1945 Liechtenstein general election

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1945 Liechtenstein general election
29 April 1945
All 15 seats in the Landtag
8 seats needed for a majority
Turnout93.36%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
FBP Josef Hoop 54.72 8 0
VU Otto Schaedler 45.28 7 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by constituency
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Josef Hoop
FBP		 Josef Hoop
FBP

General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 29 April 1945 to elect the 15 members of the Landtag.[1] Following the "silent elections" of 1939, they were the first to use the new proportional representation system which had been introduced the same year. The Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) won eight seats and retained its majority, while the Patriotic Union (VU) won seven. Voter turnout was 93.4%.

The elections were originally set to be held in 1943, as per the Constitution of Liechtenstein, but the government's term had been extended indefinitely by Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein in order to prevent the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VBDL) from entering the Landtag during World War II. Following the elections, the coalition government between the FBP and VU under the leadership of prime minister Josef Hoop remained, but he would resign five months later and be suceeded by Alexander Frick.

Background

Josef Hoop (left) and VU president Otto Schaedler (right) pictured in 1938

In March 1938, following the Anschluss of Austria, the Progressive Citizens' Party (FBP) and opposition Patriotic Union (VU) formed a coalition government under the leadership of Josef Hoop.[2][3] A compromise of this coalition was the introduction of proportional representation to the country, which was introduced unanimously in January 1939.[4] Article thirty of the new law allowed for one or more parties, representing at least 80% of the vote share in the previous election to propose a joint list of candidates, and for them to be declared elected while excluding other parties.[5] As such, the previous 1939 elections were only used to assign a roughly equal number of seats to each party in the Landtag, and thus became known as the "silent elections" as no actual voting took place; neither party wanted an election campaign that would jeopardize the coalition or allow the Nazi German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VBDL) to gain support.[6]

As per the Constitution of Liechtenstein, the next elections were set to be held in February 1943. However at the request of both the FBP and VU, on 18 February 1943 Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein extended the government's term indefinitely via emergency degree to avoid an election campaign during World War II and prevent the VBDL from potentially gaining seats seats in the Landtag.[7] On 26 March 1945, as the defeat of Nazi Germany seemed inevitable, Franz Joseph II called for new elections; it was the first election in which voting took place since the 1936 elections.[8] A referendum was previously held on 18 March that proposed to increase the amount of seats in the Landtag from 15 to 21, but it was overwhelmingly rejected by voters.[9]

Electoral system

The 15 members of the Landtag were elected by open list proportional representation from two constituencies, Oberland with 9 seats and Unterland with 6 seats.[10] Parties put forward lists of candidates to which voters would submit their favoured list to the ballot box; they could also change the lists by crossing out names and adding names from other lists. Afterwards, the candidates with the most votes were elected.[11] Only parties and lists with more than 18% of the votes cast in each constituency were eligible to win seats in the Landtag.[10] Only men were eligible to vote.[12]

The 18% threshold to win seats, considered to be very high, was primarily intended to prevent the VDBL from winning seats in the Landtag.[1]

Campaign

The March 1945 edition of the magazine Die Jugend, published by Rover Scout's in Liechtenstein, called for people to vote for parties that "stood firmly for God, the Prince, and the Fatherland" and not "former fascists or fascist sympathisers", nor for the "indecisive" or "fair-weather politicians".[13] The FBP in its newspaper Liechtensteiner Volksblatt echoed similar sentiment,[13] and also criticized the VU for its weak stance against the VDBL during the war.[14] The VDBL, for its part, was effectively defunct and played no role in the election campaign. However, due to wartime censorship measures still being in place the election campaign was ultimately timid.[13]

Candidates

A total of 30 candidates were presented for the election.[15]

Oberland FBP VU
Unterland FBP VU
Source: Liechtensteiner Volksblatt[15]

Results

The seat distribution remained unchanged from the 1939 elections, with the FBP winning winning a majority of eight seats, whereas the VU won seven.[16] Voter turnout was 93.36%.[17]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Progressive Citizens' Party1,55354.7280
Patriotic Union1,28545.2870
Total2,838100.00150
Valid votes2,83897.66
Invalid/blank votes682.34
Total votes2,906100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,08894.11
Source: Vogt[17]

By electoral district

Electoral district Seats Electorate Party Elected members Substitutes Votes % Seats won
Oberland 9 2,032 Patriotic Union
  • Alois Wille
  • Alexander Sele
 972 51.9 5
Progressive Citizens' Party
901 48.1 4
Unterland 6 1,056 Progressive Citizens' Party
652 67.6 4
Patriotic Union
313 32.4 2
Source: Statistisches Jahrbuch 2005, Vogt[17]

Aftermath

The election results were largely seen as a confirmation of the distribution of seats between the FBP and VU that had been dictated in the 1939 elections.[13] Of the Landtag members elected, approximately two-thirds of them were newcomers; this high turnover of members from the previous election has been accredited to exhaustion from holding the position during wartime, and also reflecting a shift towards new leadership for the post-war period.[8]

Following the elections, the coalition government under Josef Hoop remained.[18] However, Hoop would resign as prime minister in September admist pressure from Franz Joseph II to do so, as the prince beleived that post-war Liechtenstein required a change of leadership; this de facto dismissal of Hoop angered many within the FBP.[19] He was suceeded by Alexander Frick, who maintained the coalition government,[20] and in 1946 at the request of Franz Joseph II it was declared binding.[21]

References

  1. Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 1164.
  2. Büchel, Donat (31 December 2011). "Märzkrise". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  3. Marxer, Wilfred (31 December 2011). "Koalition". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  4. "Parties in Liechtenstein 1921-1943". Prince and People: Liechtenstein Civics (in German). 2007. Archived from the original on 16 November 2025. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  5. "Gesetz vom 18. Januar 1939 - über die Einführung des Verhältniswahlrechtes". Liechtensteinische Landesverwaltung (in German). Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  6. Büchel, Donat (31 December 2011). "Stille Wahl". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  7. Geiger 2010, pp. 104–109.
  8. Geiger 2010, p. 485.
  9. Geiger 1998, p. 61.
  10. Marxer, Wilfred; Frommelt, Fabian (31 December 2011). "Wahlsysteme". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  11. Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 1159.
  12. Frick, Julia (31 December 2011). "Frauenstimm- und -wahlrecht". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  13. Geiger 1998, p. 62.
  14. Geiger, Peter (31 December 2011). "Zweiter Weltkrieg" [Second World War]. Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Archived from the original on 14 February 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  15. "Die Wahlen zum Landtag". Liechtensteiner Volksblatt (in German). 1 May 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  16. Nohlen & Stöver 2010, p. 1182.
  17. Vogt 1987, p. 211.
  18. "Mitglieder der Regierung des Fürstentums Liechtenstein 1862-2021" (PDF). www.regierung.li (in German). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  19. Geiger, Peter (31 December 2011). "Hoop, Josef (1895–1959)". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Archived from the original on 2 June 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  20. Frommelt, Fabian (31 December 2011). "Frick, Alexander". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  21. Brunhart 1986, p. 47.

Bibliography