ARNIM, HARRY KARL KURT EDUARD VON, COUNT (1824-1881), German
diplomatist, was a member of one of the most numerous and most widely
spread families of the Prussian nobility. He was born in Pomerania on
the 3rd of October 1824, and brought up by his uncle Heinrich von Arnim,
who was Prussian ambassador at Paris and foreign minister from March to
June 1848, while Count Arnim-Boytzenburg, whose daughter Harry von Arnim
afterwards married, was minister-president. It is noticeable that the
uncle was brought before a court of justice and fined for publishing a
pamphlet directed against the ministry of Manteuffel. After holding
other posts in the diplomatic service Arnim was in 1864 appointed
Prussian envoy (and in 1867 envoy of the North German Confederation) at
the papal court. In 1869 he proposed that the governments should appoint
representatives to be present at the Vatican council, a suggestion which
was rejected by Bismarck, and foretold that the promulgation of papal
infallibility would bring serious political difficulties. After the
recall of the French troops from Rome he attempted unsuccessfully to
mediate between the pope and the Italian government. He was appointed in
1871 German commissioner to arrange the final treaty with France, a task
which he carried out with such success that in 1871 he was appointed
German envoy at Paris, and in 1872 received his definite appointment as
ambassador, a post of the greatest difficulty and responsibility.
Differences soon arose between him and Bismarck; he wished to support
the monarchical party which was trying to overthrow Thiers, while
Bismarck ordered him to stand aloof from all French parties; he did not
give that implicit obedience to his instructions which Bismarck
required. Bismarck, however, was unable to recall him because of the
great influence which he enjoyed at court and the confidence which the
emperor placed in him. He was looked upon by the Conservative party, who
were trying to overthrow Bismarck, as his successor, and it is said that
he was closely connected with the court intrigues against the
chancellor. In the beginning of 1874 he was recalled and appointed to
the embassy at Constantinople, but this appointment was immediately
revoked. A Vienna newspaper published some correspondence on the Vatican
council, including confidential despatches of Arnim's, with the object
of showing that he had shown greater foresight than Bismarck. It was
then found that a considerable number of papers were missing from the
Paris embassy, and on the 4th of October Arnim was arrested on the
charge of embezzling state papers. This recourse to the criminal law
against a man of his rank, who had held one of the most important
diplomatic posts, caused great astonishment. His defence was that the
papers were not official, and he was acquitted on the charge of
embezzlement, but convicted of undue delay in restoring official papers
and condemned to three months' imprisonment. On appeal the sentence was
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