In the fourteen years the Weimar Republic was in existence, some forty parties were represented in the Reichstag . This fragmentation of political power was in part due to the use of a peculiar proportional representation electoral system that encouraged regional or small special interest parties [1] and in part due to the many challenges facing the nascent German democracy in this period.
After the Nazi seizure of power, they used the provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree to effectively eliminate their chief adversaries, first the Communists (March 1933) and then the Social Democrats (22 June 1933) through arrests, confiscation of assets and removal from office. Other parties were pressured into disbanding on their own or were swept away by the "Law Against the Formation of Parties" (14 July 1933) which declared the Nazi Party to be Germany's only legal political party. [2]
Party | Abbr. | Categorization | Stance | Description | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Social Democratic Party of Germany Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | SPD | Centre-left | Pro-Weimar Republic | (between 1917 and 1922 also called Mehrheitssozialdemokratische Partei (MSPD) – Majority Social Democrats). Founded in 1875, it was one of the earliest Marxist-influenced parties in the world. A member of the Weimar Coalition, the SPD supported the parliamentary system of democracy and extensive social programs in the economy. For most of the Weimar Republic's existence until 1932, the SPD was the largest single party in the Reichstag and it participated in several coalition governments. Its party newspaper was the Vorwärts. | |
National Socialist German Workers' Party Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei | NSDAP | Far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party). This was a far-right political party in Germany that was active between 1920 and 1945, and that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the German nationalist, racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against the communist uprisings in post-World War I Germany. It supported the ideas of Führerprinzip, Volksgemeinschaft , Pan-Germanism, Lebensraum and the "Aryan Master Race". The party incorporated fervent antisemitism, anti-communism, anti-capitalism, scientific racism, and the use of eugenics into its creed. Headed by Adolf Hitler from 1921, the party became the largest in the Reichstag by July 1932. Its main newspaper was the Völkischer Beobachter . | |
Communist Party of Germany Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands | KPD | Far-left | Anti-Weimar Republic | Communist Party of Germany. Formed at the very end of 1918 out of a number of left-wing groups, including the left-wing of the USPD and the Spartacus League. It was a Marxist-Leninist party that advocated revolution by the proletariat and the creation of a communist regime according to the example of the Soviet Union. It was the main far-left party for the majority of the Weimar period. The party's major paper was the Die Rote Fahne (The Red Flag). Between 1920 and 1922 known as the United Communist Party of Germany (Vereinigte Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, VKPD) | |
Centre Party Zentrumspartei | Centre-right | Pro-Weimar Republic | It was the continuation of the pre-Weimar Catholic party of the same name. A member of the Weimar Coalition, the Centre Party was the third-largest party in the Reichstag for most of the Weimar Republic and participated in all governments until 1932. Their party newspaper was Germania. | ||
German National People's Party Deutschnationale Volkspartei | DNVP | Right-wing to far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | It presented itself as a volksgemeinschaft or non-class party. It included remnants from the German Conservative Party, the Free Conservative Party, the Völkische movement, the Christian Social movement, and the Pan-German Association. It established two labor unions; one for the blue-collar worker (the DNAB) and one for the white-collar worker (DNAgB), which had been politically unimportant. The DNVP was the main authoritarian right party of Weimar Germany but moved to the radical right after coming under the control of press baron Alfred Hugenberg in 1928. It organized the National Opposition in 1929, together with leaders of Der Stahlhelm , Hjalmar Schacht, the president of the Reichsbank , and the Nazi Party, to oppose Chancellor Hermann Müller's Grand Coalition. It joined in coalition with Hitler's government in January 1933. | |
