Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau

In 1891, a great-uncle left him the manor Annettenhöh near Schleswig, and he took the name "Brockdorff-Rantzau".[1]

In 1888–91, he studied law at

Brockdorff-Rantzau opposed the Prussian policies on Denmark and worked to improve the relationship between Denmark and Germany. During World War I, he supported Danish neutrality and worked to keep up the crucial trade links (German coal for Danish food) as the war dragged on.^[1]

He came in close contact with Danish and German

He was offered the post of Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen (State Secretary for Foreign Affairs) following Arthur Zimmermann's resignation in 1917, but declined because he did not believe he could follow a policy independent from military interference.^{[citation needed]}

German Revolution and Treaty of Versailles

Appointment as head of „The Auswärtigen Amt“

During the Revolution of 1918–1919, Friedrich Ebert and Philipp Scheidemann of the ruling Council of the People's Deputies asked him in early January 1919 to become Staatssekretär des Auswärtigen as the successor to Wilhelm Solf, the last person to hold the position under the Empire who had remained in place even as the council had taken over as the actual government of Germany.^[1]

He accepted the position to lead the Auswärtigen Amt dependent on five conditions:^{[citation needed]}

1. A national constituent assembly should be convened before 16 February 1919 to ensure the Council of People's Deputies should have a constitutional basis.
2. Germany's credit rating should be restored to facilitate loans from the USA.
3. A republican Army should be immediately created to hold back the prospect of a
   communist revolution
   and to create a stronger negotiating position for Germany at the peace conference.
4. All possible steps should be made to remove the Workers' and Soldiers' Councils from involvement in governing the state.
5. He demanded the right to participate in the solution of domestic problems and to reject a dictated peace if he felt it threatened Germany's future.

The Council of the People's Deputies agreed to the first four conditions and he received the appointment, arriving in Berlin 2 January 1919.^{[citation needed]}

In February, Brockdorff-Rantzau's title changed as he became the first Reichsminister des Auswärtigen at the AA in the cabinet of Scheidemann. Although by background and nature a member of the aristocracy, Brockdorff-Rantzau was a convinced democrat and wholly accepted the republic which had replaced the monarchy. He insisted on forceful domestic opposition against leftist revolutionaries, use of democratic principles in foreign policy, i.e. a right of self-determination also for the Germans, a Frieden des Rechts (lawful peace) based on the Fourteen Points of US President Wilson. This meant for him the unification of the Reich with Austria and participation in the League of Nations to secure world peace.^[1]

Paris Conference and Treaty of Versailles

Brockdorff-Rantzau led the German delegation that went to Versailles to receive the treaty agreed by the

In a speech to the Conference on 7 May 1919, he repudiated the claim that Germany and Austria were solely responsible for the war, although he accepted a partial guilt especially with regard to what has become known as the Rape of Belgium. He pointed out that both sides should be bound by Wilson's Fourteen Points.^[1]

Brockdorff-Rantzau led the effort by the German delegation to write up some counter proposals that were handed over to the Allies on 29 May (and caused consternation back in Berlin). He argued against what he thought to be a

Over the next years Brockdorff-Rantzau took an active interest in foreign policy issues and went public several times with arguments for a revision of the Treaty and the establishment of a more rational law of nations. On 15 July 1922, he penned a secret memo to Friedrich Ebert, warning of the dangers associated with the Treaty of Rapallo as this would cause the Western powers military concerns. He argued that a policy of playing off the great powers against each other, like Bismarck had done, was not possible any more. However, appointed as ambassador to the Soviet Union in November 1922, he favoured a rapprochement between the two countries without sacrificing German links to the west. His opposition to military cooperation with the Soviets led to confrontations with the head of the Reichswehr, Hans von Seeckt, as well as with Chancellor Joseph Wirth. He was very critical of the Locarno Treaties, which brought Germany closer to France and were resented by the Soviet leadership.^[1][3]

Brockdorff-Rantzau managed to win Soviet agreement to the

He remained in this post until his death on 8 September 1928 when he was on holiday at Berlin.[1]

Publications

• Patronat u. Compatronat. Dissertation. Leipzig 1890 bis 1891.
• Dokumente und Gedanken um Versailles. Berlin 1925.

Further reading

• Kurt Rosenbaum, Community of Fate: German-Soviet Diplomatic Relations 1922-1928, (Syracuse University Press, 1965).
• Kurt Rosenbaum, "The German Involvement in the Shakhty Trial", The Russian Review XIII, (July,1962) 238-260
• Stern-Rubarth, Edgar: Graf Brockdorff-Rantzau, Wanderer zwischen zwei Welten: Ein Lebensbild. Reimar Hobbing, Berlin 1929.
• Haupts, Leo: Graf Brockdorff-Rantzau: Diplomat und Minister in Kaiserreich und Republik. Muster-Schmidt, Göttingen 1984,
  ISBN 3-7881-0116-4
  .
• Christiane Scheidemann: Ulrich Graf Brockdorff-Rantzau (1869-1928): Eine politische Biographie. Verlag Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1998,
  ISBN 3-631-32880-X
  .

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau.

External links

• Newspaper clippings about Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
• Christiane Scheidemann: Brockdorff-Rantzau, Ulrich Carl Christian, Graf, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.