The Long Fuse by Laurence Lafore - Chapter Three: The Europe of the Armed Camps.

Alyssa Al-Dookhi

November 28, 2003

The Long Fuse by Laurence Lafore

Chapter Three: The Europe of the Armed Camps

In its first stage, the dominance of Germany assured its stability. In its second stage in the 1880s, however, its prevalence was slightly diminished and problems overseas became more important and a period of instability and tension arose. The third stage in about 1905 German dominance was pretty much gone and issues outside of Europe were no longer as significant.

Some policies of Otto von Bismarck’s diplomatic ideas remained even after his dismissal. Two such policies were his alliance with Austria and the revival of conservatism as a very powerful force.

Bismarck’s diplomatic policies were based on necessity and the limitation of opportunities. The main needs were the security of Germany and international peace. His opportunities were limited most notably by the detachment of Britain; the anger and frailty of France; the conservatism, ambition, and monarchy of Russia; the weakness and confusion of Austria; and Italy trying to become a Great Power.

Germany was only really threatened by France, but even then, it would have to have been a France with strong allies. They weren’t very worried about that, however, because France did not have good relations with Italy since it had been unified; Britain did not want to get involved with anybody on the continent, least of all with a country with which they had been enemies for centuries. Austria, freshly defeated by Germany, could be a possible ally, as could Russia. With Russia as an ally, they could both attack the middle of the continent from both ends. This seemed highly unlikely, though, since the Russian monarchy despised the Red Republic at Paris.

The Three Emperor’s League was formed between Germany, Austria, and Russia for “monarchical solidarity” (pg. 87). It emphasized the role of emperors to keep Alexander II aware of the dangers of republicanism. Nevertheless, it was meant merely as a communication connection between the three empires, albeit it aided the strengthening of relations between Austria and Germany. Two crises, however, destroyed it.
The first, in 1875, was that is appeared that Bismarck, having defeated France five years before, was scared by the resurgence of French strength and vengeful malevolence and was planning a war against them to suppress the threat of France once and for all. He might not have been, as there is no evidence that proves this, but it appeared to the French useful to say so to the other powers. As France had hoped, Britain and Russia warned Germany against attacking them because this would have made Germany overly powerful, creating a threat to Britain and Russia and destroying the balance of power. Bismarck was greatly taken aback by these accusations and warnings.

The Eastern Question and the Frustration of Russia

The second crisis was much more serious and its effects were more permanent than the first. It led to the disintegration of the Bismarckian system and surprisingly to an alliance between Russia and France. It began in the Balkans. In the mountain province of Bosnia, the predominantly Serb population revolted against Turkish rule. As usual, the powers of Europe went to help the Ottoman Empire for their own different reasons depending on what they were trying to achieve at the moment. Russia was, at the time, trying to expand, and so they made war on the Ottoman Empire and fought till they got to Constantinople where, in 1878, they forced upon them a treaty that almost demolished the Ottoman Empire in Europe. It also arranged Balkan territories that Russia thought were just what they needed at the time.

Southeastern Europe had been vastly changed because of the actions of the Russians, who were called in to be judged by a court of its peers. They were accused of illegal action and going against international concert.

In the Treaty of San Stefano, which had been promptly been thrust upon the Turks to create a new country. It would be the largest country in the Balkans and it would be called Great Bulgaria after the Bulgars who inhabited part of the region. With this, it would gain a massive chunk of the Balkan Peninsula and it would extend its influence ...

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Two things drove the Russians: The first was the fact that Constantinople had been the center of the Byzantine Empire and they retained its Orthodox religion, some of the Greek culture and its dream of becoming an empire. It also was the legal heir to the Byzantine throne. Also was its persistent desire for warm-water ports. The second ambition was pan-Slavism, or the Russian impulse to lead other Slavic nations to freedom. Both had dividends in power and gaining strategic advantage.

The British were appalled by the Treaty of San Stefano, Austria felt Russia was a threat because they feared Russian Westerly expansion. They were most threatened by the nearness of Russian expansion into the Balkans. Austrian trade would also be threatened by a Russian-dominated Great Bulgaria in the Aegean. With the weakening of the Ottoman Empire in Europe and the growing nationalism of Slavic minorities supported by Russia, the Hapsburg Monarchy felt endangered.

Germany was also affected by Russian activities and Bismarck wanted to maintain good relations with both Russia and Austria, while isolating the French Republic. Bismarck also felt that the Balkans were not worth going to war over.

Bismarck called upon the Concert of Europe at a conference in Berlin to discuss the Russian acquisition of territories in the Balkans. It infuriated the Russians to be judged by other European nations but they withdrew from the territories. Great Bulgaria was reduced to a smaller state and Romania, Serbia then joined Greece and Montenegro as independent states. Cyprus was annexed to Britain, Bosnia, Hercegovina, and Novibazar were put under Austrian control. Austria, however, did not want these territories and refused to annex them because they felt that they would have a majority of Serbs, then they would have to be a trialism, and then keep making more governments till almost every ethnicity was represented. If they did annex these territories, Russia might take Constantinople giving Russia too much naval power, which would lead to Britain declaring war on Russia. However, they kept them as protectorates.

