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"The full generation that lay between the signing of the Treaty of Frankfort and the crisis of Tangier was marked by no very clear and definite march of events. Between the Revolutions of 1848 and the close of the Franco-Prussian War, Europe had lived through a long series of wars, not comparable in magnitude or sacrifice to the Napoleonic and Revolutionary struggles, but sufficiently considerable to satiate the people of the various nations and reconcile the statesmen to pacific policies. Germany, during the years of Bismarck, pursued a moderate course. His greatest concern was to preserve and strengthen the great structure he had reared. If the swift rise of France from defeat led him to a minatory gesture in 1875, he heeded the warnings that came from London and Petrograd. Throughout his period of power he skilfully managed to keep the door to the Russian capital open, and while he detested the British, he never sought to challenge them upon the water.
To be sure, the Russo-Turkish War and the settlement of the Congress of Berlin led to an inevitable estrangement with Russia. Germany, having to choose between Russia and Austria, decided for the Habsburg, and the Congress of Berlin, by destroying the Treaty of San Stefano, deprived Russia of the fruits of her Turkish triumph, and by putting the Austro-Hungarian Empire, through Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the road to Saloniki, thus made a Franco-Russian alliance inevitable. But in Bismarck’s time this alliance was never a threat to German interests nor to German supremacy on the Continent, for Russia was in no mind to undertake the destruction of the Treaty of Frankfort to satisfy her French ally, while France was not willing to invite another invasion to replace the Crescent by the Cross at St. Sophia. In 1881, Bismarck, by clever manipulation, thrust France into Tunis and effectively aided by Crispi, the inveterate foe of France, was able to harvest from Italian anger the entrance of the Italian Kingdom into the Austro-German Alliance, thus creating the Triple Alliance, which was too strong to be challenged by France and Russia, and, as a defensive alliance, served as the corner-stone of European peace until the middle of the first decade of the Twentieth Century..." Frank H. Simonds History of the World War, Part I ISBN: xxx 181 Seiten |
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About the author Simonds began his career in journalism and soon established himself as one of the leading American observers of European affairs. During the First World War, he became widely known for his military analyses and detailed explanations of the conflict's strategic and political dimensions. Writing for major newspapers and magazines, he helped American readers understand the rapidly changing situation on the battlefields of Europe. Following the war, Simonds continued to comment on international politics and diplomacy. He attended important conferences, traveled extensively, and interviewed political leaders across Europe and the Middle East. His books and articles addressed subjects ranging from the peace settlements after 1918 to the rise of new political movements and the shifting balance of power among nations. Among his best-known works were The Great War, History of the World War, and several studies of contemporary international affairs. His writings combined journalistic immediacy with historical perspective, making complex global issues accessible to a broad audience. Frank H. Simonds died in 1936. He is remembered as one of the most influential American foreign affairs commentators of the interwar period and a pioneer of modern international journalism.
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