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Franz von Papen, the German Center Party, and the Failure of Catholic Conservatism in the Weimar Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2008

Larry Eugene Jones
Larry Eugene Jones
Affiliation:
Canisius College
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Extract

No one stood more directly in the eye of the storm that descended upon Germany in 1933 than Franz von Papen. Not only did Papen play a crucial role in overcoming Reich President Paul von Hindenburg's resistance to Adolf Hitler's appointment as chancellor, but his presence in the newly formed Hitler cabinet provided it with an aura of conservative legitimacy that helped mollify the fears that many Germans might otherwise have felt about the so-called Hitler solution. To complicate matters further, Papen proved utterly incapable of containing the dynamism of the Nazi movement and watched ineffectually from the sidelines as the Nazis unleashed a veritable revolution in the spring of 1933 that either swept Germany's conservative institutions aside or, what proved more likely, forcibly coordinated them into the organizational structure of the Third Reich. Nowhere, however, was Papen's ineffectiveness—or, for that matter, his lack of civil courage—more apparent than in the summer of 1934, when the Nazis ruthlessly murdered two of his closest associates, along with several other prominent conservatives, in a two-pronged strike against both the more militant elements within the Nazi movement and a clique of anti-Nazi conspirators within Papen's own vicechancery.

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Central European History , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 191 - 217
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Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 2005

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References

This article represents a revised and much expanded version of a paper that was originally presented at the October 2001 conference of the German Studies Association in Washington, D.C. Completion of the article was made possible by a Dean's Grant from the College of Arts and Sciences at Canisius College. The author is particularly indebted to Wolfgang Bockhorst, Horst Conrad, and Werner Frese of the Westfälisches Archivamt in Münster and Hans-Dieter Kreikamp of the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz for having facilitated access to much of the material upon which the article is based. The author is also indebted to Professors Hans Mommsen, Wolfram Pyta, and Eric D. Kohler as well as to an unnamed reader for Central European History for having read and criticized earlier versions of the article.

1 For the most authoritative analysis of Papen's role in the formation of the Hitler cabinet, see Minuth, Heinrich, “Das ‘Kölner Gespräch’ am 4. Januar 1933,” Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 37 (1986): 429–41, 463—80.Google Scholar In the same vein, but for a less scholarly audience, see Neumann, Klaus, Franz von Papen. Der “Steigbügelhalter” Hitlers, Persönlichkeiten aus Westfalen, 5 (Münster: Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe, 1991), 9–15.Google Scholar

2 In this respect, see Jones, Larry Eugene, “Nazis, Conservatives, and the Establishment of the Third Reich, 1932–34,” Tel Aviver Jahrbuch für deutsche Geschichte 23 (1994): 41–64Google Scholar; more recently idem, “Von Weimar zu Hitler: Deutschlands konservative Eliten und die Etabilierung des ‘Dritten Reiches’ 1932–1934,” in Papenfuß, Dietrich und Schieder, Wolfgang, eds. Deutsche Umbrüche im 20. Jahrhundert. Tagungsband zum Symposium der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung in Bamberg März 1999 (Cologne: Böhlau, 2000), 186–200.Google Scholar See also Jasper, Gotthard, Die gescheiterte Zähmung. Wege zur Machtergreifung Hitlers 1930–34 (Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp, 1986).Google Scholar

3 For further details, see Jones, Larry Eugene, “The Limits of Conservative Collaboration: Edgar Jung, Herbert von Bose, and the Origins of the Conservative Resistance to Hitler 1933–34,” in Jones, Larry Eugene and Retallack, James, eds., Between Reform, Reaction, and Resistance: Essays in the History of German Conservatism from 1789 to 1945 (Providence, RI, and Oxford: Berg, 1993), 465–501.Google Scholar

