Editing Splendid isolation (section)

==Post-Bismarck==
[[Image:1890 Bismarcks Ruecktritt.jpg|left|upright=0.8|thumb|''[[Dropping the Pilot]]''; [[Punch (magazine)|Punch]], 29 March 1890]]
Although concerned by increasing German industrial and military strength post-1871, British politicians were reassured by Bismarck's efforts to maintain the status quo, one example being the 1890 [[Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty]].{{sfn|Gillard|1960|pp=631–653}} His dismissal by [[Wilhelm II]] in 1890 introduced greater uncertainty into international politics, at a time when Britain faced numerous foreign policy challenges. 

The [[Near East]] and the [[Balkans]] were destabilised by the decline of the [[Ottoman Empire]], and the expansionist ambitions of other European powers. In [[East Africa]], Britain and France nearly came to blows in the 1898 [[Fashoda Incident]]; in [[Southern Africa]], the [[Boer Republics]] had become increasingly restive. For domestic political reasons, [[Grover Cleveland|President Cleveland]] manufactured a quarrel over [[Venezuela]]'s border with [[British Guiana]]. Russian expansion in [[Central Asia]] during the 19th century had brought them to the edge of [[British India]], while the two also competed in nominally independent [[History_of_Iran#Qajar_dynasty_(1796–1925)|Persia]].{{sfn|Hopkirk|1990|pp=4–5}} In China and East Asia, British economic interests were threatened by powers such as [[Empire_of_Japan|Japan]], Russia, and the [[United States]].{{sfn|Hayes|1978|pp=63–110}} 

The most pressing issue was Germany, caused by Wilhelm's determination to challenge the [[Royal Navy]], which led to the [[Anglo-German naval arms race|naval arms race]]. A tendency to make aggressive statements was as much of a problem as his erratic foreign policy. It included securing 'compensation' for Germany in Africa, China and the Pacific, provision of military support for the Boers, and growing economic and military influence in the Ottoman Empire.{{sfn|McMeekin|2015|pp=25–28}} Wilhelm's aim was to end "Britain's free ride on the coat-tails of the Triple Alliance."{{sfn|Charmley|1999|p=228}}