Otto Von Bismark: The Primary Cause Of World War I

Nationalism was the hand that lit the match that burned Europe to the ground. But what made Europe so flammable? In the late 19th century, Otto von Bismark, the Chancellor of Prussia, led the unification of the German states and called for the Berlin Conference. Bismarck was uncertain about being sandwiched between France and Russia, so Germany allied with Austria-Hungary and Italy. In response, France, Great Britain, and Russia form the Triple Entente. Following the formation of the alliances, the countries started developing their militaries. With the tensions growing between countries and following the Balkens war, all that was needed was a spark. The spark was given by the Serbian nationalist group, The Black Hand, after assassinating the

While alliances didn't directly start World War I, they caused massive tension between the European countries and ultimately made it a world war. Alliances are made between countries as a survival instinct wanting to be stronger than the other side and also to prevent being captured by the opposing side. One example of this is Otto von Bismark, the Chancellor of Prussia, who led the unification of the German states. Bismarck did not like that Germany was sandwiched between France and Russia, especially following the Franco-Prussian War. To counter this, Germany allied with Austria-Hungary and Italy. Following the formation of the Triple Alliance, the Triple Entente was formed between France, Great Britain, and Russia. This is proved in Document A, where it is shown that Germany is sandwiched between France and Russia. Without alliances, it would have just been a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, but with the alliances, Russia came to aid Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia, and so on. As demonstrated in Document B, eight countries were already involved in the war only seven days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Doc B was written by an American, which means the conflict does not affect him as much as a European writer. Nationalism forced countries into making alliances to grow stronger than other countries and to prevent being taken over, but it just forced more and more countries to intervene, forming the Great