1932 Prussian coup d'état: Difference between revisions
update & simplify lead |
GHStPaulMN (talk | contribs) Replaced entire English language article with translation of the German language version. Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at de: 1932 Prussian coup d'état; see its history for attribution. Tags: nowiki added Visual edit |
||
Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13680, Berlin, Verordnung über Ausnahmezustand.jpg|thumb|right|300px|An emergency decree as declared by [[Paul von Hindenburg]] on an [[advertising column]] in [[Berlin]]. Prussian government officials, including [[Carl Severing]], [[Albert Grzesinski]], [[Bernhard Weiß (police executive)|Bernhard Weiss]] and [[Magnus Heimannsberg]], were all arrested during the coup by military authorities.]] |
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13680, Berlin, Verordnung über Ausnahmezustand.jpg|thumb|right|300px|An emergency decree as declared by [[Paul von Hindenburg]] on an [[advertising column]] in [[Berlin]]. Prussian government officials, including [[Carl Severing]], [[Albert Grzesinski]], [[Bernhard Weiß (police executive)|Bernhard Weiss]] and [[Magnus Heimannsberg]], were all arrested during the coup by military authorities.]] |
||
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12081, Berlin, Ausflug deutscher und englischer Politiker.jpg|thumb|right|300px|In July 1931 British politicians visited Prussia. In the photograph, from left to right: [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany)|German Foreign Minister]] [[Julius Curtius]], [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|British Foreign Secretary]] [[Arthur Henderson]], [[Chancellor of Germany|German Chancellor]] [[Heinrich Brüning]], [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[James Ramsay MacDonald]] and (later dismissed) [[Minister President of Prussia|Ministerpräsident of Prussia]] [[Otto Braun]]. The photo was taken during a ship excursion on the [[Großer Wannsee|Wannsee]], Berlin.]] |
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12081, Berlin, Ausflug deutscher und englischer Politiker.jpg|thumb|right|300px|In July 1931 British politicians visited Prussia. In the photograph, from left to right: [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany)|German Foreign Minister]] [[Julius Curtius]], [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|British Foreign Secretary]] [[Arthur Henderson]], [[Chancellor of Germany|German Chancellor]] [[Heinrich Brüning]], [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[James Ramsay MacDonald]] and (later dismissed) [[Minister President of Prussia|Ministerpräsident of Prussia]] [[Otto Braun]]. The photo was taken during a ship excursion on the [[Großer Wannsee|Wannsee]], Berlin.]] |
||
{{Expand German|Preußenschlag|date=September 2018}} |
|||
The '''1932 Prussian coup d'état''' or '''''Preußenschlag''''' ({{IPA-de|ˈpʁɔʏsənˌʃlaːk}}) |
The '''1932 Prussian coup d'état''' or '''''Preußenschlag''''' ({{IPA-de|ˈpʁɔʏsənˌʃlaːk}}) took place on July 20, 1932 when Reich President [[Paul von Hindenburg]], at the request of [[Franz von Papen]], then Reich Chancellor of [[Germany]], invoked [[Article 48 (Weimar Constitution)|Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution]] to replace the legal government of the [[Free State of Prussia]] by von Papen as Reich Commissioner. A second decree the same day transferred executive power in Prussia to the Reich Minister of the Armed Forces [[Kurt von Schleicher]] and restricted fundamental rights. |
||
Papen had two pretexts for the coup. One was that the 1932 Prussian Reichstag election had left a divided parliament with no viable possibilities for a coalition. This led to a caretaker government under the coalition that had held power before the election. The second and major pretext was that in parts of Prussia there were violent street demonstrations and clashes taking place that Papen said the caretaker government could not control. |
|||
It was a major step towards the end of the [[Weimar Republic]], as it later facilitated the Nazification ({{lang|de|[[Gleichschaltung]]}}) of Germany after [[Adolf Hitler]]'s [[Machtergreifung|rise to power]] on 30 January 1933. |
|||
The coup had the effect of weakening the federalist [[Weimar Constitution|constitution of the Weimar Republic]] and thus facilitating the centralization of the Reich under [[Adolf Hitler]] after he came to power in January 1933. The immediate result, however, was elimination of the last resistance in Prussia to Papen's attempt to establish a ‘New State’, essentially a precursor to a restored monarchy. Contrary to Papen’s intent, the move ultimately had the effect of easing Hitler's path to power. |
|||
The pretext for this measure was violent unrest in some areas of Prussia and the alleged inability of the Prussian government to handle the matter. The main trigger was the "{{lang|de|Altonaer Blutsonntag}}" ("[[Altona Bloody Sunday]]"), a violent clash between the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA) and [[Communist Party of Germany|Communists]] in [[Altona, Hamburg|Altona]], then a Prussian city near [[Hamburg]], on 17 July 1932. 18 people died, 16 of whom were shot by police.<ref>[[Heinrich Breloer]], Horst Königstein: ''Blutgeld. Materialien zu einer deutschen Geschichte'', 1982, {{ISBN|3-922009-46-8}}, p. 22.</ref> It is more likely{{Editorializing|date=January 2021}} however that the Prussian government headed by [[Prime Minister of Prussia|Minister-President]] [[Otto Braun]], with authority over the powerful Prussian police force, was simply one of the last major forces standing in the way of Papen's plans for [[German nationalism|nationalist]] rule.<ref>{{Citation| title =20. Juli 1932: Die preußische Regierung wird von der rechtskonservativen Regierung abgesetzt| trans-title =20 July 1932: The Prussian government is deposed by the right-wing conservative government| language=de| url =http://www.preussen-chronik.de/episoden/010600.jsp| access-date =4 May 2013| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20011007142111/http://www.preussen-chronik.de/episoden/010600.jsp| archive-date=7 October 2001| url-status=dead}}: |
|||
:''Immer wieder haben Konservative, Monarchisten und zuletzt sogar offen der Hohenzollern-Kronprinz eine Beseitigung der "republikanischen Festung Preußen", dieses "marxistischen Spuks", gefordert.'' [Again and again, conservatives, monarchists, and lately even the Hohenzollern crown prince have openly demanded the ousting of the "republican stronghold of Prussia", of this "Marxist spook".]</ref> |
|||
== Historical Context == |
|||
