March 1933 German federal election — questionable election held in the Weimar Republic in 1933
The last multi-party German election until 1990, held under Nazi intimidation, paved the way for Hitler's Enabling Act and one-party dictatorship.
Key Facts
- Election date
- 5 March 1933
- NSDAP vote share
- 43.9%
- Auxiliary police deployed (Prussia)
- 50,000 SS, SA and Stahlhelm members
- Enabling Act passed
- 23 March 1933, granting Hitler rule by decree
- Next free multi-party German election
- All-German vote, 1990
- Days after Reichstag fire
- 6 days
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following Hitler's appointment as Chancellor on 30 January 1933 and the Reichstag fire on 27 February, the Nazi SA and SS conducted a nationwide campaign of terror, repression, and propaganda against communist, socialist, trade union, and centrist opponents. Hermann Göring deployed 50,000 auxiliary police in Prussia to monitor polling, severely curtailing free political activity.
On 5 March 1933, German federal elections were held in an atmosphere of widespread intimidation and violence. The NSDAP received 43.9 percent of the vote and, together with coalition partner DNVP, secured a parliamentary majority — the first governing coalition to do so since 1930. The election was neither free nor fair, but retained the outward form of a multi-party contest.
With a working Reichstag majority secured, Hitler pushed through the Enabling Act on 23 March 1933, granting him the power to rule by decree and effectively dismantling parliamentary democracy. The Nazi regime subsequently banned all other political parties and reduced the Reichstag to a rubber-stamp body. No genuinely contested election was held in Germany until after World War II.
Political Outcome
NSDAP and DNVP coalition secured a Reichstag majority; Hitler passed the Enabling Act on 23 March 1933, establishing dictatorial rule and ending multi-party democracy in Germany.
Fragile Weimar Republic coalition government with contested parliamentary politics
Nazi-dominated Reichstag; Hitler granted dictatorial authority via the Enabling Act