1890 German federal election

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1890 German federal election
Flag of the German Empire.svg
←  1887 20 February 1890 (1890-02-20) 1893  →
All 397 seats in the Reichstag
199 seats needed for a majority
Registered10,145,402
Turnout71.58% (Decrease2.svg 5.91pp)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Ludwig Windthorst JS (cropped).jpg Otto von Helldorff.jpg Rudolf Virchow NLM4.jpg
Leader Ludwig Windthorst Otto von Helldorff Rudolf Virchow
Party Centre DKP DFP
Leader since26 May 18747 June 18765 March 1884
Last election19.91%, 98 seats15.21%, 80 seats12.62%, 32 seats
Seats won1077167
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 9Decrease2.svg 9Increase2.svg 35
Popular vote1,340,688882,8201,148,468
Percentage18.55%12.21%15.89%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.36 pp Decrease2.svg 3.00 pp Increase2.svg 3.27 pp
 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  R. v. Bennigsen.jpg Singer Gerisch Composite.jpg Victor Herzog von Ratibor (cropped).jpg
Leader Rudolf von Bennigsen Paul Singer
Alwin Gerisch 		Viktor I, Duke of Ratibor
Party NlP SPD DRP
Leader since186718 March 1890 (both)
Last election21.90%, 98 seats10.12%, 11 seats9.77%, 41 seats
Seats won383519
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 60Increase2.svg 24Decrease2.svg 22
Popular vote1,130,8421,427,323461,307
Percentage15.64%19.75%6.38%
SwingDecrease2.svg 6.26 pp Increase2.svg 9.63 pp Decrease2.svg 3.39 pp
Karte der Reichstagswahlen 1890.svg
Map of results (by constituencies)
President of the Reichstag before election

Albert von Levetzow
DKP

President of the Reichstag after election

Albert von Levetzow
DKP

Federal elections were held in Germany on 20 February 1890. [1] [2] The Centre Party regained its position as the largest party in the Reichstag by winning 107 of the 397 seats, whilst the National Liberal Party, formerly the largest party, was reduced to 38 seats.

Contents

Contemporaries remarked on the striking increase in the vote share of the Social Democratic Party. [2] However, despite receiving the most votes, the Social Democratic Party won only 35 seats. [3] Voter turnout was 71.5%. [4]

Campaign

This was the first general election during the reign of Emperor Wilhelm II. As such, it was marked by the conflict between the new Emperor, who unlike his grandfather Wilhelm I involved himself in day-to-day politics, and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. At this time, the Emperor’s primary concern was improving relations with the working classes. At the beginning of February, opposed by Bismarck who viewed it as a concession to the Social Democrats, Wilhelm II introduced labour protection legislation. Bismarck’s attempt to make the Anti-Socialist Laws permanent had already been defeated in the Reichstag on 25 January. This failure was the result of divisions within the “Cartel” parties (German Conservatives, Free Conservatives and National Liberals) otherwise supporting Bismarck, which was in turn because the Emperor had let it be known that he opposed extending the laws.

The election became a catastrophic defeat for the “Cartel”, which lost 85 seats, and a victory for the Social Democrats. The latter nearly doubled their vote share compared to the 1887 elections, reaching 19.7% of the vote (around 1.4 million votes) and winning the popular vote for the first time. From his London exile, Friedrich Engels euphorically proclaimed the day of polling “the day the German Revolution began”. However, because of the malapportioned constituencies, which greatly underrepresented densely-populated areas, and the fact that Social Democratic candidates often faced a united front of non-socialist parties in runoffs, they only won 35 seats. These included the major cities of Königsberg, Bremen, Hannover, Magdeburg, Frankfurt am Main, Mannheim, Nuremberg and Munich. All three Hamburg seats, two of the six Berlin seats and one of the two Breslau seats were also won by the party. Later that same year, the Anti-Socialist Laws were finally repealed, and the party renamed itself the SPD.

The Centre Party remained the strongest party, winning 106 constituencies (27.2% of seats) with 18.6% of the popular vote. The left-liberal parties also made significant gains in votes and representation. For the first time, members of German parties won seats in a few Alsace-Lorraine constituencies. Regionalists could, however, make gains elsewhere off the decline of the Cartel parties. The Antisemites gained only 0.7% of the votes, but won five constituencies. Their strongholds were the Grand Duchy of Hesse and Hesse-Nassau.

One month after the elections, Bismarck was dismissed from office. His successor, Leo von Caprivi, governed with the support of the Cartel parties and the Centre. The 8th Reichstag, theoretically the first to be elected for a five-year term – the extension from three to five years had been passed on the 18th of March 1888 – was however dissolved in 1893.

Results

35
10
67
4
1
16
14
38
107
11
19
71
4
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party 1,427,32319.75+9.6335+24
Centre Party 1,340,68818.55−1.36107+9
German Free-minded Party 1,148,46815.89+3.2767+35
National Liberal Party 1,130,84215.64−6.2638−60
German Conservative Party 882,82012.21−3.0071−9
German Reich Party 461,3076.38−3.3919−22
Independent Polish185,4172.57New11New
Alsace-Lorraine parties 153,6672.13−0.9714−1
German People's Party 147,5702.04+0.8610+10
German-Hanoverian Party 112,6751.56−0.0211+7
Independent liberals78,7621.09+0.124+1
Polish Court Party61,3560.85New5New
German Reform Party 21,9180.30New3New
Independent conservatives21,4130.30−0.1200
German Social Party 20,5730.28New0New
Danish Party 13,6720.19+0.0310
Independent anti-semites5,0450.07−0.0810
Others14,8450.21+0.0900
Unknown2090.000.0000
Total7,228,570100.00–3970
Valid votes7,228,57099.54
Invalid/blank votes33,1270.46
Total votes7,261,697100.00
Registered voters/turnout10,145,40271.58
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

Alsace-Lorraine

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Clericals 82,16445.96+23.229+4
Alsatian autonomists 52,79129.53+19.554+4
Social Democratic Party 19,18210.73+10.461+1
Alsace-Lorraine protesters 18,66310.44−49.021−9
National Liberal Party 1,8501.03+0.3000
German Reich Party 1,1480.64−6.0100
German Conservative Party 1,0550.59New00
Others1,8751.05+0.8700
Unknown560.03+0.0300
Total178,784100.00–150
Valid votes178,78493.33
Invalid/blank votes12,7716.67
Total votes191,555100.00
Registered voters/turnout316,89460.45
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. 1 2 Dunning, Wm. A. (1890). "Record of Political Events". Political Science Quarterly. 5 (2): 380–381. doi:10.2307/2139573. ISSN   0032-3195. JSTOR   2139573.
  3. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p789
  4. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p774
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