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Nanwe's Maps and Graphics Thread

And last but definitely not least, the results for Bohemia. For the record, all parties that ran for office got at least one seat.

Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (ČSNS): 14.87%, 12 seats
Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants (RSZML): 13.36%, 11 seats
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ): 12.11%, 10 seats
Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party (ČSDSD): 12.03%, 10 seats
German Social Democratic Worker's Party (DSAP): 8.84%, 7 seats
Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL): 7.07%, 5 seats
Czechoslovak National Democracy (ČsND): 5.72%, 4 seats
Farmers' League (BdL): 5.65%, 5 seats
Czechoslovak Traders' Party (ČZOSS): 4.64%, 4 seats
German Christian Social People's Party (DCVP): 4.37%, 4 seats
German People's Union (DVV): 3.39%, 3 seats
German National Socialist Workers' Party (DNSAP): 3.25%, 2 seats
German Labour and Electoral Community (DAWG): 2.74%, 2 seats
German Business Party (DGP): 1.98%, 1 seat

The electoral coalitions were the same as in Moravia-Silesia with the exception that no Polish party existed so the centre-left alliance was just the Czechoslovak and German Social Democrats.


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Putting them all together.

First off, the vote results of the ČSDSD, the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party. The party essentially ran in each of the 4 lands (meme) created in 1927. As you can see, the party was strongest in the more industrial areas of Moravia-Silesia as well as in the Central Bohemian Plain, but markedly not so much in Prague itself, where the National Socialists and Communists were stronger*.

In Slovakia, their strength was limited to what I believe were mining areas - that correspond to areas of KSS victory in 1946 - as well as the city and suburbs of Bratislava.

All in all, the party's results were unimpressive all the same. 12% of the vote in Bohemia, 12.6% in Moravia-Silesia, 7.3% in Slovakia and 2.6% in Subcarpathian Ruthenia. It came, respectively, fourth, second, sixth and twelfth.

Nationally, it obtained 10.9% of the vote. By contrast, the party obtained 8.9% of the vote in the 1925 general election and 13% of the vote in the 1929 general election.


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* Strong late-Weimar vibe in that sentence.
 
The ČSDSD's German counterpart - the German Social Democratic Workers' Party in the Czechoslovak Republic (DSAP) was the most important and indeed the most-voted of the German parties. The party obtained - roughly - a third of the ethnic German vote in Bohemia and 22% of the German ethnic vote in Moravia-Silesia. This made it, respectively, the largest and second-largest party in the community.

As a result, it is no surprise that the map of their results lines up so well with that of the ethnic German share of the population per district (see here).

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The party's strength was however concentrated in the west, the areas of Hungary liberated by the Western Allies and therefore were Soviet influence was at it lowest.
Is this actually right? I'm fairly sure the Soviets liberated all of Hungary - this map certainly seems to indicate that the line of contact was somewhere west of Vienna. My guess is that the FKGP did better in Transdanubia because it was always the most fervently Catholic part of Hungary (what with having been under Habsburg rule, and thus thoroughly counter-reformed, during the 17th century), and thus had a strong anti-communist campaign infrastructure in place.
 
Is this actually right? I'm fairly sure the Soviets liberated all of Hungary - this map certainly seems to indicate that the line of contact was somewhere west of Vienna. My guess is that the FKGP did better in Transdanubia because it was always the most fervently Catholic part of Hungary (what with having been under Habsburg rule, and thus thoroughly counter-reformed, during the 17th century), and thus had a strong anti-communist campaign infrastructure in place.

Ummm fair enough. My comment on that was based on a passing comment in “Hungary and the Victor Powers” so I’ll change that. Your explanation makes more sense to me, particularly if the battle lines where further west.
 
in 1928, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), the only multi-ethnic party in the First Republic, the second largest communist party in the world with over 150,000 members in 1928, was rocked by internal infighting between the faction led by party leader and former ČSDSD left's leader Bohumir Šmeral, who was considered too independent from Moscow and "social democratic", and a series of Moscow-loyal cadres ('Karlin boys'), led by Klement Gottwald. Ultimately the latter would win, purging the party of Šmeral loyalists and completing the 'Bolshevisation' of the party.