German People's Party Deutsche Volkspartei | DVP | Before 1929: Centre to centre-right After 1929: Centre-right to right-wing | Formed in 1918 from the pre-Weimar National Liberals, it was a center-right party supporting right-liberalism. Its platform stressed Christian family values, secular education, lower tariffs, opposition to welfare spending and agrarian subsidies, and hostility to socialism. Gustav Stresemann was its chairman and it participated in all governments until 1931. After Stresseann's death, the party turned further to the right. | ||
German Democratic Party Deutsche Demokratische Partei | DDP | Centre to centre-left | Pro-Weimar Republic | Formed in 1918 as the successor to the Progressive People's Party, the DDP was a center-left party that supported social liberalism. A member of the Weimar Coalition, it was one of the main liberal parties and participated in several coalition governments. | |
Old Social Democratic Party of Germany Alte Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | ASPD | Centre-left | Old Social Democratic Party of Germany. A regional party based in Saxony that split from the SPD in 1926. It never gained a mass following and disbanded in 1932. | ||
Communist Workers' Party of Germany Kommunistische Arbeiter-Partei Deutschlands | KAPD | Far-left | Anti-Weimar Republic | Communist Workers' Party of Germany. An ultra-leftist party that split from the KPD in April 1920. They rejected participation in the Reichstag and called for immediate revolutionary action. Immediately after its formation the party endured a series of splinters and lost much of the little influence it had. | |
Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Opposition) | KPO | Left-wing | Split from the KPD in 1928, representing the "Right Opposition" of the Bukharinists against the Stalinist "Center" and the Trotskyist "Left Opposition". It never intended to be a real political party, but to influence the KPD. | ||
Socialist Workers' Party of Germany Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands | SAPD | Left-wing | A left-wing faction that split from the SPD in 1931. Parts of the USPD and dissenters from the KPD and the KPO joined it, but it remained small. Its political positions were near to those of the USPD, wavering between the SPD and the KPD. | ||
Socialist League Sozialistischer Bund | Left-wing | A splinter party that formed from the USPD in 1922 and merged into the SAPD in 1931. | |||
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany Unabhängige Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands | USPD | Left-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | This was formed by an anti-war faction that split from the SPD in 1917. It was a Marxist party that sought change through parliament and social progressive programs. The left-wing majority of the party joined the Communist Party in December 1920, while the remainder reunited with the MSPD in September 1922. A splinter element ( Sozialistischer Bund ) continued as an independent party, never attaining any real electoral success and finally merging with the SAPD in 1931. | |
German Farmers' Party Deutsche Bauernpartei | DBP | Centre | An agrarian party founded in 1928 to advocate for the economic interests of small farmers and peasants. | ||
German State Party Deutsche Staatspartei | DStP | Centre | Pro-Weimar Republic | German State Party. Formed in 1930 by a merger of the DDP and the Volksnationale Reichsvereinigung (VNRV) (People's National Reich Association), the political wing of the Young German Order. The VNRV Reichstag delegates soon seceded from the party, leaving it essentially the DDP under a new name. | |
Hanseatic People's League Hanseatischer Volksbund | HVB | Right-wing | A regional party founded in Lübeck in 1926, supported by the middle classes opposed to Marxism and social democracy. It was allied with the DVP. | ||
Schleswig-Holstein Farmers and Farmworkers Democracy Schleswig-Holsteinische Bauern- und Landarbeiterdemokratie | SHBLD | Centre | A regional agrarian party active in Schleswig-Holstein between 1919 and 1924. It was a moderate party that leaned towards liberalism, and co-operated with the DVP. | ||
