1871 German federal election

none January 2024 German Empire parliamentary 1868 Zollparlament election 1868 yes 1871 03 03 1874 German federal election 1874 All 382 seats in the Reichstag 192 7,656,283 3,905,531 (51.01%) 130x130px Rudolf_von_Bennigsen.jpg Rudolf von Bennigsen National Liberal Party (Germany) 1867 23.28%, 104 seats 117 13 28.97% 5.69 pp Hermann von Mallinckrodt.jpg Hermann von Mallinckrodt Centre Party (Germany) 1870 Did not exist 58 New party 18.21% New party Conservative Party (Prussia) 130 95 Conservative Party (Prussia) 14.82%, 65 seats 56 9 13.51% 1.31 pp German Progress Party 130 95 German Progress Party 8.75%, 31 seats 45 14 9.04% 0.29 pp Victor Herzog von Ratibor (cropped).jpg Viktor I, Duke of Ratibor Free Conservative Party 6.67%, 37 seats 37 0 8.83% 2.16 pp Hohenlohe-schillingsf%C3%BCrst1867.jpg Chlodwig Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Imperial Liberal Party 1871 Did not exist 33 New party 7.05% New party File:Karte der Reichstagswahlen 1871.svg 390px Map of results (by constituencies) President of the Zollparlament Eduard von Simson National Liberal PartyThier Andreas https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118614584.html#ndbcontent Neue Deutsche Biographie 24 2010 451-453 [Online-Version] Simson, Eduard von President of the Reichstag after election Eduard von Simson National Liberal Party A federal election for the first Reichstag of the German Empire was held on 3 March 1871, 45 days after the founding of the Empire.Nohlen Dieter Dieter Nohlen Elections in Europe: A Data Handbook Stöver Philip Nomos 2010 978-3-8329-5609-7 Baden-Baden 762 The voting took place under the provisions of the short-lived Constitution of the German Confederation. With certain limitations, all German males over 25 years of age were eligible to vote.Wahlen im Kaiserreich 1871–1918 Elections in the Empire 1871–1918 https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/190454/a8cdcc157110effc8472dc8f1ac9742a/wahlen_kaiserreich.pdf 6 June 2025 Deutscher Bundestag de The National Liberal Party, one of the key supporters of the German unification of 1871,Reichstagswahl 3. März 1871 Reichstag Election 3 March 1871 https://www.dhm.de/lemo/bestand/objekt/reichstagswahl-3-maerz-1871 5 June 2025 Deutsches Historisches Museum de emerged as the largest party in the Reichstag. The newly founded Catholic Centre Party came in second.Nohlen Stöver 2010 788 Voter turnout was 51%.Reichstag 1867–1918 https://wahlen-in-deutschland.de/krtw.htm 5 June 2025 Wahlen in Deutschland de The Reichstag approved the new Constitution of the German Empire on 14 April 1871.Blume Dorlis 4 September 2014 Chronik 1871 https://www.dhm.de/lemo/jahreschronik/1871 5 June 2025 Deutsches Historisches Museum de It set the legislative period at three years, putting the next election in 1874. Historical background At the end of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the victorious Kingdom of Prussia annexed many of the smaller north German states to form the North German Confederation.Austro-Prussian War https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095435596 7 June 2025 Oxford Reference The North German Constitution, which reflected the political ideas of Prussian minister president Otto von Bismarck, included a Reichstag elected according to equal, secret and universal manhood suffrage.Gall Lothar Lothar Gall Bismarck – der weiße Revolutionär Ullstein 1990 978-3-548-34733-2 2nd Berlin 385 de Bismarck – The White Revolutionary With minor modifications, the North German Constitution became the Constitution of the German Confederation on 1 January 1871, during the final days of the Franco-Prussian War. The Confederation's 297-member Reichstag, last elected in August 1867, was expanded by 85 seats to accommodate the four south German states (Baden, Hesse south of the Main River, Württemberg and Bavaria) that were joining the Confederation to form what would become the German Empire on 18 January.Verfassung des Deutschen Bundes Constitution of the German Confederation https://www.verfassungen.de/de67-18/verfassung70-i.htm 7 June 2025 Verfassungen der Welt de Electoral system The election was held under general, equal, direct and secret suffrage. All German males over the age of 25 years were able to vote except for active members of the military and recipients of poor relief. The restrictions on the military were meant to keep it from becoming politicized, while men on relief were considered to be open to political manipulation. The constitutional guarantee of a secret vote was not safeguarded at the time, since ballot boxes and polling booths were not introduced until 1903.21 March 2016 21. März 1871 – Erster Reichstag konstituiert sich 21 March 1871 – The First Reichstag is Convened https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag-reichstag-konstituierung-100.html 