The Great Powers, Imperialism and the German Problem, 1865-1925

John Lowe

London and New York Contents

List of illustrations viii List of maps ix Introduction: the European powers in the late nineteenth century 1 The balance of power and the Concert of Europe 2 The gnat powers 3 The 'flanking' powers: Britain and Russia 4 The central powers: Austria(-Hungary) and (Prussia-)Germany 10 France 15 The lesser powers: Italy and Turkey 18 The rising powers: fapan and the United States 21 Sources and further reading 23 1 International relations: Biarritz to the Berlin Post, 1865-1875 24 The war of 1866, Sadowa and the policy of pourboires 29 Franco-Prussian relations, 1867-1870 33 Bismarck and the Hohenzollern candidature " 35 The Franco-Prussian war 38 Germany and the great powers, 1871-1875 39 Sources and further reading 42 2 Hie dilemma of Bismarddan foreign policy, 1875-1887 44 The Near East crisis of 1875-1878 45 The creation of the 'Bismarckian system' 1879-1882 54 Pan-Slavism and revanchism 60 The Bulgarian crisis of 1885-1887 and the Bismarckian system 63 Britain and the Triple Alliance 66 The decline of the Bismarckian system 70 Sources and further reading 73 vi Contents 3 Imperial rivalries in Africa, 1875-1898 74 The debate on imperialism 74 The scramble for Africa 82 Anglo-French rivalry over Egypt and west Africa in the 1880s 85 Confrontation on the Niger and the Nile in the 1890s 91 Bismarck's bid for colonies, 1884-1889 93 German diplomacy in Africa, 1890-1898 100 Sources and further reading 106 4 The Far Eastern crisis of 1895-1905 and the ententes of 1904 and 1907 109 The western powers in China 109 Russian expansion in the Far East 114 The Boxer rising and the Manchurian crisis 117 The Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902 119 The AngUyfrench entente of 1904 123 The origins of the Russo-Japanese war 128 The Anglo-Russian entente of 1907 132 Sources and further reading 139 5 WeUpolitik, the navy and Anglo-German relations, 1897-1913 141 Interpretations o/Weltpolitik 143 Weltpolitik in action 149 The 'failure' o/Weltpolitik 151 Naval rivalry 153 The search for a naval agreement 159 Anglo-German relations 161 Sources and further reading 164 6 Crises and tension, 1905-1913 166 The Moroccan crisis of 1905-1906 166 The Agadir crisis of 1911 174 The Bosnian crisis of 1908-1909 183 The Balkan wars, 1912-1913 188 The 'German Problem' on the eve of the 1914 war 195 Sources and further reading 200 7 The great powers and die July crisis, 1914 202 Introduction 202 The Austw-Serb conflict 203 Russia and the Balkans 210 Germany and the policy of 'calculated risk' 216 Britain and the failure of mediation 221 Contents vii France and the absence of restraint 227 Military planning, mobilization and the cult of the offensive 229 The origins of the First World War 232 Sources and further reading 239 EpOogue: The German Problem, 1919-1925 241 Sources and further reading 253 Index 255