People's National Reich Association Volksnationale Reichsvereinigung | Centre | Pro-Weimar Republic | This was the political wing of the Young German Order and it briefly merged with the DDP in 1930 to form the DStP. | ||
Bavarian People's Party Bayerische Volkspartei | BVP | Centre-right | Pro-Weimar Republic | A Catholic and conservative party, in 1918 it split off from the Centre Party to pursue a more conservative and particularist Bavarian course. | |
Brunswick Lower Saxon Party Braunschweigisch-Niedersächsische Partei | BNP | Right-wing | This was a small regional party active in the Free State of Brunswick. It was conservative, monarchist and anti-republican. It formed an electoral alliance with the DVP and the DNVP. | ||
Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party Christlich-Nationale Bauern- und Landvolkpartei | CNBL | Right-wing | Christian National Peasants' and Farmers' Party. This was a conservative agrarian party that broke off from the German National People's Party (DNVP) in 1928. It contested the 1930 and 1932 Reichstag elections under the name Deutsches Landvolk (German Rural Folk). | ||
Christian Social People's Service Christlich-Sozialer Volksdienst | CSVD | Centre-right to right-wing | A conservative Protestant party formed at the end of 1929, it was mainly supported by the middle class and Christian trade unionists. It supported state welfare, trade unions and workers participation in management; it opposed atheism, liberalism and Marxism. Also known as Christlich-sozialer Volksdienst (Evangelische Bewegung). | ||
Christian People's Party Christliche Volkspartei | CVP | Right-wing | Pro-Weimar Republic | A short-lived Catholic party based in the Rhineland. [3] | |
German-Hanoverian Party Deutsch-Hannoversche Partei | DHP | Centre-left | Also known as the Guelph Party. A regional party in Prussia's Province of Hanover that unsuccessfully advocated for a Free State of Hanover. Formerly conservative and centre-right, the party moved to the left in the 1920s. | ||
German Workers' Party Deutsche Arbeiterpartei | DAP | Far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | This was formed in 1919 by Anton Drexler, with Gottfried Feder, Dietrich Eckart and Karl Harrer, and derived in part from the Thule Society, the cover organization of the occult ariosophist Germanenorden . This party added the adjective "National Socialist" in its name and became the "National Socialist German Workers' Party" (NSDAP) in 1920. | |
German Reform Party Deutsche Reformpartei | DRP | Far-right | (splinter party) | ||
German Social Party Deutschsoziale Partei | DSP | Far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | A far-right antisemitic and Völkisch political party, active from 1921 to 1929. | |
German-Socialist Party Deutschsozialistische Partei | DSP | Far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | A far-right, nationalist party heavily influenced by the antisemitic Thule Society. It was headed by Julius Streicher, and it was also highly organized, despite having a rather small size. In a controversial move, it dissolved itself in 1922 and many of its members entered the (then very new) Nazi Party. | |
German Völkisch Freedom Party Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei | DVFP | Far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | The party of General Ludendorff. It campaigned for an authoritarian regime that would be very nationalistic and promoted socioeconomic questions. It also sought to close the stock exchanges and nationalize the banks. In May 1924, it obtained 6.4% of the vote in alliance with NSDAP, but fell to 3% in the next election, in December 1924. | |
German Völkisch Empire Party Deutschvölkische Reichspartei | DVRP | Far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | ||
Greater German Workers' Party Großdeutsche Arbeiterpartei | GDAP | Right-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | ||
Greater German People's Community Großdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft | GVG | Far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | A Nazi front organization established in January 1924 when the Nazi Party was outlawed. Centered in Bavaria, it was led by Alfred Rosenberg until July when he was ousted by Julius Streicher. Opposed to electoral politics, it was not represented in the Reichstag. It dissolved in March 1925 and was reabsorbed by the Nazi Party. | |
