Editing Joachim von Ribbentrop (section)

====Anglo-German Naval Agreement====
Neurath did not think it possible to achieve the Anglo-German Naval Agreement. To discredit his rival, he appointed Ribbentrop head of the delegation sent to London to negotiate it.<ref>Bloch, pp. 68–69.</ref> Once the talks began, Ribbentrop issued an ultimatum to [[John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon|Sir John Simon]],<ref>Bloch, pp. 71–72.</ref> informing him that if Germany's terms were not accepted in their entirety, the German delegation would go home.<ref>Bloch, p. 72.</ref> Simon was angry with that demand, and walked out of the talks.<ref>Bloch, pp. 72–73.</ref> However, to everyone's surprise, the next day the British accepted Ribbentrop's demands, and the AGNA was signed in London on 18 June 1935 by Ribbentrop and Sir [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Samuel Hoare]], the new British Foreign Secretary.<ref>Bloch, pp. 73–74.</ref> The diplomatic success did much to increase Ribbentrop's prestige with Hitler, who called the day the AGNA was signed "the happiest day in my life". He believed it marked the beginning of an Anglo-German alliance, and ordered celebrations throughout Germany to mark the event.<ref>Kershaw, Ian. ''Hitler Hubris'' New York: Norton, 1999, p. 558.</ref>

Immediately after the AGNA was signed, Ribbentrop followed up with the next step that was intended to create the Anglo-German alliance, the ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' (co-ordination) of all societies demanding the restoration of [[German colonial empire|Germany's former colonies in Africa]]. On 3 July 1935, it was announced that Ribbentrop would head the efforts to recover Germany's former African colonies.<ref>Weitz, p. 94.</ref> Hitler and Ribbentrop believed that demanding colonial restoration would pressure the British into making an alliance with the ''Reich'' on German terms.<ref>Hildebrand, p. 40.</ref> However, there was a difference between Ribbentrop and Hitler: Ribbentrop sincerely wished to recover the former German colonies, but for Hitler, colonial demands were just a negotiating tactic. Germany would renounce its demands in exchange for a British alliance.<ref>Hildebrand, pp. 40–41.</ref>