Otto L. Schmidt-Leda

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Otto Ludwig Schmidt-Leda (born March 25, 1852 in Altona , † May 12, 1907 in Munich ) was a German diplomat .

Life

In 1881 Schmidt-Leda was Undersecretary of State in the Orient Department in the Foreign Office in Berlin. In 1884 he was consul of the German Empire in Cairo . From 1884 to 1885, Schmidt-Leda and Wilhelm von Bismarck took minutes at the Congo Conference in Berlin. He is therefore referred to in publications as Chief of Protocol or President of the Berlin Conference.

From 1885 to 1886 Schmidt-Leda was the representative of the German Empire at the Zanzibar Delimitation Commission . With this border commission , the interests of the companies of the German Reich were duty-free and shared use of the port of Dar es Salaam . Limits were agreed for the possessions of the Sultan of Zanzibar Barghasch ibn Said . The other actors in the commission were Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and, for France, Patrimonio, the consul general in Beirut . The final report of the border commission was presented on June 6, 1886. One result of the border commission was the treaty between Germany and England over the colonies and Heligoland .

From 1892 to 1894 Schmidt-Leda was consul general in Yokohama . Schmidt-Leda subsequently advised Siemens on the tram project for Tokyo .

From 1889 to 1895 Schmidt-Leda was Imperial German Consul General in Apia . On the occasion of a visit by Andrew Dickson White to Wilhelm II (German Empire) it was reported that Schmidt-Leda was being discussed as Commissioner for Samoa.

In 1899, Schmidt-Leda represented the interests of investors from the German Reich in Venezuela and was accredited by the Ignacio Andrade government in Caracas . In Venezuela, Norddeutsche Bank and Disconto-Gesellschaft invested in the Great Venezuela Railway Company in 1895 and accordingly dominated the foreign policy of the German Reich.

The training ship Nixe reached the port of Caracas when Cipriano Castro had already asserted himself as president. The Foreign Ministry of the German Reich had previously asked US warships for protection for citizens of the German Reich.

The government of Venezuela had taken out loans for the construction of the railroad lines. Castro was granted further credits, with which he intervened in the War of the Thousand Days in Colombia with weapons from Mauser , Krupp and the Hamburg weapons company Kugelmann.

Caricature of President Cipriano Castro of Venezuela and the interests of the empires of the British Empire and the German Empire, published in the New York Herald , January 1903

In January 1901, Castro decreed that all foreign claims that arose before he came to power in October 1899 would be annulled. Claims recognized in the meantime were settled by public bonds and the place of jurisdiction for foreign bonds was Venezuela.

About the turn of the year 1901/1902 Schmidt-Leda was in the German Empire. Pilgrim-Baltazzi Chargé d'Affaires in Caracas was not expected to collect outstanding titles from the Venezuelan government before Schmidt-Leda returned.

Blockade of Venezuela

Wilhelm II (German Reich) subsequently decreed the state of war:

"I determine:

  1. . The blockade that took place against Venezuela from December 20, 1902 to February 21, 1903, is ... a campaign.
  2. . For participation in the blockade, provided that it lasted at least one month, the officers, civil servants and men belonging to the crew ... are counted for a year of war - namely the year 1903.2 "
- Wilhelm II (German Reich) to Chancellor von Bülow January 4, 1904

In mid-February 1902, President Castro declared Schmidt-Leda to be a persona non grata , which is why he did not return to Caracas.

