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Guardians of tradition or agents of modernity: sources of National Socialist appeal in rural northwest Germany. George S. Vascik Miami University. Polling places in northwest Germany. Kreise and Ämter. R üstringen. Hadeln. Neuhaus. Jever. Lehe. Wittmund. Kehdingen. Norden.
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Guardians of tradition or agents of modernity: sources of National Socialist appeal in rural northwest Germany George S. Vascik Miami University
Kreise and Ämter Rüstringen Hadeln Neuhaus Jever Lehe Wittmund Kehdingen Norden Butjadingen Jork Emden Stade Aurich Bremervörde Geestemünde Weener Elsfleth Osterholz Varel Brake Leer Blumenthal Westerstede Oldenburg
Plurality winners, 1924_1 DNVP Wittmund DNVP DHP
Determinants of Racist success in all villages(single variable) Determinants of Racist success in all villages (multiple variables)
Determinants of Racist success in Liberal villages(single variable) Determinants of Racist success Liberal villages (multiple variables)
Völkisch votes in relation to pre-War Liberal hegemony, May 1924
Agrarian block leader, 1924_1 Bremervoerde VSB
Locating Bremervoerde Hamburg Bremen
The complex nature of politics in Bremervoerde • Liberals and Radicals • Who they were and what they represented • The German-Hanoverian party • Who they were and what they represented • The Agrarians • Bund der Landwirte later Reichslandbund • Creating the Composite Voting Indices
Mapping areas of political orientation Liberal = gold DHP = green Agrarian = striped
Single variables influencing Liberal, Agrarian, and Modern orientation
Composite Liberal and Traditionalist Vote percentages by parish
Scatter plot of Composite Agrarian Vote percentages and tax/hectare
Probability plot of Composite Agrarian Value percentages and tax/hectare
Transformative effect of the Great War • Immediate post-War results • Continued German-Hanoverian strength and spread • What it meant • May 1924 referendum • The impact of the Great Inflation • Dissolution of the Liberal (DVP) and Radical (DDP) parties
May referendum Question: should Hanover be allowed to form a state independent of Prussia? Voting in two stages: first to decide if question should be put to the voters, second actual binding vote. To move to second stage, a majority of 33% of eligible votes must vote yes.
Impact of the Great Inflation • Collapse of support for DVP and DDP in election with 6.7% greater turnout • Shifting support to DNVP • Growth of Racist VSB
Single variables influencing votes cast for the VSB in May 1924
The rural crisis of 1927/28 • Discussion of events • Landvolk movement • Founding of the CNBLP • Created by Landbund • Opposed to DNVP and Racists • Alliance with the German Hanoverians • Campaign of 1928
Single variables influencing votes cast for the NSDAP in May 1928
Single variables influencing votes cast for the CNBLP in May 1928
Who collects post-1928 detritus? • The CNBLP, created by the Landbund as a mean of channeling rural discontent, turned out to be a way-station to the NSDAP • CNBLP vote 1928:NSDAP vote 1930 • P-value 0.007 R-Sq=13.1% • German-Hanoverians reemerge as the largest party in the majority of villages • After 1930 elections, Christian Nationalists enter government and craft a Rural Recovery Program with DHP support
The election of September 1930 • Where Racists did best • Areas of residual Traditionalist strength • The battle within the Landbund between Traditionalists and Nazis
Single variables influencing votes cast for the NSDAP in September 1930
Single variables influencing votes cast for the NSDAP in July 1932
Participation Eligible voters in May 1924: 10,372
Conclusions • Voters in historically Liberal towns and villages were most susceptible to Racist and Nazi appeals after 1924 • Voters in historically Traditionalist towns and villages resisted the Nazis the longest • The German-Hanoverian party was much more capable of maintaining its traditional voter base than most historians allow • The Nazi triumph in 1932 was based in part on bringing new voters into the process