4 The biographical literature on Papen is quite extensive and need not be reviewed here. Of the contemporary biographies of Papen, the best and most balanced is Schnee, Heinrich, Franz von Papen. Ein Lebensbild (Paderborn and Würzburg: Schöningh, 1934).Google Scholar For a brief overview of Papen's life and career, see Morsey, Rudolf, “Franz von Papen (1879–1969),” in Aretz, Jürgen and Morsey, Rudolf, eds., Zeitgeschichte in Lebensbildern. Aus dem deutschen Katholizismus des 20. Jahrhunderts, 2 vols. (Mainz: Aschendorff, 1973–1975), 2: (1975), 75–87.Google Scholar Of the recent literature, the most successful is Petzold, Joachim, Franz von Papen. Ein deutsches Verhängnis (Munich: Buchverlag Union, 1995)Google Scholar, which is based, among other things, on extensive research in private corporate archives and the remnants of Papen's private papers in Moscow. Rolfs, Richard, The Sorcerer's Apprentice: The Life of Franz von Papen (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1996)Google Scholar, rests upon a much thinner archival foundation, while Adams, Henry M. and Adams, Robin K., Rebel Patriot: A Biography of Franz von Papen (Santa Barbara, CA: McNally & Loftin, 1987)Google Scholar, is hagiographic and devoid of scholarly merit. For a telling critique biography by the Adamses, see Kent, George O., “Problems and Pitfalls of a Papen Biography,” Central European History 20 (1987): 191–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The most comprehensive overview of Papen's activities in the Weimar Republic is Bach, Jürgen A., Franz von Papen in der Weimarer Republik. Aktivitäten in Politik und Presse 1918–1932 (Düsseldorf: Droste, 1977)Google Scholar, but neither Bach nor Petzold had access to the archival materials upon which much of the following article is based.

5 This is certainly the tendency in the recent book by Turner, Henry Ashby, Hitler's Thirty Days to Power: January 1933 (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1996), 37–52. 166–72, 180–82.Google Scholar

6 For the most forceful statement of this position, see Petzold, Papen, 148.

7 For an exemplary study of the way in which the Westphalian aristocracy adapted to the changes that took place in its political environment at the beginning of the nineteenth century, see Reif, Heinz, Westfälischer Adel 1770–1860. Vom Herrschaftsstand zur regionalen Elite (Göttingen: Vandenhoeckt & Ruprecht, 1978).Google Scholar

8 For an impassioned contemporary argument to this effect, see Mack, Eugen, Kirche, Adel und Volk. Vortrag vom 11. Februar 1919 (Rottenburg a.N., n.d. [1919]), 16–19.Google Scholar

9 On the founding and early history of the Association of Catholic Nobles, see von Oer, Clemens, Der Verein katholischer Edelleute Deutschlands. Eine Überblick über seine Entstehungsgeschichte und Entwicklung 1869–1919, als Handschrift gedruckt (Münster, 1919), 5–31.Google Scholar

10 On the role of the Catholic aristocracy in the founding of the German Center Party and in the Kulturkampf of the 1870s, see Keinemann, Friedrich, Von Krummstab zur Republik. Westfälischer Adel unter preuβischer Herrschaft (Bochum: Universitätsverlag Dr. N. Brockmeyer, 1997), 304–26.Google Scholar For further information on the founding of the Center, see Evans, Ellen Lovell, The German Center Party, 1870–1933: A Study in Political Catholicism (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1981), 30–35.Google Scholar

11 For the aristocracy's reaction to the Center's support for the Peace Resolution, see the remarks by Baron Josef von Twickel in the Protokoll der auβerordentlichen General- Versammlung des Vereins katholischer Edelleute Deutschlands, Münster, den 2. Oktober 1917, 3–6, in the unpublished records of the Verein katholischer Edelleute Deutschlands, Vereinigte Westfälische Adelsarchive, Münster, 19.

12 On the Rhenish-Westphalian aristocracy in the Weimar Republic, see Jones, Larry Eugene, “Catholic Conservatives in the Weimar Republic: The Politics of the Rhenish-Westphalian Aristocracy, 1918–1933,” German History 18 (2000): 60–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Keinemann, Von Krummstab zur Republik, 364–84, as well as the recently published book by Malinowski, Stephan, Vom König zum Führer. Sozialer Niedergang und politische Radikalisierung im deutschen Adel zwischen Kaiserreich und NS-Staat (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2003), 385–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13 On Papen's early life and military career, see Schnee, Papen, 5–20.

14 For example, see Papen's stance in the debate on political parties in “Bericht über den nationalpolitischen Kursus für den rheinisch-westfälischen katholischen Adel in Willibaldessen 23–25. April 1923,” in the unpublished Nachlass of Martin Spahn, Bundesarchiv, Koblenz, 177.

