ACHIEVEMENTS, SUCCESSES AND POSITIVE ROLE OF BISMARCK IN EUROPE

1) The 1871 Frankfurt treaty
By the Frankfurt treaty OF 1871, Bismarck gave the two mineral rich French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany. The newly created Germany benefited from the coal and iron deposits which fostered the industrialization of Germany at the expense of France. This weakened France economically and made her incapable-of financing a war of revenge against Germany.
The treaty also imposed a heavy war indemnity of 5 billion Francs (200 million pounds) and sent a German army of occupation to France, to ensure that the money was paid. The war indemnity was to weaken France economically and bolster Germany while the army of occupation was to ensure that France does not re-organise for a war of revenge against Germany. Although the war indemnity was cleared and the army of occupation withdrawn by 1875, there was a slow improvement in the French military might which still left France unable to fight Germany. This was a success because France remained weakened and unable to fight Germany. This policy was completely against France in favour of Germany.
It should be noted that by weakening France economically and militarily and disabling her from revenging, Bismarck proved to be a man of peace. This is because a Franco-German war was bound to attract the intervention of other powers, which would jeopardize peace in Europe after 1871.
2) The establishment of a republic in France
From 1871 - 1875, Bismarck supported the establishment of a republican government in France. This, he calculated would be isolated from the despotic monarchical governments of Austria and Russia. It would also not be acceptable to Britain who although was a constitutional and parliamentary government had a very poor relations with the earlier republican governments of France. Bismarck knew what he was doing and that is why he remarked; ... a republic, would find it difficult to obtain allies than a monarchy,.."
This was a success because it isolated France from the three continental powers of Austria, Russia and Britain. This also maintained peace because if any of the three had joined France, it would have given her opportunity to revenge and cause war. It should be noted that Bismarck clandestinely/secretly supported opposition party against the republic, which destabilized it and frustrated all hopes of revenge against Germany.
3) The Dreikaiserbund or the three Emperors league of 1872
In 1872, Bismarck successfully formed the Dreikaiserbund or the-three Emperors-league of Austria, Germany and Russia to attract Austria and Russia to Germany and isolate France. He exaggerated the threats of Republican France to the monarchical governments of Austria and Russia and this forced them to ally with Germany. The three emperors promised to assist one another against socialist revolts and to consult each other on matters of mutual interest.
This alliance threatened and suppressed socialism and consolidated conservative governments in Austria, Germany and Russia. It left France isolated, unable to wage a war of revenge and hence maintained peace in Europe. The coming together of the three emperors brought diplomatic co-operation which proved of Bismarck as a man of peace for it prohibited war between the three powers. It was of great significance because it proved that Austria had reconciled with Germany and forgotten the humiliations of the 1866 battle of Sadowa.
NB: The Dreikaiserbund was originally in favour of Germany and against France but to another extent it was for the general peace of the three powers and the whole Europe.
4) The war of nerves
In 1875, Bismarck embarked on what he called the "war of nerves" with France. France had recovered so fast that the idea of recovering Alsace and Lorraine was not lacking amongst the patriotic Frenchmen. She had paid the war indemnity and the German army of occupation was withdrawn and had expanded her army to the tune of 200.000 soldiers by 1875. Worst of all, France supported the German Catholics against Bismarck in the famous Kulturkamf. These developments scared Bismarck and made him to resort to the war of nerves in which he bullied France by mobilizing German troops towards the French boarders. He also manipulated articles, newspapers and made speeches in Germany to indicate a possibility of another war with France. However, when Britain and Russia threatened to assist France, Bismarck abandoned the war threats against France as a man of peace. Although Bismarck stopped threatening France, he nevertheless succeeded in intimidating/bulling France and more so Britain and Russia did not ally with France and hence France remained isolated, as Bismarck wanted.
5) The Balkan crisis of1875-1878
Between 1875- 1878, Bismarck successfully resolved the Balkan crisis in the Berlin congress of 1878.
The Balkan states of Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro revolted against unfair political, social, economic and religious policies of Turkey. Russia assisted them and Turkey was defeated. Russia then forced Turkey to sign the Sanstefeno treaty of March 1878 in which the big Bulgaria was created and independence was given to the Balkan states of Romania, Bessarabia, Bosnia, Herzegovina etc under, Russians’ patronage. This threatened Britain and Austria's political and economic interests in the Balkans.
They condemned Russian's illegal action in the Balkans but Bismarck kept Germany out of the conflict as a man of peace. By remaining neutral, Bismarck avoided conflicts with the contending parties i.e. Britain, Austria and Russia.
