Heinrich Brüning

Heinrich Aloysius Maria Elisabeth Brüning ( pronounced [ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈbʁyːnɪŋ] ; 26 November 1885 – 30 March 1970) was a German Centre Party politician and academic, who served as the chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932. His use of deflation in an attempt to combat the effects of the Great Depression in Germany increased unemployment and poverty and earned him the nickname of "the hunger chancellor".

A political scientist and Christian social activist, he entered politics in the 1920s and was elected to the Reichstag in 1924. In 1930, he was appointed interim chancellor, just as the Great Depression took hold. His austerity policies in response were unpopular, with most of the Reichstag opposed, so he governed by emergency decrees issued by President Paul von Hindenburg, overriding the Reichstag. This lasted until May 1932, when his land distribution policy offended Hindenburg, who refused to issue any more decrees. Brüning resigned in response to the refusal.