Determined to return to power, Papen, believing thatAdolf 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 underNazi Party domination. Seeingmilitary 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 theNight of the Long Knives in 1934, during which the Nazis placed him underhouse arrest, ransacked his office and murdered some of his close associates.
Subsequently, Papen served theGerman Foreign Office as the ambassador inVienna from 1934 to 1938 and inAnkara from 1939 to 1944. He joined the Nazi Party in 1938.
Papen was born into a wealthy and nobleCatholic family inWerl,Westphalia, the third child ofFriedrich von Papen-Köningen [de] (1839–1906) and his wife Anna Laura von Steffens (1852–1939).[1] His father, a cavalry officer in thePrussian Army, had served in theSecond Schleswig War, theAustro-Prussian War, and theFranco-Prussian War, taking part in the battles ofDybbøl,Königgrätz, andSedan, and in theSiege of Paris. He was also a friend of KaiserWilhelm II, whom he had met as a student inBonn, where both men had been members of theCorps Borussia Bonn; after his military career, he held several posts in local politics, including that of honorary deputy mayor (Bürgermeister) ofWerl. Members of the Papen family, which helderbsälzer status, had enjoyed the hereditary right to mine brine salt at Werl since 1298, a fact of which Franz was very proud; he always believed in the superiority of the aristocracy over commoners.[2]
On 3 May 1905, he marriedMartha von Boch-Galhau [de] (1880–1961), the daughter ofRené von Boch-Galhau [de], a wealthy Saarland industrialist and member of theVilleroy & Boch dynasty of ceramics manufacturers; her dowry made him a very rich man.[3] An excellent horseman and a man of much charm, Papen cut a dashing figure and during this time, befriendedKurt von Schleicher.[3] Fluent in both French and English, he travelled widely all over Europe, the Middle East and North America.[3] He was devoted to KaiserWilhelm II.[4] Influenced by the books of GeneralFriedrich von Bernhardi, Papen was amilitarist throughout his life.[4]
Military attaché and spymaster in Washington, D.C.
He entered the diplomatic service in December 1913 as amilitary attaché to the German ambassador in the United States.
In early 1914 he travelled toMexico (to which he was also accredited) and observed theMexican Revolution. At one time, when the anti-Huerta Zapatistas were advancing on Mexico City, Papen organised a group of European volunteers to fight for Mexican GeneralVictoriano Huerta.[5] In the spring of 1914, as German military attaché to Mexico, Papen was deeply involved in selling arms to the government of General Huerta, believing he could place Mexico in the German sphere of influence, though the collapse of Huerta's regime in July 1914 ended that hope.[6] In April 1914, Papen personally observed theUnited States occupation of Veracruz when the US seized the city ofVeracruz, despite orders from Berlin to stay in Mexico City.[7] During his time in Mexico, Papen acquired the love of international intrigue and adventure that characterised his later diplomatic postings in the United States, Austria and Turkey.[7] On 30 July 1914, Papen arrived inWashington, D.C., from Mexico to take up his post as German military attaché to the United States.[8]
Papen as the German Military Attaché for Washington, D.C. in 1915
During theFirst World War, Papen tried to buy weapons for Germany in the United States, but the British blockade made shipping arms to Germany almost impossible.[9] On 22 August 1914, Papen hired US private detective Paul Koenig, based inNew York City, to conduct a sabotage and bombing campaign against businesses in New York owned by citizens from the Allied nations.[10] Papen, who was given an unlimited fund of cash to draw on by Berlin, attempted to block the British, French and Russian governments from buying war supplies in the United States.[9] Papen set up a front company that tried topreclusively purchase every hydraulic press in the US for the next two years to limit artillery shell production by US firms with contracts with the Allies.[9] To enable German citizens living in the Americas to return to Germany, Papen set up an operation in New York to forge US passports.[10]
Starting in September 1914, Papen abused hisdiplomatic immunity as German military attaché, violating US laws to start organising plans for incursions intoCanada for a campaign ofsabotage against canals, bridges and railroads.[11] In October 1914, Papen became involved with what was later dubbed "theHindu–German Conspiracy", by covertly arranging withIndian nationalists based inCalifornia forarms trafficking to the latter for a planned uprising against theBritish Raj.[12] In February 1915, Papen also covertly organised theVanceboro international bridge bombing, in which his diplomatic immunity protected him from arrest.[13] At the same time, he remained involved in plans to restore Huerta to power, and arranged for the arming and financing of a planned invasion of Mexico.[14]
Papen departing New York City on 22 December 1915, after being declaredpersona non grata by the U.S. government and recalled to Germany
Papen's covert operations were known toBritish intelligence, which shared its information with the US government.[15] His correspondence and other materials had been translated by Mary Jenkins, a graduate in German fromUniversity of Oxford. He had kept hischequebook stubs which provided the names of spies he had employed.[16]: 34 As a result, for complicity in the planning of acts of sabotage[17] the US government declared Papenpersona non grata on 3 December 1915.[18] He was recalled to Germany and, upon his return, he was awarded theIron Cross.
Papen remained involved in covert operations in the Americas. In February 1916, he contacted Mexican Colonel Gonzalo Enrile, living inCuba, in an attempt to arrange German support forFélix Díaz, the would-be strongman of Mexico.[19] Papen served as an intermediary betweenRoger Casement of theIrish Volunteers and German naval intelligence for the purchase and delivery of arms to be used inDublin during theEaster Rising of 1916. He remained involved in further covert operations withIndian nationalists as well. In April 1916, a US federalgrand jury returned an indictment against Papen for a plot to blow up Canada'sWelland Canal; he remained under indictment until he became Chancellor of Germany in mid-1932, at which time the charges were dropped.[20]
As a Catholic, Papen belonged to theCentre Party, the centrist party that almost all German Catholics supported, but during the course of the war, the nationalist conservative Papen became estranged from his party.[21] Papen disapproved ofMatthias Erzberger's cooperation with Social Democrats, and regarded theReichstag Peace Resolution of 19 July 1917 as almost treason.[21]
Later in World War I, Papen returned to the army on active service, at first on theWestern Front. In 1916 Papen took command of the 2nd Battalion of the93rd Reserve Infantry Regiment of the4th Guards Infantry Division fighting inFlanders.[22] On 22 August 1916, Papen's battalion took heavy losses while successfully resisting a British attack during theBattle of the Somme.[23] Between November 1916 – February 1917, Papen's battalion was engaged in almost continuous heavy fighting.[24] He was awarded theIron Cross, 1st Class. On 11 April 1917, Papen fought atVimy Ridge, where his battalion was defeated with heavy losses by theCanadian Corps.[24]
After Vimy, Papen asked for a transfer to the Middle East, which was approved.[24] From June 1917 Papen served as an officer on the General Staff in the Middle East, and then as an officer attached to theOttoman army inPalestine.[24][25] During his time in Constantinople, Papen befriendedJoachim von Ribbentrop. Between October–December 1917, Papen took part in the heavy fighting in theSinai and Palestine Campaign.[26] He was promoted to the rank ofOberstleutnant.
After the Turks signed an armistice with the Allies on 30 October 1918, the GermanAsia Corps was ordered home, and Papen was in the mountains atKarapinar when he heard on 11 November 1918 that the war was over.[26] The new republic ordered soldiers' councils to be organised in the German Army, including the Asian corps, which GeneralOtto Liman von Sanders attempted to obey, and which Papen refused to obey.[27] Sanders ordered Papen arrested for his insubordination, which caused Papen to leave his post without permission as he fled to Germany in civilian clothing to personally meet Field MarshalPaul von Hindenburg, who had the charges dropped.[28]
After leaving the German Army in the spring of 1919, Papen purchased theHaus Merfeld [de], a country estate inDülmen, and became agentleman farmer.[29] In April 1920, during theCommunist uprising in the Ruhr, Papen took command of aFreikorps unit to protect Catholicism from the "Red marauders".[30] Impressed with his leadership of hisFreikorps unit, Papen was urged to pursue a career in politics.[31] In the fall of 1920, the president of the Westphalian Farmer's Association, Baron Engelbert von Kerkerinck zur Borg, told Papen his association would campaign for him if he ran for the PrussianLandtag.[32]
Papen entered politics and renewed his connection with theCentre Party. As amonarchist Papen positioned himself as part of thenational conservative wing of the party that rejected bothrepublicanism and theWeimar Coalition with theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In reality, Papen's political ideology was much closer to that of theGerman National People's Party (DNVP) and he seems to have belonged to the Centre Party out of loyalty to theCatholic Church in Germany and in the hope that he could shift his party's platform towards restoring theconstitutional monarchy deposed in 1918.[3][33] Despite this ambiguity, Papen was undoubtedly a highly powerful dealmaker within thepolitical party, particularly as the largest shareholder and the chief of the editorial board in the party's Catholic newspaperGermania, the most prestigious of the German Catholic media sources at the time.[34][35]
Papen was a member of theLandtag of Prussia from 1921 to 1928 and from 1930 to 1932, representing a heavily Catholic constituency in rural Westphalia.[36] However, he rarely attended Landtag sessions and never spoke at them during his elected mandate.[37] He subsequently tried to have his name entered as a candidate for the Centre Party for the Reichstag elections of May 1924, but this was blocked by the party leadership.[38] In February 1925, Papen was one of the six Centre deputies in the Landtag who voted with the German National People's Party and theGerman People's Party against the SPD-Centrecoalition government.[33] Papen was nearly expelled from the party for disobeying orders from his party leadership through his votes in the Landtag.[33] In the 1925 presidential elections, Papen surprised his party by supporting the DNVP candidatePaul von Hindenburg over the Centre Party's own candidateWilhelm Marx. Papen, along with two of his future cabinet ministers, was a member ofArthur Moeller van den Bruck's exclusive BerlinDeutscher Herrenklub (German Gentlemen's Club).[39][40]
In March 1930, Papen welcomed the coming ofpresidential government.[41] But with chancellorHeinrich Brüning's presidential government's dependence upon the Social Democrats in theReichstag to "tolerate" it by not voting to cancel laws passed underArticle 48, Papen grew more critical.[41] In a speech before a group of farmers in October 1931, Papen called for Brüning to disallow the SPD and base his presidential government on "tolerance" from theNSDAP instead.[42] Papen demanded that Brüning transform the "concealed dictatorship" of a presidential government into a dictatorship that would unite all of the German right under its banner.[42] In the March–April1932 German presidential election, Papen voted for Hindenburg on the grounds he was the best man to unite the right, while in the Prussian Landtag's election for the Landtag speaker, Papen voted for the NaziHans Kerrl.[42]