The move was facilitated by the unstable situation of the Prussian government. The centre-left coalition of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democrats]], [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]] and liberal [[German Democratic Party]] had ruled Prussia without interruption since 1918, but had lost its majority in the [[Landtag of Prussia|Landtag]] (state [[parliament]]) in [[1932 Prussian state election|the election on 24 April 1932]]. However, under the Prussian constitution, a government could be removed from office only if there was a positive majority for a prospective successor. This provision, known as a "[[constructive vote of no confidence]]," was intended to ensure that a government had sufficient support to govern. |
|||
=== Discussions about a Reorganization of the Reich === |
|||
The [[Communist Party of Germany|Communists]] and [[Nazi Party|National Socialists]] held over half the seats between them, but would not cooperate with each other or with other parties. Thus, no politically realistic alternative government was possible, and the Braun-led coalition remained in office. |
|||
Since the late 1920s the relationship between the Reich and Prussia had been the subject of discussion by the League for the Renewal of the Reich, to which Papen belonged. The aim of this circle, founded by [[Hans Luther]] and often called the Luther League, was to strengthen the Reich’s central power, reorganize northern Germany, especially Prussia, which was by far the largest state in Germany, and create an authoritarian presidential regime. The program included having the Reich president, the Reich government and the [[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]] replace the Prussian government and parliament, and empowering the chancellor to appoint state commissioners. It was assumed that Prussia, contrary to the interest of the entire nation, was as a state pursuing hegemony within the existing national structure. A comprehensive segmentation and disempowerment was proposed.<ref>[https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/images/8/80/Artikel_44406_bilder_value_1_bund-zur-erneuerung.pdf ''Bund zur Erneuerung des Reiches, Leitsätze''][League for the Renewal of the Reich, Guiding Principles]. Accessed 25 March 2016</ref> |
|||
In 1928 a conference of the states, consisting of members of the Reich cabinet and all of the state minister-presidents, came to the "joint resolution" that the relationship between the Reich and the states in the Republic was unsatisfactory and in need of fundamental reform and that a "strong Reich power" was necessary.<ref name=":0">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160317091400/http://www.blz.bayern.de/blz/web/100083/05.html ''Die Weimarer Republik. Band 3. Kapitel 5''] In: www.blz.bayern.de. Archived from the original 17 March 2016; accessed 25 March 2016.</ref><ref>Cited from Franz Albrecht Medicus: Reichsreform und Länderkonferenz [Reich reform and the state conference], Berlin 1930, p. 5 f. </ref> A constitutional committee was appointed to draw up workable proposals for constitutional and administrative reform and for prudent financial management.<ref name=":0" /> |
|||
However, Papen also lacked majority support in the [[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag]]. His only means to govern was through the emergency provisions of Article 48, and hence via decrees issued by the ''Reichspräsident'' Hindenburg, over whom Papen had great influence. The emergency decree of 20 July dismissed the Braun government and declared Papen ''Reichskommissar'' (Reich Commissioner) for Prussia, vested in him all the competences of the Prussian ministries, and gave him direct control over the Prussian government.<ref>{{Citation |
|||
| last = Walter |
|||
| first = Franz |
|||
| date = 2007-07-19 |
|||
| title = Putsch am 20. Juli 1932: Wie der Mythos Preußen zerschlagen wurde |
|||
|trans-title=The coup of 20 July 1932: How the myth of Prussia was smashed |
|||
| journal = [[Der Spiegel]] |
|||
| publication-place = Hamburg |
|||
| language = de |
|||
| url = http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/putsch-am-20-juli-1932-wie-der-mythos-preussen-zerschlagen-wurde-a-495275.html |
|||
| access-date = 4 May 2013 |
|||
}}: |
|||
:''Ein Tag als Lehrstück: für die antidemokratische Skrupellosigkeit der Konservativen jener Jahre, für die Hilflosigkeit und Ermattung der stets nur rhetorisch kraftvoll auftretenden Sozialdemokratie, für die Erosion und den Zerfall der republiktreuen Mitte – schon Monate vor der Etablierung des NS-Regimes.'' [One day as an object lesson: in the antidemocratic unscrupulousness of the conservatives of those years, in the helplessness and fatigue of the Social Democrats, who only rhetorically ever seemed powerful, in the erosion and breakup of the republican center — months before the establishment of the Nazi regime.]</ref> |
|||
On June 21, 1930 the assessments were presented. The four main points, as laid out by the ‘architect of the reform plan’ [[Arnold Brecht]], then Ministerial Director of the Prussian State Chancellery and later the main representative of the Prussian government in the lawsuit against the emergency decree, were as follows |
|||
The decree was declared partially unconstitutional on 25 October 1932 by the German {{Interlanguage link multi|Constitutional Court|2=de|3=Staatsgerichtshof für das Deutsche Reich|preserve=1}}, but only in so far as the formal existence of the Prussian cabinet was concerned. The transfer of power to Papen was upheld, while the Braun cabinet retained the right to represent Prussia in the [[Reichsrat (Germany)|Reichsrat]]. |
|||
* to unite the central administration of the Prussian state government with the central administration of the Reich government, |
|||
Prussia remained under direct administration of the federal government until April 1933. The [[Enabling Act of 1933]] gave Hitler the effective power to enact legislation (including extraconstitutional laws) without the consent of the Reichstag. One of Hitler's uses of the Enabling Act was to dissolve all of the state parliaments (except Prussia's) and reconstitute them based on the results of [[German federal election, March 1933| the partly-free federal election held in March]] (with the exception of Communist seats). Prussia was excluded from this measure because it had held state elections at the same time, with a similar result (a Nazi plurality). With the Communists now banned and most Social Democrats either jailed or in exile (the SPD would be banned outright in June), the Nazis now had a majority in the Prussian parliament, which elected [[Hermann Göring]] as Minister-President. However, under Hitler's rule, German states were effectively replaced by Nazi ''Gaue'', so Göring's post was largely ceremonial. |
|||
* to unite the central authorities of the Prussian state government with those of the Reich, |
|||
* to completely eliminate Prussia as a state |
|||
* to place the thirteen Prussian provinces, including Berlin, under the direct control of the Reich government as new states.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Brecht|first=Arnold|title=Föderalismus, Regionalismus und die Teilung Preußens [Federalism, Regionalism and the Partition of Prussia]|year=1949|location=Bonn|pages=135 f.|language=German}}</ref> |
|||
The reform effort faced objections primarily from Bavaria and Prussia.<ref>Karl-Ulrich Gelberg: [https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Bund_zur_Erneuerung_des_Reiches_%28Luther-Bund%29,_1928-1933/34 ''Bund zur Erneuerung des Reiches (Luther-Bund), 1928–1933/34''] [League for the Renewal of the Reich (Luther League), 1928-1933]. In: ''Historisches Lexikon Bayerns'' [Historical Dictionary of Bavaria]. Accessed on 24 March 2016.</ref> |
|||
The state of Prussia [[Abolition of Prussia|was finally dissolved]] by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] after the end of [[World War II]]. |
|||
Political developments made implementation of the program impossible, but, as the political scientist Everhard Holtmann wrote, "core elements of the reform package, such as the abolition of Prussia's statehood, were ...henceforth instrumentalized in a targeted manner in the domestic power struggle."<ref name=":0" /> |
|||
=== Papen's Idea of a 'New State' === |
|||
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1988-0113-500, Franz v. Papen.jpg|thumb|Franz von Papen]] |
|||
Papen's initiative for the Prussian coup must be understood within the context of the plan for the establishment of a ‘New State’, a concept propagated above all by Walther Schotte – a journalist and historian who provided Papen with ideas and theories – and [[Edgar Jung]], a lawyer and anti-democratic journalist. They did not favor the [[Nazism|National Socialist]]<nowiki/>s but rather wanted to create the precursor of a monarchy, an authoritarian presidential regime with a chancellor dependent on the confidence of the president and a parliament severely limited in its rights, similar to the government under the [[constitution of the German Empire]]. Papen's long-term goal was to restore the [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] monarchy. The ‘New State’ was to stand above particularist interests and provide the necessary security, order, and tranquility for economic development.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scholl|first=Stefan|title=Begrenzte Abhängigkeit. "Wirtschaft" und "Politik" im 20. Jahrhundert [Limited Dependence. "Economy" and "Politics" in the 20th Century] (Dissertation, Bielefeld 2015)|publisher=Campus|year=2015|isbn=978-3-593-50289-2|location=Frankfurt am Main et. al.}}</ref> |
|||
== Situation in Prussia after the State Elections of April 24, 1932 == |
|||
The Free State of Prussia had been governed since 1920 by a stable coalition of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)]] , the [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]] and the [[German Democratic Party]] (DDP). In the [[1932 Prussian state election]] of April 24, the [[Nazi Party|Nazi Party (NSDAP)]] won 162 and the [[Communist Party of Germany|Communist Party of Germany (KPD)]] 57 seats, a total of 219 out of 423, or 52%. All other parties together won only 204 seats, or 48%. The NSDAP and KPD would not work together, and none of the other parties could form a government with a parliamentary majority without the support of one of the anti-democratic parties, something that none of them was willing to accept. That meant that after the formal resignation of the previous state government – the third cabinet of [[Otto Braun]] – it remained in office on a caretaker basis in accordance with Article 59 of the state constitution.<ref>Compare [http://www.documentarchiv.de/wr/1920/verfassung-preussen.html ''Verfassung des Freistaats Preußen vom 30. November 1920''] [Constitution of the Free State of Prussia from 30 November 1920].</ref> This situation was similar to that in [[Bavaria]], [[Saxony]], [[Hesse]], [[Württemberg]] and [[Hamburg]], although the Reich government did not concern itself with them. |
|||
== Papen's and Hindenburg's Approach == |
|||
A center-right government in Prussia consisting of the NSDAP (162 seats) and the Center (67 seats) with a 53% majority was technically possible. Together with the 31 seats of the nationalist-conservative [[German National People's Party|German National People’s Party]] (DNVP), this coalition would have had as many as 260 of 423 seats. Reich Chancellor von Papen sought such a coalition, but the NSDAP claimed power for itself alone. On June 7, 1932 Papen, although not formally authorized to do so, asked [[Hanns Kerrl]], president of the state parliament and a member of the NSDAP, to replace the caretaker Prussian government with an elected one, something Kerrl was unable to guarantee due to the failure of coalition negotiations thus far. |
|||
[[File:Paul von Hindenburg, Glauer.jpg|thumb|Paul von Hindenburg]] |
|||
As a result, Papen considered other possibilities. The first was to carry out the long-debated Reich reform which would have dissolved or divided Prussia. Because this path would have achieved its goal only in the long term, was difficult to accomplish and highly controversial, he favored another option. He planned to appoint a Reich commissioner in place of the previous government and to enforce the new order if necessary with the help of the Reichswehr. |
|||
For this he had certain precedents. In 1923 Reich President [[Friedrich Ebert]] of the SPD had issued a [[Reichsexekution|Reich Execution]] – an intervention against an individual state led by the central government to enforce national law – during 1923’s [[German October]]. In the face of democratically elected left-wing governments in [[Saxony]] and [[Thuringia]] that included the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the forcible removal of the governments had been justified by the fact that peace and order were endangered in the two states. There had also been concern about an attempt at a communist revolution – one that was in fact ordered by the [[Communist International|Comintern]] in [[Moscow]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Winkler|first=Heinrich August|title=Werte und Mächte : eine Geschichte der westlichen Welt [Values and Powers : A History of the Western World]|year=2019|isbn=978-3-406-74138-8|location=Munich|pages=291|language=German}}</ref>. After the government of Saxony refused to disarm illegally established workers' militias, the Reich Execution had been imposed and carried out.<ref> Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum: [https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/innenpolitik/deutscher-oktober-1923.html ''Gerade auf LeMO gesehen: LeMO Kapitel: Weimarer Republik''] [[Just seen on LeMO: LeMO Chapter: Weimar Republic]. Accessed on 24 September 2021.</ref> Only in [[Hamburg]] had the Comintern's order for revolution been fulfilled to any extent. There a minor communist uprising that involved fatalities took place, but it was put down by the police.<ref name=":1" /> |
