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Bismarck and the Great Game: Germany and Anglo-Russian Rivalry in Central Asia, 1871–1890
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2015
Abstract
Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of a unified Germany, was an active participant in the Anglo-Russian rivalry for control of Central Asia. Even though Germany had no direct interests there and was never involved on the ground during the two decades of his chancellorship, Bismarck invested considerable resources in working to shape the course of events in that part of the world, stoking the flames of conflict whenever it suited the dictates of Realpolitik. Over a twenty-year period, he actively pursued a consistent strategy that focused on tying down Russian troops in the remote Asian steppes, i.e., as far away from Central Europe as possible. At the same time, he manipulated Anglo-Russian rivalry in Asia to achieve various foreign policy goals that would further German interests. This article explores in detail all of these objectives, as well as their interrelationship. In particular, it unravels the perplexing mystery of how Bismarck was able to influence the politics of Central Asia from his distant headquarters in Berlin.
Der erste Kanzler des geeinten Deutschland, Otto von Bismarck, spielte eine aktive Rolle in der britisch-russischen Rivalität um die Herrschaft über Zentralasien. Obwohl Deutschland dort während Bismarcks zwei Jahrzehnte dauernder Kanzlerschaft keine unmittelbaren Interessen hatte und niemals direkt vor Ort involviert war, investierte der Kanzler erhebliche Mittel, um den dortigen Verlauf der Ereignisse zu beeinflussen und den Konflikt am Leben zu halten, solange es dem Diktat seiner Realpolitik entsprach. So verfolgte er zwanzig Jahre lang bewusst eine kontinuierliche Strategie, die darauf bedacht war, die russischen Truppen in der entlegenen asiatischen Steppe zu binden und damit gleichzeitig so weit wie möglich von Zentraleuropa fernzuhalten. Währenddessen manipulierte er die britisch-russische Rivalität in Asien zu Gunsten deutscher Interessen. All dies wird im Folgenden im Detail beleuchtet – mit einem besonderen Augenmerk auf Bismarcks verblüffendes Talent, seinen Einfluss aus dem entfernten Berlin sogar auf die Politik in Zentralasien geltend zu machen.
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References
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32 PA-AA, R17507, dispatch from Bismarck to Reuss, no. 313, Dec. 28, 1872.
33 PA-AA, R17509, dispatch from Bülow to Reuss, no. 203, March 20, 1875.
34 PA-AA, R17509, reports from Reuss to Bismarck, no. 80, March 22, 1875 , and no. 85, March 30, 1875.
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37 PA-AA, R17510, report from Münster to Bismarck, no. 45, March 14, 1876, and dispatch from Bülow to Münster, no. 179, March 19, 1876; PA-AA, R17511, dispatch from Bülow to Schweinitz, no. 213, April 10, 1876.
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41 PA-AA, R17519, report from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 36, Jan. 29, 1882.
42 PA-AA, R17520, reports from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 40, Feb. 18, 1884, and no. 44, Feb. 22, 1884.
43 PA-AA, R17520, dispatch from Bismarck to Schweinitz, no. 124, Feb. 26, 1884 (text also in NFA, 6:75–77).
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47 PA-AA, R17529, reports from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 131, April 21, 1885, and Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 139, April 24, 1885.
48 Bereton, “The Panjdeh Crisis, 1885”.
49 When Gladstone misrepresented Anglo-Russian negotiations in parliament, for example, Giers saved him considerable embarrassment by furnishing the prime minister with a telegram that he then read in the House of Commons in order to show that he had not lied to parliament. See PA-AA, R17526, report from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 89, March 21, 1885.
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54 PA-AA, R17538, note from Bismarck to H. Bismarck, no. 1, May 21, 1887.
55 PA-AA, R17539, note from H. Bismarck to Hatzfeldt, no. 545, June 16, 1887. Emphasis in original.
56 Between February and December 1887, notes were exchanged among leaders in Italy, Great Britain, and Austria-Hungary, the intent of which was to preserve the status quo in the Ottoman Empire and oppose French expansion in North Africa. See Medlicott, W. N., “The Mediterranean Agreements of 1887,” The Slavonic Review 5 (1926): 66–88Google Scholar.
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59 PA-AA, R17517, report from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 31, Feb. 1, 1881.
60 A study based on Russian archival material suggests that Bismarck may have generally overestimated the importance of these dynastic ties; see Burgaud, Stéphanie, La politique russe de Bismarck et l'unification allemande. Mythe fondateur et réalités politiques (Strasbourg: Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, 2010)Google Scholar.
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62 Alexander II described his sentiments in this way: “J'aime mon oncle, mais Bismarck est une affreuse canaille.” See Frauendienst, Werner, Rich, Norman, and Fisher, M. H., eds., Die geheimen Papiere Friedrich von Holsteins, vol. 1 (Göttingen: Musterschmidt Verlag, 1956), 123Google Scholar. Also see similar descriptions in PA-AA, R9863, letter from Reuss to Thile, July 1, 1872; WAJG, Reuss Papers, 284, letter from Reuss to Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, Nov. 10, 1891.