Papen (left) with his eventual successor, Defence MinisterKurt von Schleicher, watching a horse race in Berlin-Karlshorst
On 1 June 1932, Papen was suddenly promoted to high office when President Hindenburg appointed himchancellor, an appointment he owed to GeneralKurt von Schleicher, an old friend from the pre-war General Staff, and an influential advisor of President Hindenburg. Schleicher selected Papen because his conservative, aristocratic background and military career made him acceptable to Hindenburg and would create the groundwork for a possible coalition between the Centre Party and the Nazis.[43] It was Schleicher, who himself became Defence Minister, who was responsible for selecting the entire cabinet.[44] The day before, Papen had promised party chairmanLudwig Kaas he would not accept any appointment. After Papen broke his pledge, Kaas branded him the "Ephialtes of the Centre Party", after the infamous traitor of theBattle of Thermopylae. On 31 May 1932, in order to forestall being expelled from the party, Papen resigned from it.[39]
Papen consented on 31 May to Hitler's and Hindenburg's agreement of 30 May that theNazi Party would tolerate Papen's government if fresh elections were called, the ban on theSA cancelled, and the Nazis granted access to the radio network.[46] As agreed, the Papen government dissolved the Reichstag on 4 June and calleda national election by 31 July 1932, in the hope that the Nazis would win the largest number of seats in the Reichstag, which would allow him the majority he needed to establish an authoritarian government.[37] In a so-called "presidential government", Papen would rule by Article 48, having emergency decrees signed by President Hindenburg.[37] On 16 June 1932, the new government lifted the ban on the SA and the SS, eliminating the last remaining rationale for Nazi support for Papen.[47]
Papen in June 1932
In June and July 1932, Papen represented Germany at theLausanne conference where, on 9 July, an agreement was reached for Germany to make a one-time payment of 3 million Reichsmarks in bonds to theBank for International Settlements. The redemption of the bonds, which would not start for at least three years, was to be the last of Germany's reparations payments.[48] Papen nevertheless immediately repudiated the commitment upon his return to Berlin.[49] The treaty signed at the Lausanne Conference was not ratified by any of the countries involved,[50] and Germany never resumed paying reparations after the expiration of theHoover Moratorium in 1932.[51]
Through Article 48, Papen enacted on 4 September economic policies that cut the payments offered by the unemployment insurance fund, subjected jobless Germans seeking unemployment insurance to a means test, and lowered wages (including those reached by collective bargaining), while arranging tax cuts for corporations and the rich.[52][53] These austerity policies made Papen deeply unpopular with the general population but had the backing of the business elite.[54][55]
Negotiations between the Nazis, the Centre Party, and Papen for a new Prussian government began on 8 June but broke down due to the Centre Party's hostility to its deserter Papen.[47] On 11 July 1932 Papen received the support of the cabinet and the President for a decree allowing the national government to take over the Prussian government, which was dominated by the SPD. This move was later justified through the false rumour that the Social Democrats and theCommunist Party of Germany (KPD) were planning a merger.[56][57] The political violence of the so-calledAltona Bloody Sunday clash between Nazis, Communists, and the police on 17 July, gave Papen his pretext.[58] On 20 July, Papen launched a coup against the SPD coalition government of Prussia in the so-calledPreußenschlag (Prussian Coup). Berlin was put on military lockdown, and Papen informed the members of the Prussian cabinet that they were being removed from office. Papen declared himself Commissioner (Reichskommissar) of Prussia by way of another emergency decree that he elicited from Hindenburg, further weakening the democracy of the Weimar Republic.[59] Papen viewed the coup as a gift to the Nazis, who had been informed of it by 9 July, and were now supposed to support his government.[58]
On 23 July, Papen instructed German representatives to walk out of theWorld Disarmament Conference after the French delegation warned that allowing GermanyGleichberechtigung ("equality of status") in armaments would lead to another world war. Papen stated that Germany would not return to the conference until the other powers agreed to consider his demand for equal status.[60]
Papen arriving for the Reichstag session of 12 September 1932
In the Reichstag election of 31 July the Nazis won the largest number of seats. To combat the rise in SA and SS political terrorism that began right after the elections, Papen on 9 August brought in via Article 48 a new law that drastically streamlined the judicial process in death penalty cases while limiting the right of appeal.[61][62] New special courts were also created.[61] A few hours later in the town of Potempa,five SA men murdered Communist labourer Konrad Pietrzuch.[62] The "Potempa Five" were promptly arrested, then convicted and sentenced to death on 23 August by a special court.[63] The Potempa case generated enormous media attention, and Hitler made it clear that he would not support Papen's government if the "Five" were executed. On 2 September, Papen in his capacity as Commissioner of Prussia acquiesced to Hitler's demands and commuted the sentences of the "Five" to life imprisonment.[64]
On 11 August, the public holiday of Constitution Day, which commemorated the adoption of the Weimar Constitution in 1919, Papen and his Interior Minister BaronWilhelm von Gayl called a press conference to announce plans for a new constitution that would, in effect, turn Germany into a dictatorship.[65] Two days later, Schleicher and Papen offered the position of vice-chancellor to Hitler, who rejected it.[66]
Reichstag on 12 September 1932 – Papen (standing, left) demands the floor and is ignored by SpeakerGöring (right).
