1932 Prussian state election

State elections were held in the Free State of Prussia on 24 April 1932 to elect all 423 members of the Landtag of Prussia.[1][2] They were the last free election in Prussia, as the next election in 1933 took place under the Nazi regime, and Prussia was then abolished after World War II.

1932 Prussian state election
Kingdom of Prussia
← 1928 24 April 1932 1933 →

All 423 seats in the Landtag of Prussia
212 seats needed for a majority
Turnout82.1% (Increase 5.7pp)
Party Vote % Seats /–
Nazi Party

36.7% 162 156
Social Democratic Party

21.2% 94 −43
Centre Party

15.3% 67 −4
Communist Party

12.9% 57 1
German National People's Party

7.0% 31 −51
German People's Party

1.7% 7 −35
German State Party

1.5% 2 −19
Christian Social People's Service

1.2% 2 New
German-Hanoverian Party

0.3% 1 −3
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by electoral constituency
Minister-President before Minister-President after
Third Braun cabinet
SPDZDDP
Third Braun cabinet
Caretaker until 20 July 1932

The election saw the Nazi Party become the largest party in Prussia, winning 36% of the vote. The coalition of the Social Democratic Party, Centre Party, and German Democratic Party (now the German State Party), which had governed Prussia since 1919, lost its majority. The SPD, DNVP, and DVP all suffered huge losses. The Economic Party lost all its seats, while the DVP and DStP were left with only a handful each. The Centre Party stayed steady, and the Communist Party made minor gains.

The resulting Landtag was divided between the SPD–Zentrum–DStP coalition, the Nazi–DNVP bloc, and the Communist Party. Prussia used the constructive vote of no confidence, meaning a government could be removed from office only if there was a positive majority for a prospective successor. No parliamentary force held a majority, but since none were willing to cooperate with any of the others, the SPD-led coalition could not be removed. It continued in office as a minority government.

This situation ended with the Preußenschlag on 20 July 1932. Reich President Paul von Hindenburg, on the advice of Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen, issued an emergency decree under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution dissolving the Prussian government and giving von Papen direct control over Prussia as Reichskommissar.[3] Prussia remained under direct control of the federal government until April 1933 when, at the behest of Adolf Hitler under the Enabling Act of 1933, state elections were held. The Nazis failed to win a majority, but the subsequent ban of the Communist Party and arrest of opposition deputies allowed them to secure control of the Landtag regardless, and Hermann Göring became Minister-President. The federal structure of Germany was effectively dissolved under the Nazi regime, and the Prussian government existed only symbolically. After the conclusion of the Second World War, Prussia was dissolved by a declaration of the Allied Control Council on 25 February 1947.

Results

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Party Votes % Swing Seats /–
National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
Farmers, Home and Landowners
Nationalist German Workers Party
Greater German List Schmalix
8,091,072
8,007,384
67,533
11,605
4,550
36.67
36.29
0.31
0.05
0.02
34.60
34.45
0.15
New
New
162
162
0
0
0
156
156
0
New
New
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 4,675,173 21.19 –7.81 94 –43
Prussian Centre Party (Zentrum) 3,371,932 15.28 0.05 67 –4
Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
Interest Group of Small Pensioners and Inflation Victims
2,845,306
2,819,763
25,543
12.89
12.78
0.12
1.02
0.91
New
57
57
0
1
1
New
German National People's Party (DNVP)
German National People's Party (DNVP)
Radical Middle Class
National Gathering Karl Andres
1,540,716
1,524,230
9,883
6,603
6.98
6.91
0.04
0.03
–10.41
–10.48
New
New
31
31
0
0
–51
–51
New
New
German People's Party (DVP)
German People's Party (DVP)
People's Justice Party (VRP)
374,509
330,745
43,764
1.70
1.50
0.20
–8.05
–7.00
–1.05
7
7
0
–35
–33
–2
National Front of German Estates
Reich Party of the German Middle Class (WP)
German Farmers (Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party)
National Front of German Estates, Young Rights
National Officials, Employees and Free Professionals
362,272
191,021
153,542
13,861
3,848
1.64
0.87
0.70
0.06
0.02
–4.28
–3.59
–0.77
New
New
0
0
0
0
0
–29
–21
–8
New
New
German State Party (DStP) 332,490 1.51 –2.95 2 –19
Christian Social People's Service (CSVD) 255,177 1.16 New 2 New
Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAPD) 80,392 0.36 New 0 New
German-Hanoverian Party (DHP) 63,731 0.29 –0.70 1 –3
National Minorities of Germany (NMD)
Polish People's Party
Schleswig and Frisian Home
Prussian-Lithuanian People's Party
59,943
57,285
2,298
360
0.27
0.26
0.01
0.00
–0.13
–0.12
0.00
0.00
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
National Opposition of United Reichsbank Creditors and Mark Victims
National Opposition of United Reichsbank Creditors and Mark Victims
People's Justice and Economic Party of the Dispossessed Middle Class
German Combat Party Against Inflation and False Monetary Policy
Activist Emergency Community of Mortgagees, etc.
6,896
5,197
1,151
312
236
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.00
0.00
New
New
New
New
New
0
0
0
0
0
New
New
New
New
New
Party of the Unemployed for Work and Bread 3,463 0.02 New 0 New
German Unity Party for Defence of the Economy, Idealistic Movement of Germany 1,341 0.01 New 0 New
German National Community (Völkisch Revolutionary Economic Movement) 1,014 0.00 New 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 127,560 0.57
Total 22,065,427 100 423 –27
Registered voters/turnout 27,031,562 82.10 5.71
Gonschior.de
Popular Vote
NSDAP
36.67%
SPD
21.19%
Zentrum
15.28%
KPD
12.89%
DNVP
6.98%
DVP
1.70%
DStP
1.51%
CSVD
1.16%
DHP
0.29%
Other
2.33%
Landtag seats
NSDAP
38.30%
SPD
22.22%
Zentrum
15.84%
KPD
13.48%
DNVP
7.33%
DVP
1.65%
DStP
0.47%
CSVD
0.47%
DHP
0.24%

