Anglo-German relations by 1900

• The growth of Anglo-German rivalry was unexpected in many ways

  • The royal families of both powers were closely related

  • Their cultures were closely related

  • They were both suspicious of France
• Britain had viewed France and Russia as the as the greatest threat to imperial power ▪ However, the accession of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the dismissal of Bismarck and the Bismarckian System led to relations between Germany and Britain worsening
• The Bismarckian System was set up by Bismarck after the unification of Germany ▪ Bismarck knew that other powers would view a unified and strong Germany as a threat to the balance of power in 1871 ▪ Bismarck stated that Germany had no plans for further European expansion
• The new Kaiser opted for a new policy called Weltpolitik (world policy)

  • The new policy was driven by the Kaiser, von Bulow (German Foreign Sectary) and Admiral von Tirpitz (naval minister)

  • Weltpolitik was committed to a large programme of naval expansion and heavy involvement in colonial affairs
• With the introduction of Weltpolitik and the beginning of the Anglo-German naval race in 1890s German politicians knew that they risked hostility towards the British • Germany sought an understanding with Britain which would secure a peaceful co-existence between the powers while allowing Germany to seek its ‘place in the sun’
• Bernhard von Bulow hoped to secure an alliance with Britain • After the Fashoda Incident it was hoped Britain would abandon its Splendid Isolation and form an alliance with Germany
• In 1898 Joseph Chamberlain, the British Colonial Secretary, supported Lord Salisbury, Prime Minister proposed an alliance with Germany

  • In the spring of 1898 Germany began its naval building programme and pushed forward its plans for a Berlin-Baghdad railway

  • Both these things were outright challenges to Britain