Franz von Papen inherited a cabinet full of ministers from different political backgrounds, many of them influential figures in their respective parties. If he was to fulfill the expectations set in him, this would inevitably change - and that was something von Papen considered necessary, too.
The breaking point was the continuing coal miners' strike. After a number of preliminary discussions (both open and secret), von Papen decided that the strike had end within a week. He confronted the Social Democratic Minister for Work, Rudolf Wissell, with his expectations for an arbitration ("Schlichterspruch"). Wissell, who was skeptical and who sensed which the way the wind was blowing, nevertheless did his best and tried to placate both sides in an arbitration which was, without question, the worst deal any group of workers has been offered in decades. Predictably, his efforts failed. Von Papen then decreed the arbitration and insisted that Reichswehr units dispersed any groups of striking miners who would still blockade the mines after an ultimatum of 24 hours. Wissell rejected this course of action with shock. Last minute talks fell through, as the atmosphere among the ministers "on leased time" grew more and more confrontational, and shortly before von Papen's marching orders were executed, Rudolf Wissell resigned in protest. Along with him, his party colleagues Rudolf Schmidt (Minister for Work) and Carl Severing (Minister for Internal Affairs) resigned, too. The enforcement of the strike ban, which negated the freedom of coalition enshrined in the Weimar Constitution, came at the cost of seventeen human lives, all of them unionized miners who held out to the last moment. The social democratic newspaper "Vorwärts" denounced von Papen on the next day as "Arbeitermörder" and "Industriediktator", and the party's president, Otto Wels, would announce in the next day's issue that the SPD group in the Reichstag would call a vote of no confidence against von Papen at the next opportunity.
Von Papen had seen this coming. His nominations for replacements followed the reorientation his preparatory talks with various political groups had outlined: Wissell was replaced by Gottfried Treviranus as Minister for Work, who had left the DNVP after Hugenberg's ascent to power and radicalisation, and founded the Konservative Volkspartei - a smallish faction in the Reichstag which, following Treviranus' nomination, supported von Papen's government. Schmidt was replaced by Hugo Schäffler, who pursued just the anti-unionist policies which the industrialist circles who backed von Papen's government had called for. Severing, finally, was replaced by Wilhelm Groener, who united both the Ministries of Defense and Inner Affairs in his person. Thus, von Papen attempted to garner support of industry-friendly small parties like the Wirtschaftspartei, integrate the KVP into his ad hoc coalition, and neutralise, if possible, the DNVP in the Reichstag vote which would inevitably follow. But this was not enough to garner a passive negative majority. He had to court various smaller agrarian parties, too - and to this end, he had the DDP minister for Agriculture, Hermann Dietrich, reach out to the agrarian lobbies by promising a mixture of protective tariffs and debt conversion aids, which was a U-turn on the previous Great Coalition's agrarian policies.
The Reichstag would convene on May 4th, 1931. In the days before, the opposition on the left, now including the SPD, was pressured by their supporters to stand their ground. On May 1st, 1931, millions of workers took to the streets, shouting demands to topple von Papen's "class dictatorship". They were joined by equally large numbers of unemployed who wildly protested von Papen's latest plan: to cut unemployment benefits by 20 %. THis was not only aimed at freeing up resources for the agrarian aids promised to groups like the CNLB, Landbund, and Bauernpartei, but also at weakening the financial basis of the leftist opposition parties (who relied on the fees of their members, not few of whom were unemployed right now) and the bargaining position of the unions. SPD- and KPD-led demonstrations marched separately, to the dismay of perspicacious people in both parties, though. But the display of the popular will was clear enough: the SPD in the Reichstag would clearly lose its face if they did not vote unanimously against von Papen, and the KPD's position on the issue was unambiguous anyway. At least in their vote of no confidence, the two largest parties of Germany's working class would be united.
But these two parties were not the only ones von Papen was afraid of. The Catholic Zentrum featured its own left wing, too, and politicians like Adam Stegerwald and Joseph Wirth had already openly criticsed the Ruhr killings. Rumours had it that they planned to nominate an alternative, more moderate candidate who could win back the SPD's support. To placate his fellow Zentrum members, von Papen brought the issue of state support and equal protection for confessional schools up again - at the cost of alienating secularists in the DDP and DVP.
Yet, if party politics and parliamentary majorities were already a serious problem for von Papen, developments beyond Germany's borders were even more dangerous. French loans to the Reichsbank were, indeed, withdrawn, although for the moment only in part, and the Reichsbank's required minimum of foreign currency deposits was still met, for the time being. Yet, investors both in Germany and abroad began to feel growing unease, and the amount of capital withdrawn from Germany increased. What was even more consequential: apparently, Germany's virus was considered by a significant number of US investors to be contagious enough to threaten Austria's economy, too - so there, too, capital was being withdrawn. It was not much - but in combination with deep-lying internal problems of Austria's own financial market, it was more than enough. And so, on April 30th, the largest financial institution of Austria, the Creditanstalt, publicised its annual review, stating that the bank was currently short of the required minimum of capital cover. [1]
[1] This happens slightly earlier than IOTL because of the capital outflux caused by Stresemann's declaration.