Conservative People's Party Konservative Volkspartei | KVP | Right-wing | Pro-Weimar Republic | It split off from the DNVP in 1930, following that party's turn to the far-right under Alfred Hugenberg. | |
National Socialist Freedom Party Nationalsozialistische Freiheitspartei | NSFP | Far-right | Anti-Weimar Republic | A Nazi front organization established in April 1924 when the Nazi Party was outlawed and Hitler was jailed. The remaining Nazis formed it as a legal means of carrying on the party and its ideology. As the National Socialist Freedom movement (NSFB), it ran as a combined list with the DVFP in the 1924 Reichstag elections and disbanded shortly after the Nazi Party was re-established in February 1925. | |
Economic Party Reichspartei des deutschen Mittelstandes | WP | Right-wing | A conservative pro-business party, founded in 1920 as the Economic Party of the German Middle Class. It commonly was referred to as the Wirtschaftspartei (WP). It supported a reduction in government economic involvement, a freer hand for business, and lower taxes. It was particularly opposed to revaluation, which it considered an attack on the rights of property owners. | ||
People's Justice Party Volksrechtpartei | VRP | Right-wing | Officially called the Reich Party for Civil Rights and Deflation. Formed in 1926, the party was conservative in outlook and represented itself as the defender of savers, calling for the creation of as broad a middle class as possible. It sought to represent those worst hit by the hyperinflation of the early 1920s. | ||
Besides the larger parties, there were also a multitude of smaller groups and parties that were either affiliated with the electoral coalitions of larger parties or were organizationally independent and participated with their own lists either throughout the entire Republic or only in individual constituencies. [4]
Party | Abbr. | Categorization | Stance | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
General German Civil Servants Association Allgemeiner Deutscher Beamtenbund | AGB | Left-wing | A civil servants' league started by the SPD. | |
German Agrarian League Bund der Landwirte | BdL | The Agrarian League was an agricultural advocacy group that opposed free trade, industrialization, and liberalism. It merged with the Deutscher Landbund in 1921 to form the Reichslandbund . | ||
Peasants' Association Bauernverein | Peasant association located in Schleswig-Holstein. Without religious ties, it initially supported a liberal economic and political policy. | |||
Peasants' Associations Bauernvereine | Centre | Farmers' associations associated with the Center Party, that were located in the Catholic west and south. | ||
Bavarian Peasants' League Bayerischer Bauernbund | BBB | Operated throughout Germany but especially in its stronghold of Bavaria. It had democratic, anticlerical leanings and subscribed to a narrow Bavarian particularism. It supported the BVP and the DNVP, and in 1928 helped found the DBP. Also BBB. | ||
Brunswick State Electoral Association Braunschweigischer Landeswahlverband | BLWV | Right-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | This was a regional electoral alliance of conservative bourgeois parties, consisting of the Deutsche Volkspartei (DVP), the Deutschnationale Volkspartei (DNVP) and the Welf–oriented Braunschweigisch-Niedersächsische Partei (BNP), or Brunswick Lower–Saxon Party. It was active between 1918 and 1922 in the Free State of Brunswick. |
Christian-Federalist Imperial Electoral List Christlich-föderalistische Reichswahlliste | Centre | Pro-Weimar Republic | Combined list of the Bavarian People's Party (BVP), the Christliche Volkspartei (CVP) and a Hessian party. [3] | |
Christian People's Party Christliche Volkspartei | CVP | Centre | Pro-Weimar Republic | Combined list of the Bavarian People's Party (BVP) and the Center Party. |
Spartacus League Spartakusbund | Left-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | Originally formed in 1914 by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, it joined the USPD in 1917. During the November Revolution, it reformed but shortly joined the KPD when it was founded on 1 January 1919. | |
Workers' Party for the Working and Creating People Arbeiterpartei für das arbeitende und schaffende Volk | AASV | Left-wing | [5] | |