Now in terms of party support, you can see that the party was strongest in Subcarpathian Ruthenia - where the landless peasantry was often very radical - in some mining areas of Slovakia, Hungarian areas of southern Slovakia, in the industrial areas of the former Tesin County and in the industrial hinterland of Prague as well as some districts of German-majority northern Bohemia.

All in all, the Communists obtained 12.1% of the vote in Bohemia, 9.8% in Moravia-Silesia, 14.2% in Slovakia and 20.1% in Ruthenia. As such, the party came, respectively, third, fourth, third and second in each of the lands. Nationally, it gathered 12.3% of the vote.


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The Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (ČSNS) was the most-voted party in Bohemia as well as the most Bohemian of all the parties. The party itself was classed as centre-left and represented a sort of non-Marxist socialism that drew heavily from left-liberalism but also contained elements of left-wing fascism (Strasserites?) until the latter's expulsion. Its platform was Czechoslovak nationalist, called for greater state involvement in the economy and was surprisingly feminist. The party's support came from urban areas, civil servants, lower middle-classes, and many educated professionals but also Czechoslovak workers in German-majority areas where ethnic tensions ran higher.

The party gathered 14.9% in Bohemia, 8.6% in Moravia-Silesia, 2.7% in Slovakia and 2.8% in Ruthenia. Respectively, the party came first, fifth, ninth and tenth in the lands of the Republic. In total, the party got 10.5% of the national vote share (10.4% in 1929; 8.6% in 1925).

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The Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants (RSZML) was the largest party of the Republic and the largest of the centre-right. The RSZML was not too dissimilar from other interwar agrarian parties. The party was essentially in power non-stop from 1920 until 1935 and most of the non-technical or caretaker Prime Ministers were party members.

Its platform was based on agrarian reform, through the distribution of large estates held by Hungarian and German nobility to landless peasants. So much so, that throughout the history of the Republic, the president of the Land Office, the state entity in charge of the distribution of land, was a party member and the party highlighted that fact. It was also protectionistic and open to social welfare measures in general, particularly if they benefitted the rural world.

The RSZML stood at the heart of a very large network of agrarian entities that had developed under Austrian rule. In the 1930s, the party was estimated to have over half a million members. The largest agrarian association-cooperative-self-help entity, Domovina, was very close to the party and had over a million members, helping the party enormously in the rural world.

This is reflected in the party's strongholds - namely rural Czech, Slovak and Rusyn areas, particularly in eastern Slovakia. In general the party did better in rural Bohemia than Moravia-Silesia as farmers there tended to be less religious - and hence less likely to vote ČSL - and where the party had deeper roots.

In terms of support, in the 1928 election, the party gathered 13.4% of the vote in Bohemia, 12.4% in Moravia-Silesia, 20.6% in Slovakia and 23.1% in Ruthenia. This made it the second, third, second-largest party in Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia and Slovakia as well as the single largest party in Ruthenia. Nationally, it obtained 14.9% of the national vote share (13.7% in 1925, 15% in 1929).




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The Farmers' League (BdL) was the German equivalent of the Republicans, the agrarian party of the Germans in Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia. The party did not, however, take part in elections in Slovakia or Ruthenia.

Truth be told, the party's agenda was not too dissimilar from the RSZML's except for the complaints over the discrimination by the Land Office which ethnic Germans suffered, as landless or small-sized landowners from the community received expropriated lands at a much smaller rate and a smaller share than they should have.

As you can see from the map below, the party obtained its support from ethnic German rural areas. In total, it obtained 5.6% of the vote in Bohemia and 4% in Moravia-Silesia. This meant that roughly it obtained 18.7% of the German vote* in Bohemia and 15% of the German vote* in Moravia-Silesia. This made it the second and fourth most-voted German party respectively.


