November 1932 German federal election

November 1932 German federal election
All 584 seats in the Reichstag; 293 seats needed for a majority
Registered	44,374,085 ( 0.4%)
Turnout	80.6% ( 3.5pp)
Government before election; Papen cabinet; Ind.–DNVP	Government after election ; Von Schleicher Cabinet; Ind.–DNVP

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. The elections were the last free and fair elections before the Nazis seized power the following year.

Background

The Nazi Party and Communist Party (KPD) held over half of the seats in the Reichstag after the July 1932 election. This made it impossible to form a government composed of moderates. Chancellor Franz von Papen could only rely on the support of the German National People's Party (DNVP) and German People's Party (DVP), who only held a total of 44 seats. A vote of no confidence was put forward by the KPD and supported by 84% of the deputies. A new election was scheduled for November.^[2]

Over 6 million people were unemployed in 1932, and 40% of organized labour was unemployed or working reduced hours in summer 1932.^[2]

Results

This was the first time since 1928 that voter turnout decreased.^[3]

The KPD regained its plurality of the popular vote in Berlin from the 1930 election, which was interrupted by the Nazis in the July election.^[4]



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 national elections were not held until 1949 in West Germany and 1990 in East Germany. The next free all-German elections took place in December 1990, after reunification two months earlier.