Workers' and Peasants' Party of Germany, Christian-Radical People's Front Arbeiter- und Bauernpartei Deutschlands, Christlich-Radikale Volksfront | ABDCV | Left-wing | Associated with the KPD. [6] | |
League of the Unemployed of Berlin Bund der Erwerbslosen Berlins | BEB | Left-wing | Associated with the KPD. [6] | |
Christian-Social Empire Party Christlich-Soziale Reichspartei | CSRP | Left-wing | [5] | |
German Employee Party Deutsche Arbeitnehmerpartei | Darpa | Left-wing | Associated with the Christian Social People's Service (Evangelical Movement) Also DAnP. | |
German Socialist Combat Movement Deutsche Sozialistische Kampfbewegung | DSKB | Left-wing | [5] | |
Combat Community of Workers' and Peasants' Kampfgemeinschaft der Arbeiter und Bauern | KAB | Left-wing | [5] | |
Left Communists Linke Kommunisten | LK | Left-wing | ||
Middle Class Party (Unitarians) Mittelstandspartei (Unitaristen) | MP (U) | Left-wing | Associated with the KPD. | |
National-Communist-Party of Germany Nationale-Kommunistische-Partei Deutschlands | NKPD | Left-wing | [5] | |
Party of the Unemployed for Work and Bread Partei der Erwerbslosen für Arbeit und Brot | PEAB | Left-wing | Associated with the KPD [6] and/or NSDAP. [7] | |
Radical-Democratic Party Radikaldemokratische Partei | RDP | Left-wing | [5] | |
Republican Party of Germany Republikanische Partei Deutschlands | RPD | Left-wing | [5] | |
Socialist Combat Community Sozialistische Kampfgemeinschaft | SKG | Left-wing | [5] | |
Social-Republican Party (Hörsing-Movement for Employment) Sozial-Republikanische Partei (Hörsing-Bewegung für Arbeitsbeschaffung) | SRPD | Left-wing | [5] | |
Unitarian Movement of Germany Unitaristen Union Deutschlands | UUD | Left-wing | [5] | |
People's Socialists Volkssozialisten | VSoz | Left-wing | [5] | |
National Association of Deserters Reichsbund der Deserteure | Left-wing | Led by Karl Liebknecht and formed before the breakup from the Independent Socialists. | ||
The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten | Right-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | Founded in December 1918 by Franz Seldte, this was the First World War veteran's organisation. Officially above party politics, it was conservative, nationalistic and monarchist. After 1929, it took on an anti-republican and anti-democratic character. Its goals were the overthrow of the Republic in favor of a dictatorship and a revanchist program. In 1931, it joined the DNVP and the NSDAP to form the Harzburg Front. | |
German Nationalist Protection and Defiance Federation Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund | Right-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | This was the largest and the most active anti-Semitic federation in Germany. Founded in 1919, it was anti-democratic and advocated violence. After the murder of Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau in 1922, it was banned in most states of the Reich and disbanded by 1924. | |
Harzburg Front Harzburger Front | Right-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | A right-wing, anti-democratic political alliance of the NSDAP, DNVP, Der Stahlhelm , the Agricultural League and the Pan-German League. It was formed in 1931 to present a unified right-wing opposition to the Weimar government. | |
Combat League of Revolutionary National Socialists Kampfgemeinschaft Revolutionärer Nationalsozialisten | KGRNS | Right-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | Commonly known as the Black Front. An opposition group formed by Otto Strasser in 1930 after he resigned from the Nazi Party to continue what he saw as the Party's original anti-capitalist stance. |
Rural People's Movement Landvolkbewegung | Right-wing | A farmers' movement, mainly in Schleswig-Holstein, formed in the aftermath of January 1928 demonstrations against trade and tax policies. | ||
Agricultural League Reichslandbund | Right-wing | Anti-Weimar Republic | Also known as National Rural League. It was formed in 1921 through the merger of the two large Protestant right-wing agricultural associations, the Bund der Landwirte (BdL) and the Deutscher Landbund, in order to more effectively assert agricultural interests against the forces of labor and big business. It strove to maintain as much influence as possible for large Junker landowners from east of the Elbe, who were heavily represented among its leadership. Opposed to the Republic, it first was allied with the DNVP and later the Nazi Party. | |
