HIST 2509 A History of Germany

Lecture 12-2

Weltpolitik

Today’s Main Themes

Post-Bismarckian Germany.

His mixed legacy.

From Realpolitik (which worked) to Weltpolitik (much more unstable).

I. The End of the Bismarck Era

Death of Wilhelm I March 9, 1888

The Three Kaisers

from left to right

Frederick Wilhelm (crowned Frederick III)

Wilhelm I (seated)Wilhelm II (in red)

I. The End of the Bismarck Era

a. Succession

-the year of the three emperors 1888

b. Dismissal of Bismarck 1890

“the dropping of the pilot”

From Punch March 1890

Artist: John Tenniel

Another Pilot?

Daniel Bishop. Dropping the Pilot 1945

c. Wilhelm IIthe young whipper-snapper

- “the bride at every wedding, the stag at every hunt, the corpse at every funeral”

- “the most brilliant failure in history”

The Kaiser’s Familyin Sanssouci ParkFriedrich Georg Pape1891

Nice hat!

Photo from 1900 in full dress uniform.

I. The End of the Bismarck Era

d. a mixed legacy

-from the “German dictator whose power is at its height (1882)

-to embittered memoirist in 1890s

-”made Germany great but Germans small”

Bismarck’s Domestic Policies

Constitution of the Second Reich

The Kulturkampf and the May Laws 1872-79

Anti-Socialist Laws 1878-1890

Social Welfare Reforms 1883 onward

Bismarck’s Foreign Policy

Goal: balance of power: isolate France at all costs!

1873 Three Emperor’s League 1875 the War in Sight Crisis 1878 Congress of Berlin 1879 Dual Alliance (later Triple Alliance w/ Italy) 1881 Renewal of Three Emperor’s League 1887 Reinsurance Treaty

The Balance Sheet

Your thoughts? Domestic? Foreign?

The Apotheosis of Bismarck (1890) by Ludwig Rudow

-the anti-Kaiser cult of Bismarck

II. Post Bismarckian Germany

a. political and social division-Erfurt Program 1891, evolutionary socialism

-Tivoli Program 1892, anti-semitism

b. a “new course”?-Chancellor Caprivi 1890-94: liberal reforms

-Chancellor Hohenlohe 1894-1900: rye and iron again

-Sammlungspolitik: coalitions

II. Post Bismarckian Germany

d. lobby groups, interest groups, associations

-the Agrarian League

-the Naval League, Admiral Tirpitz

-the Pan German League: Heinrich Class

“Wenn ich der Kaiser Wär” -- “If I were Kaiser” 1912

III. From Realpolitik to Weltpolitik

a. “Balance of power” to chauvenism

-the Reinsurrance Treaty debacle

-from defensive to offensive treaties

-war increasingly accepted

b. Imperialism and Social Darwinism

The Influence of Sea Power on History 1890

by Alfred Thayer Mahan

III. Realpolitik to Weltpolitik

c. The search for colonies

-”a place in the sun”

III. Realpolitik to Weltpolitik

c. The search for colonies

-1879 Friedrich Fabri, German might

-1884-5 The Berlin Conference

-1895 Max Weber lecture: fears of decline

German Colonies

-some of Marshall Islands

-Kiachow off China coast

-the Cameroons

-Togoland

-German SW Africa (now Namibia)-German East Africa(now Tanzania)

III. Realpolitik to Weltpolitik

d. navalism and Weltpolitik

-Bernhard von Bülow; anti-foreigner sentiment

-Admiral Tirpitz