1871 German federal election

1871 German federal election

3 March 1871 (1871-03-03)
All 382 seats in the Reichstag 192 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	51.0%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Rudolf von Bennigsen Hermann von Mallinckrodt Party NlP Centre Conservatives Leader since 1867 1870 Last election 97 seats 33 seats 66 seats Seats won 125 63 57 Seat change 28 30 9 Popular vote 1,171,000 724,000 549,000 Percentage 30.1% 18.6% 14.1% Swing 6.8% 9.0% 0.7%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Chlodwig Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Party DFP DRP LRP Leader since 1871 Last election 31 seats 37 seats 17 seats Seats won 46 37 30 Seat change 15 13 Popular vote 342,000 346,000 281,000 Percentage 8.8% 8.9% 7.2% Swing 0.1% 2.2% 3.6%
Map of results (by constituencies)
President of the Zollparlament before election Eduard von Simson Independent President of the Reichstag Eduard von Simson Independent

The first federal elections were held in Germany on 3 March 1871. The National Liberal Party emerged as the largest party in the Reichstag, with 125 of the 382 seats. Voter turnout was just 51.0%.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	National Liberal Party	1,125,942	28.97	+5.69	117	+13
	Centre Party	707,896	18.21	New	58	New
	Conservative Party	524,881	13.51	−1.31	56	−9
	German Progress Party	351,209	9.04	−1.63	45	+14
	German Reich Party	343,098	8.83	+2.16	37	±0
	Imperial Liberal Party	274,068	7.05	New	33	New
	Polish Party	176,342	4.54	−0.52	13	+2
	General German Workers' Association	56,117	1.44	−0.27	0	−2
	Independent Liberals	74,903	1.93	−9.05	5	−27
	German-Hanoverian Party	73,470	1.89	+1.01	7	+3
	Social Democratic Workers' Party	41,040	1.06	−0.19	1	−1
	German People's Party	29,595	0.76	−1.23	1	−7
	Old Liberals	24,900	0.64	−2.79	2	−16
	Danish Party	21,143	0.54	−0.23	1	±0
	Clericals	15,329	0.39	−9.21	3	−33
	Independent conservatives	14,805	0.38	−9.64	1	+1
	Schleswig-Holstein Particularist Liberals	6,968	0.18	−1.03	2	−6
	Lassalle's General German Workers' Association	4,770	0.12	−0.02	0	−1
	Saxon Particularist Conservatives	1,549	0.04	−0.06	0	±0
Others		17,596	0.45	−0.84	0	±0
Unknown		894	0.02	−0.07	0	±0
Total		3,886,515	100.00	–	382	+85
Valid votes		3,886,515	99.51
Invalid/blank votes		19,016	0.49
Total votes		3,905,531	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,656,283	51.01
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland