Free Hand Policy

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A free hand policy is metaphorically understood to be a foreign policy in which a state renounces alliances in order not to have to take the interests of its allies into account in its own actions.

A much-cited historical example of a free hand policy can be found in the German Empire after Otto von Bismarck's dismissal (1890). Based on the assumption that the great powers Great Britain and Russia were in irreconcilable opposition, Bismarck's successors in the office of Chancellor believed that they could forego Bismarck's alliance policy , which was perceived as inhibiting . Bismarck had built the alliances to secure the empire's foreign policy against France and Russia because of the danger of an extremely dangerous two- front war .

The German foreign policy, now pursued with greatly reduced alliance considerations, snubbed the other European powers, who reacted accordingly. In 1894 the Franco-Russian treaty ( dual association ) was concluded and in 1904 the Entente between Great Britain and France was established. An agreement between Russia and France followed in 1907 and finally the Triple Entente in 1908 , in which Russia, England and France were involved.

These developments showed that the basic assumption of irreconcilable differences between Great Britain and Russia had been wrong. As a result, the “free hand policy” had isolated the German Reich in foreign policy with the exception of Austria-Hungary. The “coalition nightmare” feared by Bismarck in the Kissinger dictation had become a reality.

Since the foreign policy leeway of German policy towards the end of the Bismarck era was already narrowed by a series of at least latent conflicts with Great Britain and Russia, the free hand policy only resulted in a comparatively small gain in colonial territory in the German protected areas in the South Seas .

literature

  • Johannes Lepsius, Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy (ed.): The politics of the free hand 1899–1904. In: dies .: The Great Politics of the European Cabinets 1871–1914. Collection of diplomatic files from the Foreign Office. Vol. 13-18. German Publishing Society for Politics and History, Berlin 1924.