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64 For the wider context of this confrontation, see von Nostitz, Herbert, Bismarcks unbotmäßiger Botschafter: Fürst Münster von Derneburg (1820–1902) (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1968)Google Scholar.
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66 PA-AA, R17514, dispatch from Bülow to Münster, no. 659, Dec. 24, 1878.
67 PA-AA, R17514, dispatch from Bülow to Münster, no. 660, Dec. 24, 1878.
68 PA-AA, R9884, telegram from Wilhelm I to Alexander II, Dec. 8, 1876. To underline the political sensitivity of this personal communication, the text of the telegram was classified by the Foreign Office as “top secret.”
69 PA-AA, R17525, telegram from Münster to F.O., no. 66, March 5, 1885, and report from Münster to Bismarck, no. 66, March 8, 1885; PA-AA, R17526, report from Münster to Bismarck, no. 90, March 25, 1885; PA-AA, R17527, report from Münster to Bismarck, no. 93, March 31, 1885.
70 PA-AA, R17526, dispatch from Bismarck to Münster, no. 94, March 17, 1885.
71 PA-AA, R17527, dispatch from Bismarck to Münster, no. 109, March 31, 1885 (text also in NFA, 6:541–44).
72 PA-AA, R17528, letter from Münster to H. Bismarck, April 13, 1885. On the general subject of censoring communications to the emperor, see Stone, “Cracking the Bismarck Code.”
73 See Stone, “Cracking the Bismarck Code.”
74 PA-AA, R17527, telegram from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 56, April 6, 1885.
75 PA-AA, R17531, letter from Thielau to H. Bismarck, May 15, 1885.
76 PA-AA, R17531, report from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 177, May 21, 1885.
77 PA-AA, R17531, report from Hatzfeldt to Schweinitz, no. 312, May 17, 1885, and report from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 177, May 21, 1885.
78 PA-AA, R17532, memorandum from Bismarck to Wilhelm I, May 27, 1885. The direct link between the incident with the grand duke and this memorandum is documented in the workflow notations contained in the memo's draft. It clearly refers to Schweinitz's report no. 177 (see n. 76) as the basis for the kaiser's briefing.
79 See Kollander, Patricia, “Constitutionalism or Staatsstreich? Bismarck, Crown Prince Frederick William, and the Succession Crisis of 1880–1885,” European Review of History 8 (2001): 187–201CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
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84 The most extensive works arguing in favor of this hypothesis include Riehl, Alex, Der “Tanz um den Äquator”. Bismarcks antienglische Kolonialpolitik und die Erwartung des Thronwechsels in Deutschland 1883 bis 1885 (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1993)Google Scholar; Baumgart, Winfried, ed., Bismarck und der deutsche Kolonialerwerb 1883–1885. Eine Quellensammlung (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For another perspective on the motives for German colonial expansion, cf. Stone, “Bismarck versus Gladstone.”
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87 Ibid.
88 PA-AA, R17525, memorandum from Bismarck to Wilhelm I, March 7, 1885.
89 PA-AA, R17526, memorandum by Bucher (for Wilhelm I), March 26, 1885, and memorandum from Bismarck to Wilhelm I, March 29, 1885.
90 Prince Wilhelm received secret military reports on Central Asia that were typically reserved only for the kaiser. See Bismarck's handwritten directive on the following report: PA-AA, R17527, report from Oldekop to the Minister of War, no. 130, April 11, 1885.
91 See the letter from Prince Wilhelm to H. Bismarck, May 8, 1885, in Bussmann, Staatssekretär, 278–79. Also see Röhl, John C. G., Wilhelm II, vol. 1 (Munich: C.H. Beck, 1993), 451–60Google Scholar.
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95 PA-AA, R17519, report from Huene to Ministry of War, no. 133, Sept. 14, 1882.
96 Ibid., letter from Rantzau to F.O., Sept. 18, 1882.
97 See the letter from Swaine to Granville, March 14, 1885, in Knaplund, Letters from the Berlin Embassy, 3:335.
98 The Morning Post (London), June 24, 1884.
99 PA-AA, R17525, memorandum by Bucher, March 7, 1885.
100 PA-AA, R17530, report from Hohenlohe to Bismarck, no. 116, May 1, 1885. See especially Bismarck's directive to meet with him for instructions on how to respond to attacks by foreign journalists in the German press—“V +” is the actual notation. For its meaning, see Stone, “Cracking the Bismarck Code.”
101 PA-AA, R17509, H. Bismarck to Radowitz, June 20, 1875 (text also in Holborn, Hajo, “Bismarck und Schuwalow im Jahr 1875,” Historische Zeitschrift 130 [1924]: 256–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar).
