Background
Konstantin von Neurath was born in Klein Glattbach, Württemberg, on 2 February 1873. The son of a court official of the King of Württemberg.
Konstantin von Neurath was born in Klein Glattbach, Württemberg, on 2 February 1873. The son of a court official of the King of Württemberg.
Von Neurath studied law and then began a diplomatic career, entering the German consular service in 1901. From 1903 to 1908 he was Vice-Consul in London and for the next six years a Councillor in the German Foreign Office. From 1914 to 1916 he was embassy Councillor in Constantinople and the following year he became head of cabinet of the King of Württemberg. In 1919 von Neurath was appointed Ambassador in Copenhagen and from 1921 to 1930 he served as Ambassador in Rome. Transferred to London as Ambassador from 1930 to 1932, von Neurath joined von Papen’s cabinet as Foreign Minister on 2 June 1932.
The frock-coated, aristocratic diplomat retained his position under von Schleicher and, during the early years of the Third Reich, lent a façade of respectability to Nazi foreign policy with his conservative atti¬tudes. Von Neurath’s function was nonetheless largely ornamental and his influence was reduced by the existence of a rival Party Foreign Office under Joachim von Ribbentrop which actually initiated policy.
Following the Hossbach Conference of 5 November 1937, where Hitler revealed his plans for annexing Austria and Czechoslovakia and his readiness for war with the western powers, von Neurath expressed his alarm and on 4 February 1938 found himself out of office as Foreign Minister. To maintain the moderate façade. Hitler appointed him President of a Reich secret cabinet, a phantom organization without any real power. From 1938 to 1945 he was Reich Minister without Portfolio and a member of the Council for Reich Defence, but his influence on foreign policy was minimal. After the German invasion of Czechoslovakia, von Neurath was appointed Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia on 18 March 1939, a move designed to make Hitler’s annexation look respectable to the Anglo-Saxon world.
In his new post, von Neurath was responsible for dissolving the Czech Parliament and political parties, abolishing freedom of the press, closing down Czech universities, crushing student resistance, persecuting the churches and adopting the Nuremberg racial laws in the Protectorate. Even these draconian measures were not considered strict enough by Hitler, who summoned von Neurath to Berlin on 23 September 1941 for a dressing down. Von Neurath wished to resign but was allowed to go on leave instead, being replaced by Heydrich and officially succeeded by Frick on 25 August 1943. An SS General (from 19 June 1943) and a member of the Nazi Party from 1937, von Neurath joined the clandestine opposition to Hitler in a passive role. At the Nuremberg trials after the war, von Neurath was found guilty of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.
On 30 November 1946 he was sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment. After serving eight years of his term, he was released from Spandau prison in November 1954 for reasons of health.
He died in Enzweihingen on 15 August 1956.