Franz von Papen

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
Member of the Reichstag
In office 21 March 1933 – November 1933
Constituency	DNVP National List
In office November 1933 – August 1934
Member of the Landtag of Prussia for Westphalia North
In office 10 March 1921 – 1928
In office February 1930 – 20 July 1932
Preceded by	Theodor Roeingh
Personal details
Born	Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen (1879-10-29)29 October 1879 Werl, Prussia, German Empire
Died	2 May 1969(1969-05-02) (aged 89) Sasbach, Baden-Württemberg, 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 Western Front Battle of the Somme Battle of Vimy Ridge Middle Eastern theatre Sinai and Palestine Campaign
Awards	Iron Cross, 1st Class War Merit Cross

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 politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. A national conservative, he served as the chancellor of Germany in 1932, and then as the vice-chancellor under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1934. Papen is largely remembered for his role in bringing Hitler to power.

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.

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.