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

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13th Reichstag 1912

Persons eligible to vote: 14,442,000
Total votes cast: 12,261,000
Voter turnout: 84.9%
Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1): 22.2%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of votes (millions)

Share of the vote (in %)

Number of seats

Share of seats
(in %)

Conservatives

1.126

9.2

43

10.8

Reich Party (Free Conservatives)

0.367

3.0

14

3.5

National Liberals

1.663

13.6

45

11.3

Liberals

 

 

 

 

 

Liberal Union (2)
German Progressive Party (3)
German People’s Party

}1.497

12.3

42

10.6

 

 

 

 

 

Center

1.997

16.4

91

22.8

Guelphs

0.085

0.7

5

1.3

Social Democrats

4.250

34.8

110

27.7

Poles

0.442

3.6

18

4.5

Danes (4)

0.017

0.1

1

0.3

Alsace-Lorrainers (5)

0.162

1.3

9

2.3

Antisemites, Economic Union (6)

0.300

2.5

10

2.5

Others

0.301

2.5

9

2.3

Total

12.207

 

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.



Sources: Part of the data was taken from: Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, vol. 250, 1912-1913, appendix without page numbering, „Zusammenstellung der Zahlengrundlagen für die Tafel 2“. The data for the parties of the Guelphs, Danes, Alsace-Lorrainers, as well as the breakdown for the liberal parties was calculated according to: Vierteljahreshefte zur Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, first series, 3. Year 1875, p. 2–51; Monatshefte zur Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, 1879, June issue, p. 4–35, 40–71; 1882, issue III, p. 2–33; 1884, issue IV, p. 2–33; 1885, issue I, p. 106–137; 1890, issue IV, p. 24–59; Vierteljahreshefte zur Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, new issue, 2nd year, 1893, issue IV, p. 4–55; 12th year., 1903, issue III, p. 100–107; supplement for 1903, issue IV, p. 6–7; supplement for 1907, issue I, p. 62–69; issue III, p. 8–9; Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, vol. 250, 1912–1913, issue II, p. 4–9.

Original data compiled and presented in tabular form in Gerhard A. Ritter with Merith Niehuss, Wahlgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch. Materialien zur Statistik des Kaiserreich 1871-1918 [Election History Workbook. Materials on Statistics from the Kaiserreich 1871-1918]. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1980, pp. 38-43.

Translation: Erwin Fink

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