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103 On the meaning of these workflow notations, see Stone, “Cracking the Bismarck Code.”
104 See the diary entry of May 7, 1885, in Meisner, Denkwürdigkeiten, 1:259.
105 See the letter from Salisbury to Dufferin, Aug. 7, 1885, in Greaves, Persia, 81.
106 PA-AA, R17527, report from Reuss to Bismarck, no. 95, April 7, 1885.
107 PA-AA, R17520, letter from Rantzau to F.O., Feb. 12, 1884.
108 See the letter from Scott to Sanderson, March 14, 1885, in Knaplund, Letters from the Berlin Embassy, 3:391.
109 PA-AA, R17535, report from Braunschweig to Bismarck, no. 6, March 17, 1886.
110 PA-AA, R17523, letter from W. Bismarck to F.O., Aug. 4, 1884, and report from Hatzfeldt to Reuss, no. 532, Aug. 6, 1884.
111 PA-AA, R17524, report from Schweinitz to Bismarck, no. 19, Jan. 15, 1885.
112 PA-AA, R17536, letter from Rantzau to F.O., June 3, 1886.
113 Austria and Germany were also bound by Article III of the Three Emperors’ Alliance to help enforce this stipulation of the Treaty of Berlin; see GP, 3:177.
114 See the telegrams from Bismarck to Schweinitz, no. 64, and from Bismarck to Reuss, no. 60, both April 9, 1885, in GP, 4:113; also see the telegram from Radowitz to F.O., no. 53, April 23, 1885, in GP, 4:121–22.
115 See the telegram from Courcel to Freycinet, April 11, 1885, in Commission de publication des documents relatifs aux origines de la guerre de 1914, ed., Documents Diplomatiques français (1871–1914), vol. 6 (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1934), 6–7Google Scholar.
116 See the letter from Currie to Salisbury, Sept. 28, 1885, in Greaves, Persia, 248.
117 PA-AA, R17532, dispatches from Bismarck to Schweinitz, no. 328 (text also in NFA, 6:603-5), and from Bismarck to Münster, no. 174, both May 31, 1885; PA-AA, R17530, dispatch from Bismarck to Schweinitz, no. 310, May 15, 1885 (draft from May 14, 1885; final text also in NFA, 6:584–85).
118 PA-AA, R17528, report from Hatzfeldt to Münster, no. 89, April 17, 1885.
119 PA-AA, R17508, report from Münster to Bismarck, no. 12, Jan. 22, 1874, and dispatch from Bismarck to Reuss, no. 53, Jan. 27, 1874 (text of the latter also in NFA, 2:52–54).
120 Anglophone literature has long viewed this underlying objective as a given. See, e.g., Lowe, Cedric J., The Reluctant Imperialists: British Foreign Policy, 1878–1902 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967), 89–92Google Scholar.
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123 The debate about Germany's “halb-hegemonial” position in Europe has raged among German historians for decades. The term was coined by Ludwig Dehio, but Klaus Hildebrand popularized its use to describe Germany's role in Europe before 1914. See Dehio, Ludwig, Deutschland und die Weltpolitik im 20. Jahrhundert (Munich: Oldenbourg, 1955), 123–41Google Scholar; Hildebrand, Klaus, Das vergangene Reich. Deutsche Außenpolitik von Bismarck bis Hitler 1871–1945 (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1995), 13–33Google Scholar.
124 Lappenküper, Ulrich, Die Mission Radowitz. Untersuchungen zur Russlandpolitik Otto von Bismarcks, 1871-1875 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1990)Google Scholar; Hillgruber, Andreas, “Die ‘Krieg-in-Sicht’-Krise 1875. Wegscheide der Politik der europäischen Großmächte in der späten Bismarckzeit,” in Gedenkschrift für Martin Göhring. Studien zur europäischen Geschichte, ed. Schulin, Ernst (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1968), 239–53Google Scholar. For a contrary hypothesis, see Stone, James, “May 1875: A Turning Point in Bismarck's Foreign Policy?,” Forschungen zur Brandenburgischen und Preußischen Geschichte 21 (2011): 73–100CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Janorschke, Johannes, Bismarck, Europa und die ‘Krieg-in-Sicht’-Krise von 1875 (Paderborn: Schöningh, 2010)Google Scholar.
125 Efforts to link the “old” and “new” Great Game have facilitated this multilateral view. See, e.g., Meyer and Brysac, Tournament of Shadows. For an example of a work that focuses on the role of indigenous peoples, see Yetįşgįn, Memet, “The Anglo-Russian Rivalry, Russia's Annexation of Merv and the Consequences of the Annexation of Turkmens,” bilig, 40 (2007): 141–67Google Scholar.
126 Tacitus, Agricola 30: “… solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant (They create a wasteland and call it peace).”
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