In 1903 the governments of the German Reich, the Italian Kingdom and the United Kingdom appealed to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to decide whether they had preferential enforcement orders against the government of Venezuela and how these should be satisfied. On May 10 and May 30, 1900 there was an exchange of letters between Raimundo Andueza Palacio and Schmidt-Leda, which was used as evidence in these arbitration proceedings.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ (DBA II 1165,5) Materials on Schmidt-Ledda in the StAB: D 1002 / 55-18,19,28,29 after Markus Holzammer, The pharmacist Joseph Schedel: Diaries from Japan (1886-1899) and China (1909- 1921)
  2. ^ Alfred Zimmermann, History of German Colonial Policy , ES Mittler and Son, 1914, 336 pp., 127
  3. ↑ Visit of the Korvette Fasana for the Emperor's birthday ( Memento from January 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Ludwig Geiger, Berlin, May 7, 1898, Goethe Yearbook 1898
  5. ↑ The New York Times , April 8, 1899, rumors Dr. O. Schmidt-Leda German Minister at Caracas, Venezuela, and Dr. Steubel, the German Consul General a Shanghai have been appointed Samoan Commissioners for Germany. Both ... were formerly in Samoa , learned that Germany will not apoint .. if authorities at Washington object
  6. ↑ Disconto-Gesellschaft (1851-1929) ( Memento of October 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Ragnhild Fiebig-von Hase, Latin America as a Focus of Conflict in German-American Relations, 1890-1903 : from the beginning of the Pan American policy to the Venezuelan crisis of 1902/03, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986
  8. ↑ Michael Zeuske, Cipriano Castro in Germany and an arms smuggling to Venezuela
  9. ↑ Bourbon News January 2, 1901, p. 6  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Berlin, January 1. - Until Dr. O. Schmidt-Leda, the German minister to Venezuela, arrives at Caracas, which will be about January 5, nothing will be done by Herr von Pilgrim-Baltazzi, the German charge d'affaires there to press President Castro further. Dr. Schmidt-Leda bears instructions from the German government. The carrying out often successive stps outlined in these instructions, will end in coercive measures, which will probably be applied in four or five weeks time if intermediate efforts shall have failed in the meantime. It is possible, however, that events may shorten this period. In so much as Germany is possessed of the good will of the United States, in this matter, Baron von Richthofen imperial secretary of foreign affair , desires to give President Castro ample time to recognize this fact, and the fact also that Germany ins rally in earnest in the matter. Germany will not act at the moment when a foreign difficulty might strengthen President Castro's hold upon his country by uniting Venezuelan national feeling against Germany. It is understood at the foreign office here that the United States is not only tolerant of Germany's purposes toward Venezuela, but pleased that Germany and not the United States is to undertake to discipline Venezuela into paying her depts and keeping faith with foreigners doing business there. German's action with regard to Venezuela has been likened here to France's recent course toward Turkey, which was considered wholesomely to have affected the controversies between Turkey and other countries. The German cruiser Gazelle is still at Kiel, although she has been ordered to sail for the Caribbean sea. Her departure is delayed by necessary outfitting.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / kdl.kyvl.org  
  10. ↑ BAMA RM 2/2008 based on Gerhard Wiechmann, Venezuela 1871-1903 ( memento from July 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) in The Prussian-German Navy in Latin America 1866-1914 : a study of German gunboat policy
  11. ↑ The New York Times , February 5, 1902, Dr. Schmidt-Leda, German Minister to Venezuela, has not returned to Caracas , although the Foreign Office stated at the beginning of January that he was on hist way there
  12. ↑ Paducah sun , February 14, 1902, page 1  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 14- Dr. Schmidt-Leda, who has been the German minister her since 1898, will not return to Venezuela. Dr. Pilgrim-Baltazzi, as charge d'affaires, will conduct the affair of the legation. The German cruisers Falke , Vineta and Gazelle and the Dutch cruiser Utrecht are in the harbor of La Guayra . BELIVED TO BE IN GERMANY New York, Feb. 14. It has been reported that Dr. Schmidt-Leda was persona non grata to President Castro of Venezuela. The diplomat is now believed to be in Germany INSURGENTS CROSS FRONTIER Willemstad, Island of Curacoa, Feb 14- It is reported here today that the Venezuelan insurgents who had concentrated on Colombian soil, have crossed the frontier of Tachira and are moving on San Cristobal@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / kdl.kyvl.org  
  13. ^ Preferential treatment of claims of blockading powers against Venezuela. Germany, Great Britain and Italy versus Venezuela ( Memento from November 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 79 kB)
predecessor Office successor
Julius von Jasmund Consul of the German Empire in Cairo
1884 		from Loehr
Oscar Wilhelm Stübel Imperial German Consul General in Apia
1889–1895
Arthur Alexander Kaspar from Rex Envoy of the German Empire in Caracas
1898–1901 		Gisbert Pilgrim by Baltazzi
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt-Leda, Otto L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmidt-Leda, Otto Ludwig (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1852
PLACE OF BIRTH Altona
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 1907
Place of death Munich