However, when Britain and Austria reached a decision to fight Russia, Bismarck turned round and involved Germany in the conflict. His fears were that it would undermine Germany's external trade and give France chance to secure alliance against Germany. That was why he called the Berlin congress of 1878 for a diplomatic settlement. He succeeded because the conflicting powers i.e. Britain, Austria and Russia attended and the Balkan crisis was settled under his chairmanship. Thus, Russian's Imperialism in the Balkans that was a threat to European peace was successfully contained. The congress was a diplomatic victory that maintained the European balance of power in favour of Germany and Bismarck.
By calling the conference and settling the Balkan problems diplomatically, Bismarck avoided war in Europe as a true man of peace.
Bismarck also used the conference to isolate France and divert her attention from recovering Alsace and Lorraine. He supported the French occupation of Tunisia in order to make her compensate for the loss of Alsace and Lorraine and refrain from fighting Germany. He did this with yet another aim of conflicting and hence isolating France from Italy since they were rivals over Tunisia. Bismarck succeeded and that is why Italy joined the dual alliance, which became triple alliance in 1882.
6) The Dual alliance of 1879
In 1879, Bismarck formed the Dual alliance to consolidate the Austro-German friendship as a result of the collapse of the Dreikiaserbund at the Berlin congress of 1878. Bismarck's biasness against Russia at Berlin moved Russia closer to France and there was a possibility of a Franco-Russian alliance against Germany. Bismarck therefore hoped to use the alliance as a tool to block a Franco-Russian alliance.
According to the terms of the Dual alliance, Austria promised to assist Germany if France and Russia or Russia and any other power jointly attack Germany but to remain neutral in case France alone attacks Germany. On the other hand, Germany promised to assist Austria incase Russia or France plus any other power attacks Austria but to remain neutral if Russia alone attacks Austria. These terms and conditions scared Russia from joining France to fight either Germany or Austria as an achievement for Bismarck.
The alliance was constantly renewed up to 1914 as a sign of success.
To some extent, the Dual alliance was for the Austro-German interests against France and Russia. But to another extent, it was for the general welfare, peace and prosperity of Europe. This was because a Franco- Russian alliance that Bismarck blocked was bound to cause war to Germany, Britain or both of them. This is because France had bitter relations with Germany to which she (France) would have used Russia to fight Germany while Russia had bad relations with Britain over the Balkans to which she would have used France in a war against Britain. Thus, Bismarck remains a man of peace and consolidated Germany's supremacy.
7) The triple allianceof1882
In 1882, Bismarck admitted Italy in the Dual alliance which became the triple alliance. He wanted to bring Italy to his camp, frustrate any possibility of France -Italian alliance and convince Italy to leave Tunisia for France in order to divert France's attention from Alsace and Lorraine. Bismarck was successful because the three powers, i.e. Italy, Germany and Austria signed the agreement. They pledged to support one another if attacked by anon-member especially France or Russia. By this agreement,
France remained isolated and there was peace because the members promised to co-operate with one another and block an alliance between France and Russia. Bismarck therefore, takes the credit for his skills and shrewdness in managing a complicated network of alliance as a way of isolating France, maintaining European's peace and consolidating Germany's supremacy. This is why Denis Richards remarked of Bismarck as a clever juggler who could keep five very costly plates, Austria- Hungary, Italy, France, Russia and Britain spinning through the air. The plates were always in danger of being smashed and injuring the juggler in the process but Bismarck's skills was such that the disaster never occurred.
The fact that Bismarck's downfall was majorly due to internal differences with Kaiser William and no through the net-work of alliances is a proof of the worth of this statement.
NB The triple alliance was to be kept secret and was to be renewed after every five years. However Italy made it clear that her position in the alliance was not to fight Britain i.e. for the fear of jeopardizing (endangering) her cordial relationship with Britain. This is part of the reason why Italy quitted the alliance and fought on the side of the Triple entente in the First World War. All the same, Bismarck is credited for bringing a diplomatic union of European powers (Germany, Austria and Italy) that stretched from the Baltic Sea in the North to the Adriatic Sea in the south hence maintaining European peace.
It should be acknowledged that Bismarck renewed the triple alliance in 1887. The alliance was extended to include Rumania that had signed separate defensive agreements with all the triple alliance powers between 1883-1887. In the agreement, Germany was to support Italy in Tripoli against France which Ital y offered to assist Germany against France in Europe and Austria agreed to recognize Italian interest in the Balkans all these left France increasingly isolated, unable to trouble Germany maintained the balance of power and consolidated German supremacy in European politics.