When the new Reichstag assembled on 12 September, Papen hoped to destroy the growing alliance between the Nazis and the Centre Party.[63] That day at the President's estate in Neudeck, Papen, Schleicher, and Gayl obtained in advance from Hindenburg a decree to dissolve the Reichstag, then secured another decree to suspend elections beyond the constitutional 60 days.[63] The Communists tabled amotion of no confidence in the Papen government.[67] Papen had anticipated this move by the Communists, but had been assured that there would be an immediate objection. However, when no one objected, Papen placed the red folder containing the dissolution decree on Reichstag presidentHermann Göring's desk. He demanded the floor in order to read it, but Göring pretended not to see him; the Nazis and the Centre Party had decided to support the Communist motion.[68][69][70] The motion carried by 512 votes to 42.[71][72] Realizing that he did not have nearly enough support to go through with his plan to suspend elections, Papen decided to call another election to punish the Reichstag for the vote of no-confidence.[71]
Papen and Schleicher in 1932
On 27 October, the Supreme Court of Germany issued a ruling that Papen's coup deposing the Prussian government was illegal, but allowed Papen to retain control of Prussia.[73] In November 1932, Papen violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles by approving a program of refurbishment for the German Navy of an aircraft carrier, six battleships, six cruisers, six destroyer flotillas, and 16 submarines, intended to allow Germany to control both the North Sea and the Baltic.[74]
In theNovember 1932 election, the Nazis lost seats, but Papen was still unable to secure a Reichstag that could be counted on not to pass another vote of no-confidence in his government.[75] Papen's attempt to negotiate with Hitler failed.[76] Under pressure from Schleicher, Papen resigned on 17 November and formed a caretaker government.[75] He told his cabinet that he planned to have martial law declared, which would allow him to rule as a dictator.[75] However, at a cabinet meeting on 2 December, Papen was informed by Schleicher's associate GeneralEugen Ott about the dubious results ofReichswehr war games, that showed there was no way to maintain order against the Nazis and Communists.[77][78] Realizing that Schleicher was moving to replace him, Papen asked Hindenburg to dismiss Schleicher as Defence Minister. Instead, Hindenburg appointed Schleicher as chancellor.[77]
After his resignation, Papen regularly visited Hindenburg, missing no opportunity to attack Schleicher in these visits.[79] Schleicher had promised Hindenburg that he would never attack Papen in public when he became chancellor, but in a bid to distance himself from the very unpopular Papen, Schleicher in a series of speeches in December 1932 – January 1933 did just that, upsetting Hindenburg.[80] Papen was embittered by the way his former best friend, Schleicher, had brought him down, and was determined to become chancellor again.[40] On 4 January 1933, Hitler and Papen met in secret at the bankerKurt Baron von Schröder's house in Cologne to discuss a common strategy against Schleicher.[81]
On 9 January 1933, Papen and Hindenburg agreed to form a new government that would bring in Hitler.[82] On the evening of 22 January in a meeting at the villa ofJoachim von Ribbentrop in Berlin, Papen made the concession of abandoning his claim to the chancellorship and committed to support Hitler as chancellor in a proposed "Government of National Concentration", in which Papen would serve asvice-chancellor andMinister-President of Prussia.[83] On 23 January, Papen presented to Hindenburg his idea for Hitler to be made chancellor, while keeping him "boxed" in.[84] On the same day Schleicher, to avoid a vote of no-confidence in the Reichstag when it reconvened on 31 January, asked the president to declare a state of emergency. Hindenburg declined and Schleicher resigned at midday on 28 January. Hindenburg formally gave Papen the task of forming a new government.[85]
In the morning of 29 January, Papen met with Hitler and Hermann Göring at his apartment, where it was agreed that Papen would serve as vice-chancellor and Commissioner for Prussia.[86][87] It was in the same meeting that Papen first learned that Hitler wanted to dissolve the Reichstag when he became chancellor and, once the Nazis had won a majority of the seats in the ensuing elections, to activate the Enabling Act in order to be able to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag.[88] When the people around Papen voiced their concerns about putting Hitler in power, he asked them, "What do you want?" and reassured them, "I have the confidence of Hindenburg! In two months, we'll have pushed Hitler so far into the corner that he'll squeal."[89][90]
Editor-in-ChiefTheodor Wolff commented in an editorial in theBerliner Tagblatt on January 29, 1933: "The strongest natures, those with the iron forehead or the board before the head, will insist on the anti-parliamentary solution, on the closing of theReichstag House, on thecoup d'état."[91]
