Herbert Blankenhorn in the Third Reich

摘要

THE early career of Herbert Blankenhorn (1904–1991) illustrates impor-ntant trends in the transition from Nazi Germany to the Federal Republic.nDuring the 1930s and 1940s he served as a diplomat in the GermannForeign Office and also joined the Nazi Party in 1938. After 1945 he wouldnplay a very public role in the creation of a new political culture in WestnGermany. Konrad Adenauer thought that the exceptional political sense of hisnyoung personal assistant, who also served as Secretary General of the ChristiannDemocratic Union (CDU) in the British Zone, helped him become chancellornof the Federal Republic in 1949.n1nThrough the mid-1950s Blankenhornnremained one of Adenauer’s most intimate advisors, especially on mattersnconcerning foreign policy. From late 1949 to mid-1950, he also oversaw thencreation of what became the West German Auswa ¨rtiges Amt (Foreign Office),nand thereafter he was the head of its Political Division and deputy to StatenSecretary Walter Hallstein until 1955. He went on to serve as West Germannambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (1955–n1958), France (1958–1963), Italy (1963–1965), and the United Kingdomn(1965–1970). After retiring from the diplomatic service in 1970, Blankenhornnfunctioned as the West German representative in the United Nations Edu-ncational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Executive Councilnuntil 1976.