Faupel,Wilhelm b. October 29, 1873; Lindenbusch (Lower Silesia), Prussia d. May 1945; Berlin (?), Prussia
German officer who was a crucial figure in military relations to Latin America in the period prior to and after World War I. As a right-wing political figure and president of the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut in Berlin, Faupel also gained publicity as the coordinator of Nazi cultural policy toward Latin America in the 1930s and 1940s.
At age eighteen Faupel joined the German army and went through a typical military career, which lasted until the end of the nineteenth century. In 1900, however, because of his knowledge of Russian, he was commanded to translate for the German forces engaged in the Boxer rebellion in China. Four years later he volunteered to participate in the German colonial war of extermination against the Herero and Nama tribes in South-West Africa (1904-1906). After his return to Germany in 1907, Faupel was made general staff officer. In 1911 he joined a group of German military instructors for the Argentinean army. He stayed in Buenos Aires as instructor at the war academy until 1913.
During World War I, Faupel served as a general staff officer. In May 1918, he was one of the organizers of the successful offensive of the “Chemin des Dames,” which killed thousands due to the massive use of toxic gas. For this achievement, Faupel was awarded the highest military decoration, Pour-le-Merite, in August 1918. Immediately after the war, Faupel acted as a mediator between revolutionary soldiers and the army command. In addition, he became an important leader of the counterrevolutionary movement in Germany, founding the Freikorps Gorlitz (or Freikorps Faupel) in January 1919, which actively participated in fighting against the Socialists in Munich and in the Ruhr region. Faupel also supported the abortive right-wing military coup against the Weimar Republic in March 1920.
In 1921 Faupel had to leave the German army due to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and returned to Argentina.
At the Rio de la Plata, Faupel was informally hired as adviser by General Jose Felix Uriburu who, in 1923, was promoted to inspector general. Faupel managed to contract a group of old comrades willing to serve in Argentina despite the provisions of the peace treaty that prohibited German officers from serving in a foreign army. Until 1926, when he finally gained the rank of general in the German army, Fau- pel commanded these so-called informantes civiles. He was a crucial figure in the secret arms trade at the Rio de la Plata. After the fall of Uriburu, Faupel had to leave Argentina but became inspector general of the Peruvian army a year later. Again, with the help of his traditional aides, he set out to reform the army structure, but again his measures provoked the resistance of Latin American officers, who rejected the foreigners’ influence. In 1929, the German contingent under Faupel had to resign.Back in Germany during the Great Depression, Faupel held various positions in right-wing associations. After the Nazis’ rise to power, Faupel was appointed president of the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut in Berlin in 1934. From that position, Faupel became the chief coordinator of German cultural relations to Latin America. In 1936 Adolf Hitler sent him as ambassador to Franco’s Spain, but Faupel had to be recalled because of diplomatic difficulties a year later. Until the end of the war, Faupel continued to lead the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut. His institution gradually lost importance due to the declining role of Latin America in Nazi strategic planning. In May 1945, together with his wife, Faupel probably committed suicide in Berlin.
Stefan Rinke
See also Argentina; Latin America, German Military Advisers in; Latin America, Nazi Party in; Treaty of Versailles
References and Further Reading
Gliech, Oliver. “Wilhelm Faupel: Generalstabsoffizier, Militarberater, President des Ibero-amerikanischen Instituts.” In Ein Institut und sein General: Wilhelm Faupel und das Ibero-Amerikanische Institut in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Eds. Reinhard Liehr, Gunther Maihold, and Gunter Vollmer. Frankfurt am Main: Vervuert, 2003, 131-279.
Rinke, Stefan. “Der letzte freie Kontinent”: Deutsche Lateinamerikapolitik im Zeichen transnationaler Beziehungen, 1918—1933. Stuttgart: Heinz, 1996.