Konstantin von Neurath | |
|---|---|
 Neurath in 1939 | |
| Protector of Bohemia and Moravia | |
| In office 21 March 1939 – 24 August 1943 | |
| Appointed by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Wilhelm Frick |
| Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 1 June 1932 – 4 February 1938 | |
| President | Paul von Hindenburg Adolf Hitler (asFührer) |
| Chancellor | Franz von Papen Kurt von Schleicher Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Brüning |
| Succeeded by | Joachim von Ribbentrop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Konstantin Hermann Karl von Neurath (1873-02-02)2 February 1873 Kleinglattbach, German Empire |
| Died | 14 August 1956(1956-08-14) (aged 83) Enzweihingen, West Germany |
| Political party | Nazi Party (1937–1945) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Friedrich Wilhelm University University of Tübingen |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Cabinet | Hitler Cabinet |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | German Empire |
| Branch/service | Imperial German Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1916 |
| Unit | Grenadier Regiment "Queen Olga" (26th Division) |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Iron Cross, 1st class Wound Badge |
| Criminal information | |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Convictions | Conspiracy to commit crimes against peace Crimes of aggression War crimes Crimes against humanity |
| Trial | Nuremberg trials |
| Criminal penalty | 15 years imprisonment |
Konstantin Hermann Karl Freiherr[1] von Neurath (2 February 1873 – 14 August 1956) was a German politician, diplomat andconvictedNazi war criminal who served asForeign Minister of Germany between 1932 and 1938.
Born to aSwabian noble family, Neurath began his diplomatic career in 1901. He fought inWorld War I and was awarded theIron Cross for his service. After the war, Neurath served asminister to Denmark,ambassador to Italy and ambassador to Britain. In 1932, he was appointed Foreign Minister by ChancellorFranz von Papen, and he continued to hold the post underAdolf Hitler.
In the early years of theNazi regime, Neurath was regarded as playing a key role in Hitler's foreign policy pursuits in undermining theTreaty of Versailles and in territorial expansion in the prelude toWorld War II. However, he was often averse to Hitler's aims for tactical, not necessarily ideological, reasons. That aversion eventually induced Hitler to replace Neurath in 1938 with the more compliantJoachim von Ribbentrop, a fervent Nazi. Neurath served asReich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia between 1939 and 1943, but his authority was only nominal after September 1941.
Neurath was tried as a war criminal at theNuremberg trials and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his compliance and actions in Nazi Germany. He received an early release in 1954 and then retired to his family estate, where he died two years later.
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Neurath was born at the manor of Kleinglattbach (since 1972 part ofVaihingen an der Enz) inWürttemberg, the scion of aSwabianFreiherren noble family and political dynasty of the Kingdom of Württemberg. His grandfather, Constantin Franz von Neurath, had served as Foreign Minister under KingCharles I of Württemberg (reigned 1864–1891), and his father, Konstantin Sebastian von Neurath (died 1912), had been aFree Conservative member of the GermanReichstag andChamberlain of KingWilliam II of Württemberg.
Neurath studied lawin Tübingen andin Berlin. After graduating in 1897, he initially joined a local law firm in his home town. In 1901, he entered into civil service and worked for theForeign Office in Berlin. In 1903, he was assigned to theGerman embassy in London, at first as Vice-Consul and from 1909 asLegationsrat (legation counsel). After the visit of thePrince of Wales to theKingdom of Württemberg in 1904, as Lord Chamberlain to King William II, Neurath was created anHonorary Knight Grand Cross of theRoyal Victorian Order.[2] Neurath's career was decisively advanced by Secretary of StateAlfred von Kiderlen-Waechter. In 1914, he was sent to the embassy inConstantinople.