The Austrian Alliances

Austro-German Alliance created in 1879. It maintained existing boundaries, and bound the two countries together while temporarily neutralizing their enemies. The Austrians feared all of their neighbors, including Germany, but this alliance reduced the threat. The treaty signed was a defense treaty. This was nearly the first time that a treaty was signed during peacetime between major powers. The terms of the treaty were secret and it foreshadowed other secret treaties that were to come later. The alliance was extended to include Italy in 1882, whose goals were to weaken Austria’s connections to the Vatican and hoped for protection by being included in the alliance. Primarily, however, Italy wanted Austria and Germany united in support against France. Italy wanted Tunisia, which France occupied in 1881.

France had a similar case. In 1882, the British occupied Egypt, which threatened France’s economic, interests there. Romania and Serbia joined the Alliance with the hope of protection. At this point, the situation in Russia was less threatening to Austria and Germany and in 1881, the three nations revised the Three Emperors League. The agreement was that if one of the three empires went to war, the other two would remain neutral. In addition, Balkan issues could be changed only after consultation.

This was a peaceful six years in Europe, France was isolated, but was no threat to Germany. The Hapsburg Monarchy was at peace with its neighbors. This was Bismarck’s most successful period.

The Breakdown of the Bismarckian System

Troubles began again in the Balkans. Prince Alexander of Bulgaria annexed Rumelia, upsetting both the Great Powers and Serbia. The Russians kidnapped Alexander and forced him to abdicate. A German prince, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coberg-Gotha replaced Alexander in Bulgaria. The Russians had been stopped in their drive southward and instead expanded East. But they were angry with Austria and the Three Emperors League was not renewed. A reinsurance treaty was signed in 1887 in which Russia and Germany agreed to remain neutral if either was involved in war. However, Germany was committed to helping Austria in case of Russian attack. Therefore, when in 1890, a new German Emperor came to the throne in Germany, Wilhelm II the treaty was allowed to lapse and Bismarck was forced to resign.

Now France and Russia were two isolated Great Powers facing the block of the Triple Alliance. This new balance of power encouraged an alliance between France and Russia. This made Bismarck’s plan fall to ruin.

France Finds an Ally

The Franco-Russian alliance was signed in 1894 for mutual military support if attacked by Germany. France made large loans to Russia for industrial development. This was the new balance of power in Europe.

Distractions Overseas

There were no wars in Europe over territories outside of Europe although attention was distracted by various nations, expansion, and annexation of territory in Africa and Asia. During this period, there was also the Boer War and the Spanish-American War. The importance of this period of imperialism is in the rise of nationalism. Building empires added to the prestige and power of individual nations. It was a time of patriotic visions, great fortunes, and conquest. A new understanding of national unity lead to desires for national honor.

Austria-Hungary was not included among this imperialistic urge; it had no desire to acquire colonies. One result of this age of expansion was the end of British aloofness and isolation. For Italy, its designs on Ethiopia and its embarrassing failure there indirectly led to Italy’s realignment with France and its gradual separation from The Dual Monarchy and Germany. One further instance was the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. These little incidents distracted from possible conflicts on mainland Europe.

Chapter Four; The “Encirclement” of Germany

Germany’s main goal was to isolate France, but with the Franco-Russian Alliance, this objective was defeated. Instead, Germany became isolated. German leaders thought this was scandalous and that it was all the fault of the Russians, when, in fact, if Germany had allied with Russia, a Franco-Austrian Alliance would have been formed and pretty much the same thing would have happened. Germany would be surrounded.

During this time, the manners of the Germans seemed to have disappeared and other nations thought them ill-mannered and belligerent. These bad manners and warlike tendencies aroused suspicion among their neighbors. Hard evidence led the surrounding countries to believe that the Germans were plotting something sinister. The Franco-Russian Alliance compelled the Germans to get ready for a two-front war.

The Aspect of Germany

It was not all Germany’s fault, however, that it were portrayed as a villain. The press and patriotic politicians of Russia, France, and Great Britain made themselves sound great, so naturally, Germany was made the “bad guy”. There were a few aspects of Germany that made them act the way they did. First of all, there was the German constitution. It was designed by Bismarck in 1866 and was made so that the Chancellor could exercise his power and was based around bribing its opponents with political favors. But the complexities of it prevented it from being revised.

Germany was a federal empire and each of the states had its own ruling system and theoretically, the federal government had little power. However, one state had more power than all of the others. It took up about three fifths of the land and population, its king was the German Emperor, traditionally , it’s Prime Minister was the Chancellor of Germany, and its army was the biggest part of the German defense establishment. This state was Prussia.

Because of this, the governmental situation was odd and insufficient. There was no clear boundary between the power of the Emperor and the parliament and these two powers often conflicted. The lower house of parliament—the Reichstag—did not gain power as they did in Britain, but it instead forced the Chancellor to suck up to them. The Prussian government was dependent upon the Prussian parliament, which was dominated by a minority rather than a majority.

