German federal election, 1912

12 January 1912 (1912-01-12)

All 397 seats in the Reichstag 199 seats needed for a majority

Turnout	84.9%
	First party	Second party	Third party

Party	SPD	Centre	NLP
Last election	43 seats	105 seats	54 seats
Seats won	110	91	45
Seat change	67	14	9
Popular vote	4,250,400	1,996,800	1,662,700
Percentage	34.8%	16.4%	13.6%
Swing	5.8%	3.0%	0.9%

	Fourth party	Fifth party

Party	FVP	KP
Last election	49 seats^[1]	60 seats
Seats won	42	43
Seat change	7	17
Popular vote	1,497,000	1,126,300
Percentage	12.3%	9.2%
Swing	1.4%	0.2%

Results of the 1912 Reichstag election.

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Federal elections were held in Germany on 12 January 1912.^[2] Although the Social Democratic Party (SPD) had received the most votes in every election since 1890, they had never won the most seats, and in the 1907 elections they had won fewer than half the seats of the Centre Party despite receiving over a million more votes.^[3] However, this election saw the party win more than double the number of votes of the second-placed Centre Party and become the largest party, winning 110 of the 397 seats.^[4]

The party breakdown in the newly elected Reichstag made possible a majority coalition of groups hostile or ambivalent to the ruling elites of the German Empire – the Social Democrats, the Centre Party, and the left-liberal Progressives between them commanded a majority. The effects of this possibility would be seen with the vote of no confidence in the government of Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg over the Saverne Affair in 1913 and the Reichstag Peace Resolution of 1917. Nonetheless, the Centre and the Progressives were unwilling to act consistently in opposition, leaving the government largely free to do as it wished.

Some historians, such as Fritz Fischer have theorized that the First World War was partially a result of the strategy of the conservative Prussian Junkers to deal with this result.^[5] In an attempt to increase support for conservative parties and policies, to distract the population from the SPD they hoped to drum up patriotism in an external conflict with Russia or another east European state such as Serbia. Other authors, such as Niall Ferguson, feel that German conservatives were ambivalent about a war, worrying that losing a war would have disastrous consequences, and even a successful war might alienate the population if it were lengthy or difficult.^[6]

Elected in this election to represent Metz for the SPD Georges Weill defected to France at the start of World War I.

Results

Party	Votes^[a]	%	Seats	+/–
Social Democratic Party	4,250,400	34.8	110	+67
Centre Party	1,996,800	16.4	91	−14
National Liberal Party	1,662,700	13.6	45	−9
Progressive People's Party	1,497,000	12.3	42	−7
German Conservative Party	1,126,300	9.2	43	−17
Polish Party	441,600	3.6	18	−2
German Reich Party	367,200	3.0	14	−10
Economic Union	304,600	2.5	10	+5
Alsace-Lorraine Party	162,000	1.3	9	+2
German-Hanoverian Party	84,600	0.8	5	+4
German Reform Party	51,900	0.4	3	New
Danish Party	17,000	0.1	1	0
German Agrarian League	245,100	2.0	2	−6
Bavarian Peasants' League			2	+1
Others			2	−1
Invalid/blank votes	53,100	–	–	–
Total	12,260,600	100	397	0
Registered voters/turnout	13,352,900	84.9	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, DGDB

^a Figures for votes are rounded.^[2]

Popular Vote

SPD			34.82%
Zentrum			16.81%
NLP			13.62%
FVP			12.26%
DKP			8.57%
Poles			3.62%
DRP			3.01%
Other			7.29%

Reichstag seats

SPD			27.71%
Zentrum			22.92%
NLP			11.34%
DKP			10.83%
FVP			10.58%
Poles			4.53%
DRP			3.53%
Other			8.56%

References

↑ Merger of the Free-minded People's Party (28 seats), Free-minded Union (14), and German People's Party (7).
1 2 Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
↑ Nohlen & Stöver, pp774-789
↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p789
↑ Fischer, Fritz (1961). Germany's Aims in the First World War. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-09798-6.
↑ Ferguson, Niall (1999). The Pity of War: Explaining World War I. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-05712-8.

Elections in Germany

Parliamentary elections	1848 1867 (Feb) 1867 (Aug) 1868 1871 1874 1877 1878 1881 1884 1887 1890 1893 1898 1903 1907 1912 1919 1920 1924 (May) 1924 (Dec) 1928 1930 1932 (July) 1932 (Nov) 1933 (Mar) 1933 (Nov) 1936 1938 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1972 1976 1980 1983 1987 1990 1994 1998 2002 2005 2009 2013 2017

Presidential elections	1925 1932

European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014

Referendums	1926 1928 1929 1933 1934 1936 1938

See also elections in Baden-Württemberg Bavaria Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Hesse Lower Saxony Mecklenburg-Vorpommern North Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland-Palatinate Saarland Saxony Saxony-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein Thuringia East Germany East Prussia Lower Silesia

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