DuringWorld War I, he served as an officer with aninfantry regiment until 1916, when he was badly wounded. In December 1914, he was awarded theIron Cross. He returned to the German diplomatic service in theOttoman Empire (1914–1916), where he wrote a memorandum on the German embassy's official position regarding theArmenian genocide to German consulates in the Ottoman Empire.[3] The memorandum justified the actions of the Ottoman government during the Armenian Genocide while also attempting to present the German government as protesting against the "excesses" of the genocide. In 1917, he temporarily quit the diplomatic service to succeed his uncleJulius von Soden as head of the royal Württemberg government.
On 30 May 1901, Neurath married Marie Auguste Moser von Filseck (1875–1960) inStuttgart. His son, Konstantin, was born in 1902, followed by his daughter, Winifred, in 1904.
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In 1919, Neurath, with the approval by PresidentFriedrich Ebert, returned to diplomacy and joined the embassy inCopenhagen asMinister toDenmark. From 1921 to 1930, he was the ambassador to Rome and was not overly impressed withItalian fascism. After the death of ChancellorGustav Stresemann in 1929, Neurath was already considered for the post of Foreign Minister in thecabinet of ChancellorHermann Müller by PresidentPaul von Hindenburg, but his appointment failed because of the objections raised by the governing parties. In 1930, Neurath returned to head the embassy in London.
Neurath was recalled to Germany in 1932 and becameReichsminister of Foreign Affairs as anindependent politician in the "Cabinet of Barons" under ChancellorFranz von Papen in June. He continued to hold that position under ChancellorKurt von Schleicher in December and then underAdolf Hitler from theMachtergreifung on 30 January 1933. During the early days of Hitler's rule, Neurath lent an aura of respectability to Hitler's expansionist foreign policy.
In May 1933, the Americanchargé d'affaires reported, "Baron von Neurath has shown such a remarkable capacity for submitting to what in normal times could only be considered as affronts and indignities on the part of the Nazis, that it is still quite a possibility that the latter should be content to have him remain as a figurehead for some time yet".[4] He was involved in the German withdrawal from theLeague of Nations in 1933, the negotiations of theAnglo-German Naval Agreement (1935) and theremilitarisation of the Rhineland. Neurath was also made a member ofHans Frank'sAcademy for German Law.[5] To mark the fourth anniversary of the regime on 30 January 1937, Hitler determined to enroll all the remaining non-Nazi ministers in the Nazi Party and to confer upon them personally theGolden Party Badge.[6] By his acceptance, Neurath officially joined the Nazi Party (membership number 3,805,229). Additionally, in September 1937, he was given the honorary rank of aGruppenführer in theSS, equivalent in theWehrmacht rank to aGeneralleutnant.
On 5 November 1937, the conference was held between the Reich's top military-foreign policy leadership and Hitler, which was recorded in the so-calledHossbach Memorandum. At the conference, Hitler stated that it was the time for war or, more accurately, wars, as what Hitler envisioned were a series of localised wars in Central and Eastern Europe in the near future. Hitler argued that because the wars were necessary to provide Germany withLebensraum,autarky and thearms race with France and Britain made it imperative to act before the Western powers developed an insurmountable lead in the arms race. He further declared that Germany must be ready for war as early as 1938 and at the latest by 1943.[7][8]
Of those invited to the conference, objections arose from Neurath, War MinisterGeneralfeldmarschallWerner von Blomberg and Army Commander-in-Chief,GeneraloberstWerner von Fritsch. They all believed that any German aggression in Eastern Europe was bound to trigger a war with France because of the French alliance system in Eastern Europe, the so-calledcordon sanitaire. They further believed that if a Franco-German war broke out, it would quickly escalate to a European war since Britain would almost certainly intervene, rather than risk the prospect of France's defeat.[9] Moreover, they contended that Hitler's assumption was flawed that Britain and France would ignore the projected wars because they had started their rearmament later than Germany.[9] The opposition expressed by Fritsch, Blomberg and Neurath was concerned entirely with the assessment that Germany could not start a war in the heart of Europe without Anglo-French involvement, and more time was needed to rearm. However, they did not express any moral opposition to aggression or disagreement with Hitler's basic idea of annexing Austria or Czechoslovakia.[10] That said, offering moral or humanitarian arguments to Hitler — just three years after theNight of the Long Knives — would have been futile if not dangerous.
