Paul von Hatzfeldt


Melchior Hubert Paul Gustav Graf von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg was a German diplomat who served as ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1901. He would also serve as envoy to Spain and the Ottoman Empire, foreign secretary, and head of the German Foreign Office. He is best known for signing the Yangtze Agreement in 1900.

Early life

Born into the House of Hatzfeld, Paul was born in Düsseldorf, Kingdom of Prussia, a part of the German Confederation, on October 8, 1831. He was the son of Count Edmund Gottfried Cornelius Hubert von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg and his wife, Countess Sophie von Hatzfeldt-Trachenberg, member of another branch of the same noble family. In 1888 he would be appointed German ambassador to the United Kingdom, serving in this capacity until his retirement in 1901.

Career

Hatzfeldt had a long career in the German Foreign Office. He was once described by Otto von Bismarck as das beste Pferd im diplomatischen Stall. The two had worked closely together, with Haztfeldt having served as serviced Bismarck's secretary in Paris during the latter's tenure as Prussian Ambassador to France in 1862. In 1874, Hatzfeldt was appointed as German Minister to Spain in Madrid, followed by Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, before being recalled in 1881 to serve as foreign secretary and head of the Foreign Office. In 1885, he succeeded Count Münster as German ambassador to United Kingdom.

Wihlemine period

Coinciding with the ascension of Wilhelm II in 1888, the last decade of Haztfeldt's appointment to the Court of St. James's would see a deterioration of Anglo-German relations. The new Emperor's volatile, domineering, and possibly bipolar personality and aggressive foreign policy would result in a number of diplomatic incidents between Britain and Germany as tensions rose within the broader context of 19th century imperial rivalries. But while Wilhelm's foreign policy and personal behavior, especially towards to Britain and his British relatives, took on an increasingly hostile, confrontational, and unpredictable aspect, Hatzfeldt himself received little direction from Berlin. It should also be noted that at this time Bismarck himself was coming under mounting pressure. All of this put Hatzfeldt in a uniquely difficult position, and upon being summoned by his British counterparts to answer for his government and its head of state, the German ambassador could not always furnish them with a satisfying or even coherent explanation.

Role in the Vienna protocol incident

Less than two months after the death of Frederick III and the coronation of Wilhelm II in June, 1888, Hatzfeldt was caught in the middle of a disagreement between the new Emperor and Edward, Prince of Wales in Vienna. Tensions between the two countries were already high due to Germany's attempts to acquire Zanzibar in East Africa through gunboat diplomacy. Although the Prince of Wales was his uncle, Wilhelm had unexpectedly refused to see him and acted prickly towards him and British diplomats Sir Leopold Swaine and Sir Augustus Paget. Afterwards, Hatzfeldt relayed to Lord Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a terse note written by Bismarck, which simultaneously justified the Emperor's conduct as both a purely pragmatic diplomatic move directed towards appeasing Russia and, paradoxically, as a justified and completely reasonable response to a series of purported indiscretions on the part of Albert. But when Salisbury responded with Albert's side of the story, including details of the exchange not mentioned by Bismarck, Hatzfeldt claimed that it was "entirely new to him."
The affair enraged Queen Victoria and in response Salisbury again summoned the German Ambassador. Baffling the Prime Minister, Hatzfeldt told him that since their last meeting he had communicated nothing of the matter to either Bismarck or Foreign Office. Likewise, Salisbury's warning to Hatzfeldt, that "England could not permit an attack on the Sultan of Zanzibar," did not reach Berlin. On October 22nd, 1888, Salisbury reported to the request that he believed Hatzfeldt did not do this "he was simply afraid to do so." Speaking in the customary third person, he adds that "from the hints let drop, Lord Salisbury gathered that the young Emperor was very difficult to manage, that Prince Bismarck was in great perplexity, and his temper had consequently become more than usually unbearable." The Prime Minister dryly concludes his report, noting that "Lord Salisbury's impression is that Count Hatzfeldt's position is very insecure."

Yangtze Agreement

As one of his final official actions as ambassador, Hatzfeldt signed the Yangtze Agreement in 1900, by which, in an attempt to relieve international tensions, both parties announced their opposition the official demarcation of spheres of influence in China. In 1897, it was reported that he would resign on account of ill-health, followed by similar reports in the years leading up to his actual retirement in November 1901, a few weeks before his death. He was succeeded by Count Paul Wolff Metternich.

Retirement

In his letter accepting Count von Hatzfeldt's request to retire, Emperor Wilhelm II wrote: "I feel impelled to express my imperial thanks for the excellent services which, during the forty-four years of your official life, you have rendered to my predecessors on the throne, to myself, and to the whole Fatherland." Upon his retirement, the Emperor bestowed on him the Order of Merit of the Prussian Crown as "a token of my good-will."

Personal life

Hatzfeldt was married on 24 November 1863 in Paris Helene Moulton, the daughter of New York real estate speculator Charles Frederick Moulton and Cesarinne Jeanne Moulton. They divorced in 1886, but were remarried two years later in order that their daughter might marry Prince Max of Hohenlohe-Öhringen. Together, they were the parents of:
Count von Hatzfeldt died in London on 22 November 1901. In 1910, his son inherited the title and properties of Paul's nephew, Prince Franz von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:

German

Foreign