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Elections to the German Reichstag (1871-1890): A Statistical Overview

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Election Results in Overview


 

1st Reichstag 1871 (7)

Persons eligible to vote: 7,656,000
Total votes cast: 3,907,000
Voter turnout: 51.0 %
Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1):19.4 %

 

 

 

 

 

Number of votes
(millions)

Share of the vote (in %)

Number of seats

Share of seats
(in %)

Conservatives

0.549

14.1

57

14.9

Reich Party (Free Conservatives)

0.346

8.9

37

9.7

National Liberals

1.171

30.1

125

32.7

Liberals

0.281

7.2

30

7.9

Liberal Union (2)

German Progressive Party (3)

0.342

8.8

46

12.0

German People’s Party

0.019

0.5

1

0.3

Center

0.724

18.6

63

16.5

Guelphs

0.052

1.4

6

1.6

Social Democrats

0.124

3.2

2

0.5

Poles

0.176

4.5

13

3.4

Danes (4)

0.025

0.7

1

0.3

Alsace-Lorrainers (5)

Antisemites, Economic Union (6)

Others

0.079

2.0

1

0.3

Total

3.888

 

382

 




 

2nd Reichstag 1874

Persons eligible to vote: 8,523,000
Total votes cast: 5,220,000
Voter turnout: 61.2 %
Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1): 21.6%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of votes
(millions)

Share of the vote (in %)

Number of seats

Share of seats
(in %)

Conservatives

0.360

6.9

22

5.5

Reich Party (Free Conservatives)

0.376

7.2

33

8.3

National Liberals

1.543

29.7

155

39.0

Liberals

0.054

1.0

3

0.8

Liberal Union (2)

German Progressive Party (3)

0.448

8.6

49

12.3

German People’s Party

0.022

0.4

1

0.3

Center

1.446

27.9

91

22.9

Guelphs

0.073

1.4

4

1.0

Social Democrats

0.352

6.8

9

2.3

Poles

0.198

3.8

14

3.5

Danes (4)

0.034

0.7

1

0.3

Alsace-Lorrainers (5)

0.235

4.5

15

3.8

Antisemites, Economic Union (6)

Others

0.051

1.0

Total

5.190

 

397

 




 

3rd Reichstag 1877

Persons eligible to vote: 8,943,000
Total votes cast: 5,423,000
Voter turnout: 60.6%
Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1): 20.9%

 

 

 

 

 

Number of votes (millions)

Share of the vote (in %)

Number of seats

Share of seats
(in %)

Conservatives

0.526

9.7

40

10.1

Reich Party (Free Conservatives)

0.427

7.9

38

9.6

National Liberals

1.470

27.2

128

32.2

Liberals

0.135

2.5

13

3.3

Liberal Union (2)

German Progressive Party (3)

0.418

7.7

35

8.8

German People’s Party

0.045

0.8

4

1.0

Center

1.341

24.8

93

23.4

Guelphs

0.085

1.6

4

1.0

Social Democrats

0.493

9.1

12

3.0

Poles

0.216

4.0

14

3.5

Danes (4)

0.023

0.4

1

0.3

Alsace-Lorrainers (5)

0.200

3.7

15

3.8

Antisemites, Economic Union (6)

Others

0.022

0.4

Total

5.401

 

397

 




 

4th Reichstag 1878

Persons eligible to vote: 9,124,000
Total votes cast: 5,781,000
Voter turnout: 63.4%
Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1): 21.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of votes (millions)

Share of the vote (in %)

Number of seats

Share of seats
(in %)

Conservatives

 

 

 

 

Reich Party (Free Conservatives)

0.786

13.6

57

14.4

National Liberals

1.331

23.1

99

24.9

Liberals

0.156

2.7

10

2.5

Liberal Union (2)

German Progressive Party (3)

0.385

6.7

26

6.6

German People’s Party

0.066

1.1

3

0.8

Center

1.328

23.1

94

23.7

Guelphs

0.100

1.7

10

2.5

Social Democrats

0.437

7.6

9

2.3

Poles

0.210

3.6

14

3.5

Danes (4)

0.018

0.3

1

0.3

Alsace-Lorrainers (5)

0.179

3.1

15

3.8

Antisemites, Economic Union (6)

Others

0.015

0.3

Total

5.761

 

397

 




(1) According to the most recent census in each case. The following should be considered: in elections occurring some time after the preceding census (such as the 1890 election, which used the census from 1885 – not the one from 1890 – as a basis), the percentage of persons eligible to vote among the total population appears slightly higher than it actually was. The lower percentage in 1871 can be attributed in part to poorly maintained electoral registers.

(2) From 1893 onward: Freisinnige (instead of “Liberale” – different term, same meaning) Vereinigung; as of 1910: incorporated into the Progressive People’s Party.

(3) From 1884 onward: German Liberal Party; from 1893 onward: Liberal People’s Party; as of 1910: incorporated into the Progressive People’s Party.

(4) The votes cast for both the Particularists and the Protest Party in Schleswig-Holstein were applied to the Danes, provided that no additional data was included in the official statistics.

(5) According to convention, the votes cast for the Center Party in Alsace-Lorraine were applied to the Alsace-Lorrainers until 1878, as were the votes of those Reichstag deputies whose votes were listed as counting towards the Center Party in official statistics from 1874 to 1878, but who were not classified as “belonging to the parliamentary party.”

(6) Antisemites participated in the Reichstag elections from 1887 to 1903 as splinter groups under the names: Christian-Socialist Party, German Reform Party, German-Socialist Reform Party, and German-Socialist Party. As of 1907, this category also includes the Economic Union, into which the Antisemites incorporated themselves as the dominant group.

(7) As yet without the Alsace-Lorrainers. These figures are the corrected ones from vol. 250 of Statistik des Deutschen Reichs [Statistics of the German Reich], 1912. The data was corrected because the figures supplied for the 10th constituency in Frankfurt and the 12th constituency in Breslau in the election statistics of 1871/74 did not reflect the results of the first regular elections but, by mistake, those of the by-elections.

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