HIST 2509 A History of Germany

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HIST 2509 A History of Germany

• Lecture 12-2
• Weltpolitik

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Todays Main Themes

• Post-Bismarckian Germany.
• His mixed legacy.
• From Realpolitik (which worked) to Weltpolitik
  (much more unstable).

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I. The End of the Bismarck Era

• Death of Wilhelm I March 9, 1888

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The Three Kaisers from left to right Frederick
Wilhelm (crowned Frederick III) Wilhelm I
(seated) Wilhelm II (in red)
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I. The End of the Bismarck Era

• Succession
• -the year of the three emperors 1888
• Dismissal of Bismarck 1890
• the dropping of the pilot
• From Punch March 1890
• Artist John Tenniel

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Daniel Bishop. Dropping the Pilot 1945
Another Pilot?
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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

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The Kaisers Family in Sanssouci Park Friedrich
Georg Pape1891
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Nice hat!
Photo from 1900 in full dress uniform.
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I. The End of the Bismarck Era

• 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

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Bismarcks 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

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Bismarcks Foreign Policy

• Goal balance of power isolate France at all
  costs!
• 1873 Three Emperors League
• 1875 the War in Sight Crisis
• 1878 Congress of Berlin
• 1879 Dual Alliance (later Triple Alliance w/
  Italy)
• 1881 Renewal of Three Emperors League
• 1887 Reinsurance Treaty

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The Balance Sheet

• Your thoughts? Domestic? Foreign?

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The Apotheosis of Bismarck (1890) by Ludwig
Rudow -the anti-Kaiser cult of Bismarck
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II. Post Bismarckian Germany

• a. political and social division
• -Erfurt Program 1891, evolutionary socialism
• -Tivoli Program 1892, anti-semitism
• a new course?
• -Chancellor Caprivi 1890-94 liberal reforms
• -Chancellor Hohenlohe 1894-1900 rye and iron
  again
• -Sammlungspolitik coalitions

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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

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III. From Realpolitik to Weltpolitik

• 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

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III. Realpolitik to Weltpolitik

• The search for colonies
• -a place in the sun

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III. Realpolitik to Weltpolitik

• The search for colonies
• -1879 Friedrich Fabri, German might
• -1884-5 The Berlin Conference
• -1895 Max Weber lecture fears of decline

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German Colonies -some of Marshall
Islands -Kiachow off China coast -the
Cameroons -Togoland -German SW Africa (now
Namibia) -German East Africa (now Tanzania)
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III. Realpolitik to Weltpolitik

• d. navalism and Weltpolitik
• -Bernhard von Bülow anti-foreigner sentiment
• -Admiral Tirpitz