VIEW OF THE FOREIGN POLICIY POSITION OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE FROM THE CORNER OF THE HISTORY OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORISE: MAX WEBER ON INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Nataša M. Jovanović Ajzenhamer

Abstract

The paper presents the view of one of the most influential
sociologists from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century,
Max Weber, on the foreign policy relations of the Second Reich with
Russia, Poland, the countries of the Triple Alliance, France, England,
and with the “patient from Bosphorus”. We could see the differences in
the rhetoric he used: while in the case of Austro-Hungary, France and
Great Britain, rational geopolitical logic prevailed, in the case of Russia
and Poland, dominated issues was related to ethics, national character,
religion and art. When it comes to the Orient, we have identified the
return to a pragmatic narrative: Turkey was, in the eyes of Max Weber,
Germanyʼs ideal ally in the Orient, and he did not much go into a deeper
analysis of civilizational and religious relations between Orient and
Occident.
Using a comparison of his scientific preoccupations and
(relatively) objective conclusions in scientific studies with messages he
made in political speeches, we have received a new look at the dualism
of Weber’s biography; In the domestic professional and wider public,
he was first known as a scientist and only then as a political worker,
however, Weber was very interested in the development of German
society, both on the internal political and foreign policy plan. In this
paper, this second aspect is clarified. Therefore, this work has a double
disciplinary significance: it represents a contribution to the history of
social and political ideas, but it is also a contribution to and the history
of international relations.
By analyzing Weberʼs view of political turmoil in the period
between Bismarckʼs rule and the reign of Wilhelm II, we got an
interesting “the inside” view on the situation in the German empire
shortly before and during the First World War. Weberʼs foreign policy
analysis is interesting precisely because it also sublimates a holistic
scientific approach (he linked historical processes, cultures, religions and
traditions with military capabilities, degree of economic development
and geopolitical position), but also an aggravated and fairly realistic
view of the current situation by a very active political actor. This paper
presents an overview of the most important political conclusions of
one of the most influential intellectuals since the beginning of the
twentieth century. Also, in the paper we also presented the genesis of
these conclusions, which gave a dynamic and developmental view of
the European political scene, as well as the creativity and interests of
Max Weber himself.

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