Franz von papen

Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen(pronounced/хf/ants f/n шpa felt //( listen)(Werl, October 29, 1879-Obersasbach, May 2, 1969) was a German politician, military and diplomat of the Republic of Weimar and the Third Reich, whose policies—see Revolutionary Conservative Movement—were fundamental to the rise of Adolf Hitler to power. Known for his intrigues, he was called "the devil with a hat."

Biography

He was born on October 29, 1879 in Werl, the son of a wealthy Westphalian Catholic family. Uhlan Cavalry Captain,^{[citation needed]} World War I surprised him in the United States as a military attache. He fought on the Western Front, in the Near East and finally in the Turkish army in Palestine. On his return he entered politics, joining the Center Party, also known as the Catholic Center Party. On June 1, 1932, he was brought out of relative obscurity when President Paul von Hindenburg chose him to replace then-chancellor Heinrich Brüning, leader of Papen's own party. This change was prompted in large part by the influence of General Kurt von Schleicher, when he was Hindenburg's closest adviser.

Franz von Papen in 1914.

Papen, expelled from the Catholic Center Party for his betrayal of Brüning, enjoyed virtually no support in the Reichstag, except for the conservative German National People's Party (DNVP). Papen ruled in an authoritarian fashion, launching a coup against Prussia's Social Democratic government and revoking his predecessor's ban on the Assault Section (SA) to satisfy the Nazis, whom he wanted to convince to support his government..

Ultimately, after two elections to the Reichstag he only succeeded in increasing the strength of the Nazis in parliament, without Papen gaining further parliamentary support, for which he resigned as chancellor on 17 November; he was replaced by Schleicher, who formed a new cabinet on 3 December, who hoped to establish a broad coalition government by gaining support from Nazis and business unionist Social Democrats.

As it became increasingly obvious that Schleicher's maneuver to find a majority in the Reichstag was unsuccessful, Papen and the leader of the German National People's Party (DNVP), Alfred Hugenberg, struck a deal with Hitler to erect it. Chancellor of a coalition government with the Nationalists and Papen serving as Vice Chancellor. Papen used his personal link to the aging President Paul von Hindenburg, persuading him to finally dismiss Schleicher on January 30, 1933, and appoint Hitler to the post of chancellor.

Hindenburg had always been against giving such a charge to Hitler, he had even done so publicly. He wanted Papen to be the one to recover it, but the latter's insistence on handing it over to Hitler, the advice of Oskar Hindenburg (the president's son) and the rumors of a possible coup made Hindenburg end up appointing Adolf Hitler to the post of chancellor. On July 20, 1933, von Papen served as Hitler's government representative at the Vatican for the signing of the Reichskonkordat between Germany and the Holy See.

Photographed in 1932

Once Hitler was in power, Papen and his allies were quickly marginalized and he was removed from the vice-chancellery in 1934. On June 30 of the same year, on the occasion of the Night of the Long Knives, when many enemies were killed of Hitler, both inside and outside the party (including Schleicher), von Papen was arrested and placed under house arrest for three days, but his secretary, Herbert von Bose, and Edgar Julius Jung, who wrote his speeches, were assassinated.

Later, von Papen served the Nazi government as ambassador to Austria from 1934 to 1938 and to Turkey from 1939 to 1944. In the latter country he carried out the greatest success of German espionage thanks to an informant who worked at the British Embassy, Elyesa Bazna, popularly known as Cicero. His main mission was to achieve the neutrality of the Turkish government, in the face of allied maneuvers, a task that was facilitated by the secret information he received. Here he met the then Apostolic Nuncio Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (future Pope John XXIII), who exerted a notable influence on him in the final decision of said diplomat to release many Jews who were going to be transferred to Nazi concentration camps.

Papen was captured by the Allies after the war and was one of the defendants in the important Nuremberg Trials and was acquitted.

During the 1950s he tried unsuccessfully to resume his political career and published his memoirs. He passed away in Obersasbach on May 2, 1969 at the age of 89.