Weimar political parties

In the fourteen years the Weimar Republic was in existence, some forty parties were represented in the Reichstag. This fragmentation of political power was in part due to the use of a peculiar proportional representation electoral system that encouraged regional or small special interest parties and in part due to the many challenges facing the nascent German democracy in this period.

After the Nazi seizure of power, they used the provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree to effectively eliminate their chief adversaries, first the Communists (March 1933) and then the Social Democrats (22 June 1933) through arrests, confiscation of assets and removal from office. Other parties were pressured into disbanding on their own or were swept away by the "Law Against the Formation of Parties" (14 July 1933) which declared the Nazi Party to be Germany's only legal political party.

Other political organizations
Besides the larger parties, there were also a multitude of smaller groups and parties that that were either affiliated with the electoral coalitions of larger parties or were organizationally independent and participated with their own lists either throughout the entire Republic or only in individual constituencies.

Unions

 * Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (ADGB)
 * Allgemeiner freier Angestelltenbund (AfA) white-collar employee union affiliated with the SPD-dominated free trade unions. (Pro-Weimar Republic)
 * Deutscher Landarbeiterverband (German Agricultural Workers' Union) SPD-organized. (Pro-Weimar Republic)
 * Deutschnationaler Handlungsgehilfenverband (DHV) (National Association of Clerical Employees) &mdash; the conservative white-collar worker union. The DHV leadership did not fully support the NSDAP because it didn't recognize the independence of unions. (Against the government)
 * Freie Arbeiter-Union Deutschlands (FAUD) &mdash; an anarcho-syndicalist trade union that participated in the revolution in Germany and continued to be involved in the German labor movement in the early 1920s.
 * Gesamtverband Deutscher Beamtengewerkschaften (GDB) was a conservative civil service union.
 * Gewerkschaftsbund der Angestellten (GdA) was a Hirsch-Duncker union.
 * Gewerkschaftsbund deutscher Angestelltenverbände (Gedag) was a conservative white-collar union.
 * Reichsbund Deutscher Angestellten-Berufsverbände was a conservative white-collar union.
 * Vereinigung der chrislichen-deutschen Bauernvereine (Association of Christian-German Peasant Unions)
 * Zentralverband der Angestellten (ZdA), an association of white-collar unions started by the SPD. (Pro-Weimar Republic)

Other Organizations

 * Alldeutscher Verband &mdash; Pan-German League. A nationalist and colonialist organization whose goal was to nurture, protect and expand German nationality as a unifying force. (Against the government)
 *  Deutsches Handwerk. German crafts organization headed by Zeleny. Zeleny advocated positions that would improve conditions for the old middle class. It would later back the NSDAP.
 *  Katholische Burschenvereine. Catholic youth associations that the Catholic Church started in southern Germany to provide Catholic youth with numerous activities.
 * Tatkreis movement
 * Völkisch movement (Against the government)

Secret societies

 * Bund Wiking &mdash; Viking League. A paramilitary organization founded in Munich in 1923 by members of the banned Organisation Consul as a successor group. Its stated aim was the establishment of a military dictatorship and modification of the Treaty of Versailles by armed means, including provocations intended to incite workers into violence and provide the pretext for a coup.
 * Organisation Consul (OC) &mdash; An ultra-nationalist and anti-Semitic terrorist organization that operated from 1920 to 1922. It was formed by Hermann Ehrhardt and several members of his Freikorps brigade. It was responsible for political assassinations, including former Minister of Finance Matthias Erzberger and Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau, that had the goal of destroying the Republic and replacing it with a right-wing dictatorship. The group was banned by the German government in 1922.
 * Schwarze Reichswehr &mdash; Black Reichswehr. Extra-legal paramilitary formations promoted by the German Reichswehr to circumvent manpower restrictions imposed by the Versailles Treaty. Black Reichswehr members were responsible for several Feme murders. Active 1921 to 1923.

Reichstag election results
All vote numbers in thousands.
 * Regional= Total for regional parties not listed individually
 * Rightist= Total for right-wing parties not listed individually
 * Splinter= Total for splinter parties not listed individually or among regional or rightist

6 June 1920 includes by-elections in Schleswig-Holstein and East Prussia (20 February 1921) and Upper Silesia (19 November 1922) Eligible 35,920 Turnout 28,196 % voting 78.4 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 590 4 USPD 5,047 83 SPD 6,104 103 Centre 3,910 64 BVP 1,173 21 DDP 2,334 39 WP 219 4 DVP 3,919 65 DNVP 4,249 71 Regional 709 5 Splinter 161 0 Total 28,415 459

4 May 1924 Eligible 38,375 Turnout 29,282 % voting 76.3 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 3,693 45 USPD 235 0 SPD 6,009 100 Centre 3,914 65 BVP 947 16 DDP 1,655 28 WP 530 10 DVP 2,728 45 DNVP 5,697 95 NSFP 1,918 32 Regional 608 5 Rightist 666 10 Splinter 682 4 Total 29,282 455

