German Christian Social People's Party

German Christian Social People's Party (German: Deutsche Christlich-Soziale Volkspartei, DCVP, Czech: Německá křesťansko sociální strana lidová) was an ethnic German political party in Czechoslovakia, formed as a continuation from the Austrian Christian Social Party.[1] It was founded in November 1919 in Prague. The party had good relations with its Czechoslovak brother party.[2]

In the summer of 1919, a programme for the party was drafted. On September 28, 1919, the programme was approved by a Bohemian party conference in Prague. On November 2, 1919, the program was adopted at a national party conference with delegates from Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia.[3]

The party had an agrarian front, Reichbauernbund (a name retained from the Austrian period), and a trade union centre, Deutsch-Christlicher Gewerbe- und Handwerkerbund.[4]

In the 1920 election, the party won ten seats (3.6% of the nationwide vote).[5]

In the 1925 election, DCVP won 13 parliamentary seats (4.3% of the vote).[5] After the election, the party joined the Czechoslovak national government, and DCVP politician Robert Mayr-Harting became Minister of Justice.[2][6] In 1926 Gottlieb Pruscha succeeded Kirsch as general secretary of the party.[4]

As of 1928, the party had around 38,000 members. Around 22,000 of them lived in Bohemia, 9,000 in Silesia and Northern Moravia and 7,000 in Central and Southern Moravia.[4]

In the 1929 election, the DCVP got 14 seats, having got 4.7% of the national vote.[5] After the election, DCVP was excluded from the national government.[2]

In the 1935 election, DCVP gathered 2% of the national vote. The party got six parliamentary seats.[5] After the election, the party supported the candidature of Edvard Beneš for president of the republic.[7] In 1936, DCVP was again included in the Czechoslovak government.[2] DCVP member of parliament Erwin Zajicek became Minister without portfolio.[8]

After the Anschluß of Austria, the rightwing tendencies inside DCVP were emboldened and took charge of the party.[9] The DCVP members of parliament joined the Sudeten German Party (SdP).[9] DCVP wasn't formally dissolved, but declared that the activities of the party were suspended.[9] The German Christian trade unions that had been tied to DCVP also aligned with SdP.[9]