Figure 1.--.
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Figure 1.--. |
The NAZI Foreign Minister was reportedly rather dim, but did Hitler's bidding. He was the son of a demanding, whip lashing Prussian artillery officer who expected his unexceptional son to excel. I have no information on clothing yet. He spent some time in Britain in a private school. It did little good when he later came to britain as the NAZI ambassador. He had no feeling for British sensibilities and was seen as highly offensive. He had no real influence on Hitler, but slavishly did his bidding. After the War. he was found guilty of war crimes after the War and hanged.
Joaquim's farther was a demanding, whip lashing Prussian artillery officer.
Joaquim was born in Wesel (1893). He traveled as a child, living or going to school in Switzerland, France, and England.
I have no information on clothing yet.
Joaquim's father expected his unexceptional son to excel. He attended a boarding school in Switzerland. Apparently the experience was no help in giving him an understanding of the British people,
He began working as a young man for a German importing company. His ability with foreign languages was a useful skill and he was assigned to the company's London office (1911). He then went to Canada where he worked as a timekeeper first with the reconstruction of the Quebec Bridge project and then the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Next he worked as a reporter in New York City and Boston.
Germany invaded Belgium and France launching World War I (1914). Ribbentrop returned to Germany where and enlisted in the Army. Hec served as an officer in the 125th Hussar Regiment and won the Iron Cross. He was seriously wounded (1917). After recovering he worked at the War Ministry. He was a member of the German delegation at the Paris Peace Conference (1919).
After demobilized by the Army, Ribbentrop was employed as salesman for Pommerey, a French company in the Rhineland. He was essentially a champagne salesman. He later was accepted as a partner in a Berlin sales agency.
Ribbentrop was not an early convert to the NAZIs. He joined the Party only after it had become the largest political party in the country (May 1932). Despite his late conversion, he appears to have caught Hitler's eye. His experiences in Britain and America were no doubt important. Hitler made him his foreign affairs adviser (1933). The following year he was put in charge of the Ribbentrop Bureau (1934). The Bureau eventually had 300 staffers.
Hitler believed that Britain could be convinced to accept German aspirations and participate in an anti-Bolshevick crusade. He believed that Ribbentrop with his British exoeriences and contacts might be useful in brunging this about. Ribbentrop's foreign experiences did little good when Hitler appointed him the NAZI ambassador to Britain (August 1936). Ribbentrop had no feeling for British sensibilities and was seen as highly offensive. At the very beginning, he gave the NAZI salute to the King George VI when presenting his credentials (February 1937). Further actions followed showing a lack of diplomatic tact. Ribbentrop ordered Schutz Staffeinel (SS) guards in front of the German Embassy. He also insisted on swastika flags being placed on official cars.
Foreign policy became Hitler's principal interest after NAZI power was firmly installed and the rearmament orogram had begun to restablish Germany's military power. Hitler replaced German diplomat Constantin von Neurath with the more amenable Ribbontrop as Germany's foreign minister (February 1938). Hitler wanted a NAZI in the foreign ministry that would carry out instructions. Ribbentrop as Foreign Minister was often in the public eye during the years that led up to World War II and during the early years of the War because of his position. He had, however, no real influence on Hitler, but slavishly did his bidding. NAZI foreign policy was Hitler's foreign policy. I do not know of one idea that Ribbentrop conceptualized. Ribbentrop was at Hitler's side when the Munich Pact was negotiated with the British and French governments (September-October 1938). He also helped negotiate the NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact (August 1939) which assisted Hitler in launching his early military assaults. These military successes left Hitler in control of Western Europe. He could then return to the project that had absorbed his imagination from an early sage--acquiring land in the East needed for Lebensraum. This of course required an invasion of the Soviet Union. This required the last major NAZI foreign policy ininitiative--adding Japan to the Axis. Hitler dispatched Ribbentrop to Japan to negotiate an alliance. Ribbentrop attempted to convince his Soviet counterpart, Vyacheslav Molotov, that the initiative toward Japan was aimed at the United States rather than the Soviet Union.
After the invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941) and the declaration of war on the United States (December 1941), foreign policy was no longer of great importance to Hitler and the NAZIs. The future was in the hands of Hitler and his generals. As a result, Rippentrop became a less prominent figure in the NAZI hierarchy.
After the NAZI surrender, the Allies arrested Ribbentrop (June 1945). He was cgarged with war crimes. Ribbentrop denied knowledge of NAZI genocide and attrocities. The Tribunal found him guilty at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. He was hanged (October 1946).
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