Elections to the German Reichstag (1871-1890): A Statistical Overview

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	5th Reichstag 1881 (8)
Persons eligible to vote: 9,090,000 Total votes cast: 5,118,000 Voter turnout: 56.3%Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1): 20.1%
	Number of votes (millions)	Share of the vote (in %)	Number of seats	Share of seats (in %)
Conservatives	0.831	16.3	50	12.6
Reich Party (Free Conservatives)	0.379	7.4	28	7.1
National Liberals	0.747	14.7	47	11.8
Liberals	–	–	–	–
Liberal Union (2)	0.429	8.4	46	11.6
German Progressive Party (3)	0.649	12.7	60	15.1
German People’s Party	0.103	2.0	9	2.3
Center	1.183	23.2	100	25.2
Guelphs	0.087	1.7	10	2.5
Social Democrats	0.312	6.1	12	3.0
Poles	0.195	3.8	18	4.5
Danes (4)	0.014	0.3	2	0.5
Alsace-Lorrainers (5)	0.153	3.0	15	3.8
Antisemites, Economic Union (6)	–	–	–	–
Others	0.015	0.3	–	–
Total	5.097		397

	6th Reichstag 1884
Persons eligible to vote: 9,383,000 Total votes cast: 5,682,000 Voter turnout: 60.6% Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1): 20.7%
	Number of votes (millions)	Share of the vote (in %)	Number of seats	Share of seats (in %)
Conservatives	0.861	15.2	78	19.6
Reich Party (Free Conservatives)	0.388	6.9	28	7.1
National Liberals	0.997	17.6	51	12.8
Liberals	–	–	–	–
Liberal Union (2) German Progressive Party (3)	} 0.997	17.6	67	16.9
German People’s Party	0.096	1.7	7	1.8
Center	1.282	22.6	99	24.9
Guelphs	0.096	1.7	11	2.8
Social Democrats	0.550	9.7	24	6.0
Poles	0.203	3.6	16	4.0
Danes (4)	0.014	0.3	1	0.3
Alsace-Lorrainers (5)	0.166	2.9	15	3.8
Antisemites, Economic Union (6)	–	–	–	–
Others	0.013	0.2	–	–
Total	5.663		397

	7th Reichstag 1887
Persons eligible to vote: 9,770,000 Total votes cast: 7,570,000 Voter turnout: 77.5% Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1): 20.9%
	Number of votes (millions)	Share of the vote (in %)	Number of seats	Share of seats (in %)
Conservatives	1.147	15.2	80	20.2
Reich Party (Free Conservatives)	0.736	9.8	41	10.3
National Liberals	1.678	22.2	99	24.9
Liberals	–	–	–	–
Liberal Union (2) German Progressive Party (3)	} 0.973	12.9	32	8.1
German People’s Party	0.089	1.2	–	–
Center	1.516	20.1	98	24.7
Guelphs	0.113	1.5	4	1.0
Social Democrats	0.763	10.1	11	2.8
Poles	0.220	2.9	13	3.3
Danes (4)	0.012	0.2	1	0.3
Alsace-Lorrainers (5)	0.234	3.1	15	3.8
Antisemites, Economic Union (6)	0.012 (9)	0.2	1	0.3
Others	0.048	0.6	2	0.5
Total	7.541		397

	8th Reichstag 1890
Persons eligible to vote: 10,146,000 Total votes cast: 7,262,000 Voter turnout: 71.6% Persons eligible to vote in % of the population (1): 21.7%
	Number of votes (millions)	Share of the vote (in %)	Number of seats	Share of seats (in %)
Conservatives	0.895	12.4	73	18.4
Reich Party (Free Conservatives)	0.482	6.7	20	5.0
National Liberals	1.178	16.3	42	10.6
Liberals	–	–	–	–
Liberal Union (2) German Progressive Party (3)	} 1.160	16.0	66	16.6
German People’s Party	0.148	2.0	10	2.5
Center	1.342	18.6	106	26.7
Guelphs	0.113	1.6	11	2.8
Social Democrats	1.427	19.7	35	8.8
Poles	0.247	3.4	16	4.0
Danes (4)	0.014	0.2	1	0.3
Alsace-Lorrainers (5)	0.101	1.4	10	2.5
Antisemites, Economic Union (6)	0.048	0.7	5	1.3
Others	0.075	1.0	2	0.5
Total	7.229		397

(1) According to the most recent census in each case. The following should be considered: in elections occurring some time after the preceding census (such as the 1890 election, which used the census from 1885 – not the one from 1890 – as a basis), the percentage of persons eligible to vote among the total population appears slightly higher than it actually was. The lower percentage in 1871 can be attributed in part to poorly maintained electoral registers.

(2) From 1893 onward: Freisinnige (instead of “Liberale” – different term, same meaning) Vereinigung; as of 1910: incorporated into the Progressive People’s Party.

(3) From 1884 onward: German Liberal Party; from 1893 onward: Liberal People’s Party; as of 1910: incorporated into the Progressive People’s Party.

(4) The votes cast for both the Particularists and the Protest Party in Schleswig-Holstein were applied to the Danes, provided that no additional data was included in the official statistics.

(5) According to convention, the votes cast for the Center Party in Alsace-Lorraine were applied to the Alsace-Lorrainers until 1878, as were the votes of those Reichstag deputies whose votes were listed as counting towards the Center Party in official statistics from 1874 to 1878, but who were not classified as “belonging to the parliamentary party.”

(6) Antisemites participated in the Reichstag elections from 1887 to 1903 as splinter groups under the names: Christian-Socialist Party, German Reform Party, German-Socialist Reform Party, and German-Socialist Party. As of 1907, this category also includes the Economic Union, into which the Antisemites incorporated themselves as the dominant group.

(7) As yet without the Alsace-Lorrainers. These figures are the corrected ones from vol. 250 of Statistik des Deutschen Reichs [Statistics of the German Reich], 1912. The data was corrected because the figures supplied for the 10th constituency in Frankfurt and the 12th constituency in Breslau in the election statistics of 1871/74 did not reflect the results of the first regular elections but, by mistake, those of the by-elections.

(8) Based on subsequent communications, a total of 120,501 votes classified as liberal were attributed to other parties. The results were taken from vol. 250 of Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, loc.cit., and they differ slightly from those listed in the election statistics of 1881.

(9) Data from vol. 250 of Statistik des Deutschen Reichs, loc.cit. In the 1887 election statistics, the votes cast for the Antisemites were included under the category “undetermined.”