In the end, the president, who had previously vowed never to let Hitler become chancellor, appointed Hitler to the post at 11:30 am on 30 January 1933, with Papen as vice-chancellor.[92] While Papen's intrigues appeared to have brought Hitler into power, the crucial dynamic was in fact provided by the Nazi Party's electoral support, which made military dictatorship the only alternative to Nazi rule for Hindenburg and his circle.[93]
At the formation ofHitler's cabinet on 30 January, only three Nazis held cabinet portfolios: Hitler, Göring, andWilhelm Frick. The other eight posts were held by conservatives close to Papen, including the DNVP chairman,Alfred Hugenberg. Additionally, as part of the deal that allowed Hitler to become chancellor, Papen was granted the right to attend every meeting between Hitler and Hindenburg. Moreover, cabinet decisions were made by majority vote. Papen naively believed that his conservative friends' majority in the cabinet and his closeness to Hindenburg would keep Hitler in check.[94]
Hitler and his allies instead quickly marginalised Papen and the rest of the cabinet. For example, as part of the deal between Hitler and Papen, Göring had been appointedinterior minister of Prussia, thus putting the largest police force in Germany under Nazi control. Göring frequently acted without consulting his nominal superior, Papen. On 1 February 1933, Hitler presented to the cabinet an Article 48 decree law that had been drafted by Papen in November 1932 allowing the police to take people into "protective custody" without charges. It was signed into law by Hindenburg on 4 February as the "Decree for the Protection of the German People".[95]
On the evening of 27 February 1933, Papen joined Hitler, Göring and Goebbels at theburning Reichstag and told him that he shared their belief that this was the signal for Communist revolution.[96] On 18 March 1933, in his capacity asReich Commissioner for Prussia, Papen freed the "Potempa Five" under the grounds the murder of Konrad Pietzuch was an act of self-defense, making the five SA men "innocent victims" of a miscarriage of justice.[97] Neither Papen nor his conservative allies waged a fight against theReichstag Fire Decree in late February or theEnabling Act in March. After the Enabling Act was passed, serious deliberations more or less ceased at cabinet meetings if they took place at all, which subsequently neutralised Papen's attempt to "box" Hitler in through cabinet-based decision-making.
At the Reichstag election of 5 March 1933, Papen was elected as a deputy in an electoral alliance with Hugenberg'sDNVP. Papen endorsed Hitler's plan, presented at a cabinet meeting on 7 March 1933, to destroy the Centre Party by severing the Catholic Church from it.[98] This was the origin of theReichskonkordat that Papen was to negotiate with the Catholic Church later in the spring of 1933.[99] On 5 April 1933, Papen founded a new political party called the League of German Catholics Cross and Eagle, which was intended as a conservative Catholic party that would hold the NSDAP in check while at the same time working with the NSDAP.[100] Both the Centre Party and the Bavarian People's Party declined to merge into Papen's new party while the rival Coalition ofCatholic Germans, which was sponsored by the NSDAP, proved more effective at recruiting German Catholics.[101]
Papen at the signing of theReichskonkordat in Rome on 20 July 1933
On 8 April Papen travelled to theVatican to offer aReichskonkordat that defined the German state's relationship with the Catholic Church. During his stay in Rome, Papen met the Italian Prime MinisterBenito Mussolini and failed to persuade him to drop his support for the Austrian chancellor Dollfuss.[102] Papen was euphoric at theReichskonkordat that he negotiated with CardinalEugenio Pacelli in Rome, believing that this was a diplomatic success that restored his status in Germany, guaranteed the rights of German Catholics in the Third Reich, and required the disbandment of the Centre Party and the Bavarian People's Party, thereby achieving one of Papen's main political goals since June 1932.[98] During Papen's absence, theLandtag of Prussia elected Göring as prime minister on 10 April. Papen saw the end of the Centre Party that he had engineered as one of his greatest achievements.[98] Later in May 1933, he was forced to disband the League of German Catholics Cross and Eagle owing to lack of public interest.[103]
Papen with Hitler on 1 May 1933
In September 1933, Papen visited Budapest to meet the Hungarian Prime MinisterGyula Gömbös, and to discuss how Germany and Hungary might best co-operate against Czechoslovakia.[104] The Hungarians wanted thevolksdeutsche (ethnic German) minorities in the Banat, Transylvania, Slovakia and Carpathia to agitate to return to Hungary in co-operation with the Magyar minorities, a demand that Papen refused to meet.[105] In September 1933, when the Soviet Union ended its secret military co-operation with Germany, the Soviets justified their move under the grounds that Papen had informed the French of the Soviet support for German violations of the Versailles Treaty.[106]
