Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff
Encyclopedia
Johann Heinrich Graf von Bernstorff (14 November 1862 – 6 October 1939) was a German
politician and the ambassador
to the United States
and Mexico
from 1908 to 1917.
, where his father Albrecht von Bernstorff
was the Prussia
n and Imperial German
ambassador, and lived in England until his father's death in 1873. He joined the Prussian Army
and served as an officer for eight years, his last position was a military attaché in Constantinople
. Bernstorff married the German-American Jeanne Luckemeyer in 1887. In 1892 he left service and joined the German diplomatic corps. He was deployed at the German embassies at Belgrade
(1892–94), St. Petersburg (1895–97), London
(1902–06) and Cairo
(1906–08).
Bernstorff's diplomatic skills were noted in Berlin throughout the First Moroccan Crisis
in 1905 and he was appointed the German ambassador to the United States and Mexico in 1908.
to finance these operations. He began with attempts to assist German-Americans who wished to return home to fight by forging passports to get them through the Allied blockade.
Later, however, as the Blockade began to prevent American munitions manufacturers from trading with Germany, the Ambassador began financing sabotage missions in order to obstruct arms shipments to Germany's enemies. Some of the plans included destroying the Welland Canal
, which circumvents Niagara Falls
. This was attempted in September 1914, but failed. It was also in 1914 that the German diplomatic mission began supporting the Expatriate Indian movement for independence.
Bernstorff was assisted by Captain Franz von Papen
(who would later be Chancellor of Germany) and Captain Karl Boy-Ed
, a naval attaché. The commercial attaché, Heinrich Albert
would be the finance officer for the sabotage operations. Papen, as well as the German consulate in San Francisco, are known to have been extensively involved in the Hindu German Conspiracy, especially in the Annie Larsen gun running plot
. Although Bernstorff himself officially denied all knowledge, most accounts agree this was a part of the German intelligence and sabotage offensive in America against Britain and Bernstorff was among those intricately involved. Following the capture of the Annie Larsen and confiscation of its cargo, Bernstorff made efforts to recover the $200,000 worth of arms insisting they were meant for Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck in German East Africa
. This was futile, however, and the arms were auctioned off.
In December of the same year, Bernstorff received a cable from the German Foreign Office instructing him to target the Canadian Railways.
On January 1, 1915, the Roebling Wire and Cable plant in Trenton
, New Jersey
was blown up. On January 28, an American merchant ship carrying wheat to Britain was sunk.
On February 2, 1915, Lt. Werner Horn was captured following the Vanceboro international bridge bombing
.
In 1915, Bernstorff also helped organize what became known as the Great Phenol Plot
, an attempt to divert phenol
from the production of high explosives in the United States (which would end up being sold to the British), and at the same time prop up several German-owned chemical companies that made aspirin
and its precursor salicylic acid
.
In July 1916, the Black Tom explosion
was the most spectacular of the sabotage operations.
Bernsdorff was a victim of the British Secret Service when they obtained and distributed to the press a photograph of him "in a swimming costume with his arms around two similarly dressed women, neither of whom was his wife". (MI6, The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909 - 1949, Keith Jeffery, Bloomsbury, 2010 p 113).
Bernstorff was returned home on February 3, 1917, when Woodrow Wilson
severed diplomatic relations with Germany. Upon receiving the news, Colonel Edward House wrote to him,
's Cabinet in 1919, but he refused this post and left diplomatic service. He became a founding member of the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei) and a member of the German Parliament
in 1921-28. He was the first President of the German Association for the League of Nations
, President of the World Federation of Associations of the League of Nations and member of every German delegation to the League of Nations.
In 1926 he became the Chairman of Kurt Blumenfeld
's Zionist German Pro-Palestine Committee (Deutsches Pro-Palästina Komitee) to support the foundation of a Jewish State in Palestine
From 1926 to 1931 he was the Chairman of the German delegation to the Preparatory World Disarmament Conference
.
