May 1924 German federal election

May 1924 German federal election

4 May 1924 (1924-05-04)

All 472 seats in the Reichstag
237 seats needed for a majority
Registered38,374,983 ( 6.7%)
Turnout77.4% ( 1.8pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Hermann Müller
Otto Wels
Arthur Crispien
Oskar Hergt Wilhelm Marx
Party SPD DNVP Centre
Last election 39.5%, 186 seats 15.1%, 71 seats 13.6%, 64 seats
Seats won 100 95 65
Seat change 86 24 1
Popular vote 6,008,905 5,696,475 3,914,379
Percentage 20.5% 19.5% 13.4%
Swing 19.0 pp 4.4 pp 0.2 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Ruth Fischer & Arkadi Maslow Gustav Stresemann Erich Ludendorff
Party KPD DVP NSFP
Last election 2.1%, 4 seats 13.9%, 65 seats Did not exist
Seats won 62 45 32
Seat change 58 20 New party
Popular vote 3,693,280 2,694,381 1,918,329
Percentage 12.6% 9.2% 6.5%
Swing 10.5 pp 4.7 pp New party


Government before election

First Marx cabinet
ZDVPBVPDDP

Government after election

Second Marx cabinet
ZDVPDDP

A federal election for the second Reichstag of the Weimar Republic was held in Germany on 4 May 1924. It took place following a series of national crises in 1923, most notably the occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops and the resulting period of hyperinflation. The election campaign was marked by strong ideological differences over how the government had handled the problems. In the voting, the parties of the far left and far right made significant gains at the expense of the moderate parties that had been in the government or had supported it.

The splintered party groupings in the new Reichstag made it impossible to form a majority coalition. The government led by Wilhelm Marx of the Centre Party therefore continued in office, but his cabinet – already the eleventh government of the Weimar Republic – lasted only a little over six months before Marx requested a new election.