Ricklin | Alsace-Lorraine | |
| 2 | Mulhouse | Leopold Emmel | SPD | |
| 3 | Kolmar | Jacques Peirotes | SPD | |
| 4th | Gebweiler | Albert Thumann | Alsace-Lorraine | |
| 5 | Rappoltsweiler | Emile Wetterlé | Alsace-Lorraine | |
| 6th | Schlettstadt | Dionysius Will | Alsace-Lorraine | |
| 7th | Molsheim , Erstein | Nicolaus Delsor | Alsace-Lorraine | |
| 8th | Strasbourg city | Bernhard Böhle | SPD | |
| 9 | Strasbourg country | Richard Fuchs | SPD | |
| 10 | Hagenau , Weissenburg | Karl Hauss | Alsace-Lorraine | |
| 11 | Babble | Adolf Röser | FVP | |
| 12 | Saargemünd , Forbach | Eugen Schatz | Alsace-Lorraine | |
| 13 | Bolchen , Diedenhofen | August Windeck | Independent Lorraine Party | |
| 14th | Metz | Georges Weill | SPD | |
| 15th | Saarburg , Chateau-Salins | Eloy Leveque | Independent Lorraine Party | |
The parliamentary groups of the 13th Reichstag
In the 13th Reichstag, not all members of the parliamentary group joined their actual party. The DRP MP Schröder (Elbing), the center MP Oppersdorf (Fraustadt) and the national liberal MPs Becker (Bingen) and von Heyl (Worms) did not join the parliamentary groups of their parties, but remained non-attached. The German-social and Christian-social members formed the parliamentary group of the Economic Association with the BdL member Gebhardt (Homburg) and the members Werner (Gießen) and Vietmayer (Waldeck) . The two BdL members Vogt (Hall) and Vogt (Crailsheim) joined the conservative group. The DBB member Kerschbaum (Rothenburg / Tauber) joined the National Liberal Group. At the beginning of the 13th legislative period, the parliamentary groups had the following strengths:
| Social democrats | 110 |
| center | 90 |
| German Conservatives | 45 |
| National Liberals | 44 |
| Progressive People's Party | 42 |
| Poland | 18th |
| German Reich Party | 13 |
| Alsace-Lorraine | 9 |
| Economic association | 8th |
| German-Hanover party | 5 |
| German reform party | 3 |
| Non-attached | 10 |
In the course of the legislative period, both the number and strength of the individual parliamentary groups changed several times due to by-elections, splits and changes in parliamentary groups.
Accompanying circumstances
In the elections of 1912, a particularly large number of women took part in the election campaign, even though they were not yet allowed to vote - even if many believed this goal was no longer a long way off. In addition to the socialists, many liberal women campaigned for the parties. For example, they organized "trust women" in cities to get in touch with the women’s grassroots, distributed leaflets and held meetings. Through this commitment, the women managed to win over conservative contemporaries for their cause.
The Reichstag election in January 1912 brought the SPD high votes. Political anti-Semitism and the anti-Semitic parties, however, no longer played a role and were only able to win 2.5 percent of the vote. Therefore, radical anti-Semites said, frustrated by the "Jewish choice" and said that the Reichstag majority was from the "Jewish gold" dominated .
History of the 13th Reichstag from 1912 to 1918
In the years of peace, the left forces did not succeed in strengthening the Reichstag, which had always been weak. After the outbreak of the First World War, all parties were united in the “ Burgfrieden ”, and the previously anti-militarist SPD therefore also voted for the war loans . In the course of the war there were internal party disputes on this issue, as a result of which a group of MPs split off and founded the USPD .
Meanwhile, in 1916, in addition to the center, the National Liberals under Gustav Stresemann's leadership had stepped up to the side of the SPD and FVP with the demand for more parliamentary control. This new constellation did not last long, however, and the peace resolution of July 19, 1917, represented by the center, FVP and SPD , was rejected by both national liberals and conservatives. The parliament, whose new election was postponed because of the war, remained powerless against the Supreme Army Command . Only on October 28, 1918, a few days before the defeat and the November Revolution, did the Reichstag accept reform proposals by Chancellor Max von Baden (so-called October Constitution ), which would have meant a clear step towards parliamentarianism . However, these were overtaken by the following events.
The Reichstag had been elected for five years, so that a new election would have been due in 1917. However, laws extended the legislative period by one year at a time. It was feared that if there was a new election during the war, the left or the radical left would become stronger. However, thirty times a vacant seat was filled by a by-election.
See also
literature
- Imperial Statistical Office (Ed.): The Reichstag elections of 1912 . Issues 1–3. Verlag von Puttkammer & Mühlbrecht, Berlin 1913 (Statistics of the German Reich, vol. 250)
- Jürgen Bertram: The elections for the German Reichstag from 1912. Parties and associations in the domestic politics of the Wilhelmine Reich . Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1964 (contributions to the history of parliamentarism and political parties, vol. 28)
- Bureau des Reichstag (ed.): Reichstag manual 13th legislative period . Berlin 1912
- Carl-Wilhelm Reibel: Handbook of the Reichstag elections 1890-1918. Alliances, results, candidates (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 15). Droste, Düsseldorf 2007, ISBN 978-3-7700-5284-4
- Gerhard A. Ritter: Materials for Statistics of the Empire 1871-1918 . CH Beck, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-406-07610-6
- Wilhelm Heinz Schröder : Social Democratic MPs and Reichstag candidates 1898–1918. Biographical-statistical manual (= manuals on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 2). Droste, Düsseldorf 1986, ISBN 3-7700-5135-1 , 355 pp.
- Bernd Haunfelder : Member of the Reichstag of the German Center Party 1871–1933. Biographical manual and historical photographs . Photo documents on the history of parliamentarism and political parties, Volume 4.Droste, Düsseldorf 1999, ISBN 3-7700-5223-4 , 425 pp.
- Bernd Haunfelder: The Liberal Members of the German Reichstag 1871-1918. A biographical manual . Aschendorff, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-402-06614-9 , 512 pp.
- Bernd Haunfelder: The conservative members of the German Reichstag from 1871 to 1918. A biographical handbook . Aschendorff, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-402-12829-9 , 336 pp.
Web links
- Reichstag election 1912 with graphics in the LeMO ( DHM and HdG )
- Elections in Germany until 1918 , there:
- German history in documents and pictures , there:
Individual evidence
- ^ Reichstag Handbook 1912. (PDF) Munich Digitization Center, p. 416 , accessed on November 20, 2009 .
- ↑ Reichstag Handbook 1912 supplementary volume. (PDF) Munich Digitization Center, p. 34 , accessed on November 20, 2009 .
- ↑ Angelika Schaser: Helene Lange and Gertrud Bäumer. A political community. Cologne: Böhlau, 2010, p. 140.
- ↑ Culture, politics and the public. (PDF) Dagmar Bussiek, Simona Göbel, accessed on June 4, 2010 .
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume V: World War, Revolution and Reich renewal: 1914-1919. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1960, p. 121.
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