Sir,—Michael Carragher’s undoubted courtesy is greater than his concern for accuracy (Letters, HI 23.1, Jan./Feb. 2015). It can be agreed that Germany’s diplomatic incompetence post-Bismarck contributed to its encirclement. Yet France, Russia and Britain were only too happy to take advantage of the situation. To say that ‘the Reich’s ambition was European hegemony’ before 1914 ... Read more
