How far do the sources support the view that Germany was warlike and aggressive in its foreign policy in the years 1899-1914?

Authors Avatar

How far do the sources support the view that Germany was warlike and aggressive in its foreign policy in the years 1899-1914?

Sources one to six do support the view that Germany was warlike and aggressive in its foreign policy in the years 1899-1914. There are many reasons for her aggressive like behavior. Germany believed they were being “encircled” by the other powers of Europe.

                The most important factor for other countries belief of this was there increasing involvement with “Weltpolitik” or Germanys World Policy. The other powers believed this new policy passed a great threat. This policy was now emphasized on expansion, especially over-seas and the creation of a huge navy. Firstly, it undoubtedly reflected the mentality and hostility of the Kaiser. Source one is a speech to the people of Germany, convincing them that Welpolitik is a good thing and it will bring prosperity to Germany, however he is telling the people what they want to hear, so this could be untrue or biased and therefore not very reliable, “without a strong military and a strong navy there can be no welfare for us” (Prince Von Bulow, 1899). The main core of the Weltpolik was Bernard von Bulow, Johannes von Miguel and Alfred Von Tripitz. However is Weltpolitik essentially an element in the solution of Germanys economic problems?

Join now!

                Another worry was the German build up of their fleet, if they to succeed in rapid colonial expansion they needed a naval fleet to back this up. This worried the backbone of European stability, all powers felt threatened by this. However the Kaiser sent a private memo to a member of his government in July 1919, “built one ship a year in the pious hope that we would reassure England!”(The Kaiser, July 1914, Source 4) The Kaiser was trying to reassure the English that there was no need to be alarmed.

                The second navy law of 1900 doubled the size ...

This is a preview of the whole essay