Results by constituency

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Constituency NSDAP SPD Z KPD DNVP DVP DStP CSVD DHP
1. East Prussia 45.6 22.2 7.5 9.1 9.5 1.5 1.2 1.8
2. Berlin 24.1 30.2 3.9 29.4 6.8 0.5 2.2 0.5
3. Potsdam II 32.0 27.6 3.9 16.9 10.4 1.4 4.2 0.5
4. Potsdam I 36.1 28.1 2.4 16.9 9.5 1.0 2.1 0.6
5. Frankfurt an der Oder 43.8 25.4 6.2 7.3 10.3 1.3 1.4 0.8
6. Pomerania 44.2 23.6 1.2 7.7 17.2 1.2 1.6 0.8
7. Breslau 41.2 25.0 15.3 6.8 6.2 1.0 1.5
8. Liegnitz 45.2 27.6 7.0 5.9 6.8 2.1 1.5
9. Oppeln 30.4 7.5 35.6 12.2 7.5 0.5 0.4
10. Magdeburg 39.8 33.8 2.0 9.3 8.3 1.9 1.8 0.4
11. Merseburg 41.8 18.9 1.4 21.9 7.9 2.0 1.6 0.5
12. Erfurt 39.7 18.2 13.1 14.7 6.9 2.0 1.8 0.5
13. Schleswig-Holstein 50.8 27.5 0.9 8.8 5.3 2.3 2.0 0.9
14. Weser-Ems 37.5 17.6 25.3 4.7 5.2 1.8 1.5 2.1 2.4
15. Hanover East 46.7 25.1 1.3 6.6 7.9 1.8 1.7 0.9 5.7
16. Hanover South 43.8 31.8 5.8 5.6 4.6 2.3 1.5 0.7 2.1
17. Westphalia North 25.3 15.5 35.3 10.5 5.0 1.9 0.5 2.0
18. Westphalia South 29.1 17.6 24.3 16.2 4.5 1.6 1.0 3.0
19. Hesse-Nassau 42.1 21.5 14.4 9.5 3.4 2.4 1.8 2.0
20. Köln-Aachen 22.5 11.0 42.1 13.6 3.3 2.5 1.2 0.5
21. Koblenz-Trier 28.2 6.3 47.4 6.7 4.1 1.5 0.5
22. Düsseldorf East 32.9 11.8 20.8 22.7 4.2 1.9 0.8 1.7
23. Düsseldorf West 29.6 9.5 34.1 14.8 5.6 1.6 0.5 1.0

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Childs, Harwood L. (1932). "Recent Elections in Prussia and Other German Länder". American Political Science Review. 26 (4): 698–705. doi:10.2307/1946537. ISSN 0003-0554. JSTOR 1946537.
  3. ^ Walter, Franz (2007-07-19), "Putsch am 20. Juli 1932: Wie der Mythos Preußen zerschlagen wurde" [The coup of 20 July 1932: How the myth of Prussia was smashed], Der Spiegel (in German), Hamburg, retrieved 4 May 2013:
    Ein Tag als Lehrstück: für die antidemokratische Skrupellosigkeit der Konservativen jener Jahre, für die Hilflosigkeit und Ermattung der stets nur rhetorisch kraftvoll auftretenden Sozialdemokratie, für die Erosion und den Zerfall der republiktreuen Mitte - schon Monate vor der Etablierung des NS-Regimes. [One day as an object lesson: in the antidemocratic unscrupulousness of the conservatives of those years, in the helplessness and fatigue of the Social Democrats, who only rhetorically ever seemed powerful, in the erosion and breakup of the republican center — months before the establishment of the Nazi regime.]
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