Global InformationFranz von Papen information
Franz von Papen | |
|---|---|
 Papen in 1933 | |
| Chancellor of Germany (Weimar Republic) | |
| In office 1 June 1932 – 3 December 1932 | |
| President | Paul von Hindenburg |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Brüning |
| Succeeded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
| Ambassador of Germany to Turkey | |
| In office April 1939 – August 1944 | |
| Nominated by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Friedrich von Keller |
| Succeeded by | Wilhelm Haas (1952) |
| Ambassador of Germany to Austria | |
| In office August 1934 – February 1938 | |
| Nominated by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Kurt Rieth |
| Succeeded by | Carl-Hermann Mueller-Graaf (1952) |
| Vice-Chancellor of Germany | |
| In office 30 January 1933 – 7 August 1934 | |
| Chancellor | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Hermann Dietrich |
| Succeeded by | Franz Blücher (1949 as Vice-Chancellor of West Germany) |
| Reichskommissar of Prussia | |
| In office 30 January 1933 – 10 April 1933 | |
| Preceded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
| Succeeded by | Hermann Göring |
| In office 20 July 1932 – 3 December 1932 | |
| Preceded by | Otto Braun |
| Succeeded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 October 1879 Werl, Prussia, German Empire |
| Died | 2 May 1969 (aged 89) Sasbach, West Germany |
| Resting place | Wallerfangen, Germany |
| Political party | Centre Party (1918–1932) Independent (1932–1938) Nazi Party (NSDAP; 1938–1945) |
| Spouse |
Martha von Boch-Galhau
(m. 1905; died 1961) |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | Preußische Hauptkadettenanstalt |
| Profession | Diplomat, military officer |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  German Empire |
| Branch/service | Imperial German Army |
| Years of service | 1898–1919 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War I
|
| Awards |
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Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk (German: [ˈfʁants fɔn ˈpaːpn̩] ⓘ; 29 October 1879 – 2 May 1969) was a German Conservative and Nationalist politician, reactionary, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as the chancellor of Germany in 1932, and then as the vice-chancellor under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1934.
Born into a wealthy family of Westphalian Catholic aristocrats, Papen served in the Prussian Army from 1898 onward and was trained as a German General Staff officer. He served as military attaché in Mexico and the United States from 1913 to 1915, while also covertly organising acts of sabotage in the United States and quietly backing and financing Mexican forces in the Mexican Revolution on behalf of German military intelligence.
After being expelled as persona non grata by the United States State Department in 1915, he served as a battalion commander on the Western Front of World War I and finished his war service in the Middle Eastern theatre as a lieutenant colonel.
Asked to become chancellor of the Weimar Republic by President Paul von Hindenburg in 1932, Papen ruled by presidential decree. He launched the Preußenschlag coup against the Social Democratic Party-led Government in the Free State of Prussia. His failure to secure a base of support in the Reichstag led to his removal by Hindenburg and replacement by General Kurt von Schleicher.
Determined to return to power, Papen, believing that Adolf Hitler could be controlled once he was in the government, pressured Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor and Papen as vice-chancellor in 1933 in a cabinet ostensibly not under Nazi Party domination. Seeing military dictatorship as the only alternative to a Nazi Party chancellor, Hindenburg consented. Papen and his allies were quickly marginalized by Hitler and he left the government after the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, during which the Nazis killed some of his allies and confidants. Subsequently, Papen served the German Foreign Office as the ambassador in Vienna from 1934 to 1938 and in Ankara from 1939 to 1944. He joined the Nazi Party in 1938.[1]
After the Second World War, Papen was indicted for Nazi war crimes in the Nuremberg trials before the International Military Tribunal but was acquitted of all charges. In 1947, a West German denazification court found Papen to have acted as the main culprit in crimes relating to the Nazi government. Papen was given a sentence of eight years' imprisonment at hard labour, but was released on appeal in 1949. Franz von Papen's memoirs were published in 1952 and 1953; he died in 1969.
- ^ German Foreign Policy, 1918-1945, A Guide to Current Research and Resources By Christoph M. Kimmich, page 27