February 1867 North German federal election

Last updated

February 1867 North German federal election
Flag of Germany (1867-1919).svg
  1848 12 February 1867 (1867-02-12) Aug 1867  

All 297 seats in the Reichstag
149 seats needed for a majority
Turnout~65% (in Prussian constituencies)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Rudolf von Bennigsen.jpg
DKP
DRP
Leader Rudolf von Bennigsen Eduard Georg von Bethusy-Huc
(nominal)
Party NLP Conservatives DRP
Leader since18671866
Seats won786339
Popular vote753,758629,360348,537
Percentage20.19%16.86%9.33%

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Seib, Jacob - Georg von Vincke, Abgeordneter des 13. Westfalischen Wahlbezirks, Frankfurt (Zeno Fotografie).jpg Benedikt Waldeck (IZ 54-1870 S 445).jpg
Polen
Leader Georg von Vincke Benedict Waldeck
Party Old Liberals DFP Polish Party
Leader since18581867
Seats won311913
Popular vote265,670276,321209,382
Percentage7.12%7.40%5.61%

Karte der Reichstagswahlen Februar 1867.svg
Map of results (by constituencies)

President of the Reichstag after election

Eduard von Simson
Independent

Elections to the Constituent Reichstag of the North German Confederation were held on 12 February 1867, with run-off elections during the following weeks. The National Liberal Party emerged as the largest party, winning 80 seats and receiving strong support in Hanover, Kassel and Nassau. [1] Voter turnout was around 65% in Prussian constituencies. [2] After the Constituent Reichstag had drawn up and agreed a constitution, fresh elections were held in August.

Contents

Electoral system

The North German Confederation were divided into 297 single-member electoral constituencies. Elections were conducted under the two-round system. All men over the age of 25, who were in full enjoyment of their civil rights, who were resident in the place of election and had nationality in one of the States belonging to the Confederation for at least three years, who were not under guardianship or curate, who were not engaged in bankruptcy proceedings, and who were not in receipt of public assistance were eligible to vote. [2]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
National Liberal Party 753,75820.1978
Conservative Party 629,36016.8663
Other Liberals379,49910.160
Free Conservative Party 348,5379.3339
Independent Conservatives345,9659.279
Progress Party 276,3217.4019
Old Liberals 265,6707.1231
Polish Party 209,3825.6113
Independent Liberals190,8155.1123
German-Hanoverian Party 111,7812.999
Clericals87,3652.349
Danish Party 27,4930.742
Saxon People's Party 22,9180.612
General German Workers' Association 21,5100.580
Lassallean General German Workers' Association 3,0000.080
Others39,3411.050
Unknown21,2020.570
Total3,733,917100.00297
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

Parliamentary groups

Two separate parliamentary groups would later be formed: the Free Association out of 11 liberals and 3 conservatives; and the Federal-Constitutional Association, out of 7 Schleswig-Holstein particularist liberals, one other liberal, 4 clericals, all 9 German-Hanoverians, and one independent conservative.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bundestag</span> Federal parliament of Germany

The Bundestag is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people, comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 as one of the legislative bodies of Germany and thus it is the historical successor to the earlier Reichstag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German People's Party</span> Political party in Germany

The German People's Party was a conservative-liberal political party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. Along with the left-liberal German Democratic Party (DDP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North German Confederation</span> Federal state in Northern Germany, 1866–1871

The North German Confederation was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated state that existed from July 1867 to December 1870. A milestone of the German Unification, it was the earliest continual legal predecessor of the modern German nation-state known today as the Federal Republic of Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1906 United Kingdom general election</span> Last UK Liberal party electoral parliamentary majority result

The 1906 United Kingdom general election was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1867 Quebec general election</span>

The 1867 Quebec general election was held in August and September 1867 to elect members of the First Legislature for the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Quebec Conservative Party, led by Premier Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, defeated the Quebec Liberal Party led by Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Liberal Party (Germany)</span> Political party in Germany

The National Liberal Party was a liberal party of the North German Confederation and the German Empire which flourished between 1867 and 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prussian three-class franchise</span>