Völkisch-Social Bloc Völkisch-Sozialer Block | Right-wing | This was a right-wing electoral alliance of völkisch, anti-Semitic and anti-republican groups formed in 1924 during the period that the Nazi Party was outlawed, and was closely aligned with its ideology. It was particularly strong in Bavaria and Thuringia. It disbanded in March 1925, following the reestablishment of the Nazi Party. | ||
German Social Monarchist Party Deutsche Soziale Monarchisten-Partei | DSMP | Right-wing | Associated with the DNVP. | |
Expropriated middle class Enteigneter Mittelstand | entM | Right-wing | Associated with the DNVP. | |
German Empire-Againist-Interest-Movement Deutsche Reichs-Gegen-Zins-Bewegung | RGZP | Right-wing | Associated with the NSDAP. | |
Imperial Party of German National Catholics Reichspartei Nationaler Deutscher Katholiken | Right-wing | Associated with the NSDAP. | ||
German National Citizen-Bloc Deutscher nationaler Bürger-Block | DnBB | Associated with the German People's Party. | ||
Liberal National-Social German Middle Class Movement Freiheitliche National-Soziale Deutsche Mittelstandsbewegung | FNSM | Associated with the National-Social Party of the Centre (Nationalsoziale Partei der Mitte) and Greater German People's Party (Großdeutsche Volkspartei (Liste Schmalix)) | ||
Freedom Movement Black-White-Red Freiheitsbewegung Schwarz-Weiß-Rot (Reichsbund der Baltikum-, Oberschlesien-, Grenzschutz- und Freikorpskämpfer) | FSWR | Associated with the DNVP. | ||
Freiwirtschaftsbund Freiwirtschaftsbund | Fwb | Associated with the Freiwirtschaftliche Partei Deutschlands (Partei für krisenfreie Volkswirtschaft). | ||
Greater German Middle Class Party for the dictatorship of the Middle Class Großdeutsche Mittelstandspartei für Mittelstandsdiktatur | GMP | |||
Craftsmen, traders and business people Handwerker, Handel- und Gewerbetreibende | HHG | Associated with the DNVP. | ||
Houseworkers and Farmers' Party Haus- und Landwirtepartei | HLP | Associated with the DNVP. | ||
Interest group for small pensioners and those affected by inflation Interessengemeinschaft der Kleinrentner und Inflationsgeschädigten | IKI | |||
Nationalist Party Nationalistische Partei | NatP | |||
Combat League of those affected by lower wages and salaries Kampfbund der Lohn- und Gehaltsabgebauten | KbL | Associated with the Bavarian People's Party. | ||
Small pensioners, those affected by inflation and those with pre-war money Kleinrentner, Inflationsgeschädigte und Vorkriegsgeldbesitzer | KIV | Associated with the DNVP. | ||
Land League Landbund | Ldbu | Associated with the Thuringian Landbund and the DNVP. | ||
Land League Landbund | Ldbu | Associated with the Württ. Bauern- und Weingärtnerbund (Landbund). | ||
Justice-Movement-Meißner Gerechtigkeits-Bewegung-Meißner | Meiß | |||
National Freedom Party Nationale Freiheitspartei | NFP | Associated with the German State Party. | ||
Radical Middle Class Radikaler Mittelstand | RadM | Associated with the DNVP. | ||
Socialist Workers' Party of Poland Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Polen | SAP | |||
Polish Party Polnische Partei | Polen | Also known as Polish People's Party (Polnische Volkspartei). Associated with the National Minorities Germany (Nationale Minderheiten Deutschlands) | ||
For Hindenburg and Papen (Nationalist Combat Movement) Für Hindenburg und Papen (Nationalistische Kampfbewegung) | HuP | Associated with the DNVP. | ||
Greater German List Schmalix Großdeutsche Liste Schmalix | Schm | Associated with the National-Social Party of the Centre (Nationalsoziale Partei der Mitte) and Greater German People's Party (Großdeutsche Volkspartei (Liste Schmalix)) | ||
Community of fate for the German unemployed (Unemployed Front) Schicksalsgemeinschaft deutscher Erwerbslosen (Erwerbslosenfront) | Sgem | Associated with the CSVD. | ||
Schleswig Association Schleswigscher Verein | SlV | |||
German Peasants' Party (National-Republican) Deutsche Bauernpartei (National-Republikanische) | DB(NR) | |||
Green Front Grüne Front | An umbrella group which consisted of the Reichslandbund (RLB), the Deutsche Bauernshaft (formerly Bauernbund), the Association of Christian-German Peasant Unions, and the German Agricultural Council. It too heavily promoted the Junkers interest and drove out many farmers. | |||
German Agricultural Council Deutsche Landwirtschafsrat | ||||
Federation of German Retail Business |
All vote numbers in thousands.
