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CHILDHOOD AND EARLY LIFE

Johann-Heinrich, Graf von Bernstorff was born on November 14, 1862 in London… where his father, Graf Albrecht von Bernstorff, had just spent seven years as the Prussian ambassador.

Shortly before Johann’s birth, Albrecht had been recalled to Berlin where he had been promoted to Prussian Foreign Minister. This was the third time he’d been offered the position, but this time Albrecht clearly felt he could do something with the job. He firmly set a direction for a German union that would exclude Austria (Kleindeutschland), but that was about the only major achievement of his ministry.

In a constitutional crisis triggered by the Landtag’s refusal to pass King Wilhelm I’s budget, Albrecht and several other ministers offered their resignations in an attempted power play. As so often happens, the Prussian king chose to accept their resignations, which led to Albrecht being replaced by the legendary German statesman, Otto von Bismarck, in September 1862. Albrecht’s bitter comments about the man who replaced him would blight his son’s early career.

Albrecht was reappointed Prussian ambassador to Great Britain, becoming German ambassador after the new nation was officially established in January 1871. He died two years later when Johann was only eleven years old. The young Bernstorff moved back to Germany after his father’s death and attended the humanistic gymnasium in Dresden from which he graduated with a baccalaureate in 1881.

Johann’s ambition was to be a diplomat like his father, but Otto von Bismarck’s enmity for the family meant that the young Bernstorff could not get a job in the government. The old man would remain both Chancellor and Foreign Minister until his dismissal by Kaiser Wilhelm II in March 1890. With no chance of a diplomatic career (for the moment), Bernstorff joined the German Army instead. He served in a Berlin artillery unit, earning a commission as a lieutenant.

On his twenty-fifth birthday, Bernstorff married Jeanne Luckemeyer, the daughter of a German named Edward who had emigrated to New York and become a successful textile importer. Jeanne reputedly had connections in the Imperial German court through her mother’s family, and this might be what finally led Bismarck to relent in his attitude towards the Bernstorff family. In 1888, Johann was stationed at the German embassy in Constantinople, a symbol that Bismarck no longer considered him persona non grata. The following year, Johann retired after eight years in the army. Finally in 1890, Bernstorff traveled to Berlin to take the two-year course followed by the exam for entry into the diplomatic service.

THE ANGLOPHILE DIPLOMAT IN AMERICA

The young Bernstorff promptly entered the diplomatic service in 1892. He was secretary of legation successively at Belgrade (1892 to 1894), Dresden, St. Petersburg (1895 to 1897), and Munich. From 1902 to 1906, Bernstorff was councilor of the embassy in London… and then went as consul-general to Cairo from 1906 to 1908. He demonstrated pro-British views… and throughout his career, Johann pleaded for détente with the British Empire.

In 1908, Bernstorff became the German ambassador to the United States of America, a country which his superiors regarded as a second-rank power. He was aware that this view was mistaken, but Bernstorff was unable to convince others of his position.

However, he quickly established a popular reputation among diplomatic and political circles for his apparent moderation (a rarity in Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Germany). The dapper and charming German ambassador, with his perfect English (he had been raised bilingually in London) and his beautiful American wife on his arm, were an instant hit in Washington society. In the pre-World War era, German-Americans formed a distinct cultural group… and Bernstorff was easily able to forge links with politicians seeking their votes.

But there were points of contention to negotiate. Prior to Bernstorff’s arrival, America and Germany had been involved in a proxy war that had nearly turned into a direct war over control of the Samoan Islands. Eventually, the matter was resolved been resolved when both nations divided the Samoan Islands… with each making their half as colonies, and without consulting the natives!

Several years after Johann’s embassy appointment, tensions flared once again between the two countries… this time over Mexico. The United States supported President Francisco Madero when he took power in 1911. When he was assassinated in 1913 and Victoriano Huerta seized power, the U.S. opposed him. But Huerta was supported by German financial interests and the Berlin Government, who hoped to get a Caribbean naval base out of him! This escalated to American military action in early 1914… when the U.S. shelled and occupied the Mexican port of Veracruz in order to prevent a German ship from delivering weapons to the Huerta regime.

