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Georg Leo
Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecucculi
(24.02.1831 – 06.02.1899)
place of birth: Berlin-Charlottenburg
Königreich
Preußen: Ministerpräsident,
KG, General der Infanterie
Former army officer and head of the admiralty who succeeded
Bismarck as German chancellor in 1890. He was a Prussian but of Italian
and Slavic origin. Caprivi took part in the Austrian campaign of 1866,
being attached to the staff of the First Army. In 1870-71, during the Franco-Prussian
War, he was Chief of Staff for X. Army Corps (part of the
Second Army) and took part in battles before Metz
as well as in those around Orleans.
In 1883 Caprivi was made chief of the
admiralty, where he commanded the fleet and represented the department
in the Reichstag. He resigned in 1888 and was appointed commander of
the X. Army Corps. Bismarck had already referred to Caprivi as a
possible successor, for Caprivi had shown great administrative ability
and was unconnected with any political party, and in March 1890 he was
appointed chancellor, Prussian minister president, and foreign
minister. Under Caprivi, the antisocialist law was abrogated and
military service was shortened from three to two years. Favoring
industrial over agrarian interests, he negotiated a series of
reciprocal trade agreements to stimulate industrial exports. The
agreements reduced duties on agricultural products and aroused agrarian
opposition to Caprivi, which contributed to his dismissal in 1894.
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