12 Ge bi (Fb): German Imperialism – From Bismarck’s “saturated Empire“ to William II’s “New Course“
GROUP A:
Revision – Bismarck’s Foreign and Colonial Policy
TARGET TASK:
 With the help of S1-3, revise what you’ve learned about Bismarck’s aims and
motivation with regard to imperial and foreign policy. Make sure to include the
respective key terms which are relevant for this topic!
 Be prepared to shortly present and discuss your results in class!
S1:
“Die Südsee ist das Mittelmeer der Zukunft“
This cartoon from Kladderadatsch from July 13, 1884 must be seen against the backdrop of
Bismarck’s imperial policy. The tiny flag which one can see in Southwest Africa marks Angra
Pequence, a German protectorate since the establishment of a German trading post there in
April 1884.
Embedded text:
“Mir kann es ganz
recht sein, wenn die anderen dort unten
Beschäftigung finden. Man hat dann endlich
Ruhe hier oben.“
Language support
etw. ist jdm. recht sth. is all right with sb. •
Beschäftigung finden to be occupied •
seine Ruhe haben to have some peace and
quiet • Rauchwolke cloud of smoke
S2:
Bismarck on “Pragmatic” Colonisation (26 June 1884)
[…] We were first induced, owing to the enterprise of the Hanseatic people –
beginning with land purchases and leading to requests for imperial protection
– to consider whether we could promise protection to the extent desired. I
have not abandoned my former aversion to colonies – I will not say colonies
after the system mostly adopted last century, the French system, as it might
now be called – but colonies which make a strip of land their foundation, and
then seek to draw emigrants, appoint officials, and establish garrisons. This
mode of colonization may be good for other countries, but it is not
practicable for us. […]
A very different question is whether it is expedient, and whether it is the expedient useful
duty of the German Empire [Reich], to grant imperial protection and a certain
12 Ge bi (Fb): German Imperialism – From Bismarck’s “saturated Empire“ to William II’s “New Course“
amount of support in their colonial endeavors to those of its subjects who
devote themselves to such undertakings relying upon the protection of the
Empire, in order that security may be ensured in foreign lands to the
communities which grow naturally out of the superfluous strength of the
German body politic. This question I answer affirmatively: I do so
reservedly from the standpoint of expediency – because I cannot predict what
will come of it – but I do so unconditionally from the standpoint of the state’s
duty. […]
Our intention is not to establish provinces but rather to protect commercial
enterprises. We will, however, use the most advanced methods to ensure
their free development and to protect them against attacks from their
immediate neighbors and from oppression and damage wrought by other
European powers. This even includes those enterprises that acquire
sovereignty, a commercial sovereignty that ultimately means that the
enterprise remains in a dependent relationship with the German Empire and
stays under its patronage. Apart from this, we also hope that the tree will
thrive overall through the activities of the gardeners who planted it. And if it
fails to do so, then the plant is a failure, but the damage will have less of an
impact on the Empire – since the costs we demand are not significant – than
on the entrepreneurs who have adopted the wrong approach for their
projects. Herein lies the difference: In the system that I called the French one,
the national government always wants to assess whether each enterprise is
appropriate and warrants the prospect of success; in our system, on the
other hand, we leave the choice to trade interests, to the private person, and if
we see that the tree puts down roots, grows, and thrives, and then calls on the
Empire for protection, we will stand by it, and I fail to see how we can
lawfully deny it that assistance.
affirmative showing
support for sth.
entrepreneur
sb. who uses money
to start businesses
and to make business
deals
to warrant to justify
[http://germanhistorydocs.ghidc.org/pdf/eng/622_Bismarck%20Pragmatic%20Colonization_202_JNR.pdf; 5/19/11]
S3 Bismarck’s System of Alliances
Cartoon by an unknown
artist, published in the
1880s and depicting
Bismarck’s system of
alliances
12 Ge bi (Fb): German Imperialism – From Bismarck’s “saturated Empire“ to William II’s “New Course“
GROUP B:
William II and the “New Course”
TARGET TASK:
 With the help of S1-3, reconstruct what William II’s “New Course” consisted of
and which role the German army was supposed to play in it, especially in
comparison with Bismarck’s way of handling foreign and colonial policy. Find
an appropriate definition for ‘German Navy League’ as well.
