1919 Baden state election

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1919 Baden state election
← 1913 5 January 1919 (1919-01-05) 1921 →
All 107 seats in the Landtag
54 seats needed for a majority
Registered1,168,432
Turnout1,029,038 (88.1%)[1][2]
  First party Second party
 
Party Centre SPD
Seats won 39 36
Popular vote 376,208 329,317
Percentage 36.6% 32.1%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Party DDP DnVp
Seats won 25 7
Popular vote 233,956 72,211
Percentage 22.8% 7.0%
Government before election

Heinrich Bodman
NLP-Centre

Government after election

Anton Geiss

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The 1919 Baden state election was held on 5 January 1919 to elect the 107 members of the Baden Landtag. This was the first election in Baden to extend voting rights to women.

Duke Frederick II and the Grand Duchy of Baden were overthrown during the German Revolution following the end of World War I. Elections were scheduled by a provisional government led by Anton Geiss. The Centre Party won a plurality of the seats.

Background

The Grand Duchy of Baden was one of the most liberal areas in the German Empire. The National Liberal Party (NLP) controlled the bureaucracy and politics of Baden during the 1800s. In 1904, legislation allowing secret ballots and the direct election of the lower house was passed. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Centre Party grew after 1904. The NLP and Centre formed a coalition after the 1913 election.[3]

The SPD started advocating for the usage of proportional representation in 1917, but President Alexander von Dusch rejected the proposal. Heinrich Bodman replaced Dusch in December 1917.[4] On 2 November 1918, the government announced legislation to create a proportional voting system.[5]

Revolution

Members of the Provisional Government of Baden
Members of the provisional government

The NLP, Centre, and Progressive (FVP) parties requested Bodman's resignation on 9 November, due to fears that violence would break out in Mannheim. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the same day while the mayors of Mannheim and Karlsruhe formed Welfare Committees. The Karlsruhe Welfare Committee and Soviets formed a provisional government, with Bodman's recognition, on 10 November. Five SPD members, two Independent Social Democrats, two Centrists, and two National Liberals made up the government. The Free People's Republic of Baden was formed on 14 November, and elections scheduled on 5 January 1919.[6][7]

Duke Frederick II called this government unconstitutional, but did not contest it and dismissed his ministers. Anton Geiss, the chair of the SPD in Baden and vice-president of the Landtag, chaired the provisional government. Frederick II renounced his governmental powers on 13 November, and abdicated on 22 November.[8]

Electoral system

The election used proportional representation. Four electoral districts (Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Freiburg, and Konstanz) had 107 seats, 36 more than the previous election. Candidates had to be at least 25 years old.[9]

Suffrage was extended to all male and female citizens above the age of twenty.[10] This was the first election in Baden in which suffrage was expanded to women.[11]

Results and aftermath

Members of the German Agrarian League formed organizations to support the German National People's Party (DNVP).[12] The FVP dissolved during the election and merged with left-wing members of the NLP to form the German Democratic Party (DDP).[13] Hans Brümmer and Adolf Schwarz, USPD members in the governmental cabinet, resigned following their party's poor performance in the election.[14]

88.07% of the 1.16 million eligible voters participated in the election.[15] This was the first election in which women were elected to the Landtag in Baden. Nine women were elected in total with four (Anna Maria Beyerle, Mathilde Ott, Maria Rigel, and Clara Siebert) from the Centre, four (Theresa Blase, Kunigunde Fischer, Luise Kräuter, and Sofie Regenscheid) from the SPD, and one (Marianne Weber) from the DDP. The Landtag convened on 15 January 1919.[2][16]

In March, Baden became the first state in German to adopt a new constitution and it was approved by a referendum on 13 April. This constitution gave suffrage to all citizens above the age of 20 and established a unicameral legislature that served four year terms.[1][2][17]

36
39
25
7
PartyVotes%Seats
Centre Party376,20836.6339
Social Democratic Party329,31732.0636
German Democratic Party233,95622.7825
German National People's Party72,2117.037
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany15,4491.500
Total1,027,141100.00107
Valid votes1,027,14199.82
Invalid/blank votes1,8970.18
Total votes1,029,038100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,168,43288.07
Source: [1][2][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c Grill 1983, p. 17.
  2. ^ a b c d Exner 2016, p. 294.
  3. ^ Grill 1983, p. 12-14.
  4. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 95.
  5. ^ Grill 1983, p. 15.
  6. ^ Grill 1983, p. 15-16.
  7. ^ Engehausen, Frank. "Novemberrevolution im Südwesten". State Center for Political Education Baden-Württemberg. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024.
  8. ^ Exner 2016, p. 291-294.
  9. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 127-129.
  10. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 127; 129.
  11. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 7.
  12. ^ Grill 1983, p. 139.
  13. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 130.
  14. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 133.
  15. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 132.
  16. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 132-133.
  17. ^ Schmidgall 2012, p. 5.
  18. ^ Schröder, Valentin. "Landtagswahlen Republik Baden". Wahlen in Deutschland. Archived from the original on 2005-02-22. Retrieved 14 May 2021.

Works cited

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