German Foreign Policy 1890-1914

Question	Answer
Fischer	German Govt beared the decisive share of responsibility for starting WWI. From 2nd Moroccan Crisis in 1911, Germany consistently pursued a policy aimed at fighting a EU War to achieve world-power status.
Alliances	Triple Alliance (1882) - Germany, A-H, Italy - Protection from France. Reinsurance Treaty (1887) - Germany & Russia - Protection from France & A-H. Mediterranean Agreements (1887) - Britain & Germany's Allies - Protection from Britain. Franco-Russian Alliance (1894) - France & Russia - Protect France from Germany.
German Diplomacy	Anglo-German Relations - 'Kruger Telegram' - Further tension between Britain & Germany.
Weltpolitik	Aims - German Navy Laws of 1898 & 1900, 'Our place in the sun' - Social Imperialism. Objectives - Attain world-power status. Few achievements but had important diplomatic consequences.
End of Splendid Isolation	Anglo-German Agreement failure in 1901. Anglophobia issue due to Boer War. Britain sign the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902 and the Anglo-French Agreement in 1904.
1st Moroccan Crisis (1905-06)	Kaiser and Bulow decided to provoke the crisis in the hope of breaking the Anglo-French Agreement. The Algeciras Conference strengthened Anglo-French relations and humiliated Germany.
Triple Entente (1907)	Underlined Germany's isolation and closed the circle of Britain, France and Russia. Germany feared encirclement, however German aggression was growing.
Bosnian Crisis (1908-9)	Germany supported only ally Austria. Germany issued an ultimatum with Russia and France, both of which were weak. Germany had a short term success in foreign policy.
Naval Rivalry (1909)	German Navy Laws heightened tensions. 1906 Navy Laws lead to Dreadnought Arms Race. Britain was threatened by German Naval Expansion.
Anglo-German Relations	Chancellor Bethmann wanted to improve relations. Negotiations were carried out between 1909-11 but the gap could not be breached. Talks collapsed due to the 2nd Moroccan Crisis
2nd Moroccan Crisis (1911)	French troops sent to Fez following revolt. German Gunboat Panther sent to Agadir. Germany given narrow strip of the French Congo as compensation. Anglo-French Naval Agreement signed.
Balkan Wars (1912-13)	Turkey had lost nearly all of its EU territory. Serbia had doubled in size. Russia had won a diplomatic victory from Serbia's military victory. Austria felt threatened by Serbia but had the new country Albania for protection.
War Council Meeting (1912)	Kaiser summoned the meeting with the German Army and Navy Chiefs. Supports Fischer's Theory as Germany intended to fight a war.
Arms Race	German military expenditure increased form 1080 million marks in 1900 to 2312 million marks in 1913. Germany strengthened the size of the Army by 20%. France extended military conscription from 2 to 3 years. Russia added 500,000 men to its forces.
1914	Growing mood of pessimism and uncertainty in Germany. Russo-German relations worsened. War was inevitable.
Blank Cheque	Following Franz Ferdinand's assassination the Kaiser and Bethmann gave full unconditional support to Austria. Austria were urged to send an ultimatum to Serbia which it did.
July Crisis	Britain called for an international conference but Germany ignored the proposal. Germany urged Austria to take military action quickly to avoid interference from other powers.
Mobilisation and War	Russia had begun to partially mobilise which put pressure on Germany. Moltke wanted a war in the summer of 1914 even before the assassination. By 30 July military matters were beginning to take precedence over diplomacy.
Schlieffen Plan	Protect Germany from Russia in the east and France from the west. Defeat France first whilst Russia mobilise. In order to advance the neutrality of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg would have to be violated.

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German Foreign Policy 1890-1914

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	Created by j.l.whitney21 about 11 years ago