Discuss the objectives of Bismarck’s foreign policy between 1871 and 1890.

Candidates are required to offer a considered and balanced review of what the key aims of Bismarck’s foreign policy were following the unification of Germany.
Note: This is not a question on the wars of German unification.

Indicative content

• After the defeat of France (1870–1871), Bismarck’s main objective was to keep France isolated. His fear was that France would ally with another European power and, ultimately, that Germany could face a two-front war.
• To achieve French isolation, Bismarck had to keep on good terms with both Austria-Hungary and Russia (hence the Dreikaiserbund of 1873).
• However, Austro-Russian rivalry in the Balkans posed a serious threat to Bismarck’s policy. He had to use diplomacy to prevent conflict between Austria-Hungary and Russia. After the Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire (1877–1878) and the Treaty of San Stefano 1878, Bismarck offered himself as “honest broker” and hosted the Congress of Berlin 1878.
• As Austro-Russian relations worsened in the later 1870s and 1880s, Bismarck concluded the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879 (enlarged in 1882 to include Italy) and the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia (1887). As long as these alliances remained, France would lack a major Continental European ally.
• With Britain, Bismarck also sought good relations and was generally unwilling to become involved in colonial disputes in Africa and Asia. Bismarck hosted the Berlin Conference (1884–1885), which settled a number of colonial disputes.
• Bismarck’s foreign policy objectives could be argued to have a domestic dimension—the preservation of his supporters in power. In making this argument candidates could suggest that Bismarck’s brief interest in the acquisition of colonies in 1884 and 1885 was a response to sections of German public opinion that, through the formation of the German Colonial League in
  1882, vociferously demanded overseas territory. In this way Bismarck aimed to assist the popularity in the German elections of parties that supported him.
• Another area where domestic and foreign policy arguably overlap is the Kulturkampf. Internationally, this policy certainly alienated the Pope and Catholic opinion; however it was mainly focused on domestic policy and consolidation of the new German Empire.

The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.

Examiners are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.

[20 marks]