 Be prepared to shortly present and discuss your results in class!
S1
William II: Speech to the North German Regatta Association (1901)
In spite of the fact that we have no such fleet as we should have, we have
conquered for ourselves a place in the sun. It will now be my task to see to
it that this place in the sun shall remain our undisputed possession, in order
that the sun's rays may fall fruitfully upon our activity and trade in foreign
parts, that our industry and agriculture may develop within the state and our
sailing sports upon the water, for our future lies upon the water. The more
Germans go out upon the waters, whether it be in races or regattas, whether it
be in journeys across the ocean, or in the service of the battle flag, so much
the better it will be for us.
For when the German has once learned to direct his glance upon what is petty unimportant
distant and great, the pettiness which surrounds him in daily life on all
sides will disappear. Whoever wishes to have this larger and freer outlook
can find no better place than one of the Hanseatic cities....we are now making
efforts to do what, in the old time, the Hanseatic cities could not accomplish,
because they lacked the vivifying and protecting power of the empire. May it
be the function of my Hansa during many years of peace to protect and
advance commerce and trade!
As head of the Empire I therefore rejoice over every citizen, whether from to rejoice to feel very
Hamburg, Bremen, or Lübeck, who goes forth with this large outlook and happy about sth.
seeks new points where we can drive in the nail on which to hang our armor.
Therefore, I believe that I express the feeling of all your hearts when I
recognize gratefully that the director of this company who has placed at our
disposal the wonderful ship which bears my daughter's name [Victoria Luise]
has gone forth as a courageous servant of the Hansa, in order to make for us
friendly conquests whose fruits will be gathered by our descendants!
(C. Gauss, The German Kaiser as Shown in His Public Utterances (New York: Charles
Scribner's
Sons,
1915),
pp.
181-183.)
[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1901kaiser.html; 5/25/11]
12 Ge bi (Fb): German Imperialism – From Bismarck’s “saturated Empire“ to William II’s “New Course“
S2
The German Navy League
German Navy League postcard from 1902
S3
The birth of the German Navy
The most spectacular and damaging manifestation of Germany’s ambitions
was the growth of its naval power. The development of a mighty battle fleet,
like Weltpolitik itself, served several purposes. For many, like its founder
Admiral von Tirpitz, it was an assertion of the nation’s new status. ‘The
fleet’, he declared, ‘is necessary to show that Germany is as well born as
Britain.’ In so saying, he betrayed the essential feature of naval development.
It was aimed at, and bound to offend, Great Britain. It was the one major
European power with whom Germany had no potential continental argument,
and whose friendship might have offset the Franco-Russian alliance.
Equally, the decision to develop the fleet provided a huge outlet for German
heavy industry. It was no coincidence that so great an industrialist as Alfred
Krupp was a leading member and backer of the Naval League
(Flottenverein), founded in 1898. To the politically-minded middle classes,
the fleet represented a national weapon relatively free from the influence of
the Prussian Junkers.
The first Naval Bill, of March 1898, envisaged an eventual force of the 19
battleships, 12 heavy cruisers and 30 light cruisers. The launching of the
revolutionary British battleship ‘HMS Dreadnought’ (February 1906), had a
double impact upon the naval question. By rendering obsolete all existing
battleships, it opened up the real possibility that a German fleet could
compete with its British counterpart. At the same time, it necessitated an
urgent rebuilding of the German fleet. In retrospect, further German bills in
1906, 1907 and 1908 constituted a double misfortune for the German state.
They resulted in a tremendous financial undertaking, and signaled the
beginning of a naval arms race between Britain and Germany. It is in these
respect that we may accept the verdict of historians Ian Porter and Ian
Armour, in Imperial Germany 1890-1918 (1991), that ‘the whole naval
programme was an expensive failure’.
(T. Morris, D. Murphy: Europe 1870-1991, London 2004, p.112-113.)
to offset to
counterbalance
obsolete no longer in
use
naval arms race
Flottenwettrüsten
verdict opinion
12 Ge bi (Fb): German Imperialism – From Bismarck’s “saturated Empire“ to William II’s “New Course“
GROUP C:
William II and “Weltpolitik” (world policy)
TARGET TASK:
 With the help of S1-3, reconstruct what William II’s Weltpolitik (world policy)
consisted of and which impact it had on the (European) system of alliances.
