1891-1898

"In the coming century, the German nation will be either the hammer or the anvil". -- Foreign Minister von Bulow to the German Reichstag, 11 December 1898

Unlike his predecessors, the new Kaiser intends to rule in person. William II finds the constitutional restrictions upon him irksome, and constantly intrudes upon the responsibilities of his new Chancellor, Caprivi, until Caprivi wearily resigns in 1894. William appoints in his place a Chancellor who will be unlikely to prevent him intervening actively in internal politics and foreign affairs: the 75-year-old Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenloe - "tired, ill, totally indolent and completely passive." (Future Chancellor Bernhard von Bulow's description of Hohenloe, 1898).

In the Wood family...

7 February 1891 - Seventh son, Frederick Francis Wood, born in Chatham. The Woods are on the move: their last five sons will be born in five different towns. Frederick Wood is working as an unskilled labourer, and probably moves his family to wherever he can find a job. 29 July 1892 - Eighth son, John Jacob Wood, born in Strood, Kent. 23 September 1895 - Ninth son, Henry Herbert Wood, born in Chatham. 1897 - Tenth son, Harry Wood, born in Maidstone?

" 'The Kaiser as his own Chancellor' is a dangerous principle at the best of times. It is quite impossible with this impulsive and unhappily completely superficial ruler who has not the slightest idea of constitutional law, of political events, of diplomatic history and of how to deal with people." (Friedrich von Holstein, German Foreign Ministry, 1895).

Relations with Russia

William's first crucial test in foreign affairs comes in 1890, when the three-year Reinsurance Treaty with Russia is due to expire. Tsar Alexander III warns the Kaiser that he will not be left isolated - if Germany does not renew the Treaty, Russia will be forced to seek an alliance with France. William promises unequivocally that it will be renewed but Chancellor Caprivi, who wants to follow a clear and transparent foreign policy, recommends that it be allowed to lapse. Caprivi finds the Reinsurance Treaty dishonourable, as it secretly violates the spirit of Germany's key alliance with Austria. If the treaty becomes public, it will be a major embarrassment to be found having made conflicting promises to two countries, both of whom will be lost as allies. William accepts Caprivi's recommendation and, despite his assurances to Alexander III, the Treaty is not renewed. Russia complains that the new Kaiser cannot be trusted to keep his word, and immediately begins negotiations with France, which will culminate in the Franco-Russian defensive alliance of 1894.

Relations with Britain

The first ten years of the Kaiser's reign see an explosion in Germany's population and industrial output. By 1900, the German empire is the leading industrial power in Europe, and is seeking to exercise world-wide influence ("Weltmacht") through the acquisition of an overseas colonial Empire. During the Bismarck years, Germany had no interest in colonies. Bismarck saw them only as a potential for conflict with England and France, and commented in 1885: "I value Lord Salisbury's friendship more than twenty swamp colonies in Africa." But by 1897, leaders of German industry, the press, public and politicians are all calling for the establishment of colonies around the world to increase prosperity (by adding new resources and opening up new markets), and to reflect Germany's national greatness.

"We want territory even if it belongs to foreigners, so that we may shape the future according to our needs". Ernst Hasse, The Pan-German League.

By 1900, Germany has amassed an overseas Empire of over one million square miles, from the west coast of Africa to the northern Pacific. Finally, Kaiser William declares, Germany has her "place in the sun".

The British, French and German Empires in 1900

(German colonies numbered; apologies to New Zealand and Alaska)

Key: 1. Togo 2. Cameroons

3. German South West Africa 4. German East Africa 5. Tsingtao 6. Bismarck Archipelago

7. Kaiser Wilhelm's Land 8. The Marianas 9. The Marshalls 10. The Carolines

Industrial rivalry and colonial competition do not by themselves lead to excessive hostility between Britain and and Germany. But in June 1897, the Kaiser takes steps to realise his life-long ambition of creating a mighty ocean-going German Navy, worthy of a colonial power. He charges his Foreign Secretary with the task of building "a fleet for our defence and security, without becoming involved in a war through the building of this Fleet". This development will inevitably be looked upon with alarm by Great Britain, whose security rests entirely upon mastery of the seas.

