German election, 1933

Infobox Election
election_name = German election, 1933
country = Germany
type = parliamentary
ongoing = no
previous_election = German election, November 1932
previous_year = November 1932
next_election = german federal election, 1949
next_year = 1949
seats_for_election = All seats in the Reichstag
election_date = 5 March 1933

leader1 = Adolf Hitler
leader_since1 = 28 July 1921
party1 = Nazi Party
last_election1 = 196 seats, 33.1%
seats1 = 288
seat_change1 = +92
popular_vote1 = 17,277,180
percentage1 = 43.9%
swing1 = +10.8%

leader2 = Otto Wels
leader_since2 = 1919
party2 = Social Democratic Party of Germany
last_election2 = 121 seats, 20.4%
seats2 = 120
seat_change2 = -1
popular_vote2 = 7,516,243
percentage2 = 18.3%
swing2 = -2.1%

leader3 = Ernst Thälmann
leader_since3 = October 1925
party3 = Communist Party of Germany
last_election3 = 100 seats, 16.9%
seats3 = 81
seat_change3 = -19
popular_vote3 = 4,848,058
percentage3 = 12.3%
swing3 = -4.6%

leader4 = Ludwig Kaas
leader_since4 = September 1928
party4 = Centre Party (Germany)
last_election4 = 70 seats, 11.9%
seats4 = 74
seat_change4 = +4
popular_vote4 = 4,424,905
percentage4 = 11.2%
swing4 = -0.7%

leader5 = Alfred Hugenberg
leader_since5 = 1928
party5 = German National People's Party
last_election5 = 52 seats, 8.5%
seats5 = 52
seat_change5 = 0
popular_vote5 = 3,136,760
percentage5 = 11.2%
swing5 = -0.3%

leader6 = Heinrich Held
leader_since6 = 27 June 1924
party6 = Bavarian People's Party
last_election6 = 20 seats, 3.1%
seats6 = 18
seat_change6 = -2
popular_vote6 = 1,073,552
percentage6 = 2.7%
swing6 = -0.4%

title = Chancellor
before_election = Adolf Hitler
before_party = Nazi Party
after_election = Adolf Hitler
after_party = Nazi PartyThe 8th German Reichstag election of the Weimar Republic was held on March 5 1933, shortly after the Reichstag building had burned, and was the last election to be held in Germany before World War II. Because of the success of the Nazi Party and its ally in the poll, its leader and Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler, was able to pass the Enabling Act, which effectively gave him the power of a dictator.

The election took place shortly after the Reichstag fire, in which the German parliament was set alight, allegedly by a Dutch Communist, Marinus van der Lubbe. This event had the joint effect of lowering the popularity of the Communist Party (KPD), and enabling Hitler to persuade President Paul von Hindenburg to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree. This emergency law removed many civil liberties and allowed the arrest of the leaders of the KPD shortly before the election, suppressing the Communist vote and consolidating the position of the Nazis. While at that time not as heavily oppressed as the Communists, the Social Democrats were also restricted in their actions, as the party's leadership had already fled to Prague and many members were acting only from the underground. Hence, the fire is widely believed to have had a major effect on the outcome of the election. As replacement, and for 10 years to come, the new parliament used the Kroll Opera house for its meetings.

To further assure the outcome of the vote would be a Nazi majority, Nazi organizations "monitored" the vote process. In Prussia, 50,000 members of SS, SA and Stahlhelm were ordered to monitor the votes as deputy sheriffs.

However, despite achieving a much better result than in the November 1932 election, the Nazis did not do as well as Hitler had hoped, polling 43.9%, rather than the 50+% that he had expected. Therefore, he was forced to maintain his coalition with the Nationalist German National People's Party (DNVP) to control a majority. In addition to this, Hitler needed a two-thirds majority to pass the Enabling Act (a law which allowed him to pass laws without consulting the Reichstag), which he gained by persuading the Centre Party to vote with him. The bill was passed on March 23. Only the Social Democrats opposed the measure, which came into effect on March 27. Moreover, Social Democratic representation was suppressed, because some Social Democratic deputies that were elected to the Reichstag were prevented from taking their seats by the Nazi SA. Had the Communist Party participated, its representatives would have contributed 17% of the Reichstag votes. Instead, their representatives were under arrest for their suspect role in the Reichstag Fire. Though the Enabling Act was only meant to be effective for four years, it was formally prolonged twice. The powers gained from the bill allowed the KPD and Social Democratic Party (SPD) to be outlawed, and firmly established Germany as a dictatorship.

External links

* http://www.gonschior.de/weimar/Deutschland/RT8.html – Detailed Statistics de icon
* http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/nazi/innenpolitik/wahl33/index.html – German Historic Museum de icon