7 December 1924 Eligible 33,987 Turnout 30,290 % voting 77.7 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 2,709 45 USPD 99 0 SPD 7,881 131 Centre 4,092 69 BVP 1,134 19 DDP 1,920 32 WP 639 17 DVP 3,049 51 DNVP 6,206 103 NSFB 907 14 Regional 708 4 Rightist 545 8 Splinter 401 0 Total 30,290 493

20 May 1928 Eligible 41,224 Turnout 30,754 % voting 74.6 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 3,265 54 SPD 9,153 153 Centre 3,712 61 BVP 946 17 DDP 1,479 25 WP 1,388 23 DVP 2,680 45 DNVP 4,382 73 NSDAP 810 12 Regional 956 3 Rightist 1,025 23 Splinter 958 2 Total 30,754 491

14 September 1930 Eligible 42,958 Turnout 34,971 % voting 81.4 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 4,592 77 SPD 8,578 143 Centre 4,128 68 BVP 1,059 19 DDP 1,322 20 WP 1,362 23 DVP 1,578 30 DNVP 2,458 41 NSDAP 6,383 107 Regional 683 3 Rightist 2,373 46 Splinter 455 0 Total 34,971 577

31 July 1932 Eligible 44,211 Turnout 36,882 % voting 83.4 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 5,283 89 SPD 7,960 133 Centre 4,589 75 BVP 1,193 22 DDP 372 4 WP 147 2 DVP 136 7 DNVP 2,177 37 NSDAP 13,769 230 Regional 219 0 Rightist 552 9 Splinter 185 0 Total 36,582 608

6 November 1932 Eligible 44,374 Turnout 35,471 % voting 79.9 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 5,980 100 SPD 7,248 121 Centre 4,230 70 BVP 1,095 20 DDP 336 2 WP 110 1 DVP 661 11 DNVP 2,959 52 NSDAP 11,737 196 Regional 353 1 Rightist 510 10 Splinter 252 0 Total 35,471 584

5 March 1933 Eligible 44,665 Turnout 39,343 % voting 88.1 (Party, Votes, Seats) KPD 4,848 81 SPD 7,181 120 Centre 4,425 74 BVP 1,074 18 DDP 334 5 DVP 432 2 DNVP 3,137 52 NSDAP 17,277 288 Regional 1,246 0 Rightist 384 7 Splinter 5 0 Total 39,343 647

List by abbreviation
• ADB &mdash; Allgemeiner Deutscher Beamtenbund

• AfA &mdash; Allgemeiner Freier Angestelltenbund

• ASPD &mdash; Old Social Democratic Party of Germany

• BB &mdash; Bavarian Peasants' League

• BdL &mdash; German Agrarian League

• BLWV &mdash; Brunswick State Electoral Association

• BVP &mdash; Bavarian People's Party

• CNBL &mdash; Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party

• DAP &mdash; German Workers' Party

• DBB &mdash; German Civil Service Federation

• DBP &mdash; German Farmers' Party

• DDP &mdash; German Democratic Party

• DHP &mdash; German-Hanoverian Party

• DHV &mdash; Deutschnationaler Handlungsgehilfenverband

• DNAgB &mdash; Deutschnationaler Angestelltenbund

• DNAP &mdash; Deutschnational Arbeiterband

• DNVP &mdash; German National People's Party

• DSP &mdash; German Social Party

• DSP &mdash; German Socialist Party

• DStP &mdash; German State Party

• DVFP &mdash; German Völkisch Freedom Party

• DVP &mdash; German People's Party

• GdA &mdash; Gewerkschaftsbund der Angestellten

• GDB &mdash; Gesamtverband Deutscher Beamtengewerkschaften

• Gedag &mdash; Gewerkschaftsbund deutscher Angestelltenverbände

• GVG &mdash; Greater German People's Community

• HVB &mdash; Hanseatic People's League

• KAPD &mdash; Communist Workers' Party of Germany

• KGRNS &mdash; Combat League of Revolutionary National Socialists

• KPD &mdash; Communist Party of Germany

• KPO &mdash; Communist Party of Germany (Opposition)

• NSDAP &mdash; National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party)

• NSFP &mdash; National Socialist Freedom Party

• NSV &mdash; National Socialist People's Welfare

• OC &mdash; Organisation Consul

• RDA &mdash; Reichsbund Deutscher Angestellten-Berufsverbände

• RLB &mdash; Agricultural League

• SAPD &mdash; Socialist Workers' Party of Germany

• SHBLD &mdash; Schleswig-Holstein Farmers and Farmworkers Democracy

• SPD &mdash; Social Democratic Party of Germany

• USPD &mdash; Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany

• VKPD &mdash; United Communist Party of Germany

• VRP &mdash; People's Justice Party

• VSB &mdash; Völkisch-Social Bloc

• WP &mdash; Economic Party

• Z &mdash; Center Party

• ZdA &mdash; Zentralverband der Angestellten