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.

Traveling diplomat

In November 1933, Ribbentrop began his work as an unofficial diplomat when he visited London and met with the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and the Foreign Secretary Sir John Simon. Nothing of any substance emerged from these talks. In 1934, Ribbentrop founded an organization linked to the Nazi Party called the Büro Ribbentrop (later renamed the Dienststelle Ribbentrop) that functioned as an alternative foreign ministry. Up to the time of his appointment as Foreign Minister, Ribbentrop aggressively competed with the Auswärtiges Amt and sought to undercut the Foreign Minister, Baron Konstantin von Neurath at every turn. Initially, Neurath held his rival in contempt, regarding anyone whose written German, to say nothing of his English and French, was full of atrocious spelling and grammatical mistakes as unworthy of attention. Also in 1934, Ribbentrop was named by Hitler Special Commissioner for Disarmament, which made him part of the same Auswärtiges Amt that Ribbentrop was vying with. In his capacity as Special Commissioner, Ribbentrop frequently visited London, Paris and Rome.

Related Topics:
London - Ramsay MacDonald - John Simon - 1934 - Konstantin von Neurath - English - French - Disarmament - Paris - Rome

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Hitler's aim was to persuade the world that he wished to reduce military spending by making idealistic but very vague offers of disarmament (in the 1930s, the term disarmament was used to describe arms-limitation argreements). At the same time, the Germans always resisted making concrete proposals for arms limitation, and they went ahead with increased military spending on the grounds that other powers would not take up German offers of arms limitation. Ribbentrop's task was to ensure that the world was convinced that Germany sincerely wanted an arms-limitation treaty while ensuring that such a treaty never actually emerged. In the first part of his assignment, Ribbentrop was partly successful, but in the second part he more than fulfilled Hitler's expectations.

Related Topics:
Military spending - Disarmament - 1930s

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Ribbentrop was rewarded by Hitler by being made Minister Plenipotentiary at Large (1935–1936). In that capacity he negotiated the Anglo-German Naval Agreement (A.G.N.A) in 1935 and the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936. In regards to the former, Neurath did not think the A.G.N.A was possible, and so as to discredit his rival, appointed Ribbentrop head of the delegation sent to London in June 1935 to negotiate it. Once the talks began, Ribbentrop, who possessed a certain elan and sense of audacity, issued Simon an ultimatum. Ribbentrop informed Simon that if Germany's terms were not accepted in their entirety, the German delegation would go home. Simon was angry with this demand and walked out of the talks. Much to everyone's surprise, the next day, the British accepted Ribbentrop's demands and the A.G.N.A was signed in London on June 18, 1935. This diplomatic victory did much to increase Ribbentrop's prestige with Hitler.

Related Topics:
1935 - 1936 - Anglo-German Naval Agreement - Anti-Comintern Pact - London

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The Anti-Comintern Pact of November 1936 marked an important change in German foreign policy. The Auswärtiges Amt had traditionally favored a policy of friendship with China, one that Neurath very much believed in following. Ribbentrop was opposed to the pro-China orientation of the Auswärtiges Amt and instead favored an alliance with Japan. The Anti-Comintern Pact marked the beginning of the shift on Germany's part from China's ally to Japan's ally.

Related Topics:
China - Japan

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During the same period, Ribbentrop often visited France to try to influence, not very successfully, French politicians into adopting a pro-German foreign policy.. Ribbentrop enjoyed more success in the United Kingdom, where he was able to persuade an impressive roster of British high society to visit Hitler in Germany. The most notable guest Ribbentrop brought to Hitler was the former Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1936. Most of Hitler's British guests were aristocrats, retired politicians, ex-generals, and various businessmen like the newspaper magnate Viscount Rothermere. Very few of these people were actual decision-makers in the British government such as Cabinet-level politicians or high-ranking bureaucrats. Neither Hitler or Ribbentrop understood very well that when people like Lloyd George or Rothermere declared that they wanted closer Anglo-German ties, they were speaking as private citzens, not on behalf of London.

Related Topics:
France - United Kingdom - David Lloyd George - Viscount Rothermere

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In August 1936 the Nazi government appointed Ribbentrop Ambassador to Britain with orders to negotiate the Anglo-German alliance that Hitler had predicted in Mein Kampf. Ribbentrop was not the man for such a mission, but it is doubtful that even a more skilled diplomat could have fulfilled Hitler's dream of a grand Anglo-German alliance. Ribbentrop's time in London was marked by an endless series of social gaffes and blunders that worsened his already poor relations with the British Foreign Office. Ribbentrop's aggressive and overbearing manner towards everyone except his wife and Hitler meant that to know him was to dislike him. His negotiating style, a strange mix of bullying bluster and coldness coupled with lengthy monologues praising Hitler, alienated many. Ribbentrop's inability to achieve the alliance that he had been sent out for frustrated him as he feared it could cost him Hitler's favour, and it made him a bitter Anglophobe. Ribbentrop, and Hitler for that matter, never understood that British foreign policy aimed at the appeasement of Germany, not an alliance. While the Ribbentrops were in Britain, his son, Rudolf von Ribbentrop, attended Westminster School in London.

Related Topics:
Ambassador - Britain - Mein Kampf - Anglophobe - Appeasement - Rudolf von Ribbentrop - Westminster School

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