The Museum of History and Holocaust Education (MHHE) at Kennesaw State University presents public events, exhibits, educational resources and training rooted in World War II and the Holocaust, and the generational shifts that relate to those events, in an effort to promote education and dialogue about the past and its significance today. The MHHE illuminates the role that individuals play in history and the effects of history on individuals.
The Voting and Power exhibition, opened in August 2022, asks essential questions:
- How did two constitutional democracies respond to changing circumstances after World War I?
- How did decisions of the people and the structure of the state interact to bring about divergent outcomes during the pivotal decades of the 20th century?
In this digital module, based on the exhibition, we invite you to examine what was at stake in each important election in the United States and Germany in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. We invite you to meet the candidates and discover the results. All the while, we ask you to consider who could vote, who was prevented from exercising the franchise, and how those seeking power attempted to influence the electorate.
Contents
Political Propaganda and Campaign Ephemera
Office of War Information Propaganda Poster courtesy U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Voting and Power in Germany and the United States: 1919-1945
- November 1918. World War I ended two days after Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated the throne of Germany. Who would negotiate the peace?
- December 1918. A centrist coalition held the first elections to create a National Assembly.
- February 1919. Germany’s National Assembly met in the town of Weimar to form the nation’s first parliamentary constitution.
- Meanwhile, the United States basked in the glow of its emergence onto the world stage. But what would this new national power mean for women, African Americans, immigrants, and workers, both urban and rural? Whose voices would contribute to the civic debates of the waxing 20th century? Whose votes would count?
A Timeline of Major Elections in Germany and the United States
1919. Weimar Republic.
What’s at stake?
- First free and democratic national elections after World War I. Need to form National Assembly.
Who can vote?
- All German citizens over 20. The Weimar Constitution lowered the voting age from 25 to 20 and included women and Jews.
Who’s running?
- All the major parties in Germany are running for seats in the Reichstag (parliament).
1920. Weimar Republic
What's at stake?
- People are disappointed in the performance of the coalition government; workers demand nationalizations and social improvements.
Who can vote?
- German citizens over 20.
Who's running?
- Parties on the far left and far right push to hold elections to unseat the Weimar coalition.
1920. United States.
What's at stake?
- First presidential election following World War I.
- The wartime boom has collapsed. Politicians are arguing over peace treaties and whether the U.S. should join the League of Nations. People are troubled by wars and revolutions overseas, and industrial strikes take place at home.
- 1919’s Red Summer saw anti-Black racial violence in major cities, and terrorist attacks on Wall Street instigate fears of radicals.
- President Wilson’s popularity has wained, and a stroke prevented him from campaigning.
- Prohibition has been the law of the land since January, leading to increased tensions between Catholic and Protestant Christians and immigrant communities and nativists.
Who can vote?
- Citizens over the age of 21.
- This is the first election in U.S. history where women can vote at the federal level.
- Black Americans have technically had the right to vote since 1870, but they have largely been prevented from exercising it in the American South since the end of Reconstruction, and many Black communities are threatened with racial terror if they become too prominent or push against the status quo.
Who's running?
- Warren G. Harding (Republican), James M. Cox (Democrat), and Eugene Debs (Socialist).
A Closer Look:
1924-1928
1928. Weimar Republic.
What's at stake?
- Economic recovery lifts the spirits of many Germans.
Who can vote?
- German citizens over 20.
Who's running?
- All the major parties run in the 5th Reichstag election of May 20.
1928. United States.
What's at stake?
- The economy is booming! Anti-Catholic and antiimmigrant sentiment continue to influence politics for many Americans.
- Prohibition remains a contentious issue, but most voters are content with the status quo.
Who can vote?
- All citizens over the age of 21, including women, Black people, American Indians, and naturalized immigrants but local restrictions prevent certain people from exercising the franchise.
Who’s running?
- Herbert Hoover is the Republican candidate. He is a moderate Protestant from Iowa and mild supporter of prohibition.
- Al Smith is the Democratic candidate. He is a Roman Catholic from New York who opposes prohibition.
A Closer Look:
1932. Weimar Republic.
What's at stake?
- Economic hardship and unemployment plague Depression era Germany. Many Germans seek someone to blame for their troubles.
- The three major political parties (Social Democrats, Communists, and Nazis) offer different paths forward.
Who can vote?
- All German citizens over the age of 20.
Who's running?
- Two elections are held in 1932. The Reichstag election in July brings all the prominent parties before voters again.
- The Social Democrats promise to maintain the republic and protect freedom while honoring Germany’s international obligations, planning to address the economic crisis through public works and unemployment compensation.
- The Communists blame French, British, and American capitalists for Germany’s problems and propose to abolish private property and ally with the Soviet Union.
- The Nazis blame Jews, Communists, liberals, and pacifists for the economic crisis and promise to restore Germany’s international status and national pride.