8 June 2025 WDR If no candidate in a district won an absolute majority of the votes, a runoff election was held between the first- and second-place finishers. It was possible for a replacement candidate to be introduced in a runoff.Steinsdorfer Helmut W-PWrXVOywQC 9 yes Die Liberale Reichspartei (LRP) von 1871 Steiner 2000 978-3-515-07566-4 Stuttgart 9 de The Imperial Liberty Party (LRP) of 1871 Major political parties It was common at the time for individuals to campaign not as a member of a specific party but rather under a more general label such as liberal, conservative, clerical or particularist. Once the parliament met, such members would join an existing party or work with like-minded representatives to form a new one. As a result, the picture of a new Reichstag's party makeup would come into focus only some time after the voting. Liberalism, supported primarily by the middle class, was the leading political movement at the time of the Empire's foundation. It was divided into two large ideological groups, the liberal left, of which the German Progress Party (DFP) was the largest party, and national liberalism, centered in the National Liberal Party (NLP). Both parties had supported Bismarck's unification policies, although the NLP was more consistent in its backing of the Chancellor.2006 Political parties in the Empire 1871 – 1918 https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/189792/91ce2fea1ba1144ca9c7728846b8070c/parties_empire.pdf 8 June 2025 Deutscher BundestagLeicht Johannes Scriba Arnulf Deutsche Fortschrittspartei 1861–1884 German Progress Party 1861–1884 https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/kaiserreich/innenpolitik/deutsche-fortschrittspartei 9 June 2025 Deutsches Historisches Museum deAsmuss Burkhard de Haan Rosmarie Beier Scriba Arnulf Die Nationalliberale Partei 1867–1918 The National Liberal Party 1867–1918 https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/kaiserreich/innenpolitik/nationalliberale-partei 9 June 2025 Deutsches Historisches Museum de The two main conservative parties were the German Conservative Party and the German Reich Party. They backed Bismarck and found their primary support among the nobility and large landowners in the eastern states. The Catholic Centre Party was founded following the election for the Prussian House of Representatives in November 1870.13 December 2010 13. Dezember 2010 – Vor 140 Jahren: Die Partei "Das Zentrum" wird gegründet 13 December 2010 – 140 Years Ago: The Party "The Centre" Was Founded https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag4784.html 9 June 2025 Westdeutscher Runkfunk de On 23 March 1871, a group of Catholic members of the newly elected Reichstag came together to form a Centre Party parliamentary caucus.Sacher Hermann 1914 The Centre https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16020b.htm 10 June 2025 New Advent (The Catholic Encyclopedia) The party's membership was almost exclusively Catholic and, unlike most parties of the time, spanned the full range of social classes. The Centre's party program for 1871, entitled "Justice is the basis of governance", promised to protect the federal nature of the Empire and strive for the "constitutional establishment of guarantees of the civic and religious freedom of all citizens".Program of the Catholic Center Party's Reichstag Caucus (late March 1871) https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=683 10 June 2025 GHDI (German History in Documents and Images) The Imperial Liberal Party formed after the 1871 election as a liberal-conservative offshoot of the National Liberal Party. It was a party of notables (de Honoratiorenpartei) that supported Bismarck, rejected parliamentarization and sought to work with both the National Liberals and the Conservative Party.Leicht Johannes de Haan Rosmarie Beyer Scriba Arnulf 8 September 2016 Liberale Reichspartei 1871-1874 Imperial Liberal Party https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/kaiserreich/innenpolitik/liberale-reichspartei 11 June 2025 Deutsches Historisches Museum de The Social Democratic Workers Party (SDAP) had favored a greater German unification (one which would have included Austria) and during the Franco-Prussian War had advocated "proletarian internationalism". In its founding Eisenach Program of 1869, the party promised to fight for the abolition of class rule, elimination of the capitalist mode of production, a standard working day, and the prohibition of child labor.Sprenger Christian 29 March 2007 Die Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei (SDAP) The Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/kaiserreich/innenpolitik/sozialdemokratische-arbeiterpartei-sdap 12 June 2025 Deutsches Historisches Museum de The Polish Party represented the approximately three million German citizens whose native language was Polish. Most of them lived in the Prussian provinces of Posen, West Prussia and Silesia.von Bezold Andreas Die parlamentarische Vertretung der dänischen und der polnischen Minderheit im Deutschen Kaiserreich 1871–1890 [Parliamentary Representation of the Danish and Polish Minorities in the German Empire, 1871–1890] 2022 12 June 2025 PhD FernUniversität in Hagen https://ub-deposit.fernuni-hagen.