The Grand Coalition (1928):
DEMOCRACY SETTLING IN?
May 1928 Election Results
(Grand Coalition parties w/ asterisk)
Party
SPD*
DNVP
Z*
KPD
DVP*
DDP*
•
•
The Grand Coalition cabinet of Chancellor Hermann Muller
(1928-1930).
•
% Recv'd
29.8
14.3
12.1
10.6
8.7
4.8
Notes: The DVP was the German People's Party
(Stresemann) and the DDP was the German Democratic
Party. The NSDAP received just 2.6% of the vote.
Technically, a "grand coalition" occurs when the top two parties in a parliamentary system form
a ruling coalition together. This actually did not happen in 1928 in Germany, but four of the
top six parties formed what was called by some the "Grand Coalition" and by others the "Great
Coalition." It marked the return of the SPD to a ruling coalition after a four-year absence.
The Shift to Authoritarianism
POLITICAL CRISIS: End of the Grand Coalition
•
Hermann Müller: Chancellor of the last
truly democratic administration in the
Weimar period?
•
Amidst growing Great Depression
crisis, internal divisions among
coalition parties (SPD, Centre, DVP,
DDP) - esp. re: unemployment benefits
- led to a breakup.
•
Chancellor Müller asked Hindenburg
for emergency powers (Article 48) to
rule & was refused. Muller resigned
(March 27, 1930).
•
Hindenburg appointed Heinrich
Brüning (Centre Party) as Chancellor,
granting him Article 48 powers.
Brüning's Reichstag Showdown
AND THE SEPT. 1930 ELECTION RESULTS
•
Brüning pushed through
many policy changes:
Reduced welfare spending
Ordered wage cuts
Increased personal income
taxes
Increased tariffs on imports
•
These changes, occurring in a
context of rising prices and
unemployment, were very
unpopular
•
The Reichstag voted to reverse
these decrees in summer 1930
Pres. Hindenburg dissolved the Reichstag
(a victory for authoritarianism), which
led to new elections in 1930 (and new
gains for the Nazis and Communists).
SEPT. 1930 ELECTION
RESULTS
Party
SPD
NSDAP
KPD
Z
DNVP
Vote %
24.5
% Change
-5.3
18.3
13.1
11.8
7.0
+15.7
+2.5
-0.3
-7.3