# Talk:Eisenstück affair

This review is transcluded from Talk:Eisenstück affair/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Nominator: PizzaKing13 (talk · contribs) 06:07, 5 August 2025 (UTC)
Reviewer: Dumelow (talk · contribs) 11:07, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Interesting article, happy to take this on for review - Dumelow (talk) 11:07, 5 October 2025 (UTC)
Thanks for reviewing this! I'll get to it soon. PizzaKing13 (¡Hablame!) 🍕👑 19:45, 8 October 2025 (UTC)
@Dumelow: That should be all your comments addressed. PizzaKing13 (¡Hablame!) 🍕👑 00:50, 12 October 2025 (UTC)
Looks good.  My point on linking Envoy (title) for "German minister to Nicaragua" would be to make it clear what this means as "minister" is not used as a diplomatic position any more, they are all ambassadors.  Happy to pass as GA in any case - Dumelow (talk) 07:33, 12 October 2025 (UTC)


### 1. Well-written
Criteria: the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct;  and it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.

Background
"Germans also attempted to establish colonial settlements in the region but only succeeded in Guatemala and Costa Rica; they abandoned attempts in the Mosquito Coast and Nicaragua due to poor climate conditions"
Should be "climactic" here, rather than "climate", I think
Also presumably these were settlements within those countries rather than colonies subject to foreign rule, is there an alternative phrasing that would make this clear?
Changed. I removed mentions of colony. They were pretty much settlements of Germans in Latin America.
Eisenstück shootings
"Around 1876, Bahlke and her daughter left Leal and moved back in with her parents claiming that Leal was abusive"
I think needs a comma after "parents"
Added a comma
"On 23 October 1876, Isidoro Infante, the son of a family friend, fired five gunshots towards Bahlke, Paul, and Ida. Ida suspected that Leal was behind the shooting"
Maybe worth confirming what effect the shots had, did they all miss?
Clarified
"A second shooting occurred on 29 November 1876 where around 20 police officers led by Leal attacked Bahlke, her daughter, her parents, Christian Moritz Eisenstück (Paul's brother and the German consul to Nicaragua), and two others; kidnapped Bahlke and her daughter; and arrested Paul and Christian, although they were later released when the police officers learned about Christian's diplomatic status"
Is a very long and complex sentence and might benefit from splitting
Consul should be linked to Consul (representative).  It might also be worth clarifying how this was organised as we later discuss there being a German minister to Nicaragua.
Split into 2 and linked consul. I'm not sure how it was organized, just that there was a consul and a minister.
Diplomatic tensions
"In January and February 1877, Christian advised the German Foreign Office that court regarding the shootings were closed"
Doesn't make sense to me
Idk what I was tryna write here. Fixed it.
As a national government minister Anselmo Rivas is presumably notable and could be redlinked?
Linked
"On 1 April 1877, German foreign minister Bernhard Ernst von Bülow sent a letter to German minister to Nicaragua Werner von Bergen [de] demanding reparations from Nicaragua for the shootings and that lack of legal accountability."
Link the second minister to Envoy (title)
Why?
Should "that" be "the"?
Fixed
This paragraph is a little unclear.  As written it sounds like von Bulow is making his demands to von Bergen but presumably the demands were aimed at the Nicaraguan government.  We don't say how this was passed from von Bergen.
Reworded
"Nicaraguan diplomat José de Marcoleta accused the German government of intentionally turning the shooting into an international affair and seeking British and American support as it lacked the military means to take action itself"
Where was de Marcoleta at this time, in Nicaragua or abroad?
Schoonover doesnt specify. Wiechmann only places him in London in January 1878.
"Rivas protested Williamson's support for Germany to the American government, arguing that it undermined the Monroe Doctrine."
I think it would be worth briefly saying what the doctrine was
Elaborated
"The Chilean government attempted to arbitrate the situation through diplomat Alberto Blest Gana but The Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst considered an arbitration fo be unlikely to succeed due to the "legal opinion of two great powers and the British opinion" ("Rechtsauffassung zweier Großmächte und des britischen Gutachtens")"
Typo on "fo"
Fixed
Worth clarifying what position Blest Gana and Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst held at this time, otherwise why do their opinions matter?
Removed
"the American bombardment of Greytown)"
Our article is at Grey Town, was it differently known in 1877/78?
Changed to Grey Town
German naval deployment
"In September 1877, after failing to meet Chamorro, the German Foreign Officer asked the German Imperial Admiralty to "consider the possibility of a military demonstration" ("Eventualität einer militärischen Demonstration") in Nicaragua. "
Should this be "German Foreign Office"?
Fixed
I also think you should state who failed to meet Chamorro (von Bergen presumably?)
Yes, specified
"The Imperial German Navy launched "Operation Nicaragua" and dispatched warships to Panamá, among them, the screw corvettes SMS Leipzig and SMS Ariadne from Germany and the screw frigate SMS Elisabeth from Japan. There, the "Central American Squadron" ("Zentralamerikanischen Geschwaders") came under the command of Sea Captain Wilhelm von Wickede [de] on 9 March 1878."
I think you should specifically state that it was these vessels that formed the squadron, otherwise it could be interpreted that the squadron was additional to these three ships.
Done
"On 17 March 1878, the screw corvette SMS Medusa commanded by Corvette Captain Friedrich Hollmann arrived in Greytown and landed 150 sailors"
The Medusa was not previously mentioned, did she come under von Wickede's squadron or operate independently?
I think it was independent. The sources reads as such without explicitly saying so.
" He also demanded that the mayor of León be held responsible for dispatching police officers to support Leal during the second shooting"
Do we know the name of the mayor?
We just know his surname was Balladares
"the government brought the requested $30,000 to the Central American Squadron"
Did Germany relent on its demand for the additional $8,000 then?
Wiechmann says that Rivas offered to allocate the $8,000 to Balladares' prosecution but it doesn't come up again after that. It doesn't say if that happened or it was paid normally or it was dropped.
Aftermath
"According to German historian Fiebig-von Hase, , the affected interest groups in Germany sought a solution to the new problems by strengthening German naval power; the fleet was to be developed into an instrument with which the German Empire could assert its 'claims' in Latin America, even against the United States if necessary."
Do we know his first name?  Also, the source cited here is "Bernecker & Fischer 1995", do we have his original work?
Its from Ragnhild Fiebig-von Hase's Lateinamerika Als Konfliktherd Der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Beziehungen 1890-1903 but I couldn't find a free copy online
Who were the "interest groups in Germany"?  The foreign office, merchants, the navy?
Unspecified
Why is claims in half-quotes?
Fixed
"In June 1878, Von Bülow expressed that the conclusion of the Eisenstück affair would guarantee the safety of foreigners in Central America"
Should be lowercase on the "von" here
fixed
"He later wrote to Bergen that he sought to maintain friendly relations with the governments in the Americas and that cordial conduct between Germans local authorities can prevent "overseas complications" ("überseeischen Verwicklungen")"
Missing at least one word in the later part of this sentence
Fixed
"According to Wickede, a further escalation of the affair and a Nicaraguan civil war would have damaged Germany's reputation in Latin America"
Should this be "von Wickede"?
Fixed
"He theorized that Chamorro's government acquiesced to Germany's demands as quick as it did because Chamorro feared the potential of a civil war erupting if the situation became prolonged."
Think "quickly" might be better here than "quick"
Fixed
"In 1893, José Santos Zelaya overthrew Nicaragua's Conservative government and became President"
I don't think president should be capitalised here
Fixed
"German newspapers celebrated the affair, praising it for protecting German citizens and calling it a "most beneficial influence" ("heilsamsten Einfluß") for "uncivilized people" ("unzivilisierte Völker")"
Do we know which newspapers are quoted here?
No
" It was also praised as a "classic example of gunboat politics" ("klassisches Beispiel von Kanonenbootpolitik")."
Is this in the German newspapers again?
Clarified it was said by Lawrence Sondhaus


### 2. Verifiable with no original research
Criteria: it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline; reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose); it contains no original research; and it contains no copyright violations or plagiarism.

Not overly familiar with the sources but they appear to be reliable (the thesis cited appears to meet the requirements of WP:THESIS)
WP:AGF on the German-language sources
Source checks (all from Schoonover 1991 as the only English-language source):
"During the 1860s, German merchants and entrepreneurs began creating business investments in Central America in commerce, mining, plantations, and trade" checks out to p63
" Guatemalan president Justo Rufino Barrios later advised Nicaragua to accept German demands in fear of a potential German naval show of force disrupting the region's economy" looks to be from p67 not p66
Fixed
"Fearing a German invasion, Chamorro's government acquiesced to Germany's demands" checks out to p68


### 3. Broad in its coverage
Criteria: it addresses the main aspects of the topic; and it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).

Article looks to be comprehensive and covers everything at an appropriate level of detail


### 4. Neutral
Criteria: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.

I found no issues with WP:NPOV


### 5. Stable
Criteria: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.

There is no evidence of disputes, although the article is relatively new


### 6. Illustrated
Criteria: media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content; and media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.

Please add the source and publication date to File:Salut der Reichskriegsflagge durch die nicaraguanischen Behörden 31. März 1878 Corinto im Hintergrund von links SMS Ariadne, SMS Elisabeth und SMS Leipzig. Zeichnung von Hermann Penner.jpg
File:Bernhard Ernst von Bülow 1877.jpg requires a US license
Images and captions are relevant and appropriate