Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk was a German politician, diplomat, army officer and Prussian nobleman. A national conservative, he served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932, and then as Vice-Chancellor under Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1934. A committed monarchist, Papen is largely remembered for his role in bringing Hitler to power.
Born into a wealthy and powerful family of Westphalian Catholic aristocrats, Papen served in the Prussian Army from 1898 onward and was trained as an officer of the German General Staff. He served as a military attaché in Mexico and the United States from 1913 to 1915, while also covertly organising acts of sabotage in the United States and quietly backing and financing Mexican forces in the Mexican Revolution on behalf of German military intelligence.