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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 August 2014
The elections which were held throughout Germany on May 20, 1928, are of considerable interest and importance not only to Germany but also to the rest of the world. These elections, to be sure, did not have the dramatic interest which attended the Reichstag elections of December, 1924. But they deserve attention for a number of reasons: first, because they are the first elections to be held in the Reich under what may be called normal conditions; second, because elections for five Landtags and several city councils were held at the same time; and third, because the elections gave a further test, and supplied additional evidence of the operation, of the German system of proportional representation.
Despite the intensive work of the political parties, the people were not aroused to much enthusiasm during the campaign. The old Reichstag was dissolved before Easter, but not until the last week of the campaign could one detect any excitement. Never before had the electors been bombarded with so much printed matter, posters, and, last but not least, loud-speakers and films. All the modern methods of appealing to the voters were tried by the numerous political parties. There were lacking, however, the overpowering issues and the battlecries which were so effective in 1924. Parades, demonstrations, meetings, and all the rest were carried through successfully on the whole, but they were quite dull and uninteresting. Only the two extreme parties, the National Socialists or Hitlerites on the right, and the Communists on the left, could appear enthusiastic. Nevertheless, the lack of what the Germans call a “grosse Parole” and the lack of excitement are not to be deplored; their absence probably indicates progress toward social and political consolidation.
1 The two elections of 1924 were so near to the terrible days of the inflation, and so much concerned with the occupation of the Ruhr, separatism, and other matters incident to the war, that one could hardly expect normal results. Germany today is certainly not normal in the strict sense of the word. There are many enormous problems still to be solved, and there continue to be much suffering and distress. But, at any rate, outside dangers are remote, and the issues of the election were concerned with matters of internal importance such as are likely to be discussed for some years to come.
2 The five states which held elections for the Landtags are Prussia, Bavaria, Württemburg, Anhalt, and Oldenburg. City elections were held in Breslau, Frankfurt-On-Main, and Wiesbaden, due to the recent Eingemeindungen which have taken place in these important cities.
3 The union of lists in adjoining districts is of course optional, but as a rule such Verbindingungen are made by the parties. A candidate may be placed on a district list and on a union list at the same time. Similarly, a candidate may be nominated for a district and also be placed on the Reich list. This was the case with Dr. Stresemann, who headed both the Reich list and the list in Ober-Bayern for the People's party.
4 Inasmuch as many candidates are put on more than one list, the net total is somewhat smaller.
5 This means that not every party nominated a list in each one of the 35 districts, while all had Reich lists. A party cannot have a Reich list, however, without having a district list. Number 27 of the Reich lists was declared void, leaving thirty parties in the field. In Prussia there were 18 lists, in Baden 17, and in Württemburg 16.
6 These ten parties, in the order of their strength, are: Social Democrat, German National Peoples', Center, Communist, Peoples', Democrat, Business, Bavarian Peoples', Christian National Peasant, and National Socialist.
7 In December, 1924, the number of votes received by the Splitterparteien amounted to but 710,000, or the equivalent of 11 seats. This year the votes for these parties would have produced 22 seats if given to the larger parties.
8 Many states had passed legislation requiring money deposits and thousands of signatures to nominate lists, but the Supreme Court, in appeals coming to it, declared such legislation unconstitutional.
9 Here are the names of some of the Splitterparteien: Reichspartei für Handwerk, Handel und Gewerbe; Volksblock der Inflationsgeschädigten; Unpolitische Liste der Kriegsopfer, Arbeits invaliden, und Unterstützungsempfanger; Aufwertungs und Aufbaupartei; Partei fur Recht und Mieterschutz. This latter party received 2,164 votes. See the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, May 9, 1928, Number 213–214, for a list of all the parties entered in the election, together with an account of the meeting of the Reichswahlausschuss.
10 Dr. Stresemann was not successful in winning a seat for his party in Bavaria, where he was entered as the Spitzenkandidat, but he more than doubled the vote of his party there.
11 Their two greatest gains were in the Palatinate and in the Coblenz area.
12 The Marx ministry resigned on June 12, and President Hindenburg in-invited Herman Mueller to form a cabinet. He encountered unusual difficulty in securing the necessary coöperation of the Center and People's party, but succeeded June 28 in forming a ministry which consisted of four Socialists, two members of the People's party, one Centrist, two Democrats, one member of the Bavarian People's party, and one person who is a member of no party. On July 4, the Reichstag approved the program of the new government by a vote of 261 to 134, with twenty-eight deputies not voting. Editor.
13 In this election 31,145,308 votes were cast as compared to 30,703,591 in December, 1924. The number of qualified voters, however, rose from 38,987,385 to 41,295,102, causing the percentage to drop from 78.8 to 75.4. The district of Baden had the poorest record, with a percentage of 61.7, while the Magdeburg district had the highest record, with a percentage of 84.4. The total number of invalid ballots amounted to 420,830. Experience has shown that a certain number of these ballots are eventually declared valid by the Wahlprüfungsgericht. Since the Social Democrats need but 3,836 additional votes to secure an additional seat, the action of this election court will be watched with interest. The new Reichstag will have 129 members who have not previously served in Parliament. It will also have 31 women members, of whom 19 belong to the Social Democratic party. Since the size of the Reichstag depends upon the number of votes cast, the new body will have 490 members as compared to 493 members in the old body. This is true, despite the increase in the number of votes over 1924, because of the wastage of votes on the Splitterparteien.
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