×
Home Intro People Events Equipment Places Maps Books Photos Videos Other Reference FAQ About
     

World War II Database

Ribbentrop file photo [946]

Joachim von Ribbentrop

SurnameRibbentrop
Given NameJoachim
Born30 Apr 1893
Died16 Oct 1946
CountryGermany
CategoryGovernment
GenderMale

Contributor:

ww2dbaseUlrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim Ribbentrop was born in Wesel, Niederrhein, to an army officer. Before WW1, he worked in Canada for an importer of German wines, and returned to Germany during WW1 with fluency in the English language. He served in the German Army during WW1, achieving the rank of first lieutenant and was awarded the Iron Cross. He later convinced his aunt, whose husband had been knighted, to adopt him, hence the addition of the aristocratic "von" in his name hence.

ww2dbaseRibbentrop joined the Nazi Party in May 1932 after his foreign knowledge was noticed by Adolf Hitler. He further befriended Hitler by providing his home as a secret meeting location between Hitler and Franz von Papen during Hitler's bid to become the German Chancellor. It was also around this time he began to exhibit anti-Semitic behavior, something that he had not shown before. While some argued that his experiences abroad gave him a more international mindset than most of his colleagues, even more argued that he only knew how to tell his superiors what they wanted to hear at the right times; whatever the reason was, he was given the rank of SS-Standartenführer in 1933 and began acting in the capacity of a diplomat. As an instrument of Hitler's lies, he traveled to various European capitals preaching the ideals of disarmament, while back in Germany the war production capacity grew on a daily basis. In 1935, he was named Minister Plenipotentiary at Large and was credited for the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the Anti-Comintern Pact. On 21 May 1937, he met with Winston Churchill in the German embassy in London and offered Churchill Germany's protection for Britain if Britain was to give Germany a "free hand" in eastern Europe; Churchill rejected such a notion, and Ribbentrop responded "[i]n that case, war is inevitable." On 4 Feb 1938, he succeeded Konstantin von Neurath as Foreign Minister and began replacing veteran diplomats with Nazi Party members. Like the exchange with Churchill in May 1937 suggested, Ribbentrop was an advocate of war; even though Germany was able to annex Austria and Czechoslovakia successfully through diplomacy, he regarded them as failures because he was not able to provide Germany an opportunity to deploy her military. In 1939, he was a key figure in the negotiation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which alarmed nations of Western Europe with a German-Russian friendship as well as, in secret, a plan of aggression against Poland by the two powers.

ww2dbaseAfter the German invasion of Poland in Sep 1939, Ribbentrop's work shifted to the persuasion of other European nations to join the Axis alliance. Nations such as Romania and Hungary, to name some examples, joined the Axis under his directorship. He was not able to convince the careful Francisco Franco of Spain, but the Spanish dictator remained friendly to the German cause. As for the Holocaust, Ribbentrop was responsible for arranging the deportation of Jews in allied or conquered territories to concentration and extermination camps. As the war progressed, however, especially with Germany losing ground, Ribbentrop and the Foreign Ministry began to lose their usefulness and influence. As Hitler committed suicide in Apr 1945, he left instructions for German High Commission of the Netherlands Arthur Seyß-Inquart to take over as the new German Foreign Minister. Ribbentrop attempted to go into hiding, but was eventually arrested by British troops in Hamburg on 14 Jun. He was tried at the Nuremberg Trials and was sentenced to death by hanging. He was the first German politician to be executed as the result of the Nuremberg Trials. His last words were "God protect Germany. God have mercy on my soul. My final wish is that Germany should recover her unity and that, for the sake of peace, there should be understanding between East and West. I wish peace to the world."

ww2dbaseSources: the Last Lion, Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Jun 2006

Famous Quote(s)

Joachim von Ribbentrop Interactive Map

Photographs

Yosuke Matsuoka and Adolf Hitler, Berlin, Germany, late Mar 1941; note Joachim von Ribbentrop in backgroundGerman Ambassador to London Joachim von Ribbentrop, 1936
See all 101 photographs of Joachim von Ribbentrop