"When, as a little boy, I was allowed to visit Portsmouth and Plymouth hand in hand with kind aunts and friendly admirals, I admired the proud English Fleet in those two superb harbours. Then there awoke in me the wish to build ships of my own like these someday, and when I was grown up to possess as fine a navy as the English". (Kaiser William II)

Until the reign of William II, Prussia had little interest in the sea, reserving its military interests for soldiers and artillery. Prussians took it for granted that money spent on defence should be spent on the army, and Bismarck praised the decision of King Frederick William I of Prussia, "who sold his last warship to create one more battalion". The German Navy as it exists in 1897 comprises a fleet of vessels suited primarily to coastal defence. The Reichstag is unconvinced about the need for a change in role for Germany's Navy, and is generally unenthusiastic about paying for any naval expansion. When it does approve expenditure for new ships, it does so on a piecemeal, year-to-year basis. But in March 1897, the Kaiser appoints Alfred von Tirpitz, a Navy captain serving in the German High Command, as his Navy Minister. Von Tirpitz is a strong advocate of building a German Fleet comprised primarily of battleships, and the Kaiser hopes that he will be the person to push plans for a great German Fleet through a reluctant Reichstag. Within days of his promotion, von Tirpitz prepares a secret memo for the Kaiser - "General Considerations On The Constitution Of Our Fleet" - which enumerates the major reasons why German naval policy should be transformed from coastal defence in favour of a battleship fleet. Tirpitz's main contentions are:

1. Germany's most dangerous naval enemy is England 2. The military situation against England demands battleships in as great a number as possible. 3. A German Fleet built against England requires a total of nineteen battleships. 4. This fleet can be completed by 1905.

The effects of this memo will prove to be extremely far-reaching. Battleships are not needed to defend against Germany's present enemies, France or Russia - in the event of war with these nations, German armies will deal with them on land, across thousands of miles of common border. To justify building his desired fleet of battleships, von Tirpitz designates a new enemy - England - despite the fact that at this time England is friendly to Germany. "To fight England, Tirpitz established that battleships would be necessary. Having established that premise, Tirpitz then brilliantly reversed the argument: in order to justify building battleships, the enemy must be England". (Massie, p.173) Even if approved by the Reichstag, von Tirpitz's battle fleet would not be completed until 1905. Until then, Germany might still be vulnerable to any attack by the Royal Navy. In order to preserve good relations with England at least until this danger period is over, Kaiser William charges his Ambassador in London, Count von Hatzfeldt, to offer the British government the possibility of an alliance with Germany. Although British policy is still officially never to make peacetime alliances, the wisdom of "Splendid Isolation" is beginning to be publicly questioned. In the British government, the leading opponent of Splendid Isolation is Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, who maintains that "any far-seeing English statesman must have long ago desired that we not remain permanently isolated on the continent of Europe. It must appear evident to everybody that the natural alliance is between ourselves and the great German Empire." It is with Chamberlain that Count Hatzfeldt raises the prospect of an Anglo-German alliance, though he enters the discussion with clear instructions that the proposed alliance must never come to fruition:

"It is of great importance to keep official sentiment in England favourable to us and hopeful. A friendly-minded England puts another card against Russia in our hands, as well as giving us the prospect of winning from England colonial and commercial concessions... To Count Hatzfeldt's skilful hands will fall the difficult task of putting off the conclusion of a formal alliance, not by a rejection wounding to English feeling, but so as to manifest a cordial wish for beneficent cooperation." (Kaiser William II, 10 April 1898)

In a subsequent meeting with Hatzfeldt on 25 April 1898, Chamberlain realises that Hatzfeldt's approach to him is not a serious offer, but an attempt to gain concessions from England in return for the promise of an alliance which will never come to pass. He makes it clear to the German Ambassador that Britain will not buy the possibility of a future good relationship with Germany by giving up bits of British territory, and warns that if Germany rejects Britain as a partner he will work for an understanding with Russia or France. When Kaiser William hears Hatzfeldt's report of the meeting, he dismisses the mention of an English understanding with Russia or France as "Impossible!" Meanwhile, von Tirpitz has been lobbying publicly and tirelessly for his recommendations for the building of a battle-fleet to be passed into law by the Reichstag. Politicians and public are won over, and the Navy Bill is passed on a wave on national enthusiasm on 26 March 1898. Three months later, the German Naval League is formed to propagate the theme of Weltmacht, sea power and a larger navy. The League's message is that colonies and fleets are essential to national greatness and prosperity; the corollary is that Great Britain, jealous of German sea power, is the enemy and will do everything possible to block Germany's "place in the sun".

"England is still the state that has least adjusted to the fact that Germany is the strongest power on the continent and that she is prepared, if necessary, to compel this recognition." - Professor Schiemann, Berlin University, 6 January 1897.

On the passing of the First Navy Law, von Tirpitz declares himself satisfied that the new fleet will meet the needs of the empire, and insists that he has no plans for additional demands. Yet within a year the First Navy Law will be superceded by a Second Navy Law, which will provide for doubling the size of the German battleship fleet approved in1898. The reason for the unanticipated leap in German battleship production will be the Boer War: specifically Germany's perceived inability to influence events in that distant conflict without a powerful naval presence.

or return to the Road To War home page