NL Elects the 1930 Weimar Republic Elections

Welcome back to the NL-Elects series on the Weimar Republic — this time, with a twist. Instead of yet another easy DDP win, we’re looking at an election where every choice is absolutely terrible. That’s right, it’s 1930. 

Things are not going well for poor Germany. The Great Depression started in America, but its effects have been felt everywhere, with millions of unemployed in the streets. The governing Brüning minority cabinet has sought to free the nation from its continued reparation payments by raising taxes and lowering spending to build up a surplus. However, nationalists oppose reparations in general, and leftists oppose austerity in general, so the budget failed to receive a majority; thusly, parliamentary elections were called.

The Center Party (Zentrumspartei) is Germany's primary Catholic political organization. Ever since the party first formed a coalition with the DNVP in 1925, its left wing has shrunk in influence, and it is currently under the control of its right, which is anti-democratic, economically conservative, and of course in line with the Church on social issues. Chancellor Brüning is a member of the party, and President Hindenburg’s support of him means a continuation of his minority government, possibly via an “authoritarian-democratic” system of presidential decrees, is very likely if this election does not secure a bourgeois majority. They are led by Ludwig Kaas, a priest and diplomat who once supported reconciliation with the West but has abandoned this view, and whose time negotiating a Condorcet between Germany and the Vatican led him to believe only authoritarianism can protect the church’s interests. The Bavarian People’s Party is its “brother party,” and they generally vote together.

The Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands), or SPD for short, is the party representing the non-Bolshevik left. With most of the Independent Social Democrats having merged back into the party, the SPD’s ideological course is that of Center-Marxism: implement reforms to help the workers in the short-term, while preparing them for a socialist revolution in the long term. This leads to some odd conclusions. For instance, while they vote against austerity policies, they offer no alternative economic program to end the crisis, because they do not want to save capitalism from itself. The SPD remains strongly republican, and to that end had been voting to tolerate the Brüning government to prevent antidemocratic parties from winning potential elections. It has also been reaching out to the Communists, but they are very unreceptive. The party is led by Otto Wels, an organizer who has led several strikes in opposition to rightist coup attempts, and Arthur Crispien, a leftist and anti-war politician formerly of the Independent Social Democrats. 

The German National People's Party (Deutschnationale Volkspartei), or DNVP, had seemingly been shifting to the center in the mid-1920s — but no longer. After a party Reichstag member suggested dropping monarchism from the platform, the far-right Alfred Hugenberg went berzerk and took control over the party; because of his abrasive personality and use of Führerprinzip, the party’s platform is pretty much just his ideas. He wants to restore the Kaiser, restore the empire and expand territories in Africa, lower the Reichstag’s power and appoint a corporatist “house of appointees,” and fight the Jews. He opposes any cooperation with Brüning or anyone else who supports the Weimar system. He has sought to polarize society between nationalists and Marxists via a referendum against the Young Plan for reparation payments, to destroy the moderate parties and help his own. The former has been successful, but the latter has not, because this polarization has instead brought more attention to the Nazis, and Hitler is a far better speaker than the dry and boring Hugenberg. 

The German Fraktion (Deutshe Fraktion) is not a party, but an alliance of several minor parties. Most of these were splitters from the DNVP who opposed the Hugenberg takeover: the Christian-National Peasants and Farmers Party and the Agricultural League represent farmers, the Christian Social People's Service represents Protestant trade unions, and the Conservative People's Party represents general conservative groups. All stand in opposition to the radical Hugenberg policies and favor collaboration with the Center Party, though they are still nationalists and probably antisemitic, and many favored the anti-Young Plan referendum. The German-Hanoverian Party, a group of Hanoverian separatists who support republicanism, denounce the far-right, and are generally aligned with the Center, also are in the alliance. Economically, the farmers and Hanoverians favor agrarian protectionism, the Christian Socials favor pro-labor social welfare policies, and the Conservatives favor European integration and support for business.

The Communist Party (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands), or KPD for short, are what you’d expect. Hardline communists who favor the Soviet-approved line on almost all issues. They previously worked with the SPD, but their current line is “social fascism,” the idea that every Weimar party except for them is fascist and the SPD are the most dangerous of the fascists because they have the best organization and largest membership. They have been seeking to accelerate class conflict, they have used nationalist rhetoric to appeal to nationalist parts of the working class (including supporting the anti-Young Plan referendum) and they are not very vigorous in their opposition to the Nazis, as they believe a Nazi takeover could lead to prime conditions for a revolution. They are led by Ernst Thälmann, the main figure involved in removing reformists and aligning the party with Stalin.

The German People's Party (Deutsche Volkspartei), or DVP for short, represents the right-wing component of German liberalism — and increasingly, the right-wing part is overshadowing the liberal part. Their platform calls for secular education, lower tariffs, conservative Christian values, opposition to welfare spending and agrarian subsidies, and hostility to socialism. After the death of party leader Gustav Stresemann, the party moved to the right, becoming more opposed to the Republic and openly antisemitic. Notably, it participated in the first ever state government where Nazis had a cabinet position. It has also become more nationalist and more skeptical of Stresemann’s program of good relations with the Western powers. The party is led by Ernst Scholz, who is generally on the right though not radically so, and is an expert on municipal taxation.

The German State Party (Deutsche Staatspartei), or DStP for short, was once the German Democratic Party, the left-wing component of German liberalism. However, its vote share has fallen greatly over time, due to its lack of ground game, internal divisions, and the fact that it was the party supported by the vast majority of Jews, which to most Germans was a grave negative. To regain support, the party leadership sought a merger with any party or organization supportive of the Republic, but all they could get was the Young German Order, a nationalist paramilitary group that supports republicanism but does not allow Jews membership. The party’s left is angered, and some joined a splinter party, but only a tiny percentage. The party is still considered democratic and liberal, though thanks to the Order’s influence their economic program now also includes corporatist elements. The party’s leader, Erich Koch-Weser, is considered to be part of the party’s right wing and engineered the merger, but also helped write part of the Weimar Constitution and refused to support any coalition with the DNVP. 

The Economic Party (Wirtschaftspartei), or WP for short, is a party that seeks to be the direct representative of the middle class, particularly homeowners, craftsmen, and small business owners. Indeed, it split from the DNVP because that party was too focused on farmers’ interests. The WP supports lower regulations for business, lower taxes, and keeping property values high, but its narrow focus on economic interests means it takes no positions on broader questions like foreign policy. Unsurprisingly it is staunchly anti-communist and anti-socialist, and as a party of the Right its attitude towards democracy is probably negative, though I could find little information about this. I also was unable to figure out who the party’s leader was.

Lastly, the Nazis were the Nazis. I don’t need to explain the Nazis, if you don’t know who the Nazis were or what they believed in go pick up a book. I’ll let you guess who their leader was.

Who will you choose? Why will you choose them? Vote here, and explain your reasoning in the comments.