November 1932 German federal election

November 1932 German federal election

← July 1932 6 November 1932 (1932-11-06) Mar 1933 →
All 584 seats in the Reichstag 293 seats needed for a majority
Registered	44,374,085 0.4%
Turnout	35,758,259 (80.6%) 3.5pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Adolf Hitler Otto Wels Arthur Crispien Hans Vogel Ernst Thälmann Party NSDAP SPD KPD Leader since 29 July 1921 1919 October 1925 Last election 37.3%, 230 seats 21.6%, 133 seats 14.3%, 89 seats Seats won 196 121 100 Seat change 34 12 11 Popular vote 11,737,021 7,247,091 5,980,239 Percentage 33.1% 20.4% 16.9% Swing 4.2pp 1.2pp 2.6pp   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 12.4%, 75 seats 5.9%, 37 seats 3.2%, 22 seats Seats won 70 51 20 Seat change 5 14 2 Popular vote 4,230,545 2,959,053 1,094,597 Percentage 11.9% 8.3% 3.1% Swing 0.5pp 2.4pp 0.1pp
Results by constituenciesResults by constituencies, largest party's vote shareShow all
Chancellor before election Franz von Papen Independent Chancellor after election None (Schleicher appointed shortly afterward)

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Federal elections were held in Germany on 6 November 1932.^[1] The Nazi Party saw its vote share fall by four percentage points, while there were slight increases for the Communist Party of Germany and the national conservative German National People's Party. The results were a great disappointment for the Nazis, who lost 34 seats and again failed to form a coalition government in the Reichstag.

Background[]

Previously Chancellor Franz von Papen, a former member of the Catholic Centre Party, had governed without parliamentary support by relying on legislative decrees promulgated by President Paul von Hindenburg under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. However, on 12 September 1932 Papen had to ask Hindenburg to dissolve parliament in order to pre-empt a motion of no confidence introduced by the Communist Party, which was expected to pass since the Nazis were also expected to support it due to their desire for fresh elections.

Results[]

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Nazi Party	11,737,021	33.09	−4.18	196	−34
	Social Democratic Party	7,247,901	20.43	−1.15	121	−12
	Communist Party of Germany	5,980,239	16.86	+2.54	100	+11
	Centre Party	4,230,545	11.93	−0.51	70	−5
	German National People's Party	2,959,053	8.34	+2.43	51	+14
	Bavarian People's Party	1,094,597	3.09	−0.14	20	−2
	German People's Party	660,889	1.86	+0.68	11	+4
	Christian Social People's Service	403,666	1.14	+0.15	5	+2
	German State Party	336,447	0.95	−0.06	2	−2
	German Farmers' Party	149,026	0.42	+0.05	3	+1
	Reich Party of the German Middle Class	110,309	0.31	−0.09	1	−1
	Agricultural League	105,220	0.30	+0.04	2	0
	German-Hanoverian Party	63,966	0.18	+0.05	1	+1
	Radical Middle Class	60,246	0.17	+0.15	0	0
	Thuringian Agricultural League	60,062	0.17	New	1	New
	Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party	46,382	0.13	−0.12	0	−1
	People's Justice Party	46,202	0.13	+0.02	0	−1
	Socialist Workers' Party of Germany	45,201	0.13	−0.07	0	0
	Poland List	32,988	0.09	0.00	0	0
	For Hindenburg and Pope	27,752	0.08	New	0	New
	Kleinrentner, Inflationsgeschädigte und Vorkriegsgeldbesitzer	15,727	0.04	0.00	0	0
	Free Economy Party of Germany	11,002	0.03	0.00	0	0
	Schicksalsgemeinschaft deutscher Erwerbslosen, Kleinhandel und Gewerbe	9,250	0.03	New	0	New
	Social Republican Party of Germany	8,395	0.02	New	0	New
	Handwerker, Handels- und Gewerbetreibende	5,189	0.01	0.00	0	0
	Radical Democratic Party	3,789	0.01	New	0	New
	Workers' and Farmers' Struggle Community	3,308	0.01	0.00	0	0
	National Social Party of the Middle Class	3,052	0.01	New	0	New
	Enteigneter Mittelstand	2,737	0.01	0.00	0	0
	National Freedom Party of Germany	1,810	0.01	+0.01	0	0
	Schleswig Home	1,694	0.00	0.00	0	0
	Greater German People's Party (Schmalix List)	1,311	0.00	0.00	0	0
	Interessengemeinschaft der Kleinrentner und Inflationsgeschädigten	1,086	0.00	–0.01	0	0
	Nationalist Party	588	0.00	New	0	New
	People's Socialists	518	0.00	New	0	New
	Haus- und Landwirtepartei	461	0.00	New	0	New
	National Communist Party of Germany	381	0.00	New	0	New
	German Social Monarchist Party	355	0.00	0.00	0	0
	German Reform Party	352	0.00	0.00	0	0
	German Workers Party	308	0.00	0.00	0	0
	Unitarianist Union of Germany	290	0.00	0.00	0	0
	Greater German Middle Class Party for Middle Class Dictatorship	286	0.00	New	0	New
	Gerechtigkeits-Bewegung-Meißner	280	0.00	New	0	New
	German National Citizen Bloc	192	0.00	New	0	New
	Party for the Unemployed for Work and Bread	140	0.00	0.00	0	0
	National German Catholic Reich Party	137	0.00	New	0	New
	German Socialist Struggle Movement	101	0.00	0.00	0	0
	German Reich against Interest Rate Movement	97	0.00	New	0	New
	Freiheitsbewegung Schwarz-Weiß-Rot	92	0.00	New	0	New
	Middle Class Party	85	0.00	New	0	New
	Kampfbund der Lohn- und Gehaltsabgebauten	63	0.00	New	0	New
Total		35,470,788	100.00	–	584	–24
Valid votes		35,470,788	99.20
Invalid/blank votes		287,471	0.80
Total votes		35,758,259	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		44,374,085	80.58
Source: Gonschior.de

Aftermath[]

After the election, Papen urged Hindenburg to continue to govern by emergency decree. However, on 3 December, he was replaced by Defence Minister Kurt von Schleicher, who held talks with the left wing of the Nazi Party led by Gregor Strasser in an attempt at a Third Position (Querfront) strategy. The plans failed when Hitler disempowered Strasser and approached Papen for coalition talks. Papen obtained Hindenburg's consent to form the Hitler cabinet on 30 January 1933.

The elections were the last free and fair all-German election before the Nazi seizure of power on 30 January 1933 since the elections in March 1933 saw massive suppression, especially against Communist and Social Democratic Party politicians. The next free elections were not held until 1949 in West Germany and 1946 in East Germany. The next free all-German elections took place in December 1990, after reunification.

References[]