The Prussian three-class franchise was an indirect electoral system used from 1848 until 1918 in the Kingdom of Prussia and for shorter periods in other German states. Voters were grouped by district into three classes, with the total tax payments in each class equal. Those who paid the most in taxes formed the first class, followed by the next highest in the second, with those who paid the least in the third. Voters in each class separately elected one third of the electors who in turn voted for the representatives. Voting was not secret. The franchise was a form of apportionment by economic class rather than geographic area or population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North German Constitution</span>

The North German Constitution was the constitution of the North German Confederation, which existed as a country from 1 July 1867 to 31 December 1870. The Constitution of the German Empire (1871) was closely based on it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bath (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Bath is a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom represented by Wera Hobhouse of the Liberal Democrats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However, its majority fell to 66 seats compared to the 167-seat majority it had won four years before. This was the first time the Labour Party had won a third consecutive election, and remains the party's most recent general election victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1912 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 12 January 1912. Although the Social Democratic Party (SPD) had received the most votes in every election since 1890, it had never won the most seats, and in the 1907 elections, it had won fewer than half the seats won by the Centre Party despite receiving over a million more votes. However, the 1912 elections saw the SPD retain its position as the most voted-for party and become the largest party in the Reichstag, winning 110 of the 397 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Conservatives</span> Part of the British Conservative Party

The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party, often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political party in Scotland. It is the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament and the third-largest in Scottish local government. The party has the second-largest number of Scottish MPs in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the seventh overall.

Oxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950. The last two members to represent Oxford University when it was abolished were A. P. Herbert and Arthur Salter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddington South (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1974

Paddington South was a Parliamentary constituency in London which returned one Member of Parliament. It was a compact urban area, but predominantly wealthy, and was most famously represented by Lord Randolph Churchill during the latter part of his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddington North (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1974

Paddington North was a borough constituency in the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington in London which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. It was created in 1885, and abolished for the February 1974 general election.

The Saxon People's Party was a left-liberal and radical democratic party with socialist leanings in Germany, founded by Wilhelm Liebknecht and August Bebel on 19 August 1866 in Chemnitz, and integrated into the newly-founded Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) on 8 August 1869. It was an alliance between liberal, anti-Prussian bourgeois and socialist workers' organizations in Saxony. It is considered one of the precursors to the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1927 Southwark North by-election</span>

The 1927 Southwark North by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Southwark North held on 28 March 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichstag (German Empire)</span> Former legislative body (1871–1918)

The Reichstag of the German Empire was Germany's lower House of Parliament from 1871 to 1918. Within the governmental structure of the Reich, it represented the national and democratic element alongside the federalism of the Bundesrat and the monarchic and bureaucratic element of the executive, embodied in the Reich chancellor. Together with the Bundesrat, the Reichstag had legislative power and shared in decision-making on the Reich budget. It also had certain rights of control over the executive branch and could engage the public through its debates. The emperor had little political power, and over time the position of the Reichstag strengthened with respect to the Bundesrat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichstag (North German Confederation)</span> Parliament of the North German Confederation

The Reichstag of the North German Confederation was the federal state's lower house of parliament. The popularly elected Reichstag was responsible for federal legislation together with the Bundesrat, the upper house whose members were appointed by the governments of the individual states to represent their interests. Executive power lay with the Bundesrat and the king of Prussia acting as Bundespräsidium, or head of state. The Reichstag debated and approved or rejected taxes and expenditures and could propose laws in its own right. To become effective, all laws required the approval of both the Bundesrat and the Reichstag. Voting rights in Reichstag elections were advanced for the time, granting universal, equal, and secret suffrage to men above the age of 25.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August 1867 North German federal election</span>

Elections to the Reichstag of the North German Confederation were held on 31 August 1867, with run-off elections during the following weeks. The National Liberal Party continued to serve as the largest party, winning 81 seats. These were the first regular and last elections during the North German Confederation. In July 1870 the Reichstag members decided not to hold new elections during the Franco-Prussian war, in spite of the three-year period.

References

  1. Helmut Walser Smith (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Modern German History Oxford University Press, p294
  2. 1 2 Smith, p293