Ulrich Brockdorff-Rantzau

Brockdorff-Rantzau, Ulrich

 

Born May 29, 1869, in Schleswig; died Sept. 8, 1928, in Berlin. Count and German diplomat.

From 1912 to 1918, Brockdorff-Rantzau was ambassador to Denmark. After the German revolution of November 1918, he was secretary of state for foreign affairs. From February to June 1919 he was minister of foreign affairs in the government of P. Scheidemann. In June 1919, as head of the German delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, he objected to Germany’s acceptance of the conditions of the peace treaty of Versailles. After the decision of the Weimar Constituent Assembly to sign the treaty, he retired. From 1922 to 1928 he was ambassador to the USSR. He advocated the establishment of friendly relations between Germany and the USSR and the development of economic ties between them.