Leo von Caprivi

Leo von Caprivi (1831-1899), German statesman. Georg Leo, Graf (Count) von Caprivi, was born in Berlin. Chosen by Emperor William II to replace Otto von Bismarck as imperial chancellor in 1890, Caprivi initiated a “new course” following 20 years of Bismarckian rule. By abandoning Bismarck's Reinsurance Treaty with Russia, however, he permitted the formation of a Franco-Russian alliance against Germany (1894). At home, he alienated German agricultural interests by lowering duties on imported grain. A target of increasing criticism, he was dismissed in 1894, and thereafter he lived in retirement. The Caprivi Strip, a narrow piece of land jutting east out of north-east Namibia that Caprivi acquired after Germany from Great Britain in 1890, is named after him.