Herbert von Dirksen

Eduard Willy Kurt Herbert von Dirksen (2 April 1882 – 19 December 1955) was a German writer, lawyer, landowner, art collector, and career diplomat who occupied several key roles during the interwar period, serving as the German ambassador to the Soviet Union (1928–1933), ambassador to Japan (1933–1938), and most notably as the last German ambassador to Britain prior to the outbreak of World War II. Hailing from a well-off Prussian Junker family, Dirksen studied law and worked as an assistant judge before going on a world tour and choosing to become a diplomat. During World War I he was an administrator in German-occupied Belgium before being transferred to the Foreign Office in 1917.

Over of the course of the Polish–Soviet War, Dirksen was the de facto ambassador to Poland, but his open hostility towards the new Polish state led him to leave the position. He played a major role in shaping Germany's eastern policy for much of the Weimar period, pushing for a revision of the country's borders while trying to avoid war with Britain and France. A pragmatist, Herbert von Dirksen frequently clashed with the Hitler government over issues of foreign affairs, with the Foreign Office gradually being marginalized by other agencies.

The Nazi ascension to power in 1933 led to an immediate initial breakdown in German–Soviet relations, much to Dirksen's chagrin. He later served as the ambassador to Japan where he pushed for closer relations, but was sidelined during the actual Anti-Comintern Pact negotiations by the Hitler loyalist Joachim von Ribbentrop. When Ribbentrop was made Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1938, Dirksen filled in his role as Germany's chief representative in London where he tried unsuccessfully to maintain British neutrality over Poland.

The United Kingdom's newfound resolve to contain German expansion and Hitler's dismissiveness ultimately led Dirksen to resign and retire at the outbreak of war in 1939.