Radical Protest Votes

Dr. F.K. - Nothing would be more wrong than to gloss over the result of the pendulum swing on September 14, which, while predictable in its tendency, was still surprising and shocking in its scope. The slogan “Strengthen the right wing”[1] met with unexpected approval. The electoral success of the National Socialists is, we note with cool objectivity, a world sensation. Of the governing parties, the Center alone also made considerable gains. But there can be no doubt that its attempt to govern the Reich with the moderate bourgeois right failed despite this success. It is true that the list of Food Minister Schiele achieved a small success. But the Conservative People’s Party [DVP] was unable to get a single deputy elected in its constituencies. The socialist groups grew not weaker, but rather stronger than in the Reichstag of 1928, despite significant losses for the Social Democrats. Communists and Social Democrats gained twelve more seats. These are radical protest votes, the results of which we have before us. They call into question the roots of proportional representation and the right of twenty-year-olds to vote: they are a sign of the economic and spiritual crisis in which our people find themselves, a rebellion against the state which has not understood how to win confidence and undisputed respect for its administration.

Today, lamentations about the past are no longer helpful. It has become pointless, even if it is not politically irrelevant, to ask who caused the dissolution of the Reichstag, which was described as a disaster in the DAZ at the time, and whether his reasons were sufficient. We are in a trough of national history. It must be crossed. It is no use just blaming others. Every single party shares responsibility. The reorganization of the state and the reform of the public economy can no longer be postponed. Let us create as broad a front as possible for these tasks. Let us respect legality. Yet let us do in the awareness that experience has shown that no nation has ever let itself be ruined by “legality.” Enormous difficulties also arise for our foreign policy. They were unavoidable because the reins had been allowed to drag on for so long. Foreign countries, especially France, must realize that they have overstepped the mark. Whoever may be part of the next government: adventures are by no means to be expected. Even the National Socialists would not jeopardize their great victory with ill-considered foreign policy experiments. The people and the country are healthy at heart. The fever curve of the election indicates a temporary state in which equilibrium has been lost. It will be restored.

The time has come to reform the constitution.