German federal election, 1930

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German federal election, 1930
Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).svg
  1928 14 September 1930 July 1932  

All 577 seats in the Reichstag
289 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 82.0% Increase2.svg 6.4 pp

 First partySecond partyThird party
  Otto Wels.jpg Adolf Hitler 1936 (foto carnet).jpg Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12940, Ernst Thalmann (scrap).jpg
Leader Otto Wels Adolf Hitler Ernst Thälmann
Party SPD NSDAP KPD
Leader since191928 July 1921October 1925
Last election153 seats, 29.8%12 seats, 2.6%54 seats, 10.6%
Seats won14310777
Seat changeDecrease2.svg10Increase2.svg95Increase2.svg23
Popular vote8,575,2446,379,6724,590,160
Percentage24.53%18.25%13.13%
SwingDecrease2.svg5.23%Increase2.svg15.69%Increase2.svg2.51%

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Ludwig Kaas Konkordatsunterzeichnung mini.jpg Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2005-0621-500, Reichsminister Alfred Hugenberg.jpg Scholz LCCN2014711328.jpg
Leader Ludwig Kaas Alfred Hugenberg Ernst Scholz
Party Centre DNVP DVP
Leader sinceSeptember 192819281929
Last election61 seats, 12.1%73 seats, 14.2%45 seats, 8.7%
Seats won684130
Seat changeIncrease2.svg7Decrease2.svg32Decrease2.svg15
Popular vote4,127,0002,457,6861,577,365
Percentage11.81%7.03%4.51%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.26%Decrease2.svg7.22%Decrease2.svg3.97%

Reichstag composition, 1930.svg
Seats in the Reichstag after 1930 federal election.

Chancellor before election

Heinrich Brüning
Centre

Elected Chancellor

None (Brüning remained unelected Chancellor)

The German federal election occurred on 14 September 1930. [1] Despite losing 10 seats, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) remained the largest party in the Reichstag, winning 143 of the 577 seats, while the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dramatically increased its number of seats from 12 to 107. [2]

Social Democratic Party of Germany political party in Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany.

Reichstag (Weimar Republic) legislative body of Weimar Germany

The Reichstag was the Lower house of the Weimar Republic's Legislature. It originated in the creation of the Weimar Constitution in 1919. After the end of the Weimar Republic in 1933, the Reichtag continued to operate, albeit sporadically, as the nominal Legislature of Nazi Germany.

Nazi Party Fascist political party in Germany (1920-1945)

The National Socialist German Workers' Party, commonly referred to in English as the Nazi Party, was a far-right political party in Germany that was active between 1920 and 1945, that created and supported the ideology of National Socialism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party, existed from 1919 to 1920.

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The two major parties of the Weimar Coalition, the SPD and Zentrum (Centre Party), had no high gains or losses, in contrast to their partner, the DVP. The two results of the elections seen as dramatic were the NSDAP's reaching more than 100 seats, and large gains for the Communists (KPD)an additional 23 seats.

The Weimar Coalition is the name given to the centre-left to center-right coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the social liberal German Democratic Party (DDP) and the Christian democratic Centre Party, who together had a large majority of the delegates to the Constituent Assembly that met at Weimar in 1919, and were the principal groups that designed the constitution of Germany's Weimar Republic. These three parties were seen as the most committed to Germany's new democratic system, and together governed Germany until the elections of 1920, when the first elections under the new constitution were held, and both the SPD and especially the DDP lost a considerable share of their votes. Although the Coalition was revived in the ministry of Joseph Wirth from 1921 to 1922, the pro-democratic elements never truly had a majority in the Reichstag from this point on, and the situation gradually grew worse for them with the continued weakening of the DDP. This meant that any pro-republican group that hoped to attain a majority would need to form a "Grand Coalition" with the conservative liberal German People's Party (DVP).

Centre Party (Germany) Catholic political party in Germany

The German Centre Party is a lay Catholic political party in Germany, primarily influential during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. In English it is often called the Catholic Centre Party. Formed in 1870, it successfully battled the Kulturkampf which Chancellor Otto von Bismarck launched in Prussia to reduce the power of the Catholic Church. It soon won a quarter of the seats in the Reichstag, and its middle position on most issues allowed it to play a decisive role in the formation of majorities.

German Peoples Party German liberal political party

The German People's Party was a national liberal party in Weimar Germany and a successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-wing liberal or conservative-liberal party, its most famous member was Chancellor and Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann, a 1926 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Background

The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) had won the most votes and had led the ruling coalition in every previous post-World War I election before the election of 1930.

In the 1924 elections, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) received 26% of the popular vote, securing 131 parliamentary seats, an increase of 31 seats over the previous election. In the 1928 election, the SPD secured 29.8% of the vote and 153 seats, up 22 from the 1924 federal election. In 1928, the only other party that gained seats was the Communist Party, led by Ernst Thälmann, which received 10.6% of the vote count while securing 54 seats, up nine from the previous election. The National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) won just 2.6% of the vote, which equated to a loss of 2 seats.

Ernst Thälmann leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during much of the Weimar Republic

Ernst Thälmann was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during much of the Weimar Republic. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot in Buchenwald on Adolf Hitler's personal orders in 1944.

Electoral system

In 1930, the German government was a multi-party parliamentary democracy, led by Paul von Hindenburg (1925-1933). The parliamentary democracy awarded one seat in the Reichstag per 60,000 votes. All citizens over 21 could vote, and through a system of proportional representation, a new parliament was elected every four years to deal with issues related to taxes, trade, defense, etc. The Executive was elected every seven years and was primarily in control of the armed forces, however, they also had significant powers to dissolve the Reichstag, nominate a Chancellor, veto laws, and utilize article 48.