Bernstorff, who was explicitly mentioned by Hitler as one of those men bearing "the guilt and responsibility for the collapse of Germany", left Germany in 1933 after the Nazis took over power and moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he died on October 6, 1939.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politician and the ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
from 1908 to 1917.
Early life
He was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where his father Albrecht von Bernstorff
Albrecht von Bernstorff
Albrecht Graf von Bernstorff was a Prussian statesman.Bernstorff was born at the estate Dreilützow , in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin...
was the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n and Imperial German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
ambassador, and lived in England until his father's death in 1873. He joined the Prussian Army
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...
and served as an officer for eight years, his last position was a military attaché in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. Bernstorff married the German-American Jeanne Luckemeyer in 1887. In 1892 he left service and joined the German diplomatic corps. He was deployed at the German embassies at Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
(1892–94), St. Petersburg (1895–97), London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(1902–06) and Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
(1906–08).
Bernstorff's diplomatic skills were noted in Berlin throughout the First Moroccan Crisis
First Moroccan Crisis
The First Moroccan Crisis was the international crisis over the international status of Morocco between March 1905 and May 1906. Germany resented France's increasing dominance of Morocco, and insisted on an open door policy that would allow German business access to its market...
in 1905 and he was appointed the German ambassador to the United States and Mexico in 1908.
Ambassador to the United States and Mexico
He was recalled to Germany on July 7, 1914, but returned on August 2. It was later revealed that he had been recruited into intelligence work and ordered to assist the German war effort by all means necessary. He was also provided with a large slush fundSlush fund
A slush fund, colloquially, is an auxiliary monetary account or a reserve fund. However, in the context of corrupt dealings, such as those by governments or large corporations, a slush fund can have particular connotations of illegality, illegitimacy, or secrecy in regard to the use of this money...
to finance these operations. He began with attempts to assist German-Americans who wished to return home to fight by forging passports to get them through the Allied blockade.
Later, however, as the Blockade began to prevent American munitions manufacturers from trading with Germany, the Ambassador began financing sabotage missions in order to obstruct arms shipments to Germany's enemies. Some of the plans included destroying the Welland Canal
Welland Canal
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Canada that extends from Port Weller, Ontario, on Lake Ontario, to Port Colborne, Ontario, on Lake Erie. As a part of the St...
, which circumvents Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
. This was attempted in September 1914, but failed. It was also in 1914 that the German diplomatic mission began supporting the Expatriate Indian movement for independence.
Bernstorff was assisted by Captain Franz von Papen
Franz von Papen
Lieutenant-Colonel Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen was a German nobleman, Roman Catholic monarchist politician, General Staff officer, and diplomat, who served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and as Vice-Chancellor under Adolf Hitler in 1933–1934...
(who would later be Chancellor of Germany) and Captain Karl Boy-Ed
Karl Boy-Ed
Karl Boy-Ed was naval attaché to German Ambassador to the United States Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff during World War I....
, a naval attaché. The commercial attaché, Heinrich Albert
Heinrich Albert
Heinrich Friedrich Albert was a German lawyer who served as commercial attaché to the Imperial German Ambassador to the United States Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff during World War I. He was also the paymaster for German espionage and sabotage operations in the United States...
would be the finance officer for the sabotage operations. Papen, as well as the German consulate in San Francisco, are known to have been extensively involved in the Hindu German Conspiracy, especially in the Annie Larsen gun running plot
Annie Larsen affair
The Annie Larsen affair was a gun-running plot in the United States during World War I. The plot, involving India's Ghadar Party, the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the German Foreign office, was a part of the larger Hindu German Conspiracy, and it was the prime offence cited in the 1917 Hindu...
. Although Bernstorff himself officially denied all knowledge, most accounts agree this was a part of the German intelligence and sabotage offensive in America against Britain and Bernstorff was among those intricately involved. Following the capture of the Annie Larsen and confiscation of its cargo, Bernstorff made efforts to recover the $200,000 worth of arms insisting they were meant for Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck in German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
. This was futile, however, and the arms were auctioned off.
In December of the same year, Bernstorff received a cable from the German Foreign Office instructing him to target the Canadian Railways.
