Wilhelm Solf
Wilhelm Solf | |
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German Ambassador to Japan | |
In office 1 August 1920 – 16 December 1928 | |
President | Friedrich Ebert Paul von Hindenburg |
Preceded by | Arthur von Rex |
Succeeded by | Ernst Arthur Voretzsch |
State Secretary for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 3 October 1918 – 13 December 1918 | |
Monarch | Wilhelm II (until 9 Nov. 1918) |
Chancellor | Max von Baden Friedrich Ebert |
Preceded by | Paul von Hintze |
Succeeded by | Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau |
Secretary for the Colonies | |
In office 20 December 1911 – 13 December 1918 | |
Monarch | Wilhelm II |
Preceded by | Friedrich von Lindequist |
Succeeded by | Philipp Scheidemann |
Governor of German Samoa | |
In office 1 March 1900 – 19 December 1911 | |
Monarch | Wilhelm II |
Preceded by | New office |
Succeeded by | Erich Schultz-Ewerth |
Personal details | |
Born | Wilhelm Heinrich Solf 5 October 1862 Johanna Dotti |
Children | 4 |
Occupation | Diplomat, politician |
Signature | |
Wilhelm Heinrich Solf (5 October 1862 – 6 February 1936) was a German scholar, diplomat, jurist and statesman.
Early life
Solf was born into a wealthy and liberal family in
Solf then found a position at the library of the
Early diplomatic career
Solf joined the German Foreign Office (Consular Service) on 12 December 1888 and was assigned to the Imperial German Consulate General in
Governor of Samoa
The division of the Samoan Islands as a result of the
Later career
After his return from Samoa, Solf became (1911) Secretary (Staatssekretär) of the German Colonial Office (Reichskolonialamt) to 1918 and travelled extensively to the German protectorates in West and East Africa in 1912 and 1913. In the spring of 1914, Solf designed
Solf lobbied for a negotiated peace settlement in 1917 and 1918. He opposed the implementation of
With the defeat of Germany imminent and the likelihood of revolution growing, he was appointed as what turned out to be the last of the Imperial Foreign Ministers in October 1918. In that capacity, he undertook negotiations for the armistice that took effect on 11 November 1918.
He resigned his post as Foreign Minister on 13 December 1918 with the onset of the
Between then and 1920, he served as Vice President of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft. From 1920 to 1928, he served as the German chargé d'affaires[10] and then ambassador to Japan; his tenure proved to be fruitful, as he was instrumental in restoring good relations between the two World War I enemies, which culminated in the signing of the German-Japanese Treaty of 1927. On Solf's return to Germany and his retirement from government service, he became the Chairman of the Board of the Deutsches Ausland-Institut based in Stuttgart.
Solf held centrist political views and joined the
Solf wrote Weltpolitik und Kolonialpolitik (Foreign policy and colonial policy, 1918) and Kolonialpolitik, Mein politisches Vermächtniss (Colonial policy, my political legacy, 1919).[10]
Personal life
In 1908 Wilhelm Solf married Johanna Dotti; their children were:
- daughter So'oa'emalelagi Solf (known as Lagi), born in Samoa in 1909 (d. 14 Dec 1955). Her Samoan name translates as "she who has come from heaven".
- son Hans Heinrich Solf (21 Dec 1910 - 18 Feb 1987)
- son Wilhelm Herman Solf (11 Jan 1915 - August 1983)
- son Otto Isao Solf (25 Dec 1921 - 12 Aug 1989)
Solf's widow Johanna (Hanna) and his daughter Lagi hosted the anti-Nazi
References
- ^ Gray, Amerika Samoa, p. 101
- ^ Ryden, The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa, p. 574; Great Britain vacated all claims to Samoa and accepted as quid pro quo termination of German rights in Tonga and certain areas in the Solomon Islands and in West Africa
- ^ Davidson, Samoa mo Samoa, p. 76
- ^ McKay, Samoana, p. 18
- ^ Davidson, p. 77
- ^ Karaschewski, Jörg. The Emperor's new arms (in German). Der Spiegel, 26 February 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- United Nations Trust Territories.
- ISBN 3-593-37040-9.
- ISBN 3-486-55928-1.
- ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. .
- ^ Peter J. Hempenstall, Paula Tanaka Mochida (2005). The Lost Man: Wilhelm Solf in German History. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 206.
Bibliography
- Davidson, J. W. Samoa mo Samoa [Samoa for the Samoans], The Emergence of the Independent State of Western Samoa. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 1967.
- Gray, J.A.C. Amerika Samoa, A History of American Samoa and Its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. 1960.
- McKay, C.G.R. Samoana, A Personal Story of the Samoan Islands. Wellington and Auckland: A.H. & A.W. Reed. 1968.
- Ryden, George Herbert. The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa. New York: Octagon Books, 1975. (Reprint by special arrangement with Yale University Press. Originally published at New Haven: Yale University Press, 1928)
External links
Media related to Wilhelm Solf at Wikimedia Commons