15 zu Borg, Engelbert Kerckerinck, Über die gegenwärtige Lage. Vortrag in der auβerordentlichen Generalversammlung des Vereins kath. Edelleute zu Münster, am 11. Dezember 1918 (Münster, n.d. [1918]), 7.Google Scholar

16 For example, see Papen to Kerckerinck zu Borg, May 24, 1922, in the unpublished Nachlass of Engelbert Freiherr Kerckerinck zu Borg in the Vereinigte Westfälische Adelsarchive, Münster (hereafter cited as VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg), 142. For further details, see Bach, Papen, 30–57.

17 On the fate of Papen's candidacy, see Brand (Westphalian Center Party) to Schorlemer-Overhagen, May 13, 1924, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 144. See also Kerckerinck zu Borg to Leyen, May 31, 1924, ibid., 241. For Papen's reaction to these developments, see his letter to Kerckerinck zu Borg, Charsamstag 1924, ibid., 144.

18 For statements of Papen's political credo, see Papen, “Der christlich-konservative Gedanke,” Germania, Sept. 6, 1925, no. 416, and “Erfurt und der konservative Gedanke,” ibid., January 25, 1927, no. 39.

19 von Papen, Franz, “Die Parteien,” in Bozi, Alfred and Neumann, Alfred, eds., Die Einheit der nationalen Politik (Stuttgart: F. Enke, 1925), 221–32.Google Scholar

20 Papen to Escherich, June 2, 1926, in the unpublished records of the Bayerische Einwohnerwehren, Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Munich, Abteilung IV, 7/2. In a similar vein, see von Papen, Franz, “Konservative Opposition,” Standarte 4, no. 4 (10 5, 1929): 929–32.Google Scholar

21 For Papen's role in these developments, see his letter to Kerckerinck zu Borg, Jan. 8, 1925, as well as his reports on the meetings of the Center delegation to the Prussian Landtag, February 7 and 10, 1925, all in VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 145. For further information, see Hömig, Herbert, Das Preuβische Zentrum in der Weimarer Republik (Mainz: Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, 1979), 121–26Google Scholar, and Ruppert, Karsten, Im Dienst am Staat von Weimar. Das Zentrum als regierende Partei in der Weimarer Demokratie 1923–1930 (Düsseldorf: Droste, 1992), 101—8.Google Scholar See also Bach, Papen, 57–73.

22 On these developments, see Felix Porsch to Papen, February 20, 1925, in the unpublished Nachlass of Karl Herold, Bundesarchiv Koblenz (hereafter cited as BA Koblenz, NL Herold), 15, and Papen to Kerckerinck zu Borg, March 20,1925, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 274. On the rivalry between Papen and Joseph Hess, see Kohler, Eric D., “The Successful German Center-Left: Joseph Hess and the Prussian Center Party,” Central European History 23 (1990): 313–48, esp. 335–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

23 Hömig, Preuβisches Zentrum, 130—33. For Papen's reaction to these developments, see his letter to Kerckerinck zu Borg, March 20, 1925, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 274.

24 Memorandum of April 1, 1925 on the meeting of the Center's delegation to the Prussian Landtag, March 31, 1925, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 145.

25 Memorandum on the events of April 1, 1925, n.d., VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 145.

26 Memorandum on the events of April 3, 1925, n.d., VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 145.

27 Draft of a declaration to be signed by members of the Center Party, Münster, April 15, 1925. This appeal appeared under the title “Zentrum und Sozialdemokratie. Ein Mahnruf rheinisch-west-fälischer Katholiken,” Kölnische Zeitung, April 20, 1925. For the rationale behind this action, see Kerckerinck zu Borg to Marx, April 19, 1925, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 145.

28 Papen to v. Löe, June 17, 1925, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 145.

29 Ibid. See also Kerckerinck zu Borg to v. Löe, June 6,1925, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 145.

30 Ruppert, Im Dienst am Staat von Weimar, 165–71, 227–30.

31 von Papen, Franz, “Erfurt und der konservative Gedanke,” Allgemeine Rundschau 24, no. 1 (01 8, 1927): 3–4.Google Scholar

32 On the involvement of the Catholic aristocracy in the paramilitary right, see Krüger, Gerd, “Von den Einwohnerwehren zum Stahlhelm. Der nationale Kampfverband ‘Westfalenbund e.V.’ (1921–1924),” Westfälische Zeitschrift 147 (1997): 405–32Google Scholar, as well as the detailed study by Vogel, Wieland, Katholische Kirche und nationale Kampfverbände in der Weimarer Republik (Mainz: Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, 1989).Google Scholar

