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It is of great importance to know what the German means by “Berlin–Baghdad.”
Prussia under Bismarck united the greater part of the German nation on the principle of nationality ever since the Eighteenth century the Germans strove to be united, and it was Napoleon who strengthened this craving for unity. So far, the Germans had no other national plan than all the other nations had. Italy claimed her unity at the same time, the Balkan nations were partly freed from Turkey, the nations in Austria tried to weaken German centralism and to get national independence as well.
But the political and national situation of Germany was different from the situation of the Italians, etc. Germany was at first led by the Austrian Habsburgs; but Prussia grew strong, as a result of the Reformation, and by assuming the leadership of the Protestant North, whereas Austria was the leader of the Catholic part of Germany. This rivalry of Prussia and Austria was ended by the defeat of Austria in 1866, and her expulsion from Germany; and this defeat was consummated by the defeat of France in 1870, and the creation of the German Empire.
In this way German national feeling and ideas were embodied in the Pan-German Programme. This programme claimed in the first place the incorporation of Austria into the new empire; but Bismarck opposed the Pan-Germans on the ground that Germany could not stand the accretion of Catholics (to-day there are 42 millions of Protestants as against 25 millions Catholics: the incorporation of Austria would add another 25 millions Catholics, and thus give Germany a Catholic majority). Bismarck’s plan, therefore, was to leave Austria-Hungary independent, but to use her an ally. That is the real meaning of the Triple Alliance. Lagarde, the father of modern Pan-Germanism, interpreted Bismarck’s plan in the sense that Austria must be Germany’s colony and “Hinterland,” and that Trieste must be preserved for Germany. Italy, as a member of the Triple Alliance, had to check her Irredenta, just in the same way that the Pan-German Irredenta was checked by the intimate Alliance of Germany with Austria.
Bismarck succeeded in winning Hungary (Andrássy) for his plan, and in inducing even official Austria to accept his scheme, though there was always a section of the Austrian-Germans (the so-called “Alt-Oesterreicher”) who did not accept Pan-Germanism, and the Dynasty had also shown considerable reluctance. By degrees the leaders of Pan-Germanism came to accept Bismarck’s and Lagarde’s scheme. It is a mistake to suppose that Bismarck and Pan-Germanism exclude each other: Prince Bülow, in his treatise on Politics, shows that Bismarck, had he lived, would have followed the Pan-German Programme. In fact, the leaders of Pan-Germanism proclaim now and during the war that they fully accept Bismarck’s practical scheme.
The Pan-German Programme claimed in the name of nationality not only Austria but also Hungary, with over two millions of Germans (the Saxons in Transylvania, and the Swabians of the Banat), the Russian Baltic provinces, German Switzerland—even Holland, proclaiming Dutch as a German dialect. Using the word “Germanism” in its wider sense, the Germans claim the leadership of not only the German-Teutons but of the whole Germanic race, including the Scandinavians and the English. Poland was demanded on the ground that there were many German colonies. By degrees the Pan-German plan was transformed into the project of Central Europe led by Germany. Germany accepted Turkey as a new ally, aiming not only at the Balkans but at Asia-Minor as well; “Berlin–Baghdad” became the watchword of this enlarged Pan-German scheme.
The German antagonism against Russia and France, the growing antagonism against Great Britain completed the Pan-German scheme. So Holland, Switzerland were to be annexed to the Customs Union of Central Europe, the so-called German Baltic Provinces—the population