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/mir_derivate_00002390/Diss_von-Bezold_parlamentarische_Vertretung_2022.pdf de 97 ff Results The parties that supported Bismarck's policies, notably on unification, became the dominant parties in the new Reichstag: the National Liberals, Centre, Conservatives and Progress Party. Voter turnout was just 51%, the lowest during the life of the Empire. Historian Volker Ullrich suggests that the lack of voter interest was due to the fact that the initial enthusiasm over the founding of the Empire remained limited primarily to the national-liberal bourgeoisie.Ullrich Volker Die nervöse Großmacht 1871 – 1918: Aufstieg und Untergang des deutschen Kaiserreichs Fischer E-Books 1999 978-3-596-11694-2 Frankfurt 27 de The Nervous Great Power 1871 – 1918. Rise and Fall of the German Empire The changes in the results from the previous Reichstag (shown below) are a combination of two previous elections: to the North German Reichstag in 1867 and to the de Zollparlament, the parliament of the German Customs Union (de Zollverein), in 1868. The de Zollparlament consisted of all members of the North German Reichstag plus 85 representatives elected from the south German states that joined the German Empire in 1871. They received as many seats in the new Reichstag as they had held in the de Zollparlament.#F8F9FA 1 Social Democratic Party of Germany 1 German People's Party (1868) 45 German Progress Party 7 Independent Liberals #EEDC82 2 Old Liberals #008000 1 Danish Party #FFA54F 13 Polish Party #FFA54F 0 Alsace-Lorraine Party #FFA54F 117 National Liberal Party (Germany) 33 Imperial Liberal Party 3 Clericals #696969 58 Centre Party (Germany) 7 German-Hanoverian Party 37 German Reich Party 1 Independent Conservatives #007FFF 56 Conservative Party (Prussia) National Liberal Party 1125942 117 +5.69 +13 Centre Party 707896 58 New New Conservative Party 524881 56 −1.31 −9 German Progress Party 351209 45 +0.29 +14 German Reich Party 343098 37 +2.16 0 Imperial Liberal Party 274068 33 New New Polish Party 176342 13 −0.52 +2 Independent Liberals #EEDC82 74903 5 −9.05 −27 German-Hanoverian Party 73470 7 +1.01 +3 General German Workers' Association Social Democratic Party of Germany 56117 0 −0.27 −2 Social Democratic Workers' Party 41040 1 −0.19 −1 German People's Party 29595 1 −1.23 −7 Old Liberals #008000 24900 2 −2.79 −16 Danish Party 21143 1 −0.23 0 Clericals Centre Party (Germany) 15329 3 −9.21 −33 Independent conservatives #007FFF 14805 1 −9.64 +1 Schleswig-Holstein Particularist Liberals #EEDC82 6968 2 −1.03 −6 Lassallean General German Workers' Association Social Democratic Party of Germany 4770 0 −0.02 −1 Saxon Particularist Conservatives #007FFF 1549 0 −0.06 0 Others 17596 0 −0.84 0 Unknown 894 0 −0.07 0 19016 +85 7656283 Wahlen in DeutschlandReichstag 1867–1918 https://wahlen-in-deutschland.de/krtw.htm 5 June 2025 Wahlen in Deutschland de Aftermath The first meeting of the imperial Reichstag, whose provisional home was the Prussian House of Representatives, took place in the White Hall of the Berlin Palace, the residence of the kings and emperors of Prussia. Emperor Wilhelm I chose to welcome the Reichstag members there because he did not want to give the impression that he had his subjects to thank for the crown. The throne of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III had been brought from Goslar for the occasion, and the victorious Prussian generals, led by Helmuth von Moltke, carried the imperial regalia. The Reichstag approved the new Constitution of the German Empire with just seven 'no' votes on 14 April 1871. It went into effect on 4 May. In one other significant vote, taken on 11 March 1872, the Reichstag replaced church with state supervision of German schools.Blume Dorlis 4 September 2014 Chronik 1872 https://www.dhm.de/lemo/jahreschronik/1872 14 June 2025 Deutsches Historisches Museum de The next election was held on 10 January 1874 in accordance with the constitutional three-year term of office for Reichstag members. It was changed to five years in 1888.Gesetz betreffend die Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches vom 16. April 1871 Law Concerning the Constitution of the German Reich of 16 April 1871 https://www.verfassungen.de/de67-18/verfassung71-i.htm 15 June 2025 Verfassungen der Welt de References Category:Federal elections in Germany Category:1871 elections in Germany Category:Elections in the German Empire Category:March 1871 in Europe