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The Volkstag (English: ''People's Diet'') was the parliament of the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
between 1919 and 1939. After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
Danzig (Gdańsk) became a Free City under the protection of the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
. The first elections to a constitutional convention took place on 16 May 1920, and the first parliamentary session on 14 June 1920 at the former
West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...
n Provincial administration building (Provinzialverwaltung – Landeshaus), Neugarten (today Nowe Ogrody). The building was demolished after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The Volkstag was elected by the male and female citizens of Danzig above 20 years of age; members of the Volkstag were required to be above 25 years of age. Further elections were held in
1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
,
1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...
,
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...
,
1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
and
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...
.


History


1920 elections

Constituent Assembly elections were held in Danzig on 16 May 1920. The German National People's Party emerged as the largest party, receiving 28% of the vote and winning 34 of the 120 seats in the Volkstag. Voter turnout was 70%.


1923 elections

Parliamentary elections were held in Danzig on 18 November 1923. The German National People's Party emerged as the largest party, receiving 27% of the vote and winning 33 of the 120 seats in the Volkstag. Voter turnout was 82%.


1927 elections

Parliamentary elections were held in Danzig on 13 November 1927. The Social Democratic Party emerged as the largest party, receiving 34% of the vote and winning 42 of the 120 seats in the Volkstag. Voter turnout was 85%.


1930 elections

Parliamentary elections were held in the Danzig on 16 November 1930. The Social Democratic Party emerged as the largest party, receiving 25% of the vote and winning 19 of the 72 seats in the Volkstag. Voter turnout was 89%. This would be the last time a non-Nazi party would hold power in the city.


1933 elections

After the Polish state increased its Westerplatte garrison by 120 soldiers, the local populace's fear of a Polish invasion was used by the Nazi party to boost their election chances. Provocative marches, speeches and a broadcast of Hitler's speech resulted in an absolute majority (50.03%) of the vote in the 28 May 1933 election.


1935 elections

After the successful Saar plebiscite, where more than 90 percent of the Saar populace voted in favour of Germany, the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
expected to achieve a similar success in Danzig and dissolved the Volkstag on 21 February 1935. New elections were scheduled for 7 April 1935. In the following weeks the Nazi Party organized more than 1,300 rallies, the local radio station was exclusively used for their propaganda and the usage of public poster pillars was also limited to Nazi propaganda. At the same time, the opposition parties were subject to a massive terror campaign; the
Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
were only able to organize seven rallies, only one of which was in a major hall, and all of which were disturbed by the SA, a Nazi paramilitary force. Most other parties were unable to organize any public meetings. The Social Democrat newspaper ''Danziger Volksstimme'' and the Catholic ''Danziger Volkszeitung'' were banned twice, and the ''Volksstimme'' was furthermore confiscated in the last three days prior to the election. However, the result of the elections (59.31% of votes for the Nazi party) was not as good as the Nazis had expected, and the planned parade of the local SA and SS units was canceled.
Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...
Albert Forster, who started to announce the results on the radio, stopped in his speech and did not read out the results.


Action of Voidance

The opposition parties, except for the
Polish Party The Polish Party () was a political party in the German Empire and the Free City of Danzig. Representing the Polish population in Germany, it was the largest of the minority parties. History The party had its origins in the national associatio ...
, immediately filed a lawsuit at the Danzig High Court, where they specified 45 examples of illegal manipulation of the elections by the Nazis, including the direct threat of dismissal from public service by the Gauleiter to any official not voting for the Nazis. The secrecy of the ballot was not warranted and people who were not citizens of the Free City of Danzig had voted. The High Court examined 988 witnesses and found 40 out of 45 claims valid. However the High Court did not agree to cancel the election results, but only changed them in part: the Nazi party had to give away one seat, which was then granted to the Social Democrats.


League of Nations petition

The Social Democrats, German National and
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parties did not accept the court verdict and protested to the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
.
Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...
, responsible for the Danzig affairs at the League of Nations, reported the breach of the constitution on 22 January 1936. Although
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and the
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supported immediate action,
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,
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,
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and
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preferred not to tolerate such actions in the future, while
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and
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
did not support any consequences. The council adjourned a decision, and after Danzig's President
Arthur Greiser Arthur Karl Greiser (22 January 1897 – 21 July 1946) was a German Nazi Party politician, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', ''Gauleiter'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich Governor) of the German-occupied territory of ''Wartheland''. He was one of the ...
promised to maintain the constitution in the future, the League of Nations abandoned the petition.


Dictatorship

Following the elections the opposition was fiercely terrorized; members of the Volkstag were attacked and leaflet distributors were beaten up. A conservative member of the German National People's Party (DNVP), Curt Blavier, a former Senator and vice president of Danzig's police, was arrested. Newspapers were banned. On 10 June 1936 a meeting of the DNVP was attacked by about 100 SA and SS members, with 50 attendees requiring hospital treatment. Gustav Pietsch, an independent candidate sympathizing with the conservative DNVP, was attacked with an iron bar, pushed in front of a tram and severely injured. The DNVP "voluntarily" declared its self-dissolution. In October 1936 120 members of the Social Democratic Party were imprisoned, and on 14 October the party was banned. On 25 May 1937 the Social Democrat politician Hans Wiechmann was killed by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
after a visit to the League of Nations' High Commissioner Carl Jacob Burckhardt. In December 1936 leading members of the Centre Party were arrested, including several members of the Volkstag, a judge and a high public official. The Centre Party, the last opposition party, was banned in October 1937 and its Chairman, Bruno Kurowski, imprisoned. On 21 March 1939, Greiser extended the Volkstag term for another 4 years.


Elections


Presidents of the Volkstag

*1920–1921: Wilhelm Reinhard *1921-1921: Adalbert Mathaei *1921–1923: Adolf Treichel (first term) *1923–1924: Julius Gehl (first term) *1924–1926: Adolf Treichel (second term) *1926–1928: Alfred Semrau *1928–1930: Fritz Spill *1930–1931: Julius Gehl (second term) *1931–1933: Wilhelm von Wnuck (first term) *1933-1933: Franz Potrykus *1933–1936: Wilhelm von Wnuck (second term) *1937–1939: Edmund Beyl


See also


Notes


References


External links


Pictures of the Volkstag

Crisis No7: Danzig
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(10 July 1939) showing a picture of a Volkstag session
Diary
of High Commissioner Sean Lester (1936) {{Authority control Free City of Danzig History of Gdańsk Danzig Volkstag