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The Bismarckian System of Alliances
Introduction and contextualization
Since the defeat of the French Empire led by Napoleon Bonaparte, with the consequent "Congress of Vienna", was created the "German Confederation", successor of the Holy Roman Empire, which Napoleon I had dissolved. This new confederation, composed of 39 states, the powers were in Prussia and Austria-Hungary. This confederation, established in 1815, with a cluster of German states on a kind of political unity under the leadership of Austria. However, the league lasted only a few decades, until the wave of liberal revolutions of 1848 that spread to the Germanic States, with the "Revolution March", as the riots started and spread by the Germany that same month. With the political instability experienced in the Germanic states, the Confederation was dissolved, and due to popular pressure for a unified state, a constitution was created.
The pressures of popular disturbances conducted in March by the population, led many German princes to replace their conservative governments by members of more liberal congregations, called "March Governments", among which was where the King Prussia, Frederick William was forced to create a constitution, to calm the rebels. The Germanic States, according to press for unification, formed the "Assembly of Frankfurt", composed of elected members in the German Confederation. The only major problem on the table since the Assembly would be the ideal solution for the single state Germanic, as part of the Members supported the creation of a "Little Germany", led by Prussia and comprising all the German states with the exception of Austria -Hungary, others defended a "Greater Germany", with the inclusion of Austria, under the leadership of this. Within this same group, there were those that included non-German territories of Austria also in Germany, while others were opposed to the measure. In the end, the rejection of the Emperor of Austria to join the Empire to split into a united Germany led inevitably to the choice of the solution of Little Germany. However the rejection of the Prussian king, Frederick William, to be head of state with a liberal constitution, led to the end of the Assembly of Frankfurt, be achieved without forming a united country under a strong leadership and prestige.
In 1861, rises to power in Prussia William I, with the death of his father Frederick William. Wilhelm I wanted double the size of the Prussian army, but the Prussian parliament refused to finance it. Seeing this refusal as an affront to their power and authority, the King asked the Junkers (Prussian Noble, who led and formed the majority of patents in high Prussian army, defenders of the monarchy and the traditional military) to help form a bigger army. Following this, Wilhelm I also appoints Otto von Bismarck, a Junker himself, as Prime Minister. The reluctance of parliament to approve the increase in the size of the army takes Bismarck, with the consent of William I, to declare that William I would govern without parliamentary consent and without any budget controlled by the parliament. This was a clear violation of the Prussian constitution. Since then, Bismarck planned the unification of German states under the leadership of Prussia, not with diplomacy, peace and statements made but the "iron and fire."
Bismarck then turned its attention to the question of Schleswig and Holstein, two ethnically German principalities ruled by the King of Denmark. The government of Denmark planned to attach the two principalities as parts of the Danish nation, which led the Prussian King to convince the Austrian emperor to occupy the region together to prevent a possible annexation. The Austrian monarch, afraid of a solitary victory of Prussia and the consequent increase in the power of it, led to accept the invitation. There followed a brief war where the two German states took precedence over the Danish kingdom and no other foreign power acted as a heavy. The two principalities were divided between two winners.
However, Bismarck had not yet finished, and how to resolve the differences between the new status of the principalities - Bismarck wanted to maintain attach the two main or at least retain control over the governments of these Prussian territories, while Austria would join the two principalities in German Confederation, which had been restored with the aim of the Assembly of Frankfurt. The conflict increased of proportions and Austria declared war on Prussia, thus beginning the War of the Seven Weeks, which was won by Prussia after a victory over Austria at the battle of Königgrätz and beyond as a result of the annexation of the two principalities of Prussia, this country created the "Confederation of North Germany" composed of all states of northern Germany with a single parliament on Prussian leadership, although in fact be a new state, was a further extension of Prussia to the rest of Germany, then that a new state. Napoleon III of France had encouraged the Austro-Prussian conflict in the hope that his two opponents wear each other in the hope that France would expand its territory with little resistance to the German Rhine basin, a region rich in substantial resources and industrialized. Napoleon did not, however, think that the war would last only seven weeks, and thought that Austria win, which would put Prussia in its place and removed a growing threat to French interests. Still, as payment for the neutral French, Napoleon wanted compensation with the broad areas of the Rhine, Luxembourg and Belgium, though Berlin has done away with such plans (Although the crisis in Luxembourg had almost led to war between the two countries and ultimately led to the independence of that territory).
