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Henry Kissinger - Diplomacy
Chapter 7
Urvashi Deshmukh and Louise Forbes
Brief Summary of the Chapter:
According to Kissinger, Germany may not be solely responsible for the outbreak of World War I. There were other reasons for the start of the war, for example, the change in the balance of power, which led to an arms race amongst the European powers.
Bismarck was an astute and revered leader in the European community. His departure signaled a change in Germany’s foreign policy. Germany’s pursuit for its own security became the reason for its insecurity. Germany became the strongest military power in continental Europe and caused Great Britain, France and Russia to align against it. Ironically, for the greater part of Imperial Germany’s history, Russia was considered the main threat to peace in Europe. Russia always wanted more land and craved for territorial expansion.
A remarkable change occurred in British foreign policy between 1890 and 1914. The architect of change was the Marquis of Salisbury. Salisbury authored the phrase “splendid isolation” to depict Britain’s stance of neutrality, yet involved Great Britain in continental alliances.
The young Kaiser’s foreign policy acumen was a poor shadow of Bismarck’s diplomacy. William II’s first diplomatic move was to reject the Tsar’s offer to renew the Reinsurance Treaty for another three year term. The Kaiser, by doing so, pulled perhaps the most important thread out of the fabric of Bismarck’s system of overlapping alliances. Bismarck’s ambiguous treaty, which was a tactically brilliant move, acted as a balance between Austria’s fears and Russia’s ambitions without having to break with either nations or to escalate the endemic Balkan crisis. The Kaiser literally paved the way for the Franco-Russian alliance. Throughout his reign, the Kaiser was better at starting crisis than he was at concluding them.
Germany tried hard to bring Britain on its side. But the bullying tactics and the demand for a formal
Chapter 7
Urvashi Deshmukh and Louise Forbes
Brief Summary of the Chapter:
According to Kissinger, Germany may not be solely responsible for the outbreak of World War I. There were other reasons for the start of the war, for example, the change in the balance of power, which led to an arms race amongst the European powers.
Bismarck was an astute and revered leader in the European community. His departure signaled a change in Germany’s foreign policy. Germany’s pursuit for its own security became the reason for its insecurity. Germany became the strongest military power in continental Europe and caused Great Britain, France and Russia to align against it. Ironically, for the greater part of Imperial Germany’s history, Russia was considered the main threat to peace in Europe. Russia always wanted more land and craved for territorial expansion.
A remarkable change occurred in British foreign policy between 1890 and 1914. The architect of change was the Marquis of Salisbury. Salisbury authored the phrase “splendid isolation” to depict Britain’s stance of neutrality, yet involved Great Britain in continental alliances.
The young Kaiser’s foreign policy acumen was a poor shadow of Bismarck’s diplomacy. William II’s first diplomatic move was to reject the Tsar’s offer to renew the Reinsurance Treaty for another three year term. The Kaiser, by doing so, pulled perhaps the most important thread out of the fabric of Bismarck’s system of overlapping alliances. Bismarck’s ambiguous treaty, which was a tactically brilliant move, acted as a balance between Austria’s fears and Russia’s ambitions without having to break with either nations or to escalate the endemic Balkan crisis. The Kaiser literally paved the way for the Franco-Russian alliance. Throughout his reign, the Kaiser was better at starting crisis than he was at concluding them.
Germany tried hard to bring Britain on its side. But the bullying tactics and the demand for a formal