Weltpolitik Paragraph

Weltpolitik is a huge topic in its own right. And you have only 40-45 minutes to complete your essay on the causes of WW1 and you have other things to write about. What is more, the clock is ticking! What to do?

There’s an awful lot of content in history. Detailed and complex stories to tell, so much to describe, all of which is very interesting. But your key job in that exam hall is to explain. So get on with it. Here is a suggestion for a paragraph on Weltpolitik. Check it out as an explanation of how Weltpolitik might have contributed to war. Does it show I know what I’m writing about (at least a little)? Does it link to other factors that might well appear in your essay?

The Kaiser’s policy of Weltpolitik incorporated three inter-related factors: Empire in Africa (Mittelafrika or “a place in the sun”), economic dominance in central Europe (Mitteleuropa), and a strong navy. The policy was pursued in a clumsy, aggressive manner. Britain and France certainly interpreted it as aggressive and threatening. For example the Naval Race with Britain or the Moroccan crises. However, what is more important about Weltpolitik is that it linked to other factors that together explain WW1: Germany’s alliances targeting first Russia and then also France as its enemies, the Naval Race with Britain which led to a breakdown in trust between the two countries; whilst ultimately Weltpolitik’s failure added to Germany’s domestic tensions and left Germany feeling encircled by threatened and threatening powers. So when the Balkans Question erupted again in the July Crisis, Germany seized on a final opportunity to deal with Russia and France and advance at least a part of Weltpolitik: Mitteleuropa.

What I’ve written, and incidentally I think it would take 7-8 minutes to write (it is always thinking time that eats into your exam time) could be adapted/expanded and so be included in a good answer to different types of question. Here are three potential questions, each different in nature:

1. A question general in its nature: How would you account for the outbreak of war in 1914?

2. A question that focuses on Germany: How far was Germany to blame for WW1?

3. Or a question that refers directly to Weltpolitik: ‘Any explanation of WW1 must include Weltpolitik.’ How far do you agree with this statement?

You might tweek what I have written in order to direct it better to a specific question but I think my example serves to demonstrate just what can be achieved in one paragraph. I have shown that I understand what Weltpolitik was and how it helps explain war in 1914, and I have shown that it links to other factors that will also be explained in my essay.