German unification was almost a reality, however it was known that France definitely resist any attempt to unify the German states. Not only France, but most of the powers of Europe would not see with good eyes forced unification of Germany.
It was therefore essential in the eyes of Bismarck that the only way to Germany would be unified to defeat France in a defensive war. This scenario would lead to the activation of defense treaties between the German and all German powers and to prevent the international pressure on Prussia.
As such, in 1870, Bismarck encouraged the Prince Leopold, Prussian and a relative of William I to become the candidate for the throne of Spain. Bismarck as expected, France was angry with such progress, and demanded a retraction of Leopold as a candidate for the throne. Wilhelm I agreed and withdrew support to Leopold, but that was not enough for France. The French government demanded that William promised that the application would never be made again and that the formal apology ask Prussia, under the threat of war. Wilhelm refused to make promises and dismissed the ambassador of a friendly way despite the threat of war, however Bismarck has a document to the press, using the meeting between the ambassador and the King, having however, edited the conversation so that the King German Ambassador had dismissed in an insulting way. This caused anger in French society, which led the French press to become fiercely anti-Prussian, demanding that the government to give a lesson to Prussia. Napoleon had just beaten out of his Mexican debacle (Napoleon, with Austrian and Spanish aid had imposed to Mexico a European emperor, who was eventually executed), and was advised that another diplomatic setback could lead to a revolution. On the other hand, Napoleon knew that a defeat against the Prussian lead to his fall from power. Having ensured that the army was able to fight the Prussian, Napoleon declared war on Prussia. The declaration of war was a godsend for Bismarck, he was almost fired after having pressed the Prince Leopold, the crisis of succession in Spain. The Prussian army mobilized quickly and in large numbers. The French in turn had several problems of mobilization and ultimately Prussian army defeated the French army.
On 18 January, 1871, after having defeated the French armies at Sedan and Metz, and Paris with the French capital under siege, William I is declared Emperor (Caesar / Kaiser) of Germany in Versailles. Bismarck was appointed the first Chancellor of the new Imperial country.
Creation and maintenance of the Bismarckian system of alliances
After the unification of Germany in 1871, Bismarck concentrated most of his time as Chancellor, to neutralize all the enemies that could counter the new German supremacy in Central Europe. Had to be avoided at all costs, conflicts between major powers and Germany, because although Germany could hypothetically increase its economic and political power through such wars, Bismarck didn't want to leadto isolationism Germany to isolationism, like he wanted to do with France. Bismarck's solution to this problem was to build a complex system of alliances to maintain peace in Europe and be amicable to all major powers while at the same time protect the newly born Germany while it is strengthened. Bismarck did, as any good chess player, he would do after their political movements provide all possible scenarios and remain a step ahead of your enemies.
Bismarck knew that the great powers intervene quickly if the new Germany became aggressive, so Bismarck decided to make the role of "honest broker" of peace alliances well their fears. This system of alliances reflect the character of its creator: deceptive, secretly becoming friends with almost all European powers, while betraying their confidence when they were needed to German interests. This system features three things: the creation of a peaceful German appearance, the formation of defensive alliances, and the isolation of adversaries, being quite successful until the resignation of Bismarck in 1890.
Bismarck pointed to France as the biggest enemy to his new empire, because they were completely hostile after the Franco-Prussian War and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, and it is therefore imperative to internationally isolate France. It was from this premise that Bismarck made most of its alliances, fearing a "Coalition Nightmare" (Franco-Russian) that could be in serious danger for the German Empire in case of war. The intentions of Bismarck seemed simple at the beginning, to isolate France, maintain a peaceful coexistence with the other two conservative Empires (Austria and Russia) and to preserve peace while its system of alliances grew. These were the main objectives of the foreign policy of Bismarck during 1871-94 and would be a constant pursuit of balance between different interests.
