Talk Elections

Intended as a long-running project with occasional updates. There's no need to do maps showing the development of party support because they've been done already (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=66004.0). This is for other things, usually at lower levels than state or province.

Anyway. What might be thought of as the standard key or at least standard colours:

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The colour blocks will be used for keys showing party or candidate support, the numbers are the standard keys for a percentage lead.

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Map shows leading candidate and the first round - in the second, Jarres and Braun withdrew and were replaced by Hindenburg and Marx (who finished third in the first round). Hindenburg won, of course.
I'm not entirely sure how useful this map is for one or two reasons, but it seemed like a good place to start.

Oh, and the government level used is Regierungsbezirk and equivalents. Summary results of the election can be found here: http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/g/germany/president.txt

EDIT: I based this off some dog-eared old photocopies I got my hands on years ago. Anyway, I checked a couple of results against those on the website linked to by Hans below and it turns out that there was a hilarious error in Oldenburg. Which has now been corrected.

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The same notes apply to this one. This map is of the runoff, not the first round. Note that Thälmann was also on the ballot and polled strongly in places.

It's not perfect to navigate, but the 1933 Reichstag elections by district are here (http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/ballenstedt.html).

Now all we need is a map of the boundaries at that precise point...

This is a map of Bavaria from the Reichstags election 1928

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BBB = Bavarian Farmers League

It's from this site: http://www.stmuk.bayern.de/blz/web/archiv/landtag/artikel.html

DNVP winning in places that would, just a few years later, be some of the Nazi's strongest districts anywhere isn't surprising, I guess. Surprised that the SPD could win anywhere in Lower Bavaria, even though 1928 was a good year for them.

There's a book in the uni library here with, IIRC, quite a lot of electoral data for some random parts of Saxony at a very low level - if I get time, I'll have fun with the photocopier tomorrow...

1928 was a good year for the SPD. This distinct in lower Bavaria is Regen and there gives many workers in the glass industry.  1932 was the KPD there the strongest party. http://www.gonschior.de/weimar/php/ausgabe_gebiet.php?gebiet=1703. On the other hand, on the countryside in Lower Bavaria the people are a little bit anarchistic ;) That can you see with the result of the Bavarian Farmers League there.

Yeah, everything makes sense now. Was there much in the way of industry in Upper Franconia? Protestantism alone presumably isn't the reason for SPD success there as rural Middle Franconia shows.


lol!

I actually referenced the old thread in my official IB to-be-sent-abroad extended essay :)

In Upper Franconia gives a Protestant part (Bayreuth, Hof, Coburg) and Catholic part (Bamberg, Lichtenfels, Kronach) It gave many industry worker there. Porcelain and Textil was the main industry.

Looking at the state map, you can see the BRD-DDR border already...

Given the darkness of many districts, black may not be the best background.

Most importantly, it's extremely hard to differentiate Held and Jarres on the map.

I might edit Held a different sort of blue at some point (though because of darkness it still won't be all that easy to tell - it's harder to tell dark shades apart). But he was the BVP candidate and on that map won all but Upper and Middle Franconia in Bavaria and nowhere outside Bavaria.

Thanks Hans, beautiful link!

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1932 Presidential Election - first round, votes per candidate.

My, my, Southwestern Saxony certainly had "interesting" politics back then. Also - I wonder how Duesterberg's vote went in the second round, hmm...

Playing around with 1919 election results... the way the USPD received votes in random outcrops is perfectly strange.
Of course, of course, the elections were held two months after the end of the war. The party had been getting organized more or less clandestinely for the two previous years. It obviously got votes where it had a "face". And probably in the areas where there were violent strikes in 1917 - an issue I know far too little about.

But, still. Upper Franconia shall serve as a random example. This is by Kaiserreich-era constituency. I'm sort of ordering from most Catholic to most Protestant here. Really, I'm ordering for effect, of course.

Bamberg BVP 57, SPD 29, DDP 13, DNVP 1, USPD 0.2
Kronach SPD 43, BVP 41, DDP 9, DNVP 4, USPD 2.2
Forchheim BVP 37, SPD 34, DNVP 15, DDP 12, USPD 0.9
Bayreuth SPD 52, DDP 20, DNVP 20, BVP 6, USPD 2.1
Hof USPD 47, DDP 26, SPD 17, DNVP 8, BVP 2

Lmao.