Also come up with an appropriate definition of Weltpolitik.
 Be prepared to shortly present and discuss your results in class!
S1:
Statutes of the Pan-German League
The Pan-German League (Alldeutscher Verband) was an aggressive and radical interest
group in the Second Empire that supported an expansionist foreign and colonial policy for
Germany, as formulated in their statutes from 1903.
The Pan-German League seeks to invigorate the German-national
attitude, especially to awaken and cultivate the awareness that all parts of
the German people belong together racially and culturally. This task
entails that the Pan-German League advocates:
1. the preservation of the German ethnicity [Volkstum] in Europe and
overseas, and support for the same in threatened areas;
to invigorate to make
sth. stronger and more
effective
to entail to be the result
of sth.
2. the resolution of questions regarding education, upbringing, and
schooling in keeping with the German ethnicity;
3. the fight against all forces that impede our national development;
to impede to hold back
4. an active policy of pursuing German interests throughout the world,
especially a continuation of the German colonial movement to the point
where it produces practical results.
[http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=774; 5/29/11]
S2:
An Italian view of Germany joining the race for colonies
Italian cartoon by an unknown artist (1915)
12 Ge bi (Fb): German Imperialism – From Bismarck’s “saturated Empire“ to William II’s “New Course“
S3
William Carr: The Foreign Policy of Imperial Germany 1890-1914
[D]espite the young emperor’s confident assertion that the course remained
the same, the dropping of the pilot was followed by an important
reorientation of policy, the so-called New Course, which lasted for the next
four years.
The first sign that German policy was changing was Caprivi’s refusal to
renew the Reinsurance Treaty. Bismarck accused his successors of criminal
stupidity for allowing the treaty to lapse and so making a Franco-Russian
understanding certain. [...]
Germany did not think the course had altered, but Russia did. She was
annoyed by the growing intimacy between Austria and Germany; and she
was positively alarmed by the attempts William II was making to ingratiate
himself with Britain, Russia’s greatest enemy. [...] Fear of isolation drove her
into the arms of France. In August 1891 France and Russia negotiated an
entente [...]. The significance of this momentous change in the balance of
power was not immediately apparent. For by 1894 the New Course was over.
Relations with Britain were clouded by colonial disputes, whilst at home the
emperor was worried by the growth of socialism and quickly repented of his
anti-Russian attitude. [...] After 1894 Germany no longer stood four-square
behind Austria-Hungary; William warned her bluntly that Germany would
not fight to keep Russia out of Constantinople. [...]
A momentous change occurred in German policy in the closing years of the
nineteenth century. She began to pursue Weltpolitik, looking beyond the
narrow confines of Europe to a wider world overseas in Africa and in the Far
East. [...] Germany’s desire to be a World Power as well as the dominant
power in Europe had decisive effects on her policy. Her restless search for
colonial possessions and more especially her naval policy led to serious
disagreements with Britain. At the same time German penetration of the Near
East caused some anxiety in St. Petersburg. It is true that no disagreement
occurred between Russia and Germany on this account, and on the eve of the
First World War even the colonial rivalry between Britain and Germany was
dying away. But when the Triple Entente between Britain, France and Russia
came into being in 1907, these side effects of Weltpolitik gave the members
some grounds for their suspicion of Germany; France because she had never
reconciled herself to German domination of Europe; Russia because she did
not wish to see Turkey passing under German control when her own
dependence on the Straits as a vital economic artery was increasing;
Britain because she regarded the German navy as a challenge to her maritime
supremacy, and all three because they deeply resented Germany’s diplomatic
methods.
(William Carr: A History of Germany 1815-1990. London (Hodder Education) 1991,
pp.187-190.)
to ingratiate oneself
with sb. to try hard to
please or impress sb.
entente a friendly
agreement (not as
strong and binding as
an alliance)
four-square firm and
definitely
Straits a narrow area
of water that joins two
larger areas of water,
here: the Dardanelles
in north-western
Turkey, connecting the
Aegean Sea to the
Sea of Marmara