Impressive update!
On the foreign affairs front: well, a Germano-british rapprochement (if not necessarily a formal alliance) were probably unavoidable in these circumstances. For the future, I believe a lot will hinge on France's attitude... which, I am afraid, will not be the most constructive? Speaking franco-german relations, I believe I understand there is no strong german irredentism around Saarland - nothing comparable to OTL french irredentism on Alsace-Lorraine?
On the domestic front: wow, Caprivi can't be accused of slacking. He seems to have been able to amend most of the faults of the OTL Reich, with the exception of the role & state of mind of the army. Will the refoundation of the Heer see a renewal in the upper echelons such as to avoid OTL idiots coming into power?
Overall... Some here were reading this as a Francewank. Now we have Germany steaming towards social democracy & industrialisation at full speed and looking like it's going to be able to avoid the catastrophes of the XXth century; meanwhile France is locked under a depressing, stagnant and overall ridiculous dictatorship. From OTL, I think the brains of Boulanger & Philippe VII could be transplanted in Caprivi's skull and leave spare room. I suppose you want to avoid spoilers, but I really can see France heading towards 1870 redux, complete with a monarch trying to shore up its prestige and a head of government sleepwalking towards disaster.
On the foreign affairs front: well, a Germano-british rapprochement (if not necessarily a formal alliance) were probably unavoidable in these circumstances. For the future, I believe a lot will hinge on France's attitude... which, I am afraid, will not be the most constructive? Speaking franco-german relations, I believe I understand there is no strong german irredentism around Saarland - nothing comparable to OTL french irredentism on Alsace-Lorraine?
On the domestic front: wow, Caprivi can't be accused of slacking. He seems to have been able to amend most of the faults of the OTL Reich, with the exception of the role & state of mind of the army. Will the refoundation of the Heer see a renewal in the upper echelons such as to avoid OTL idiots coming into power?
Overall... Some here were reading this as a Francewank. Now we have Germany steaming towards social democracy & industrialisation at full speed and looking like it's going to be able to avoid the catastrophes of the XXth century; meanwhile France is locked under a depressing, stagnant and overall ridiculous dictatorship. From OTL, I think the brains of Boulanger & Philippe VII could be transplanted in Caprivi's skull and leave spare room. I suppose you want to avoid spoilers, but I really can see France heading towards 1870 redux, complete with a monarch trying to shore up its prestige and a head of government sleepwalking towards disaster.