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* Excluding Germans who voted for the multi-ethnic Communist Party.
 
The three Christian Democratic or 'Catholic' parties.

The Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL) was the main Christian democratic party for Czechoslovaks in Czechoslovakia.

The party gathered 7.1% of the vote in Bohemia, 18.6% in Moravia-Silesia and 3.3% in Slovakia, adding up to 8.9% in Czechoslovakia. This made it the sixth-largest party in Bohemia, the largest in Moravia-Silesia and the eighth in Slovakia. It did not participate in the election for the Ruthenian Provincial Assembly.

Ideologically speaking, the ČSL resembled many other interwar political Catholic parties, defending an ideology close to the popolarismo, a synthesis of Catholic social doctrine as set out in various papal encyclicals like Rerum novarum or Quadragesimo anno and an acceptance of parliamentary democracy. The party was an adherent of a more religious version of Czechoslovakism, and as such stood in an awkward position as a predominantly Czech party when the majority of Czechoslovakist parties were very secular and oftentimes outright anti-Catholic in their positions. For instance. the party had a complicated position vis-à-vis making Jan Hus' Day into a national holiday.

In terms of support, the ČSL was a predominantly Moravian and rural party, and was often perceived as the main rival of the Agrarians for the countryside vote, as both parties advocated for similar policies in the countryside.

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The German Christian-Social People's Party (DCVP) was the ethnic German counterpart of the ČSL. Created from the Austrian Christian Social Party (so the predecessor of the Austrian ÖVP) as a result of the creation of Czechoslovakia, the party was not too dissimilar from the ČSL , although it could have been considered to its right. The party often made use of anti-Semitism in its propaganda, making it the more right-wing of the so-called 'activist' German parties, i.e. those open to cooperation with the new state.

In terms of support, the party replicates the patterns of its Czechoslovak counterpart - it was stronger in rural areas and in Moravia-Silesia (especially Silesia in its case) than in Bohemia. It obtained 6.1% of the vote in Moravia-Silesia and 4.4% in Bohemia. In terms of the vote for ethnic German parties, it obtained 22.8% of the ethnic German vote in Moravia-Silesia and 14.5% in Bohemia.



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The Catholic and Slovak nationalist Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSL'S) was the main Slovak political party. Led by right-wing Catholic priest Andrej Hlinka (1864-1938), the party had originally been supportive of Czechoslovakia as a way to liberate Slovakia from Hungary's oppressive policies, however the desire for a centralised and secular state of Czech political elites and the perceived economic decline as a result of being put in the same economic unit as the highly-industrialised Bohemia resulted in the party becoming a strong advocate of autonomy for Slovakia within Czechoslovakia.

Besides that, although the party was Catholic, its agenda was considerably to the right to that of ČSL and DCVP, as Hlinka himself was an admirer of the likes of Salazar or Dolfuss. As a result, the party was fairly authoritarian, with the ideal model of society being something akin to an authoritarian, Catholic clerical state. Emphasis on the clerical, given the large number of priests that held positions of power in the party, including, obviously Hlinka himself.

The party obtained 24.6% of the vote in Slovakia, coming in first. The 1928 election results saw a considerable decline in the party's vote share compared to the 1925 general election. The party's electoral strongholds were located in the mountainous areas of northern Slovakia as well as, generally, the western part of the country with the exception of areas of higher Protestant population (like Myjava) or ethnic Hungarian presence. It was also weaker in rural areas.

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It's interesting how Czechoslovakia (and Poland) had both a strong political-Catholic movement and a strong agrarian one - in my experience you normally get one or the other.
or you could come to ireland, where everyone was a christian democratic party! mostly
 
It's interesting how Czechoslovakia (and Poland) had both a strong political-Catholic movement and a strong agrarian one - in my experience you normally get one or the other.

