Elections and Referenda in the Third Reich

Wherever Hitler went he was besieged by rapturous crowds. Unlike today's Western leaders, he didn't need to hide behind bullet proof glass.

Adolf Hitler's political party, the 'National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)' took power democratically through the ballot box in accordance with the German Constitution of the time. At the German elections on 5 March 1933, the NSDAP won 288 seats and 43.91% of the vote on a turnout of 88.74%. Jews, Poles and other ethnic minorities were allowed to vote without any interference. The NSDAP became the largest party in the Reichstag, but were 36 seats short of a majority. However, they achieved a working majority by forming a coalition with the German National People's Party (DNVP), who had won 52 seats.

Percentage-wise, the NSDAP result is similar to the 1979 General Election in the UK when the Conservative party, led by Margaret Thatcher, was elected with 43.9% of the vote, and the 1997 General Election when the Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, was elected with 43.2% of the vote.

Two weeks after the election, Hitler was able to pass the Enabling Act on 23rd March with the support of all non-socialist parties. The Enabling Act gave Hitler the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag, which effectively transformed Hitler's government into a legal dictatorship.

Elections during the Third Reich period were held in the form of referendums such as we Britons have occasionally experienced, like the referendum to leave the EU. Upon being elected in 1933, Germany's new leader asked the German people to give him just three years to demonstrate the advantages of National Socialism over other forms of political philosophy which are designed to favour a section of the people rather than, as did National Socialism, all of the people. 

When the three years had passed, the German people were given the simple choice: "Do you approve of National Socialism or not?" 

The result was a landslide vote in favour of Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP proving that the German people were obviously happy with National Socialism. 

Here is the result:

Total Qualified Voters              45,453,691
Total Votes Cast            (99%) 45,001,489
Votes 'NO' or invalid                     540,211
Votes 'YES'                 (98.8%) 44,461,278  [1]

To achieve 98.8% support after three years in government is something today's leaders can only dream about.

Election poster with the slogan One People, one Leader, one "Yes" (Image Wikimedia Commons, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-K0930-502 / CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Another example of Hitler's popularity is the referendum that took place in the Saar on 13th January 1935. The Saar always was German territory and is situated on the borders of France. At the end of the First World War, the Saar was given to France on the basis of the untrue assertion that the majority, 150,000 French people, lived in the territory. This was a blatant lie for, as was subsequently proved, only 2000 French people lived in the territory. Yet this territory was given to France by the victorious allies who produced the notorious Versailles Treaty, the injustices of which contributed directly to the Second World War bloodbath.

Unable to quell the Saar's rightful demand for justice and self-determination, elections were finally held on the 13th January, 1935. It was two years after Adolf Hitler had been elected to lead Germany. The elections were entirely free and were supervised by neutral electoral experts. Also present were observers from all over the world. 

The result was as follows:

In favour of unification with Hitler's Germany    477,119
Those favouring no change                                     45,513
In favour of unification with France                          2,124  [2]

As a final example of Hitler's popularity consider the 'Anschluss', the re-unification of Austria with Germany. This is usually referred to as 'The Rape of Austria' and depicted in propaganda, such as the film The Sound of Music, as being a period when the Austrian people, sullenly and unwillingly, accepted occupation by the brutal, bullying Nazi regime.

Hitler received an enthusiastic welcome in Austria

Here again, the real facts are far removed from the distortions peddled by those who specialise in moulding public opinion. Firstly, the crisis which was to lead to the re-unification of Austria with Germany was not provoked by Hitler's Germany. As the noted British historian, A. J. P. Taylor pointed out in The Origins of the Second World War, "The Crisis of March, 1938 (which led to Anschluss) was provoked by Schuschnigg, the Austrian Chancellor, not by Hitler."

There were six million Germans in Austria to whom national re-unification was still forbidden by the peace treaties of 1919. When, to solve the crisis, Hitler's Germany dispensed with the section of the Versailles Treaty relating to Austria and occupied her former territory with her troops, the Wehrmacht virtually had to fight their way through garlands of flowers. A. J. P. Taylor says: "The German Army was invading Austria, or rather was marching in to the general enthusiasm of the People."

Austria's enthusiasm for re-unification with Hitler's Germany was demonstrated in the elections of the 10th April. Again, these elections were open and above board. Gordon Brook-Shepherd, the prominent British writer who in no sense of the word could be described as a Hitler supporter, said: "Most foreign observers present in Vienna that day accepted that the polling had been free from any open intimidations." [3]

These are the results of that election:

Of the German people, 99.08% voted in favour of unification with Austria. Of the Austrian people, an even higher 99.75% voted in favour of unification with Hitler's Germany.

The real irony of this election is that though it was purely marginal, more Austrians voted in favour of unity with Germany than Germans voted for unity with Austria.

References:

Michael McLaughlin, For Those Who Cannot Speak, published by Historical Review Press, 1979

G. Ward Price, I Know These Dictators

1.  Baynes, Hitler's Speeches 1922-1939, Vol 2. Royal Institute of International Affairs.

2.  Exchange of communications between the President of the United States and the Chancellor of the German Reich, more commonly known as 'Hitler's reply to Roosevelt'

3.  Gordon Brook-Shepherd, Anschluss - The Rape of Austria

A. J. P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War, Penguin Books; New Ed edition (31 Oct. 1991)