19 Facts About Wilhelm Cuno

Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923, for a total of 264 days.

Wilhelm Cuno's tenure included the episode known as the Occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops and the period in which inflation in Germany accelerated notably, heading towards hyperinflation.

Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno was born on 2 July 1876 in Suhl, in what was then Prussian Saxony and is in Thuringia.

Wilhelm Cuno studied law in Berlin and Heidelberg and was awarded a Juris Doctor.

Wilhelm Cuno was employed by the Reichsschatzamt in 1907, initially as Regierungsassessor.

Wilhelm Cuno was promoted in 1910 to Regierungsrat and in 1912 to Geheimer Regierungsrat.

In late 1916, Wilhelm Cuno was put in charge of the Generalreferat on economic issues relating to the war at the Treasury.

At the request of Albert Ballin, Wilhelm Cuno quit the civil service to join the Hapag shipping company as a director in November 1917.

Wilhelm Cuno was an important negotiator in talks between the German shipping firms and the government, regarding compensation for the merchant ships delivered to the Allies under the terms of the peace treaty.

In 1920, Wilhelm Cuno led Hapag into an alliance with United American Lines, helping to reestablish Hapag as a passenger line.

Wilhelm Cuno unofficially represented the Reich's foreign policy interests during his travels abroad.

Wilhelm Cuno rejected several proposals to assume the post of foreign minister or minister of finance, but agreed to form a cabinet after the resignation of Joseph Wirth's second cabinet.

Wilhelm Cuno was appointed Reichskanzler on 22 November 1922, by presidential decree and without a vote in the Reichstag.

Wilhelm Cuno had a somewhat aloof position towards the republic and its parliamentary system.

Wilhelm Cuno held the Reichstag in fairly low esteem and felt the bickering between the parties to be distasteful.

Wilhelm Cuno formed a government mostly composed of non-party economists and members of the German People's Party, German Democratic Party, German Center Party and Bavarian People's Party.

Wilhelm Cuno retired from politics and returned to serve as a director at Hapag.

Wilhelm Cuno was involved in negotiations about the release of German property impounded in the US during the war and in working towards the merger with Norddeutsche Lloyd, which happened in 1930.

Wilhelm Cuno died on 3 January 1933 at Aumuhle near Hamburg.