Hindenburg, Papen, and Schleicher

Political instability thrives on uncertainty, and this topic’s focus on backroom deals and shifting loyalties makes abstract concepts tangible. Active learning lets students step into roles and trace decisions, turning the chaos of Weimar’s final years into something students can analyze and debate.

• Year 11
• History
• 4 activities
• 35 min–50 min

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze the motivations of Franz von Papen and Kurt von Schleicher in their political dealings with President Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler.
2. Evaluate the extent to which the political strategies of Hindenburg, Papen, and Schleicher contributed to Hitler's appointment as Chancellor.
3. Explain President Hindenburg's initial reservations about appointing Hitler and the factors that ultimately changed his mind.
4. Compare the different political factions and their objectives within the late Weimar Republic, as represented by Hindenburg, Papen, and Schleicher.

Ready-to-Use Activities

Simulation Game

⏱ 50 min·Small Groups

Role-Play: Backstairs Intrigue Summit

Assign roles to Hindenburg, Papen, Schleicher, and Hitler. Groups prepare positions using source extracts, then negotiate in a 20-minute summit. Debrief with class vote on outcomes and historical accuracy.

Prepare & details

Explain why Hindenburg initially resisted appointing Hitler as Chancellor.

Facilitation Tip: During the Role-Play: Backstairs Intrigue Summit, assign students roles with hidden agendas—this forces them to negotiate based on character constraints rather than personal beliefs.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Simulation Game

⏱ 45 min·Pairs

Timeline Debate: Key Decisions

Pairs construct a shared timeline of appointments from 1932-1933. Debate at checkpoints whether each event facilitated Hitler's rise, using evidence cards. Class compiles a final annotated version.

Prepare & details

Analyze the motivations of von Papen and von Schleicher in their political intrigues.

Facilitation Tip: For the Timeline Debate: Key Decisions, provide only partial dates (e.g., January 1933) to push students to justify sequencing based on evidence rather than assumption.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Simulation Game

⏱ 40 min·Small Groups

Source Stations: Motivations Analysis

Set up stations for Hindenburg, Papen, and Schleicher with document excerpts. Small groups rotate, noting motives and reliability. Regroup to present findings on a class chart.

Prepare & details

Evaluate the extent to which these political 'backstairs intrigues' facilitated Hitler's rise.

Facilitation Tip: In the Source Stations: Motivations Analysis, include one deliberately misleading excerpt so students practice evaluating credibility and intent, not just extracting facts.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Simulation Game

⏱ 35 min·Individual

Intrigue Mapping: Causal Web

Individuals draw a web linking intrigues to Hitler's appointment. Pairs merge maps, adding evidence. Whole class discusses strongest links in a structured vote.

Prepare & details

Explain why Hindenburg initially resisted appointing Hitler as Chancellor.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Teaching This Topic

Start with the misconceptions: many students assume Hitler’s rise was inevitable, so build skepticism by asking them to defend counterfactuals. Use the causal web to show how events like Papen’s gamble to control Hitler created feedback loops. Avoid oversimplifying agency—Hindenburg’s conservatism, Papen’s ambition, and Schleicher’s desperation all mattered, and students should see each figure’s limits.

What to Expect

Students will move from memorizing names to weighing motivations, consequences, and agency through structured interaction. By the end, they should explain why Hindenburg, Papen, and Schleicher made choices that ultimately cleared Hitler’s path to power.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Role-Play: Backstairs Intrigue Summit, watch for students who assume Hindenburg’s resistance stemmed from personal dislike of Hitler rather than his distrust of extremism and electoral weakness.

What to Teach Instead

Use the role sheets to direct students to cite conservative nationalist principles or Papen’s assurances in their arguments, forcing them to ground Hindenburg’s hesitation in documented concerns.

Common Misconception

During Source Stations: Motivations Analysis, watch for students who dismiss Papen and Schleicher as mere tools of Hindenburg.

What to Teach Instead

Have students compare Papen’s private letters with Schleicher’s policy memos, highlighting where each pursues independent goals, and ask them to find textual evidence of ambition beyond loyalty.

Common Misconception

During Timeline Debate: Key Decisions, watch for students who overstate the role of backstairs intrigues in Hitler’s rise.

What to Teach Instead

Prompt groups to rank the Depression, Nazi electoral gains, and backstairs intrigues by impact, then defend their ranking with evidence from the timeline and source stations.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

After Role-Play: Backstairs Intrigue Summit, have students write a 150-word news report as journalists in 1933 Berlin detailing the secret meetings. Assess for accuracy in events referenced, clear identification of consequences, and use of role-specific perspectives.

Quick Check

During Source Stations: Motivations Analysis, collect students’ line connections between figures and motivations, then assess for correct pairings and a one-sentence justification that cites a specific source excerpt.

Exit Ticket

After Intrigue Mapping: Causal Web, use an index card exit ticket asking students to write one sentence on Hindenburg’s hesitation and one on Papen or Schleicher’s main goal. Assess for precise identification of motivations and causal relationships.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask early finishers to draft a telegram from Schleicher to a conservative ally outlining his counter-plan to stop Hitler, using evidence from the source stations.
• Scaffolding: Provide a partially completed Intrigue Mapping: Causal Web template for students who struggle, with key events and arrows pre-drawn but missing motivations.
• Deeper exploration: Have students compare Weimar’s backstairs politics to modern coalition-building, researching one contemporary example to present in a short reflection.

Key Vocabulary

Backstairs Intrigue	Secret, often manipulative, political plotting and maneuvering that occurs away from public view, typically within influential circles.
Article 48	A clause in the Weimar Constitution that allowed the President to rule by decree in emergencies, bypassing the Reichstag, and was frequently used in the Republic's final years.
Coalition Government	A government formed by two or more political parties working together, often necessary in a fragmented political landscape like the late Weimar Republic.
Presidential Decree	An order issued by the President with the force of law, often used during times of political crisis or when parliamentary consensus was impossible.