|||
Papen found an analogous justification for Prussia in the clashes culminating in the [[Altona Bloody Sunday]] of July 17, 1932. It involved on one side the [[Sturmabteilung|Nazi SA]], which had just had the ban against it lifted by the Papen government, and the Communists and Social Democrats on the other. The deadly confrontations and ill-fated police action differed markedly from the Reich Execution against Saxony in 1923. Then there had indeed been doubts about the loyalty of Saxony’s left-wing government to the constitution and its willingness to take police action,<ref>See also: ''1918–1933. Der „deutsche Oktober“'' [1918-1933. The "German October"], brief overview, Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin.</ref> but there was no question of this in Prussia’s case. |
|||
Three days earlier, on July 14, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg had signed an undated emergency decree pursuant to [[Article 48 (Weimar Constitution)|Article 48]] of the [[Weimar Constitution]] at the request of von Papen, who had visited him at his home in [[Ogrodzieniec, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship|Neudeck]] with Interior Minister [[Wilhelm von Gayl|Wilhelm von Gayl.]] Through the decree Hindenburg authorized the Reich Chancellor to become Reich Commissioner for Prussia and enabled him to remove the caretaker Prussian government from office.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pyta|first=Wolfram|title=Hindenburg. Herrschaft zwischen Hohenzollern und Hitler [Hindenburg. Rule between Hohenzollerns and Hitler]|publisher=Siedler|year=2007|isbn=978-3-88680-865-6|location=Munich|pages=712 f.|language=German}}</ref> By not dating the decree, Hindenburg left to Papen the choice of the time at which to make use of the power. Papen chose July 20. |
|||
The third option, which would have consisted of waiting and leaving Prussia's caretaker minority government in office and trusting that it would get the situation under control even without a parliamentary majority, was one that Papen from the outset did not consider. |
|||
== The Course of the Prussian Coup == |
|||
On July 20, 1932 Prussia’s Deputy Prime Minister Heinrich Hirtsiefer, in place of the acting but ill Prime Minister [[Otto Braun]], along with Interior Minister [[Carl Severing]] and his colleague from the Finance Department Otto Klepper, went to see Papen at his request. Papen informed the constitutional ministers about the Hindenburg decree that allowed him to be installed as Reich Commissioner and for the caretaker government to be removed. He said that the step was necessary because it appeared that "public safety and order in Prussia could no longer be guaranteed". A state of emergency was declared with immediate effect, and the [[Reichswehr]] was given the power to enforce the decree.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Winkler|first=Heinrich August|title=Weimar 1918–1933|publisher=C. H. Beck|year=1993|pages=496 ff.|language=German}}</ref> Prussia's representatives objected to the coup saying that Prussia had not violated any of its responsibilities under the Reich constitution and its laws, and had done as much for security as the other states even though its jurisdiction included the areas of greatest unrest. The Braun government therefore challenged the constitutionality of the emergency decree. Severing responded negatively to Papen's suggestion that he voluntarily relinquish his official duties, saying that he would "yield only to force". |
|||
Otto Klepper reported a year later in an essay in the exile newspaper ''The New Journal'' that he had hoped that Severing would resist after he made his declaration, especially since both Papen and Interior Minister von Gayl, who was also present, had seemed very uncertain.<ref>{{Cite book|last=von Pufendorf|first=Astrid|title=Otto Klepper (1888–1957) – Deutscher Patriot und Weltbürger [Otto Klepper (1888 – 1957) – German Patriot and Global Citizen] (= Studien zur Zeitgeschichte. Vol. 54)|publisher=Oldenbourg|year=1997|location=Munich|pages=134 f.|language=German}}</ref> "I suggested that we recess the meeting with Papen for an hour to discuss further action by the Prussian government and went to the door. But Severing declared that he had nothing more to discuss with me, and remained seated. Only then – after it was certain that no resistance was in the offing – was Secretary of State Planck given the order to set the command to the Reichswehr in motion."<ref>Exile newspaper ‘Das Neue Tagebuch’ publ. by Leopold Schwarzschild Paris – Amsterdam, Nr. 4, 22. July 1933, Article by Otto Klepper ''Erinnerung an den 20. Juli 1932'' [Memories of 20 July 1932], p. 90 ff.</ref> |
|||
In the afternoon of the same day, Severing, who commanded a force of 90,000 Prussian police officers, let himself be led out of his office and ministry by a delegation consisting of the police chief whom Papen had just appointed and two police officers. At 11:30 a.m. Papen had imposed a military state of emergency under the [[Reichswehr]] – a national force of 100,000 men – and, after the Prussian government backed down, occupied the Prussian Interior Ministry, the Berlin police headquarters and the headquarters of the [[Schutzpolizei]] (protective police). |
|||
The Berlin police chief, [[Albert Grzesinski|Albert Grzesinsk]]<nowiki/>i, his deputy, [[Bernhard Weiß (police executive)|Bernhard Weiß]], and the commander of the protective police, the centrist politician [[Magnus Heimannsberg]], were taken into custody and released the next day, after they had bound themselves in writing to engage in no more official acts. Immediately after the dismissal of the state government, a large-scale purge began. Numerous officials who had belonged to the previous coalition parties, especially the SPD, were put on temporary retirement and replaced by conservative officials, the majority of them German nationalists. This step, in addition to affecting the cabinet of Otto Braun, was directed especially against Social Democratic provincial presidents and leading Social Democrats within police organizations. Following a decree issued on November 12, 1932, those who had been placed on retirement were either dismissed or delegated to the provinces. In this way 69 ministerial officials with republican sentiments were sidelined. In addition to members of the Braun cabinet, they included among others Carl Steinhoff, vice-president of the province of [[East Prussia]], and Carl Freter, district administrator of [[Calau]] in [[Brandenburg]]. But this was only the first step. |
