German federal election, 1983

1980 ←

6 March 1983 (1983-03-06)

→ 1987

All 520 seats in the Bundestag 261 seats were needed for a majority

Turnout	89.1% (voting eligible)
	First party	Second party

Leader	Helmut Kohl	Hans-Jochen Vogel
Party	CDU/CSU	SPD
Leader since	1973	–
Last election	237 seats	228 seats
Seats won	255	202
Seat change	18	26
Popular vote	18,998,545	14,865,807
Percentage	48.8%	38.2%
Swing	4.3%	4.7%

	Third party	Fourth party

Leader	Hans-Dietrich Genscher	Petra Kelly
Party	FDP	Green
Leader since	1974
Last election	54 seats	0 seats
Seats won	35	28
Seat change	19	28
Popular vote	2,706,942	2,167,431
Percentage	6.9%	5.6%
Swing	3.7%	4.1%

Party list election results by state: dark blue denotes states where CDU/CSU had the absolute majority of the votes; lighter blue denotes states where CDU had the plurality of votes; and pink denotes states where the SPD had the plurality of votes

Chancellor before election

Helmut Kohl
CDU/CSU

Elected Chancellor

Helmut Kohl
CDU/CSU

German federal elections took place on 6 March 1983, to elect members to the 10th Bundestag (parliament) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In October 1982 CDU chairman Helmut Kohl was elected Chancellor by a CDU/CSU and FDP majority in the Bundestag, while the FDP in 1980 still was on the side of the SPD. Early elections were arranged. The SPD encountered difficulties because on the left a new party was emerging, the Greens.

A major issue in this election was the armament question after the NATO Double-Track Decision.

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. This was the first election in which the Greens secured representation in the Bundestag, and the first which saw a fourth (fifth) party in the parliament since 1960.

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