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Papen cabinet
The Papen cabinet, headed by the independent Franz von Papen, was the nineteenth government of the Weimar Republic. It took office on 1 June 1932 when it replaced the second Brüning cabinet, which had resigned the same day after it lost the confidence of President Paul von Hindenburg.
Papen's cabinet, made up of right-wing independents and members of the German National People's Party (DNVP), was a continuation of the presidential cabinets that had begun under Heinrich Brüning. It governed using emergency decrees issued by Hindenburg that bypassed the participation of the Reichstag. In the Papen government's most dramatic move, Hindenburg allowed Papen to oust the elected government of the state of Prussia and name himself Prussian Reich commissioner, an action that was a significant step in the weakening of the Weimar Republic's democratic foundations.
In November 1932, following the second Reichstag election in less than a year, Hindenburg lost faith in Papen. Papen's cabinet formally resigned on 17 November 1932, but it continued in office in a caretaker capacity until Hindenburg replaced it on 3 December with the cabinet of his close aide General Kurt von Schleicher.
Papen's predecessor as chancellor, Heinrich Brüning, had been unable to build a stable ruling coalition in the Reichstag in order to pass the deflationary austerity measures that he thought were necessary to combat the effects of the Great Depression on the German economy. With the support of President Paul von Hindenburg, Brüning governed using the emergency decrees authorized in Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The worsening economy and his growing unpopularity among the people of Germany, combined with a number of policy differences with Hindenburg, caused him to lose the President's confidence by early 1932. At the urging of Reichswehr General Kurt von Schleicher and other close advisors, Hindenburg replaced him with von Papen.
Papen, then of the Catholic Centre Party, had come to Schleicher's attention as a candidate for chancellor through an article he wrote for the newspaper Der Ring in which he called for building a "genuinely conservative state-bloc" to fight the chaos to which he said Germany had been brought by the Weimar democracy.
The Centre Party's leadership let Papen know that if he were offered the chancellorship and replaced Brüning (also of the Centre Party), they would oppose him. As a result of the objections, Papen initially wanted to turn down Hindenburg's offer, but the President appealed to his patriotic sense of duty and habit of soldierly obedience. Papen let himself be convinced and resigned from the Centre Party the day before he took office.
Even though he had been a member of the Prussian Landtag and had contacts among monarchists, the military and leading men of business, Papen had no political following. His appointment as chancellor came as a total surprise to most of the German public. In the Reichstag he had the support only of the nationalist and conservative German National People's Party (DNVP) and German People's Party (DVP).
Papen's cabinet was formed all but exclusively on Schleicher's personnel suggestions. When Schleicher heard the complaint that Papen was no head for the government, he is said to have responded, "He isn't supposed to be one. But he is a hat." Papen's government became known as the "Cabinet of Barons", a name first used by Vorwärts, the newspaper of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), in its headline about the new government on 1 June 1932. Six of the cabinet's members were from the nobility and only three were commoners. The leading figure among them was Reichswehr Minister von Schleicher, who had been politically active behind the scenes for years. He became widely known to the public only when he took the position in Papen's cabinet.
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Papen cabinet
The Papen cabinet, headed by the independent Franz von Papen, was the nineteenth government of the Weimar Republic. It took office on 1 June 1932 when it replaced the second Brüning cabinet, which had resigned the same day after it lost the confidence of President Paul von Hindenburg.
Papen's cabinet, made up of right-wing independents and members of the German National People's Party (DNVP), was a continuation of the presidential cabinets that had begun under Heinrich Brüning. It governed using emergency decrees issued by Hindenburg that bypassed the participation of the Reichstag. In the Papen government's most dramatic move, Hindenburg allowed Papen to oust the elected government of the state of Prussia and name himself Prussian Reich commissioner, an action that was a significant step in the weakening of the Weimar Republic's democratic foundations.
In November 1932, following the second Reichstag election in less than a year, Hindenburg lost faith in Papen. Papen's cabinet formally resigned on 17 November 1932, but it continued in office in a caretaker capacity until Hindenburg replaced it on 3 December with the cabinet of his close aide General Kurt von Schleicher.
Papen's predecessor as chancellor, Heinrich Brüning, had been unable to build a stable ruling coalition in the Reichstag in order to pass the deflationary austerity measures that he thought were necessary to combat the effects of the Great Depression on the German economy. With the support of President Paul von Hindenburg, Brüning governed using the emergency decrees authorized in Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The worsening economy and his growing unpopularity among the people of Germany, combined with a number of policy differences with Hindenburg, caused him to lose the President's confidence by early 1932. At the urging of Reichswehr General Kurt von Schleicher and other close advisors, Hindenburg replaced him with von Papen.
Papen, then of the Catholic Centre Party, had come to Schleicher's attention as a candidate for chancellor through an article he wrote for the newspaper Der Ring in which he called for building a "genuinely conservative state-bloc" to fight the chaos to which he said Germany had been brought by the Weimar democracy.
The Centre Party's leadership let Papen know that if he were offered the chancellorship and replaced Brüning (also of the Centre Party), they would oppose him. As a result of the objections, Papen initially wanted to turn down Hindenburg's offer, but the President appealed to his patriotic sense of duty and habit of soldierly obedience. Papen let himself be convinced and resigned from the Centre Party the day before he took office.
Even though he had been a member of the Prussian Landtag and had contacts among monarchists, the military and leading men of business, Papen had no political following. His appointment as chancellor came as a total surprise to most of the German public. In the Reichstag he had the support only of the nationalist and conservative German National People's Party (DNVP) and German People's Party (DVP).
Papen's cabinet was formed all but exclusively on Schleicher's personnel suggestions. When Schleicher heard the complaint that Papen was no head for the government, he is said to have responded, "He isn't supposed to be one. But he is a hat." Papen's government became known as the "Cabinet of Barons", a name first used by Vorwärts, the newspaper of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), in its headline about the new government on 1 June 1932. Six of the cabinet's members were from the nobility and only three were commoners. The leading figure among them was Reichswehr Minister von Schleicher, who had been politically active behind the scenes for years. He became widely known to the public only when he took the position in Papen's cabinet.