German federal election, November 1932

German federal election, November 1932

July 1932 ← 6 November 1932 → March 1933

All 584 seats in the Reichstag 293 seats needed for a majority Turnout 80.58%   First party Second party Third party   Leader Adolf Hitler Otto Wels Ernst Thälmann Party NSDAP SPD KPD Leader since 28 July 1921 1919 October 1925 Last election 230 seats, 37.27% 133 seats, 21.58% 89 seats, 14.32% Seats won 196 121 100 Seat change 34 12 11 Popular vote 11,737,395 7,251,690 5,980,614 Percentage 33.09% 20.43% 16.86% Swing 4.18% 1.15% 2.54%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ludwig Kaas Alfred Hugenberg Heinrich Held Party Centre DNVP BVP Leader since September 1928 1928 27 June 1924 Last election 75 seats, 12.44% 37 seats, 5.91% 22 seats, 3.23% Seats won 70 52 20 Seat change 5 15 2 Popular vote 4,230,545 3,792,563 1,206,247 Percentage 11.93% 8.34% 3.09% Swing 0.51% 2.43% 0.14%

Chancellor before election Franz von Papen Non-partisan Elected Chancellor None (Schleicher appointed shortly afterward)

Franz von Papen
Non-partisan

None (Schleicher appointed shortly afterward)

Federal elections were held in Germany on 6 November 1932. They saw a significant drop in votes for the Nazi Party and increases for the Communists and the national conservative DNVP. It was the last free and fair all-German election before the Nazi seizure of power on 30 January 1933, as the following elections of March 1933 were already accompanied by massive suppression, especially against Communist and Social Democratic politicians. The next free election was not held until August 1949 in West Germany; the next free all-German elections took place in December 1990 after reunification.

The results of the November 1932 election were a great disappointment for the Nazis. Although they emerged once more as the largest party by far, they had fewer seats than before, and failed to form a government coalition in the Reichstag parliament. So far Chancellor Franz von Papen, a former member of the Catholic Centre Party, had governed without parliamentary support relying on legislative decrees promulgated by Reich President Paul von Hindenburg according to Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. However, on 12 September 1932 Papen had to ask Hindenburg to dissolve the parliament in order to preempt a motion of no confidence tabled by the Communist Party, which was expected to pass (since the Nazis were expected to vote in favour, as they also desired new elections). Thus, the election of November 1932 was held following this dissolution of parliament in September. The DNVP, which had backed Papen, gained 15 seats as a result.

...
Wikipedia