Editing Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (section)

=== Foreign policy ===
{{Seealso|Anglo-German naval arms race}}
[[File:Alfred von Kiderlen-Waechter (cropped).jpg|thumb|232x232px|[[Alfred von Kiderlen-Waechter]]]]
In foreign policy Bethmann Hollweg from the beginning attached great importance to an understanding with Great Britain. He considered German-Austrian relations to be so problem-free that he thought it more important to prove friendly to the other powers. He appointed [[Alfred von Kiderlen-Waechter]] as state secretary for foreign affairs. It was initially seen as a good appointment but later proved to be a disappointment.{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|p=117 ff}} The impulsive [[Swabia]]n contrasted with the Reich Chancellor not only in his temperament but above all in foreign policy matters. Although Wilhelm II had called for the Empire to increase its advocacy of "peaceful and friendly relations with the other powers" in his 1909 speech from the throne,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 December 1919 |title=Die Thronrede zur Eröffnung des Reichstags |language=de |trans-title=The Speech from the Throne at the Opening of the Reichstag |pages=1 |work=Amts- und Anzeigeblatt für den Bezirk des Amtsgerichts Eibenstock und dessen Umgebung |url=https://digital.slub-dresden.de/en/workview/dlf/438388/1 |access-date=27 December 2022}}</ref> Kiderlen-Waechter's diplomacy in connection with the 1911 [[Second Moroccan Crisis]] – when he sent a German gunboat to the African nation over which France had political control – was not in keeping with the Emperor's words. Bethmann Hollweg was often reproached for his passivity during the crisis. The fact that he gave Kiderlen-Waechter a free hand in spite of his misgivings about his approach can be explained by his feeling that he lacked expertise in foreign policy and did not consider himself competent to stand up to Kiderlen-Waechter on the Morocco issue.{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|p=122}}

The Morocco crisis was settled with a Franco-German agreement in which the Empire relinquished its claims to Morocco in return for [[New Cameroon]] ({{Lang|de|Neukamerun}}), a land extension of [[German Cameroon]] ({{Lang|de|Kamerun}}). Conservative Colonial State Secretary [[Friedrich von Lindequist]] protested strongly and resigned in November 1911. Instead of appointing the successor Lindequist proposed, Bethmann Hollweg chose the liberal governor of [[Samoa]], [[Wilhelm Solf]]. Solf was one of the few foreign policy makers in the Empire to fully support Bethmann Hollweg.<ref>{{Cite book |last=von Vietsch |first=Eberhard |title=Wilhelm Solf. Botschafter zwischen den Zeiten |publisher=Wunderlich |year=1961 |location=Tübingen |language=de |trans-title=Wilhelm Solf. Ambassador between the Eras}}</ref>

German-Russian relations had moved in a positive direction before the Moroccan crisis. In 1910 [[Tsar nicholas ii|Tsar Nicholas I]]I had been in [[Potsdam]], which Bethmann Hollweg described in a letter as a "stepping stone to an understanding with England". According to records of the Russian court, the Tsar saw a belligerent involvement with Germany as "receding into the far distance". In 1912 the Reich Chancellor took advantage of a meeting between the Emperor and the Tsar in [[Baltischport]] (now Paldiski, [[Estonia]]) for a friendly discussion.{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|p=142}} After talks with Russian Prime Minister [[Vladimir Kokovtsov]] and Foreign Minister [[Sergey Sazonov]], Bethmann Hollweg wrote that he had been able to establish "trusting and friendly relations". On 25 July 1912 [[Walther Rathenau]] stayed at Hohenfinow to talk to the Chancellor about his trip to Russia. Rathenau noted in his diary that Bethmann Hollweg wanted to "maintain the modus vivendi in the Russian question as well". In foreign policy matters, Rathenau proposed to Bethmann Hollweg a European customs union, a halt to British imperialism in the Mediterranean, then an alliance with Great Britain for the purpose of understanding and colonial acquisitions for Germany. The ideas were not the Chancellor's, but he signed the list of proposals with "generally agreed".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rathenau |first=Walther |title=Walther Rathenau Tagebuch 1907–1922 |publisher=Droste |year=1967 |editor-last=Pogge von Strandmann |editor-first=Hartmut |location=Düsseldorf |pages=162 |language=de |trans-title=Walther Rathenau Diary 1907–1922}}</ref>

Bethmann Hollweg's second foreign policy problem was the expansion of the German fleet that Admiral [[Alfred von Tirpitz]] wanted. The Chancellor intended to use dialogue with the United Kingdom to facilitate a cautious expansion of the fleet and at the same time to improve relations through honesty. Due to threatening speeches by German conservatives in the Reichstag and British conservatives in the Houses of Parliament, the efforts were unsuccessful.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Henning |first=Hansjoachim |title=Deutschlands Verhältnis zu England in Bethmann Hollwegs Außenpolitik 1909–1914 [Germany's Relationship to England in Bethmann Hollweg's Foreign Policy 1909–1914] |date=7 August 1963 |publisher=University of Cologne. |language=de}}</ref>

In the 1912 [[Haldane Mission]] – an attempt by the British diplomat [[Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane|Richard Haldane]] to come to an agreement on the naval arms race between Great Britain and Germany – Bethmann Hollweg failed again to reach a settlement. Germany wanted Britain to pledge neutrality in any future war while Britain sought to slow down the two countries' race to expand their navies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Massie |first=Robert K. |title=Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the coming of the Great War (Random House, 1991), pp |publisher=Random House |year=1991 |isbn=9780394528335 |location=New York |pages=790–817}}</ref> Bethmann Hollweg nevertheless enjoyed a good reputation with British Foreign Minister [[Sir Edward Grey]]: "So long as Bethmann Hollweg is chancellor, we will cooperate with Germany for the peace of Europe."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hatton |first=P. H. S. |date=April 1967 |title=Britain and Germany 1914. The July Crisis and War Aims |url=https://academic.oup.com/past/article-abstract/36/1/138/1549268?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Past & Present |issue=36 |pages=140|doi=10.1093/past/36.1.138 }}</ref> Bethmann Hollweg negotiated treaties over an eventual partition of the Portuguese colonies and the projected [[Berlin–Baghdad railway]], the latter aimed in part at securing the [[Balkans|Balkan]] countries' support for a German alliance with the [[Ottoman Empire]].

Although Bethmann Hollweg was critical of naval expansion, in April 1912 he pushed forward a Reichstag bill providing for a buildup of the army.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ullmann |first=Hans-Peter |title=Das Deutsche Kaiserreich. 1871–1918 |publisher=Suhrkamp |year=1995 |isbn=3-518-11546-4 |location=Frankfurt am Main |pages=216 |language=de |trans-title=The German Empire. 1871–1918}}</ref> A year later he submitted the next defense bill which asked for a 136,000 man increase in the army and almost 1.3 billion marks in additional funds for it and for arms purchases. The SPD spoke out vigorously against the military buildup. Bethmann Hollweg combined the bill with a cover bill that provided for an "extraordinary defense contribution" from all assets over 10,000 marks. Since the SPD had always called for direct taxes on the wealthy, it agreed to the bill after a contentious debate.