German Empire

The term German Empire commonly refers to Germany, from its consolidation as a unified nation-state on January 18 1871, until the abdication of Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II on November 9 1918. Germans, when referring to the Reich in this period under the Kaisers, typically use the term Kaiserreich and this term has often been used by non-German historians.

Militarism

One of the by-products of conservative modernization was militarism. To unite the upper classes—both the military-aristocracy and industrialists—militarism proved necessary to continue modernization without changing socio-political structures. Each of the elites in the ruling coalition of the Empire found some advantages in formal, overseas expansion: mammoth monopolies wanted imperial support to secure overseas investments against competition and domestic political tensions abroad; bureaucrats wanted more occupations; military officers desired promotion; and the traditional but waning landed gentry wanted formal titles. Observing the rise of trade unionism, socialism, and other protest movements during an era of mass society in both Europe and later North America, the elite in particular was able to utilize nationalistic imperialism to co-opt the support of the industrial working class. Riding the sentiments of the late nineteenth century Romantic Age, imperialism inculcated the masses with neo-aristocratic virtues and helped instill broad, nationalist sentiments. Thus, Prussia—heir to the garrison state built up by figures such as Friedrich Wilhelm I and Frederick the Great in the 18th century—managed to create a sufficiently powerful military machine not only capable of challenging rivals on the continent such as Austria and France, but able to make its presence known in the arena of international politics.

Related Topics:
Militarism - Friedrich Wilhelm I - Frederick the Great - 18th century

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German imperialists (of the Alldeutsche Verband), for instance, argued that Britain's world power position gave the British unfair advantages on international markets, thus limiting Germany's economic growth and threatening its security. Many European statesmen and industrialists wanted to accelerate the Scramble for Africa, securing colonies before they strictly needed them. Their reasoning was that markets might soon become glutted, and a nation's economic survival depend on its being able to offload its surplus products elsewhere. In response, British imperialists such as Joseph Chamberlain thus concluded that formal imperialism was necessary for Britain because of the relative decline of its share of the world's export trade and the rise of German, American, and French economic competition.

Related Topics:
Alldeutsche Verband - Scramble for Africa - Joseph Chamberlain

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Economic trends certainly played a major role, explaining why statesmen from Jules Ferry to Francesco Crispi sought new roles for the emerging powers that they led, especially during the Great Depression of 1873, but shifts in the European balance of power are what ultimately facilitated formal overseas expansionism. With the reactionary continental order established by the Congress of Vienna shattered, the allure of imperialism was an option beyond the traditional great powers of France and Britain. The new nation states of Germany and Italy were no longer embroiled in continental concerns and domestic disputes as they were before the Franco-Prussian War.

Related Topics:
Jules Ferry - Francesco Crispi - 1873 - Congress of Vienna - France - Britain - Germany - Italy

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Thus, Bismarck, once openly uninterested in overseas adventurism, was eventually brought to realize the political value of colonies. The absolutist Central Powers, led by a newly unified, dynamically industrializing Germany, with its expanding navy, doubling in size between the Franco-Prussian War and the Great War, were strategic threats to the markets and security of the more established Allied powers and Russia. German colonial efforts from 1884 brought only a small overseas empire compared to those of Britain and France, although in the Herero Wars it shared the with those empires the phenomenon of armed conflict between natives and colonials.

Related Topics:
Colonial efforts - 1884 - Empire - Herero Wars

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Subsequent German foreign policy initiatives (notably the initiation of a large battle fleet under the naval laws of 1898 and 1900) drove Britain into diplomatic alignment (the Entente) with a Franco-Russian alliance already in the offing at the time of Bismarck's fall.

Related Topics:
Britain - Entente - Franco - Russia

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