- In November, President Hindenburg runs for reelection against Adolf Hitler, head of the Nazis. (Hitler was only newly a German citizen, having been born in Austria.)
A Closer Look:
1932. United States.
What's at stake?
- The people of the United States are feeling the effects of the Great Depression that was kicked off by the 1929 stock market crash.
- Many are frustrated by what they see as an inadequate response at the federal level.
Who can vote?
- All citizens of the United States over the age of 21.
- Access to the franchise still differs regionally for minorities, especially Black Americans.
Who's running?
- Herbert Hoover, the Republican, is running as the incumbent.
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat, is running on a new platform which he has dubbed the “New Deal.”
1936. Germany.
What's at stake?
- The Nazi government wants to expand German territory while maintaining international legitimacy.
- Germany is also preparing to host the Olympics in Berlin on August 1.
Who can vote?
- In 1935, the Reichstag passed laws defining who was a Jew and then stripped them of their citizenship rights, making them “subjects” of the Reich instead. These race laws also applied to Roma, Sinti, and Afro-Germans.
- The regime also changed Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code to target homosexual men for arrest as “enemies of the state.”
- Women were also discouraged from participating in political life.
- With political parties other than the Nazis banned since 1933, citizens have fewer rights than they used to. Although “citizens” can vote, government surveillance and threats of political violence make elections neither free nor fair by democratic standards.
What's on the ballot?
- A single question vote asks if citizens approve of the military occupation of the Rhineland and other policies.
A Closer Look:
1936. United States.
What's at stake?
- The Great Depression is entering its eighth year.
- President Roosevelt is working to push New Deal economic policy through Congress and the courts, but policies already enacted, including Social Security and unemployment benefits, are popular with most Americans.
Who can vote?
- All citizens over the age of 21.
What's on the ballot?
- President Roosevelt is running as the incumbent on the Democratic (New Deal) ticket.
- His opponent is Republican Alf Landon, a political moderate.
A Closer Look:
1940. United States.
What's at stake?
- Europe is already at war, starting with Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939.
- Americans are concerned with whether or not to support the fight against the Axis Powers with many hoping to maintain neutrality and isolationism, while others take a more hawkish, nationalist stance.
- The Great Depression is still ongoing with some New Deal policies losing in the courts, at the state level, and in the court of public opinion.
- Congress has passed the first peacetime draft with the Selective Service Act signed into law by President Roosevelt on September 16. Still, Roosevelt promises that there will be no foreign wars if he is reelected for a third term.
Who can vote?
- All citizens over the age of 21.
Who's running?
- President Roosevelt is running as the incumbent against Republic Wendell Willkie.
- By running for a third presidential term, Roosevelt has broken with tradition, making this a major issue in the election.
1944. United States.
What's at stake?
- Having entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. is preoccupied with fighting the war with the Allies against the Axis Powers.
- Now a wartime president, Roosevelt decides to run for a fourth term.
Who can vote?
- Citizens over the age of 21.
- In November 1942, Congress lowered the draft age to 18, prompting protests in favor of lowering the voting age along with it. Some states followed suit, but this was not yet done at the federal level.
- Japanese American citizens, incarcerated in “War Relocation Camps” since February of 1942, were told that they were qualified to vote absentee in their home states, but the logistics of doing so were difficult.
Who's running?
- Franklin Roosevelt runs as the Democratic incumbent against the Republican governor of New York, Thomas Dewey.
A Closer Look:
1948. United States.
What's at stake?
- Who will lead the country after World War II? Do the people want to maintain rule by the coalition represented by the Democratic party, or are they interested in a change?
- How will the United States engage with the world and navigate social and economic issues at home?
Who can vote?
- Citizens over the age of 21. (The 26th amendment to the Constitution lowering the voting age to 18 won’t pass until 1971.)
- Black citizens in the South are beginning to push harder for their rights to exercise the franchise. They are making some inroads, with the Supreme Court ruling the “white primary” unconstitutional in 1944, but they continue to face road blocks in the Jim Crow South.
Who's running?
- President Harry S. Truman is running as the Democratic incumbent, but he is facing challenges from former Democrats discontented with his policies and with the Democratic coalition. Truman favors international cooperation and more open refugee policies after the war.
- These challengers include Strom Thurmond, running as a States’ Rights Democrat, and Henry Wallace running as a Progressive Democrat.
- Thomas Dewey is running on the Republican ticket.
A Closer Look:
1949. Germany.
What's at stake?
- West Germany has been occupied by the United States, Great Britain, and France since May of 1945, and East Germany has been occupied by the Soviet Union.
- 1949 marks the first year when elections will be held in the new nations of East Germany and West Germany. With Berlin divided down the middle and surrounded by East Germany, it is clear that these elections will be influenced by the former occupying forces.
- Germany is still in the process of undergoing “de-Nazification,” but this works differently in the West and in the East.
