The men pushed past the terrified housekeeper and made their way into the study. The general looked up from his desk, puzzled: “Yes, I am General Von Schleicher.” They opened fire. The housekeeper screamed. His wife ran in and was gunned down too. It was over in seconds. Kurt Von Schleicher, Hitler’s predecessor as chancellor, was dead.
Schleicher’s assassination during the Night of the Long Knives marked an inglorious end for the man who played a central role in enabling Hitler’s rise to power. For nearly a decade, Schleicher was Weimar Germany’s kingmaker, deposing chancellors and ministers at will. In that time, Schleicher and his conservative allies systematically destroyed Weimar democracy. Schooled in the autocratic Prussian military tradition, Schleicher viewed the elected Weimar government as treasonous and illegitimate. He abused the constitution, broke democratic norms, and undermined institutions to create an authoritarian dictatorship. Ultimately, he was outmaneuvered and murdered by the Nazis, who he had sought to manipulate for his own ends.
Against the Spirit of the Law
The 1919 Weimar Constitution was among the most liberal and democratic constitutions of its day. It enshrined civil liberties and guaranteed universal suffrage. The constitution drew inspiration from the American system, balancing a strong executive with an independent legislature and judiciary. Schleicher stripped power from the Reichstag (the German Parliament) and transferred it to the presidency.
To do this, Schleicher exploited loopholes in the democratic constitution to govern undemocratically. His plan was dubbed the “25-48-53 formula” after the articles in the constitution that made it possible. Article 25 enabled the president to dissolve the Reichstag, Article 48 allowed the president to pass emergency laws by decree, and Article 53 allowed the president to name a chancellor. As a key advisor to the elderly President Paul von Hindenburg, Schleicher used Article 53 to make and unmake chancellors. Previously, the president would ask the largest party in the Reichstag to form a ruling coalition. Now, Schleicher and other presidential confidants would handpick the chancellor and bypass the people and the Reichstag.
Abusing these articles led to political brinksmanship that undermined the balance of power. As the Great Depression took hold, Schleicher encouraged rule by emergency decree. These decrees created tension between the legislature and the executive. The threat to dissolve the Reichstag was a deliberate power play which outraged legislators. As the Reichstag was deprived of political power, its membership grew angrier and more polarized, decreasing political stability and increasing gridlock. Thus, relying on emergency decrees created a vicious cycle of radicalization where decrees became the only way to govern in the face of a hostile legislature. Similarly, dissolving the Reichstag occurred ever more frequently as the president sought to protect his chancellor from a vote of no-confidence. In 1932 alone, the Reichstag was dissolved multiple times. However, Schleicher was willing to cripple the political system to consolidate presidential power.
A Radical Embrace
Schleicher and his fellow conservatives were desperate to restore Germany’s military might. They railed against the Treaty of Versailles and the civilian government that they believed was demilitarizing the country. In addition, they were terrified of a Communist uprising. Schleicher saw the belligerent, nationalistic, and anti-Communist Nazis as a perfect tool to remake Germany. While he distrusted Hitler, Schleicher hoped to deploy the Nazis as a wrecking ball against state institutions and his liberal foes. While the military was supposed to remain aloof of political affairs, Schleicher actively meddled in politics, and allowed Nazis to serve in the Ministry of Defense. Most astoundingly, Schleicher concluded a secret agreement with his friend Ernst Rohm, Hitler’s deputy and head of the SA (Nazi paramilitaries), that the SA would mobilize and fight alongside the German Army during an emergency.
Given the value Schleicher saw in cultivating the Nazis, he also played a key role in legitimizing their extremism. For years, SA thugs caused much of Germany’s political violence. In 1932, the government banned the SA and violence fell dramatically. Schleicher reacted by intriguing against the ban’s advocates: Chancellor Heinrich Brüning, and Defense Minister Wilhelm Groener. Schleicher fabricated political scandals to convince Hindenburg to remove his former allies from power. As a quid pro quo for the repealing the SA bans, Schleicher sought Hitler’s support for the new chancellor, Schleicher’s friend Franz von Papen. Hitler reneged on his promised support, but with restrictions lifted on the SA, the Nazis reclaimed a major source of their political power.
The Puppetmaster
Brüning’s removal in May 1932 marked a major breach of constitutional norms since the Reichstag had given him a vote of confidence just weeks before. His successor was the shallow and inexperienced Papen, someone Schleicher felt he could control. Schleicher selected Papen’s ministers and dominated the cabinet from his post as Defense Minister.
Schleicher was close destroying democracy, but a few obstacles remained. Perhaps the largest lay in the liberal government of Prussia, Germany’s largest state. Prussian autonomy represented a challenge to Schleicher’s undemocratic vision. In July 1932, after a wave of Berlin street violence, Schleicher told Hindenburg that the Prussian police were supporting the Communists and the Prussian leadership posed a national threat. Emergency decrees toppled the liberal Prussian government and brought the state under Chancellor Papen’s control. The “rape of Prussia” destroyed the power of the individual German states and brought the formidable Prussian police force under national control. The Nazis would benefit the next year when Hermann Goering became Minister President of Prussia and formed the Gestapo from this force.
Having broken his moderate liberal opponents, Schleicher grew frustrated with Papen, who had proved less pliant than expected. He began conspiring with the Nazis to bring down his old friend. Schleicher repeatedly suggested naming Hitler chancellor, in Papen’s place, but the old man stood firm. Then, Schleicher suggested a coalition government with Hitler as vice-chancellor, but Hitler refused. Finally, in early December, Schleicher convinced Hindenburg that the military under Papen could not handle the growing national chaos. Papen was dismissed. With that, Schleicher strode out of the shadows and into the chancellery.
Then Fall, Caesar
While Schleicher was a master intriguer, he flopped as a politician. His administration retained most of Papen’s unpopular ministers and policies. He also angered his proud friend, who sought revenge by undermining the Schleicher government. Papen also lobbied Hindenburg to follow Schleicher’s original proposal and make Hitler chancellor.
While in office, Schleicher alienated everyone from old allies to longstanding enemies, although he did pass a major infrastructure bill. Similar American New Deal programs, Schleicher ear-marked huge sums for public works and other projects to put Germans back to work. However, Schleicher never reaped the benefits of his plan. He arrogantly believed that the Reichstag would not pass a vote of no-confidence against his government. Therefore, in mid-January 1933, when the Reichstag requested a recess until the Spring, Schleicher instead demanded the shortest recess possible. Had he waited, his economic plan would have started paying dividends, and the quarreling, cash-strapped Nazis would have significantly weakened. When he realized that a vote of no-confidence was likely, he begged Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag, but it was too late. Hindenburg refused, and the elderly president finally agreed to replace Schleicher with Hitler on January 30th, 1933.
The rest is history. Hitler used the Reichstag fire on February 27th 1933 to pass emergency decrees suspending civil liberties. These decrees were followed by the Enabling Act, which turned Hitler’s rule into a dictatorship. Schleicher’s remaining supporters were rapidly purged from the army, destroying his power base. Within a year-and-a-half, Schleicher would be dead, and Hitler would be the unquestioned führer of Germany.