1893 German federal election

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1893 German federal election
Flag of the German Empire.svg
  1890 15 June 1893 (1893-06-15) 1898  

All 397 seats in the Reichstag
199 seats needed for a majority
Registered10,628,292 Increase2.svg 4.76%
Turnout7,702,265 (72.47%) Increase2.svg 0.89pp
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Franz-Graf-Ballestrem.jpg Otto von Manteuffel.jpg R. v. Bennigsen (3x4 cropped).jpg
Leader Franz von Ballestrem Otto von Manteuffel Rudolf von Bennigsen
Party Centre DKP NlP
Leader since189018921867
Last election18.55%, 107 seats12.21%, 71 seats15.64%, 38 seats
Seats won966951
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 11Decrease2.svg 2Increase2.svg 13
Popular vote1,468,501992,412942,410
Percentage19.14%12.93%12.29%
SwingIncrease2.svg 0.59 pp Increase2.svg 0.72 pp Decrease2.svg 3.35 pp

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Singer Bebel Composite.jpg
DRP
Eugen Richter.jpg
Leader Paul Singer &
August Bebel
Eugen Richter
Party SPD DRP FVP
Leader since18 March 1890
& 21 November 1892
7 May 1893
Last election19.75%, 35 seats6.38%, 19 seats15.89%, 67 seats
Seats won442824
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 9Increase2.svg 9Decrease2.svg 43
Popular vote1,786,738437,972665,427
Percentage23.28%5.71%8.67%
SwingIncrease2.svg 3.53 pp Decrease2.svg 0.67 pp Decrease2.svg 7.22 pp

Karte der Reichstagswahlen 1893.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 15 June 1893. [1] Despite the Social Democratic Party (SPD) receiving a plurality of votes, the Centre Party remained the largest party in the Reichstag after winning 96 of the 397 seats, whilst the SPD won just 44. [2] Voter turnout was 72.4%. [3]

Contents

Campaign

The election became necessary after the Reichstag was dissolved on the 6th of May 1893, at the request of Chancellor Leo von Caprivi. As with the 1887 dissolution, the cause was a military appropriations bill proposed by the Government. Caprivi had planned to increase the size of the army by around 500,000 men, and failed to get this through the Reichstag: the Social Democrats, a majority of the Centre and part of the Free-minded Party rejected the proposal. The Free-mindeds split into the Free-minded People's Party and the Free-minded Union as a result of this.

The election resulted in a narrow victory for the pro-government “Cartel” parties (German Conservatives, Free Conservatives and National Liberals). Once again, the Social Democrats, now freed from the Anti-Socialist Laws, made gains, as did the Antisemites. The latter primarily won seats in the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, eastern and central Saxony, and single ones in the Neumark and Eastern Pomerania. In Lower Bavaria and Middle Franconia, four seats were won by the Bavarian Peasants' League, formed to defend the interests of Bavarian agriculture against Chancellor Caprivi’s free trade policies. The divided liberal bloc saw significant losses. On the whole, the new Reichstag was more divided than ever before. Due to the continued lack of constituency boundary changes, the majority election system brought strong disparities between the popular vote and the size of the parliamentary parties. For the first and only time, a Polish nationalist candidate, Antoni Wolszlegier, won an East Prussian constituency (Allenstein).

The new Reichstag approved the Government’s military appropriations bill by a narrow majority of 201 votes.

Results

44
11
24
13
3
1
19
9
51
3
96
7
28
3
69
2
14
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party 1,786,73823.28+3.5344+9
Centre Party 1,468,50119.14+0.5996–11
German Conservative Party 992,41212.93+0.7269−2
National Liberal Party 943,41012.29−3.3551+13
Free-minded People's Party 665,4278.67−7.2224−43
German Reich Party 437,9725.71−0.6728+9
Free-minded Union 260,3643.39New13New
Independent Polish172,4822.25−0.3214+3
German People's Party 166,7572.17+0.1311+1
German Reform Party 141,6501.85+1.5514+11
Alsace-Lorraine parties 135,5461.77−0.369−5
German Social Party 110,4511.44+1.162+2
German-Hanoverian Party 101,8101.33−0.237−4
Independent liberals56,3720.73−0.362−2
Polish Court Party53,9730.70−0.1550
Bavarian Peasants' League 43,1280.56New2New
Independent conservatives35,8160.47+0.172+2
Other agrarians25,9090.34New1New
Other conservatives19,5540.25New1New
Danish Party 14,3630.190.0010
Independent anti-semites11,7600.15+0.080−1
Alsatian Liberals6,4690.08New1New
Lithuanian Party4,0990.05New0New
Polish People's Party 3,1240.04New0New
Christian Social Party 1,8290.02+0.0200
Others13,9720.18−0.2800
Unknown850.000.0000
Total7,673,973100.003970
Valid votes7,673,97399.63
Invalid/blank votes28,2920.37
Total votes7,702,265100.00
Registered voters/turnout10,628,29272.47
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

Alsace-Lorraine

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Clericals 88,76237.10−8.866−3
Social Democratic Party 46,18619.30+8.572+1
Alsatian autonomists 25,94010.84−18.691−3
German Reich Party 14,4946.06+5.421+1
Independent conservatives13,6995.73New1New
Alsace-Lorraine protesters 10,9494.58−5.8610
Lorraine Bloc 9,8954.14+4.141+1
Conservative Party 7,5683.16+2.571+1
Alsatian Liberals6,4692.70New1New
Free-minded People's Party 4,4301.85NewNew
Independent liberals4,1071.72NewNew
Social Party 3,4071.42NewNew
National Liberal Party 2,1420.90−0.1300
Others1,2070.50−0.5500
Total239,255100.00150
Valid votes239,25596.28
Invalid/blank votes9,2363.72
Total votes248,491100.00
Registered voters/turnout325,48276.35
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. Nohlen & Stöver, p789
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, p774