1936 German parliamentary election and referendum explained

Country:Nazi Germany
Flag Year:1936
Type:legislative
Previous Election:November 1933 German parliamentary election
Next Election:1938 German parliamentary election and referendum
Next Year:1938
Seats For Election:All 741 seats in the Reichstag
Majority Seats:371
Registered:45,455,217 0.6%
Turnout:45,002,702 (99.0%) 3.7pp
Leader1:Adolf Hitler
Party1:Nazi Party
Last Election1:92.1%, 661 seats
Seats1:741
Seat Change1: 80
Popular Vote1:44,462,458
Percentage1:98.8%
Swing1: 6.7pp
Government
Before Election:Hitler cabinet
Before Party:Nazi Party
Posttitle:Government after election
After Election:Hitler cabinet
After Party:Nazi Party

Parliamentary elections were held in Germany on 29 March 1936.[1] They took the form of a single-question referendum, asking voters whether they approved of the military occupation of the Rhineland and a single party list for the new Reichstag composed exclusively of Nazis and nominally independent 'guests' of the party. Like previous votes in the Nazi era, it was rigged,[2] with a claimed turnout of 99% and 98.8% voting in favour. In a publicity stunt, a number of voters were packed aboard the airships Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg, which flew above the Rhineland as those aboard cast their ballots.[3]

This was the first German election held after enactment of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, which had removed citizenship rights (including the right to vote) from Jews and other ethnic minorities. In the previous elections and referendums under Nazi rule, Jews, Poles and other ethnic minorities had been allowed to vote without much interference, and even tacitly encouraged to vote against the Nazis (especially in districts that were known to have large populations of ethnic minorites). On 7 March 1936, Jews and Romani lost their right to vote.[4] Their removal from the electoral process accounted for much of the large drop in invalid and negative votes, which fell from over five million in 1934 to barely half a million in 1936. The Nazis also lowered the voting age, in large part so as to ensure that the electorate was about the same size as in 1934 but also to exploit the relatively enthusiastic support of younger Germans for the Nazi regime.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
Nazi Party and guests44,462,45898.80741
align=left colspan=2Against540,2441.20
align=left colspan=2Invalid/blank votes
align=left colspan=2Total votes45,002,702100741
align=left colspan=2Registered voters/turnout45,455,21799.00
align=left colspan=5Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

The new Reichstag convened for formulary procedures on 30 January 1937 to re-elect its Presidium and Hermann Göring as President of the Reichstag. It convened again to renew the Enabling Act of 1933 for additional four years.

The subsequent election in 1938 was held both in Germany and Austria, alongside a referendum that ratified the annexation of Austria to the German Reich.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Dieter Nohlen

    . Nohlen . Dieter . Dieter Nohlen . Stöver . Philip . 2010 . Elections in Europe: A data handbook . 762 . Nomos . 978-3-8329-5609-7 .

  2. Book: Richard J. Evans. The Third Reich in Power, 1933 - 1939: How the Nazis Won Over the Hearts and Minds of a Nation. 26 July 2012. Penguin Books Limited. 978-0-7181-9681-3. 637.
  3. News: Associated Press . Germans for Hitler 99 Per Cent Strong: All Ballots Against Nazi Held Invalid . . 30 March 1936 . 1 .
  4. Book: Robert Gellately. Nathan Stoltzfus. Social Outsiders in Nazi Germany. 27 May 2001. Princeton University Press. 0-691-08684-2. 216.