47% is of course an extremely strong showing, but compare Lower Franconia.

Aschaffenburg BVP 52, SPD 35, DDP 10, USPD 3.1, DNVP 0.6
Lohr BVP 60, SPD 26, DDP 11, DNVP 1.9, USPD 0.7
Kitzingen BVP 47, SPD 27, DDP 24, DNVP 2.8, USPD 0.1 (54 votes. There are results for similar-sized areas elsewhere with an actual clean zero votes. There's also an area where the USPD didn't get a slate organized, forget where that was. Trier maybe.)
Würzburg BVP 44, SPD 34, DDP 19, DNVP 1.5, USPD 1.1
Neustadt an der Saale BVP 58, SPD 22, DDP 15, USPD 3.9, DNVP 1.0
Schweinfurt BVP 43, SPD 24, USPD 19, DDP 13, DNVP 2.6

Still strange.

I come from this constituency. In the Kaiserreich was nearly the complete SPD in Hof against the war and all SPD Members of Parliament of this region was in the USPD. After the revolution  in November 1918 in this region was the "Arbeiter und Soldatenrat" (Workers and Soldiers Soviet) in power and not only for a few days, no nearly a half year.

Ah, but such soviets existed elsewhere too - remember that this election was quite early (january 10th, I think) - though frequently (as in Frankfurt) they were never, not even for a fleeting moment, the real seat of power. The bit about all the leading SPD people having joined the USPD is probably quite important.

I was only aware of that pattern in Saxony (ie; Leipzig v everywhere else) - interesting.

NO NO NO, Leipzig, Plauen and the Sächsische Schweiz v everywhere else!!!!

Oh, also Thuringia. Where USPD vs SPD support follows statelet lines.

Sachsen-Meiningen: SPD at almost 60, USPD at 1 or so
Sachsen-Alteburg: SPD at 56, USPD at 0.odd
Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, two more easterly constituencies: SPD at 50, USPD at a couple
westerly constituency: SPD at 37, USPD at 17
Sachsen-Coburg: SPD at 55, USPD at a couple
Sachsen-Gotha: USPD at 54, SPD at 5*
Reuß sr line: USPD 43, SPD 20
Reuß jr line: USPD 50, SPD 15
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: USPD 55, SPD at a couple
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt: SPD 60, USPD at a couple
Prussian bits: Nordhausen constituency USPD 43, SPD 15
Erfurt etc constituency USPD 40, SPD 22
Mühlhausen etc constituency SPD 25, USPD 25
Eichsfeld SPD 17, USPD 5 or so
Schmalkalden SPD 38, USPD 33 or two thirds of their RB Kassel vote

*Yes, Coburg and Gotha had been one state until 1918. Or two states with a joint head of state, really. They split as a result of the removal of the duke. And then, of course, Coburg didn't want to join this radical new state of Thuringia, and ended up joining Bavaria instead.
Meanwhile, the two Reußisch states had merged in december of 1918.

Plauen? Interesting bearing in mind later voting patterns. Does that mean just the town, or does it include the rural district?


lol


As in our ghastly royal family, yes, yes, I know that.

It means the 1871-1918 Reichstag constituency. :( In Saxony, only some of these closely match local government units.

That's a shame, because there's an important difference :(

(Plauen the town voted majority Nazi in at least on election in '32, but the KPD was fairly strong as well - taking about 20% or so. Plauen the rural district though...)

It would certainly have been larger than just the town. Not sure if it included all the district or just part of it. (I have this, in handwriting, someplace. I also know where a book is where I could copy it again. But is it worth that?)

The city of Plauen was in the election of 32 the NSDAP the strongest party, but SPD and KPD were together much stronger. The rural parts around Plauen there was the Nazi very, very strong.

Not really.

You posted a map of the old Reichstag constituencies a while ago (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=88097.msg1889515#msg1889515) might that help?

Third highest Nazi vote in Saxony, if the figures on my tea-stained and somewhat battered photocopied sheet are right.

