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Text|Ferthonn.
Edit|On January 18, 1871, Prussian monarch Wilhelm I was officially crowned Emperor of Germany in the Palace of Versailles in Paris, France, and Germany was finally unified after more than 500 years.
As the first emperor of the Second German Empire, Wilhelm I received indescribable honors at this moment, but the whole world knows that the greatest hero of German unification is the man who stands behind Wilhelm I - Chancellor Bismarck.
The completion of German reunification was of course a great joy for all the German people, but Bismarck had already begun to think about the future direction of the situation in Europe, and he knew very well how great the impact of German reunification would be on Europe and even the whole world.
So, while Wilhelm I was receiving the emperor's coronation with joy on his face, Bismarck was ready to strengthen relations with European powers other than France, especially **, immediately after the end of the war with France.
In 1872, Germany quickly organized a meeting with ** and Austria-Hungary to ease their relations, and the following year formally formed the "Three Emperors Alliance", and everything seemed to be moving in the direction that Bismarck had envisioned, but it often backfired.
In 1890, Bismarck, who was nearly eighty years old, was dismissed by the new German Emperor Wilhelm II, and with him was abandoned, along with the Reinsurance Treaty, which maintained German-Russian relations.
Why did Britain, France, and Russia, which had many contradictions, come together after the reunification of Germany, and what efforts did Bismarck and Germany make to achieve this?
Coronation of William I).
Europe before World War I was a chaotic Europe, and the diplomatic relations behind it were even more chaotic ......
Flashy rise and cautious diplomacy
The main reason why the reunification of Germany will have such a huge impact on the countries of Europe is that the situation in Europe has been moving towards the "balance of power" for many years, but the reunification of Germany has completely broken this situation.
Bismarck) In modern times, several European powers represented by Britain, France, and Russia have actually been in a state of mutual checks and balances, so it is almost impossible for a single country to emerge in Europe, and the anti-French alliance is a good example.
Germany, which had not yet been reunified, was an important reason for ensuring the balance of power in Europe.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were five major powers in Europe, Britain, France, Russia, Prussia and Austria, among which Prussia and Austria were both German states, because the antagonistic relationship between the two countries would not allow Germany to be unified as the first power, and it could contain other powers.
This situation lasted for many years, until the emergence of Wilhelm I and Bismarck, Prussia's national power increased rapidly, and Bismarck, the "iron-blooded prime minister", also stood very decisively on the national standpoint, brazenly led Prussia to victory in three wars.
First of all, in the face of Denmark, in order to seize two lands that belonged to Germany, Prussia and Austria jointly attacked, and after the victory of Prussia, Prussia began to gain a region.
Austro-Prussia won the war against Denmark, and Prussia immediately began the war against Austria, both of which were the successors of Germany, which would determine who could unify Germany, and in the end Prussia won, and Austria had no hope of unifying Germany.
The third war was the famous Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck knew that there would be a war between Franco-Prussia, so in the previous battle with Austria, Prussia took advantage of it and did not push it into a corner, in order to prevent the French yellow finch from behind.
This also allowed Prussia to not overexert its own strength, which, combined with its already strong military strength and the vulnerability of France, led to Prussia's victory.
Wilhelm I's coronation at Versailles coincided with the Franco-Prussian War, and from then on, after these three crucial wars, Prussia achieved its mission to unify Germany, and German Second Germany was founded.
The reunification of Germany means that the balance of power in Europe is about to be broken, and Germany has no suspense to become the first power in Europe.
After the establishment of the Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck immediately launched his excellent diplomatic means, using a series of diplomatic treaties, namely the German-Austrian-Italian alliance, the German-Russian reinsurance treaty, the Anglo-Austrian-Italian Mediterranean agreement, etc., to make friends with all European powers except France.
As the largest power in Europe at the time, Bismarck's fawning diplomacy seemed a little timid and cautious, but it created a diplomatic system that took advantage of the contradictions between other countries and made all countries except France look for it.
Even Herbert, Bismarck's own son, who served as a German diplomat, could not understand why Germany wanted to help Austria-Hungary resist ** at the same time, but also help ** resist Austria-Hungary.
All in all, Bismarck's diplomatic system is still very effective, even if Britain, France and Russia are no longer accustomed to seeing Germany as the dominant one, they are forced by contradictions with other countries and cannot find an opportunity to unite to suppress Germany.
Geographical, national contradictions and religion
Modern European politics has always been complex and highly religious, and before the Entente cooperated, many people probably could not have imagined that Britain and France, which had fought for hundreds of years, and Britain and Russia, which had been full of colonial contradictions, would stand on the same front.
Bismarck).There are many European countries, and there is no such figure as Qin Shi Huang in history to unify them, so the geographical location of European countries is extremely important, and even enough to affect the survival of a country.