|||
The purging continued well into 1933. With targeted interventions against the police, especially the political police, an essential part of the power apparatus in Prussia had already been "cleansed" before Adolf Hitler's chancellorship. There was hardly any resistance, mainly because the SPD’s executive board had decided on July 16 not to resist with the resources available to it in order to avoid provoking a civil war. |
|||
== Members of the First Commissioner's Government == |
|||
* Interior Ministry and Deputy Reich Commissioner and Deputy Reich Chancellor to Franz von Papen: Franz Bracht, former Lord Mayor of [[Essen]] |
|||
* Commerce: Friedrich Ernst, Reich Commissioner for Banking Supervision in [[Heinrich Brüning]]'s cabinet |
|||
* Finance: Franz Schleusener, State Secretary in the Prussian Ministry of Finance |
|||
* Justice: Heinrich Hölscher, State Secretary in the Prussian Ministry of Justice |
|||
* Culture: Aloys Lammers, State Secretary in the Prussian Ministry of Science, Art and Education |
|||
* Agriculture: Fritz Mussehl, Ministerial Director in the Prussian Ministry of Agriculture |
|||
* Public Welfare: , Ministerial Director in the Prussian Ministry of Welfare |
|||
== Reaction of the Prussian State Government == |
|||
Despite its previous declarations, the Prussian government refused to respond with violence of its own to the violence that the national emergency and emergency decree had officially sanctioned. Deployment of the Prussian police and the [[Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold|Reichsbanner]] – an organization formed by three center or left of center parties to defend parliamentary democracy – was rejected. Even non-violent resistance in the form of a general strike was not considered because it did not seem feasible in view of the high unemployment during the [[Great Depression]]. There was also little prospect of success in a call for civil disobedience by civil servants. If open resistance were to occur, the government anticipated the outbreak of civil war, especially in the event of an armed clash between the Reichswehr and the state police, which it wanted to avoid at all costs. Moreover, legal recourse had not yet been exhausted. |
|||
On July 21, 1932 the Prussian government filed an application for a temporary injunction and a constitutional complaint with the State Court of the Reich Supreme Court. It was represented by Ministerial Director Arnold Brecht. The application for a temporary injunction was rejected on July 25, 1932 because the court did not want to anticipate its final decision. |
|||
[[Joseph Goebbels]] noted in his diary on July 21: "The Reds have missed their great hour. It will never come again." |
|||
== Decision of the State Court of October 25, 1932 == |
|||
In its October 25 ruling on the ‘Prussia versus Reich’ case, the State Court called the measures that Reich Commissioner von Papen took to maintain order and security under the state emergency partially legal, but ruled that the Braun government was to retain its status under state law in its relationship to the state parliament, the Reichstag, [[Reichsrat (Germany)|Reichsrat]], and Reich government. Its dismissal was ruled not justified. |
|||
In the meantime, however, Papen's provisional government had already replaced Prussia’s top administrative and police officials. |
|||
After the decision of the Reich Court, the Braun government, rehabilitated in terms of state law but deprived of its real power, reconvened for its weekly cabinet meetings as a so-called "sovereign government". The real power, however, lay with the representatives of the Reich Execution – the "Commissar Government" under [[Franz Bracht]]. The Reich government ignored the provisions of the Reich Court’s ruling, and the temporary operation of the commissarial administration was never terminated. |
|||
Political scientist and historian [[Karl Dietrich Bracher]] assessed the compromising<ref>{{Cite book|last=Oeter|first=Stefan|title=Integration und Subsidiarität im deutschen Bundesstaatsrecht: Untersuchungen zu Bundesstaatstheorie unter dem Grundgesetz [Integration and Subsidiarity in German State Law: Studies on Federal Theory under the Constitution].|publisher=Mohr Siebeck|year=1998|isbn=978-3-16-146885-8|language=German}}</ref> verdict as one of "grotesque ambivalence," since its legal section upheld the Prussian point of view, "while its basic political tenor, with its acquiescence to what had already happened, accommodated the coup-like whim of a government that was propped up only by the authority of the Reich President and the power of the Reichswehr."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bracher|first=Karl Dietrich|title=Schriften des Instituts für Politische Wissenschaft [Publications of the Institute for Political Science]|publisher=Duncker & Humblot|year=1955|language=German}}</ref> |
|||
[[Carl Schmitt]], who had represented von Papen in the trial along with Erwin Jacobi, and Carl Bilfinger, later endorsed the legality of the coup in an expert opinion.<ref> WDR Critical Diary, published August 2003, available in German in the online Plettenberg dictionary under http://www.plettenberg-lexikon.de/personen/schmitt.htm - accessed 16 February 2019. </ref> |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 13:44, 10 January 2022
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13680%2C_Berlin%2C_Verordnung_%C3%BCber_Ausnahmezustand.jpg/300px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-13680%2C_Berlin%2C_Verordnung_%C3%BCber_Ausnahmezustand.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-12081%2C_Berlin%2C_Ausflug_deutscher_und_englischer_Politiker.jpg/300px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-12081%2C_Berlin%2C_Ausflug_deutscher_und_englischer_Politiker.jpg)
The 1932 Prussian coup d'état or Preußenschlag (German pronunciation: [ˈpʁɔʏsənˌʃlaːk]) took place on July 20, 1932 when Reich President Paul von Hindenburg, at the request of Franz von Papen, then Reich Chancellor of Germany, invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution to replace the legal government of the Free State of Prussia by von Papen as Reich Commissioner. A second decree the same day transferred executive power in Prussia to the Reich Minister of the Armed Forces Kurt von Schleicher and restricted fundamental rights.
