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| - The 1890's was defined in German foreign policy by naval expansion under Emperor Wilhelm II, he had served in the Dutch-German War in 1888, and saw how underwhelmingly powered the German Navy really was. Their admirals were under skilled, their sailors under trained, and their ships were old and rusty. Wilhelm took it upon himself to oversee the massive overhaul of the German Navy, and undertook the substantial effort required to do so. He pushed for the funding to create a new class of battleships which he named the Friedrich III-class after his deceased father. The ships were built in Germany's northern harbors, but also saw that Denmark stood as a massive gap between the German ports, and also saw as Britain continued to build on its world-class navy. Although both of these facts alarmed him, he saw little in his power in the 1890's to change these facts. To such ends he also oversaw the expansion and revitalization of the German Army, which was seen by many to have begun lagging behind the British and French Armies. But as Germany's foreign policy continued to morph, Wilhelm II moved to unite the country domestically following the end of the Bismarck era and the rapid industrialization of Germany that continued on until the end of the 19th century. Wilhelm saw that Germany was becoming disunited and knew that if Germany were to pursue international glory, it would need to clean up its case at home. In 1889 Germany was marred in domestics with a series of nationwide strikes, Bismarck had requested that Wilhelm authorize the use of the German Army to suppress the strikes and the Social Democratic Party of Germany who supported it. Wilhelm stated that "I do not wish to stain my reign with the blood of my subjects." It is because of this, coupled with the Dutch-German War's failure, that caused Wilhelm II to get Bismarck fired as Chancellor in 1889. Thus Leo von Caprivi was appointed Chancellor in 1890 and began getting to work to employ Germany's Neuer Kurs (New Course) in policy - overseeing the liberalization of international trade, the mending of labor relations with unions and the SPD, and the bettering of relations with Britain. But now Caprivi had to deal with a balance of political powers among the major forces of the German Empire: the SPD and unions, the Conservatives and pro-colonials, the Progressives and National Liberals, the Catholic Center Party, and the growing influences of the military and businessmen. Von Caprivi knew that to try to appease one group would only displease another and so worked to gain widespread political support in the Reichstag before he worked on domestic reforms. He worked to end the strikes of 1889 by leading delegations between workers and business, signed the Anglo-German Agreement in July 1890 with Britain which allowed Germany control over the Helgoland and Britain control over Zanzibar, and repealing multiple laws under Bismarck which eased tensions with the Catholics. Although the Conservatives and protectionists were angered, Caprivi gained enough support to continue being Chancellor and work on domestic reforms. In 1892 Caprivi passed an educational bill through the Reichstag which allowed for denominational school boards which gained him more support from the Progressives and National Liberals. He successfully helped the Centre Party to re-integrate into the Reichstag and federal German government at-large, gaining their parliamentary support. He passed several military bills between 1892 and 1894 which earned him the support of a small denomination of Conservatives by increasing the size of the Navy and continuing German conscription, but Caprivi continued to isolate the agrarian protectionist populations. He focused in 1894 on labor reform, allowing for collective bargaining to be used to represent workers in disputes and allowing the SPD to gain more support. He also put work into the 1894 St. Petersburg Agreement which opened up trade with Russia and eventually lead to the flocking of German agrarians to the German Reich Party, which was conservative, protectionist and agrarian. Eventually foreign tensions were eased, but the German Reich Party continued to gain ground in Germany after the Conservative Party began to look weak in the face of the pro-von Caprivi coalition that had formed in the Reichstag. But as the Reich Party began to grow in power, von Caprivi knew he had to introduce electoral reform to keep the Chancellorship. The Social Democratic Party of Germany was part of a coalition of parties that supported von Caprivi's reforms, but they would continuously receive a plurality of the popular vote in federal elections and never receiving an appropriate number of seats. This was due to the fact that the electoral shape of Germany's seats was biased towards Conservatives and the more established parties like the Liberals. So in 1894, the Electoral Representation Act passed the Reichstag which allowed for a non-partisan electoral commission to form representative districts. Thus, despite the power gained by 1894 by the German Reich Party, when the election came along, the pro-von Caprivi coalition remained in power, with significant gains for the SDP and Progressives being made. But the Conservatives remained a strong force against von Caprivi, and he eventually was forced to concede acts in 1895 and 1896 would tightened trade laws with Britain and Russia. But as an economic recession, a part of the Long Depression of the late 19th century hit in the Panic of 1896, von Caprivi passed several reform laws which strengthened Germany's foreign trade and eventually reformed the stock exchange in Frankfurt to prevent another recession. Between 1897 and 1898, von Caprivi's last two years in office, he continued to control substantial popular and legislative support in Germany, accomplishing numerous new domestic reforms in education and internal trade. But as his health deteriorated, he begun to lessen his role in politics, and eventually resigned on October 26, 1898 after eight productive years in office. His Neuer Kurs turned Germany around as a foreign power and in domestic stability, leaving von Caprivi with a substantial legacy. He had overseen an era which saw the rise of the German Chancellor as primary leader of the German government, especially in foreign affairs, which saw him gain more and more power from the Emperor, who began to retain a much more military and symbolic role in German society. Von Caprivi died on February 6, 1899, which caused the German Emperor Wilhelm II to order a national day of mourning and remembrance for the dead former-Chancellor. Von Caprivi was given a state funeral on February 20, 1899, and attended in Berlin by thousands of his supporters, along with numerous MdR's from both the pro- and anti-Caprivi coalitions of the Reichstag.
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