Joachim von Ribbentrop Timeline

30 Apr 1893 Joachim Ribbentrop was born.
15 Aug 1914 Joachim Ribbentrop boarded the passenger ship The Potsdam at Hoboken, New Jersey, United States for Germany.
5 Jul 1920 Joachim Ribbentrop married Anna Elisabeth "Annelies" Henkell.
1 May 1932 Joachim von Ribbentrop joined the Nazi Party.
11 Aug 1939 German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop met with Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano at Salzburg, Germany (occupied Austria), during which he said that "we want war".
25 Aug 1939 Joachim von Ribbentrop arrived in Berlin, Germany.
26 Aug 1939 The German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, handed the British Ambassador, Sir Neville Henderson, a list of terms that would allegedly ensure peace. These terms stipulated that Danzig would be returned to Germany, there would be a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor based on 1919 residency and there would also be an exchange of minority populations between Poland and Germany. The British thought these were fair demands and so the Polish Ambassador Józef Lipski went to see Ribbentrop, but was thrown out when he revealed that he did not have the power to sign the agreement. Germany then announced that Poland had refused its fair demands.
1 Sep 1939 German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop warned Adolf Hitler that the invasion of Poland would compel France to fight. Hitler (exceptionally irritable, bitter and sharp with anyone advising caution) replied: "I have at last decided to do without the opinions of people who have misinformed me on a dozen occasions... I shall rely on my own judgement."
28 Sep 1939 Joachim von Ribbentrop arrived in Moscow, Russia, where would announce jointly with the Soviets an attempt to negotiate for peace with the western powers; should Britain and France reject this peace offer, Germany then could not be blamed for the aggression, he reasoned.
24 Oct 1939 German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop delivered a speech in Danzig in which he accused the British government of preparing for a war with Germany for the past few years.
1 Mar 1940 US Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles arrived in Berlin, Germany on a peace mission, and met with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop on the first day of his visit.
11 Mar 1940 German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop met with Mussolini in Italy regarding German-Italian cooperation in the war.
12 Mar 1940 German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop continued his meeting with Mussolini in Italy, setting up a conference between Hitler and Mussolini to be held some time on or after 19 Mar 1940.
13 Mar 1940 Joachim von Ribbentrop informed the Italians that Adolf Hitler would like to push the date of the upcoming Brenner Pass meeting with Benito Mussolini up to on or about 18 Mar 1940.
11 Jul 1940 Joachim von Ribbentrop requested Spain to assist in the detaining of the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom.
26 Jul 1940 Joachim von Ribbentrop was updated by German agents in Spain and Portugal regarding the attempt to dissuade the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, from leaving for the Bahamas.
31 Jul 1940 Joachim von Ribbentrop, upon learning that the Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, was departing for the Bahamas soon, issued an order to send the British royalty another message overnight, stressing the fact that Germany was attempting to avoid armed conflict with the United Kingdom, which could be achieved with the duke was willing to assist, beginning by not departing Europe for the Bahamas.
1 Aug 1940 The Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, received German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop's message. He turned down Ribbentrop's request for him to help bring peace between Britain and Germany, citing his loyalty to the British government. He did, however, maintain a channel of communications with Germany in the future should his assistance be helpful once again. To Ribbentrop's dismay, the duke departed Lisbon, Portugal for the Bahamas by the end of the day, ending the German attempt to use him to form a new pro-German leadership in Britain.
17 Oct 1940 A message from Joachim von Ribbentrop to Joseph Stalin to invite Vyacheslav Molotov to Berlin, Germany to speak about the recent deterioration of German-Soviet relations was delivered, at a few days delay, to Vyacheslav Molotov. Ribbentrop was not happy regarding the delay, and the fact that the letter was delivered to the Soviet foreign ministry rather than to Stalin himself.
16 Jun 1941 Galeazzo Ciano met with Joachim von Ribbentrop in Venice, Italy. When Ciano asked Ribbentrop about the rumors of a German attack on the Soviet Union, Ribbentrop denied the rumors, but he shared the confidence that, should war really break out, a German victory would be achieved very quickly.
28 Jun 1941 Joachim von Ribbentrop sent a message to the Japanese embassy in Berlin, Germany, asking the Japanese to jointly invade the Soviet Union by tearing up the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact and attack Vladivostok, Russia.
10 Jul 1941 Joachim von Ribbentrop again asked the Japanese to attack Vladivostok, Russia.
19 Aug 1941 Joachim von Ribbentrop requested Japan to join in the attack on the Soviet Union by attacking Vladivostok in eastern Russia; Japan responded by saying that such a venture would require much time for deliberation and planning.
30 Aug 1941 Joachim von Ribbentrop asked Soemu Toyoda regarding a possible Japanese attack on Vladivostok, Russia; the Japanese Navy admiral responded by saying that Japan was preparing for such a venture, and required more time to complete the preparations.
28 Nov 1941 Joachim von Ribbentrop met with Hiroshi Oshima in Berlin, Germany, promising that Germany would declare war on the United States should Japan and the US enter a state of war; Ribbentrop, however, did not know Japan was planning on starting the war soon.
5 Dec 1941 Joachim von Ribbentrop gave Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Oshima a draft document which noted that Germany would declare war on the United States should Japan and the US enter a state of war.
10 Dec 1941 Joachim von Ribbentrop ordered the German chargé d'affaires in Washington DC, United States to avoid provoking the United States, as Adolf Hitler would like to declare war on the United States first.
4 Aug 1943 Otto Skorzeny learned from the German Police Attaché that Benito Mussolini had been transported in an ambulance from the Royal Palace in Rome, Italy to one of the carabinieri barracks in Rome back on 25 Jul 1943.
20 Aug 1943 German Admiral Canaris' sources informed him that Benito Mussolini might be held prisoner on the island of Elba, Italy.
8 Sep 1943 Otto Skorzeny conducted a reconnaissance flight in a He 111 aircraft over Campo Imperatore at Gran Sasso in central Italy and spotted a meadow which could be used as a glider landing field. On the return flight, he narrowly escaped from an Allied air attack.
22 Jun 1944 German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop visited Finland, offering German reinforcement against the recent Soviet offensive, but also demanding Finland to fight until the very end. Finnish President Risto Ryti agreed.
14 Jun 1945 Joachim von Ribbentrop was captured in Hamburg, Germany.
16 Oct 1946 Joachim von Ribbentrop passed away.




Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Thank you.

Share this article with your friends:

 Facebook
 Reddit
 Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

 RSS Feeds




Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Anonymous says:
6 Mar 2018 06:21:03 PM

I just want articles like the event happened yesterday

All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
 Your email will not be published
Comment Type
Your Comments
 

Notes:

1. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB.

2. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ.

Change View
Desktop View

Search WW2DB
More on Joachim von Ribbentrop
Event(s) Participated:
» Anglo-German Naval Agreement
» Anti-Comintern Pact
» Meeting at Brenner Pass
» Munich Conference and the Annexation of Sudetenland
» First Vienna Arbitration
» Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia
» Annexation of Klaipeda
» The Pact of Steel
» Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
» Soviet Demands on Romania and the Second Vienna Arbitration
» Meeting at Hendaye
» Nuremberg Trials and Other Trials Against Germany

Document(s):
» Anti-Comintern Pact
» German-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation
» No. 119: Memorandum from Joachim von Ribbentrop to Nevile Henderson
» No. 61: Non-Aggression Pact Between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
» The Pact of Steel

Joachim von Ribbentrop Photo Gallery
Yosuke Matsuoka and Adolf Hitler, Berlin, Germany, late Mar 1941; note Joachim von Ribbentrop in backgroundGerman Ambassador to London Joachim von Ribbentrop, 1936
See all 101 photographs of Joachim von Ribbentrop


Famous WW2 Quote
"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time."

Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, at Guadalcanal


Support Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Even $1 a month will go a long way. Thank you!

Or, please support us by purchasing some WW2DB merchandise at TeeSpring, Thank you!