Weltpolitik

German Policy after Bismarck, 1890-96

Wilhelm II's Chancellors

Following the fall of Bismarck Wilhelm II appointed a succession of Chancellors, none of whom had the vision or experience of Bismarck. Their position was ultimately dependent on the goodwill of Wilhelm.

The first, General Leo von Caprivi (Chancellor 1890 - 1894), was appointed in 1890 to oversee the legalisation of Germany's socialists. He resigned in 1894 when the Kaiser, having made a volte-face in his policy, wanted him to introduce a Subversion Bill directed against socialists! Caprivi's successor, Prince Hohenlohe (Chancellor 1894 - 1900), was an elderly Bavarian aristocrat with a reputation for indecision and procrastination. Thus Hohenlohe became a figure-head and Bülow, his foreign minister, exerted a powerful influence under him. In time Bülow became Chancellor between 1900 — 1909. He was a manipulator and self-seeker who pandered to the emperor. He became unpopular with the Kaiser following the Daily Telegraph affair, and was replaced by Bethmann-Hollweg, who was Chancellor between 1909 — 17. He was a hard-working and well-meaning bureaucrat lacking experience in foreign affairs, and ignorant of military issues.

Caprivi

German foreign policy lacked a clear direction after Bismarck's fall. Caprivi rejected Bismarck's policy in his 'new direction' from 1890-1894. He wanted Britain to join the Triple Alliance. Under Holstein's influence he decided not to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia, which helped to bring about Franco-Russia alliance between 1892 and 94.

Caprivi's adopted a more conciliatory attitude to previously hostile forces within Germany, such as the Centre Party and the Social Democrats. In 1891 with the backing of the Reichstag, he introduced the prohibition on Sunday working and limitations on child labour. He also reformed Germany's tariff policy - in a series a bilateral agreements with Austria-Hungary, Italy, Russia and others he negotiated a reduction of German tariffs on agricultural goods in return for reductions in foreign tariffs on German goods. However, this initiated a reaction. In 1893 the Agrarian League was formed; it grew to a million members and acted as powerful pressure group for the Conservatives. In 1892 - 3 Caprivi also reduced conscription from 3 to 2 years in the Army Bill; thus earning the resentment of the army.

In 1894 Wilhelm II pressed Caprivi to draw up an anti-socialist Subversion Bill; Caprivi refused. Although he did dissuade Wilhelm II from adopting an even more authoritarian approach, he resigned.

Weltpolitik

The aged Hohenlohe held the Chancellorship until 1900, but he was no match for court and government intrigue. Policy was directed more by Bülow, Tirpitz and Posadowsky-Wehner. In 1897 Admiral von Tirpitz was appointed navy secretary; Count Posadowsky-Wehner as interior minister; Bülow as foreign secretary. A period of Weltpolitik was introduced - colonnial annexations, creation of economic spheres of influence, and expansion of the navy. The Kaiser wanted Germany to become a world power. There was a belief in social Darwinism and the unending struggle between nations.

The peasantry and Mittlestand had become radicalised; and many pressure groups formed - especially, the Pan-German League, which was anti-Socialist, racist, anti-Semitic and expansionist. In 1898 Tripitz initiated the creation of the Navy League, with financial backing from key industrialists. Membership rose to 1 million. The Navy Bills of 1898 and 1900 were passed with substantial majorities.

There was renewed political struggle within Germany over the renewal of Caprivi's commercial treaties - the compromise Tariff Law of 1902 restored tariffs to 1892 levels which was well short of the Conservative demands. The budget moved into deficit - as a result of the cost of the navy and the empire. In 1905 Bülow proposed increasing indirect taxes and introducing inheritance tax. The Centre & Social Democrats voted down the former and the Conservatives made the latter insignificant. A native revolt in S.W. Africa in 1904-5 was brutally crushed.

Russia and France

Since Caprivi and Holstein did not renew the Reinsurance Treaty in March 1890 this pushed Russia into alliance with France resulting in the 1892 Franco-Russian military convention, and in 1894 in a full Franco-Russian alliance. Both Russia and France were afraid of Germany. The French started investing substantially in Russian bonds. The French hoped that the connection with Russia would threaten the Germans with war on two fronts. France and Russia moved closer together. France took the initiative and proposed the military agreement. Initially, the Russians rejected the offer, but after a French loan to Russia was blocked in 1891, they responded more favourably. There was a political entente in 1891 and the military agreement followed in 1892. The agreements were mainly directed at Britain, but the two countries agreed mutual support if either was attacked by Germany. However, the Tsar only ratified the agreement in 1894 since he was put off by the Panama Scandal in France of 1892. A sign of France's breakout of political isolation was the visit in October 1893 of a Russian squadron to the French Mediterranean naval base in Toulon. The Tsar also saluted as the Marseillaise was played during a visit of the French fleet to Russia.

Anglo-German relations

The Germans failed to secure an Anglo-German alliance, despite the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty in which the Germans generously exchanged Zanzibar for Heligoland. The British Prime Minister (and Foreign Secretary) Lord Salisbury was opposed to a formal alliance. But the Germans (under the influence of Holstein) expected Britain to seek the alliance. In 1894 British Prime Minister, Lord Rosebury, offered to guarantee Constantinople in return for a German agreement to hold France in check, but the Germans did not respond, expecting Britain to join the Triple Alliance on terms favourable to them.

After Caprivi's fall there was a change in German policy. The Germans sought firstly agreements with Russia. Some commercial treaties that favoured Russian agriculture were concluded, but no political understanding followed. After that, Germany became more aggressive and sought to meddle in a variety of colonial disputes that upset the British.

In 1896 Cecil Rhodes initiated an illegal armed attack on the Transvaal State (the Jameson raid). The British acknowledged the illegality of the attack, but the Germans sought French and Russian support in condemning Britain, hoping in this way to bully Britain into the Alliance. In 1896 the Kaiser also sent a telegram to the Boer President, Kruger (the “Kruger Telegram”), congratulating the Boers on repulsing the raid. Since the Transvaal had in 1884 ceded to Britain control over its foreign policy, this was an interference within the British empire, and the British were aggravated by it. However, German public opinion supported the policy enthusiastically.

The government had a good result in the 1907 'Hottentot' election - campaigning on a nationalistic, anti-socialist, anti-Catholic ticket. Bülow formed a coalition in the Reichstag of Conservatives, Free Conservatives, National Liberals & Left Liberals. The budget deficit remained a problem. Then in 1908 The Kaiser gave an interview to Colonel Stuart Wortley for the Daily Telegraph, which was very damaging to Anglo-German relations. Bülow had cleared the article before publication. The Reichstag called for constitutional restraints to be placed on the Kaiser. Bülow sided with the Reichstag, and got the Kaiser to promise to respect constitutional formalities in the future. The Kaiser responded in 1909 by sacking Bülow when Bülow's budgetary proposals were rejected. This shows how weak the Chancellor's position was and also how little real will there was in the Reichstag for asserting its authority.

Bethmann-Hollweg

1909-1914: Bethmann-Hollweg was chancellor - but he was seriously constrained. He did not have sufficient parliamentary support and was very influenced by the court, the bureaucracy and the army. Wilhelminian society became even more militarised. The elections of 1912 brought huge gains for the Social Democrats and the Left Liberals. In 1913 the army and navy, following the Second Moroccan crisis, called for increased expenditure creating further problems for the budget, although an inheritance tax was accepted this time.

A series of disturbances occurred in 1913 in the Alsatian town of Laben. Army officers overruled the civilian authorities and arrested a number of locals. Bethmann-Hollweg stood by the army and the Kaiser and received a massive vote of no confidence in the Reichstag, but was still able to hold office with the support of the Kaiser.

Weltpolitik and the Fritz Fischer thesis

From 1897 the Germans pursued Weltpolitik, which means World Policy. They sought to expand and they created a large navy. The policy began in 1897 when the Kaiser appointed Bülow as foreign minister and Admiral von Tirpitz as head of the navy office. Opinion is divided over the nature of the Weltpolitik.

During the inter-war years it was generally agreed that the Great Powers had stumbled into war because of the system of international relations and that no one country could be blamed for causing the war. However, in 1961 Fritz Fischer published Germany's Aims in the First World War claiming that Germany did bear the decisive responsibility for the start of the war - it was a bid to achieve German hegemony over Europe. His second book, War of Illusions argued that by the Second Moroccan Crisis Germany was pursuing a policy of fighting a European war in order to achieve world-power status.

Fritz Fischer and his followers interpret Weltpolitik as a master plan involving (i) the navy, (ii) a Central African Empire, (iii) a European economic zone which would be a customs union - the Mitteleuropa scheme - and would also involve a rail link from Berlin to Baghdad. Opponents of Fisher argue that the three ideas were not deliberately linked. The navy was intended for use within the North Sea only. The Germans did want to be a world power. Germany was second to Britain as a trading nation and second to the USA in economic strength, but she had by comparison only a paltry empire. The German dreamt of a colonial empire.

Within the Fischer school, Wehler, Berghahn and Geiss attribute German Weltpolitik to Germany's peculiar socio-political structure. German aggression was a response to elite fears of socialism and democracy. American historian, David Kaiser, argues that the aim of Weltpolitik was not to eliminate Socialist opposition but to isolate it by bringing the 'patriotic' parties closer together (that is, Conservatives, National Liberals and Catholics).

It is also possible to argue that Weltpolitik did not have any specific aims. The policy partly stems from the erratic character of the Kaiser, who also had a love-hate relationship with Britain. The Kaiser had the power to impose a unified approach in foreign policy, but he in fact did not. No decision on whether to support Britain or Russia in international affairs was taken. Chancellor Bülow kept a 'free hand' policy - that is, one that kept Germany out of commitment to other states. In 1897 the Germans gained Kiaochow as a naval base. In 1898 the Germans brought the Carolines, Marshalls and Marianas islands in the Pacific from Spain. The Germans sought to carve up the Portuguese colonies, but Britain prevented this by averting Portuguese bankruptcy. In 1902-3 the Germans and British cooperated on a blockade of Venezuela when the Venezuelans defaulted on their debts. But the British withdrew when German ships bombarded a Venezuelan port. The British were prepared to support the Berlin-Baghdad railway provided key sections were under international control. But anti-German feeling in Britain caused them to withdraw support after 1903. Anti-British sentiment was at a height in Germany during the Boer War (1899-1902). The German Second Navy Law of 1900 provoked anti-German feelings in Britain. The Germans had opportunities to draw closer to Britain, but Bülow thought colonial rivalries would lead Britain into war with Russia or France, or both. He was pleased with the Fashoda incident of 1898 and the Russio-Japanese war of 1905.

In 1892 Britain concluded an alliance with Japan. In 1903 the conflict between Russia and Japan caused Britain (with Lansdowne as foreign secretary) to seek rapprochement with France in order to prevent France and Britain being drawn into a war in the Far East. Hence, in 1904 the Entente Cordiale was signed in which the British acknowledged French dominance in Morocco in return for British rule in Egypt. This was a major reversal for the Weltpolitik. In Britain it was clear from 1904 onwards that the German navy could only be used against Britain.