Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff

Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff entered diplomacy after military service and held posts in Constantinople, Belgrade, St. Petersburg, London, and Cairo. As ambassador in Washington from 1908, he tried to preserve American neutrality during the First World War. He warned Berlin that unrestricted submarine warfare would bring the United States into the conflict and encouraged President Woodrow Wilson’s efforts to mediate a peace. ¹

Bernstorff returned to Germany after diplomatic relations broke in 1917 and later represented Germany in Constantinople. During the Weimar Republic he entered parliament for the German Democratic Party and promoted German membership in the League of Nations. He served on the League’s preparatory disarmament commission and headed organizations supporting international cooperation. After the Nazis took power, he settled in Geneva, where he died in 1939. ^{1, 2}