1938 German parliamentary election and referendum

1938 German parliamentary election and referendum

← 1936 10 April 1938 (1938-04-10)
4 December 1938 (1938-12-04)
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All 814 seats in the Reichstag
408 seats needed for a majority
Registered49,634,569 (Increase 9.2%)
Turnout99.6% (Increase 0.6pp)
  Majority party
 
Hitler portrait crop.jpg
Leader Adolf Hitler
Party NSDAP
Last election 98.8%, 741 seats
Seats won 814
Seat change Increase 73
Popular vote 48,905,004
Percentage 99.1%
Swing Increase 0.3pp

Government before election

Hitler cabinet
NSDAP

Government after election

Hitler cabinet
NSDAP

Parliamentary elections were held in Germany (including recently annexed Austria) on 10 April 1938.[1] They were the final elections to the Reichstag during Nazi rule and took the form of a single-question referendum asking whether voters approved of a single list of Nazi and pro-Nazi guest candidates for the 814-member Reichstag,[2] as well as the recent annexation of Austria. Turnout in the election was officially 99.6% with 99.1% voting 'yes' in Germany and Austria.

The elections were held largely to rally official support from the new Ostmark (Austrian) province, although further elections for 41 seats were held in the recently annexed Sudetenland on 4 December.[1] NSDAP candidates and "guests" officially received 97.32% of the votes.[3]

The recently completed Kraft durch Freude cruise ship MV Wilhelm Gustloff was anchored in international waters near the United Kingdom to serve as a floating polling station for German and Austrian citizens living in the UK. On 10 April 1938, 1,978 voters (including 806 Austrians) were ferried from Tilbury, east of London. Only ten voted against annexation.[4]

  1. ^ a b Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ "Reichstagshandbücher, 1938/1: Verzeichnis der Mitglieder des Reichstags". Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  3. ^ Zimmermann, Volker: Die Sudetendeutschen im NS-Staat. Politik und Stimmung der Bevölkerung im Reichsgau Sudetenland (1938–1945). Essen 1999. ISBN 3-88474-770-3
  4. ^ "The Wilhelm Gustloff Story". www.wilhelmgustloffmuseum.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.

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