Reichstag elections in Germany
In the Reichstag elections , the people in the North German Confederation or German Reich from 1867 to 1933 determined the members of the highest German parliament , the Reichstag, in general, equal (with women's suffrage only being introduced in 1918) and secret ballot .
Even in the era of National Socialism (1933 through 1945) elections were held for the Reichstag. However, it was a sham elections , as the result was already determined from the start; the National Socialist Reichstag had no parliamentary functions.
Suffrage in the North German Confederation and in the German Empire
From 1867 to 1912, the right to vote was reserved for the male population of the North German Confederation or the German Empire from a minimum age of 25 years. Military personnel , people with limited disposition (disabled people), people who had received poor relief in the year before the election , and finally those whose rights were denied were also not allowed to vote . These regulations were also common in other constitutional countries, so that the number of eligible voters, as in the USA , was only around twenty percent of the total population. There was no three-tier suffrage as in the Kingdom of Prussia, and there were no electoral restrictions in principle as in the United Kingdom .
North German Confederation (1867 to 1871)
There were two elections for the Reichstag of the North German Confederation .
Results 1867
Share of votes in percent; Number of MPs in brackets
| date | National Liberals | Left liberals | conservative | center | Socialists | Others |
Turnout ( total seats ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 12, 1867 | 17.7 | 4.6 | 26.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 50.1 | ? (297) |
| August 31, 1867 | 16.3 | 7.1 | 27.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 46.9 | ? (297) |
German Empire (1871 to 1918)
The members of the Reichstag were elected according to the absolute majority voting rights over the individual constituencies. The Reichstag constituencies were roughly set in 1871 so that they comprised an equal proportion of the population. However, since there was no major redistribution of the constituencies until 1912, urban areas in which there had been a large increase in population in the meantime were clearly underrepresented. This distortion mainly harmed the SPD and benefited the Conservatives , who regularly and reliably won a large number of constituencies in East Elbe .
Until 1906 MPs were not paid any MPs (diets). The financial burden of exercising the mandate was unsustainable for MPs from the petty bourgeoisie or even the working class , who were consequently prevented from doing parliamentary work. This was actually justified by the conservative side and viewed as a substitute for the three- class suffrage that was not applied at the Reich level . It was not until 1906 that the SPD and left-wing liberals were able to enforce the payment of parliamentary diets.
Results 1871 to 1912
Share of votes in percent; Number of MPs in brackets
| date | National Liberals | Left liberals | conservative | center | Socialists | Anti-semites | Others |
Turnout ( total seats ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 3, 1871 | 30.1 | 9.3 | 23.0 | 18.6 | 3.2 | - | 15.8 | 50.7 (382) |
| January 10, 1874 | 29.7 | 9.0 | 14.1 | 27.9 | 6.8 | - | 12.4 | 60.8 (397) |
| January 10, 1877 | 27.2 | 8.5 | 17.6 | 24.8 | 9.1 | - | 10.1 | 60.3 (397) |
| July 30, 1878 | 23.1 | 7.8 | 26.6 | 23.1 | 7.6 | - | 9.0 | 63.1 (397) |
| October 27, 1881 | 14.7 | 23.1 | 23.7 | 23.2 | 6.1 | - | 9.1 | 56.1 (397) |
| October 28, 1884 | 17.6 | 19.3 | 22.1 | 22.6 | 9.7 | - | 8.7 | 60.3 (397) |
| February 21, 1887 | 22.2 | 14.1 | 25.0 | 20.1 | 10.1 | 0.2 | 8.3 | 77.5 (397) |
| February 20, 1890 | 16.3 | 18.0 | 19.1 | 18.6 | 19.8 | 0.7 | 8.6 | 71.2 (397) |
| June 15, 1893 | 13.0 | 14.8 | 19.3 | 19.1 | 23.4 | 3.5 | 7.7 | 72.2 (397) |
| June 16, 1898 | 12.5 | 11.1 | 15.5 | 18.8 | 27.2 | 3.3 | 10.6 | 67.7 (397) |
| June 16, 1903 | 13.9 | 9.3 | 13.5 | 19.8 | 31.7 | 2.6 | 9.5 | 75.3 (397) |
| January 25, 1907 | 14.5 | 10.9 | 13.6 | 19.4 | 28.9 | 3.9 | 8.8 | 84.3 (397) |
| January 12, 1912 | 13.6 | 12.3 | 12.2 | 16.4 | 34.8 | 2.9 | 7.7 | 84.5 (397) |
| date | National Liberals | Left liberals | conservative | center | Socialists | Anti-semites | Others |
Turnout ( total seats ) |
Weimar Republic (1918 to 1933)
Electoral system in the Weimar Republic
In the Weimar Republic was Reichstag for a proportional representation chosen, taking on ever 60,000 votes a deputy arrived. For the first time in 1919, the female population also took part in the elections. The voting age was lowered to 20 years.
The electoral system of the Weimar Republic did not have a threshold clause (in contrast to the German 5% threshold ) . For the elections to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic, Germany was divided into 35 constituencies , which in turn were grouped into constituency associations. The electoral system of the Weimar Republic stipulated that a constituency list was initially assigned one seat in the Reichstag for every 60,000 votes in a constituency. In a second step, all the remaining votes in the linked lists in the respective constituency association were added together. For every 60,000 of these remaining votes, the linked lists were again given a seat, but only if at least one of the constituency lists was able to achieve at least 30,000 votes. In a third distribution step, the remaining votes of the constituency associations were combined across the empire and in turn one seat for the national election proposal was allocated for every 60,000 votes. There was one seat for a remainder of more than 30,000 votes. The number of seats on the Reich election proposal was limited to the number of already allocated constituency seats.
It is said that a proportional representation system allows more parties to enter parliament than a majority system ( Duverger's Law ). But even in the Reichstag of the Empire (with an absolute majority electoral system) there were around 15 parties, in the Weimar period it tended to be a little less. The number of splinter parties in the Reichstag was particularly high after the elections of 1928 and 1930.
From the end of the 1920s onwards, apart from selective majorities, no stable government coalitions could be formed. Chancellor Heinrich Brüning ( center , 1930–1932) ruled with emergency ordinances instead of a parliamentary majority; However, his government was still tolerated by the SPD insofar as it voted against the repeal of emergency ordinances in the Reichstag.
Results 1919 to 1933
Share of votes in percent; Number of MPs in brackets
| date | KPD | USPD | SPD | center | BVP | DDP | DVP | DNVP | NSDAP | Others |
Turnout ( total seats ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 19, 1919 | - | 7.6 (22) |
37.9 (165) |
19.7 (91) |
- | 18.6 (75) |
4.4 (19) |
10.3 (44) |
- | 1.5 (7) |
83.0 (423) |
| June 6, 1920 | 2.1 (4) |
17.9 (84) |
21.6 (102) |
13.6 (64) |
4.4 (21) |
8.4 (39) |
14.0 (65) |
15.1 (71) |
- | 3.1 (9) |
79.0 (459) |
| May 4, 1924 | 12.6 (62) |
0.8 (0) |
20.5 (100) |
13.4 (65) |
3.2 (16) |
5.7 (28) |
9.2 (45) |
19.5 (95) |
6.6 (32) |
8.5 (29) |
77.4 (472) |
| December 7, 1924 | 9.0 (45) |
0.3 (0) |
26.0 (131) |
13.6 (69) |
3.7 (19) |
6.3 (32) |
10.1 (51) |
20.5 (103) |
3.0 (14) |
7.5 (29) |
78.8 (493) |
| May 20, 1928 | 10.6 (54) |
0.1 (0) |
29.8 (153) |
12.1 (62) |
3.1 (16) |
4.9 (25) |
8.7 (45) |
14.2 (73) |
2.6 (12) |
13.9 (51) |
75.6 (491) |
| September 14, 1930 | 13.1 (77) |
0.03 (0) |
24.5 (143) |
11.8 (68) |
3.0 (19) |
3.8 (20) |
4.5 (30) |
7.0 (41) |
18.3 (107) |
14.0 (72) |
82.0 (577) |
| July 31, 1932 | 14.6 (89) |
- | 21.6 (133) |
12.5 (75) |
3.2 (22) |
1.0 (4) |
1.2 (7) |
5.9 (37) |
37.4 (230) |
2.6 (11) |
84.1 (608) |
| November 6, 1932 | 16.9 (100) |
- | 20.4 (121) |
11.9 (70) |
3.1 (20) |
1.0 (2) |
1.9 (11) |
8.8 (52) |
33.1 (196) |
2.9 (12) |
80.6 (584) |
| March 5, 1933 | 12.3 (81) |
- | 18.3 (120) |
11.3 (73) |
2.7 (19) |
0.9 (5) |
1.1 (2) |
8.0 (52) |
43.9 (288) |
1.5 (7) |
88.7 (647) |
| date | KPD | USPD | SPD | center | BVP | DDP | DVP | DNVP | NSDAP | Others |
Turnout ( total seats ) |
Period of National Socialism (1933 to 1945)
Elections in the time of National Socialism
Shortly after the SPD was banned from operating as a “party hostile to the state and the people” (June 22, 1933), all parties with the exception of the NSDAP dissolved themselves. On July 14, 1933, the law against the formation of new parties followed . In the three other elections held during the Nazi era , only members of the NSDAP and a few non-party members who were designated as guests took part as candidates. In 1938 there was a supplementary election for the Sudetenland. On January 25, 1943, Hitler extended the electoral term of the Reichstag through the law extending the electoral term of the Greater German Reichstag until January 30, 1947. This avoided having to hold elections during the war. The outcome of the war made this regulation obsolete.
Results 1933 to 1938
Official share of votes in percent; Number of MPs in brackets
| date |
NSDAP & guests |
Turnout ( total seats ) |
|---|---|---|
| November 12, 1933 | 92.1 (661) |
95.2 (661) |
| March 29, 1936 | 98.8 (741) |
99.0 (741) |
|
April 10, 1938 & December 4, 1938 (supplementary election) |
99.1 (855) |
99.6 (855) |
See also
- Direct democracy in Germany
- Lists of the members of the Reichstag ( MdR ) :
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1st electoral term (1871–1874) | 2nd electoral term (1874–1877) | 3rd electoral term (1877–1878) | 4th legislature (1878–1881) | 5th electoral term (1881–1884) | 6th electoral term (1884–1887) | 7th legislative term (1887–1890) | 8th legislative term (1890–1893) | 9th legislative term (1893–1898) | 10th legislative term (1898–1903) | 11th legislative term (1903–1907) | 12th legislative term (1907–1912) | 13th legislative term (1912-1918)
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National Assembly (1919–1920) | 1st electoral term (1920–1924) | 2nd electoral term (1924) | 3rd electoral term (1924–1928) | 4th legislative term (1928–1930) | 5th legislative term (1930–1932) | 6th legislative term (1932) | 7th legislative term (1932–1933) | 8th legislative term (1933).
literature
- Otto Büsch, Monika Wöl, Wolfgang Wölk: Voter Movement in German History. Analysis and report on the Reichstag elections 1871–1933 ; Berlin 1978.
- Bernhard Vogel (Ed.): Elections in Germany. Theory - History - Documents 1848–1970 ; Berlin 1971.
- Jürgen W. Falter , Thomas Lindenberger, Siegfried Schumann: Elections and votes in the Weimar Republic. Materials on voting behavior 1919–1933 . Munich 1986.
- Jürgen W. Falter, Andreas Link, Jan-Bernd Lohmüller, Johann de Rijke, Siegfried Schumann: Unemployment and National Socialism. An empirical analysis of the contribution of mass unemployment to the election successes of the NSDAP in 1932 and 1933 ; in KZfSS 35 (1983), pp. 525-554. Again in: Jürgen Friedrichs, Karl Ulrich Mayer, Wolfgang Schluchter (eds.): Sociological theory and empiricism. KZfSS ; Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1997; ISBN 3-531-13139-7 ; Pp. 178-207.
- Martin Liepach : The voting behavior of the Jewish population. On the political orientation of the Jews in the Weimar Republic (= series of scientific treatises of the Leo Baeck Institute . 53). Mohr, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 3-16-146542-3 .
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ From 1917 to 1922 the SPD was known as the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany ( MSPD) to clarify the distinction from the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD).
- ↑ Election of the constituent national assembly .
- ↑ a b National Socialist Freedom Party (electoral alliance from the DVFP and the NSDAP, which was banned as a result of the Hitler coup ).
- ↑ The election of March 5, 1933, after the formation of the Hitler-Hugenberg coalition government , can only be described as a free and democratic election to a limited extent. The free political activity of the left-wing parties was restricted by a large number of emergency ordinances , KPD and SPD officials were already in " protective custody ", and the election campaign took place under the terror of the SA .
- ^ Combat front black-white-red (electoral alliance from DNVP / Stahlhelm / Landbund ).
- ↑ a b Including 41 seats from the Sudeten German supplementary election . In addition, further MPs were appointed for several areas that had just come to the Reich , so that the total number of seats was 876. See Joachim Lilla , Martin Döring, Andreas Schulz: extras in uniform. The members of the Reichstag 1933–1945. A biographical manual. Including the ethnic and National Socialist members of the Reichstag from May 1924. Droste, Düsseldorf 2004, ISBN 3-7700-5254-4 , pp. 771–772.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Margaret L. Anderson: Practicing Democracy. Elections and Political Culture in Imperial Germany . Princeton (NJ) 2000
- ↑ a b Historical exhibition of the German Bundestag. (PDF; 100 kB) German Bundestag , May 2006, accessed on November 8, 2017 .
- ^ Law on the extension of the electoral term of the Greater German Reichstag. Reichsgesetzblatt , Part 1, January 25, 1943, accessed November 26, 2016 .