The German Genius

340
     
    United States
    1880: 169,000
    1914: 985,000
    % CHANGE : 583
     
    Britain
    1880: 650,000
    1914: 2,714,000
    % CHANGE : 418
     
    France
    1880: 271,000
    1914: 900,000
    % CHANGE : 332
     
    Germany
    1880: 88,000
    1914: 1,305,000
    % CHANGE : 1,483
     
    Austria-Hungary
    1880: 60,000
    1914: 372,000
    % CHANGE : 620
     
    Germany was at the very heart of Europe, geographically speaking, and the very speed of its transformation was an issue in itself. “This alone was to make ‘the German question’ the epicentre of so much of world politics for more than half a century after 1890.” The quality of Germany’s military personnel was dramatically underlined by one study that showed the number of illiterate recruits in Italy was 330 out of 1,000, 220/1,000 in Austria-Hungary, 68/1,000 in France, but only 1/1,000 in Germany. 6
    The Alldeutscher Verband (Pan-German League) and the Deutscher Flottenverein (German Navy League) were only too happy to reinforce this tendency. The Pan-German League was formed after Kaiser Wilhelm II had ceded Zanzibar to Britain in exchange for the island of Helgoland. 7 This strategic withdrawal did not go down well with certain sectors of the German public, especially as it followed quickly the dismissal of Bismarck. A young collaborator of Krupp’s, Alfred Hugenberg, founded the Pan-German League, and its expansionist policy soon received the support of thousands—if not tens of thousands—of Germans, some of whom, like Ernst Haeckel, Max Weber, and Gustav Stresemann, were distinguished in other fields, though others, like the British-born Houston Stewart Chamberlain, were little more than rabid racists. In 1908 Heinrich Class became the leader of the movement and made it even more extreme, advocating a merciless struggle against the Social Democratic Party, campaigning for the expulsion of Jews to Palestine and the annexation of lands to the east of the Dnieper. Their views overlapped with Treitschke’s but many others among Germany’s ruling elite became convinced of the need for territorial expansion “when the time was ripe.” Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz in particular argued that Germany’s industrialization and overseas conquests were “as irresistible as natural law.” 8 Not that Germany stood out too much in this regard—imperial belligerence was just as prevalent at the time in Britain, France, and Japan.
    But there could be no doubting that Germany’s military build-up was more impressive than anyone else’s, the most awesome aspect being the rapid expansion of its navy after 1898, which under Tirpitz was transformed from the world’s sixth largest to the second largest, after Britain’s Royal Navy. 9 A final factor that set German militarism apart from anyone else’s was her geographical location. She was, as David Calleo put it, “born encircled.” Because Germany lay at the center of a continent, Germans were always prone to see themselves as encircled—and threatened—by France, Britain, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. This meant that Germany relied far more on statecraft than did other nations and, after Bismarck had been dismissed, that crucial ingredient was lacking. 10
    T HE A NTI -C ATHOLIC I MAGINATION
     
    On July 19, 1870, France declared war on the North German Confederation. Only twenty-four hours before, the First Vatican Council had confirmed the proclamation of the Pope’s “infallibility.” For many in Germany this coincidence was just too much, and the speed of the German victory was therefore all the sweeter. Paris was taken and the German states united in an empire under the aegis of the Prussian king, now an emperor. Sybel spoke for many when he confided, in a letter to Hermann Baumgarten: “How have we deserved God’s grace to be permitted to experience such great and mighty things? And for what shall one live hereafter?” 11
    As Michael Gross has pointed out, Sybel and others soon found an answer. “They committed themselves now to a war against the Roman Catholic Church and with it the consolidation within Germany of modern society, culture and morality.” Papal infallibility was provocative because it seemed to invite German Catholics to direct their allegiance to Rome rather than to the newly installed Kaiser. 12 Paul Hinschius, a Liberal deputy, said that the Vatican’s proclamation was “nothing less than a death sentence” passed against the newly unified state.
    That was going too far, but his words had resonance because