Reinsurance Treaty

The treaty played a critical role in German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's network of alliances and agreements, which aimed to keep the peace in Europe as well as maintaining Germany's economic, diplomatic and political dominance.

[1] The Reinsurance Treaty originated after the German-Austrian-Russian Dreikaiserbund (League of the Three Emperors) had lapsed in 1887 due to competition between Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire for spheres of influence in the Balkans.

Bismarck strongly supported the idea, but Alexander III rejected the plan until Foreign Minister Nikolay Girs convinced him that it would be best for Russia in the absence of French friendship.

[citation needed] After Kaiser Wilhelm II had removed Bismarck from office in 1890, Russia asked for a renewal of the treaty, but Germany refused.

[4] Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was still highly influential in foreign policy, believed that his personal friendship with Tsar Alexander III would suffice to ensure further genial diplomatic ties.

Anglo-Russian relations had long been strained by Russia's quest to take control of the Turkish Straits, which link the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

In the creation of this treaty, Bismarck was aware of Russian desire to control Constantinople and wished to use to influence an Anglo-Russian conflict so that Germany may consolidate more power within Europe.

France, desperate for an ally, offered financial help to rebuild the Russian economy and successfully developed the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894, which ended French isolation.

[8] Most historians, according to Norman Rich, agree that the Reinsurance Treaty itself was not of great importance while it was in operation, but the failure to renew it marked the decisive turning point of Russia's movement away from Germany and toward France; and so was one of the causes of the First World War, which broke out in 1914.