The maintenance of friendly relations with all European powers was crucial to the system of alliances of Bismarck run as planned. Bismarck said all of Europe that Germany was not an aggressive power when he said that Germany and that Germany was happy with its borders and had no more territorial ambitions in Europe.
First, and to isolate France, the enemy of the newly defeated Germany, Bismarck established the League of Three Emperors "(Dreikaiserbund), together with Austria and Russia. Dedicated to preserving the status quo and fight against the revolutionary forces (like the Concert of Europe had done).
The first major impact of the policy of Bismarck was in 1878 at the Congress of Berlin. Russia had recently won major concessions from Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. In order to ensure access to Russia to the Mediterranean, the Russians tried to create a Greater Bulgaria, pro-Russian, but caused fears in the British and Austrians, who were opposed to the expansion of Russian influence. Britain and Austria felt that the Russian attempts to establish in Bulgaria were reason to declare war. Bismarck, however felt that this war could swallow Germany and disrupt the newly created country, and saw this as a great opportunity to establish itself as a mediator of peace between Russians, Austrians and British at the Congress of Berlin. The main objectives of Bismarck were three: allay the fears Austro-British and appear as an impartial international mediator, preventing the Russians gain much influence, and create a climate of closeness between Austrians and Germans. In all these objectives, Bismarck was successful, the peace between the powers was achieved and the German Empire gained legitimacy as a peaceful nation, while the interests Russians and Austrians were locked pleased.
Bismarck also understand that to maintain the status quo could not violate the fundamental principles of British diplomacy, which were maintaining the largest naval force, remain the major European colonial power and to prevent the fall of Belgium in the hands of another power in addition to maintaining the field in the Suez Canal and trade with the East. Bismarck never ceased to oversee that the minors objectives, as the acquisition of colonies and the construction of a naval force, would interfere put at risk its main objective, which was the status quo.
These new terms dictated in the pro-Austrian Congress of Berlin under the German mediation, led to the division between Germans and Austrians being minimized, isolated the Russians made that led to a military alliance between the Germans and the Austrians (A "Dual Alliance", against a possible Russian aggression). However, Russia felt wronged with Germany after the Congress, and Bismarck tried to restore the League of Three Emperors, but the conflicting interests of Austria and Russia in the Balkans led the League to be broken for the second and last time. However, Bismarck acted quickly, and this is where the system of alliances reached the greatest complexity, a complex diplomatic maneuver, despite the resolution of the Congress of Berlin in favor of Austria, and the Dual Alliance in theory against Russia, Bismarck Russia managed to sign the "Treaty of Reinsurance," where Russia and Germany agreed to remain neutral in case of either being attacked by a third party. It was secret and was only signed with Germany (and clearly contradictory to its alliance with Austria), and revealing the need to Bismarck to keep Russia on their side, while solving the problem of conflict between Austria and Russia since they both were no longer allies. And all the alliances were defensive, Bismarck was seen as a promoter of peace.
Bismarck knew the danger he was in France, and a possible alliance between France and a European power would bring. The treaty made after the Franco-Prussian war was composed to remember that France had a new hierarchy in Europe. For its part, the French were completely obsessed by "Revanche," a revenge for the loss of its territory and pride. Bismarck was very alarmed when the French recently remade quickly their defeated army and Bismarck took measures to stop them from turning against Germany. He tried to keep Europe to the negative feelings that France was a dangerous and completely revolutionary power. Fortunately for him, France did set a very democratic system, which would that scare him prospectuses royalist allies with more conservative regimes. Moreover, with the double feature of Bismarck, that supported France in its colonial adventures (German Bankers financed projects in the French colonies, often), knowing that the place in competition with Great Britain, leaving room for Germany to manuever in Europe without the opposition of both countries. Bismarck even more isolated the French to take a dispute between the Italians and the French on Tunisia, to bring Italy to its Dual Alliance with Austria. Thus, if France declare war, would have to fight Italy and Russia are by definition also tried to attack, would have to hit not only with Germany and with Austria. These actions of the German Chancellor were peaceful in theory, as they were all defensive alliances. In addition, Bismarck maintained good relations with Britain, so that it did not object to German interests. So France was completely isolated and trapped in the network of alliances that Bismarck had mounted, while Germany was the center of that network, friendly to all. That was the main objective of Bismarck: Keep a pacifist appearance while he isolated his enemies. Not only from his own allies, but also from his own adversaries as well, while everyone befriended him. It was a system of great complexity. Bismarck seemed to dominate by then the system of alliances, but would Bismarck be able to always juggle the interests of all the great powers, always in conflict with each other or with time would one of the balls innevitably fall?