Britain stood firm for many years until after World War II when it was replaced by the United States as the hegemon, because it was on its own, and with a strong navy, it could sit back and relax, and the United States' unique position in North America was also an important factor in its war wealth.
France's geographical location is worse than that of Britain, not only has to guard against the British navy behind it, but also has to guard against the siege of many countries on land, so the anti-French alliance can be realized so smoothly.
In contrast, Germany's geographical location is even more "dead", with France to the west, ** to the east, Austria-Hungary and Italy to the south, and an important strategic area of the British Navy in the northwest.
The European system under Bismarck's diplomacy).
In other words, Germany is surrounded by the great European powers, and its geographical position is arguably the most dangerous in Europe.
That is why Bismarck was so cautious in handling diplomatic relations with several countries, because in the event of a war with other countries, the powerful Germany might have the upper hand in the early stage, but the other countries that were not willing to be the only one would surely join forces to strangle it.
National contradictions became the key to Bismarck's balance of the situation in Europe, but it also ended up ruining Germany's good situation.
First of all, France, which is a diplomatic object that Germany will never consider, because the two sides have actually torn their faces, and after the Franco-Prussian War, Germany and France have already formed a national feud and family hatred, and it is impossible to reconcile.
The recovery period of several years gave France a respite and began to build up its armaments, and Bismarck saw the opportunity to hype up the possible threat that France posed to Europe, which did play a role, and other countries initially became concerned about France.
But as Germany itself was raising tensions, it backfired and hastened Germany's own isolation.
Triple Alliance and Triple Entente).
As for the relationship with Britain, Germany handled it very delicately, because Britain, which had always been "neutral", did not want to conflict with Germany, but also did not want Germany to conflict with other countries, so Germany and Britain were relatively silent during Bismarck's reign.
In fact, ** and Austria-Hungary is an important diplomatic object of Germany, at the beginning of Germany, Austria and Russia are cooperative relations, but with the conflict of the colonies, ** and Austria-Hungary The contradiction has intensified, and because of the estimation of Germany's strength, ** has also gone away from it.
So Bismarck befriended ** while appeasing Austria-Hungary at the same time, and this kind of duplicitous diplomacy at least ensured that Germany would not be besieged by the joint forces of other countries, because other countries were more or less contradictory.
Then there is religion, the influential pope in Europe before the First World War, sided with the trustworthy Germany, while Russia, Britain, France, and Russia were on the opposite side of the pope, and Italy, which was also opposed to the pope, joined the Entente shortly after the First World War.
There is no doubt that the Holy See, as a religion that has been influential in Europe for many years, must have had a decisive influence on the diplomacy between countries.
Bismarck Memorial Fort).
In short, the contradictions between countries and states, the choice of religion, and the geographical environment of Germany, coupled with the dominance of Germany, eventually led to the contradictory Britain, France and Russia standing on the same front and forming an alliance.
The short-lived European hegemon
In 1890, Bismarck was not trusted by the new German Emperor Wilhelm II and ceased to be the German Chancellor, and then Germany's diplomatic situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and Britain, France and Russia became closer and closer, and finally formed an alliance.
Germany also concluded treaties with Austria-Hungary and Italy, and the Entente and the Central Powers became the two major camps that dominated the situation in Europe and even the world, and the First World War was finally ignited shortly after.
The war was brutal, both the defeated and the victorious countries lost a large number of people, countless farmlands and industrial areas were destroyed, and the United States sat back and watched the tiger fight, and entered the war at the last moment to enjoy the fruits of victory.
After World War I, Germany lost its title as the first power in Europe and incurred a large amount of reparations, and then the story of Nazi domination, the outbreak of World War II, and Germany's defeat again.
The reunification of Germany was a very important event in modern history and even in the history of the world, and even led to the outbreak of World War I and World War II.
German reunification in 1990).
Among them, France and Germany can be described as a life and death feud, from the Franco-Prussian War to the World War, many major wars broke out between the two countries, but after World War II, they reconciled and even became European friends.
Conclusion
From the perspective of European history, geopolitics, colonial contradictions and religious factors have always been the key factors affecting the fate of its country, and Germany is no exception.
But the wounds of the war were indelible, and many years later, when Germany was reunited again, the world had already changed its face, and Germany had finally come out of the shadow of war.
Reference: British Foreign Policy and the Balance of Power in Europe during the Interwar Period Tao Yue.
Two pictures of Europe, a glimpse of half a century Zhang Xin.
On the Outside of the German Empire in Bismarck's Time. Strategy (1871-1890) Li Zhenglin.
A Brief Discussion on the Religious and Cultural Factors of Joining the Entente Group Meng Zhaochen.
An Analysis of the Unification of Germany in 1871 Wang Hua.