People's Day election in Gdansk 1930
The election for the 4th People's Day in the Free City of Danzig on November 16, 1930 was the first election after the previous constitutional amendment, which had reduced the parliament from 120 to 72 members. It led to a stalemate between the left and the bourgeois parties and made the NSDAP tip the scales.
initial situation
In the election for the 3rd People's Day on November 13, 1927, a government based on the scheme of the Weimar coalition of social democrats, center and liberals under Heinrich Sahm was formed.
The center-left government, which Sahm himself did not appreciate, came under heavy pressure in the "Stahlhelm Affair" in 1929. The Senate Sahm II had banned a meeting of the steel helmet that was to take place on May 4th and 5th, 1929 in Danzig. 13,000 steel helmets from the Reich were expected for this. The concern of violent protests by left-wing radicals had motivated Sahm to ban the event, whose event was moved to Königsberg . In particular, the opposition DNVP attacked Sahm sharply.
In 1930 there was a government crisis. The Liberals resigned on March 29, and the SPD resigned from the government on April 2. Sahm sought a civil senate including the DNVP. This also apparently succeeded. On May 19, a bourgeois senate was elected (which together had 63 votes in the People's Day). However, this Senate resigned just two days later. A center-left Senate has now been explored again. On June 17, 8 senators from the SPD, 4 from the center and 2 senators from the “civil servants' group” were elected.
The Constitution of the Free City of Gdansk was changed by the law of July 4, 1930 . The People's Day was reduced to 72 and the Senate to 12 members. With the same law, the Senate and the People's Day were dissolved two months after the constitution came into force. This made the early popular elections necessary.
The vote
| November 16, 1930, election for the 4th People's Day | be right | Seats | ||
| at all | vH | overh | vH | |
| Eligible voters | 222,566 | 54.62 | ||
| Voters | 198,237 | |||
| voter turnout | 89.07 | |||
| invalid votes | 366 | 0.18 | ||
| valid votes | 197,871 | 99.82 | 72 | |
| from that: | ||||
| Social Democratic Party of the Free City of Gdansk | 49,965 | 25.25 | 19th | 26.39 |
| National Socialist German Workers Party (Hitler Movement) | 32,457 | 16.40 | 12 | 16.67 |
| Center Party | 30,230 | 15.28 | 11 | 15.28 |
| German National People's Party | 25,938 | 13.11 | 10 | 13.89 |
| Communist Party | 20.194 | 10.21 | 7th | 9.72 |
| German-Danzig Economic Party | 6,368 | 3.22 | 2 | 2.78 |
| German national community "Landliste" | 5,312 | 2.68 | 3 | 4.17 |
| Poland | 4,763 | 2.41 | 2 | 2.78 |
| Civil working group | 4,685 | 2.37 | 2 | 2.78 |
| National Liberal Citizens' Party | 4,400 | 2.22 | 2 | 2.78 |
| Professional representation of Gdansk railway and port employees | 3,480 | 1.76 | 1 | 1.39 |
| German Liberal Party | 3,254 | 1.64 | 1 | 1.39 |
| Polish Catholic Party | 1,614 | 0.82 | - | - |
| Christian People's Party | 1,605 | 0.81 | - | - |
| German Volksgemeinschaft "Stadtliste" | 1,396 | 0.71 | - | - |
| Tenant party | 1.312 | 0.66 | - | - |
| Fishermen and smokers | 898 | 0.45 | - | - |
Post-election development
In the election, the Social Democrats lost a lot of votes. There was neither a majority for the left nor for the bourgeois parties. The NSDAP, which had won 12 seats, had tipped the scales. German nationalists, center and liberals formed the new Senate Ziehm , which was tolerated by the National Socialists. In the autumn of 1931, an overthrow of the Ziehm Senate was discussed in the NSDAP, but Adolf Hitler decided against it. At the end of 1932 Hitler changed his mind and they waited for an occasion. With the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933, the NSDAP saw the time had come. It withdrew its trust in Senate Ziehm and offered to enter a joint Senate with the bourgeois parties if Hermann Rauschning became Senate President and the NSDAP would provide the Senator for the Interior. The bourgeois parties refused and the Senate resigned. He remained in office until June 20, 1933.
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich Sprenger: Heinrich Sahm: Kommunalpolitiker und Staatsmann, 1969, Diss., P. 202 ff.
- ↑ StatMDan 1933, p. 28
- ↑ Dieter Schenk : Danzig 1930–1945. The end of a free city . Ch.links, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86153-737-3 , p. 28 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