On January 1, 1915, the Roebling Wire and Cable plant in Trenton
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
was blown up. On January 28, an American merchant ship carrying wheat to Britain was sunk.
On February 2, 1915, Lt. Werner Horn was captured following the Vanceboro international bridge bombing
Vanceboro international bridge bombing
The Vanceboro international bridge bombing was an attempt to destroy the Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge on February 2, 1915.This international bridge crossed the St. Croix River between St. Croix, New Brunswick, Canada and Vanceboro, Maine, United States...
.
In 1915, Bernstorff also helped organize what became known as the Great Phenol Plot
Great Phenol Plot
The Great Phenol Plot was a conspiracy during the early years of World War I to divert American-produced phenol away from the manufacture of high explosives, and instead use it to produce Aspirin and bring profits to the German-owned Bayer company....
, an attempt to divert phenol
Phenol
Phenol, also known as carbolic acid, phenic acid, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid. The molecule consists of a phenyl , bonded to a hydroxyl group. It is produced on a large scale as a precursor to many materials and useful compounds...
from the production of high explosives in the United States (which would end up being sold to the British), and at the same time prop up several German-owned chemical companies that made aspirin
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
and its precursor salicylic acid
Salicylic acid
Salicylic acid is a monohydroxybenzoic acid, a type of phenolic acid and a beta hydroxy acid. This colorless crystalline organic acid is widely used in organic synthesis and functions as a plant hormone. It is derived from the metabolism of salicin...
.
In July 1916, the Black Tom explosion
Black Tom explosion
The Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916 in Jersey City, New Jersey was an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materiel from being used by the Allies in World War I.- Black Tom Island :...
was the most spectacular of the sabotage operations.
Bernsdorff was a victim of the British Secret Service when they obtained and distributed to the press a photograph of him "in a swimming costume with his arms around two similarly dressed women, neither of whom was his wife". (MI6, The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909 - 1949, Keith Jeffery, Bloomsbury, 2010 p 113).
Bernstorff was returned home on February 3, 1917, when Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
severed diplomatic relations with Germany. Upon receiving the news, Colonel Edward House wrote to him,
"The day will come when people in Germany will see how much you have done for your country in America."
Weimar Republic
Bernstorff was proposed as Foreign minister in Friedrich EbertFriedrich Ebert
Friedrich Ebert was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .When Ebert was elected as the leader of the SPD after the death of August Bebel, the party members of the SPD were deeply divided because of the party's support for World War I. Ebert supported the Burgfrieden and...
's Cabinet in 1919, but he refused this post and left diplomatic service. He became a founding member of the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei) and a member of the German Parliament
Reichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...
in 1921-28. He was the first President of the German Association for the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, President of the World Federation of Associations of the League of Nations and member of every German delegation to the League of Nations.
In 1926 he became the Chairman of Kurt Blumenfeld
Kurt Blumenfeld
Kurt Blumenfeld was a German-born Zionist from Marggrabowa, East Prussia. He was the secretary general of the World Zionist Organization from 1911 to 1914. He died in Jerusalem....
's Zionist German Pro-Palestine Committee (Deutsches Pro-Palästina Komitee) to support the foundation of a Jewish State in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
From 1926 to 1931 he was the Chairman of the German delegation to the Preparatory World Disarmament Conference
World Disarmament Conference
The Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments of 1932-34 was an effort by member states of the League of Nations, together with the U.S. and the Soviet Union, to actualize the ideology of disarmament...
.
Bernstorff, who was explicitly mentioned by Hitler as one of those men bearing "the guilt and responsibility for the collapse of Germany", left Germany in 1933 after the Nazis took over power and moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he died on October 6, 1939.
Publications
- "My three years in America" (NY: Scribner's, 1920)
- "Memoirs of Count Bernstorff" (NY: Random House, 1936).
External links
- Bernstorff next to Chaim WeizmannChaim WeizmannChaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
and Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
in 1926 at the foundation of the pro-Palestine Committee - My Three Years in America by Johann Heinrich Bernstorff