None the less, Bismarck was no fool; he took advantage of a situation which he hoped would never come. If he could strike an alliance with the Centre party in some way, he would be able to strengthen his political position elsewhere. For example, he was confusing the Austrians with his anti Catholic policies and as Bismarck wanted to make stronger links with Austria, by ending the Kulturkampf he could bring Austria and the Papacy both on his side. This is what Bismarck was able to do as in 1879 he agreed an alliance with Austria, showing his end to the Kulturkampf as a cleverly thought out political strategy. Despite this, the Kulturkampf coincidently came to an end the same year Pope Pius IX died and was replaced with Pope Leo XIII.
Some may argue that no one wanted war. Winston Churchill stated that the Great Powers slid over the brink into a war nobody wanted. (Doc I). Russia and France were forced into war because Germany declared war on Russia 1 August 1914 and war on France 3 August 1914. Therefore, it may be true that countries that did not want war were forced into it, however, “nobody” is inaccurate due to the fact that Germany wanted war.
At Plombieres meeting of 1858 Cavour and Napoleon III agreed to work together which the agreement was Nice and Savoy are going to belong to France(so there would be no complete unification) and fought the war of 1859 against Austria. France also help weekend Austrian power and turn a blind eye when Cavour moved Piedmont’s troops through the Papal States in order to head off Garibaldi. However France has been a positive factor too. Napoleon signed a secret treaty with Bismarck prime minister of Prussia in 1866 that in the Austrian-Prussian war France would remain neutral but at the end of the conflict France would receive Venetia if Austria was defeated. In addition Napoleon with great diplomatic skills made sure that Venitia would be ceded to France even if Austria won and then passed on to Italy.
Hereafter he was primarily concerned with consolidating the newly unified Germany. 'When we have arrived in a good harbor we should be content, and cultivate and hold what we have won.' In practice this meant that whereas before 1870 Prussian foreign policy had been essentially aggressive and warlike, now the Iron Chancellor sought a period of peace -- but peace on his terms. In foreign affairs Bismarck had defeated each of his enemies - Denmark, Austria, and France - in isolation. He realized that a powerful united Germany could not expect to fight another carefully insulated war.
Then the Zimmermann telegram caused America to join the war.The Germans suggested a German-Mexican alliance meaning Mexico will march to the U.S and recover their lost territories such as Arizona,New Mexico and Texas.This telegram was intercepted by the British and,as a result,the Americans.The U.S. was furious and joined the war for world peace and establishment of democracy to end the war.The telegram was probably Germany's worst mistake throughout WW1. The Allies’ leaders like Lloyd George and Wilson were clever people who were courageous and brilliant leaders. The German leaders came up with plans like the Zimmermann Telegram and Schlieffen Plan,which were no match for the first and made horrible mistakes which led Germany to a loss.Also as the attritional warfare continued,the leaders did not come up with anything new which could end the war.Although they made use of great defensive weapons like machine guns and poisonous gases,theycould not build an offensive weapon until the development of tanks. Looking at all these mistakes which Germany made,it is not really that surprising that Germany eventually lost the War.With the nation being constantly wore down on one hand and the Allies maintaining a strong and offensive behavior throughout the war -especially after the U.S.A. joined the war at their side-,this outcome of the war was the most expected
The Kaiser of Germany, who was the King of Prussia, could be the main reason why Germany was conceived as an authoritarian monarchy, due to the Kaiser having such a powerful constitutional position that no-one could challenge him. Kaiser Wilhelm II was not elected as Emperor of Germany but was automatically selected which instantly shows signs of an authoritarian state, rather than a democratic one. On top of this Wilhelm II had the power to appoint to and dismiss the Chancellor; which he exercised 5 times including on Bismark (1890) and Bulow (1909) these did show signs of power from the Kaiser but also a weakness in the structure of Germany as the Kaiser was not able to choose a Chancellor that would provide leadership and loyalty to him. The Kaiser was also given the power direct Germany’s foreign policy and command all armed forces in peace and war which does show incredible amounts of dictatorship like qualities. However, it could be argued that because Germany was so widespread with many class divisions it was almost an impossible task for Kaiser Wilhelm to please everyone causing groups like the ‘middelstand’ to join
The involvement of the German Army and other military groups in Weimar politics served to strengthen the Republic in the early years but later lead to its downfall. In 1918 the Ebert-Groener Pact was signed, ultimately giving the moderate-left side of Weimar politics (also known as the Socialist Democrats Party) the support of the traditionally right army in response to fears the extreme left might take power. This served a dual purpose in that it both maintained the power of the army in German politics and it also strengthened the position of the Weimar Republic in the eyes of the citizens, who still respected the army. Despite the Ebert-Groener Pact, in late 1918 Defence Minister Noske created the Freikorps, a paramilitary force of former soldiers and volunteers, which allowed for these small militant groups to be satisfied with their power – hence strengthening support for the new Reichstag – but later proved to create political instability through the Freikorps’ uncontrolled violence, which ultimately damaged the public perceptions of the Weimar Government. During the late 1920s, the involvement of the Sturm-Abteilung (SA) in the politics of the Nazi Party initially furthered
This tension can be recognised in the Moroccan Crisis in the years 1905 – 06 were Germany’s movements towards expanding were blocked by the Act of Algeciras. With the Germans only allies, Austria-Hungary, they were feeling encircled by the other great powers in the triple entente. Similarly to Geiss, Mombauer argues that this “blueprint for world power” was an expression of the Germans “striving for European hegemony”. European power meant having the power to take control of the other European powers, which they put pressure on by a naval bill in 1900 and 1906 which increased the navy by building 38 battleships
As the first attempt of a multinational peace process, nothing is truly accomplished until Napoleon’s Hundred Days following his bold escape from Elba. With the potential strength France is capable is attaining being realized, more action is being prioritized towards the weakening, and containment of France. Meanwhile, monarchs regain power to the throne after Napoleon’s previous harsh destruction of their presence. Eventually, the Concert of Europe is assembled between Alexander I of Russia, Francis I of Austria, and Frederick William III, which intended to suppress any revolution that may occur. Rather than having success as did in the Congress of Vienna, the Treaty of Versailles fails to bring any peaceful characteristics to Europe.
France longed to avenge its defeat in Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck signed treaties with other powered thinking they wouldn’t attack Germany alone. Emerged to triple alliance with Italy and Austria-Hungary. In 1914, Germany, Austria-Hungary fought on same side- became known as central powers. Rival bloc took shape when France and Russia formed alliance by signing an entente (nonbinding agreement to follow common policies led to close military and diplomatic ties). Britain signed similar agreement with Russia.