How far was Germany the greatest threat to Britains position as a world power in the years 1886-1901?

Authors Avatar

how far was germany the greatest threat to britains position as a world power in the years 1886-1901?

During the mid-Victorian boom, Britain became known as the ‘workshop of the world’, holding an undisputed role as the world’s leading industrial power, culminating in the opening of the Great Exhibition in Crystal Palace in 1851. Britain’s sprawling empire also served to establish its position as world power throughout the 19th century. Britain’s industrial and imperial strength was unparalleled for the majority of the 19th century. However, towards the latter end of the 1800s came the emergence of a variety of threats to this position of dominance. One interpretation cites the rise of Germany as an industrial power was the greatest threat to Britain’s position as a world power. A second interpretation posits instead that other powers, such as the USA and Russia for example, posed greater threats to British global power. A final interpretation suggests that Britain herself, through either political policy or public opinion, brought about its own relative downfall in terms of international superiority. In truth, all of these factors played a role in British decline, but it was ultimately Britain’s own shortcomings and the simple fact that it could sustain its earlier growth which allowed other nations to catch it up economically and militarily.

The interpretation that Germany posed the greatest threat to British superiority appears to have some merit. One factor which must be taken under consideration here is the economic rivalry which developed between the two nations. Britain was dependent on it export trade to maintain its position of economic supremacy in the world markets, and had enjoyed almost a monopoly of the production and export of coal, iron and steel (which were the key industrial commodities) during its mid-Victorian boom. However, by the time of the Depression, there was rapid German industrialisation, helped in no small part by an abundance of iron ore and coal: indeed, the Ruhr Valley in Westphalia had been known ‘Miniature England’ for some time before Germany’s Industrial Revolution because of its similarities to industrial regions of Britain, and it was instrumental in the Revolution. This meant that the monopoly that Britain had once held was broken, and so Britain was not only economically challenged by Germany, but also challenged in a sense that it was no longer the world supplier of raw materials, with both challenges threatening Britain’s position as a world power. However, it must be acknowledged that the USA superseded both Germany and Britain in terms of industrial output by 1900, becoming the world leader in both iron and steel production. Furthermore, the fact that Germany was developing economically and rivalling Britain’s output does not necessarily mean that Britain’s position as a world economic power was diminished, merely that there were other large economic powers which Britain had to compete with, which may have served to make the British economy stronger in the long run. Aside from industrial development which challenged Britain’s former dominance, Germany also had a population which was not only larger than Britain’s towards the latter end of the 19th century, but was also growing at a faster rate than Britain’s. This combined with the fact that Germany was only unified fairly recently meant that she had a large population of Germans with a vested interest in building a great nation, united under Bismarck’s leadership; this would lead to unprecedented German productivity which would inevitably threaten British trading strength. However, again, in terms of population, productivity and passion for working hard (if the latter is quantifiable), the USA exceeded the capacity of both Germany and Britain, undermining the argument that Germany served as the greatest threat to British power. Another way in which Germany served as a threat to British power was by challenging British imperial and trading dominance. Germany did this both in China (by obtaining a lease of the harbour Kiao-Chau, which challenged British interests in China) and in the Transvaal (through the Kruger Telegram and allowing President Kruger to stockpile German armaments). Possibly most threatening was the Navy Bill of 1898, which greatly increased the size of Germany’s navy; this in tandem with the opening of the Kiel Canal in 1895 meant that Germany would pose a kind of immediate threat to Britain’s empire and trade routes which no other country could. However, the fact that Bismarck had previously approached Salisbury with an offer of a formal alliance in 1889 means that Germany had not always intended to be a belligerent force against Britain. From this, it could be said that any subsequent threats which Germany posed to British power (most notably the Navy Bill) stemmed from Salisbury’s rejection of Bismarck’s diplomatic offer of alliance. So, it appears that Germany did pose a substantial threat to British imperial interests overseas. Furthermore, Germany may have certainly posed a significant threat to British trade interests and economic strength. However, to say that she posed the greatest threat to Britain in both respects may not be wholly justified; one would need to look at the threats which other countries posed and decide the magnitude of such threats relative to the threats of Germany to Britain’s position as a world power.

Join now!

As alluded to previously, there were other nations which also posed threats to Britain’s position as a world power, threats which were arguably greater than those posed by Germany. One nation which posed such a threat was the USA. As previously mentioned, the USA outstripped both Germany and Britain in terms of natural resources, industrial output and population. While this means that the USA undoubtedly posed a sizeable threat to British economic might, there is little evidence that the USA posed the same kind of threat to British imperial ambitions that Germany did, in terms of naval threat. So although ...

This is a preview of the whole essay