BISMARCK QUEST FOR A NEW “CONCERT OF EUROPE”

BISMARCK QUEST FOR A NEW “CONCERT OF EUROPE” 1873: “Three Emperors’ League” for Germany, Austria, & Russia 1878: Congress of Berlin settles Balkan affairs 1879: Austro-German Dual Alliance 1882: Triple Alliance includes Italy 1884: Berlin Congo Conference 1887: Bismarck’s Reinsurance Treaty with Russia 1890: Kaiser Wilhelm II allows the Reinsurance Treat to lapse 1892-94: Franco-Russian Alliance negotiated on the initiative of the generals

Leon Gambetta, architect of republican election victories in 1877/78; he persuaded MacMahon to resign…. Marshal MacMahon, monarchist President of the Republic (1873-1879)

Monet, “La rue Montorgueil, June 30, 1878.”The Paris World’s Fair of 1878 drew 6 million visitors and ended with a celebration of “Peace and Labor”

As Imperial Chancellor, Bismarck secured laws against domestic “Enemies of the Reich,” including socialist politicians and Catholic bishops (cartoon from 1874)

After its defeat by Prussia,Austria created parliamentary government in 1867, with Home Rule for Hungary,but the parliaments in Vienna and Budapest were divided on ethnic, religious, and class lines.

THE MULTI-NATIONAL DUAL MONARCHY:Proportion of Germans in Austria: 33%.Proportion of Magyars in Hungary: 54%.Slavic subjects gained no political rights under the Ausgleich of 1867

The Second Pan-Slav Congress, Moscow, 1867, (the Czech Palacky now looks to Russia for leadership)

Popular uprisings against the Turks began in Bosnia in 1875, spread to Serbia, & climaxed in Bulgaria in April 1876

Between 7,000 and 15,000 Bulgarians were killed by the Turks in May 1876:“The Bulgarian Martyresses” (Russia, 1877)

In the British House of Commons, the Liberal William Gladstone attacked Conservative Prime Minister Disraeli for complicity with the “Bulgarian Horrors.”.

After agreeing that Austria could occupy Bosnia,Russia advanced into Bulgaria in 1877

Anton von Werner, “The Congress of Berlin, June-July 1878”De Launay-Gorchakov-Disraeli-Andrássy-Bismarck-Shuvalov-Mehmed Ali Pasha (see Norman Rich, pp. 26-8)

The Treaty of Berlin (1878) recognized Serbia & Rumania as sovereign and divided Bulgaria (until 1886)

THE DUAL ALLIANCE OF OCT. 1879 (Austria+Germany) • ART. 1: “Should, contrary to their hope, and against the loyal desire of the two High Contracting Parties, one of the two Empires be attacked by Russia, the High Contracting Parties are bound to come to the assistance one of the other with the whole war strength of their Empires, and accordingly only to conclude peace together and upon mutual agreement.” • ART. 2: “Should one of the High Contracting Parties be attacked by another Power, the other High Contracting Party binds itself hereby, not only not to support the aggressor against its high Ally, but to observe at least a benevolent neutral attitude towards its fellow Contracting Party.” • ART. 3: This treaty was to be kept secret, but if Russia’s armaments proved menacing, “the two High Contracting Parties would consider it their loyal obligation to let the Emperor Alexander know, at least confidentially, that they must consider an attack on either of them as directed against both.”

French marines hoist the tricolor at Tunis, May 1881, after Bey Muhammed-es-Sadok accepted French “protection”.

British troops in Egypt establish a protectorate in 1882

“The Partition of the Dark Continent” (Berlin cartoon, June 1884)

BUT BISMARCK WAS INTERESTED MAINLY IN EUROPE:TRIPLE ALLIANCE OF MAY 1882 (Germany-Austria-Italy) • ART. 2: “In case Italy, without direct provocation on her part, should be attacked by France, the two other Contracting Parties shall be bound to lend assistance with all their forces. The same obligation shall devolve upon Italy in case of any aggression …by France against Germany.” • ART. 3: “If one, or two, of the High Contracting Parties, without direct provocation on their part, should be attacked by two or more Great Powers non-signatory to the present Treaty, the casus foederis will arise simultaneously for all the High Contracting Parties.” • ART. 4: “In case a Great Power non-signatory to the present Treaty should threaten the security of one of the High Contracting Parties, and the threatened Party should find itself forced to make war against it, the two others bind themselves to observe towards their Ally a benevolent neutrality.” • ART. 6: The existence & contents of this treaty will be secret.

“The Triple Alliance,” Kladderadatsch, 1883:France & Russia are left out in the cold

GERMAN-RUSSIAN REINSURANCE TREATY, JUNE 1887: Did its terms conflict with those of the Dual Alliance? • ARTICLE 1: “In case one of the High Contracting Parties should find itself at war with a third Great Power, the other would maintain a benevolent neutrality towards it, and would devote its efforts to the localization of the conflict. This provision would not apply to a war against Austria or France in case this war should result from an attack directed against one of these two latter Powers by one of the High Contracting Parties.” • ART. 2: “Germany recognizes the rights historically acquired by Russia in the Balkan Peninsula, and particularly the legitimacy of her preponderant …influence in Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia. The two courts engage to admit no modification of the territorial status quo of the said peninsula without a previous agreement between them.” • ART. 3: The Bosporus & Dardanelles must be closed in wartime • ART. 5: The existence & contents of this treaty will be secret

THE DUAL ALLIANCE FORCED GERMAN GENERAL ALBERT von SCHLIEFFEN TO PLAN FOR A 2-FRONT WAR

The Pilot Leaves the Ship, Punch, March 1890 Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888-1918)

“Chancellors Come in Three Sizes,”i.e., Bismarck, Caprivi, & Hohenlohe,Lustige Blätter, January 1895.

Friedrich von Holstein,the top official at the Foreign Office from 1890 to 1906,and Count Albert von Schlieffen,army chief of staff, 1891-1906

Tsar Alexander III (born 1845, reigned 1881-1894)found that his diplomats urged friendship with Germany, but his generals, an alliance with France

ARCHITECTS OF THE FRANCO-RUSSIAN ALLIANCE General Raoul de Boisdeffre, Deputy Chief of Staff, 1890-94, then Chief General Nikolai Obruchev, Army Chief of Staff, 1881-97 (who had a French wife)

Franco-Russian Military Convention of August 1892 • If France is attacked by Germany or by Italy supported by Germany, Russia will employ all its available forces to attack Germany. If Russia is attacked by Germany or by Austria supported by Germany, France will employ all its available forces to combat Germany. • In case the forces of the Triple Alliance or of one of its members begin to mobilize, France and Russia will immediately and simultaneously mobilize all of their forces and deploy them as close to their borders as possible, as soon as the enemy mobilization is announced…. • The forces available for deployment against Germany will amount to 1,300,000 men on the part of France, and 700-800,000 men on the part of Russia. These forces are dedicated to combating Germany simultaneously from the East and West in the most effective manner possible. • The military general staffs of the two countries will deliberate together to prepare and execute the measures outlined above…. • France and Russia will not conclude a separate peace. • This convention will have the same duration as the Triple Alliance.

Official Visit by Tsar Nicholas II to France in 1901

BISMARCK QUEST FOR A NEW “CONCERT OF EUROPE”