Papen had two pretexts for the coup. One was that the 1932 Prussian Reichstag election had left a divided parliament with no viable possibilities for a coalition. This led to a caretaker government under the coalition that had held power before the election. The second and major pretext was that in parts of Prussia there were violent street demonstrations and clashes taking place that Papen said the caretaker government could not control.
The coup had the effect of weakening the federalist constitution of the Weimar Republic and thus facilitating the centralization of the Reich under Adolf Hitler after he came to power in January 1933. The immediate result, however, was elimination of the last resistance in Prussia to Papen's attempt to establish a ‘New State’, essentially a precursor to a restored monarchy. Contrary to Papen’s intent, the move ultimately had the effect of easing Hitler's path to power.
Historical Context
Discussions about a Reorganization of the Reich
Since the late 1920s the relationship between the Reich and Prussia had been the subject of discussion by the League for the Renewal of the Reich, to which Papen belonged. The aim of this circle, founded by Hans Luther and often called the Luther League, was to strengthen the Reich’s central power, reorganize northern Germany, especially Prussia, which was by far the largest state in Germany, and create an authoritarian presidential regime. The program included having the Reich president, the Reich government and the Reichstag replace the Prussian government and parliament, and empowering the chancellor to appoint state commissioners. It was assumed that Prussia, contrary to the interest of the entire nation, was as a state pursuing hegemony within the existing national structure. A comprehensive segmentation and disempowerment was proposed.[1]
In 1928 a conference of the states, consisting of members of the Reich cabinet and all of the state minister-presidents, came to the "joint resolution" that the relationship between the Reich and the states in the Republic was unsatisfactory and in need of fundamental reform and that a "strong Reich power" was necessary.[2][3] A constitutional committee was appointed to draw up workable proposals for constitutional and administrative reform and for prudent financial management.[2]
On June 21, 1930 the assessments were presented. The four main points, as laid out by the ‘architect of the reform plan’ Arnold Brecht, then Ministerial Director of the Prussian State Chancellery and later the main representative of the Prussian government in the lawsuit against the emergency decree, were as follows
- to unite the central administration of the Prussian state government with the central administration of the Reich government,
- to unite the central authorities of the Prussian state government with those of the Reich,
- to completely eliminate Prussia as a state
- to place the thirteen Prussian provinces, including Berlin, under the direct control of the Reich government as new states.[2][4]
The reform effort faced objections primarily from Bavaria and Prussia.[5]
Political developments made implementation of the program impossible, but, as the political scientist Everhard Holtmann wrote, "core elements of the reform package, such as the abolition of Prussia's statehood, were ...henceforth instrumentalized in a targeted manner in the domestic power struggle."[2]
Papen's Idea of a 'New State'
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1988-0113-500%2C_Franz_v._Papen.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1988-0113-500%2C_Franz_v._Papen.jpg)
Papen's initiative for the Prussian coup must be understood within the context of the plan for the establishment of a ‘New State’, a concept propagated above all by Walther Schotte – a journalist and historian who provided Papen with ideas and theories – and Edgar Jung, a lawyer and anti-democratic journalist. They did not favor the National Socialists but rather wanted to create the precursor of a monarchy, an authoritarian presidential regime with a chancellor dependent on the confidence of the president and a parliament severely limited in its rights, similar to the government under the constitution of the German Empire. Papen's long-term goal was to restore the Hohenzollern monarchy. The ‘New State’ was to stand above particularist interests and provide the necessary security, order, and tranquility for economic development.[6]
Situation in Prussia after the State Elections of April 24, 1932
The Free State of Prussia had been governed since 1920 by a stable coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) , the Centre Party and the German Democratic Party (DDP). In the 1932 Prussian state election of April 24, the Nazi Party (NSDAP) won 162 and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 57 seats, a total of 219 out of 423, or 52%. All other parties together won only 204 seats, or 48%. The NSDAP and KPD would not work together, and none of the other parties could form a government with a parliamentary majority without the support of one of the anti-democratic parties, something that none of them was willing to accept. That meant that after the formal resignation of the previous state government – the third cabinet of Otto Braun – it remained in office on a caretaker basis in accordance with Article 59 of the state constitution.[7] This situation was similar to that in Bavaria, Saxony, Hesse, Württemberg and Hamburg, although the Reich government did not concern itself with them.
Papen's and Hindenburg's Approach
A center-right government in Prussia consisting of the NSDAP (162 seats) and the Center (67 seats) with a 53% majority was technically possible. Together with the 31 seats of the nationalist-conservative German National People’s Party (DNVP), this coalition would have had as many as 260 of 423 seats. Reich Chancellor von Papen sought such a coalition, but the NSDAP claimed power for itself alone. On June 7, 1932 Papen, although not formally authorized to do so, asked Hanns Kerrl, president of the state parliament and a member of the NSDAP, to replace the caretaker Prussian government with an elected one, something Kerrl was unable to guarantee due to the failure of coalition negotiations thus far.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Paul_von_Hindenburg%2C_Glauer.jpg/220px-Paul_von_Hindenburg%2C_Glauer.jpg)
As a result, Papen considered other possibilities. The first was to carry out the long-debated Reich reform which would have dissolved or divided Prussia. Because this path would have achieved its goal only in the long term, was difficult to accomplish and highly controversial, he favored another option. He planned to appoint a Reich commissioner in place of the previous government and to enforce the new order if necessary with the help of the Reichswehr.
