Diplomatic History of Europe 1500 - 2000 | The Reconfigured World of 1900 (Lecture 23)

Lecture 23: This lecture examines decisive changes in diplomatic patterns at the start of the 20th century, as new alignments emerged. We first consider how the colonial clash between France and Britain at Fashoda in Sudan was averted. Next, we trace how German naval expansion and colonial brinksmanship inadvertently produced ties between France, Russia, and Great Britain to resist German ambitions. We explore the reasons behind Germany’s zigzag diplomatic route into increasing isolation. Next, we examine telling trends of the period: the establishment of popular movements for peace at a time when Europe was arming on land and on the sea; Japan’s defeat of the Russian Empire in 1905, which stunned contemporaries and announced the advent of non-European powers; increased American presence in international venues; and a growing peril in the form of regional crises.

Essential Reading:
Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy, pp. 168–95.

Supplementary Reading:
M. S. Anderson, The Rise of Modern Diplomacy 1450–1919, pp. 103–48 and 236–79.