Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim

Who was Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim?

Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim – German diplomat. Ambassador Extraordinary to Mexico. German Minister at Athens, 1909-12. During World War I, from 1912 to October 25, 1915 was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

In 1914, after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Ismael Enver, the Ottoman General Minister of War, asked if an alliance with Germany could happen. Andrew Mango continues with the history at this time in his book Ataturk. Here he describes the jumbled alliance-structure that existed that would threaten the current relationship between Germany and the Ottoman Empire. For instance, Germany had already claimed war against Russia and it had an alliance with Austria-Hungary. This agreement with the Ottoman Empire would allow Germany to take a leadership role in alliance-making before World War I. It would also force Russia and Serbia to alliance-make to condemn the assassination.

In 1914 the wave of deportations, executions, and genocide directed against the Armenian population started in Ottoman Empire. During the May and June 1915 major newspapers of the neutral nations published numerous reports about these events. Under mounting international pressure and in response to the accusations of German complicity on July 4, 1915, Wangenheim, issued his memorandum of protest stating German official position on the Armenian Genocide. It began with expression of support for the Ottoman government security concerns: