How Did the German Foreign Policy Change from 1870-90

How did Germany’s foreign policy change from 1870-1890?

In the 30 years following the Franco-Prussian war (July 1870-May 1871), Germany became the strongest industrial power in Europe. By 1900, Germany had overtaken Britain in industrial output. Germany was able to achieve all these successes with the leadership of Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck but after his resignation in 1890, the essential principles of foreign policy underwent a substantial change with Kaiser Wilhelm II on the throne in 1888 and the new German Chancellor, Leo v. Caprivi of 1890. Bismarck viewed Germany as a satiated state, without further territorial ambitions while Kaiser Wilhelm II had a contrary goal of mounting the global vitality of Germany.

Bismarck strongly believed that unification would only come through ‘Blut und Eisen’. In order to gain this strong government that he desired, his plan was to unite all the smaller German speaking states, (eg Saxony, Oldenburg) into one German municipal and to declare Prussia as the principal state as it was the best equipped. In 1864, he conquered Denmark and Prussia got Schleswig. In the 1866 Austro- Prussian War, the Prussians radically trounced the Austrians with their new breech-loading rifle, the ‘needle gun’; which gave the Prussian soldiers four times the firepower of their Austrian counterparts. Most remarkably was the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian war, where the Germans gained their ultimate territory of Alcase-Lorraine; leading to the destabilization of the European balance of power (established in 1815 by the congress of Vienna). Germany’s unification had now become one of the most important causes of WWI (1914-18).

Having embraced the policy of ‘Realpolitick’, Bismarck believed that it was the right of a country to pursue its own advantages by any means, including war. The ability to maintain a complex balance of power in Europe in order to avoid wars was one of Bismarck’s major aims. This included isolating France from having military treaties with other states, which would ‘encircle’ Germany and force it into a war on two fronts. An alliance between France and Russia was a major situation that the German’s tried to eradicate possibilities of. Therefore, Bismarck conducted a non-aggression treaty with Russia; the Reinsurance treaty (June 18, 1887) and persisted on his aim to keep France isolated.

Conflicts between the great powers of Europe and Germany was to be avoided as Bismarck foresaw it, although Germany’s strength amplified economically and politically, it was not Bismarck’s goal to steer Germany into isolation as an ominous power of Europe as France had. Bismarck’s solution was to devise a complex system of alliances; called the “ Bismarchian system of alliances” to maintain peace throughout Europe, making it mutually beneficial to all the great powers and therefore protect his newly unified

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