33 For the social and political Weltanschauung of the more conservative elements of Germany's Catholic aristocracy, see the collection of speeches published in Katholische Politik. Eine Sammlung von Vorträgen, gehalten bei Zusammenkünften des rheinisch-westfälischen katholischen Adels, als Manuskript gedruckt, vols. 1–3 (Cologne: Vereinsdruckerei, 1924–1925).Google Scholar

34 In this respect, see the contributions with all of their anti-Semitic aspersions by Count Alexander von Elverfeldt and Baron Hermann von Lüninck in the Protokoll der auβerordentlichen Versammlung des Rheinisch-Westfälischen Vereins kath. Edelleute am 4. August 1932 in Münster i. W. (Münster, 1932), 8–12, 19–21, in the unpublished Nachlass of Ferdinand Freiherr von Lüninck, Vereinigte Westfälische Adelsarchive, Münster (hereafter cited as VWA Münster, NL Lüninck), 809, quoted in Jones, “Catholic Conservatives,” 80–81. For the general contours of the conspiracy theory and the role it played in German political culture, see von Bieberstein, Johannes Rogalla, Die These von der Verschwörung 1776–1945. Philosophen, Freimauerer, Juden, Liberalen und Sozialisten als Verschwörer gegen die Sozialordnung (Bern and Frankfurt a.M.: Herbert and Peter Lang, 1976), esp. 189—232.Google Scholar For further information on the general contours of aristocratic culture in Germany, see von Bieberstein, Johannes Rogalla, Adelsherrschaft und Adelskultur in Deutschland (Frankfurt a.M. and New York: Peter Lang, 1989), 115–69.Google Scholar

35 von Galen, Franz Graf, Ritterlichkeit in alter und neuer Zeit. Vortrag gehalten in der Generalversammlung des Vereins katholischer Edelleute, Abt. Münster, am 1. September 1921 (Warendorf i.W.n.d. [1921]), 8.Google Scholar

36 von Galen, Franz Graf, Referat gehalten in der ordentlichen Generalversammlung des Rheinisch-Westfälischen Vereins katholischer Edelleute in Münster am 27. März 1925 (N.p., n.d. [1925]), 1–6.Google Scholar

37 Franz von Papen, “Der Staat von heute und der Einsatz der konservativen Kräfte des deutschen Katholizismus,” in the protocol of the Planowitz conference, May 14–16, 1927, in the unpublished Nachlass of Heinz Brauweiler, Stadtarchiv Mönchen-Gladbach, 124. For further information on Papen's relations to the Silesian nobility, see the informative study by Lob, Brigitte, Albert Schmitt, O.S.B., Abt in Grüssau und Wimpfen. Sein kirchenpolitisches Handeln in der Weimarer Republik und im Dritten Reich (Cologne: Böhlau, 2000), 127–31, 182–200, 256–58.Google Scholar

38 On Löwenstein and his role in the politics of Germany's Catholic aristocracy, see Friese, Alfred, “Alois Fürst zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (1871–1952),” in Lebensläufe aus Franken, 6 (1960): 365–80Google Scholar, and more recently the contribution by Reytier, Marie-Emmanuelle, “Alois Fürst zu Löwenstein (1871–1952),” in Aretz, Jürgen, Morsey, Rudolf, and Rauscher, Anton, eds., Zeitgeschichte in Lebensbildern. Aus dem deutschen Katholizismus des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, 10 vols. (Münster: Aschendorff, 1973–2002), 10: (2002), 115–28.Google Scholar

39 On the arrangements for this conference, see the communique from Galen, June 5, 1927, VWA Münster, NL Lüninck, 811.

40 von Papen, Franz, “Der Staat von heute und der Einsatz der konservativen Kräfte des katholischen Volkes,” in Hauptausschuss der katholischen Adelsgenossenschaften Deutschlands, ed., Wechselburger Tagung 1927 (Munich, n.d. [1927]), 8Google Scholar, VWA Münster, NL Lüninck, 811.

41 The history of the DNVP's National Catholic Committee is sketchy. For the most useful account, see the unpublished dissertation by Reiß, Klaus-Peter, “Die deutschnationalen Katholiken. Der deutsche Katholizismus und die Auflösung seiner politischen Geschlossenheit in der Weimarer Republik” (Ph.D. diss., University of Tübingen, n.d.), vol. 1, 349–401,Google Scholar as well as the article by Larry Eugene Jones, “Catholics on the Right: The Reich Catholic Committee of the German National People's Party, 1920–1933,” in a forthcoming issue of Historisches Jahrbuch.

