Ferdinand von Bredow

Ferdinand von Bredow (16 May 1884 – 30 June 1934) was a German Generalmajor and head of the Abwehr (the military intelligence service) in the Reich Defence Ministry and deputy defence minister in Kurt von Schleicher's short-lived cabinet. He was killed during the Night of the Long Knives, for alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow Hitler. He was promoted to captain in November 1918 and saw active service in the First World War. Bredow was among Schleicher's closest associates, being described by the British military historian John Wheeler-Bennett as a man "blindly devoted" to Schleicher. Wheeler-Bennett lived in Berlin between 1927 and 1934 and, as a man well connected to the German ruling class, knew Schleicher and his followers well. Schleicher appointed Bredow as his successor as head of the Ministerial Office in the Defence Ministry, which was the Reichswehr'''s favorite instrument for exerting influence on politics. Bredow, along with Schleicher, was involved in attempting to enlist Adolf Hitler's support during Schleicher's time as Chancellor between December 1932 and January 1933. Towards the end of this régime, Bredow, as the leader of Schleicher's personal "information service" was head of a number of coexisting secret service organizations, among them even the SS's Sicherheitsdienst, which was under Reinhard Heydrich's leadership. As a member of the Schleicher faction, Bredow was dismissed by the new Defence Minister, General Werner von Blomberg, who replaced him with General Walter von Reichenau. In the spring of 1934, Bredow was significantly involved in Schleicher's attempt at a political comeback, displaying what Wheeler-Bennett called a "lack of discretion that was terrifying" as he went about casually showing anyone who was interested a proposed new cabinet list. In Bredow's cabinet list, Hitler was to remain Chancellor, Schleicher was to serve as Vice-Chancellor, Ernst Röhm was to become Defence Minister, Gregor Strasser Economics Minister, and Heinrich Brüning Foreign Minister.