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Franz von Reichenau

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Franz von Reichenau
A portrait of Franz von Reichenau
Born(1857-10-06)6 October 1857
Wiesbaden, Grand Duchy of Hesse
Died1940
NationalityGerman
OccupationDiplomat

Franz von Reichenau (born 6 October 1857 in Wiesbaden, died in 1940) was a German diplomat and jurist.

Early life and diplomatic career

Franz von Reichenau was a son of the Prussian administrative director Fritz von Reichenau. From 1878 to 1880 he studied law in Strasbourg and Berlin.

From 1903 to 1907 he was the German ambassador to the government of Germán Riesco Errázuriz in Santiago de Chile and at the same time accredited to the government of Manuel José Estrada Cabrera in Guatemala . From 1907 to 1908 he was ambassador in Rio de Janeiro[1] where he played a leading role in negotiations related to the laying of sub-sea trans-Atlantic cables.[2] During his time in Brazil von Reichenau criticised the lack of German investment in the country and warned that US investment in railways threatened Germany's pre-eminent position in Southern Brazil.[3] From 1909 to 1911 ambassador in Belgrade and from 1911 to 1914 ambassador in Stockholm. In early 1915 he was ambassador to Argentina.

His time as ambassador to Sweden was particularly fraught, as he engaged in a number of attempts to persuade the Swedish government to side with Germany in the First world war. Eventually he was expelled by the Swedish government for this. He was a strong support of Wilhelmine governance and an opponent of parliamentarism, and even considered that Sweden might one day be part of the German Empire.[4] His replacement in the role was Helmuth Lucius von Stoedten, an opponent of Swedish activism.[5] During the First World War von Reichenau also advocated the bombing of the UK by airships and aircraft.[6]

Later life

After his expulsion from Sweden, von Reichenau became head of the Verein für das Deutschtum im Ausland (Union for Germanness abroad), or VDA. He remained in this role for the remainder of the war,[7] and was head of the VDA that was re-established in 1920.[8] Von Reichenau believed that Germany was in a struggle against enemies who wished to destroy German culture, and as such promotion of a völkisch, or nationalistic mentality amongst Germans was important.[9]

In 1919 he and his wife Käthe (née Peipers) acquired Rotenberg Castle, which he finished rebuilding in 1922.[10] He financed various infrastructure projects, such as the construction of Schlossstrasse and Oberer Schlossstraße 1921-1923. The gratitude of the people of Rotenberg is expressed to this day in the memorial stone for road construction (which was set up in the second turn opposite the castle): "This way was built 1921/22 under Mayor Menges of Rotenberg municipality and the lord of the castle Excellency von Reichenau, by the Water and Road Construction Office Sinsheim". The street between Hofacker and the Schloßstraße, which leads to the castle, bears the name "Von Reichenau Street", which is another sign of gratitude to von Reichenau visible to this day.

Von Reichenau was an early supporter of Adolf Hitler. Comments in support of Hitler appear in Nazi pamphlets distributed in 1932, including a description of Hitler by von Reichenau saying Hitler was "a political thinker of extraordinary stature".[11]

References

  1. ^ Joseph, Gilbert M.; Rosenburg, Emily M.; Winseck, Dwayne R.; Pike, Robert M. (2007). Communication and Empire: Media, Markets, and Globalization, 1860–1930. Duke University Press. p. 213. ISBN 978-0822389996. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  2. ^ Ahvenainen, Jorma (2004). The European Cable Companies in South America: Before the First World War. Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. p. 297. ISBN 9514109473. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  3. ^ Mitchell, Nancy (August 1996). "Protective Imperialism versus Weltpolitik in Brazil: Part Two: Settlement, Trade, and Opportunity". The International History Review. 18 (3): 553–555. JSTOR 40107495. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  4. ^ Small Nations and Colonial Peripheries in World War I. BRILL. 2016. p. 93. ISBN 978-9004310018. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  5. ^ Kuldkepp, Mart (2015). Hegemony and liberation in World War I: the plans for new Mare Nostrum Balticum (PDF). Ajalooline Ajakiri. p. 261. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  6. ^ Higham, Robin; Parillo, Mark P. (2013). The Influence of Airpower Upon History: Statesmanship, Diplomacy, and Foreign Policy Since 1903. University Press of Kentucky. p. 40. ISBN 978-0813136745. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  7. ^ Cronenberg, Allen Thomson (1970). The Volksbund Für Das Deutschtum Im Ausland: Völkisch Ideology and German Foreign Policy, 1881-1939. Department of History, Stanford University. p. 37. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  8. ^ Fenske, Reiner (9 July 2018). "Imperiale Verbände im Deutschland der Zwischenkriegszeit im Vergleich. Die Beispiele des "Deutschen Ostbundes" und der "Deutschen Kolonialgesellschaft"". (PHD dissertation, Technischen Universität Dresden): 102–3. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  9. ^ Vermeiren, Jan (18 July 2016). The First World War and German National Identity The Dual Alliance at War. Cambridge University Press. p. 217. ISBN 9781107031678. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Judendburg Rotenburg: History". Jugendburg Rotenburg. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  11. ^ Ehrer, Franz (1932). Facts and Lies about Hitler. Munich. Retrieved 17 February 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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