NB) One has to note that Bismarck had successfully used the alliance to isolate France and maintain peace in Europe. It was Kaiser William II misused the alliance system that enabled France to ally with Britain and Russia, which contributed to the outbreak of World War l.
8) The renewed Dreikaiserbund (three emperors League) October 1881.
In spite of the triple alliance, Bismarck was not yet convinced that the isolation of France was comp etc.
There was still a threat of a Franco-Russian alliance that would take him back to square number one. This is why he negotiated with the new Tsar Alexander III and renewed the Dreikaiserbund (three emperors League) in October 1881. It was to be a secret and military alliance for three years. The three emperors of Austria, Germany and Russia promised to remain neutral in a war involving any of them and a fourth power. They also agreed that one of the members was to mediate in a dispute or war involving the other two members of the league. To fully consolidate the Dreikaiserbund, Bismarck duped (deceived) Tsar
Alexander 111 that he would support the resurrection of the big Bulgaria that was dismantled at the 1878 Berlin conference. This alliance was a success because it settled Bismarck's fears and brought Russia and Austria back to around table inspite of their differences and quarrels in the Balkans. This preserved peace in Europe because it stopped the possibility of a Franco-Russian alliance either against Germany or Austria. It also meant that Austria would not support Britain against Russia and this guarded against magnifying local tension to war.
9) The scramble and partition of Africa and the Berlin congress of 1884-1885
During the scramble and partition of Africa, Bismarck was initially adamant for territories Africa. His reaction to pressure from the German colonial pressure groups was that: -My map of Africa lies in Europe. Here is Russia and there is France and we are in the middle that is my map for Africa.
Bismarck avoided colonies because it would antagonize British imperial interests and result into an alliance between Britain and France against Germany. He preferred to remain in Europe, maintain the balance of power and consolidate German supremacy. He also fore saw that intensive colonisation would require Germany to have a large well-equipped naval force which would provoke the British hostility.
This would provide France with the strongest ally i.e. Britain. Bismarck therefore avoided conflicts and proved his worth as a man of peace.
Nevertheless, Bismarck was forced by pressure from the industrialists to become a "colonial chancellor".
The industrialists argued Bismarck to acquire colonies for raw materials, markets, investments and for resettling the excess population. Bismarck succumbed to this pressure and entered the scramble and partition of Africa. He colonized Togo, Cameroon, Namibia and Tanganyika that later benefited Germany in terms of raw materials, markets, investment and settlement of the excess population.
It should be noted that Bismarck avoided conflicts during the scramble and partition because such conflicts would offer France alliance against Germany. He even avoided further conflicts with France and that is why he supported France in Tunisia. It’s also for the same reason that he avoided territories close to France but chose the ones next to those of Britain. For instance, he colonized Cameroon next to British Niger plus Togo that were adjacent to the British Ghana and Tanganyika that was close to the British colonies of Uganda and Kenya. These are evidences of Bismarck as a man of peace and a successful states man.....
However, when the scramble and partition of Africa threatened to cause war amongst the European powers, Bismarck called the 1884 - 1885 Berlin congress to settle colonial conflicts and cause other European powers to recognize Germany's colonies. He settled colonial disputes between the major conflicting powers (Britain, France, Belgium, Germany and Portugal) that compromised. The conference designed guidelines for the partition of Africa and that was why the partition of Africa was achieved without recourse to war. This is the surest evidence that Bismarck was a man of. Peace between 1871 -
1890. Indeed, the conference raised Bismarck to the level of an international diplomat and made France to stop dreaming about securing alliance and fighting a war of revenge against Germany. This is because there was no way France could successfully fight or ally against the only person who had made the whole exercise of the partition of Africa peaceful.
10) The renewed Bulgarian crisis of1885-1887
Bismarck successfully resolved the renewed Bulgarian crisis of 1885-1887.In 1885, the dissected Bulgaria united once more in a big state (Bulgaria united with East Rumania). The united Bulgarians elected Ferdinand Soxe Coburg as their ruler, which Tsar Alexander III did not only oppose but was prepared to throw out of the Bulgarian throne by force. Austria, Britain and Italy united to oppose Russian intensions because it was seen as an attempt to revive Russian imperial interest in Bulgaria. The threat of war between Russia on one hand against Austria, Britain and Italy on the other hand became so great that Bismarck decided to intervene. Consequently, in 1888, he published the 1879 Dual alliance that bonded Germany to assist Austria in case of war against Russia plus any other power. This forced Russia to cowardly give up her ambitions of ousting Ferdinand Soxe Coburg from the Bulgarian throne leaving Bulgaria an independent state free from Russian and Turkish influence.
