Franz von Rintelen
Franz von Rintelen | |
---|---|
Black Tom Explosion |
Captain Franz Dagobert Johannes von Rintelen (19 August 1878 – 30 May 1949) was a member of the
Biography
Captain von Rintelen came from a banking family with good connections in American banking since he had served with Deutsche Bank as well as acting as U.S. representative for Disconto-Gesellschaft, then Germany's second-largest bank, beginning in 1906.[3] He also spoke excellent English.[4]
He was sent by his superiors in the Nachrichten-Abteilung, the military intelligence arm of the German Imperial Admiralty Staff, to the still neutral United States in 1915, at age 38, on a false Swiss passport under the name of Emil V. Gasche (the surname appropriated from his brother-in-law).[4]
Arriving on 3 April 1915, Captain von Rintelen operated independently of the
Captain von Rintelen worked with a chemist, Dr.
When the longshoremen recruited by Captain von Rintelen also attempted to plant bombs on the passenger mail boat Ancona, the Captain turned his attentions to different types of supporters.[9]
He also organized the Labor's National Peace Council to finance
During 1915, he negotiated with
His work was largely successful and he probably played some role in planning the Black Tom explosion of 1916. Also in 1915 he bought ammunition and supplied money to the deposed Mexican dictator Huerta and encouraged him to try to seize back power in Mexico.[14]
Other German spymasters under diplomatic cover in America were not all pleased with the Captain's activities.
He returned to an impoverished and defeated Weimar Republic in 1920, a forgotten man. Later, Captain von Rintelen detested Adolf Hitler and moved to Britain when the latter became Chancellor in 1933. According to some sources, Captain von Rintelen despised the Nazi Party so intensely that, during World War II, he willingly taught the Special Operations Executive how to construct and use all of his former bombs and incendiary devices.
He was writing to British fascist Captain Robert Gordon-Canning 20.6.45 whilst Gordon-Canning was interned (source declassified in 2002 MI5 papers on Capt Gordon-Canning). von Rintelen died on 30 May 1949.
Legacy
- Von Rintelen wrote The Dark Invader: War-Time Reminiscences Of A German Naval Intelligence Officer which was published in 1933.[17]
- The scanned version of the original Penguin Books 1933 edition is available on line at Project Gutenberg Australia
Sources
- Franz von Rintelen (1998). The Dark Invader: Wartime Reminiscences of a German Naval Intelligence Officer (October 31, 1998 ed.). Routledge. p. 326. ISBN 0-7146-4792-6.
- Tuchman, Barbara W. The Zimmermann Telegram. New York: NEL Mentor, 1967.
Notes
- ^ a b H.R. Balkhage and A.A. Hahling (August 1964). "The Black Tom Explosion". The American Legion Magazine. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
- ^ Family tree in Paul Rintelen, Das Geschlecht der Rintelen, Freising 1977, quoted in introduction of The Dark Invader: Wartime Reminiscences of a German Naval Intelligence Officer, by Franz von Rintelen
- ^ Tuchman, Barbara W. The Zimmermann Telegram (New York: NEL Mentor, 1967), p.64.
- ^ a b c Tuchman, p.64.
- ^ a b c d e Tuchman, p.78.
- ^ Francis A. March and Richard J. Beamish (August 6, 2006). "History of the World War". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Tuchman, p.72.
- ^ Thomas Joseph Tunney. Throttled!: The detection of the German and anarchist bomb plotters, by (when ed.). Boston : Small, Maynard & company. p. 376.Open Source Book - oclc 349392
- ^ Von Rintelen The Dark Invader Penguin 1938 pp113-4
- ^ Tuchman, p.71.
- ^ Tuchman, pp.63 & 73-4.
- ^ a b Tuchman, p.73.
- ^ Tuchman, p.74.
- ISBN 0-393-31318-2.
- ^ Tuchman, pp.77-8.
- ^ Tuchman, p.77.
- ISBN 0-7146-4792-6.
External links
Media related to Franz von Rintelen at Wikimedia Commons