Anglo-German Rivalry (AQA GCSE History)

Anglo-German Rivalry - Summary

Before the First World War, relations between Britain and Germany grew increasingly tense. For much of the 19th century, Britain had followed a policy of 'Splendid Isolation'. However, by the early 1900s, Germany was becoming a strong European power, and Britain began to feel threatened. Britain decided it needed allies to counterbalance Germany’s growing power, ending its policy of isolation by forming alliances with France (the Entente Cordiale in 1904) and later with Russia (1907).

One major source of tension between Britain and Germany was the naval race. Germany started rapidly building up its navy to compete with Britain, which had long had the world’s strongest navy to protect its vast empire. In response, Britain built new and powerful battleships, called Dreadnoughts, sparking a competition between the two nations to see who could build the largest and most advanced navy.

These rivalries in both naval and military strength led to a build-up of weapons and tension. By 1914, the relationship between Britain and Germany was one of distrust and hostility, contributing to the outbreak of the First World War.

Britain & Splendid Isolation

What is Splendid Isolation?

• In the 1800s, Britain was a major global power

• Splendid Isolation refers to the foreign policy that Britain adopted during the 19th century

• Splendid Isolation allowed Britain to:

  • focus on their colonies

  • maintain their global position

  • secure its trade routes

• Splendid Isolationism stopped Britain from making alliances

  • Britain felt that it did not need military or economic alliances

When did Splendid Isolation end?

• Britain's Splendid Isolationism was coming to an end at the start of the 20th century

  • Britain was too isolated

    • Europe was being split into two groups of alliances: the Triple Alliance and the Franco-Russian Alliance

  • Germany was becoming more of a threat

    • Germany was building a large navy which threatened Britain's power and empire

    • They supported the Boars in South Africa who rebelled against British rule

• In 1904, King Edward VII and French President, Émile Loubet, created the Entente Cordiale and in 1907, Britain signed an agreement with Russia

  • These alliances officially ended Britain's Splendid Isolation

Germany & Weltpolitik

• Kaiser Wilhelm wanted Germany to be a major world power, and have its 'place in the sun'

• To achieve this the Kaiser created an imperialistic foreign policy known as Weltpolitik

• Weltpolitik included:

  • a large overseas empire

    • To compete with other major world powers such as Britain and France

  • a large navy

    • To maintain the colonies

  • an economy that included global trade

Colonial tensions between Britain and Germany

• Tensions between Britain and Germany grew towards the late 19th and early 20th century

• The Kaiser's foreign policy, Weltpolitik, increased tensions between Britain and Germany

  • Britain saw Germany as a threat as Germany increased its:

    • navy

    • military spending

    • army

    • taxes to pay for the military and naval expansion

• Germany was interested in building an empire overseas

  • They were interested in African colonies

  • This increased tensions between Germany and Britain

    • Britain had a considerable amount of colonies in Africa

Naval rivalry between Britain and Germany

• Before the First World War, Britain had a large empire and profitable trade routes which were protected by a large and powerful Royal Navy

• Weltpolitik was only achievable if Germany had a large navy

• To achieve Weltpolitik, a series of Navy Laws were introduced known as the Tirpitz Plan

  • A series of five laws passed to increase the navy

  • These laws aimed to build the second-largest navy in the world, after Britain

• In response to the increasing German threat, Britain introduced the Naval Defence Act of 1889, which established the two-power standard

  • Britain's navy must equal the combined strength of the next two largest navies

  • The British government invested £20 million in the two-power standard

• In 1906, Britain announced the creation of a new type of warship - the HMS Dreadnought

  • The Dreadnought was faster and stronger than previous warships

• Germany responded to the Dreadnought, with their own version known as Rhineland

• Later, the British Navy responded with the creation of the 'Super-Dreadnought'

  • This resulted in the start of the Anglo-German naval race

• By 1914, the British Navy won the naval race

  • Britain had a total of 29 Dreadnoughts

  • Germany had a total of 17 Dreadnought-type ships

European rearmament before the First World War

• Tensions grew in Europe as European nations participated in an arms race

Size of the army

• By 1914, all European nations had increased the size of their armies

  • Britain had approximately 710,000 soldiers

  • France had approximately 1,250,000 soldiers

  • Russia had approximately 1,200,000 soldiers

  • Germany had approximately 2,200,000 soldiers

  • Austria-Hungary had approximately 810,000 soldiers

  • Italy had approximately 300,000 soldiers

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Military spending

• By 1914, all European nations had increased their military spending

  • Germany increased its military spending by 73%

  • Britain increased its military spending by 13%

  • France increased its military spending by 10%

  • Russia increased its military spending by more than a third

Conscription

• By 1914, France, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy had introduced conscription

• Britain was the only major European power not to introduce conscription by 1914

Military planning

• As tensions in Europe grew, major European nations began to plan for war

• Each country had their own detailed plan, explaining how they would attack if war happened:

  • Britain - The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) would travel to France

  • Germany - The Schlieffen Plan

    • Planned to attack France, then turn and fight against Germany to prevent encirclement

  • France - Plan 17

    • Troops would march through Alsace-Lorraine and capture German towns as it continued into Berlin

  • Russia - Plan 19

    • Troops would attack the eastern borders of Germany and Austria-Hungary

  • Austria-Hungary - Plan B and Plan R

    • Austria-Hungary developed a series of plans

    • They differed depending on who attacked them