slaughtered by the Germans. The Herero people migrated to Southwest Africa, present day Namibia, in the 1600s. Then, in the 1800s, there was a “scramble for Africa” as European countries started colonizing and imperializing. During the Berlin Conference, European countries came together to divide up Africa, giving Germany Southwest Africa where the Herero people lived. Like the other European countries, Germany used its African colonial holdings to gain national prestige. As the Germans came into Southwest
different nations went about it. Whether it was Headrick’s Tools of Empire, Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost or one of the many primary sources we read earlier in the semester, I found it fascinating to learn about the causes, not just the results, of the “the second wave of colonialism.” I originally set out to compare and contrast Germany and France in their reasons for empire, but as I got into my research I found the German situation particularly fascinating. In part due to this being a relatively
Formation of the Triple Alliance In 1871 two new major states of Europe had been formed—the German Empire and the kingdom of Italy. The new German Empire, under the hand of Otto von Bismarck, was steered carefully, always with an eye upon France, for the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) had left France thirsting for revenge and for recovery of the lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. 2 Germany had allied itself with Russia and Austria-Hungary in the Three Emperors’ League, but Austria-Hungary
the Industrial Revolution, the surplus wealth for the middle class was defined by materialism that came from the globe. Therefore, the need to support the welfare of the European nations started a race to expand their empires in efforts to secure resources and profits. This colonial tension was in proportion to militarism as European nations saw the needs to take precautions by increasing the strength of their military. By striking threats into European nations, major powers saw the need to create
positive domestic attitudes of their diplomatic actions. Attempting to cement their hegemony of international politics, the Prussian Empire sought to create an ethnically and politically unified German state to rebuff the prominence granted to Austria at the Congress of Vienna. Through the machinations of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and his determination to unite the German lands through “blood and iron”, Germany quickly rose to become the epicenter of European politics and forever changed the geopolitical
During the time of the German Empire, groups like the Navy League, Colonial League, Pan-German League, and Agrarian League attempted to influence the politics of Germany by supporting and lobbying members of the Reichstag. The Agrarian League, representing the interest of landowners and others whose livelihood depended upon agriculture, demanded that the Reichstag pass laws and tariffs that would benefit the interests of the agriculturalists and other wealthy land owners. Their program of 1912 exemplifies
published a book known as The Age of Empire: 1875 – 1914. This book was written in order to display world history four decades preceding World War I. One of the major topics included in the book involved the world domination of the European empires and how their rivalries led to the beginning of World War I. However, the United States did have a strong role in this domination and were considered an empire of their own. Not only were they known as an empire, but due to the war with Spain, they were
the 1790s to 1814 French troops successively conquered and occupied the area that later constituted the German Empire. French domination helped to modernize and consolidate Germany and -- toward the end -- sparked the first upsurge of German nationalism. In different ways the French emperor Napoleon I helped German unification. It was important that he encouraged many of the middle-sized German states to absorb huge numbers of small independent territories, mostly bishoprics, church lands, and local
revolve around Bismarck's attitudes and actions toward German unification and general policy. Sources include works by historians A.J.P. Taylor and James Wycliffe Headlam. The policies of Bismarck during the interwar period were researched as well, through several scholastic journals and written works. B. Summary of Evidence Germany was already on its way to unification in the early 1800s. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 had set up the German Confederation, with both Prussia and Austria-Hungary
Weltpolitik was a clear violation of the status quo and thus the unwritten rules of European diplomacy as Kaiser Wilhelm II ruined Anglo-German relations, spent more than the German economy could handle, and aggressively tested international alliances. II. Bismarck’s Decline The start of Weltpolitik began when Otto von Bismarck ended his absolutist reign as German Chancellor in 1890 . Bismarck’s break with Kaiser Wilhelm II came after a prosperous and powerful term as Chancellor under Kaiser Wilhelm
the Versailles Treaty and even the First World War, that it was the result of the long-standing ambitions of the German elite including the Lutheran Church to which Fischer specifically mentions. Paul Waibel, in his review of the work of Fischer, describes th... ... middle of paper ... ...f ‘Social Darwinist’ theories in relation to the survival of states, the glamorisation of empire building and warfare and the genuine belief that the war would only last a matter of months, his work is nevertheless
three.“ The five great powers at that time were France, England, Russia, Austria-Hungary and the new united Germany. In foreign affairs, above all he wanted to keep peace in Europe, refusing further expansation, so that the strength of the German Empire would not be threatened. To begin with I would like to represent the 5 great powers in order to point out which of them would be a possible ally. · He couldn’t ally himself with France due to the Franco-Prussian war. We could argue that
January 18th, 1871 when King William I, a Prussian king, was offered the hereditary crown of a united Germany. Germans were determined to define themselves as a great power and would achieve this with force if need be. That said, the German’s expansion of military, colonial, and industrial might would lead them straight into the First World War. Going to war was nothing new for Germans; in fact they were very much rooted in confrontation. It began with both Prussia
his dismissal of Chancellor Otto van Bismarck two year later and therefore the breakdown of the Bismarckian Alliance System. The unification of Germany, and the political greatness of Prussia and the empire, are ascribed to the statesmanship of Bismarck. Bismarck was the father of the German nation, he created it and he also masterminded a plan to keep Germany safe from the enemy nations around her. After the humiliation of the loss of Alcase and Lorraine, France was bound to not pass away
war unavoidable. Although the direct cause of World War I was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, long term causes such as the political instability of Europe, rivalries and alliances between countries, and the conflict between large empires and nationalism brought Europe into a situation in which a large-scale war was inevitable. By 1914, these factors made the major European powers on the verge of war and a small spark in the “tinderbox of Europe” was all that was necessary to cause
This growth was the outcome of imperial empire in both countries’ cases. However, it is shown that Germany had expanded at more rapid rate than Britain. Germany’s coal production between 1880 and 1913 increased by 307 while Britain’s grew by 96,5%. The difference between the two countries became
proudly in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles as the German Empire he helped to create was proclaimed. Bismarck as man and as statesman has been a point of interests for many history scholars’ interpretations. Bismarck’s empire lasted only 20 years after him. Bismarck believed that armed force was necessary in relations among governments – Blood and Iron his methods. Through three successful wars Bismarck united Germany. With the creation of the 2nd German Reich Germany become the strongest nation on the
France was to cede Alsace-Lorraine, and pay an indemnity of 5 billion francs to Germany. To prevent the French attempt of revengeå ±å¾© and the possibility of a two-front war, as well as to consolidateéžå›º the infantåˆç”Ÿçš„ German Empire, in 1873 Bismarck, the German Chancellor首相, created the Dreikaiserbund三å¸åŒç›Ÿ. The emperors of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia vowed誓言 to guarantee the status quoç¾ç‹€ of Europe of 1871, resist revolutions and maintain peace in the Balkans
world war. The western powers expanded colonies. However, national rivalries gradually grew and alliance camps emerged. Economic competition and arms race also became intense. The Balkans became a hotpot of western intervention, as the Ottoman Empire declined. Finally war broke out in 1914, a war which was unexpectedly disastrous and destructive in scale. The war was caused by a number of interwoven factors. The first of these factors being nationalism.In 19th Century Europe the desire
Historiography of U.S. German Relations Historiography on American German relations from the end of the Civil War up to the First World War is a rather obscure subject. Rather than having its own specialized and narrow individualized study, it is studied primarily in thematic articles dealing with specific events that marked such relations or in contrast to growing British-American rapprochement during this period, written in the context of European foreign relations historiography. There