Preußenschlag — Prussian Coup. During the Weimar Republic the Free State of Prussia was overthrown.
The coup eliminated Prussia's autonomous government, weakening Weimar federalism and easing Hitler's centralization of power after January 1933.
Key Facts
- Date
- 20 July 1932
- Ordered by
- Reich President Paul von Hindenburg
- Initiator
- Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen
- Executive power transferred to
- Kurt von Schleicher, Reich Minister of Armed Forces
- Target
- Free State of Prussia, largest German federal state
- Key consequence
- Facilitated Hitler's centralization of power from January 1933
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1932 Prussian state election produced a deadlocked parliament incapable of forming a new coalition, leaving a caretaker government in place. Papen argued this government could not suppress violent street clashes erupting across parts of Prussia, providing the pretext for federal intervention.
On 20 July 1932, Reich President Hindenburg, acting at Papen's request, issued decrees removing the legal Prussian government and installing Papen as Reich Commissioner. A second decree transferred executive authority in Prussia to Kurt von Schleicher and suspended fundamental rights in the state.
The coup destroyed the last institutional resistance within Prussia to Papen's centralizing 'New State' project and weakened the federalist structure of the Weimar Constitution. Contrary to Papen's intentions, it removed a key barrier to Nazi control, facilitating Hitler's consolidation of power following his appointment as chancellor in January 1933.