On 3 October 1933, Papen was named a member of theAcademy for German Law at its inaugural meeting.[107] Then, on 14 November 1933, Papen was appointed theReich Commissioner for the Saar.[108] TheSaarland was under the rule of the League of Nations and a referendum was scheduled for 1935 under which the Saarlanders had the option to return to Germany, join France, or retain the status quo.[108] As a conservative Catholic whose wife was from the Saarland, Papen had much understanding of the heavily Catholic region, and he gave numerous speeches urging the Saarlanders to vote to return to Germany.[108] Papen was successful in persuading the majority of the Catholic clergy in the Saarland to campaign for a return to Germany, and 90% of the Saarland voted to return to Germany in the 1935 referendum.[109]
Papen began covert talks with other conservative forces with the aim of convincing Hindenburg to restore the balance of power back to the conservatives.[110] By May 1934, it had become clear that Hindenburg was dying, with doctors telling Papen that the president only had a few months left to live.[111] Papen together withOtto Meissner, Hindenburg's chief of staff, and MajorOskar von Hindenburg, Hindenburg's son, drafted a "political will and last testament", which the president signed on 11 May 1934.[111] At Papen's request, the will called for the dismissal of certain Nazi ministers from the cabinet, and regular cabinet meetings, which would have achieved Papen's plan of January 1933 for a broad governing coalition of the right.[111]
With the Army command recently having hinted at the need for Hitler to control the SA, Papen delivered anaddress at theUniversity of Marburg on 17 June 1934 where he called for the restoration of some freedoms, demanded an end to the calls for a "second revolution" and advocated the cessation of SA terror in the streets.[112] Papen intended to "tame" Hitler with the Marburg speech, and gave the speech without any effort at co-ordination beforehand with either Hindenburg or theReichswehr.[113] The speech was crafted by Papen's speech writer,Edgar Julius Jung, with the assistance of Papen's secretaryHerbert von Bose and Catholic leaderErich Klausener, and Papen had first seen the text of the speech only two hours before he delivered it at the University of Marburg.[114] The "Marburg speech" was well received by the graduating students of Marburg university who all loudly cheered the vice-chancellor.[115] Extracts were reproduced in theFrankfurter Zeitung, the most prestigious newspaper in Germany, and from there picked up by the foreign press.[112]
The speech incensed Hitler, and its publication was suppressed by the Propaganda Ministry.[116] Papen told Hitler that unless the ban on the Marburg speech was lifted and Hitler declared himself willing to follow the line recommended by Papen in the speech, he would resign and would inform Hindenburg why he had resigned.[116] Hitler outwitted Papen by telling him that he agreed with all of the criticism of his regime made in the Marburg speech; told him Goebbels was wrong to ban the speech and he would have the ban lifted at once; and promised that the SA would be put in their place, provided Papen agreed not to resign and would meet with Hindenburg in a joint interview with him.[116] Papen accepted Hitler's suggestions.[117]
Two weeks after the Marburg speech, Hitler responded to the armed forces' demands to suppress the ambitions ofErnst Röhm and the SA by purging the SA leadership. The purge, known as theNight of the Long Knives, took place between 30 June and 2 July 1934. Though Papen's bold speech against some of the excesses committed by the Nazis had angered Hitler, the latter was aware that he could not act directly against the vice-chancellor without offending Hindenburg. Instead, in the Night of the Long Knives, the Vice-Chancellery, Papen's office, was ransacked by theSchutzstaffel (SS); his associatesHerbert von Bose,Erich Klausener andEdgar Julius Jung were shot. Papen himself was placed under house arrest at his villa with his telephone line cut. Some accounts indicate that this "protective custody" was ordered by Göring, who felt the ex-diplomat could be useful in the future.[118]
Reportedly Papen arrived at the Chancellery, exhausted from days of house arrest without sleep, to find the chancellor seated with other Nazi ministers around a round table, with no place for Papen but a hole in the middle. He insisted on a private audience with Hitler and announced his resignation, stating, "My service to the Fatherland is over!" The following day, Papen's resignation as vice-chancellor was formally accepted and publicised, with no successor appointed. When Hindenburg died on 2 August, the last conservative obstacle to complete Nazi rule was gone.[119]
Hitler offered Papen the assignment of German ambassador toVienna, which Papen accepted.[120] Papen was a German nationalist who always believed that Austria was destined to join Germany in anAnschluss (annexation), and felt that a success in bringing that about might restore his career.[121] During his time as ambassador to Austria, Papen stood outside the normal chain of command of theAuswärtiges Amt (Foreign Office) as he refused to take orders fromKonstantin von Neurath, his own former Foreign Minister. Instead, Papen reported directly to Hitler.[122]
Papen met often with Austrian ChancellorKurt von Schuschnigg to assure him that Germany did not wish to annex his country, and only wanted the banned Austrian Nazi Party to participate in Austrian politics.[123] In late 1934-early 1935, Papen took a break from his duties as German ambassador in Vienna to lead theDeutsche Front ("German Front") in theSaarland plebiscite on 13 January 1935, where the League of Nations observers monitoring the vote noted Papen's "ruthless methods" as he campaigned for the region to return to Germany.[124]