42 For example, see the text of Landsberg's report, “Katholische Adel und die politischen Parteien,” in the official protocol of the Nationalpolitischer Kursus für den rheinisch-westfälischen katholischen Adel in Willibaldessen, April 23–25, 1923, in the unpublished Nachlass of Max Emanuel Freiherr Heereman von Zuydtwyck, Haus Surenburg, Vereinigte Westfälische Adelsarchive, Münster (hereafter cited as VWA Münster, NL Heereman von Zuydtwyck), 494/19–21.

43 “Stellungnahme der Herrn Freiherrn Alfred von Landsberg und Freiherrn Leopold von Nagel zu dem auf der Wechselburger Tagung gehaltenen Referat des Herrn Majors a.D. Franz von Papen, M.d.L.: ‘Der Staat von Heute und der Einsatz der konservativen Kräfte des katholischen Volkes,’” n.d., VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 503.

44 In this respect, see the letter from Ferdinand von Lüninck to Leopold von Nagel, September 21, 1927, and Nagel's letter to Ferdinand and Hermann von Lüninck, October 8, 1927, both in VWA Münster, NL Lüninck, 811, as well as the memorandum prepared by Count Franz von Galen, “Beurteilung der Lage im Edelleuteverein,” n.d., appended to Galen to Heereman von Zuydtwyck, February 22, 1928, VWA Münster, NL Heereman von Zuydtwyck, 281.

45 For example, see Nagel's sharp criticism of Galen's leadership in his letter to Galen, November 11, 1927, VWA Münster, NL Lüninck, 811. See also the sixteen-page memorandum by Nagel, “Gedanken zum Referat des Majors a.D. Franz von Papen, ‘Der Staat von heute und der Einsatz der konservativen Kräfte des katholischen Volkes,’” n.d., VWA Münster, Haus Westheim, NL Josef Graf zu Stolberg-Stolberg, 325.

46 Protokoll der auβerordentlichen General-Versammlung des Rheinisch-Westfälischen Vereins katholischer Edelleute am 17. September 1927 in Münster i. W. (Münster, 1927), 7–10, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 503.

47 Galen to Mallinckrodt, October 2, 1928, in the unpublished Nachlass of Franz von Galen, Vereinigtes Westfälisches Adelsarchiv, Münster (hereafter cited as VWA Münster, NL Galen), 41, reprinted in Protokoll der ordentlichen General- Versammlung des Rheinisch- Westfälischen Vereins katholischer Edelleute am 2. März 1929 in Münster in Westfalen (Münster, 1929), 3, VWA Münster, Archiv des Vereins katholischer Edelleute Deutschlands, 19. For further details, see Galen's letter to his brother Count Clemens August von Galen, October 3, 1928, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 41.

48 See, for example, the correspondence between Papen and Galen, March 13–17, 1926, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 40.

49 Kohler, “Joseph Hess,” 336. On the fate of Papen's candidacy, see also Huperz (Westphalian Center Party) to Herold, March 2, 1928, BA Koblenz, NL Herold, 18.

50 Bach, Papen, 181–82. For an indication of the close relationship that existed between Papen and Brüning at this point in time, see the excerpts from Papen's letter to Brüning, January 24, 1930, in the Franz von Papen Nachlass, Zentrales Staatsarchiv Moscow, cited in Petzold, Papen, 54–55.

51 Papen to Kerckerinck zu Borg, April 1, 1930, VWA Münster, NL Kerckerinck zu Borg, 150.

52 Spahn to Lüninck, May 28, 1930, VWA Münster, NL Lüninck, 850.

53 For example, see Papen to Hermann Pünder, August 14, 1930, in the unpublished Nachlass of Hermann Pünder, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, 637/11, and Heinrich von Gleichen to Schleicher, March 3, 1932, in the unpublished Nachlass of Kurt von Schleicher, Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Freiburg (hereafter cited as BA-MA Freiburg, NL Schleicher), 7/78.

54 Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, October 6, 1931, nos. 457–58. On the significance of Papen's Dülmen speech, see the assessment in Schnee, Papen, 21–22.

