VON BERNSTORFF CALLS FOR NEW GERMAN AMBASSADOR TO SPEAK ENGLISH
Berlin, Germany (JFK+50) On July 28, 1921, Count Johann von Bernstorff*, former German ambassador to the United States, wrote of the "extreme importance of the new German ambassador being able to...(speak) in fluent English."
The Count added that the new ambassador should be "unencumbered by any of the many unhappy recollections of the late war."
In his view, French continental imperialism was responsible for "driving (Germany) into the arms of the English-speaking nations," thus making the use of the English language all the more important.
*Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff (1862-1939) was born in London, son of a powerful Prussian politician. JHvB graduated from the humanistic gymnasium of Dresden in 1881 & served in the Prussian Army & the Reichstag. He was Germany's ambassador to the U.S. & Mexico 1908-1917.
SOURCE
"Bernstorff Wants Envoy To U.S. To Speak English," The New York Tribune, July 29, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
