Reinsurance Agreement 1900

When Germany refused to renew the treaty in 1890, the Franco-Russian Alliance quickly took shape from 1891/1892 to 1917. Bismarck had a long-term policy of maintaining peace in Europe and the growing competition between Russia and Austria-Hungary for supremacy over the Balkans threatened that peace. Bismarck felt that a deal with Russia was essential to prevent a Russian alliance with France – he has always had the policy of keeping France diplomatically isolated to avoid a two-front war with Germany, which is fighting both France and Russia. Bismarck risked the extension of the Russian sphere of influence to the Mediterranean and diplomatic tensions with Vienna. Historians agree that the reinsurance contract itself was not of great importance, but that the failure of its renewal marked the decisive turning point of the Russian movement away from Germany and towards France, and was therefore one of the multiple causes of the First World War that broke out in 1914. [5] Under Bismarck`s system of „peripheral diversion,“ the treaty depended largely on its prestige. [Citation required] When Emperor Wilhelm II Bismarck was removed from office in 1890, Russia requested the renewal of the treaty; Germany refused. Bismarck`s successor, Leo von Caprivi, did not need to appease Russia. Germany`s foreign policy establishment unanimously opposed the renewal because it contradicted so many other German positions regarding Austria, Britain, Romania and Italy. Thus, the reinsurance contract contradicted the secret contract of 1883, in which Germany and Austria promised to protect Romania. Russia was not aware of this treaty.

[2] Emperor Wilhelm II, still very influential in foreign policy, felt that his personal friendship with Tsar Alexander III would be enough to ensure new friendly diplomatic relations. His highest priority was to establish better relations with Britain. Anglo-Russian relations have long been strained by Russia`s desire to take control of the strait between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. London feared that Russian expansion to the south would threaten British colonial interests in the Middle East. France, desperate for an alliance, offered financial aid to rebuild the Russian economy and successfully developed the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894, which ended French isolation. Bismarck`s dismissal, the unpredictable temperament of Wilhelm II, and the uncertain politics of Bismarck`s successors were common causes of growing international instability. [3] In 1896, Bismarck, retired, made a lot of noise by revealing to a German newspaper the existence of the contract. He held his successor (Graf Caprivi) responsible for the non-renewal in 1890. Bismarck said the treaty`s failure had allowed France and Russia to unite.

[4] The reinsurance contract was concluded after the expiry of the German-Austrian-Russian Federation of the Three Emperors in 1887. . . .