The Prussian Army was very powerful and the state of Prussia itself had been formed from the military. Prussian officers were often seen in Germany and they were very arrogant and pugnacious. Because of this severe demeanor, it was assumed that the Prussian Army was also as severe when it came to matters of government. This was not necessarily true at the beginning but many German citizens felt that there as a connection between the prestige of the Prussian Army and that of Germany. Bismarck started noticing that to try to get voters to vote for the parties they wanted to win, they had to use national traditions to lure them into voting that way. The military in France was also strong but there were disagreements whether the rights of the individual or the rights of the military were more important. Both armies distrusted the liberal civilian governments.

A German novel published in 1911, glorified war and predicted German victory in future war. This along with Wilhelm II’s image in foreign countries as a bloodthirsty monster, succeeded in making other nations nervous about German militaristic aspirations. He was, in fact, only a foolish, neurotic ruler whose impetuousness led to distrust abroad. Also in Germany his chancellors found it hard to govern and in fact, though his reputation abroad was that he was a strong man, he was becoming weaker and weaker. The nation at this point was the leading industrial power known for its efficiency, good education, and strong economy. Germans were feeling quite self-satisfied. They began to dream of extending their empire and becoming the leading nation in Europe.

German Dreams and German Diplomacy

Various nationalistic groups in Germany at this time saw a vast and great destiny for Germany in the future. Some proposed uniting all the German-speaking peoples, including those in the United States. Others proposed building a German Navy because the image of a great nation was one with a strong navy. The powerful German Army and the intimidating German diplomacy scared other nations, and helped Great Britain eventually choose sides in the upcoming conflict. More and more in this time period Germany supported its Austro-Hungarian ally unconditionally.

The Alienation of Britain

Germany was convinced that in the event of war, Great Britain would remain neutral. The traditional friendship of Germany and Great Britain had begun to cool by the end of the century and the British were concerned with Germany’s rapid industrial growth and colonial ambitions. Germans assumed that Great Britain still saw them as a friendly ally and told Britain that it was welcome to join the Triple Alliance, however, Britain had no interest. What Germany did not know was that a new rapproachment was beginning between Great Britain and France.

The Franco-British Understanding

At the time, Morocco was a decrepit sultanate and the French desperately wanted it. The British began warming up to the French, particularly after Queen Victoria died. The French recognized and accepted British occupation of Egypt and the English recognized France’s interest in Morocco and sadi that they would not object if France felt that it needed to assist Morocco. Franco-Italian relations also became more cordial and the two nations came to the agreement that if Italy took Libya, then France could take Morocco. The German Chancellor said that Italy needed to choose between being completely faithful to Germany, or merely flirting with France. This slight change was, the Germans observed, in its beginning stages, but they also saw that it could turn out to be dangerous. Because of this, they decided to arrange a crisis in which the hatred between Britain and France would be publicly displayed as would the solidarity between Germany and Italy.

Morocco

German Chancellor von Bulow was being asked by the Sultan of Morocco for German assistance in resisting the French in Morocco. The German advantages were to force the British to abandon the French, and to show German power in international affairs. The emperor, however, was against the policy where Germany had no real interests. Von Bulow wanted to disrupt the Anglo-French relationship and called for an international conference against French designs in Morocco. The French felt that there was a German threat and forced their foreign minister to resign. France was diplomatically defeated and Germany was embarrassed by what appeared to be bullying. In the conference in 1906, the French had to accept that the situation in Morocco concerned all of the Powers, and the system from the Congress of Vienna was still valid because the Powers had asserted their right to govern international decisions. However, an arrangement was made for the French in Morocco to organize the police and finances in a compromise agreement. The Germans were helpless against he French and the British who were joined by Italy. Austria supported Germany but this embarrassment remained in German memory.

Bulow’s crisis was started to break up the encirclement of Germany but in the end it was ineffective and was even more tightly surrounded. This led to German leaders feeling conspired against and generally scared. This was important because it was a sign of the breakdown of Anglo-German relations.

The Naval Question

The Germans began building a navy of a fleet of nineteen battleships the purpose was not to erqual the British Navy but to threaten any world navy. Britain saw this as a threat. In Germany, the people believed that the British were planning a surprise attack. Great Britain knew that it needed security on the seas for the trade it needed to feed its nation. This issue of the German navy was affecting the balance of power. The British freedom of commerce had been established by British friendship with neighboring nations and protecting their independence from threat.

The Triple Entente

Britain had not outright declared an alliance with France but the French worked brilliantly in diplomatic endeavors to build an Anglo-Russian entente. The British were beginning to abandon their isolationism. Because of the Russo-Japanese war and Russia’s defeat Russia was suddenly no longer a power to reckon with among the Great Powers. Germany and Austria felt safe along their eastern frontiers and the British were strongly anti-Russian because of a Russian attack on their ships in connection with the Russo-Japanese war. The situation reversed quickly and the Russians needed Britain, and to England, Germany was the greater danger. In 1907, an Anglo-Russian agreement was signed. In this, Persia was divided into spheres of influence Russia ceded Afghanistan to British influence and the phrase “Triple Entente” began to be seen in the press.

Feeling threatened, Germany defended Austria-Hungary as a Great Power. They believed that if Austria-Hungary went, then Germany was lost. Germany was encircled and detailed military plans began to be written.