German National People's Party

German National People's Party

(DNVP) (1919–33) Radical right-wing political party active in the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. Hostile to the republic, it supported the restoration of the monarchy and a united Germany. During a controversy (1929–30) over paying war reparations to the Allies, the party, led by Alfred Hugenberg, allied with the Nazi Party in favor of stopping payments. In 1933 it joined a coalition that supported Adolf Hitler as chancellor and passed the Enabling Act; along with all German political parties except the Nazis, the party was dissolved three months later.

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German National People’s Party 

(Deutschna-tionale Volkspartei), a political party in Germany representing the interests of the German monopolies and Junkers (Prussian landed nobility); it existed from 1918 to 1933.

The German National People’s Party was founded out of the German Conservative Party (Deutschkonservative Partei) and several other political groups. It demanded restoration of the monarchy, opposed parliamentary government, preached extreme chauvinism and anti-Semitism, and called for ruthless suppression of the revolutionary movement. The party joined the government from 1925 to 1928, which signified a general strengthening of reaction in Germany. Among the leaders of the party were O. Hergt and K. Westarp, and, from 1928, A. Hugenberg.

A coalition that was formed in January 1933 between the German National People’s Party and Hitler’s National Socialist Party helped establish the fascist dictatorship in Germany. However, as early as June 1933 the fascists forced the German National People’s Party to disband.

REFERENCES

Liebe, W. Die Deutschnationale Volkspartei 1918–1924. Düsseldorf, 1956.
Dörr, M. Die Deutschnationale Volkspartei 1925 bis 1928. Marburg, 1964.