By June 1914, tensions over Mexico between Imperial Germany and America had finally relaxed. Then an obscure Serbian terrorist assassinated the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, lighting the fuse that would ignite a tinderbox of hellish proportions!

Johann was recalled to Germany on July 7, 1914… but he returned to Washington D.C. on August 2nd, one day after Imperial Germany declared war on Tsarist Russia. It was later revealed that Bernstorff 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 fund to finance those operations. Bernstorff began with attempts to assist German-Americans who wished to return home to fight by forging passports to get them through the Allied blockade.

Around the same time, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson started a peace initiative and sent his confidant, Colonel Edward M. House, to Germany. Great Britain was ready for negotiations, provided that the Germans evacuate all their troops from Belgium. Bernstorff recommended accepting this precondition, but the Berlin Government still believed in the possibility of victory. So, the masters of Imperial Germany did not take heed of Bernstorff’s advice. After the German retreat from the Marne in September 1914, Bernstorff believed that there was no longer a chance for his country to win the war.

THE SABOTEUR

Publicly, Bernstorff’s ambassadorship in Washington was characterized by a diplomatic battle with the British ambassador, Sir Cecil Spring Rice. Both men attempted to influence the U.S Government’s position regarding the war. But as the Allied blockade began to prevent American munitions manufacturers from trading with Germany, the ambassador began financing sabotage missions to obstruct arms shipments to Germany’s enemies. Some of the plans included destroying the Welland Canal, which circumvents Niagara Falls. Attempted in September 1914, the plan ended in failure. At the same time, the German diplomatic mission also began supporting the expatriate Indian movement for independence.

Johann von Bernstorff was assisted by Captain Franz von Papen and Captain Karl Boy-Ed, a naval attaché. The commercial attaché, Heinrich Albert, was the finance officer for the sabotage operations. Papen and the German consulate in San Francisco were 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 that he was intricately involved as part of the German intelligence and sabotage offensive in America against Britain. After the capture of the Annie Larsen and the 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. It was another futile attempt, and the arms were auctioned off.

In December 1914, Bernstorff received a cable from the German Foreign Office that instructed him to target the Canadian railways. On New Year’s Day 1915, the Roebling Wire and Cable plant in Trenton, New Jersey, was blown up. Four weeks later, an American merchant ship carrying wheat to Britain was sunk. On February 2, 1915, Lieutenant Werner Horn was captured following the Vanceboro international bridge bombing. A year later, his wife was involved in a blackmail plot by a former German spy, Armgaard Karl Graves.

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). At the same time, the phenol would be used to prop up several German-owned chemical companies that made aspirin and its precursor, salicylic acid. In September of that year, Bernstorff’s agents attempted to influence the negotiations between American banks and the Anglo-French Financial Commission. However, they failed to prevent an agreement from being reached.

SUBMARINE WARFARE

On May 7, 1915, a German submarine sank (without warning) the British passenger liner Lusitania on its way to New York. Almost 1,200 passengers died, among them more than one hundred Americans. This act negatively influenced the United States’ attitude towards Imperial Germany. Bernstorff proposed in vain that Germany take responsibility for the deaths in order to appease the American public. To Bernstorff, American neutrality was of vital interest to Germany. He succeeded in convincing Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg to take a stand against reckless submarine warfare. In turn, Bethmann-Hollweg subdued the resistance of the leader of the Admiralty (Reichsmarineamt), Secretary of State Alfred von Tirpitz. Submarine warfare was then waged only in accordance with the traditional rules of sea warfare that limited the scope of the destructive actions of submarines.

Bernstorff also tried to influence the Berlin Government to win over President Wilson to mediate a peace of negotiation and understanding. On the other hand, he helped to transfer money collected by Irish Americans to the leaders of the liberation movement in Ireland. In addition, Bernstorff hoped for an open conflict between the United States and Mexico. German clandestine support for Mexican activities against American interests did not go unnoticed, and it stoked the flames of anti-German sentiment in America. In July 1916, the Black Tom explosion in New Jersey was the most spectacular of the sabotage operations, and Johann’s diplomatic position became untenable!

