Bismarcks Foreign Policies

Foreign Policies
Isolating France
and avoiding
revenge

Actions relating to this

aim
Attempt to make alliances
with Russia so France would
not be able to Dreikaiserbund (1873)
The Three Emperors
Alliance/League (1881)
The Triple Alliance (1882)
The Reinsurance Treaty
(1887)
Colonial Policy

Evidence of Success

The tariff act

Congress of Berlin

Alliances gave a certain

amount of military
security
Dreikaiserbund, The Three
Emperors alliance and the
Reinsurance Treaty
prevents France from
getting an ally
Triple Alliance ensures that
Italy will oppose the
French
Colonial Policy creates
tension between Britain
and France, therefore
increasing French isolation
France was never able to
get an ally, even when
relations with Russia were
very low after the
Congress of Berlin
Congress of Berlin
maintains a good relation
with Britain and Austria
left pleased with the

Evidence of failure

The alliance against France was very weak.

Ex: The Is war in sight crisis. When both
Russia and Britain are highly critical of his
policy and the Dreikaiserbund almost
collapses
Does little to avoid the French desire for
revenge; however, if France did decide to
act upon it, there would be a quick
international reaction of protection towards
Germany as a result of the alliances.
Failed to stop French recovery. It wasnt
necessarily due to Bismarcks policies that
France remained isolated.
The initial scenario of French bitterness
was Bismarcks fault in the first place, all
due to his aggressive policies during the
German Unification
Introduction of tariffs pushes Russia and
France together economically
French were isolated not because of
Bismarcks policies, but due to the fact that
they were a Republic

arrangements
Controlling
Russian and
Austrian
ambitions in the
Balkans- not
having to choose
between Austria
and Russia

Possible war on
two fronts- how
to prevent the
outbreak of war?

The Dreikaiserbund states that

they would discuss matters of
common interests. This
specifically relates to the
Balkans
The Congress of Berlin
The honest broker
The Dual Alliance
The Three Emperors League
Bulgarian Crisis
Reinsurance Treaty

Dreikaiserbund
Three Emperors League
Congress of Berlin
Colonial Policy

There was no catastrophic

war over the Balkans
Greater Bulgaria was
divided at the Congress of
Berlin, therefore
preventing a war between
Britain, Austria and Russia
The Sultans introduced
reforms
The Three Emperors
league Russia and Austria
agreed to recognize each
others ambitions so that
they could be open to
discussion in the future

War successfully
prevented between
Austria and Russia in the
Balkans due to his
alliances and diplomatic
skills at Berlin
Diverts French attention

The Tsar was unhappy with the

Congress of Berlin
His relationship with Bismarck
deteriorated due to the tariffs
The Balkan question was not
solved in the long term, he just
delayed it. Balkans remained a
power vacuum, no one was really
in power and the Ottomans didnt
have the power to control it.
Franco-Russian relationship was
more likely to develop due to
common interests between them
during the Congress of Berlin
Congress of Berlin led to the Dual
Alliance, Bismarck was forced to
choose between Russia and
Austria (however this was
supposed to be only a temporary
agreement)
Almost faced a war on two fronts during
the war in sight crisis
Forced to change his policy after the
Congress of Berlin and make a firm
alliance with the Austrians
Dreikaiserbund and Three Emperors
League were always weak and fell apart

German

Nationalism and
the desire for
expansion,
pressure from the
people.

Colonial Policy

towards the colonies

thereby creating bad
feeling between France
and Britain
Keeps Russia and France
from becoming allies,
although they would never
become allies anyway
Bismarcks personality
always seems to dominate
during diplomatic
situations at Berlin
Diverts French attention
towards the colonies
thereby creating bad
feeling between France
and Britain
Successfully gets colonies:
Togo Land, Cameroon,
South West Africa, German
East Africa and Islands in
the Pacific
Satisfies demands of the
businessmen and
nationalists

during every crisis

His economic policies were actually
pushing France and Russia together (The
Tariff Act and Protectionism)
Russian resentment over Berlin

He was forced to follow a colonial

policy that was actually against
what he wanted to do, in the long
run it created a rivalry with Britain
and France
For many German nationalists,
Bismarck was not doing enough

Essay question: Assess the successes and failures of Bismarcks foreign policy in the years 1871-1890