1931 Prussian Landtag referendum
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The 1931 Prussian Landtag referendum was an attempt to prematurely dissolve the sitting session of the '' Landtag'' (parliament) of the Weimar German state of Prussia. The referendum, which took place according to Article 6 of the 1920 Prussian Constitution, was triggered by a petition launched in the spring of 1931 by the anti-republican veterans' organization ''
Der Stahlhelm ' (German, 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. It was part of the "Black Reichswehr" and ...
''. It was supported by several right-wing parties including the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
, as well as by the
Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
(KPD). Even though 93.9% of those voting on 9 August 1931 opted to dissolve the , the referendum failed because the turnout of 39.2% did not meet the minimum 50% requirement.


Background

After the national Reichstag elections of 1930 in which the Nazis became the second strongest party after the Social Democrats (SPD), Prussia was considered a bulwark of German democracy due to its stable, mostly SPD-led governments. Attacks from both the extreme left and extreme right against the government of SPD Minister President Otto Braun consequently intensified. Under the pressure that Reich President Paul von Hindenburg exerted through German Chancellor Heinrich Brüning and his interior minister Joseph Wirth, was allowed back into Prussia in the summer of 1930 following an earlier ban. At the ("Reich Front-Line Soldiers' Day") in
Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...
on 4 October that was attended by over 100,000 supporters,
Franz Seldte Franz Seldte (29 June 18821 April 1947) was a German politician who served as the Reich Minister for Labour from 1933 to 1945.Stackelberg (2007). ''The Routledge Companion to Nazi Germany'', p. 243. Prior to his ministry, Seldte served as the ...
, the leader of , sharply attacked the "Marxist" Prussian government and announced a referendum for the premature dissolution of the Prussian that had been elected on 20 May 1928.


The petition

A petition for the dissolution was approved by Prussian Interior Minister
Carl Severing Carl Wilhelm Severing (1 June 1875, Herford, Westphalia – 23 July 1952, Bielefeld) was a German Social Democrat politician during the Weimar era. He was seen as a representative of the right wing of the party. Over the years, he took a leadi ...
(SPD) on 4 March 1931. The referendum was supported in the by the right-wing German National People's Party (DNVP), the German People's Party (DVP) and a number of smaller parties. Shortly before the start of the registration period for the petition, Adolf Hitler also called for support on behalf of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). At the end of the registration period, 5.96 million eligible voters had expressed their support for the referendum. The number was only slightly more than the required 20% (5.27 million). The result was disappointing for the initiators due to the fact that it fell well short of the Prussian votes in the 1930 Reichstag election. The Prussian debated the referendum on 8 and 9 July 1931. The proposed dissolution was rejected by the coalition parties SPD, Centre Party and
German State Party The German State Party (german: Deutsche Staatspartei or DStP) was a short-lived German political party of the Weimar Republic, formed by the merger of the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei, DDP) with the People's National Rei ...
(229 votes) against the "yes" votes of the NSDAP, DNVP, KPD, DVP and several smaller parties (190 votes). Because the had rejected voluntary dissolution, the referendum was scheduled for 9 August.


Support from the Communist Party

When announced the referendum drive in October 1930, the KPD was initially unwilling to support it. This was despite the fact that, according to
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
documents, the option of ousting Braun's Social Democratic cabinet by referendum had been discussed independently of Moscow long before the summer of 1931. Executive Committee member
Hermann Remmele Hermann Remmele (15 November 1880 – 7 March 1939) was a German communist politician of the SPD, USPD and KPD. During exile in Moscow he carried the code name ''Herzen'' ( en, "Hearts"). Biography Early years Born in Ziegelhausen near H ...
had also suggested at a KPD leadership meeting in January 1931 that they should pre-empt the right-wing parties by holding their own referendum to dissolve the . The party's initial hesitation was the result of the lack of support from the KPD district secretaries who wanted to show consideration for the Social Democratic working class. Given the relatively low turnout for the petition, the republican forces thought that they could look forward to the referendum with relative confidence. That changed on 22 July 1931 when the KPD announced its support for the referendum. The decision reflected the Communists' priority at the time in fighting the SPD, which had been labeled "
social fascist Social fascism (also socio-fascism) was a theory that was supported by the Communist International (Comintern) and affiliated communist parties in the early 1930s that held that social democracy was a variant of fascism because it stood in the way ...
", and was fully in accord with the line that the Executive Committee of the Comintern had laid down in the spring of 1931. Behind the KPD's decision were its chairman
Heinz Neumann Heinz Neumann (6 July 1902 – 26 November 1937) was a German politician from the Communist Party (KPD) and a journalist. He was a member of the Communist International, editor in chief of the party newspaper ''Die Rote Fahne'' and a member of the ...
, the Comintern and Joseph Stalin, who had exerted considerable influence on the decision.


The referendum

On 6 August 1931, shortly before the vote, the Prussian government addressed the public: "Those who want a soviet Prussia or a fascist Prussia and thus fratricidal war in their own country should vote yes in the referendum; those who, on the other hand, are in favor of the social and democratic expansion of the German republic and the Free State of Prussia should stay away from the referendum." The referendum of 9 August 1931 failed. The tally showed 9.8 million votes in favor, which was 93.9% of those who had voted but only 37.1% of those eligible to vote. 13.4 million votes, or more than 50% of eligible voters, were needed. Many Communists in particular had not participated in the referendum. The democratic camp celebrated the failure of the referendum as a success for the Republic, while the official historiography of the East German Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in 1966 described the participation of the KPD as a momentous mistake.


References

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1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...
Politics of Free State of Prussia 1931 referendums 1931 elections in Germany