Schleicher, Kurt Von

Schleicher, Kurt von, 1882–1934, German general. A leading Reichswehr (army) figure after World War I, Schleicher wielded great power in the years before Adolf Hitler came to power (1933). He was war minister in the cabinet of Franz von Papen, whom he succeeded as chancellor of Germany in Dec., 1932. Trying to prevent Hitler from seizing power, Schleicher demanded authority from President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and to assume emergency powers. Hindenburg refused and, after Schleicher's resignation (Jan. 28, 1933), appointed Hitler chancellor. Schleicher retired from public life but was shot with his wife in Hitler's 1934 "blood purge."

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Schleicher, Kurt von

Kurt von Schleicher, 1932

(credit: Archiv fur Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin)

(born April 7, 1882, Brandenburg, Ger.—died June 30, 1934, Berlin) German army officer and last chancellor of the Weimar Republic. A career army officer, he rose to major general by 1929 and became a key figure in the Weimar Republic. His political intrigues helped secure for him the posts of defense minister (1932) and chancellor (1932–33). Seeking to keep the Nazis under the army's control, he offered to participate in a government with Adolf Hitler, but Hitler refused him and thereafter regarded Schleicher as his chief enemy. Dismissed by Paul von Hindenburg in favour of Hitler, Schleicher was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives.

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Schleicher, Kurt Von 

Born Apr. 7, 1882, in Brandenburg; died June 30, 1934, in Neubabelsberg. German military and political figure; general.

Schleicher became an officer of the General Staff in 1913. After Germany’s defeat in World War I he became a close associate of the commander of the Reichswehr, General H. von Seeckt, and took part in planning the restoration of the country’s military potential. Schleicher headed an office in the Reichswehr Ministry in 1929 and served as minister for the Reichswehr in the government of F. von Papen from June to December 1932. He played an important role in relations between the leaders of the Nazi Party, on the one hand, and political authorities, the military, and representatives of monopolies, on the other.

Schleicher assumed the post of chancellor in December 1932. He sought to implement a dictatorial regime that would bring the fascists into the government on terms acceptable to various groups of monopolistic capital. His efforts, however, failed. He was forced to resign on Jan. 28,1933, and was succeeded by Hitler on Jan. 30, 1933. Schleicher was murdered by the Gestapo during the purge known as the night of the long knives.