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WHO VOTED NAZI AND
WHY? How Can We
Tell? Nazi support rose dramatically between 1928 and 1932. There has been much debate over exactly who supported this extremist party because historians are hampered by the absence of modern opinion polls. Several types of source are available beginning with election results. However, the results of secret ballots do not tell us who voted for whom, just how many votes a party list got in any region. One exception is that the constitution allowed states to hold separate ballots for men and women. A few did so, with blue ballot papers for men and pink for women! Thus in a few areas we have figures available by gender. Historians’ analyses of electoral support for the Nazis from particular social or religious groups are normally based on comparing how well the Nazis did in areas that differed by religious or social composition. For example, if the Nazis got 37% of the national vote, but only 25% in a strongly Catholic area, it seems reasonable to argue that Catholics were less likely to vote Nazi. Similarly, if they gained 45% in a predominantly farming area, and several areas show this pattern, then it would seem that farmers were more likely to vote Nazi. But caution is still needed because there could be a whole range of variables affecting the result. Other evidence is more direct. We have membership records of the Nazi Party and the SA that give some personal details, for example of occupation, although not generally of religion. Even here there are problems, as classifying people’s class position is not an exact science, and people do not complete forms in a consistent way. Historians have also used Nazi propaganda, such as leaflets, posters and speeches, as an indication of whom they were trying to attract and why. We also have autobiographies of some Nazi members. One of the most valuable, but still potentially flawed, sources is Abel’s survey of 581 autobiographies of Nazi members. In 1934 this American academic offered prizes to Nazi Party members who wrote accounts of why they joined. They provide fascinating insights, but are not necessarily representative and may not be an accurate reflection of their authors’ motives. There are also accounts by Germans and foreigners who lived in Germany and commented on the growing Nazi Movement, and memoirs of former Nazi supporters. All such sources need to be treated cautiously. Oversimplifications based on class or gender should be avoided. Modern research has not completely altered older judgments about Nazi support but some misconceptions have been eliminated. 1. Provincial, not metropolitan
2. Middle class ·
The
middle class tended to vote Nazi but not necessarily the lower middle
class. A study of voting in major
cities like Berlin or Hamburg suggests that it was in the most affluent suburbs
that the highest Nazi vote was to be
found. 3. Working class ·
Nazis
were likely to do worst in working class areas of larger
cities. ·
Although the SPD and KPD were popular amongst workers,
they had never encompassed all the working population of industrial
Germany. The Roman Catholic Centre
Party appealed to many of them and the Ruhr had always been strongly
nationalistic. The combined vote of
the SPD and KPD rose from 12.4M. in 1928 to 13.2 M. in July 1932, indicating
that the increase in Nazi votes from amongst the working class was not a
desertion from these parties. It
reflects, instead, the transfer of votes from other parties and the increased
percentage of people who actually voted.
(4M. more people voted in 1930 than in
1928) 4. Protestant support
5. Did women support Hitler?
6. Was the Party seen as left
wing?
7. Left wing or right wing? The Nazi Party was seen essentially as a nationalistic party of the right, rather than a socialist party. 8. A broad based party The Nazis have been seen as a “catch all” party, appealing to a variety of people. It was more evenly distributed amongst the different social classes than any other party at the time. 9. Hitler’s
advantages
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