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
Daniel Bishop.
Dropping the Pilot
1945
Another Pilot?
c. Wilhelm II
the 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 Family
in Sanssouci Park
Friedrich 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