55 “Zuschrift: Papen begründet seine Stimmenthaltung,” Der Ring 5, no. 16 (04 15, 1932): 258–59.Google Scholar

56 Papen to Schleicher, September 21, [sic May!] 1932, BA-MA: NL Schleicher, N42/22/ 149–49a.

57 von Papen, Franz, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse (Munich: P. List, 1952), 182.Google Scholar See also the updated account of Schleicher's overture in von Papen, Franz, Vom Scheitern einer Demokratie 1930—1933 (Mainz: Hase & Koehler, 1968), 191.Google Scholar

58 The only source of information for what transpired at this meeting is Papen, Wahrheit, 182–85, but the general outlines of Papen's account have been confirmed by an entry in the diary of Papen's close associate Baron Kurt von Lersner, June 7, 1932, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Kleine Erwerbung 591 (hereafter cited as BA Koblenz, Kl. Erw. 591), 8/47–55, and in a letter from Ott to Theodor Eschenburg, January 19, 1953, in the unpublished Nachlass of Eugen Ott, Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Munich (hereafter cited as IfZ Munich, NL Ott), Zs/A–32/12.

59 Papen, Wahrheit, 185–86.

60 Papen, Vom Scheitern einer Demokratie, 195–96.

61 On his relations with Papen, see Kaas's remarks before the Center party executive committee, June 8, 1932, in the unpublished Nachlas of Wilhelm Bormann, Archiv für Christlich-Demokratische Politik, Sankt-Augustin, Bestand 1–352 (hereafter cited as ACDP Sankt-Augustin, NL Bormann), 1–352/9, reprinted in Schumacher, Martin, “Zwischen ‘Einschaltung’ und ‘Gleichschaltung.’ Zum Untergang der Deutschen Zentrumspartei 1932/33.” Historisches Jahrbuch 99 (1979): 268–303.Google Scholar

62 Papen's account of this meeting in Wahrheit, 189–91, has been corroborated in part by the criticism that Kaas leveled at Papen before the Center party executive committee. June 8. 1932. ACDP Sankt-Augustin, NL Bormann, 1–352/9.

63 Entry in Lersner's diary, June 7, 1932, BA Koblenz, Kl. Erw. 591/8/51–55.

64 For the most authoritative analysis of Schleicher's political activity in the last years of the Weimar Republic, see Vogelsang, Thilo, Reichswehr, Staat und NSDAP. Beiträge zur deutschen Geschichte 1930–1932 (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1962), esp. 180–202.Google Scholar See also the more recent contribution by Hayes, Peter G., “A Question Mark with Epaulettes: Kurt von Schleicher and Weimar Politics,” Journal of Modern History 52 (1980): 35–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar For the most detailed account ot the process by which Papen was chosen, see Trumpp, Thomas, “Franz von Papen, der preußischdeutsche Dualismus und die NSDAP. Ein Beitrag zur Vorgeschichte des 20. Juli 1932” (Ph.D. diss. Universität Tübingen, 1963), 48–74.Google Scholar See also the account in Petzold, Papen, 63–68, as well as the informative essay by Eschenburg, Theodor, “The Role of Personality in the Crisis ot the Weimar Republic: Hindenburg, Brüning, Groener, Schleicher,” in Holborn, Hajo, ed., Republic to Reich: The Making of the Nazi Revolution. Ten Essays, trans, by Mannheim, Ralph (New York: Pantheon. 1972). 3–50, esp. 44–47.Google Scholar

65 On the contacts between Schleicher and Hitler, see the entries for April 28 and May 8–9, 1932, in Goebbels, Joseph, Vom Kaiserhof zur Reichskanzlei. Eine historische Darstellung in Tagebuchblättern (Vom 3. Januar 1932 bis zum 1. Mai 1933) (Berlin: Franz Eher Verlag, 1934), 89, 93—94.Google Scholar For the terms of this agreement, see the extremely revealing memorandum by Gayl on his experiences as a member of the Papen government, n.d., in the unpublished Nachlass of Wilhelm Gayl, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, 53, as well as the memorandum by Ott and Bredow, “Aufzeichnung betreffs Treubruch der nationalsozialistischen Führung durch Angriffe gegen das Präsidialkabinett v. Papen,” September 16, 1932, BA-MA Freiburg: NL Schleicher,22/141–43.

