Schleicher cabinet

In the November 1932 election, the Nazis won fewer seats than in the previous election, but Chancellor Franz von Papen was still unable to secure a Reichstag that could be counted on not to pass another vote of no-confidence against his government.^[1] Papen's attempt to negotiate with Adolf Hitler failed.^[2] Under pressure from Kurt von Schleicher, Papen resigned on 17 November and formed a caretaker government. He told his cabinet that he planned to have martial law declared, which would allow him to rule as a dictator.^[1] At a cabinet meeting on 2 December, however, Papen was informed by Schleicher's associate, General Eugen Ott, that Reichswehr war games showed there was no way to maintain order against a potential uprising by the Nazis and Communists.^[3][4] Realising that Schleicher was moving to replace him, Papen asked President Paul von Hindenburg to dismiss Schleicher as Reichswehr minister. Instead, Hindenburg appointed Schleicher chancellor.^[3]

Schleicher hoped that he would be able to form a majority coalition in the Reichstag by bringing the Nazis into his government. On 23 November 1932, he offered Hitler the vice-chancellorship in his potential new cabinet. The party "maximalists" around Hitler insisted that he have full presidential powers, although there were also a number of pragmatists in the party, notably Gregor Strasser, who were willing to work with Schleicher on less absolute terms.^[5] The division played into Schleicher's plan to weaken the Nazis by forming an alliance (the Querfront) that would bring together various groups that favoured an authoritarian regime.^[6] In coalition talks with the other Reichstag parties, Schleicher told them that under the right circumstances he might be willing to work with the Nazis.^[5] He went so far as to offer to make Strasser vice-chancellor and minister president of Prussia .^[6] After a stormy meeting with Hitler, Strasser resigned from the Nazi Party on 8 December.^[7] That left Hitler's "maximalists" in control, and ended any possibility of the Nazis joining the Schleicher government.

Schleicher wanted to save and strengthen the system of presidential governments that had begun under Heinrich Brüning. Both Brüning and Papen had bypassed the Reichstag and governed using the emergency decrees that Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution granted the president. After failing to split the Nazis and bring the party into his government, Schleicher hoped to convince President Hindenburg to declare a state of emergency that would unconstitutionally delay elections and give Schleicher time to finalise his plans and stabilise his government.^[6]

Schleicher took over Papen's cabinet with only three changes: Franz Bracht, who had been minister without portfolio under Papen, replaced Wilhelm von Gayl as minister of the Interior, and Friedrich Syrup replaced Hugo Schäffer as minister of Labour. As in Papen's cabinet, all members were independents except for two from the German National People's Party (DNVP).

The cabinet consisted of the following ministers:^[8]

In his inaugural declaration, Schleicher emphasised job creation as his government's major goal. Through a program of public works, two million unemployed were put to work by July of 1933.^[9] Most European countries were raising tariffs as part of their attempts to recover from the Great Depression, but Schleicher was indecisive on the matter. His inaction especially angered the large landowners in the eastern provinces of Germany – a group to which Hindenburg belonged – who wanted higher tariffs on foodstuffs. Their anger did much to weaken Schleicher's position.^[10]

At the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Schleicher worked to abolish the arms limitations imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. He was confident that the agreement in principle on Germany's equality of status with the other powers would allow it to rearm and build up its armed forces.^[11]

Papen, who was embittered at Schleicher for ousting him from the chancellorship, had at least two meetings with Hitler in January 1933 at which they plotted to remove Schleicher and form a new government under the leadership of Hitler, Papen and the Nazi Party. When Schleicher found out about their cooperation, he went to Hindenburg with his plan for a state of emergency. The centre and left parties in the Reichstag were furious when word of his intentions leaked out. After Schleicher backed down, the conservatives who opposed the Nazis also attacked him. Hindenburg, out of reluctance to make such a clearly unconstitutional move, once again refused to declare a state of emergency and dissolve the Reichstag. With virtually all his support lost, Schleicher resigned on 28 January 1933, opening the way for Hitler to become chancellor.^[7]