March 1933 German federal election

March 1933 German federal election
All 648 seats in the Reichstag; 324 seats needed for a majority
Registered	44,685,764 ( 0.7%)
Turnout	88.7% ( 8.1pp)
	Results by electoral constituencySeat distribution by electoral constituencyResults by district and independent cityShow all
Government before election; Hitler cabinet; NSDAP–DNVP	Government after election; Hitler cabinet; NSDAP–DNVP

Federal elections were held in Germany on 5 March 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power on 30 January and just six days after the Reichstag fire. The election saw Nazi stormtroopers unleash a widespread campaign of violence against the Communist Party (KPD), left-wingers,^[1]^: 317 trade unionists, the Social Democratic Party^[1] and the Centre Party.^[1]^: 322 They were the last multi-party elections in a united Germany until 1990.

The 1933 election followed the previous year's two elections (July and November) and Hitler's appointment as Chancellor. In the months before the 1933 election, SA and SS displayed "terror, repression and propaganda ... across the land",^[1]^: 339 and Nazi organizations "monitored" the vote process. In Prussia 50,000 members of the SS, SA and Der Stahlhelm were ordered to monitor the votes by acting Interior Minister Hermann Göring, as auxiliary police.^{[citation needed]}

The Nazi Party (NSDAP) saw a large increase in votes and seats compared to the November 1932 election and gained a Reichstag majority together with its coalition partner, the German National People's Party (DNVP). This was the first time since 1930 that a governing coalition had held a parliamentary majority. However, despite waging a campaign of terror against their opponents, the Nazis only tallied 43.9 percent of the vote on their own, well short of a majority to govern alone.

This would be the last contested election held in Germany until after World War II. Despite now holding a bare working majority in the Reichstag, Hitler wanted more. Two weeks after the election, he was able to pass an Enabling Act on 23 March with the support of the Nazi Party, the DNVP and the Centre parties, which effectively gave Hitler dictatorial powers. Within months, the Nazis banned all other parties and turned the Reichstag into a rubberstamp legislature comprising only Nazis and pro-Nazi "guests".

Background

Results

A police officer of Sicherheitspolizei (left) and an SS man and his German Shepherd (right), one of 50,000 Nazis in Prussia appointed by the Party as a "Hilfspolizei" ("Auxiliary Police") officer



Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Nazi Party	17,277,180	43.91	+10.82	288	+92
	Social Democratic Party	7,181,629	18.25	–2.18	120	–1
	Communist Party of Germany	4,848,058	12.32	–4.54	81	–19
	Centre Party	4,424,905	11.25	–0.68	73	+3
	Black-White-Red Struggle Front^[a]	3,136,760	7.97	–0.37	52	+1
	Bavarian People's Party	1,073,552	2.73	–0.36	19	–1
	German People's Party	432,312	1.10	–0.76	2	–9
	Christian Social People's Service	383,999	0.98	–0.16	4	–1
	German State Party	334,242	0.85	–0.10	5	+3
	German Farmers' Party	114,048	0.29	–0.13	2	–1
	Agricultural League	83,839	0.21	–0.09	1	–1
	German-Hanoverian Party	47,743	0.12	–0.06	0	–1
	Socialist Struggle Community	3,954	0.01	New	0	New
	Workers' and Farmers' Struggle Community	1,110	0.00	0.00	0	0
Total		39,343,331	100.00	–	647	+63

Valid votes		39,343,331	99.21
Invalid/blank votes		311,698	0.79
Total votes		39,655,029	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		44,685,764	88.74
Source: Gonschior.de