November 1933 German parliamentary election

Last updated

November 1933 German parliamentary election
Flag of the German Reich (1933-1935).svg
  March 1933 12 November 1933 (1933-11-12) 1936  

All 661 seats in the Reichstag
331 seats needed for a majority
Registered45,178,701 (Increase2.svg1.1%)
Turnout95.3% (Increase2.svg6.6pp)
 Majority party
 
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1987-0703-506, Adolf Hitler vor Rundfunk-Mikrofon retouched.jpg
Leader Adolf Hitler
Party NSDAP
Last election43.9%, 288 seats
Seats won661
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 373
Popular vote39,655,224
Percentage92.1%
SwingIncrease2.svg48.2pp

Government before election

Hitler cabinet
NSDAP

Government after election

Hitler cabinet
NSDAP

Parliamentary elections were held in Germany on 12 November 1933. They were the first since the Nazi Party seized complete power with the enactment of the Enabling Act in March. All opposition parties had been banned by the Law Against the Formation of Parties (14 July 1933), and voters were presented with a single list containing Nazis and 22 non-party "guests" (Gäste) of the Nazi Party. These "guests", who included the likes of Alfred Hugenberg, still fully supported the regime of Adolf Hitler in any event. [1]

Contents

This election set the tone for all further elections and referendums held in the Nazi era. Official results showed 92 percent of the voters approved the Nazi list, on a turnout of 96 percent. The vote was held in far-from secret circumstances; many voters feared that anyone who voted "no" would be detected and punished for doing so. In some communities, voters were threatened with reprisals if they dared to vote no, or even if they simply failed to vote at all. [2] Nonetheless, 3.3 million voters submitted invalid ballots.

By November 1933 the Nazi government had already established a concentration camp system, although camp inmates retained the right to vote. In several camps the Nazi list was endorsed by a large majority of voters and The Guardian reported that that meant an amnesty was considered likely. [3]

The elections were held on the same day as a separate referendum on Hitler's decision to pull Germany out of the League of Nations, which passed with similar numbers. The new Reichstag, exclusively composed of NSDAP members and sympathisers, convened on 12 December to elect a Presidium headed by President of the Reichstag Hermann Göring.

Election poster with the slogan One People, One Leader, One "Yes". Bundesarchiv Bild 183-K0930-502, Wahlplakat der NSDAP zur Reichstagswahl.jpg
Election poster with the slogan One People, One Leader, One "Yes".

Results

German Reichstag, November 1933.svg
PartyVotes%Seats
Nazi Party and guests39,655,22492.11661
Against3,398,2497.89
Invalid/blank votes
Total votes43,053,473100.00661
Registered voters/turnout45,178,70195.30
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

The election liquidated what was left of Weimar democracy and reduced the Reichstag to a mere stage for Hitler's speeches. It only met sporadically until the end of World War II, held no debates and enacted only a few laws, while the Reichsrat was abolished in February 1934 by the Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat .

In August 1934, Hindenburg died, and Hitler seized the president's powers for himself in accordance with a law passed the previous day, an action confirmed via a referendum later that month, removing the last obstacle that prevented Hitler from obtaining absolute power and establish a totalitarian state.

Related Research Articles

The Nazi term Gleichschaltung or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler — leader of the Nazi Party in Germany — successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society "from the economy and trade associations to the media, culture and education". Although the Weimar Constitution remained nominally in effect until Germany's surrender following World War II, near total Nazification had been secured by the 1935 resolutions approved during the Nuremberg Rally, when the symbols of the Nazi Party and the state were fused and German Jews were deprived of their citizenship. The tenets of Gleichschaltung also applied to territories occupied by the Nazis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enabling Act of 1933</span> Transfer of the Reichstags power to the government under Hitler

The Enabling Act of 1933, officially titled Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich, was a law that gave the German Cabinet – most importantly, the Chancellor – the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or Weimar President Paul von Hindenburg, leading to the rise of Nazi Germany. Critically, the Enabling Act allowed the Chancellor to bypass the system of checks and balances in the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weimar Constitution</span> German constitution of 1919

The Constitution of the German Reich, usually known as the Weimar Constitution, was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The constitution declared Germany to be a democratic parliamentary republic with a legislature elected under proportional representation. Universal suffrage was established, with a minimum voting age of 20. The constitution technically remained in effect throughout the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945 as well as during the Allied occupation of Germany from 1945 to 1949, though practically it had been repealed by the Enabling Act of 1933 and thus its various provisions and protections went unenforced for the duration of Nazi rule, and after World War II, the power of the Allied Control Council and four occupying powers once again stood above the provisions of the constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Germany (1919–1945)</span> Head of state under the Weimar Constitution

The President of the Reich was the German head of state under the Weimar constitution, which was officially in force from 1919 to 1945. In English he was usually simply referred to as the President of Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichsrat (Germany)</span> German parliaments upper house, 1919–1934

The Reichsrat of the Weimar Republic was the de facto upper house of Germany's parliament; the lower house was the popularly elected Reichstag. The Reichsrat's members were appointed by the German state governments to represent their interests in the legislation and administration of the nation at the federal level. Its powers were relatively limited, making it considerably weaker than its predecessor, the Bundesrat of the German Empire (1871–1918). It could introduce legislation for the Reichstag to consider and veto laws that it passed, but the vetoes could be overridden. The Reichsrat also played a role in administering and implementing Reich laws.

