Federal elections were held in Germany on 31 July 1932, following the premature dissolution of the Reichstag. The Nazi Party made significant gains and became the largest party in the Reichstag for the first time, although they failed to win a majority. The Communist Party increased their vote share as well. All other parties combined held less than half the seats in the Reichstag, meaning no majority coalition government could be formed without including at least one of these two parties.
Background
Since 1929, Germany had been suffering from the effects of the Great Depression; unemployment had risen from 8.5% to nearly 30% between 1929 and 1932, while industrial production dropped by around 42%.
Campaign
Nazi membership rose from 293,000 in September 1930 to almost 1.5 million by the end of 1932. The number of newspapers controlled by the party rose from 49 in 1930 to 127 by 1932. Völkischer Beobachters circulation rose from 26,000 in 1929 to over 100,000 in 1931.
Joseph Goebbels was placed in charge of the Nazis' propaganda and campaign in 1930. Goebbels' staff was expanded and his role formalized by the Reich Propaganda Directorate (RPL) in 1931. In prior elections the Nazis relied on membership dues, but started receiving financial support from businesses in 1932. The ban on the Sturmabteilung and Schutzstaffel was lifted by Papen, against the pleas of state governments, in exchange for Nazi tolerance of his cabinet.
The German State Party (DStP) saw its membership in the Landtag of Prussia fall from 28 to 2 after the 1932 state election. The DStP unsuccessfully attempted to form an alliance with the SPD and Centre or the German People's Party (DVP). The DVP was able to form an alliance with the German National People's Party (DNVP).
Alfred Hugenberg attempted to make the DNVP a mass movement party following poor results in the 1930 election. The party's paramilitary groups were consolidated into the Bismarck League in the hope that it could combat the SA. The DNVP supported Papen's government.
Papen hoped that the election would weaken the left and centre. On 20 July, he dissolved the Social Democratic government of Prussia and instituted martial law after clashes between Nazis and leftists in Altona. The DNVP and DVP supported the decision. Goebbels told regional leaders to not discuss Papen on 4 June, but the RPL later stated that the Nazis "refuse most strenuously to be associated with this cabinet". The Communist Party (KPD) criticized Papen's actions as a "naked fascist coup", but also criticized the SPD for not retaliating.
The Centre accused the Nazis of being a pagan movement while the Nazis accused the Centre of working with anti-religious organizations that were equal to organizations persecuting Christians in the Soviet Union and Spain.
Results
The elections resulted in significant gains by the Nazi Party and it became the largest party in parliament for the first time, though it lacked an overall majority. In exchange, Papen lifted the ban on the Nazi Sturmabteilung (SA) militia.
Papen's austerity measures were deeply unpopular with the general population, but were generally supported by Germany's elites. The government started to implement openly authoritarian measures: on 20 July 1932, the SPD-led coalition government in Prussia was overthrown in an illegal coup that placed the region under the direct control of the cabinet through a presidential decree, further weakening Weimar democracy. On 9 August, another presidential decree drastically streamlined the judicial process in death penalty cases while limiting the right of appeal. New special courts were also created. On 12 September, the Reichstag overwhelmingly passed a motion of no confidence against the cabinet in a 512–42 vote and a snap election was called by Hindenburg.
See also
- Oskar Daubmann