The German ambassador to neutral America also supported strikes that would hamper the supply of armaments to Great Britain. Although such actions were illegal, they did no harm to Bernstorff’s reputation in the eyes of the U.S. Government.

Although the Allies completely refused a German offer for peace on December 12, 1916, President Wilson (who was still ready to act as an intermediary) made a proposal six days later that both sides come out with their conditions for peace. The Allies did so, but added that, in their opinion, this was not the right moment for action. When Imperial Germany did not reply to Wilson’s request, the U.S. President then asked the Berlin Government to state its war aims confidentially… even mentioning that he aimed at a peace without victors. But Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg was unwilling to bind himself in a more definite way.

The strong influence of the German Supreme Command (Oberste Heeresleitung) and the Admiralty led to the declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare on on first of February 1917. Though Bernstorff warned against the serious consequences of this decision and the enormous resources of the United States, it was believed that unrestricted submarine warfare was the only way to avoid total defeat. Bernstorff tried to make clear that such actions would lead America to war on the side of the Allies.

Sadly, his proposal to at least put off the decision and to try to bring about a peace conference was completely ignored. But Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg had authorized Bernstorff to submit Germany’s peace conditions confidentially. They came too late, and President Wilson was no longer interested. On February 3, 1917, America broke off diplomatic relations with Germany. Two days later, Bernstorff had to leave the country. On April 6, 1917 the United States declared war on Imperial Germany.

Now in Berlin, Bernstorff had talks with several influential Reichstag politicians and spread the illusion that Wilson was still willing to mediate. His oratory caught the attention of one notable politician: Matthais Erzberger. In listening to Bernstorff, Erzberger may have been influenced to prepare the Peace Resolution of July 19, 1917 to the Reichstag.

APPOINTMENT IN CONSTANTINOPLE

When he returned from America, Bernstorff began receiving a pension. But he was called back to active service in August and nominated German ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople. In May 1918, Bernstorff warned the Turks against invading the Transcaucasian Region, as such an action would be in violation of the terms in the March 3, 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. He was asked by his superiors to protest against the persecution of the Armenians and to demand the return of those forced to leave their homes. He was also asked to propose amnesty for the Armenians. But Bernstorff was completely unsuccessful in his attempt. The Armenians themselves hoped for safety in the unification of Armenia and Georgia. Bernstorff was in favor of this idea, but the foreign office declined it. Unification of the two states was another violation of the conditions listed in the Brest-Litovsk treaty. He also favored the idea to give some Palestine territory to the Jews… but not in the form of a state!

When Bethmann-Hollweg resigned in July 1917, he proposed that Bernstorff become his successor. But both Kaiser Wilhelm II and General Erich Ludendorff were against the idea. In addition to a personal animosity, the two men did not like Bernstorff’s political opinions. They went so far as to suspect him of being a Social Democrat!

REFUSAL, REICHSTAG, RETIREMENT, AND REFUGE

When the war came to an end, Bernstorff helped prepare the truce and peace negotiations for his defeated nation. In 1919, he refused the offer of President Friedrich Ebert to become foreign minister in the new Weimar Republic. One year later, Bernstorff was provisionally pensioned off… and in 1927, he retired completely.

Before leaving politics, Johann helped found the German Democratic Party and was a member of the Reichstag from 1921 to 1928. He was a permanent German representative at the commission of the League of Nations for preparing general disarmament. In addition, Bernstorff was a member of all delegations to the League when Germany became a member in 1926.

After leaving the Reichstag, Bernstorff had become leader of the German delegation to the World Disarmament Conference, a League of Nations attempt to de-escalate military buildup around the world. Though the effort was doomed to failure, it did give Johann a good opportunity to leave Germany and simply seek asylum in Geneva.

Bernstorff was explicitly mentioned by Adolf Hitler as one of those men bearing “the guilt and responsibility for the collapse of Germany”. After the Nazis came to power in early 1933, Johann and his wife Jeanne left Germany for good. But Switzerland was not just a refuge for the couple – their daughter Luise had married a Swiss nobleman and lived in Geneva with her children.

Johann von Bernstorff died in the Canton of Geneva on October 6, 1939, a little over a month after the outbreak of the Second World War. He was seventy-seven years old.