HIST 1122 Lesson 50 - Bismarck After the Franco-Prussian War Part 2 - YouTube

Now put yourself in Bismarck’s shoes.

You’ve got rising Russian hostility to the east.

You’ve got anti-German feelings, of course, in France because of their humiliation and

the loss of Alsace and Loraine.

What if these two powers came together in an alliance?

What if they were joined by Great Britain or by Austria?

This could put the German Empire at risk.

So Bismarck’s reply to Russian hostility was a defensive alliance with Austria against

an attack by Russia or any power supported by Russia.

Any aggressive move by Austria in Eastern Europe involved the danger of war with Russia,

and Austria did not dare risk a clash with Russia without German support, the support

of which would hinge upon Bismarck.

So you can see he’s very skillfully trying to balance this complex diplomatic game.

As long as Germany remained in a position to withhold support from Austria, it would

be able to exercise a strong and probably decisive check upon any Austrian aggression

in Eastern Europe.

News of this German/Austrian alliance had a warning effect on anti-German agitation

in Russia.

The Russian leaders begin to realize their anti-German attitude was not only pointless,

but probably dangerous in the long run.

Consequently, while negotiations for the German/Austria Treaty were still in progress, the Russians

showed up at Bismarck’s door asking for a renewal of the Three Emperors’ League

in some form.

Again, Bismarck has skillfully managed the sort of ongoing, endless conflict, potential

conflict, between the Russians and the Austrians in eastern and central Europe.

So the second Three Emperors’ League is formed; the Western Balkans recognized as

lying within the sphere of Austria-Hungary; the Eastern Balkans were recognized as lying

in the sphere of influence of Russia.

Now let’s switch back to Bismarck and France.

The surge of anti-German feeling in Russia coincided with the revival of anti-German

sentiment in France, as I just said a moment ago.

Since the congress of Berlin, Bismarck had been working to reduce French animosity towards

Germany by trying to compensate for the loss of Alsace and Loraine.

Bismarck encouraged French colonial adventures overseas in Southeast Asia and in Africa.

Then in 1887, there was signed what’s called the Reinsurance Treaty.

This is a three-year, secret treaty between Russia and Germany.

In this Reinsurance Treaty, each agreed to remain neutral if the other became involved

in a war with a third power.

These terms did not apply to an aggressive war by Germany against France, or by Russia

against Austria.

Again, Bismarck is trying to keep this system together, trying to preserve the peace, and

trying to protect his creation – the German Empire.

Both powers in this Reinsurance Treaty promised to support the status quo – that is, things

as they are now, in the Balkans.

The main achievement of the Reinsurance Treaty was that it reduced the chances of a Franco-Russian

alliance against Germany.

Let’s face it – as long as France was not certain of Russian support in an aggressive

war against Germany, the possibility of such a war is greatly diminished.

France is not going to go to war with Germany by herself.

She clearly would have to have allies.

So again, remember Bismarck’s dictum – keep Russia close.

Let’s draw some conclusions here regarding Bismarck’s diplomacy.

The strength of the treaties designed by Bismarck lay in the fact that the advantages they afforded

to the powers concerned were great enough to give each participant a vested interest

in maintaining these treaties.

Now the greatest weakness of Bismarck’s treaties, on the other hand, was that they

tried to preserve the status quo, they tried to preserve the territorial and political

situation in Europe, and of course, most European powers were not satisfied with the status

quo.

Russia and Austria still had ambitions in the Balkans and of course, we’ll see just

a few years later in 1914, that it is here in the Balkans that Russia and Austria will

clash over Serbia – thus beginning the Great War.

France, of course, is not satisfied; she was the restoration of Alsace and Loraine, of

course, taken from her in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

Italy, the unification of Italy, and now the Italian urge to gobble up Trieste; and Trent;

and the Dalmatian Coast on the Adriatic.

Now 1888, there comes to the German throne a new emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm the II, and

he’s receptive to the sort of national urges of German expansion.

He dismisses Bismarck in 1890.

This is a decisive point, I think, in European diplomatic history.

Here, the man who’s probably most responsible for maintaining the peace in Europe – it

seems like a contradiction when you think about the war with Austria, the war with France

– but his constant tinkering to keep Russia close to Germany, to keep Russia and Austria

from tearing at each other’s throats – Bismarck’s diplomacy, as we have discussed it, had contributed

to maintaining the peace of Europe and now Kaiser Wilhelm will dismiss Bismarck on the

one hand and on the other will assume a much more aggressive, somewhat reckless, diplomatic

strategy, a strategy that does not keep Russia close.

After the dismissal of Bismarck in 1890, his alliance system was allowed to collapse.

The formation of new alliances began, which would divide Europe into two armed camps.

You will see the creation of the central powers – Germany; Austria-Hungary; the Ottomans

– and the creation of the Triple Entente with France; Russia; and Great Britain.

It’s this alliance system that will drive Europe into war.

In international affairs, even more than domestic, Bismarck’s dismissal marks the end of an

era.

Let’s make some conclusions regarding domestic affairs during this time, some very general

conclusions.

As a result of the efforts of the reformers, the conditions of all the populations of European

countries were being steadily improved, especially in Western Europe.

The most obvious forms of serfdom and slavery had been abolished and great strides had been

making in combatting disease and hunger.

These reformers at one time were sort of the voices crying in the wilderness and ignored.

These reformers could now count on the broad support of an enlightened public opinion in

their struggles against illiteracy, disease, social injustice, and other forms of human

cruelty.

Despite national hatreds and rivalries, international intercourse had never been more general in

Europe.

People could travel freely throughout Western and Central Europe easily, without passports.

Artists, scholars, of all nationalities went to foreign cities and universities to study

and exchange ideas.

So we have on the one hand sort of the culmination of European society here as we turn into the

20th century.

We have a peaceful Europe.

We have a very cosmopolitan Europe that’s increasingly internationalist.

We have a great exchange of ideas, like we just said, freedom of movement – at least

in Central and Western Europe.

We have increasingly the establishment of national states based on ethnicities and/or

languages, and we appear to have reached sort of a culmination of European society here.

This will rapidly become undone without Bismarck’s alliance system.

Like I said, we have these two sort of armed camps in Europe; the trigger, of course, will

be in the Balkans without any surprise, which will draw Austria and Russia into a conflict

and will set fire to Europe.

This catastrophe will be followed by an even greater catastrophe, the Second World War.

So as we enter the 20th century, we appear to be, people could approach the 20th century

I think with great confidence.

That confidence would rapidly be undone.

The first half of the 20th century would be the bloodiest in history with the Great War

and then of course, the Second World War in Europe led by Hitler and the Nazis.

So we’ll stop this discussion of European diplomacy and Bismarck.

Thank you.