British Envoys to the Kaiserreich, 1871-1897 : Volume 1: 1871-1883

British Envoys to the Kaiserreich, 1871–1897, focuses on Anglo-German history prior to German Weltpolitik. This first instalment presents official diplomatic reports from the British embassy at Berlin (German Empire) and from the four minor – yet still independent – diplomatic missions in Darmstadt, Dresden, Stuttgart, and Munich during the years 1871 to 1883. The selection reveals the attitudes of British observers and their perceptions of a wide variety of political, social, and cultural developments in a period of great diplomatic activity and changing Anglo-German relations following the Franco-Prussian War. The dispatches offer new perspectives on Bismarck’s imperial chancellorship, the integration of the German states into the new Kaiserreich, and the volatility of international affairs, as well as on the varied British interests in Germany and its regional peculiarities. They also provide insights into late nineteenth-century diplomatic life and the mechanics of diplomacy.