Franz von Papen (1879-1969) was one of the conservative German politicians whose fear of social unrest and hostility toward the democratic Weimar Republic led them to support the rise of Hitler. Although never a believer in the more extreme doctrines of National Socialism, he helped prepare the way for the Third Reich.

Von Papen came from a landowning Westphalian Catholic family which belonged to the lower nobility. Like many young men of his social class he entered the officer corps, and in 1914 he became the German military attaché in Washington. He was recalled late the following year, however, because of his involvement in secret sabotage activities. He then fought on the Turkish front, but left military service in 1918, unable to accept the new republican regime. Entering politics, he assumed leadership of the conservative, monarchist wing of the Catholic Center Party. The onset of the Depression in 1929 convinced...