11) The Mediterranean agreements
The Mediterranean agreements were very influential treaties in Bismarck's foreign policy. Aware of the diplomatic complications/problems from the succession of Ferdinand to the Bulgarian throne, Bismarck carried out a series of dialogue with the parties concerned i.e. Britain, Italy and Austria from 1886-1888.
This resulted into the first and second Mediterranean agreements of March 1886 and Dec 1887 respectively. In these agreements, Austria, Britain and Germany were to support Turkey in case of any aggression from Russia. Italy was to support British interest in Egypt and Britain was to support Italian interest in North Africa. These agreements provided the basis for co-operation in maintaining peace in the Mediterranean region, Turkish Empire and the Balkans. They helped to consolidate Germany's supremacy and isolate France in European diplomatic circles.
12) Maintenance of the balance of power
Bismarck also maintained the balance of power between Germany and Britain by avoiding building a strong navy. After 1871, Germany took over from France as a land power and Britain remained a sea power. Bismarck preserved the status quo by pursuing a cautious naval and military policy that did not challenge the British naval superiority. This helped to promote harmony between Britain and Germany, avoid arms race, maintain the balance of power and relative peace prevailed in Europe.
13) The Re-insurance treaty of1887
By 1887, the Dreikaiserbund had completely outlived its usefulness and Russia was on the verge of making an alliance with France against Germany. The way Bismarck and Austria handled events in the Balkan to the disfavour of Russia made it impossible for Russia to accept the renewal of the Dreikaiserbund, The Russian newspapers started to advocate for an alliance with France against Germany.
While in France the radical politicians led by General Boulanger were advocating for a Franco-Russian alliance against Germany. Bismarck in a desperate move made a secret Re-insurance treaty in 1887 with Tsar Alexander III of Russia. Russia and Germany agreed to be neutral in case of war with any other power but not when Austria attacks Russia or France attacks Germany. The Re-insurance treaty blocked a Franco-Russian alliance, left France fantastically isolated and unable to wage a war of revenge because the powers that mattered i.e. Britain. Italy, Austria - Hungary, Russia etc were either hostile to France or in "Bismarck's camp". It should be noted that by completely isolating France and avoiding her war of revenge, Bismarck maintained peace in Europe.
All in all, Bismarck had by 1890 greatly succeeded in fulfilling his aims and objectives. He had perfectly isolated France and avoided a war of revenge, maintained the 1871 Frankfurt treaty, consolidated Germany's supremacy and maintained peace in Europe. Although his policies generally favoured Germany at the expense of France and other powers, to a smaller extent, it favoured other powers either intentionally or accidentally.
Although Bismarck played the most significant role in preserving European peace between 1871 -1890, it should be noted that other factors also supplemented his role. The first is the co-operation and support of King William I. The king supported Bismarck's policies and programs in domestic and foreign affairs and this gave Bismarck an easy task to maintain European peace. The fact that Bismarck failed to work with the new king Kaiser William II signifies that king William I was a real "blessing" to Bismarck, Bismarck also took advantage of-the low skills and intelligence of King William I and overshadowed him in decision making. This was because Bismarck's skills and intellectual ability was above that of the king
And that was why he other than the king dominated domestic as well as foreign affairs.
The scramble and partition for colonies also favoured Bismarck's role. It diverted attention of European powers towards Africa and the Balkans and left Bismarck who had little interest in colonies to dominate European affairs. It led to colonial conflicts between France and other powers and made it difficult for France to secure allies. For instance, France conflicted with Britain, Italy and Belgium in Africa. She also confronted Russia in the Balkans and yet these are the powers that could have allied with her. Above all, the colonial conflicts gave Bismarck an opportunity to call the Berlin conferences of 1884 - 1885 and 1878 through which he settled colonial disputes and maintained peace.
The co-operation and support of other powers also complemented Bismarck's role in Europe. By 1890, there was no international organization to maintain peace and so Bismarck survived on the good will and co-operation of Britain, Austria, Italy, and to some extent Russia. These powers supported Bismarck's policies that were geared towards peace. This was shown at the two Berlin conferences.
Lastly, Bismarck was favoured by the weakness of France. France that was Bismarck's number one enemy adopted a republication government that was hated by despotic governments of Austria, Russia and even the liberal Britain. Worst of all, the third French Republic was very unstable and was faced by great challenges like the Panama Canal scandal, Dreyfus case, the Boulangist movement just to mention but the most notables. These internal problems made it difficult for France to harmonise her foreign policy and get allies to revenge against Germany.