Papen also contributed to achieving Hitler's goal of undermining Austrian sovereignty and bringing about theAnschluss.[125] On 28 August 1935, Papen negotiated a deal under which the German press would cease its attacks on the Austrian government, in return for which the Austrian press would cease its attacks on Germany's.[126] Papen played a major role in negotiating the 1936 Austro-German agreement under which Austria declared itself a "German state" whose foreign policy would always be aligned with Berlin's and allowed for members of the "national opposition" to enter the Austrian cabinet in exchange for which the Austrian Nazis abandoned their terrorist campaign against the government.[127][128] The treaty Papen signed in Vienna on 11 July 1936 promised that Germany would not seek to annex Austria and largely placed Austria in the German sphere of influence, greatly reducing Italian influence on Austria.[129] In July 1936, Papen reported to Hitler that the Austro-German treaty he had just signed was the "decisive step" towards ending Austrian independence, and it was only a matter of time before theAnschluss took place.[130]
In the summer and fall of 1937, Papen pressured the Austrians to include more Nazis in the government.[131] In September 1937, Papen returned to Berlin whenBenito Mussolini visited Germany, serving as Hitler's adviser on Italo-German talks about Austria.[132] Papen joined the Nazi Party in 1938.[133] Papen was dismissed from his mission in Austria on 4 February 1938, but Hitler drafted him to arrange a meeting between the German dictator and Schuschnigg atBerchtesgaden.[134] The ultimatum that Hitler presented to Schuschnigg at the meeting on 12 February 1938 led to the Austrian government's capitulation to German threats and pressure, and paved the way for theAnschluss that year.
Papen later served the German government asAmbassador to Turkey from 1939 to 1944. In April 1938, after the retirement of the previous ambassador,Friedrich von Keller on his 65th birthday, the German foreign ministerJoachim von Ribbentrop attempted to appoint Papen as ambassador in Ankara, but the appointment was vetoed by the Turkish presidentMustafa Kemal Atatürk who remembered Papen well with considerable distaste when he had served alongside him in World War I.[135] In November 1938 and in February 1939, the new Turkish president Generalİsmet İnönü again vetoed Ribbentrop's attempts to have Papen appointed as German ambassador to Turkey.[136] In April 1939, Turkey accepted Papen as ambassador.[136] Papen was keen to return to Turkey, where he had served during World War I.[137]
Papen arrived in Turkey on 27 April 1939, just after the signing of a UK-Turkish declaration of friendship.[138] İnönü wanted Turkey to join the UK-inspired "peace front" that was meant to stop Germany.[139] On 24 June 1939, France and Turkey signed a declaration committing them to upholding collective security in the Balkans.[140] On 21 August 1939, Papen presented Turkey with a diplomatic note threatening economic sanctions and the cancellation of all arms contracts if Turkey did not cease leaning towards joining the UK-French "peace front", a threat that Turkey rebuffed.[141]
On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and two days later on 3 September 1939 the UK and France declared war on Germany.[142] Papen claimed later to have been opposed to Hitler's foreign policy in 1939, and was very depressed when he heard the news of the German attack on Poland on the radio.[142] Papen continued his work of representing theReich in Turkey under the grounds that resigning in protest "would indicate the moral weakening in Germany", which was something he could never do.[142]
On 19 October 1939, Papen suffered a notable setback when Turkey signed a treaty of alliance with France and the UK.[143] During thePhoney War, the conservative Catholic Papen found himself to his own discomfort working together with Soviet diplomats in Ankara to pressure Turkey not to enter the war on the Allied side.[144] In June 1940, with France'sdefeat, İnönü abandoned his pro-Allied neutrality, and Papen's influence in Ankara dramatically increased.[145]
Between 1940 and 1942 Papen signed three economic agreements that placed Turkey in the German economic sphere of influence.[146] Papen hinted more than once to Turkey that Germany was prepared to support Bulgarian claims to Thrace if Turkey did not prove more accommodating to Germany.[147] In May 1941, when the Germans dispatched an expeditionary force to Iraq to fight against the UK in theAnglo-Iraqi War, Papen persuaded Turkey to allow arms in Syria to be shipped along a railroad linking Syria to Iraq.[148] In June 1941, Papen successfully negotiated a Treaty of Friendship and Non-aggression with Turkey, signed on 17 June 1941, which prevented Turkey from entering the war on the Allied side.[149] AfterOperation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union that began on 22 June 1941, Papen persuaded Turkey to close the Turkish straits to Soviet warships, but was unable to have the straits closed to Soviet merchant ships as he demanded.[150]