A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national election, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coalition. Apart from one-party-dominant and two-party systems, multi-party systems tend to be more common in parliamentary systems than presidential systems and far more common in countries that use proportional representation compared to countries that use first-past-the-post elections.

Parliamentary republic type of republic which operates under a parliamentary system

A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature. There are a number of variations of parliamentary republics. Most have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state, with the head of government holding real power, much like constitutional monarchies. Some have combined the roles of head of state and head of government, much like presidential systems, but with a dependency upon parliamentary power.

Paul von Hindenburg Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and president of Germany

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg, known generally as Paul von Hindenburg, was a German Generalfeldmarschall and statesman who commanded the Imperial German Army during the second half of World War I before later being elected President of the Weimar Republic in 1925. He played a key role in the Nazi "Seizure of Power" in January 1933 when, under pressure from advisers, he appointed Adolf Hitler chancellor of a "Government of National Concentration", even though the Nazis were a minority in both the cabinet and the Reichstag.

Campaign

In 1930, there were 37 individual parties running for office. Of these parties, only ten secured over 3% of the popular vote. The broad range of parties led to many wasted votes. This electoral paradigm made it difficult to secure an absolute majority, and as a result, Germany suffered through multiple polarized coalition governments during the Weimar Republic. In fact, the frequent and drastic changes in government left many Germans distrustful of democracy. The top five political parties participating in the 1930s election held drastically polarized ideologies. Three of the main five parties leaned to the right: The NSDAP, the Center Party, and the DNVP. The SDP and Communist Party leaned left.

PartyIdeologyPolitical position
Communist Party of GermanyMarxism / CommunismFar-left
Social Democrat PartySocial DemocracyCenter-left
Centre PartyPolitical CatholicismCenter-right
German National People's PartyConservatism / NationalismRight-wing
National Socialist German Workers PartyNational SocialismFar-right

Results

The 1930 German election drew 82% voter turn-out, an unprecedented event. The incumbent political party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), lead in the popular vote and won 143 seats, a loss of 10 seats from the previous election. The National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) rose to the second largest party with 18.25% of the vote and took home 107 seats, a remarkable additional 95 seats over the last election. The only other party to gain seats was the Communist Party, which won 13.13% of the vote, securing 77 seats, a gain of 23 additional seats than the last election. 34 other political parties shared the remainder of the votes. The excessive amount of small political parties created vast amounts of wasted votes in the previous election of 1928, however, in the 1930 election there were fewer political parties on the ballot; therefore, there were less wasted votes. Parties that did not secure a seat acquired 413,000 wasted votes. [3] This broad-based coalition government with polarized political ideologies created inefficiency within the Weimar Republic.

Communist Party of Germany former political party in Germany

The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party 8,575,24424.53143–10
National Socialist German Workers' Party 6,379,67218.25107+95
Communist Party of Germany 4,590,16013.1377+23
Centre Party 4,127,00011.8168+7
German National People's Party 2,457,6867.0341–32
German People's Party 1,577,3654.5130–15
German State Party 1,322,0343.7820–5
Reich Party of the German Middle Class 1,361,7623.90230
Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party 1,108,0433.1719+10
Bavarian People's Party 1,058,6373.0319+2
Christian Social People's Service 868,2692.4814New
German Farmers' Party 339,4340.976–2
Conservative People's Party 290,5790.834New
Reich Party for Civil Rights and Deflation/Christian Social Reich Party271,2910.780–2
Agricultural League 193,9260.5530
German-Hanoverian Party 144,2860.413–1
Christian Social Peoples Community81,5500.230New
Polish People's Party72,9130.2100
Schmalix Greater German List26,7070.080New
House and Property Owners25,5300.0700
Conservative People's Party/German-Hanoverian Party 22,2180.060
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany 11,6900.0300
Freibund des Handwerks, Kleinhandels und Gewerbes9,5310.030New
Radical German State Party8,8410.030New
Deutsche Einheitspartei für wahre Volkswirtschaft6,9150.020New
Kriegsbeschädigten- und Hinterbliebenenpartei der deutschen Mannschaft einschließlich der Abgefundenen6,7040.020New
Deutsche Kulturpartei der geistigen Berufe, Angestellten und Beamten6,1810.020New
Handel, Handwerk, Hausbesitz3,6440.010New
Schleswig Club1,7850.0100
Menschheitspartei und neue Volksgemeinschaft1,6260.00New
Evangelical voters1,3260.00New
Party against Alcohol1,1710.00New
Workers Party for Creative Workers9070.00New
Prussian-Lithunanian People's Party6660.00New
Renter and People's Reich Party6530.00New
People's Party of the Lusatian Sorbs2880.00New
Friesland2370.000
Invalid/blank votes268,028
Total35,224,499100.00577+86
Registered voters/turnout42,982,91282.0
Source: Gonschior.de
Popular Vote
SPD
24.53%
NSDAP
18.25%
KPD
13.13%
Zentrum
11.80%
DNVP
7.03%
DVP
4.51%
WP
3.90%
DStP (DDP)
3.78%
CNBL
3.17%
BVP
3.03%
CSVD
2.48%
Other
4.38%
Reichstag seats
SPD
24.78%
NSDAP
18.54%
KPD
13.34%
Zentrum
11.79%
DNVP
7.11%
DVP
5.20%
WP
3.99%
DStP (DDP)
3.47%
BVP
3.29%
CNBL
3.29%
CSVD
2.43%
Other
2.77%
The Gallagher Index result was 1.33 1930 German federal election Gallagher Index.png
The Gallagher Index result was 1.33

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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, p790
  3. Pollock, James K. “The German Reichstag Elections of 1930.” The American Political Science Review, vol. 24, no. 4, 1930, pp. 989–995., www.jstor.org/stable/1946755.