In Slovakia at least, the agrarian vs. Catholic divide was often based on the Protestant/Greek Catholic vs Roman Catholic divide. In the Czech lands, I suppose the degree of secularisation, given its - erm - tricky history with the Reformation, the Hussites, the Counter-Reformation.

But it is true that it's rather fascinating how the divide also existed in the ethnic German community, which AFAIK was not really replicated right across the border in Austria.
 
Now for the Czechoslovak right,

The Czechoslovak National Democracy (ČsND) was founded in 1919 as a result of the merger of the Young and the Old Czech parties as well as various other national-liberal parties. The party was the most right-wing of the all major parties of the republic, representing a kind of Czech nationalist liberalism and conservatism that was often identified with big business owners. Throughout the entire period, the party was led by Karel Kramar.

With the party's base being located in well-to-do, conservative liberal professionals and upper management-style types, it is no surprise that the party's vote share was limited and fairly urban in nature. The party gathered 18.9% of the vote in Prague, with its voters concentrated in the well-to-do areas in the old city.

In the 1928 provincial elections, the party ran joint lists with the Russian National Party in both Slovakia and the Subcarpathian Rus'. This helps explain the party's strength in north-eastern Slovakia, the area where Rusyns were concentrated. The party gathered 5.7% of the vote in Bohemia, 3.5% in Moravia-Silesia, 2% in Slovakia and 3.6% in Ruthenia. Nationally, the party gathered 4.4% of the vote.


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The Czechoslovak Traders' Party (ČZOSS) conceived of itself as the party speaking for the small- and medium-sized company business owners and tradesmen. It was created in 1919 as a splinter from the National Democrats and was a very close ally to the Agrarians, acting in some ways as their urban wing.

The party defended economic liberal policies but also argued for extending the coverage of the social insurance systems created for workers to cover the self-employed and small business-owners. The party's supporters were more evenly distributed across Czech-speaking areas of Bohemia and Moravia than those of the National Democrats, and the party didn't obtain more than 10.6% of the vote in any administrative district in 1928.

Interestingly, the party obtained surprisingly good results in Ruthenia.

All in all, the party obtained 4.6% of the vote in Bohemia, 4.2% in Moravia-Silesia, 1.2% in Slovakia and 4.7% in Ruthenia. Nationally, the party gathered 3.85% of the vote.



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Lastly, the non-activist nationalist parties,

Only two parties left, one looking at right vs left and another focusing on the German vote.

The German People's Union (DVV, formed by the German Nationalist Party with other minor parties)

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The German National Socialist Party (DNSAP)

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The Provincial Christian Socialist Party (OKSzP)

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The coalition of the Hungarian Nationalist Party, the Zipser German Party and the Hungarian National Worker's Party (MNP-ZDP-MNMP).

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The Autonomous Agrarian Party (AZS)

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The German wiki has a decent amount of information on old Gerichtsbezirk boundaries, I think going back to WWI, but they’re a bit hard to find. I can send a link this evening if you think it’d help?
 
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The German wiki has a decent amount of information on old Gerichtsbezirk boundaries, I think going back to WWI, but they’re a bit hard to find. I can send a link this evening if you think it’d help?

Sure, that'd be very nice. Also, if you happen to have any map of Vienna, that'd be great. As the four constituencies from the first district of Vienna are seemingly based on the viertel. My concern is finding the legislation where they set out which parts of which Vienna district go where. I don't have much hope for the other cities of the Empire, except maybe Prague and Brno.

Although, I think I'm also going to be working off this map: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53121343k/f1.item.zoom#

The urban constituencies are, errrr, a monstrosity.
 
AHHHHHHH So I found a Czech website that contains the most precise map of the interwar constituencies for Slovakia. And it's something. But also something very useful moving forward, in combination with some other maps I have and the current access to my desktop here in Spain.

Behold, the monstrosity and the reason for never finishing the 1920 map. Guess where the Hungarians and Germans lived.

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