66 On the demise of the Brüning cabinet, see two recent studies by Patch, William A., Heinrich Brüning and the Dissolution of the Weimar Republic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 220—71Google Scholar, and Hömig, Herbert, Brüning—Kanzler in der Krise der Republik. Eine Weimarer Biographie (Paderborn: Schöningh, 2000), 547–75.Google Scholar

67 On Goerdeler's negotiations in the early summer of 1932, see his “Londoner Schrift,” July 9, 1937, in the Nachlass of Carl Goerdeler, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, 12. For Goerdeler's conditions, see his two memoranda “Koalitionstaktik nach dem Sturz Brünings,” n.d. [ca. May 5—June 16, 1932), ibid., 9, as well as his letter to his son Ulrich, June 5,1932, in that part of the Goerdeler Nachlass that is still in family possession. I would like to thank Michael Krüger-Charlé and Hans Mommsen for having provided me with a copy of this letter. See also Ritter, Gerhard, Carl Goerdeler und die deutsche Widerstandsbewegung (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1954), 52–60.Google Scholar

68 Westarp's meeting with Hindenburg is described quite poignantely in a letter from Westarp's wife Countess Ada von Westarp to his daughter Baroness Gertraude Hiller von Gaertringen, May 31, 1932. I would like to express my appreciation to Karl Mayer, curator of the Westarp Nachlass in the Archiv der Freiherren Hiller von Gaertringen, for having brought this letter to my attention.

69 Schleicher's selection of Papen encountered strong disbelief and opposition within the ranks of his own advisors. For example, see Ott to Eschenburg, January 19, 1953, IfZ Munich, ML Ott, Zs/A–32/12.

70 This is confirmed by the entry in Lersner's diary, June 7, 1932, BA Koblenz, Kl. Erw. 591/8/47–55.

71 Das Zentrum. Mitteilungsblatt der Deutschen Zentrumspartei 3, nos. 5/6 (May-June 1932): 174–75. See also the minutes of the Center Reichstag delegation, June 1, 1932, in Morsey, Rudolf, ed., Protokolle der Reichstagsfraktion und des Fraktionsvorstandes der Deutschen Zentrumspartei 1926–1933 (Mainz: Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, 1969), 573—75.Google Scholar See also Schreiber, Georg, Brüning-Hitler-Schleicher. Das Zentrum in der Opposition (Cologne: K. Görreshaus, 1932), esp. 17–39.Google Scholar On the Center and the formation of the Papen government, see Morsey, Rudolf, Der Untergang des politischen Katholizismus. Die Zentrumspartei zwischen christlichem Selbstverständnis und “Nationaler Erhebung” 1932/33 (Stuttgart and Zurich: Belser, 1977), 45–55.Google Scholar

72 Das Zentrum 3, nos. 5/6 (May–June 1932): 176–77.

73 Kaas's remarks before the Center party executive committee, June 8, 1932, ACDP Sankt-Augusrin, NL Bormann, 1–352/9.

74 Das Zentrum 3, nos. 5/6 (May–June 1932): 177–78.

75 Ibid., 174.

76 Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, June 4, 1932, nos. 257–58.

77 Remarks by Joos and Stegerwald before the Center party executive committee, June 8, 1932, ACDP Sankt-Augustin, NL Bormann, 1–352/9. The full text of Joos's speech is to be found in the records of the German Center Party, Archiv für Christlich-Demokratische Politik, Sankt-Augustin, Bestand VI–051, vol. 316.

78 In this respect, see Papen to Galen, March 25, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 44.

79 Galen to Steger, August 2, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 45.

80 For example, see Lüninck's remarks in Protokoll der auβerordentlichen General-Versammlung des Rheinisch-Westfälischen Vereins kath. Edelleute am 4. August 1932 in Münster i. W. (Münster, 1932), 19–21.

81 For Lüninck's objections, see his memorandum “Einheitliche Willensbildung und Führung,” appended to his letter to Meißner, June 3, 1932, in the records of the presidial chancery, Bundesarchiv Berlin, Bestand R601/405/51–54.

82 For the full text of the speech, see Franz von Papen, Drei Reden des Reichskanzlers, W.V.D. Drucksache, Nr. 1 (N.p., n.d. [1932]), 5–17.

83 H. v. Lüninck to Dieckmann, August 30, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Lüninck, 852. See also Landsberg to Papen, September 16, 1932, ibid.

84 F. v. Lüninck to Landsberg, September 23, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Lüninck, 852.

85 For example, see Galen, “Der katholische Adel in der Zentrumspartei,” Neisser Zeitung, July 15, 1932, no. 161, and Löwenstein, “Bekenntnis zum Zentrum,” Schlesische Volkszeitung, June 25, 1932. See also Galen's letter to Baron Alfred von Landsberg, July 18, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 44.

