Joachim von Ribbentrop

Joachim von Ribbentrop (born Joachim Ribbentrop) (April 30, 1893–October 16, 1946) was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg trials.

Early career

Ribbentrop was born in Wesel, Niederrhein, the son of the Army officer Richard Ulrich Friedrich Joachim Ribbentrop and Sophie Hartwig. Ribbentrop was educated somewhat irregularly until his mid-teens at private schools in Germany and Switzerland. Fluent in French and English, Ribbentrop lived several years abroad, working from 1910 to 1914 in Canada as an importer of German wines. Following the outbreak of war in 1914, Ribbentrop fled from Canada and returned to Germany via New York City.

Related Topics:
Wesel - Niederrhein - Germany - Switzerland - French - English - 1910 - 1914 - Canada - Wine - New York City

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He served in the Army during World War I, finally reaching the rank of first lieutenant, and was awarded the Iron Cross. He served on the Eastern Front, and then in 1916 was stationed in Constantinople as a staff officer. During his time in Turkey in World War I, Ribbentrop befriended another officer named Franz von Papen. Ribbentrop married in July 1920 into a wealthy champagne producing family and travelled Europe selling the family firm's wares. His wife was Anna Elisabeth (née Henkell), known as "Annelies" to her friends. Annelies Ribbentrop was a haughty woman who totally controlled her husband, and was often described as being a Lady Macbeth-type character. The Ribbentrops had five children. A confirmed social climber, Ribbentrop persuaded his aunt--whose husband had been knighted--to adopt him, allowing him to add the aristocratic von to his name. For most of the Weimar Republic era, Ribbentrop was apolitical and had no anti-semitic prejudices.

Related Topics:
World War I - Iron Cross - Eastern Front - 1916 - Constantinople - Turkey - Franz von Papen - July - 1920 - Champagne - Europe - Lady Macbeth - Knight - Aristocrat - Von - Weimar Republic - Anti-semitic

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He joined the National Socialist party in May 1932. Two years earlier, in 1930, he had met and impressed Adolf Hitler with his knowledge of titled foreigners. In January 1933, there were a complex series of secret intrigues, schemes and negotiations in Berlin between von Papen, who served as Chancellor in the fall of 1932, Hitler, and various friends of President Paul von Hindenburg. The end result of these talks was the ousting of Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, the former Defense Minister who had held the top post for just a few months, and the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor by Hindenburg on January 30, 1933. Ribbentrop, who was both a Nazi Party member and an old friend of von Papen, facilitated the negotiations by letting von Papen and Hitler meet secretly at his Berlin home. This assistance endeared Ribbentrop to Hitler. Because Ribbentrop was a late-comer to the Nazi Party, the Alten Kämpfer (Old Fighters) of the Party disliked him. Typical of this hatred for Ribbentrop was the diary entry of Joseph Goebbels: "von Ribbentrop bought his name, he married his money, and he swindled his way into office1." To compensate for this, Ribbentrop became a fanatical Nazi, almost to the point of becoming a caricature of a Nazi brought to life. In particular, Ribbentrop became a vociferous anti-semite.

Related Topics:
National Socialist - 1932 - 1930 - Adolf Hitler - 1933 - Berlin - Paul von Hindenburg - Kurt von Schleicher - Diary - Joseph Goebbels - 1 - Anti-semite

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He became Hitler's favourite foreign policy advisor partly by dint of his knowledge of the world outside Germany but mostly by means of shameless flattery and sycophancy. The professional diplomats of the elite Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Office) told Hitler the truth about what was happening abroad in the early years of Nazi Germany; Ribbentrop told Hitler what he wanted Hitler to hear about what was happening abroad. Ribbentrop in his turn was a great admirer of Hitler. In 1933 he was given the title of SS-Standartenführer. For a time, Ribbentrop was friendly with the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, but ultimately the two became enemies.

Related Topics:
Foreign policy - Heinrich Himmler

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