Dismissal of Bismarck, Foreign Policy of William II and consequences
Bismarck understood that Germany should remain an empire based mainly in Europe, whose interest should be the most peace, as had been since its creation in Versailles. The Emperor William I died in 1888 and William II succeeded him on the throne. His was a vision of how Germany should act in the world was completely different from Bismarck, which William II had a plan entitled to make Germany the largest superpower in the world with a great and strong empire. Bismarck saw the aspirations of the new monarch, particularly its intention to build a naval fleet to the equivalent of Great Britain as a serious risk to security and peace of Germany that Bismarck had both sought to maintain. The clash of ideas and values between Bismarck and the young William II have made the only hope that Bismarck had to keep the peace and alliances that were built, was the threat to submit his resignation, because without Bismarck, his system alliances would fall rapidly. William II was confident in its ability to maintain the Germanic power, accepted the threat of resignation of Bismarck and, without friends of influence that could intercede with the young monarch, did in fact hand his resignation in 1890.
Under the direction of William II, German foreign policy became more aggressive, keeping however the same general objectives of the policy of Bismarck (isolation of France, maintenance of the German allies). While Bismarck and William II, in turn, led the German foreign policy, the greater goal of both was probably the prevention of the "Coalition Nightmare", but both tried to completely different ways. Under Bismarck, Germany had prevented such an alliance to isolate France internationally through various alliances, as William II took an aggressive stance but intervening in crises and disputes using the power and advantage to separate German allies and breaking friendships, trying to separate the "Entente Cordial" using the crisis in Morocco between Spain and France. Attempting to do so, he went to Morocco in the year after the agreement of the Entente Cordial, saying that the people of Morocco under French administration should be free. This instigated a sense of fear in Europe, because Germany was now to intervene directly in matters that were not directly related to Germany. Instead of separating the Entente Cordial (Great Britain could have used to followup German pressure in Morocco to pressure the French as well and lead to a loss of French influence in the region), the agreement between the two countries became even closer, and brought to Russia to table the Entente as a means of protection. Ultimately, it was William II that allowed the reintegration of France in international politics, with alliances with other major European powers. Especially with Russia. After this incident, the military alliances have become polarized, which would trigger the First World War. In some ways, the policy of alliances in Bismarck led to a follow-up of your system from other countries, dividing the continent into opposing camps that fought in the Great War.
Conclusion
Ultimately, since the unification in 1871 until his resignation in 1890, Bismarck had brought the German Empire peace and prosperity through its complex system of alliances that only he could keep.
Upon his resignation, had been able to: Germany was allied with Austria and Italy against Russia and France, Germany had a pact of neutrality with Russia in case of war with Austria and was to provide support to France in their colonial projects. Meanwhile he isolated Russia and France, and earned on political advantage from all parties. The system reflects in some ways his own creator in the art of foreign policy. In its duplicity, cunningness and deceptiveness, having been largely successful. But having to constantly fill the gaps in its network of alliances to ensure cordial relations with all powers, I think the system could only last up to certain period of time. It is difficult to say if the system failed with his resignation, or if he no longer could sustain the interests of all powers in the same glass without breaking it. Certainly would not keep all the alliances working perpetually and an alliance was bound to break. However we can say that the European aspirations at the time were also changing, and probably no place in these peaceful aspirations for the system of Bismarck.
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