encirclement
The encirclement theory (also known as the encirclement theory ) was a popular political conception in the period before the First World War , which describes the concern of large circles of the German people to be encircled by enemies. It also determined the course of the so-called July crisis of 1914.
background
At the end of the 19th century, there were two military defense alliances in Europe: the Triple Alliance founded in 1882 from the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Italy on the one hand and the French-Russian alliance founded in 1894 on the other. Although both alliances were conceived as pure defense alliances, they were explicitly opposed to one another as military systems. The French-Russian alliance came into being after the German-Russian neutrality agreement (the so-called reinsurance treaty ) was not extended by the German side. This threatened the German Reich with a two-front war in the event of war, which Bismarck tried to prevent with the help of the reinsurance treaty. Great Britain stayed out of the conflict as a neutral partner (so-called splendid isolation ).
At the beginning of the 20th century the balance of the military blocs threatened to shift to the disadvantage of the German Reich. In the Italian-French neutrality agreement of 1902, in addition to an agreement on territorial claims in North Africa, Italy also agreed, among other things. a. then to remain neutral in the event of war when France wages a provoked war of aggression against the German Reich. In order to prevent an impending colonial war with France, Great Britain gave up its splendid isolation policy in 1904 and concluded the Entente cordiale with France , in which they divided Morocco and Egypt among themselves. When Russia joined in 1907, it developed into the Triple Entente . In parts of the German population the impression arose that the German Reich was isolated in terms of foreign policy and "encircled" in a hostile manner.
Emergence
According to Gerd Krumeich , the term encirclement was coined by Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow in a speech to the Reichstag on November 14, 1906, in which he gave an assessment of the entente cordiale , which had previously been concluded between England and France. Von Bülow gave this speech in response to an interpellation by Ernst Bassermann , who saw Germany increasingly isolated (“The hour of brilliant isolation is approaching”). In this context von Bülow said: “The entente cordiale without good relations between the world powers and Germany would be a threat to European peace. A policy aimed at encircling Germany, forming a circle of powers around Germany, in order to isolate and paralyze it, would be a questionable policy for European peace. ”However, in the same speech he contradicted Bassermann by declaring: Germany don't be isolated and even if that were the case, you don't have to “cry like a lonely child in the forest”. In a retrospective, published during the First World War, von Bülow expressed himself even more clearly: "The artful encirclement and isolation of Germany, for some time the horror of anxious minds, turned out to be a diplomatic mirage".
distribution
The term "encirclement" spread quickly and became a common property not only in nationalist circles, but also in those parts of the press that were critical of the system of the empire, such as B. in the Simplicissimus . Even in the field of social democracy there were many supporters of this idea. Liberal system critics such as Max Weber and Theodor Wolff also adopted this term.
The encirclement theory acquired additional importance in the course of the rapprochement between Great Britain and the Russian Empire in 1907 after the joint settlement of the Dogger Bank crisis . When, in the wake of the second Moroccan crisis, the cooperation between France and England became ever closer, more and more Germans felt that they were encircled , and this idea developed into an “encirclement phobia” .
In the increasingly hostile relationships of the prewar period, the concept of encirclement determined political action and the emotions of large circles of the population so strongly that ultimately, in the July crisis of 1914, the immediately preceding phase of the First World War, action was significantly influenced by this concept.
relation to reality
In reality, Germany's increasing political isolation was not so much a question of "encirclement" and more of "self-elimination" as a result of the completely unrealistic Wilhelmine foreign, colonial and armaments policy. While Bismarck was still striving for an alliance with Russia and a good relationship with Great Britain, Wilhelm II made no more attempts in this direction.
aftermath
The notion of pre-war encirclement remained an important argument both during the World War and in the post-war discussion of the war guilt issue, both among historians and politicians and in the press .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Gerd Krumeich: encirclement. in: Encyclopedia First World War. 2nd Edition. Paderborn 2004, pp. 452-453.
- ↑ Reichstag protocols , 1905 / 06,5, p. 3622 on reichstagsprotlogs.de
- ↑ Reichstag protocols , 1905 / 06.5, p. 3624 on reichstagsprotlog.de
- ↑ Reichstag protocols , 1905 / 06.5, p. 3631 on reichstagsprotlog.de
- ^ B. von Bülow: Deutsche Politik , 1916; in: A. Gasser: Prussischer Militärgeist und Kriegsentfesselung 1914 , 1985
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↑ Kirsten Zirkel: From militarist to pacifist. Political life and work of General Berthold von Deimling against the background of the development of Germany from the German Empire to the Third Reich. (Dissertation) Düsseldorf 2006, ( PDF )
Imanuel Geiss : Germany and Austria-Hungary at the outbreak of war in 1914. An analysis of the history of power. In: Michael Gehler: Unequal partners? Austria and Germany in their mutual perception. Historical analyzes and comparisons from the 19th and 20th centuries. (= Historical communications. Supplement 15). Stuttgart 1996, pp. 375-395, here p. 383. - ↑ Gerd Krumeich: encirclement. in: Language and Literature in Science and Education 63. (1989), pp. 99-104.