Paul von Hatzfeldt

Melchior Hubert Paul Gustav Graf von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg (8 October 1831 – 22 November 1901) 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 (1798–1874) 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. 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. The new Emperor's volatile, domineering, and possibly bipolar personality and aggressive foreign policy ("New Course") would result in a number of diplomatic incidents between Britain and Germany as tensions rose within the broader context of 19th century imperial rivalries. 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 (later King Edward VII) 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 (Britain's greatest geopolitical adversary at the time) 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."

Personal life Hatzfeldt was married on 24 November 1863 in Paris Helene Moulton (3 September 1846 – 9 April 1918), the daughter of New York real estate speculator Charles Frederick Moulton and Cesarinne Jeanne (née Metz) Moulton. They divorced in 1886, but were remarried two years later so that their daughter might marry Prince Max of Hohenlohe-Öhringen. Together, they were the parents of: Paul Hermann Karl Hubert (30 June 1867 – 10 June 1941), a diplomat who married Baroness Maria von Stumm (1882–1954), daughter of diplomat Baron Ferdinand Eduard von Stumm. Marie Augusta Cesarinne Melanie (10 January 1871 – 15 April 1932), who married Prince Friedrich Karl zu Hohenlohe-Öhringen (1855–1910), brother of her sister's husband. 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 Kingdom of Prussia: Iron Cross (1870), 2nd Class on White Band with Black Edge Knight of the Red Eagle, 1st Class, 5 June 1881; Grand Cross, 18 January 1888 Grand Commander's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, 28 October 1885 Knight of Merit of the Prussian Crown, 8 November 1901 – on his resignation as German Ambassador to London Knight of the Order of Berthold the First Grand Cross of the Merit Order of St. Michael, 1877 Grand Cross of Merit of the Bavarian Crown, 1883 Grand Cross of the Order of Henry the Lion Mecklenburg: Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Golden Crown Grand Cross of the White Falcon Grand Cross of the Albert Order, with Golden Star, 1887 Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown

Foreign Austria-Hungary: Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Leopold, 1881 Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold Kingdom of Greece: Grand Cross of the Redeemer Grand Cross of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion Knight of the Netherlands Lion Order of Osmanieh, 1st Class in Diamonds Grand Cross of the Star of Romania Knight of the White Eagle Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, with Collar, 28 May 1877 Grand Cross of the Cross of Takovo Siam: Grand Cross of the Crown of Siam Two Sicilian Royal Family: Knight of St. Ferdinand and Merit

Ancestry