Karl von Luxburg

Incident

In the summer of 1917, Luxburg sent secret dispatches to Berlin through the Swedish legation via Stockholm, which were made public by United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing. These dispatches urged that certain neutral Argentine ships should be “spurlos versenkt” — destroyed without a trace. The publication of the documents resulted in the dismissal of Count Luxburg from Argentina, and the virtual entrance of Argentina into the war. Luxburg was also Minister to Uruguay, and on his dismissal from Argentina, he asked for a passport to Montevideo instead of to Berlin.