It seems that the constituency may have included Plauen city, Oelsnitz district, and most of Plauen rural district (sans the northeastern portion around Reichenbach).

Oelsnitz district is the second most Nazi AH on the list in front of me. But also 18% KPD. I'll post the full list now, for the sake of it.

The list is of the ten most Nazi district's in Saxony in July 1932 - SPD and KPD figures also included. Goes: NSDAP, SPD, KPD. All are %'s.

1. AH Auerbach, 57.9, 10.6, 19.1 (turnout up on 1928 by 18.7)
2. AH Oelsnitz, 57.5, 12.2, 18.4 ('' ''  19.7)
3. AH Plauen, 56.2, 14.9, 13.9
4. AH Marienberg, 54.4, 20.3, 17.7
5. AH Freiberg, 53.7, 29.0, 9.1
6. Werdau, 53.3, 20.0, 16.1 (turnout over 90%)
7. AH Annaberg, 52.5, 22.3, 15.9
8. Plauen, 50.7, 15.8, 21.5
9. AH Dippoldiswalde, 50.1, 25.0, 11.7
10. Freiberg, 49.7, 28.2, 7.8

"AH" is for Amthauptmannschaft. They were renamed Kreise by the nazis, in their general streamlining of german administrative structures. They were also similar in size, a bit on the large side population-wise (though not Oelsnitz, obviously - the Upper Vogtland being one of the least densely populated parts of Saxony.)

Somehow I find the Catholic variant of the same theme even more "interesting".

Lower Westerwald, May 1932
Center 46, NSDAP 22, KPD 19, SPD 7
The Commies actually came second in 1930 (and in may 1924) but on 12% of the vote.

As you're bringing it up, something I've wondered for a while... what's the reason for the KPD doing better than the SPD in some Catholic areas?

No idea. It does seem odd, doesn't it?

Okay, I have a theory. It goes like this (and doesn't apply in areas where the SPD had a minority foothold before 1918, such as Upper Bavaria).
There was no reason to vote SPD simply out of traditionalism as there was no SPD tradition.
And the moderate working class/union man/pro-democracy guy, happy with the changes compared to the Kaiserreich but not at all interested in further revolution, yeah well, the Center Party did a pretty good job of keeping him on board - its status as the representation of Catholic Germany depended on it. But not at keeping militant people disappointed with the revolution's scope on board. So they'd be voting Communist.

Makes more sense than any of the other explanations I've read.

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Bigger picture. (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=2196)

Brief biographical details for random interest and context...

Karl Jarres, DVP (also nominated by the DNVP). Mayor of Duisburg (no, seriously), Interior Minister in the various Marx governments.

Otto Braun, SPD. Originally from Königsberg. Prime Minister of Prussia for most of the period between 1920 and 1932 when he was (of course) illegally removed from office. Emigrated to Switzerland in 1933.

Wilhelm Marx, Zentrum. Based in Düsseldorf. Twice Chancellor, once Prussian Prime Minister for a couple of months. Defeated in the second round of this election by Hindenburg.

Ernst Thälmann, KPD. From Hamburg. IIRC he wasn't formally the leader of the KPD yet, but became so soon after the election. Arrested by the Nazis in 1933 and kept in solitary confinement without trial until his murder in 1944.

Willy Hellpach, DDP. Originally from Silesia. State President of Baden for parts of 1924 and 1925.

Heinrich Held, BVP. Prime Minister of Bavaria 1924-1933.

Erich Ludendorff, NSDAP. Insane ex-military type, etc.

Your map appears to be wrong around Wetzlar, not showing that it's actually two enclaves, not one. :D

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Anywhere north of the southern bottleneck was ceded to Prussia in 1866, but the boundary of the Wetzlar District was not changed - the area simply became the Biedenkopf district in Wiesbaden RB. (The territory between the two bottlenecks was transferred to Wetzlar district in the fall of 1932 though, at the same time that Wetzlar was transferred to Hessen-Nassau, Rinteln was transferred to Hanover, and Ilfeld was transferred to Saxony Province.)

Were Marx and Held both on the ballot in the Palatinate?

Judging from the map, I think it's obvious the answer is 'yes'. And I think Marx was also on the ballot in Bavaria.