The early timeline of Nazism begins with its origins and continues until Hitler's rise to power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1932 German presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Germany on 13 March 1932, with a runoff on 10 April. Independent incumbent Paul von Hindenburg won a second seven-year term against Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Communist Party (KPD) leader Ernst Thälmann also ran and received more than ten percent of the vote in the runoff. Theodor Duesterberg, the deputy leader of the World War I veterans' organization Der Stahlhelm, ran in the first round but dropped out of the runoff. This was the second and final direct election to the office of President of the Reich, Germany's head of state under the Weimar Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March 1933 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 5 March 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power on 30 January 1933 and just six days after the Reichstag fire. The election saw Nazi stormtroopers unleash a widespread campaign of violence against the Communist Party (KPD), left-wingers, trade unionists, the Social Democratic Party, and the Centre Party. They were the last multi-party elections in a united Germany until 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November 1932 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 6 November 1932. The Nazi Party saw its vote share fall by four percentage points, while there were slight increases for the Communist Party of Germany and the national conservative German National People's Party. The results were a great disappointment for the Nazis, who lost 34 seats and again failed to form a coalition government in the Reichstag. The elections were the last free and fair elections before the Nazis seized power the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1930 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 14 September 1930. Despite losing ten 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. The Communists also increased their parliamentary representation, gaining 23 seats and becoming the third-largest party in the Reichstag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolf Hitler's rise to power</span> Events leading to Hitlers dictatorship of Germany

Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Being one of its most popular speakers, he was made the party leader after he threatened to otherwise leave.

A referendum on withdrawing from the League of Nations was held in Germany on 12 November 1933 alongside Reichstag elections. The measure was approved by 95% of voters with a turnout of 96%. It was the first of a series of referendums held by the German cabinet under Chancellor Adolf Hitler, after the cabinet conferred upon itself the ability to hold referendums on 14 July 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1934 German head of state referendum</span> Vote on Hitler taking power in Nazi Germany

A referendum on merging the posts of Chancellor and President was held in Nazi Germany on 19 August 1934, seventeen days after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. The German leadership sought to gain approval for Adolf Hitler's assumption of supreme power. The referendum was associated with widespread intimidation of voters and significant electoral fraud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1936 German parliamentary election and referendum</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Germany on 29 March 1936. They took the form of a single-question referendum, asking voters whether they approved of the military occupation of the Rhineland and a single party list for the new Reichstag composed exclusively of Nazis and nominally independent 'guests' of the party. Like previous votes in the Nazi era, it was rigged, with a claimed turnout of 99% and 98.8% voting in favour. In a publicity stunt, a number of voters were packed aboard the airships Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg, which flew above the Rhineland as those aboard cast their ballots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1938 German parliamentary election and referendum</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Germany on 10 April 1938. They were the final elections to the Reichstag during Nazi rule and took the form of a single-question referendum asking whether voters approved of a single list of Nazi and pro-Nazi guest candidates for the 814-member Reichstag, as well as the recent annexation of Austria. Turnout in the election was officially 99.6% with 99.1% voting 'yes' in Germany and Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichstag (Weimar Republic)</span> Legislative body of Weimar Germany

The Reichstag of the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) was the lower house of Germany's parliament; the upper house was the Reichsrat, which represented the states. The Reichstag convened for the first time on 24 June 1920, taking over from the Weimar National Assembly, which had served as an interim parliament following the collapse of the German Empire in November 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichstag (Nazi Germany)</span> Legislative body of Nazi Germany

The Reichstag, officially the Greater German Reichstag after 1938, was the national parliament of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Following the Nazi seizure of power and the enactment of the Enabling Act of 1933, it functioned purely as a rubber stamp for the actions of Adolf Hitler's dictatorship — always by unanimous consent — and as a forum to listen to Hitler's speeches. In this purely ceremonial role, the Reichstag convened only 20 times, the last on 26 April 1942. The President of the Reichstag throughout this period was Hermann Göring.

The Provisional Law and Second Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich were two laws enacted by the German government of Adolf Hitler to expand its control over the seventeen German states (länder). The Provisional (First) Law dissolved all the sitting landtage, except for that of Prussia, and reconstituted them in accordance with the results of the recent parliamentary election of 5 March 1933, which had given the Nazi Party and its coalition partner, the German National People's Party (DNVP), a majority of the Reichstag seats. The Second Law established the new powerful position of Reichsstatthalter appointed by the central government to effectively take control of each state administration. The effect of these laws was to undermine the power and influence of all political parties other than the Nazis and the DNVP, and to move Germany significantly away from being a federal republic and put it on a path to becoming a unitary state.

The Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich of 30 January 1934, was a sweeping constitutional change to the structure of the German state by the government of Nazi Germany. It was one of the key pieces of legislation that served as the basis for the policy of Gleichschaltung, or coordination, by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successfully established their totalitarian control over all aspects of the German government and society. The law abolished the independent parliaments (Landtage) of the then-extant 16 German states, transferred the states' sovereignty to the central government and essentially converted Germany from a federal republic to a highly centralized unitary state.

The Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat was a measure enacted by the government of Nazi Germany on 14 February 1934 that abolished the second chamber of the German parliament.

References

  1. Read, Anthony (2004). The Devil's Disciples: The Lives and Times of Hitler's Inner Circle. London: Pimlico. p. 344. ISBN   0-7126-6416-5.
  2. William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (Touchstone Edition) (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990)
  3. "All Germans rounded up to vote". The Guardian. 13 November 1933.

Further reading