‘Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933 mainly as a result of “backstairs intrigue”’
Assess the validity of this statement
It cannot be denied that part of the reason why Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933
was due to the extreme rise in support for the Nazi party in the preceding years, however the
role of ‘backstairs intrigue’ was also significant. ‘Backstairs intrigue’, the negotiations
between politicians outside of the public’s view and knowledge, became very prevalent in
1932 and is an important short-term reason for the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor on
January 30th 1933.
One of the main architects of ‘Backstairs Intrigue’ was Von Papen, who facilitated the
Chancellorship of Hitler in the short to medium term. Papen himself helped to dismiss
Bruning in May 1932, allowing himself to become Chancellor, during which time he tried to
ally himself closely to the Nazis and Hitler himself with the aim of creating a coalition. The
conditions of this meant that he overturned the ban on the Nazi SA and called a Reichstag
election in July 1932 as Hitler had wished. Therefore he allowed the huge rise in Nazi
deputies almost overnight, rising from 107 to 230. Furthermore, the permital of the SA meant
that street violence rose too, with around 100 deaths in July 1932 alone between the Nazi
SA and the KPD Red Front Fighters League - in the long run, this made civil war more likely
in the Weimar Republic. Therefore it was Papen’s ‘backstairs intrigue’ dealings with Hitler in
the early part of his Chancellorship which allowed Hitler to become Chancellor only 6 months
later.
Even after his dismissal as Chancellor, Von Papen still played a major role in ‘Backstairs
intrigue’. By December 1932, Papen, jealous of his successor; Von Schleicher, initiated
further secret talks to create a new coalition with Hitler as Chancellor and himself as
Vice-Chancellor - controlling everything from behind the scenes. These talks began on
December 10th when Papen consulted businessmen to make sure that they would be
supportive of this new coalition, and lasted until January 30th when President Hindenburg
appointed Hitler as Chancellor. Papen felt that this new coalition and cabinet would be easy
to control given that there were only three Nazi members of the cabinet (Hitler, Goering and
Frick) and the general lack of governmental experience meant that he would, in theory, be
able to rise as an experienced leader - perhaps even replacing Hitler when he inevitably
made a mistake too big to survive politically. Therefore it was these backstage manoeuvres
with himself in mind performed by Von Papen which allowed Hitler to become Chancellor in
January 1933.
Von Schleicher was also an important player of “Backstairs Intrigue’. As a close advisor/
friend of President Hindenburg, he was able to ensure the dismissal of both Bruning and
Papen as Chancellor, clearing the path for Hitler - by December 1933, he felt that the only
option left was to become Chancellor himself. In order to try and have a stable coalition as
Chancellor, Schleicher negotiated with the left-leaning Nazi, Strasser, offering him the
position of Vice-Chancellor. However, Hitler found out about Strasser’s ‘betrayal’ and made
him quit the party - this allowed Hitler to both gain a stronger grip on his own party and also