For this he had certain precedents. In 1923 Reich President Friedrich Ebert of the SPD had issued a Reich Execution – an intervention against an individual state led by the central government to enforce national law – during 1923’s German October. In the face of democratically elected left-wing governments in Saxony and Thuringia that included the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), the forcible removal of the governments had been justified by the fact that peace and order were endangered in the two states. There had also been concern about an attempt at a communist revolution – one that was in fact ordered by the Comintern in Moscow[8]. After the government of Saxony refused to disarm illegally established workers' militias, the Reich Execution had been imposed and carried out.[9] Only in Hamburg had the Comintern's order for revolution been fulfilled to any extent. There a minor communist uprising that involved fatalities took place, but it was put down by the police.[8]
Papen found an analogous justification for Prussia in the clashes culminating in the Altona Bloody Sunday of July 17, 1932. It involved on one side the Nazi SA, which had just had the ban against it lifted by the Papen government, and the Communists and Social Democrats on the other. The deadly confrontations and ill-fated police action differed markedly from the Reich Execution against Saxony in 1923. Then there had indeed been doubts about the loyalty of Saxony’s left-wing government to the constitution and its willingness to take police action,[10] but there was no question of this in Prussia’s case.
Three days earlier, on July 14, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg had signed an undated emergency decree pursuant to Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution at the request of von Papen, who had visited him at his home in Neudeck with Interior Minister Wilhelm von Gayl. Through the decree Hindenburg authorized the Reich Chancellor to become Reich Commissioner for Prussia and enabled him to remove the caretaker Prussian government from office.[11] By not dating the decree, Hindenburg left to Papen the choice of the time at which to make use of the power. Papen chose July 20.
The third option, which would have consisted of waiting and leaving Prussia's caretaker minority government in office and trusting that it would get the situation under control even without a parliamentary majority, was one that Papen from the outset did not consider.
The Course of the Prussian Coup
On July 20, 1932 Prussia’s Deputy Prime Minister Heinrich Hirtsiefer, in place of the acting but ill Prime Minister Otto Braun, along with Interior Minister Carl Severing and his colleague from the Finance Department Otto Klepper, went to see Papen at his request. Papen informed the constitutional ministers about the Hindenburg decree that allowed him to be installed as Reich Commissioner and for the caretaker government to be removed. He said that the step was necessary because it appeared that "public safety and order in Prussia could no longer be guaranteed". A state of emergency was declared with immediate effect, and the Reichswehr was given the power to enforce the decree.[12] Prussia's representatives objected to the coup saying that Prussia had not violated any of its responsibilities under the Reich constitution and its laws, and had done as much for security as the other states even though its jurisdiction included the areas of greatest unrest. The Braun government therefore challenged the constitutionality of the emergency decree. Severing responded negatively to Papen's suggestion that he voluntarily relinquish his official duties, saying that he would "yield only to force".
Otto Klepper reported a year later in an essay in the exile newspaper The New Journal that he had hoped that Severing would resist after he made his declaration, especially since both Papen and Interior Minister von Gayl, who was also present, had seemed very uncertain.[13] "I suggested that we recess the meeting with Papen for an hour to discuss further action by the Prussian government and went to the door. But Severing declared that he had nothing more to discuss with me, and remained seated. Only then – after it was certain that no resistance was in the offing – was Secretary of State Planck given the order to set the command to the Reichswehr in motion."[14]
In the afternoon of the same day, Severing, who commanded a force of 90,000 Prussian police officers, let himself be led out of his office and ministry by a delegation consisting of the police chief whom Papen had just appointed and two police officers. At 11:30 a.m. Papen had imposed a military state of emergency under the Reichswehr – a national force of 100,000 men – and, after the Prussian government backed down, occupied the Prussian Interior Ministry, the Berlin police headquarters and the headquarters of the Schutzpolizei (protective police).
The Berlin police chief, Albert Grzesinski, his deputy, Bernhard Weiß, and the commander of the protective police, the centrist politician Magnus Heimannsberg, were taken into custody and released the next day, after they had bound themselves in writing to engage in no more official acts. Immediately after the dismissal of the state government, a large-scale purge began. Numerous officials who had belonged to the previous coalition parties, especially the SPD, were put on temporary retirement and replaced by conservative officials, the majority of them German nationalists. This step, in addition to affecting the cabinet of Otto Braun, was directed especially against Social Democratic provincial presidents and leading Social Democrats within police organizations. Following a decree issued on November 12, 1932, those who had been placed on retirement were either dismissed or delegated to the provinces. In this way 69 ministerial officials with republican sentiments were sidelined. In addition to members of the Braun cabinet, they included among others Carl Steinhoff, vice-president of the province of East Prussia, and Carl Freter, district administrator of Calau in Brandenburg. But this was only the first step.
The purging continued well into 1933. With targeted interventions against the police, especially the political police, an essential part of the power apparatus in Prussia had already been "cleansed" before Adolf Hitler's chancellorship. There was hardly any resistance, mainly because the SPD’s executive board had decided on July 16 not to resist with the resources available to it in order to avoid provoking a civil war.
Members of the First Commissioner's Government
- Interior Ministry and Deputy Reich Commissioner and Deputy Reich Chancellor to Franz von Papen: Franz Bracht, former Lord Mayor of Essen
- Commerce: Friedrich Ernst, Reich Commissioner for Banking Supervision in Heinrich Brüning's cabinet
- Finance: Franz Schleusener, State Secretary in the Prussian Ministry of Finance
- Justice: Heinrich Hölscher, State Secretary in the Prussian Ministry of Justice
- Culture: Aloys Lammers, State Secretary in the Prussian Ministry of Science, Art and Education
- Agriculture: Fritz Mussehl, Ministerial Director in the Prussian Ministry of Agriculture
- Public Welfare: , Ministerial Director in the Prussian Ministry of Welfare
Reaction of the Prussian State Government
Despite its previous declarations, the Prussian government refused to respond with violence of its own to the violence that the national emergency and emergency decree had officially sanctioned. Deployment of the Prussian police and the Reichsbanner – an organization formed by three center or left of center parties to defend parliamentary democracy – was rejected. Even non-violent resistance in the form of a general strike was not considered because it did not seem feasible in view of the high unemployment during the Great Depression. There was also little prospect of success in a call for civil disobedience by civil servants. If open resistance were to occur, the government anticipated the outbreak of civil war, especially in the event of an armed clash between the Reichswehr and the state police, which it wanted to avoid at all costs. Moreover, legal recourse had not yet been exhausted.