Papen claimed after the war to have done everything within his power to save Turkish Jews living in countries occupied by Germany from deportation to the death camps, but an examination of theAuswärtige Amt's records does not support him.[151] During the war, Papen used his connections with Turkish Army officers with whom he served in World War I to try to influence Turkey into joining the Axis, held parties at the German embassy which were attended by leading Turkish politicians and used "special funds" to bribe Turks into following a pro-German line.[152] As an ambassador to Turkey, Papen survived a Soviet assassination attempt on 24 February 1942 by agents from theNKVD:[153] a bomb exploded prematurely, killing the bomber and no one else, although Papen was slightly injured. In 1943, Papen frustrated a UK attempt to have Turkey join the war on the Allied side by getting Hitler to send a letter to Inönü assuring him that Germany had no interest in invading Turkey and by threatening to have theLuftwaffe bombIstanbul if Turkey joined the Allies.[154]
In the summer and fall of 1943, realizing the war was lost, Papen attended secret meetings with the agents of the USOffice of Strategic Services (OSS) in Istanbul.[155] Papen exaggerated his power in Germany to the OSS, and asked for US support to make him dictator of a post-Hitler Germany.[155] US PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt rejected the offer when he heard of it and told the OSS to stop talking to Papen.[156] From October 1943, Papen and the German embassy gained access to the "Cicero" documents ofsecret agentElyesa Bazna, including information and theTehran Conference, which Papen revealed selectively to Inönu to strain Allied-Turkish relations.[157][158] In January 1944, Papen, after learning via the "Cicero" documents of a UK plan to have the Royal Air Force use airfields in Turkey to bomb the oil fields ofPloiești in Romania, told the Turkish foreign ministerHüseyin Numan Menemencioğlu that if Turkey allowed the RAF to use Turkish air fields to bomb Ploiești, the Luftwaffe would use its bases in Bulgaria and Greece to bomb and destroy Istanbul and Izmir.[159]
On 20 April 1944, Turkey, wishing to ingratiate itself with the Allies, ceased sellingchromium to Germany.[160] On 26 May 1944 Menemencioğlu announced that Turkey was reducing exports to Germany by 50%, and on 2 August 1944 Turkey severed diplomatic relations with Germany, forcing Papen to return to Berlin.[161] AfterPope Pius XI died in February 1939, his successorPope Pius XII did not renew Papen's honorary title ofPapal chamberlain. Asnuncio, the futurePope John XXIII, Angelo Roncalli, became acquainted with Papen in Greece and Turkey during World War II. The German government considered appointing Papen ambassador to theHoly See, but Pope Pius XII, after consultingKonrad von Preysing,Bishop of Berlin, rejected this proposal. In August 1944, Papen had his last meeting with Hitler after arriving back in Germany from Turkey. Here, Hitler awarded Papen theKnight's Cross of theWar Merit Cross.[162] In September 1944, Papen settled at his estate atWallerfangen in the Saarland that had been given to him by his father-in-law.[163] On 29 November 1944, Papen could hear in the distance the guns of the advancing US Third Army, which caused him and his family to flee deeper into Germany.[164]
Papen was captured along with his son Franz Jr. at his own home on 14 April 1945.[165] Papen was forced by the US to visit aconcentration camp to see firsthand the nature of the regime he had fostered and served from start to finish.[163]
Papen was one of the defendants at the mainNuremberg War Crimes Trial. The investigating tribunal found no solid evidence to support claims that Papen had been involved in theannexation of Austria.[166] The court acquitted him, stating that while he had committed a number of "political immoralities", these actions were not punishable under the "conspiracy to commitcrimes against peace" written in Papen's indictment. The Soviets wanted to execute him.[167]
Papen was subsequently sentenced to eight years' hard labour by a West Germandenazification court, but he was released on appeal in 1949. Until 1954, Papen was forbidden to publish inWest Germany, and so he wrote a series of articles in newspapers in Spain, attacking the Federal Republic from a conservative Catholic position in much the same terms that he had attacked the Weimar Republic.[168]
Papen published a number of books and memoirs, in which he defended his policies and dealt with the years 1930 to 1933 as well as early WesternCold War politics. Papen praised theSchuman Plan to pacify relations between France and West Germany as "wise and statesmanlike" and claimed to believe in the economic and military unification and integration of Western Europe.[169] In 1952 and 1953, Papen published his memoirs in two volumes in Switzerland.
Right up until his death in 1969, Papen gave speeches and wrote articles in the newspapers, defending himself against the charge that he had played a crucial role in having Hitler appointed chancellor and that he had served a criminal regime; these led to vitriolic exchanges with West German historians, journalists and political scientists.[170] Franz von Papen died inObersasbach, West Germany, on 2 May 1969 at the age of 89.[171]
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