Deutschland und die Expansionspolitik der USA in den 90er Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts : mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Einstellung Deutschlands zur spanisch-amerikanischen Krise

Abstract

The German 'Weltpolitik' found expression in the first naval law and in the partitioning of China in 1897-98. During the same period the Spanish-American crisis resulted in war and in a deeper involvement of the USA in the competition for the Far East. The present study investigates the reasons behind the imperialistic policies of Germany and the USA as well as the attitude of Germany to the Spanish-American crisis and its influence on German-American relations. The causes of the imperialistic policies of both the powers can be divided into two categories: current and historical causes, The Spanish-American War, as a current cause, resulted in the acquisition of the Philippines by the USA and in the capture of the Caroline Islands, the Marianas, and the Palau Islands by Germany. However, the reasons for acquiring new territories are to be found deeper, in the economic and internal developments of each country. Germany endeavoured to make the most of the Spanish-American War. The fear that important economic relations with the USA would be endangered and the pro-American attitude of Great Britain contributed to the fact that Germany did not manage to partition the Philippines. Instead, Germany's compensation policy was successful in relation to the Pacific Islands, without endangering its official relations with the USA. 'Unofficial' Germany, which was investigated through eleven newspapers and five journals, strongly criticized the US policy. The attitudes of the papers were mostly determined by the opposing forces within German society. In general, the papers that supported the existing system used every opportunity to criticize the Americans. The opposition, mainly the papers that represented the quarters outside the 'Sammlung', on the other band, criticized indirectly the conditions in Germany by pointing to good features in the American system. When the American press reacted sharply to the German criticism, the relations between the two countries worsened at the level of public opinion. The German Government took measures to eliminate the undesirable features that bad occured in international communication. This shows that it was realized, more clearly than before, how important the press is for foreign relations.