1928 German federal election

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German federal election, 1928
← December 1924 20 May 1928 (1928-05-20) 1930 →
All 491 seats in the Reichstag
246 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.6% Decrease 3.2 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Otto Wels Kuno von Westarp Wilhelm Marx
Party SPD DNVP Centre
Leader since 1919 1924 1922
Last election 131 seats 103 seats 69 seats
Seats won 153 73 61
Seat change Increase22 Decrease30 Decrease8
Popular vote 9,152,979 4,381,563 3,712,152
Percentage 29.8% 14.2% 12.1%
Swing Increase3.8% Decrease6.3% Decrease1.5%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Ernst Thälmann Gustav Stresemann Erich Koch-Weser
Party KPD DVP DDP
Leader since October 1925 1919 1924
Last election 45 seats 51 seats 32 seats
Seats won 54 45 25
Seat change Increase9 Decrease6 Decrease7
Popular vote 3,264,793 2,679,703 1,479,374
Percentage 10.6% 8.7% 4.8%
Swing Increase1.6% Decrease1.4% Decrease1.5%
Composition of the Reichstag after the 1928 election.
Chancellor before election

Wilhelm Marx
Centre

Resulting Chancellor

Hermann Müller
SPD

Federal elections were held in Germany on 20 May 1928.[1] The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) remained the largest party in the Reichstag after winning 153 of the 491 seats.[2] Voter turnout was 75.6%.[3]

The only two parties to gain significantly were the SPD, who polled almost a third of votes, and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), completing a thorough victory of the left wing. However, although the SPD now had 153 seats, it still failed to gain a clear majority, resulting in another coalition government led by Hermann Müller.[4] Following his appointment, Müller, who had already been Germany's Chancellor for 4 months in 1920, created a grand coalition of members of the SPD, the German Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the German People's Party. The coalition was plagued by internal divisions right from the beginning, with each party more concerned with their self-interest than the interest of the government and eventually Müller asked President Paul von Hindenburg for emergency powers. When Hindenburg refused, Müller resigned, marking the end of the 'last genuinely democratic government of the Weimar Republic' on 27 March 1930.[5]

The recently reformed Nazi Party contested the elections after the ban on the party was lifted in 1925. However, the party received less than 3% of the vote and won just 12 seats in the Reichstag. Adolf Hitler, who had been incarcerated in Landsberg prison for his involvement in the Beer Hall Putsch until Christmas 1924,[6] had concentrated on re-establishing himself as the leader of the Nazi Party following his release rather than on the party's electability.

Results

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Social Democratic Party 9,152,979 29.8 153 +22
German National People's Party 4,381,563 14.2 73 −30
Centre Party 3,712,152 12.1 61 −8
Communist Party of Germany 3,264,793 10.6 54 +9
German People's Party 2,679,703 8.7 45 −6
German Democratic Party 1,479,374 4.8 25 −7
Reich Party of the German Middle Class 1,387,602 4.5 23 +11
Bavarian People's Party 945,644 3.1 17 −2
National Socialist German Workers' Party 810,127 2.6 12 −2
Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party 571,891 1.9 9 New
Reich Party for Civil Rights and Deflation 509,471 1.7 2 New
German Farmers' Party 481,254 1.6 8 New
Patriotic-National Bloc 266,370 0.9 0 New
Agricultural League 199,548 0.7 3 −5
German-Hanoverian Party 195,555 0.6 4 0
Saxon Peasants 127,700 0.4 2 New
Christian Social Reich Party 110,704 0.4 0 New
Left Communists 80,405 0.3 0 New
Old Social Democratic Party of Germany 65,775 0.2 0 New
Polish People's Party 64,753 0.2 0 0
Evangelical Party of Germany 52,488 0.2 0 New
German Social Party 46,047 0.2 0 0
General People's Party 37,373 0.1 0 New
German House and Property Owners' Party 35,846 0.1 0 New
Independent Social Democratic Party 20,815 0.1 0 0
Evangelical Community Spirit 10,709 0.0 0 New
Christian National Middle Class Party 9,957 0.0 0 New
Pastor Greber Party 9,527 0.0 0 New
Aufwertungs- und Aufbaupartei 8,562 0.0 0 New
Deutscher Reichsblock der Geschädigten 7,437 0.0 0 New
Reichspartei für Handwerk, Handel und Gewerbe 6,614 0.0 0 New
People's Welfare Party 6,071 0.0 0 New
Franconian Peasants 3,417 0.0 0 New
Wendish People's Party 3,111 0.0 0 0
Party for Justice and Tenant Protection 2,831 0.0 0 New
Schleswig Club 2,435 0.0 0 0
German Christian Folk Party 901 0.0 0 New
Lebensinteressen der Ledigen 873 0.0 0 New
Masurian People's Party 295 0.0 0 New
Lithuanian People's Party 289 0.0 0 New
Friesland 286 0.0 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 412,542 – – –
Total 31,165,789 100 491 –2
Registered voters/turnout 41,224,678 75.6 – –
Source: Gonschior.de
Electoral map (in German)
Popular Vote
SPD
 
 29.76%
DNVP
 
 14.25%
Zentrum
 
 12.07%
KPD
 
 10.62%
DVP
 
 8.71%
DDP
 
 4.81%
WP
 
 4.51%
BVP
 
 3.07%
NSDAP (NSFP)
 
 2.63%
CNBL
 
 1.89%
Other
 
 7.66%
Reichstag seats
SPD
 
 31.16%
DNVP
 
 14.87%
Zentrum
 
 12.42%
KPD
 
 11.00%
DVP
 
 9.16%
DDP
 
 5.09%
WP
 
 4.68%
BVP
 
 3.46%
NSDAP (NSFP)
 
 2.44%
CNBL
 
 1.83%
Other
 
 3.87%

See also

References

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p790
  3. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p777
  4. ^ Evans, D.; Jenkins, J. (1999), Years of Weimar & the Third Reich, London: Hodder & Stoughton Educational, p. 83, ISBN 0-340-70474-8 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help).
  5. ^ Evans & Jenkins 1999, p. 88.
  6. ^ Broszat, M. (1987), Hitler and the Collapse of Weimar Germany, Oxford: Berg Publishers, p. 9, ISBN 0-85496-509-2.
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