March 1933 German federal election

German federal election, March 1933

5 March 1933
All 647 seats in the Reichstag 324 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	71.60%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Adolf Hitler Otto Wels Ernst Thälmann Party NSDAP SPD KPD Leader since 28 July 1921 1919 October 1925 Last election 196 seats, 33.09% 121 seats, 20.43% 100 seats, 16.86% Seats won 288 120 81 Seat change 92 1 19 Popular vote 17,277,180 7,516,243 4,848,058 Percentage 43.91% 18.25% 12.32% Swing 10.82% 2.18% 4.54%   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, 11.93% 52 seats, 8.34% 20 seats, 3.09% Seats won 74 52 18 Seat change 4 0 2 Popular vote 4,424,905 3,136,760 1,073,552 Percentage 11.25% 7.97% 2.73% Swing 0.68% 0.37% 0.36%
33 of 35 parliamentary districts won by the Nazi Party, 2 (Cologne-Aachen, Koblenz-Trier) by the Centre Party
Chancellor before election Adolf Hitler NSDAP Elected Chancellor Adolf Hitler NSDAP

Federal elections were held in Germany 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 an absolute majority in their own right, needing the votes of their coalition partner, the DNVP German National People's Party, or "Black-White-Red-Struggle-Front," for a working majority. Thanks to the success in the poll, party leader Adolf Hitler – appointed Chancellor since 30 January – was able to pass the Enabling Act on 23 March, which effectively gave him the power of a dictator.

Background

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

The election took place after the Nazi Machtergreifung of 30 January 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. 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. 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.

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 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. 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 to 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." 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.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
National Socialist German Workers Party	17,277,180	43.91	288	+92
Social Democratic Party of Germany	7,181,629	18.25	120	–1
Communist Party of Germany	4,848,058	12.32	81	–19
Centre Party	4,424,905	11.25	73	+3
Black-White-Red Struggle Front (DNVP)[a]	3,136,760	7.97	52	–1
Bavarian People's Party	1,073,552	2.73	19	–1
German People's Party	432,312	1.1	2	–9
Christian Social People's Service	383,999	0.98	4	–1
German State Party	334,242	0.85	5	+3
German Farmers' Party	114,048	0.29	2	–1
Agricultural League	83,839	0.21	1	–1
German-Hanoverian Party	47,743	0.12	0	–1
Socialist Struggle Community	3,954	0.01	0	New
Kampfgemeinschaft der Arbeiter und Bauern	1,110	0.00	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	311,698	–	–	–
Total	39,655,029	100	647	+63
Registered voters/turnout	44,685,764	88.74	–	–
Source: Gonschior.de

^a The Black-White-Red Struggle Front was an alliance of the German National People's Party with the Stahlhelm and the Agricultural League

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)

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. Shortly after the election, all the Communist Party's seats (12% of the Reichstag seats) were "annulled" and the removed representatives on the run or under arrest for the purported communist role in the Reichstag Fire.

In addition to this, Hitler needed a two-thirds majority to pass the Enabling Act, a law which allowed the Cabinet to enact laws without the approval of the Reichstag for a four-year period. He obtained this majority 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. Several Social Democratic deputies were kept from attending, but even if all 120 Social Democrats had been present the measure would have still passed with the required supermajority. The powers gained from the bill turned the Hitler government into a de facto legal dictatorship.

Within four months, the other parties had been eliminated either by formal banning or Nazi terror, and Germany was firmly a one-party state.

External links

• 1933 elections German Historic Museum Template:De icon