Reichswehr general who pulled the strings of the presidential cabinets and became the penultimate chancellor of Weimar Germany
Born into a military family in Brandenburg an der Havel, he joined the Prussian Army in 1900 and served on the General Staff of the Supreme Army Command in the First World War. In the revolution of 1918 he was the army's liaison to the new government and helped negotiate the Ebert–Groener pact, then rose as the defence ministry's political officer to become a close adviser of Hindenburg. He helped topple Müller's government and install Brüning in 1930, and in 1932 drove out Groener and Brüning and built Papen's cabinet, becoming defence minister. Chancellor from 3 December, he tried to tame Hitler with a Querfront drawing in Strasser, failed, and resigned on 28 January 1933. He and his wife were murdered in the Night of the Long Knives on 30 June 1934.
Also known as: Kurt Ferdinand Friedrich Hermann von Schleicher
Activities and affiliations
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1900–1932
Germany state institutionsArmy officer
Military command -
1929–1932
Germany state institutionsChief of the Ministeramt
Military command -
1932–1933
Germany state institutionsChancellorMain
Government and administration -
1932–1933
Germany state institutionsMinister of Defence
Military command