Baron von Constantin Neurath

Constantin Neurath, Baron von , 1873-1956, German diplomat. After holding numerous diplomatic posts, he was (1932-38) foreign minister under chancellors Franz von Papen and Kurt von Schleicher . A supporter of Adolf Hitler's foreign policy, he remained in office after Hitler took over the government. In 1938 he was dismissed in favor of Joachim von Ribbentrop . Following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Neurath was appointed (1939) "protector" of Bohemia and Moravia; however, he was considered too lenient in his treatment of the Czechs and was replaced by Reinhard Heydrich in 1941. At the Nuremberg war-crimes trial Neurath was sentenced (1946) to imprisonment for 15 years. In 1954 he was released because of illness; he died two years later.

Neurath, Konstantin, Baron von (1873–1956),German diplomat who was Germany's foreign minister from 1932 to 1938. Hitler retained him partly to help the democracies accept the assumption of power by the Nazi Party in 1933 and partly to cloak the radical changes going on within Germany. When this no longer proved necessary he was replaced by Ribbentrop. After the Germans moved into Czechoslovakia in March 1939 Neurath was appointed to govern what remained of it, Bohemia and Moravia, but his lenient rule, and intriguing by the SS, led to his replacement by Reinhard Heydrich in September 1941, though he did not officially resign until August 1943. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment at the Nuremberg trials but was released in 1954.