1933 German League of Nations withdrawal referendum

A referendum on withdrawing from the League of Nations was held in Germany on 12 November 1933 alongside Reichstag elections.^[1] The measure was approved by 95% of voters with a turnout of 96%.^[2] It was the first of a series of referendums held by the German cabinet under Chancellor Adolf Hitler, after the cabinet conferred upon itself the ability to hold referendums on 14 July 1933.^[3]

1933 German League of Nations withdrawal referendum

12 November 1933
Do you approve, German man, and you, German woman, this policy of your national government, and are you willing to declare as the expression of your own opinion and your own will and solemnly profess it?
Results
Choice Votes  % For 40,633,852 95.08% Against 2,101,207 4.92% Valid votes 42,735,059 98.26% Invalid or blank votes 757,676 1.74% Total votes 43,492,735 100.00%

The referendum question was on a separate ballot from the one used for the elections. The question was: "Do you approve, German man, and you, German woman, this policy of your national government, and are you willing to declare as the expression of your own opinion and your own will and solemnly profess it?" (German: Billigst Du, Deutscher Mann, und Du, Deutsche Frau, diese Politik Deiner Reichsregierung, und bist Du bereit, sie als den Ausdruck Deiner eigenen Auffassung und Deines eigenen Willens zu erklären und Dich feierlich zu ihr zu bekennen?)^[4]

Background

Hitler's rise to power

Weimar President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler to the office of Chancellor on 30 January 1933.^[5] After his appointment, he wanted the Reichstag to pass an "enabling act" to allow his government to pass laws directly, without the support of the Reichstag.^[6] Lacking the two-thirds supermajority necessary to pass such an act, Hindenburg dissolved the Reichstag on 31 January.^[7] In the resulting election, the Nazis won 43.9% of the vote.^[8] Including his allies, Hitler enjoyed the support of 60% of the deputies,^[9] but needed the support of the Catholic Centre Party to reach the required threshold to pass the Enabling Act.^[10] After securing their support by promising to respect the rights of the Catholic Church, it passed 441–94.^[11] With its passage, Hitler had become a dictator,^[12] though Hindenburg technically retained the ability to dismiss Hitler.^[13]

Elections in Nazi Germany

The Weimar Constitution allowed the President to refer legislation passed by the Reichstag to a referendum. A referendum would also be held if 10% of eligible voters proposed an initiative.^[14] On 14 July 1933, the German cabinet used the Enabling Act to pass the "Law concerning the Plebiscite",^[15] which permitted the cabinet to call a referendum on "questions of national policy" and "laws which the cabinet had enacted".^[3] While the Weimar provisions allowing for referenda were not explicitly repealed, subsequent legislation made it clear those provisions would not be used.^[16]

Conduct

To whip up nationalist sentiment in the run up to the vote, the Nazi Party intentionally timed the referendum to take place as close as possible to the fifteenth anniversary of the Armistice of Compiègne, then a bitter memory in the minds of not only the Nazis but also most ordinary Germans. Since German elections always took place on Sundays, the vote was held one day after the anniversary.

Of the democratic nature of the referendum, the political scientist Arnold Zurcher writes that "there undoubtedly was a great deal" of "intangible official pressure" but probably very little "downright coercion and intimidation at the polls".^[17] The historian Heinrich August Winkler notes that "the rejection of the Versailles system was extraordinarily popular" and that at this stage in the history of Nazi Germany, it was still possible to vote negatively, to invalidate one's ballot or not to vote at all "without great personal risk".^[18] In particular, the Nazis made no effort to prevent the casting of negative or invalid votes in districts that were known to have large populations of Jews, Poles and other ethnic minorities, who were then still allowed to vote. The expected unfavourable results in such areas would be useful in propaganda as proof of disloyalty to the Reich.^[19]

Results

In East Prussia, the stronghold of the Junkers, support for withdrawal reached 97%, while in Hamburg, formerly a communist stronghold, only 84% voted in favour. This regional variation was repeated in the referendum of 1934. In general, rural parts of the country were more favourable and the cities least favourable to withdrawal, but overall support was higher than for granting Hitler presidential powers in 1934.^[20]

Voter turnout was greatest in the Pfalz region, where 98.4% of registered voters cast ballots.^[20] It was lowest in the affluent Berlin suburb of Potsdam at 90%.^[20]

Choice		Votes	%
For		40,633,852	95.08
Against		2,101,207	4.92
Total		42,735,059	100.00
Valid votes		42,735,059	98.26
Invalid/blank votes		757,676	1.74
Total votes		43,492,735	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		45,178,701	96.27
Source: Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 770

References

Footnotes

1. Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 762.
2. Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 770.
3. Zurcher 1935, p. 91.
4. Suksi 1993, p. 100, note 2.
5. Shirer 1960, pp. 183–184.
6. McDonough 2021, p. 29.
7. McDonough 2021, p. 33.
8. McDonough 2021, p. 42.
9. Beck 2018, p. 58.
10. McDonough 2021, p. 53.
11. McDonough 2021, pp. 53–54.
12. McDonough 2021, p. 55.
13. Enderis 1933, p. 5.
14. Böckenförde 2006, p. 110.
15. Richter & Jessen 2018, p. 87.
16. Zurcher 1935, p. 92.
17. Zurcher 1935, p. 95.
18. Winkler 2006, p. 31.
19. The Guardian 1933.
20. Zurcher 1935, p. 96.

Sources

• "All Germans rounded up to vote". The Guardian. 13 November 1933. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
• Beck, Hermann (2018). "The Nazi 'Seizure Of Power'". In Gellately, Robert (ed.). The Oxford illustrated history of the Third Reich (First ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-872828-3. OCLC 990674903.
• Böckenförde, Markus (July 2006). Riedel, Eibe; Wolfrum, Rüdiger (eds.). Constitutional Referendum in Germany — Country Report. XVIIth International Congress on Comparative Law. Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht. Vol. 188. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. pp. 107–125. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-37720-7_4. ISBN 978-3-540-37720-7.
• Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip, eds. (2010). Elections in Europe: a data handbook (1st ed.). Baden-Baden: Nomos. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7. OCLC 617565273.
• Enderis, Guido (27 March 1933). "Hitler Is Supreme Under Enabling Act". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
• McDonough, Frank (2021). The Hitler years. Vol. 1: Triumph, 1933–1939 (First U.S. ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-27510-3. OCLC 1257308682.
• Richter, Hedwig; Jessen, Ralph (2018). "Elections, Plebiscites, and Festivals". In Gellately, Robert (ed.). The Oxford illustrated history of the Third Reich (First ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-872828-3. OCLC 990674903.
• Shirer, William (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-831-77404-2. OCLC 1313834918.
• Suksi, Markku (1993). Bringing in the people: a comparison of constitutional forms and practices of the referendum. Dordrecht: Nijhoff. ISBN 978-0-7923-2208-5. OCLC 27684043.
• Winkler, Heinrich August (2006). Germany: The Long Road West, Volume II (1933–1990). Oxford University Press.
• Zurcher, Arnold J. (1935). "The Hitler Referenda". American Political Science Review. 29 (1): 91–99. doi:10.2307/1947171. JSTOR 1947171. S2CID 146390292.