German election and referendum, 1938

German election
and referendum, 1938

1936 ← 10 April 1938 → 1949

All 813 seats in the Reichstag 407 seats needed for a majority Turnout 99.50%   Majority party   Leader Adolf Hitler Party NSDAP Leader since 29 July 1921 Last election 741 seats, 98.80% Seats won 813(Sole legal party) Seat change 72 Popular vote 48,751,587 Percentage 98.93% Swing 0.13%

Chancellor before election Adolf Hitler NSDAP Subsequent Chancellor Adolf Hitler NSDAP

Parliamentary elections were held in Germany (including recently-annexed Austria) on 10 April 1938. They were the final elections to the Reichstag during Nazi rule and took the form of a single-question referendum asking whether voters approved of a single Nazi-party list for the 813-member Reichstag as well as the recent annexation of Austria (the Anschluss). Turnout in the election was officially 99.5% with 98.9% voting "yes". In the case of Austria, Hitler's native soil, 99.71% of an electorate of 4,484,475 officially went to the ballots, with a positive tally of 99.73%.

The election for Reichstag was the last on a national scale during Nazi rule and was held largely to rally official support from the new Ostmark (Austrian) province, although further elections for 41 seats were held in the recently-annexed Sudetenland on 4 December. In this last election under Nazi rule, the NSDAP candidates (including non-member "guests") officially tallied 97.32% of the votes.

The new Reichstag, the last of the German Reich, convened for the first time on 30 January 1939, electing a presidium headed by incumbent President of the Reichstag Hermann Göring. It convened only a further seven times, the last on 26 July 1942.

On 25 January 1943, Hitler postponed elections for a new Reichstag until after the war, with the inaugural to take place after another electoral term, subsequently on 30 January 1947 (at which point the body had ceased to exist).

Results

Ballot reading: "Do you approve of the reunification of Austria with the German reich accomplished on 13 March 1938 and do you vote for the list of our Führer, Adolf Hitler?"

Germany

Party	Votes	%	Seats
National Socialist German Workers Party	44,451,092	99.01	813
Against	443,023	0.91	–
Invalid/blank votes	69,890	0.08	–
Total	44,964,005	100	813
Registered voters/turnout	45,149,952	99.59	–
Source: Direct Democracy

Austria

Main article: Austrian Anschluss referendum, 1938

Choice	Votes	%
For	4,453,912	99.73
Against	11,929	0.27
Invalid/blank votes	5,777	–
Total	4,471,618	100
Registered voters/turnout	4,484,617	99.71
Source: Direct Democracy

Sudetenland

Party	Votes	%	Seats
National Socialist German Workers Party	2,464,681	98.68	41
Against	32,923	1.32	–
Invalid/blank votes			–
Total	2,497,604	100	41
Registered voters/turnout	2,532,863	98.90	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

External links

• Electoral poster for the April 10, 1938 Reichstag election and referendum
• Electoral poster for the April 10, 1938 Reichstag election and referendum