Against the Enslavement of the German People (Freedom Act)
Outcome
Not passed
Results
Choice
Votes
%
For
5,838,890
94.53%
Against
338,195
5.47%
Valid votes
6,177,085
97.92%
Invalid or blank votes
131,493
2.08%
Total votes
6,308,578
100.00%
Registered voters/turnout
42,323,473
14.91%
Results by district and independent city. Black lines delineate states and Prussian provinces.
The 1929 German Referendum was an attempt during the Weimar Republic to use popular legislation to annul the agreement in the Young Plan between the German government and the World War I opponents of the German Reich regarding the amount and conditions of reparations payments. The referendum was the result of the initiative "Against the Enslavement of the German People (Freedom Act)" launched in 1929 by right-wing parties and organizations. It called for an overall revision of the Treaty of Versailles and stipulated that government officials who accepted new reparation obligations would be committing treason.
Eligible voters had from 16 to 29 October to sign the initiative and register their support for the draft Freedom Act. With just over 10% of those eligible to vote signing, the minimum requirement to pass the initiative was narrowly met. The German Reichstag debated the draft on 29 and 30 November, and it was rejected by a majority of deputies. The initiators then requested a referendum, which took place on 22 December. Since the Reich government had judged the Freedom Act to be unconstitutional, the decision required approval by a majority of all those eligible to vote instead of just the votes cast. Even though 94.5% of those voting supported the referendum, it failed due to the low turnout of just under 15% of eligible voters.
The German delegation at the second Hague Conference: Reich Finance Minister Paul Moldenhauer, Reich Foreign Minister Julius Curtius, Minister for the Occupied Territory Joseph Wirth, far right State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry Carl von Schubert.
The initiative and referendum were nevertheless significant for the political development of the following years. The propaganda campaign led by the political right was one of the largest of its kind during the Weimar Republic,[1] and the government responded with considerable counter-propaganda. For the first time the traditional right, such as the German National People's Party (DNVP), acted together with the Nazi Party (NSDAP). The significance that the referendum had for the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party is disputed historically.
^"Kampagne gegen den Young-Plan" [Campaign Against the Young Plan]. Deutsche Geschichten (in German).
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