1893 German federal election

Federal elections were held in Germany on 15 June 1893. Despite the Social Democratic Party (SPD) receiving a plurality of votes, the Centre Party remained the largest party in the Reichstag after winning 96 of the 397 seats, whilst the SPD won just 44. Voter turnout was 72.4%.

1893 German federal election

15 June 1893 (1893-06-15)
All 397 seats in the Reichstag 199 seats needed for a majority
Registered	10,628,292 4.76%
Turnout	7,702,265 (72.47%) 0.89pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Franz von Ballestrem Otto von Manteuffel Rudolf von Bennigsen Party Centre DKP NlP Leader since 1890 1892 1867 Last election 18.55%, 107 seats 12.21%, 71 seats 15.64%, 38 seats Seats won 96 69 51 Seat change 11 2 13 Popular vote 1,468,501 992,412 942,410 Percentage 19.14% 12.93% 12.29% Swing 0.59 pp 0.72 pp 3.35 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   DRP Leader Paul Singer & August Bebel Eugen Richter Party SPD DRP FVP Leader since 18 March 1890 & 21 November 1892 7 May 1893 Last election 19.75%, 35 seats 6.38%, 19 seats 15.89%, 67 seats Seats won 44 28 24 Seat change 9 9 43 Popular vote 1,786,738 437,972 665,427 Percentage 23.28% 5.71% 8.67% Swing 3.53 pp 0.67 pp 7.22 pp
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

Campaign

The election became necessary after the Reichstag was dissolved on the 6th of May 1893, at the request of Chancellor Leo von Caprivi. As with the 1887 dissolution, the cause was a military appropriations bill proposed by the Government. Caprivi had planned to increase the size of the army by around 500,000 men, and failed to get this through the Reichstag: the Social Democrats, a majority of the Centre and part of the Free-minded Party rejected the proposal. The Free-mindeds split into the Free-minded People's Party and the Free-minded Union as a result of this.

The election resulted in a narrow victory for the pro-government “Cartel” parties (German Conservatives, Free Conservatives and National Liberals). Once again, the Social Democrats, now freed from the Anti-Socialist Laws, made gains, as did the Antisemites. The latter primarily won seats in the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, eastern and central Saxony, and single ones in the Neumark and Eastern Pomerania. In Lower Bavaria and Middle Franconia, four seats were won by the Bavarian Peasants' League, formed to defend the interests of Bavarian agriculture against Chancellor Caprivi’s free trade policies. The divided liberal bloc saw significant losses. On the whole, the new Reichstag was more divided than ever before. Due to the continued lack of constituency boundary changes, the majority election system brought strong disparities between the popular vote and the size of the parliamentary parties. For the first and only time, a Polish nationalist candidate, Antoni Wolszlegier, won an East Prussian constituency (Allenstein).

The new Reichstag approved the Government’s military appropriations bill by a narrow majority of 201 votes.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	1,786,738	23.28	+3.53	44	+9
	Centre Party	1,468,501	19.14	+0.59	96	–11
	German Conservative Party	992,412	12.93	+0.72	69	−2
	National Liberal Party	943,410	12.29	−3.35	51	+13
	Free-minded People's Party	665,427	8.67	−7.22	24	−43
	German Reich Party	437,972	5.71	−0.67	28	+9
	Free-minded Union	260,364	3.39	New	13	New
	Independent Polish	172,482	2.25	−0.32	14	+3
	German People's Party	166,757	2.17	+0.13	11	+1
	German Reform Party	141,650	1.85	+1.55	14	+11
	Alsace-Lorraine parties	135,546	1.77	−0.36	9	−5
	German Social Party	110,451	1.44	+1.16	2	+2
	German-Hanoverian Party	101,810	1.33	−0.23	7	−4
	Independent liberals	56,372	0.73	−0.36	2	−2
	Polish Court Party	53,973	0.70	−0.15	5	0
	Bavarian Peasants' League	43,128	0.56	New	2	New
	Independent conservatives	35,816	0.47	+0.17	2	+2
	Other agrarians	25,909	0.34	New	1	New
	Other conservatives	19,554	0.25	New	1	New
	Danish Party	14,363	0.19	0.00	1	0
	Independent anti-semites	11,760	0.15	+0.08	0	−1
	Alsatian Liberals	6,469	0.08	New	1	New
	Lithuanian Party	4,099	0.05	New	0	New
	Polish People's Party	3,124	0.04	New	0	New
	Christian Social Party	1,829	0.02	+0.02	0	0
Others		13,972	0.18	−0.28	0	0
Unknown		85	0.00	0.00	0	0
Total		7,673,973	100.00	–	397	0
Valid votes		7,673,973	99.63
Invalid/blank votes		28,292	0.37
Total votes		7,702,265	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		10,628,292	72.47
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

Alsace-Lorraine

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Clericals	88,762	37.10	−8.86	6	−3
	Social Democratic Party	46,186	19.30	+8.57	2	+1
	Alsatian autonomists	25,940	10.84	−18.69	1	−3
	German Reich Party	14,494	6.06	+5.42	1	+1
	Independent conservatives	13,699	5.73	New	1	New
	Alsace-Lorraine protesters	10,949	4.58	−5.86	1	0
	Lorraine Bloc	9,895	4.14	+4.14	1	+1
	Conservative Party	7,568	3.16	+2.57	1	+1
	Alsatian Liberals	6,469	2.70	New	1	New
	Free-minded People's Party	4,430	1.85	New	–	New
	Independent liberals	4,107	1.72	New	–	New
	Social Party	3,407	1.42	New	–	New
	National Liberal Party	2,142	0.90	−0.13	0	0
Others		1,207	0.50	−0.55	0	0
Total		239,255	100.00	–	15	0
Valid votes		239,255	96.28
Invalid/blank votes		9,236	3.72
Total votes		248,491	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		325,482	76.35
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland