German Foreign Policy 1890-1914• After the resignation of Bismarck, foreign policy became much more aggressive.

Why?

1. Population growth

2. Economic growth

3. Racial superiority

4. Prestige (view of Kaiser Wilhelm II and advisors)

5. Heal domestic divisions

• These ideas about expansion were brought together under the title of Weltpolitik (the government’s “World Policy”)

• Two strands of Weltpolitik:

a) Economic Imperialism B) Lebensraum

• Germany’s drive for world power status would lead to a number of crises which would eventually result in the outbreak of war.

Pre-Weltpolitik relations in Europe

Poor: fear of revenge overAlsace-Lorraine

Reasonable: some British jealousy of German economic power.

Poor: economic hostility - fearof Russian industrialisation. ButReinsurance Treaty still in place.

Good: Dual Alliance established. Hapsburg Empire in decline- reliant upon strong Germany.

Overall, relations were acceptable. Each of Germany’s neighbours was hostile to at least one other country.

What went wrong?

• During the period 1890-1914, Germany engaged in a number of reckless activities and diplomatic blunders which according to some historians led to war.

• Relationships with Europe’s main powers started to deteriorate almost as soon as Kaiser Wilhelm II took power (with the exception of Austria).

• Let’s examine these deteriorating relations – highlight events in chronology.

Russia• 1881 – League of Three Emperors

• 1887 – Russo-German Reinsurance Treaty

• 1890 – Reinsurance Treaty not renewed

• Led to decline in relations with Russia…

• 1894 - Franco-Russian alliance was signed

• Throughout the 1890s and 1900s, economic rivalry between the two countries became more and more obvious.

• Fear among the German government that Russian industrial power would soon match theirs.

• Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 left her vulnerable, emboldening Germany to take further risks.

• Germany supported Austria in their annexation of Bosnia in 1908.

Britain• Before Wilhelm II, Anglo-German relations were fine - Weltpolitik drastically changed their relationship.

• German plans for colonial expansion overseas required the construction of a large navy.

• This naval build up threatened Britain’s status as the world’s ‘colonial power’.

• Germany’s Navy Laws of 1898 and 1890 upset Britain and sparked the Naval Race.

• Relations worsened by diplomatic blunders: (a) German interference in Boer War – the Kruger Telegram (b) Kaiser’s newspaper interview

• 1904 – Anglo-French Entente

• 1907 – Anglo-Russian Entente (Triple Entente)

• Thereafter, Germany was uncertain whether a continental war would involve Britain.

France• Poor relations already existed

• After the Reinsurance Treaty ended, France offered loans and investment to Russia →1894 Franco-Russian Alliance• Relations deteriorated further with Anglo-French Entente (1904)

• 1905 – First Moroccan Crisis - Kaiser shows support for Moroccan independence in opposition to the French

• 1906 – Algeciras Conference

• 1911 – Second Moroccan Crisis – German gunboat, the Panther, arrives in Agadir (in response to French occupation)

• All 3 occasions were attempts to destabilise Anglo-French relations – all failed

• France and Britain began military consultation

Countdown to War• Germany’s diplomatic mistakes had worsened relations with Russia, France and Britain. However, they had not yet made war inevitable. • Germany did believe that it was being “encircled” by potential enemies.

• Dec 8th 1912 – ‘War Council’ meeting in Berlin - discussed possibility of war and agreed to expand the army• Germany was pessimistic about its situation and believed war may be necessary

• Balkan Crisis, July 1914 – assassination of Austrian Archduke – an excuse for war?

• If Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia would surely get involved – the German government gave Austria a ‘blank cheque’, promising their support

• Now, the alliance systems would prove crucial

• Uncertainty over Britain – would an invasion of Belgium bring them into war?

Historical Interpretations

• Aggressive aims (Fischer, 1969) – Germany deliberately unleashed a war for continental and even world domination (and to escape domestic problems).

• Preventative defence (Koch, 1984) - a diplomatic crisis was deliberately provoked as a war could solve Germany’s problem of “encirclement” – “escape forwards” by defeating Russia before she became stronger.

• Traditional view – “collective responsibility” of all nations - updated by Clark (2012) who suggested no nation intended to cause war.

• Revision of Fischer’s thesis (Von Strandmann, 1988) – Germany went to war, not for world power, but to gain economic domination of Eastern Europe – they went to war not for defensive, pessimistic reasons, but for optimistic reasons, believing they could win a short war.

Group Wiki Task:Key Events/Issues on the Road to War

1. What was the significance of Germany’s refusal to renew the Reinsurance Treaty?

2. What was the significance of the Kruger Telegram?

3. What was the significance of German Naval Expansion?

4. What was the significance of the First Moroccan Crisis?

5. What was the significance of the Second Moroccan Crisis?

6. What was the significance of the ‘War Council’ Meeting of 1912?

End of Reinsurance Treaty:• Declining Russian-German relations• Russia moved closer to France, forming an alliance in 1893/4• Created a potentially hostile power on Germany’s two borders

Kruger Telegram:• Worsened relations between Germany and Britain• Seen as meddling in British affairs and a threat to British commerce – led to

anti-German sentiment in Britain

Naval Expansion:• German naval expansion was seen by Britain as a threat to their status as the

world’s foremost naval and colonial power• Also seen as potentially aggressive i.e. military build-up

Moroccan Crises:• Attempts to undermine and humiliate France and threaten their colonial

interests in north Africa. 2nd Crisis also seemed aggressive…• Attempts by Germany to destabilise Anglo-French relations• Led to decline in relations between Germany and France (and Britain)• Led to German sense of isolation and encirclement as Britain, France and

Russia grew closer together in opposition to Germany (formed Triple Entente)

War Council: Did German government decide war was necessary here? Did it set them on the path to war in 1914?