- Germany has been stripped of its wartime territorial gains, and some pre-war land has been ceded to the Soviet Union and Poland. The future remains uncertain.
Who can vote?
- Citizens of West Germany can vote in the election for the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Many displaced persons and former prisoners in the concentration camp system seek refuge in West Germany.
- Citizens of East Germany can vote in the election for the newly established German Democratic Republic (GDR), but the only party allowed in that new nation is the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, aligned with the Soviet Union.
What's on the ballot?
- FRG holds its West German Federal Election in August.
- GDR holds its East German Constitutional Assembly in May.
A Closer Look:
Political Propaganda and Campaign Ephemera
Candidates seeking to win elections and political parties seeking to gain approval use colorful imagery and simple messaging to target potential voters and supporters. Sometimes their messaging is positive, focused on name and facial recognition and simple images of what they bring to the table. Often their messaging is negative, focusing attention on the mistakes and alleged dangers represented by their opponents. As you look at these political ads from the 1930s and 1940s, consider the use of rhetoric and imagery in the political ads you see on TV and the internet today. Images courtesy United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, and Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.
Protecting Voting Rights
At the state and local levels, organizations work to get out the vote and advocate for full access to voting rights for people who haven’t always had access to the franchise. In Georgia, the white primary and the county unit system historically prevented Black voters and people living in cities from gaining political power. These articles and ephemera document efforts to end the county unit system and ensure that a system of “one person, one vote” prevailed in the state. Reproductions courtesy League of Women Voters Collection, Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.
Shifting Focus
Notice how the focus of the organization shifts over the years, especially with the onset of World War II. Notes on the Citizenship Day materials from 1939 reveal that even voters in Georgia were concerned with “radicalism in Germany and Russia” and “U.S. responsibility” in international affairs. Reproductions of ephemera courtesy Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Reproductions of campaign ephemera courtesy of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.
Smearing Oponents
Opponents of a candidate will often endeavor to paint them as aligned with noxious elements in society, as Gilson Randolph did in this article about Herbert Hoover and the Ku Klux Klan.
Countering the Narrative
In response, campaigns must provide counter-narratives in public, like this one depicting Franklin Roosevelt as a strong leader, despite efforts of his opponents to get voters to focus on his disability.
Campaign Buttons
Campaign buttons are a simple way to show public support for a political party or preferred candidate. The buttons on display here range from John Slaton’s Georgia State Senate Campaign in 1909 to the presidential election of 1928 and eventually Franklin Roosevelt’s presidential campaigns of the 1930s and 1940s. Courtesy Atlanta History Center.
Showing Support
Political buttons can also be used to galvanize support for parties and causes among fellow voters. The “Remember Pearl Harbor” button and 1936 Frankfurt am Main button were both intended to convince voters to show support for the party in power. Courtesy Museum of History and Holocaust Education.
Targeting Voters
Political campaigns target particular groups of voters by attempting to appeal to their cultural touchstones and style preferences. The Hoover campaign made a special effort to appeal to Black voters, non-English speakers, and women during their 1932 campaign. Candidates at the federal level often make an effort to balance foreign and domestic issues, measuring their own priorities against those of the voters.
Exhibiting Sensitive Materials
The Museum of History and Holocaust Education collects, interprets, and displays artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts to help visitors understand the past and its impact on the present. Some of the materials may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views. We recognize that they may be harmful or difficult to view. We provide access to these materials to preserve the historical record and to encourage conversation, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors found within them.
Youth Organizations
Power and loyalty were carefully cultivated in youth organizations such as the League of German Girls and the Hitler Youth. Boys in the Hitler Youth were given special daggers, like this one, as part of their induction into this paramilitary organization. Surrounded by so much Nazi imagery, it was clear to anyone living in the Third Reich that this was a state where one party ruled, and opposition would not be tolerated. Courtesy Museum of History and Holocaust Education.
Power and Imagery
Shortly after Hitler and the Nazi Party gained control of Germany, they worked to consolidate power, both through the enactment of laws and through the proliferation of popular culture. This book “Kampf um’s Dritte Reich: Eine Historische Bildefolge,” waspublished in 1933, offering collectors of cigarette cards a place to paste stickers that tell the story of the glorious rise of the Third Reich. They also made their symbols ubiquitous through the printing of swastikas on items as mundane as dinner plates and napkins. Courtesy Museum of History and Holocaust Education, book given in memory of Alexander Maczyorskii.
Conclusion
Voting and Power was created to draw attention to the importance of free and fair elections in democratic societies. During September 2022, the MHHE hosted a virtual "Voting and Power Conversation Series" to share insights from political science professors and historians and encourage students to register to vote. After exploring this digital module, please visit our website to access materials provided by the guest speakers in the conversation series.
The power to affect the outcomes of future elections is in your hands. Think critically, and exercise that power with care!
Credits:
Unless otherwise indicated, photos are copyright Museum of History and Holocaust Education