6 June 1920 includes by-elections in Schleswig-Holstein and East Prussia (20 February 1921) and Upper Silesia (19 November 1922) Eligible 35,920 Turnout 28,196 % voting 78.4 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 590 4 USPD 5,047 83 SPD 6,104 103 Centre 3,910 64 BVP 1,173 21 DDP 2,334 39 WP 219 4 DVP 3,919 65 DNVP 4,249 71 Regional 709 5 Splinter 161 0 Total 28,415 459
4 May 1924 Eligible 38,375 Turnout 29,282 % voting 76.3 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 3,693 45 USPD 235 0 SPD 6,009 100 Centre 3,914 65 BVP 947 16 DDP 1,655 28 WP 530 10 DVP 2,728 45 DNVP 5,697 95 NSFP 1,918 32 Regional 608 5 Rightist 666 10 Splinter 682 4 Total 29,282 455
7 December 1924 Eligible 33,987 Turnout 30,290 % voting 77.7 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 2,709 45 USPD 99 0 SPD 7,881 131 Centre 4,092 69 BVP 1,134 19 DDP 1,920 32 WP 639 17 DVP 3,049 51 DNVP 6,206 103 NSFB 907 14 Regional 708 4 Rightist 545 8 Splinter 401 0 Total 30,290 493
20 May 1928 Eligible 41,224 Turnout 30,754 % voting 74.6 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 3,265 54 SPD 9,153 153 Centre 3,712 61 BVP 946 17 DDP 1,479 25 WP 1,388 23 DVP 2,680 45 DNVP 4,382 73 NSDAP 810 12 Regional 956 3 Rightist 1,025 23 Splinter 958 2 Total 30,754 491
14 September 1930 Eligible 42,958 Turnout 34,971 % voting 81.4 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 4,592 77 SPD 8,578 143 Centre 4,128 68 BVP 1,059 19 DDP 1,322 20 WP 1,362 23 DVP 1,578 30 DNVP 2,458 41 NSDAP 6,383 107 Regional 683 3 Rightist 2,373 46 Splinter 455 0 Total 34,971 577
31 July 1932 Eligible 44,211 Turnout 36,882 % voting 83.4 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 5,283 89 SPD 7,960 133 Centre 4,589 75 BVP 1,193 22 DDP 372 4 WP 147 2 DVP 136 7 DNVP 2,177 37 NSDAP 13,769 230 Regional 219 0 Rightist 552 9 Splinter 185 0 Total 36,582 608
6 November 1932 Eligible 44,374 Turnout 35,471 % voting 79.9 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 5,980 100 SPD 7,248 121 Centre 4,230 70 BVP 1,095 20 DDP 336 2 WP 110 1 DVP 661 11 DNVP 2,959 52 NSDAP 11,737 196 Regional 353 1 Rightist 510 10 Splinter 252 0 Total 35,471 584
5 March 1933 Eligible 44,665 Turnout 39,343 % voting 88.1 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 4,848 81 SPD 7,181 120 Centre 4,425 74 BVP 1,074 18 DDP 334 5 DVP 432 2 DNVP 3,137 52 NSDAP 17,277 288 Regional 1,246 0 Rightist 384 7 Splinter 5 0 Total 39,343 647
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Federal elections were held in Germany on 20 May 1928 to elect the fourth Reichstag of the Weimar Republic.
The 1920 German federal election was held on 6 June 1920 to elect the first Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. It succeeded the Weimar National Assembly elected in January 1919, which had drafted and ratified the republican constitution. The election was delayed in three electoral districts – Schleswig-Holstein and East Prussia until 20 February 1921, and Upper Silesia (Oppeln) until 19 November 1922 – due to territorial plebiscites.
The Free State of Prussia was one of the constituent states of Germany from 1918 to 1947. The successor to the Kingdom of Prussia after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, it continued to be the dominant state in Germany during the Weimar Republic, as it had been during the empire, even though most of Germany's post-war territorial losses in Europe had come from its lands. It was home to the federal capital Berlin and had 62% of Germany's territory and 61% of its population. Prussia changed from the authoritarian state it had been in the past and became a parliamentary democracy under its 1920 constitution. During the Weimar period it was governed almost entirely by pro-democratic parties and proved more politically stable than the Republic itself. With only brief interruptions, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) provided the Minister President. Its Ministers of the Interior, also from the SPD, pushed republican reform of the administration and police, with the result that Prussia was considered a bulwark of democracy within the Weimar Republic.
The Free State of Brunswick was a state of the German Reich in the time of the Weimar Republic. It was formed after the abolition of the Duchy of Brunswick in the course of the German revolution of 1918–1919. Its capital was Braunschweig (Brunswick). In 1933 it was de facto abolished by Nazi Germany. The free state was disestablished after the Second World War in November 1946.
The Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a state in the Weimar Republic that was established on 14 November 1918 upon the abdication of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin following the German Revolution. In 1933, after the onset of Nazi rule, it was united with the smaller neighbouring Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz to form the new united state of Mecklenburg on 1 January 1934.
