German federal election, March 1933

German election, March 1933

November 1932 ← 5 March 1933 → November 1933

All seats in the Reichstag   First party Second party Third party   Leader Adolf Hitler Otto Wels Ernst Thälmann Party Nazi SPD Communist Leader since 28 July 1921 1919 October 1925 Last election 196 seats, 33.1% 121 seats, 20.4% 100 seats, 16.9% Seats won 288 120 81 Seat change +92 -1 -19 Popular vote 17,277,180 7,516,243 4,848,058 Percentage 43.9% 18.3% 12.3% Swing +10.8% -2.1% -4.6%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ludwig Kaas Alfred Hugenberg Heinrich Held Party Centre DNVP BVP Leader since September 1928 1928 27 June 1924 Last election 70 seats, 11.9% 52 seats, 8.5% 20 seats, 3.1% Seats won 74 52 18 Seat change +4 0 -2 Popular vote 4,424,905 3,136,760 1,073,552 Percentage 11.2% 8.0% 2.7% Swing -0.7% -0.3% -0.4%

33 of 35 parliamentary districts won by the Nazi Party, 2 (Cologne-Aachen, Koblenz-Trier) by the Centre Party

Chancellor before election Adolf Hitler Nazi Elected Chancellor Adolf Hitler Nazi

The German federal election, March 1933 to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic was held on 5 March 1933. The Nazis registered a large increase in votes again emerging as the largest party by far, nevertheless they failed to obtain absolute majority. Thanks to the success in the poll, the party leader Chancellor Adolf Hitler on March 23 was able to pass the Enabling Act, which effectively gave him the power of a dictator.

Election day: police officer and SS man on patrol in Berlin

The election took place after the Nazi Machtergreifung of January 30, when President Paul von Hindenburg had appointed Hitler Chancellor, who immediately urged the dissolution of the Reichstag and the arrangement of new elections. In early February, the Nazis "unleashed a campaign of violence and terror that dwarfed anything seen so far." Storm troopers began attacking trade union and Communist Party (KPD) offices and the homes of left-wingers.^[1] In the second half of February, the violence was extended to the Social Democrats, with gangs of brownshirts breaking up Social Democrat meetings and beating up their speakers and audiences. Issues of Social Democratic newspapers were banned.^[2] Twenty newspapers of the Centre Party, a party of Catholic Germans, were banned in mid-February for criticizing the new government. Government officials known to be Centre Party supporters were dismissed from their offices, and stormtroopers violently attacked party meetings in Westphalia.^[3]

Six days before the scheduled election date, the German parliament building was set alight in the Reichstag fire, allegedly by the Dutch Communist Marinus van der Lubbe. This event reduced the popularity of the KPD, and enabled Hitler to persuade President Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree as an emergency decree according to Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. This emergency law removed many civil liberties and allowed the arrest of Ernst Thälmann and 4,000 leaders and members of the KPD^[4] shortly before the election, suppressing the Communist vote and consolidating the position of the Nazis. The KPD was "effectively outlawed from 28 February 1933", although it was not completely banned until the day after the election.^[5] While at that time not as heavily oppressed as the Communists, the Social Democrats were also restricted in their actions, as the party's leadership had already fled to Prague and many members were acting only from the underground. Hence, the fire is widely believed to have had a major effect on the outcome of the election. As replacement, and for 10 years to come, the new parliament used the Kroll Opera House for its meetings.

The resources of big business and the state were thrown behind the Nazis' campaign the achieve saturation coverage all over Germany. Brownshirts and SS patrolled and marched menacingly through the streets of cities and towns. A "combination of terror, repression and propaganda was mobilized in every... community, large and small, across the land."^[6] To further ensure the outcome of the vote would be a Nazi majority, Nazi organizations "monitored" the vote process. In Prussia 50,000 members of the SS, SA and Stahlhelm were ordered to monitor the votes as deputy sheriffs by acting Interior Minister Hermann Göring.

Party	Vote percentage	(%change)	Seats	(%change)
National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)	43.9%	+10.8%	288	+92
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	18.3%	-2.1%	120	-1
Communist Party (KPD)	12.3%	-4.6%	81	-19
Centre Party (Z)	11.2%	-0.7%	74	+4
German National People's Party (DNVP)[7]	8.0%	-0.3%	52	+/-0
Bavarian People's Party (BVP)	2.7%	-0.4%	18	-2
German People's Party (DVP)	1.1%	-0.8%	2	-9
Christian Social People's Service (CSVD)	1.0%	-0.1%	4	-1
German Democratic Party (DDP)	0.9%	-0.1%	5	+3
German Farmers' Party	0.3%	-0.1%	2	-1
Agricultural League	0.2%	-0.1%	1	-1
Other	0.0%	-0.9%	0	+/-0
Totals	100.0%		647	+63

Aftermath

Despite achieving a much better result than in the disappointing November 1932 election, the Nazis did not do as well as Hitler had hoped. Despite massive violence and intimidation, the Nazis won 43.9% of the vote, rather than the majority that he had expected. Therefore, he was forced to maintain his coalition with the national conservative German National People's Party (DNVP) to control a majority of seats. The Communists forfeited about a fourth of their votes, while the Social Democrats suffered only moderate losses.

Election results of the Nazi Party, absolute majority in the constituencies of East Prussia (1), Frankfurt (Oder) (5), Pomerania (6), Breslau (7), Liegnitz (8), Schleswig-Holstein (13), East Hanover (15), Chemnitz-Zwickau (30)

In addition to this, Hitler needed a two-thirds majority to pass the Enabling Act (a constitutional amendment which allowed him to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag parliament), which he gained by persuading the Catholic Centre Party to vote with him with regard to the Reichskonkordat. The bill was passed on 23 March with 444 against 94 votes. Only the Social Democrats led by Otto Wels opposed the measure, which came into effect on 27 March. Moreover, Social Democratic representation was suppressed, because several Social Democratic deputies that were elected to the Reichstag were already prevented from taking their seats by the Nazi SA. Had the Communist Party participated, its representatives would have contributed 12% of the Reichstag votes. Instead, their representatives were on the run or under arrest for their suspect role in the Reichstag Fire.

Though the Enabling Act was only meant to be effective for four years, it was formally prolonged twice. The powers gained from the bill allowed the KPD and SPD to be outlawed, and firmly established Germany as a dictatorship.

References

1. ^ Evand, Richard J., The Coming of the Third Reich, Penguin Press, New York, 2004, p.317
2. ^ Evans, ibid., pp. 318-320.
3. ^ Evans, ibid., p. 322.
4. ^ Evans, ibid., p. 331.
5. ^ Evans, ibid., p.336.
6. ^ Evans, ibid., p. 339.
7. ^ actually as Kampffront Schwarz-Weiß-Rot ("Black-White-Red Combat Front"), a coalition with Stahlhelm and Landbund)

External links

• http://www.gonschior.de/weimar/Deutschland/RT8.html – Detailed Statistics (German)
• http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/nazi/innenpolitik/wahl33/index.html – German Historic Museum (German)