In response to the reservations expressed at the conference, Hitler tightened his control of the military-foreign policy making apparatus by removing those who expressed reservations at the November conference: Blomberg, Fritsch and Neurath. On 4 February 1938, Neurath was sacked as Foreign Minister with Blomberg and Fritsch also losing their posts (theBlomberg–Fritsch Affair). Neurath felt his office was marginalized and opposed Hitler's aggressive war plans because he felt that Germany needed more time to rearm, which were detailed in theHossbach Memorandum of 5 November 1937. Neurath was succeeded byJoachim von Ribbentrop but remained in government as aminister without portfolio to allay the concerns that his removal would have caused internationally. Neurath was also named as president of theSecret Cabinet Council, a purported super-cabinet to advise Hitler on foreign affairs. On paper, it appeared that Neurath had been promoted. However, this body only existed on paper;Hermann Göring subsequently testified that it never met, "not for a minute".[11]
In March 1939, Neurath was appointedReichsprotektor of occupiedBohemia and Moravia,[12] serving as Hitler's personal representative in the protectorate. Hitler chose Neurath in part to pacify the international outrage over theGerman occupation of Czechoslovakia.[11] Soon after his arrival atPrague Castle, Neurath instituted harsh press censorship and banned political parties and trade unions. He ordered a harsh crackdown on protesting students in October and November 1939 (1,200 student protesters went to concentration camps and nine were executed). He also supervised the persecution ofCzech Jews according to theNuremberg Laws. Draconian as those measures were, Neurath's rule overall was fairly mild by Nazi standards. Notably, he tried to restrain the excesses of his police chief,Karl Hermann Frank.
However, in September 1941, Hitler decided that Neurath's rule was too lenient and so stripped him of his day-to-day powers.Reinhard Heydrich was named as his deputy[13] but in truth held the real power. Heydrich wasassassinated in 1942[14] and succeeded byKurt Daluege.[15] Neurath officially remained asReichsprotektor. He tried to resign in 1941, but his resignation was not accepted until August 1943,[16] when he was succeeded by the former Interior MinisterWilhelm Frick. On 21 June 1943, Neurath had been raised to the honorary rank of anSS-Obergruppenführer, the equivalent to a three-star general.
Late in the war, Neurath had contacts with theGerman resistance.[11]
TheAllies prosecuted Neurath at theNuremberg trials in 1946.[17] Otto von Lüdinghausen appeared for his defence. The prosecution accused him of "conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression;war crimes andcrimes against humanity". Neurath's defence strategy was predicated on the fact that his successor and fellow defendant, Ribbentrop, was more culpable for the atrocities committed in the Nazi state than Neurath was.
The International Military Tribunal acknowledged that most of Neurath's crimes against humanity were conducted during his short tenure as nominal Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, especially in quelling theCzech resistance, and in thesummary execution of several university students. The tribunal came to the consensus that Neurath had been a willing and active participant in war crimes but held no such prominent position during the height of the Third Reich's tyranny and so had been only a minor adherent to the atrocities committed. He was found guilty by the Allies on all four counts and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.[17]
Neurath was held as a war criminal inSpandau Prison until November 1954,[18] when he was released in the wake of theParis Conference, officially because of his ill health, as he had suffered aheart attack.
He retired to his family's estates inEnzweihingen, where he died two years later, aged 83.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Foreign Minister of Germany 1932–1938 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Protector of Bohemia and Moravia 1939–1941 (factually) or 1943 (nominally) | Succeeded by |
| Succeeded by | ||
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | German Ambassador to the Court of St. James 1930–1932 | Succeeded by |
 German Empire (1871–1918) | |
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 Weimar Republic (1918–33) | |
 Nazi Germany (1933–45) | |
 German Democratic Republic1 (1949–90) | |
 Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present) | |
1 East Germany | |
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