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EMPIRE and NATIONALISM in EUROPE, 1850-1900 (7 of 7)

Following the unification of Germany, Bismarck tried to allay fears among other European powers by claiming that Germany was a "satiated" power with no appetite for additional territory. Germany, he said, had no quarrel or claims against anyone and desired only self-defense and peace. But the British remained disturbed, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli seeing Europe's balance of power as having been destroyed.

Interested in peace among Europe's powers, in 1879 Bismarck joined Germany with Austria-Hungary in a defensive alliance. He maintained friendly relations with Russia, and he pushed Austria into a diplomatic partnership with Russia, recreating in 1881 the Three Emperor's Alliance while hoping that Russia and Austria-Hungary would manage their rivalry in the Balkans. France was competing with Britain for empire and remained isolated diplomatically. Italy was at odds with France and in 1882 joined the alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary, creating the Triple Alliance.

Bismarck tried to improve Germany's relations with Britain. In 1887, Britain, wishing to restrain the French, made an agreement with Italy for maintaining the status quo in the Eastern Mediterranean, an agreement that Austria-Hungary also joined. And in 1887 Bismarck concluded another treaty with Russia -- the Reinsurance Treaty. This promised Germany's neutrality should Austria-Hungary attack Russia, and it promised Germany's support for Russian aims and interests in Bulgaria and for Russia's concerns regarding the straits between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Wilhelm (William) II

In 1888, Wilhelm I died. His son the Crown Prince was dying of throat cancer and ruled for only ninety days as Friederich III. Friederich's rule was followed by that of his 29-year-old son, Wilhelm II. Bismarck had become too influential for Wilhelm II and he forced Bismarck to resign.

Wilhelm refused to renew Bismarck's Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. He believed his own personal relationship and blood ties with the Russian Royal family would be sufficient to ensure further genial diplomatic ties between the two countries. The Russians had their own way of looking at their security. In 1892 the Russians signed a defensive alliance with France -- a surprise to some because tsarist Russia was a conservative power and France was traditionally leftist and a republic. Russia, however, had been receiving loans from France, and for France it was an opportunity to overcome its diplomatic isolation. Moreover, Russia was on the opposite side of Germany, each country in the best position to aid the other against German aggression.

Wilhelm II was the son of a liberal English mother and the grandson of Queen Victoria, for whom he remained fond. Often he was to visit his relatives in Britain. But Wilhelm distanced himself from the liberalism of his mother and he joined the nationalist patriotism and support for grandeur. If German interests abroad were to be protected without the good will of the British navy, Germany needed a great navy of its own, and Wilhelm supported the creation of such a navy -- a new great navy that the British were to see as a threat to its security. A naval arms race was in the making.

Books

Bismarck, by Edgar Feuchtwanger, Routledge Historical Biographies, 2002.

The Nineteenth Century: Europe, 1789-1914, edited by T C W Banning, Oxford University Press, 2000.

The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, by Michael Howard, 2001.