July 1932 German federal election

July 1932 German federal election

31 July 1932
All 608 seats in the Reichstag 305 seats needed for a majority
Registered	44,211,216 2.9%
Turnout	37,162,081 (84.1%) 1.9 pp
First party Second party Third party   150x150px 65x65px 75x75px 150x150px Leader Adolf Hitler Otto Wels Arthur Crispien Hans Vogel Ernst Thälmann Party NSDAP SPD KPD Leader since 28 July 1921 1919 October 1925 Last election 107 seats, 18.25% 143 seats, 24.53% 77 seats, 13.13% Seats won 230 133 89 Seat change 123 10 12 Popular vote 13,745,680 7,959,712 5,282,636 Percentage 37.27% 21.58% 14.32% Swing 19.02% 2.55% 1.19%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   150x150px 150x150px Leader Ludwig Kaas Alfred Hugenberg Heinrich Held Party Centre DNVP BVP Leader since September 1928 1928 27 June 1924 Last election 68 seats, 11.81% 41 seats, 7.03% 19 seats, 3.23% Seats won 75 37 22 Seat change 7 4 3 Popular vote 4,589,430 2,178,024 1,192,684 Percentage 12.44% 5.91% 3.23% Swing 0.63% 1.12% 0.14%
350px Constituencies coloured according to the party that received the largest share of the vote.
Chancellor before election Franz von Papen Non-partisan Elected Chancellor None (von Papen remained as unelected Chancellor)

Federal elections were held in Germany on 31 July 1932, following the premature dissolution of the Reichstag. The Nazi Party made significant gains and became the largest party in the Reichstag for the first time although they failed to win a majority.

Background

Campaigning in front of a polling place in Berlin

Since 1929, Germany had been suffering from the Great Depression; unemployment had risen from 8.5% to nearly 30% between 1929 and 1932, while industrial production dropped by around 42%. In March 1930, the governing grand coalition of the pro-republican parties (the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Centre Party and both liberal parties) collapsed. President Paul von Hindenburg appointed a minority government, headed by the Centre Party's Heinrich Brüning, which could only govern by using Hindenburg's emergency powers. The September 1930 elections produced a highly fragmented Reichstag, making the formation of a stable government impossible. The elections also saw the Nazi Party rise to national prominence, gaining 95 seats.

Brüning's policies, implemented via presidential decree and tolerated by parliament, failed to solve the economic crisis but weakened the parliamentary system. In March 1932, presidential elections pitted the incumbent Hindenburg, supported by pro-democratic parties, against Hitler and the Communist Ernst Thälmann. Hitler received around a third of the vote and was defeated in the second round in April by Hindenburg, who won a narrow majority. However, at the end of May 1932, Hindenburg was persuaded to dismiss Brüning as chancellor and replaced him with Franz von Papen, a renegade from the Centre Party, and a non-partisan "Cabinet of Barons". Papen's cabinet had almost no support in the Reichstag. Only three days after his appointment, he was faced with the opposition and had Hindenburg dissolve the Reichstag and called for new elections for 31 July so that the Reichstag could not dismiss him immediately.

Campaign

The election campaign took place under violent circumstances, as Papen lifted the token ban on the SA, the Nazi paramilitary, which Brüning had put in place during the last days of his administration. That inevitably led to clashes with the Communist paramilitary.

Results

The elections resulted in significant gains by the Nazi Party; with 230 seats, it became the largest party in parliament for the first time, but lacked an overall majority. Neither the Nazi Party nor Hindenburg had a governing majority, and the other parties refused to co-operate, meaning no coalition government with a majority could be formed. Papen's minority government continued in office, leading to another early election in November.

See also

• Oskar Daubmann