German-Hanoverian Party

The German-Hanoverian Party (German: Deutsch-Hannoversche Partei, DHP), also known as the Guelph Party (German: Welfenpartei), was an agrarian, federalist political party in the Kingdom of Prussia. It sought to restore the Kingdom of Hanover under the House of Welf, which had been turned into a mere province of the Kingdom of Prussia in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. It represented the interests of Hanoverian separatists and regionalists that sought to restore the overthrown House of Welf and separate from Prussia to either become a kingdom within Germany or to become independent outright. The party was a part of the anti-Prussian faction in the Reichstag and closely cooperated with the Catholic Centre Party, including opposing Kulturkampf and centralization legislations.

German political commentators mockingly considered the party the Protestant wing of the Centre Party, given their similar political programs and anti-Prussian agenda. E. Bukey remarked that "the DHP behaved as if it were an integral part of the Zentrum" and "had most Guelphs not been Protestants the DHP might have disappeared altogether." The party also cooperated with the SPD and both parties together voted against the anti-socialist laws and opposed military and colonial expansion; because the "SPD-DHP cooperation was a major factor in maintaining DHP strength in the province of Hanover", DHP was able to maintain its strong position in the German Empire. The party tried to separate Hanover from Germany in 1920, in a coup attempt that became known as the Welfenputsch [de]. The party declined after the failure of the 1924 Hanoverian secession referendum and moved to the left, abandoning monarchism in favour of republicanism and denouncing right-wing parties and movements. It disbanded in 1933 in response to the rise of the NSDAP.

The party was founded in 1867 in protest to the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover by the Kingdom of Prussia in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War. They wanted the revival of the Kingdom of Hanover and the restoration of the sequestrated assets of the former ruling House of Welf. The party therefore was also called the Welfen, and drew its strongest support from the rural areas around Hannover.

In the Reichstag, DHP deputies usually acted as allies of the anti-Prussian Centre Party parliamentary group under Ludwig Windthorst, who although a Catholic and leader of the Centre Party was a former Hanoverian Justice Minister who was loyal to the House of Welf. From 1890 the party was led by Georg von der Decken.

After the proclamation of the German Empire, the imperial authorities had failed to produce an integrated society, despite the rapid industrialization that took place during the Wilhelmine era. Occupational, religious and regional identities prevailed over a unitary German one, and "bonds of unity that did exist were provided by the artificial dominance of Prussia". As such, the DHP appealed to the regional pride of the voters, and demonstrated a lack of integration of Hannover into Prussia and thus Germany, as the Hanoverian population felt alienated from Berlin. The main voter base of the German-Hanoverian party was former nobility, small business owners, public officials and Lutherans; many groups of the Hanoverian society lost privileges upon their annexation to Prussia, and the local industry suffered as local business was forced to compete with Prussian Junkers as well. As such, many resented the loss of Hanoverian independence. The party also found support among other groups, such as Roman Catholics, who were persecuted by the now-dominating Prussian authorities during the Kulturkampf. The Catholic population was deeply opposed to the unification of Germany and feared further persecution and identity loss in a Prussia- and Protestant-dominated Germany. The party also enjoyed support of Hanoverian craftsmen and artisans, whose guilds and unions were undermined by the annexation, and of industrial workers, who had to deal with worse conditions as the local industry suffered.

The party won 45.2% of Hanoverian vote in the February 1867 North German federal election, and won 9 seats in the Reichstag. The DHP performed especially well in rural areas, while also dominating the city of Hanover thanks to the support of the industrial working class. Lastly, the party also performed well in Roman Catholic areas, such as the Duchy of Meppen-Lingen. In 1870, the regionalist supporters met in the city of Einbeck, where a Hannoverscher Wahlverein, responsible for picking election candidates was proclaimed. The party mainly focused on cultivating its strength in rural areas, advocating protectionist measures to shield Hanoverian agriculture and combat competition from Prussian landowners. The party appealed to the regionalist sentiment by reminding voters of the "good times" before 1866, such as lower taxes under independent Hanover. One of the main element of the DHP's campaign was its newspaper Deutsche Volkszeitung, which maintained a small circulation of 6000 copies sold daily. The party was also supported by unrelated regionalist newspapers, such as the Deutsch-Hannoverscher Volkskalender. Throughout the 19th century, the German-Hanoverian Party remained strictly separatist and campaigned mainly on local issues, while only commenting on national developments from a parochial Hanoverian perspective.

The DHP was closely associated with Ludwig Windthorst, who used to be a minister in independent Hanover. Despite supporting and campaigning for the DHP, Windthorst never joined the party, and focused on building an all-Catholic coalition, becoming a co-founder of the Catholic Centre Party in the process. Once the Centre Party entered politics, the DHP cooperated with it; both parties were opposed to statism and Prussian taxation, while also seeking a more decentralised German union and the preservation of confessional schools. As such, the German-Hanoverian Party condemned the Kulturkampf and spoke in favour of Roman Catholic interests. As part of its cooperation with the SPD, the DHP also opposed the Anti-Socialist Laws, as many of the party members "felt a genuine obligation to protect the working class and thus found it expedient to cooperate with the SPD". The party deputies also opposed and criticised the colonial policies of Germany, voting against army expansions and condemning colonial expansion as the cause of diplomatic tensions with other colonial empires.

The party suffered a severe decline in the early 20th century, as its "clerical-proletarian-agrarian coalition" began to break down. Industrial workers started flocking to the SDP as industrialisation progressed, while many landed proprietors and small businesses switched to the German Agrarian League. Lastly, the party also lost the support of local Roman Catholics as it severed its ties to the Centre Party in 1912. The main reason for the decline, however, was the transformation of Hanover from a rural nation into a heavily industrialised one, which eroded the party's overwhelmingly rural base.