1890 German federal election

Federal elections were held in Germany on 20 February 1890. The Centre Party regained its position as the largest party in the Reichstag by winning 107 of the 397 seats, whilst the National Liberal Party, formerly the largest party, was reduced to 38 seats.

1890 German federal election

20 February 1890 (1890-02-20)
All 397 seats in the Reichstag 199 seats needed for a majority
Registered	10,145,402
Turnout	71.58% ( 5.91pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ludwig Windthorst Otto von Helldorff Rudolf Virchow Party Centre DKP DFP Leader since 26 May 1874 7 June 1876 5 March 1884 Last election 19.91%, 98 seats 15.21%, 80 seats 12.62%, 32 seats Seats won 107 71 67 Seat change 9 9 35 Popular vote 1,340,688 882,820 1,148,468 Percentage 18.55% 12.21% 15.89% Swing 1.36pp 3.00pp 3.27pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   SPD Leader Rudolf von Bennigsen Paul Singer Alwin Gerisch Viktor I, Duke of Ratibor Party NlP SPD DRP Leader since 1867 18 March 1890 (both) Last election 21.90%, 98 seats 10.12%, 11 seats 9.77%, 41 seats Seats won 38 35 19 Seat change 60 24 22 Popular vote 1,130,842 1,427,323 461,307 Percentage 15.64% 19.75% 6.38% Swing 6.26pp 9.63pp 3.39pp
Map of results (by constituencies)
President of the Reichstag before election Albert von Levetzow DKP President of the Reichstag after election Albert von Levetzow DKP

Contemporaries remarked on the striking increase in the vote share of the Social Democratic Party. However, despite receiving the most votes, the Social Democratic Party won only 35 seats. Voter turnout was 71.5%.

Campaign

This was the first general election during the reign of Emperor Wilhelm II. As such, it was marked by the conflict between the new Emperor, who unlike his grandfather Wilhelm I involved himself in day-to-day politics, and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. At this time, the Emperor’s primary concern was improving relations with the working classes. At the beginning of February, opposed by Bismarck who viewed it as a concession to the Social Democrats, Wilhelm II introduced labour protection legislation. Bismarck’s attempt to make the Anti-Socialist Laws permanent had already been defeated in the Reichstag on 25 January. This failure was the result of divisions within the “Cartel” parties (German Conservatives, Free Conservatives and National Liberals) otherwise supporting Bismarck, which was in turn because the Emperor had let it be known that he opposed extending the laws.

The election became a catastrophic defeat for the “Cartel”, which lost 85 seats, and a victory for the Social Democrats. The latter nearly doubled their vote share compared to the 1887 elections, reaching 19.7% of the vote (around 1.4 million votes) and winning the popular vote for the first time. From his London exile, Friedrich Engels euphorically proclaimed the day of polling “the day the German Revolution began”. However, because of the malapportioned constituencies, which greatly underrepresented densely-populated areas, and the fact that Social Democratic candidates often faced a united front of non-socialist parties in runoffs, they only won 35 seats. These included the major cities of Königsberg, Bremen, Hannover, Magdeburg, Frankfurt am Main, Mannheim, Nuremberg and Munich. All three Hamburg seats, two of the six Berlin seats and one of the two Breslau seats were also won by the party. Later that same year, the Anti-Socialist Laws were finally repealed, and the party renamed itself the SPD.

The Centre Party remained the strongest party, winning 106 constituencies (27.2% of seats) with 18.6% of the popular vote. The left-liberal parties also made significant gains in votes and representation. For the first time, members of German parties won seats in a few Alsace-Lorraine constituencies. Regionalists could, however, make gains elsewhere off the decline of the Cartel parties. The Antisemites gained only 0.7% of the votes, but won five constituencies. Their strongholds were the Grand Duchy of Hesse and Hesse-Nassau.

One month after the elections, Bismarck was dismissed from office. His successor, Leo von Caprivi, governed with the support of the Cartel parties and the Centre. The 8th Reichstag, theoretically the first to be elected for a five-year term – the extension from three to five years had been passed on the 18th of March 1888 – was however dissolved in 1893.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	1,427,323	19.75	+9.63	35	+24
	Centre Party	1,340,688	18.55	−1.36	107	+9
	German Free-minded Party	1,148,468	15.89	+3.27	67	+35
	National Liberal Party	1,130,842	15.64	−6.26	38	−60
	German Conservative Party	882,820	12.21	−3.00	71	−9
	German Reich Party	461,307	6.38	−3.39	19	−22
	Independent Polish	185,417	2.57	New	11	New
	Alsace-Lorraine parties	153,667	2.13	−0.97	14	−1
	German People's Party	147,570	2.04	+0.86	10	+10
	German-Hanoverian Party	112,675	1.56	−0.02	11	+7
	Independent liberals	78,762	1.09	+0.12	4	+1
	Polish Court Party	61,356	0.85	New	5	New
	German Reform Party	21,918	0.30	New	3	New
	Independent conservatives	21,413	0.30	−0.12	0	0
	German Social Party	20,573	0.28	New	0	New
	Danish Party	13,672	0.19	+0.03	1	0
	Independent anti-semites	5,045	0.07	−0.08	1	0
	Others	14,845	0.21	+0.09	0	0
	Unknown	209	0.00	0.00	0	0
Total		7,228,570	100.00	–	397	0
Valid votes		7,228,570	99.54
Invalid/blank votes		33,127	0.46
Total votes		7,261,697	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		10,145,402	71.58
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

Alsace-Lorraine

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Clericals	82,164	45.96	+23.22	9	+4
	Alsatian autonomists	52,791	29.53	+19.55	4	+4
	Social Democratic Party	19,182	10.73	+10.46	1	+1
	Alsace-Lorraine protesters	18,663	10.44	−49.02	1	−9
	National Liberal Party	1,850	1.03	+0.30	0	0
	German Reich Party	1,148	0.64	−6.01	0	0
	German Conservative Party	1,055	0.59	New	0	0
	Others	1,875	1.05	+0.87	0	0
	Unknown	56	0.03	+0.03	0	0
Total		178,784	100.00	–	15	0
Valid votes		178,784	93.33
Invalid/blank votes		12,771	6.67
Total votes		191,555	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		316,894	60.45
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland