Abstract
In the beginning of the 20th century, France appeared to be a great and a powerful nation in Europe. She had two main preoccupations concerning her foreign policy: on one hand France wanted to reinforce and expand her colonial Empire; on the other hand she had the will to maintain and strengthen security in Europe. That is how France created a new diplomatic “system” which tried to reach those two goals. Théophile Delcassé embodies this new French system. Théophile Delcassé became the Foreign Minister at the age of 46 in June 1898 and he left this post in 1905. At the beginning, Delcassé was considered as a “pro colonial” and nationalist politician, he wanted - for example – France to occupy extra-European territories. However, the rivalry between France and Great Britain on the colonial level and the fear of Germany did not allow Delcassé to apply a strict expansionism policy. His foreign policy had to consist of building an alliance network in order to secure France. Delcassé wanted to build a synthesis out of overseas expansionism and security for France in Europe: This foreign policy is called Delcassé's “Grande politique”.
