Leo von Caprivi

Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuccoli was a German general and statesman who served as the chancellor of the German Empire from March 1890 to October 1894. Caprivi promoted industrial and commercial development, and concluded numerous bilateral treaties for reduction of tariff barriers. However, this movement toward free trade angered the conservative agrarian interests, especially the Junkers. He promised educational reforms to the Catholic Center party which would increase their influence, but failed to deliver. As part of Kaiser Wilhelm's "new course" in foreign policy, Caprivi abandoned Bismarck's military, economic, and ideological cooperation with the Russian Empire, which historians consider a major mistake. Even worse, Caprivi misjudged multiple opportunities to open good relations with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Frustrated, Britain turned to the Empire of Japan and the French Third Republic for agreements. Caprivi's downfall came with trade agreements that favored German industry and urban workers over more powerful agricultural interests. Historians praise his refusal to renew the harsh restrictions on socialists, and his success in the reorganization of the German military.

24 February 1831

Born on the same birth day (24 February): Charles Le Brun • Daniel Kaluuya • Earl Sweatshirt • Erik Nielsen • Erna Solberg • Ettie Rout • Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak • Ibn Battuta • Jeff Garcia • John Vernon • Kintarō Ōki • Mike Pickering • Ralph Erskine (architect) • Richard Hamilton (artist) • Wilhelm Grimm

Born in the same month (February 1831): Hendrik Willem Mesdag • John Aaron Rawlins • Nikolai Leskov • Oliver Ames (governor)