86 For example, see the correspondence between Galen and Papen, September 25–29, 1932, as well as Galen to Ballestrem, November 7, 1932, all in VWA Münster, NL Galen, 45.

87 See the correspondence between Galen, Stegerwald, and Joos, August 2–5, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 45, as well as Galen to Fürstenburg, August 2, 1932, ibid., 44, and Galen to Dieckmann, August 20, 1932, ibid., NL Galen, 45.

88 In this respect, see the correspondence between Joos and Galen, October 1–10, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 45, as well as the text of Galen's speech before the Old Windhorst League (Altwindthorstbund) in Münster, October 3, 1932, reported in the Münsterischer Anzeiger, October 4, 1932, no. 1049.

89 Galen to Brüning, October 9, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 45.

90 Galen to Huperz, October 25, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 45. See also Galen to Papen, October 25, 1932, as well as Galen's correspondence with Heereman v. Zuydtwyck, October 22–25, 1932, ibid.

91 Kaas, Ludwig, “Mahnung und Warnung,” Das Zentrum 3, nos. 10–11 (10–11 1932): 325–40.Google Scholar

92 Galen to Joos, November 2, 1932, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 45.

93 This point has been argued most forcefully by Petzold, Papen, 119–62. For evidence of Papen's relationship with Ruhr heavy industry, see his correspondence with Fritz Springorum, December 23, 1932–January 24, 1933, in Springorum's unpublished Nachlass, Archiv der Hoesch AG, Dortmund (hereafter cited as Hoesch Archiv Dortmund, NL Springorum), B la 82.

94 Papen's increasing dependence upon the German Lords' Club has been demonstrated most convincingly by Hörster-Philipps, Ulrike, Konservative Politik in der Endphase der Weimarer Republik. Die Regierung Franz von Papen (Cologne: Pahl-Rugenstein, 1982), esp. 26–92, 103–27.Google Scholar On Germany's neoconservative milieu and its relationship to the Papen government, see Ishida, Yugi, Jungkonservative in der Weimarer Republik. Der Ring-Kreis 1928–1933 (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1988), 192–225Google Scholar, and Petzinna, Berthold, Erziehung zum deutschen Lebensstil. Ursprung und Entwicklung des jungkonservativen “Ring”-Kreises 1918–1933 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2000), esp. 257–73.Google Scholar

95 For example, see Springorum to Papen, January 22 and 24, 1933, Hoesch Archiv Dortmund, NL Springorum, B la 82. See also Turner, Henry Ashby Jr., German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), 321–23.Google Scholar

96 On Papen's negotiations with Hugenberg, see Hugenberg to Vögler, January 15, 1933, appended to Vögler to Springorum, January 20, 1933, in the Historisches Archiv Friedrich Krupp GmbH, Essen, FAH 23/793/247.

97 Galen to Praschma, February 23, 1933, VWA Münster, NL Galen, 46. See also Galen to Grohmann, March 15, 1933, ibid.

98 For the most detailed examination of this process, see Bracher, Karl Dietrich, “Stufen der Machtergreifung,” in Bracher, Karl Dietrich, Sauer, Wolfgang, and Schulz, Gerhard, eds., Die nationalsozialistische Machtergreifung. Studien zur Errichtung des totalitären Herrschaftssystems in Deutschland 1933/34 (Cologne and Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1960), esp. 167–219.Google Scholar

99 For Papen's pathetic performance during this period, see Petzold, Papen, 163–92.

100 For a fuller statement of this argument, see Jones, Larry Eugene, “Why Hitler Came to Power: In Defense of a New History of Politics,” in Jarausch, Konrad J., Rüsen, Jörn, and Schleier, Hans, eds., Geschichtswissenschaft vor 2000. Perspektiven der Historiographiegeschichte, Geschichtstheorie, Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte. Festschrift für Georg Iggers (Hagen: Margit Rottmann Medienverlag, 1991), 256–76.Google Scholar

101 For a fuller articulation of Papen's reasons for entering into an alliance with the NSDAP, see his speech “Wesen und Ziel der deutschen Revolution,” February 24, 1933, in von Papen, Franz, Appell an das deutschen Gewissen. Reden zur nationalen Revolution (Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling, 1933), 25–42.Google Scholar