On July 21, 1932 the Prussian government filed an application for a temporary injunction and a constitutional complaint with the State Court of the Reich Supreme Court. It was represented by Ministerial Director Arnold Brecht. The application for a temporary injunction was rejected on July 25, 1932 because the court did not want to anticipate its final decision.
Joseph Goebbels noted in his diary on July 21: "The Reds have missed their great hour. It will never come again."
Decision of the State Court of October 25, 1932
In its October 25 ruling on the ‘Prussia versus Reich’ case, the State Court called the measures that Reich Commissioner von Papen took to maintain order and security under the state emergency partially legal, but ruled that the Braun government was to retain its status under state law in its relationship to the state parliament, the Reichstag, Reichsrat, and Reich government. Its dismissal was ruled not justified.
In the meantime, however, Papen's provisional government had already replaced Prussia’s top administrative and police officials.
After the decision of the Reich Court, the Braun government, rehabilitated in terms of state law but deprived of its real power, reconvened for its weekly cabinet meetings as a so-called "sovereign government". The real power, however, lay with the representatives of the Reich Execution – the "Commissar Government" under Franz Bracht. The Reich government ignored the provisions of the Reich Court’s ruling, and the temporary operation of the commissarial administration was never terminated.
Political scientist and historian Karl Dietrich Bracher assessed the compromising[15] verdict as one of "grotesque ambivalence," since its legal section upheld the Prussian point of view, "while its basic political tenor, with its acquiescence to what had already happened, accommodated the coup-like whim of a government that was propped up only by the authority of the Reich President and the power of the Reichswehr."[16]
Carl Schmitt, who had represented von Papen in the trial along with Erwin Jacobi, and Carl Bilfinger, later endorsed the legality of the coup in an expert opinion.[17]
References
- ^ Bund zur Erneuerung des Reiches, Leitsätze[League for the Renewal of the Reich, Guiding Principles]. Accessed 25 March 2016
- ^ a b c d Die Weimarer Republik. Band 3. Kapitel 5 In: www.blz.bayern.de. Archived from the original 17 March 2016; accessed 25 March 2016.
- ^ Cited from Franz Albrecht Medicus: Reichsreform und Länderkonferenz [Reich reform and the state conference], Berlin 1930, p. 5 f.
- ^ Brecht, Arnold (1949). Föderalismus, Regionalismus und die Teilung Preußens [Federalism, Regionalism and the Partition of Prussia] (in German). Bonn. pp. 135 f.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Karl-Ulrich Gelberg: Bund zur Erneuerung des Reiches (Luther-Bund), 1928–1933/34 [League for the Renewal of the Reich (Luther League), 1928-1933]. In: Historisches Lexikon Bayerns [Historical Dictionary of Bavaria]. Accessed on 24 March 2016.
- ^ Scholl, Stefan (2015). Begrenzte Abhängigkeit. "Wirtschaft" und "Politik" im 20. Jahrhundert [Limited Dependence. "Economy" and "Politics" in the 20th Century] (Dissertation, Bielefeld 2015). Frankfurt am Main et. al.: Campus. ISBN 978-3-593-50289-2.
- ^ Compare Verfassung des Freistaats Preußen vom 30. November 1920 [Constitution of the Free State of Prussia from 30 November 1920].
- ^ a b Winkler, Heinrich August (2019). Werte und Mächte : eine Geschichte der westlichen Welt [Values and Powers : A History of the Western World] (in German). Munich. p. 291. ISBN 978-3-406-74138-8.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum: Gerade auf LeMO gesehen: LeMO Kapitel: Weimarer Republik [[Just seen on LeMO: LeMO Chapter: Weimar Republic]. Accessed on 24 September 2021.
- ^ See also: 1918–1933. Der „deutsche Oktober“ [1918-1933. The "German October"], brief overview, Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin.
- ^ Pyta, Wolfram (2007). Hindenburg. Herrschaft zwischen Hohenzollern und Hitler [Hindenburg. Rule between Hohenzollerns and Hitler] (in German). Munich: Siedler. pp. 712 f. ISBN 978-3-88680-865-6.
- ^ Winkler, Heinrich August (1993). Weimar 1918–1933 (in German). C. H. Beck. pp. 496 ff.
- ^ von Pufendorf, Astrid (1997). Otto Klepper (1888–1957) – Deutscher Patriot und Weltbürger [Otto Klepper (1888 – 1957) – German Patriot and Global Citizen] (= Studien zur Zeitgeschichte. Vol. 54) (in German). Munich: Oldenbourg. pp. 134 f.
- ^ Exile newspaper ‘Das Neue Tagebuch’ publ. by Leopold Schwarzschild Paris – Amsterdam, Nr. 4, 22. July 1933, Article by Otto Klepper Erinnerung an den 20. Juli 1932 [Memories of 20 July 1932], p. 90 ff.
- ^ Oeter, Stefan (1998). Integration und Subsidiarität im deutschen Bundesstaatsrecht: Untersuchungen zu Bundesstaatstheorie unter dem Grundgesetz [Integration and Subsidiarity in German State Law: Studies on Federal Theory under the Constitution] (in German). Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-16-146885-8.
- ^ Bracher, Karl Dietrich (1955). Schriften des Instituts für Politische Wissenschaft [Publications of the Institute for Political Science] (in German). Duncker & Humblot.
- ^ WDR Critical Diary, published August 2003, available in German in the online Plettenberg dictionary under http://www.plettenberg-lexikon.de/personen/schmitt.htm - accessed 16 February 2019.
Sources
- Lexikon der deutschen Geschichte – Ploetz, Verlag Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau, Österreich 2001 (in German)