The Iron Front was a German paramilitary organization in the Weimar Republic which consisted of social democrats, trade unionists, and democratic socialists. Its main goal was to defend social democracy against what was seen as anti-democratic, totalitarian ideologies on the far-right and far-left. The Iron Front chiefly opposed the Sturmabteilung (SA) wing of the Nazi Party and the Antifaschistische Aktion wing of the Communist Party of Germany. Formally independent, it was intimately associated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The Three Arrows, originally designed for the Iron Front, became a well-known social democratic symbol representing resistance against monarchism, Nazism, and communism during the parliamentary elections in November 1932. The Three Arrows were later adopted by the SPD itself.
The Weimar National Assembly, officially the German National Constitutional Assembly, was the popularly elected constitutional convention and de facto parliament of Germany from 6 February 1919 to 21 May 1920. As part of its duties as the interim government, it debated and reluctantly approved the Treaty of Versailles that codified the peace terms between Germany and the victorious Allies of World War I. The Assembly drew up and approved the Weimar Constitution that was in force from 1919 to 1933. With its work completed, the National Assembly was dissolved on 21 May 1920. Following the election of 6 June 1920, the new Reichstag met for the first time on 24 June 1920, taking the place of the Assembly.
The first Müller cabinet, headed by Chancellor Hermann Müller of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), was the third democratically elected government of Germany and the second in office after the Weimar Constitution came into force in August 1919. The cabinet was based on the same three centre-left parties as the preceding Bauer cabinet: the SPD, Centre Party and German Democratic Party (DDP), a grouping known as the Weimar Coalition. It was formed on 27 March 1920 after the government of Gustav Bauer (SPD) resigned as a result of the unsuccessful Kapp Putsch, which it was seen as having handled badly.
The Fehrenbach cabinet, headed by Chancellor Constantin Fehrenbach of the Centre Party, was the fourth democratically elected government of the Weimar Republic. It took office on 25 June 1920 when it replaced the first cabinet of Hermann Müller, which had resigned due to the poor showing of the coalition parties in the June 1920 elections to the new Reichstag. The 1920 Reichstag replaced the Weimar National Assembly, which had served as Germany's interim parliament and written and approved the Weimar Constitution.
The second Luther cabinet, headed by the independent Hans Luther, was the 13th democratically elected government of the Weimar Republic. On 20 January 1926 it replaced the first Luther cabinet, which had resigned on 5 December 1925 following the withdrawal of the German National People's Party (DNVP) from the coalition in protest against the government's support of the Locarno Treaties. Luther had wanted to build a more stable majority coalition but had to settle for a second minority government with the same parties as his first cabinet but without the DNVP.
The 1931 Prussian Landtag referendum was an attempt to prematurely dissolve the sitting session of the Landtag (parliament) of the Weimar German state of Prussia. The referendum, which took place according to Article 6 of the 1920 Prussian Constitution, was triggered by a petition launched in the spring of 1931 by the anti-republican veterans' organization Der Stahlhelm. It was supported by several right-wing parties including the Nazis, as well as by the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Even though 93.9% of those voting on 9 August 1931 opted to dissolve the Landtag, the referendum failed because the turnout of 39.2% did not meet the minimum 50% requirement.
The fourth Marx cabinet, headed by Wilhelm Marx of the Centre Party, was the 15th democratically elected government during the Weimar Republic. On 29 January 1927 it replaced the third Marx cabinet, which had resigned after information concerning clandestine operations by Germany's armed forces, the Reichswehr, had come to light.
The second Müller cabinet, headed by Hermann Müller of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), was the sixteenth democratically elected government during the Weimar Republic. It took office on 28 June 1928 when it replaced the fourth Marx cabinet, which had resigned on 12 June after failing to pass a promised school law.
The first Brüning cabinet, headed by Heinrich Brüning of the Centre Party, was the seventeenth democratically elected government during the Weimar Republic. It took office on 30 March 1930 when it replaced the second Müller cabinet, which had resigned on 27 March over the issue of how to fund unemployment compensation.