December 1924 German federal election

December 1924 German federal election

7 December 1924 (1924-12-07)
All 493 seats in the Reichstag 247 seats needed for a majority
Registered	38,987,324 ( 1.6%)
Turnout	78.8% ( 1.4pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Hermann Müller Otto Wels Arthur Crispien Kuno von Westarp Wilhelm Marx Party SPD DnVp Centre Last election 20.5%, 100 seats 19.5%, 95 seats 13.4%, 65 seats Seats won 131 103 69 Seat change 31 8 4 Popular vote 7,881,041 6,205,802 4,118,849 Percentage 26.0% 20.5% 13.6% Swing 5.5pp 1.0pp 0.2pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Gustav Stresemann Ruth Fischer & Arkadi Maslow Erich Koch-Weser Party DVP KPD DDP Last election 9.2%, 45 seats 12.6%, 62 seats 5.7%, 28 seats Seats won 51 45 32 Seat change 6 17 4 Popular vote 3,049,064 2,709,086 1,919,829 Percentage 10.1% 8.9% 6.3% Swing 0.9pp 3.7pp 0.6pp
Government before election Second Marx cabinet Z–DVP–DDP Government after election First Luther cabinet DVP–DNVP–Z–DDP–BVP

Snap federal elections were held in Germany on 7 December 1924, the second that year after the Reichstag had been dissolved on 20 October. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in the Reichstag, receiving an increased share of the vote and winning 131 of the 493 seats. Voter turnout was 78.8%.

Campaign

The National Socialist Freedom Movement received 6.5% in the previous election, but party unity broke down afterwards. Julius Streicher and Hermann Esser left to form their own party while Adalbert Volck and Ludolf Haase advocated abstaining from the election or voting for other nationalist parties. The NSFM was attacked as anti-Catholic by the Centre Party and anti-Christian by the German National People's Party (DNVP).

Catholics accounted for 17% of NSFM's vote.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	7,881,041	26.02	+5.50	131	+31
	German National People's Party	6,205,802	20.49	+1.04	103	+8
	Centre Party	4,118,849	13.60	+0.23	69	+4
	German People's Party	3,049,064	10.07	+0.87	51	+6
	Communist Party of Germany	2,709,086	8.94	−3.67	45	−17
	German Democratic Party	1,919,829	6.34	+0.69	32	+4
	Bavarian People's Party	1,134,035	3.74	+0.51	19	+3
	National Socialist Freedom Movement	907,242	3.00	−3.55	14	−18
	Economic Party of the German Middle Class	692,963	2.29	+0.58	12	+5
	Agricultural League	500,525	1.65	−0.31	8	−2
	Bavarian Peasant's and Middle Class Party	312,442	1.03	+0.37	5	+2
	German-Hanoverian Party	261,549	0.86	−0.23	4	−1
	German Social Party–Reichsbund für Aufwertung	159,115	0.53	−0.61	0	−4
	Independent Social Democratic Party	98,842	0.33	−0.47	0	0
	German Revaluation and Reconstruction Party	81,944	0.27	New	0	New
	Polish People's Party	81,700	0.27	−0.07	0	0
	Christian Social People's Community	41,530	0.14	−0.29	0	0
	Free Economy Union F.F.F.	38,923	0.13	+0.01	0	0
	Revaluation and Reconstruction Party (RWV 23)	33,656	0.11	New	0	New
	Party for People's Welfare	32,496	0.11	New	0	New
	Haeusser Alliance	9,747	0.03	−0.05	0	0
	Wendish People's Party	5,585	0.02	−0.02	0	0
	Schleswig Club	5,134	0.02	−0.01	0	0
	German Christian People's Party	4,322	0.01	New	0	New
	Deutschvölkische Reichspartei	3,405	0.01	New	0	New
	Masurian Union	542	0.00	0.00	0	0
	Reevaluation and Reconstruction Party	478	0.00	New	0	New
	Tenants' Party	246	0.00	New	0	New
Total		30,290,092	100.00	–	493	+21
Valid votes		30,290,092	98.65
Invalid/blank votes		414,934	1.35
Total votes		30,705,026	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		38,987,324	78.76
Source: Gonschior.de

Works cited

• Childers, Thomas (1983). The Nazi Voter: The Social Foundations of Fascism in Germany, 1919-1933. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807815705.