Franz von Papen
From Metapedia
Franz von Papen (October 29, 1879–May 2, 1969) was a German politician and diplomat from the Catholic Center Party.
Born to a wealthy Catholic family in Westphalia, von Papen served as a soldier on the Turkish front in World War I. Returning to Germany, he entered politics, joining the Catholic Centre Party, in which the monarchist von Papen formed part of the far right wing. On June 1, 1932, he was plucked from relative obscurity when President Paul von Hindenburg chose him as Chancellor to replace Heinrich Brüning, the leader of von Papen's own party. This was largely due to the influence of General Kurt von Schleicher, at the time Hindenburg's closest advisor.
Franz von Papen, who was expelled from the Centre Party for his betrayal of Brüning, had practically no support in Reichstag except from the Conservative German National People's Party (DNVP). F. v. Papen ruled in an authoritarian manner, launching a coup against the Social Democratic led government of Prussia, and repealing his predecessor's ban on the SA as a way to appease the German National Socialists, whom he hoped to lure into supporting his government. Ultimately, after two Reichstag elections only increased the National Socialist's strength in the Reichstag without substantially increasing von Papen's own parliamentary support, he was forced to resign as Chancellor, and was replaced on December 4, 1932 by von Schleicher, who hoped to establish a broad coalition government by gaining the support of both the National Socialists and Social Democratic trade unionists.
As it became increasingly obvious that von Schleicher's maneuvering to find a Reichstag majority would be unsuccessful, von Papen and DNVP leader Alfred Hugenberg came to an agreement with Hitler to allow him to become Chancellor of a coalition government with the Nationalists, and with Papen serving as Vice-Chancellor. Franz von Papen used his personal ties with the aged Von Hindenburg to persuade the President to fire Schleicher and appoint Hitler to the post on January 30, 1933.
Once Hitler was in power, von Papen and his allies were quickly marginalized, and he retired from the Vice-Chancellorship in 1934, following the Night of the Long Knives, when many of Hitler's enemies inside and outside the party (including von Schleicher) were eliminated. Franz von Papen was arrested and put under house arrest for three days. Later, von Papen served the National Socialist government as Ambassador to Austria from 1934 to 1938 and Ambassador to Turkey from 1939 to 1944.
Franz von Papen was captured by the allies after the war and was one of the defendants at the main Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, but was acquitted.
He tried unsuccessfully to re-start his political career in the 1950s.
