BISMARCK QUEST FOR A NEW “CONCERT OF EUROPE”
1873: “Three Emperors’ League” for Germany, Austria, &
Russia
1878: Congress of Berlin settles Balkan affairs
1879: Austro-German Dual Alliance
1882: Triple Alliance includes Italy
1884: Berlin Congo Conference
1887: Bismarck’s Reinsurance Treaty with Russia
1890: Kaiser Wilhelm II allows the Reinsurance Treat to
lapse
1892-94: Franco-Russian Alliance negotiated on the
initiative of the generals
Marshal MacMahon,
monarchist President of the
Republic (1873-1879)
Leon Gambetta, architect of
republican election victories in
1877/78; he persuaded
MacMahon to resign….
Monet,
“La rue Montorgueil,
June 30, 1878.”
The Paris World’s Fair of
1878 drew 6 million
visitors and ended with a
celebration of
“Peace and Labor”
As Imperial Chancellor, Bismarck secured laws against
domestic “Enemies of the Reich,” including socialist politicians
and Catholic bishops (cartoon from 1874)
After its defeat by
Prussia,
Austria created
parliamentary
government in 1867,
with Home Rule for
Hungary,
but the parliaments in
Vienna and Budapest
were divided on ethnic,
religious, and class
lines.
THE MULTINATIONAL DUAL
MONARCHY:
Proportion of
Germans in
Austria: 33%.
Proportion of
Magyars in
Hungary: 54%.
Slavic subjects
gained no political
rights under the
Ausgleich of 1867
The Second Pan-Slav Congress, Moscow, 1867,
(the Czech Palacky now looks to Russia for leadership)
Popular uprisings against the Turks began in Bosnia in
1875, spread to Serbia, & climaxed in Bulgaria in April 1876
Between 7,000
and 15,000
Bulgarians were
killed by the
Turks in May
1876:
“The Bulgarian
Martyresses”
(Russia, 1877)
In the British House of Commons, the Liberal William
Gladstone attacked Conservative Prime Minister Disraeli for
complicity with the “Bulgarian Horrors.”.
After agreeing that Austria could occupy Bosnia,
Russia advanced into Bulgaria in 1877
Anton von Werner, “The Congress of Berlin, June-July 1878”
De Launay-Gorchakov-Disraeli-Andrássy-BismarckShuvalov-Mehmed Ali Pasha (see Norman Rich, pp. 26-8)
The Treaty of Berlin (1878) recognized Serbia & Rumania as
sovereign and divided Bulgaria (until 1886)
THE DUAL ALLIANCE OF OCT. 1879 (Austria+Germany)
ART. 1: “Should, contrary to their hope, and against the loyal
desire of the two High Contracting Parties, one of the two
Empires be attacked by Russia, the High Contracting Parties are
bound to come to the assistance one of the other with the
whole war strength of their Empires, and accordingly only to
conclude peace together and upon mutual agreement.”
ART. 2: “Should one of the High Contracting Parties be
attacked by another Power, the other High Contracting Party
binds itself hereby, not only not to support the aggressor
against its high Ally, but to observe at least a benevolent
neutral attitude towards its fellow Contracting Party.”
ART. 3: This treaty was to be kept secret, but if Russia’s
armaments proved menacing, “the two High Contracting Parties
would consider it their loyal obligation to let the Emperor
Alexander know, at least confidentially, that they must consider
an attack on either of them as directed against both.”
French marines
hoist the tricolor at
Tunis,
May 1881,
after Bey
Muhammed-esSadok accepted
French “protection”.
British troops in Egypt establish a protectorate in 1882
“The Partition of
the Dark
Continent”
(Berlin cartoon,
June 1884)
BUT BISMARCK WAS INTERESTED MAINLY IN EUROPE:
TRIPLE ALLIANCE OF MAY 1882 (Germany-Austria-Italy)
ART. 2: “In case Italy, without direct provocation on her part,
should be attacked by France, the two other Contracting Parties
shall be bound to lend assistance with all their forces. The
same obligation shall devolve upon Italy in case of any
aggression …by France against Germany.”
ART. 3: “If one, or two, of the High Contracting Parties, without
direct provocation on their part, should be attacked by two or
more Great Powers non-signatory to the present Treaty, the
casus foederis will arise simultaneously for all the High
Contracting Parties.”
ART. 4: “In case a Great Power non-signatory to the present
Treaty should threaten the security of one of the High
Contracting Parties, and the threatened Party should find itself
forced to make war against it, the two others bind themselves
to observe towards their Ally a benevolent neutrality.”
ART. 6: The existence & contents of this treaty will be secret.
“The Triple
Alliance,”
Kladderadatsch,
1883:
France & Russia
are left out in
the cold
GERMAN-RUSSIAN REINSURANCE TREATY, JUNE 1887:
Did its terms conflict with those of the Dual Alliance?
ARTICLE 1: “In case one of the High Contracting Parties should
find itself at war with a third Great Power, the other would
maintain a benevolent neutrality towards it, and would devote
its efforts to the localization of the conflict. This provision would
not apply to a war against Austria or France in case this war
should result from an attack directed against one of these two
latter Powers by one of the High Contracting Parties.”
ART. 2: “Germany recognizes the rights historically acquired by
Russia in the Balkan Peninsula, and particularly the legitimacy
of her preponderant …influence in Bulgaria and Eastern
Rumelia. The two courts engage to admit no modification of
the territorial status quo of the said peninsula without a
previous agreement between them.”
ART. 3: The Bosporus & Dardanelles must be closed in wartime
ART. 5: The existence & contents of this treaty will be secret
THE DUAL ALLIANCE FORCED GERMAN GENERAL
ALBERT von SCHLIEFFEN TO PLAN FOR A 2-FRONT WAR
Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888-1918)
The Pilot Leaves the Ship,
Punch, March 1890
“Chancellors Come in
Three Sizes,”
i.e., Bismarck, Caprivi,
& Hohenlohe,
Lustige Blätter,
January 1895.
Friedrich von Holstein,
the top official at the Foreign
Office from 1890 to 1906,
and Count Albert von Schlieffen,
army chief of staff, 1891-1906
Tsar Alexander III
(born 1845, reigned
1881-1894)
found that his
diplomats urged
friendship with
Germany, but his
generals, an alliance
with France
ARCHITECTS OF THE FRANCO-RUSSIAN ALLIANCE
General Raoul de Boisdeffre,
General Nikolai Obruchev,
Deputy Chief of Staff,
Army Chief of Staff, 1881-97
1890-94, then Chief
(who had a French wife)
Franco-Russian Military Convention of August 1892
If France is attacked by Germany or by Italy supported by Germany,
Russia will employ all its available forces to attack Germany. If Russia is
attacked by Germany or by Austria supported by Germany, France will
employ all its available forces to combat Germany.
In case the forces of the Triple Alliance or of one of its members begin to
mobilize, France and Russia will immediately and simultaneously mobilize
all of their forces and deploy them as close to their borders as possible,
as soon as the enemy mobilization is announced….
The forces available for deployment against Germany will amount to
1,300,000 men on the part of France, and 700-800,000 men on the part
of Russia. These forces are dedicated to combating Germany
simultaneously from the East and West in the most effective manner
possible.
The military general staffs of the two countries will deliberate together to
prepare and execute the measures outlined above….
France and Russia will not conclude a separate peace.
This convention will have the same duration as the Triple Alliance.
Official Visit by Tsar Nicholas II to France in 1901