1928 German federal election

1928 German federal election
← December 1924 20 May 1928 (1928-05-20) 1930 →
All 491 seats in the Reichstag
246 seats needed for a majority
Registered41,224,678 (Increase 5.7%)
Turnout75.6% (Decrease 3.2pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
SPD 1924 leadership.jpg
Kuno von Westarp.jpg
Reichskanzler Wilhelm Marx (cropped).jpg
Leader Hermann Müller
Otto Wels
Arthur Crispien 		Kuno von Westarp Wilhelm Marx
Party SPD DNVP Centre
Last election 26.0%, 131 seats 20.5%, 103 seats 13.6%, 69 seats
Seats won 153 73 61
Seat change Increase 22 Decrease 30 Decrease 8
Popular vote 9,152,979 4,381,563 3,712,152
Percentage 29.8% 14.3% 12.1%
Swing Increase 3.8pp Decrease 6.2pp Decrease 1.5pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Thälmann and Dengel.jpg
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-040-27, Gustav Stresemann.jpg
Erich Koch-Weser circa 1920 (cropped).jpg
Leader Ernst Thälmann
& Philipp Dengel 		Gustav Stresemann Erich Koch-Weser
Party KPD DVP DDP
Last election 8.9%, 45 seats 10.1%, 51 seats 6.3%, 32 seats
Seats won 54 45 25
Seat change Increase 9 Decrease 6 Decrease 7
Popular vote 3,264,793 2,679,703 1,479,374
Percentage 10.6% 8.7% 4.8%
Swing Increase 1.7pp Decrease 1.4pp Decrease 1.5pp
Government before election

Fourth Marx cabinet
Z–DNVP–DVP–BVP

Government after election

Second Müller cabinet
SPD–DVP–DDP–Z–BVP

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Federal elections were held in Germany on 20 May 1928 to elect the fourth Reichstag of the Weimar Republic.[1][2][3]

The previous three and a half years had seen Germany governed by a series of conservative cabinets, variably including the radical nationalist German National People's Party (DNVP). The fourth Marx cabinet collapsed in February 1928 due to a dispute over education policy, with new elections called for May. The results were a defeat for the parties of the centre-right cabinet: the DNVP particularly suffered, falling to 14%, as did the conservative German People's Party (DVP) and German Democratic Party (DDP). The Catholic Centre Party saw a substantial decline in its support for the first time since 1920. The winners of the election were the parties of the left: the Social Democratic Party, in opposition since 1923, won 30% of the vote. The Communist Party also improved to 10.6%. Much of the bourgeois and conservative electorate turned to small splinter parties representing special interests, including the Economic Party, Landvolk Party, and Revaluation Party.[3]

With a strong left-wing and the splintered right, there was little alternative to a government led by the SPD. Social Democrat Hermann Müller, who had previously served as Chancellor briefly in 1920, was charged with forming a new cabinet. The only viable majority was a Great Coalition stretching from the SPD to the DVP. Negotiations proved difficult: it took two weeks for the cabinet to be formed and sworn in, and only as a "cabinet of personalities" rather than a formal coalition, comprising ministers from the SPD, DVP, DDP, and Bavarian People's Party (BVP). The Centre sent only one minister, Theodor von Guérard, as a so-called "observer". It took until ten months later in April 1929 for a coalition agreement to be signed.[3]

This second Müller cabinet was to be the final democratic government of the Weimar Republic. Its fall in March 1930 and marked the end of the parliamentary system and the beginning of the presidential cabinets.[3]

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Pollock 1928.
  3. ^ a b c d Kolb, Eberhard (2004). The Weimar Republic. Translated by Falla, P. S.; Park, R. J. New York City: Routledge. p. 79-80. ISBN 0415344417.