German Federal Election of November 1932

The Nazi vote fell to 33.1 percent, yet weeks later Hitler was appointed chancellor.

Overview

Germany's last free election before the Nazi era, November 6, 1932, saw Hitler's NSDAP decline from July's 37.3 percent to 33.1 percent, with the Communists rising to 16.9 percent, together giving the anti-democratic extremes a majority in a paralysed Reichstag. Papen's resignation, Schleicher's brief chancellorship, and the intrigues of January 1933 led President Hindenburg to appoint Hitler chancellor on January 30, despite the electoral slide. The episode is studied as the classic case of elites handing power to extremists whose electoral support was actually weakening.