Monday, September 13, 2010

Bismarck & Europe 1871- 1878

1. What were Otto von Bismarck's aims in foreign policy following Germany's victory over France in 1871?
              A:  After the victory over France in 1871, Otto Von Bismark, Germany's leader was satisfied with Germany as the superior power in Europe,  in his eyes Germany had all the territory it needed, and all the power it was to have.  Now, Von Bismark's main goal in life was to ensure that Germany would stay safe and be able to maintain its control and power without an attack.  Von Bismark aimed to keep France and Russia away from each other to ensure that they would not become allies, and " sandwich " Germany to a defeat as well as keep their territory where it belonged, in their eyes to Germany. Also, the conflict within the Balkans concerned the Germans,  in theory the only thing that they could do as a nation was isolate completely their only threats. 
               Another form of combatant against the inevitable was to bring on change, to keep other change from happening. One way he succeeded in this was through planting the ideas of nationalism and imperialism in the minds of the population however, these were things that the people of Germany could not fully understand nor could he control which he unleashed into the population.


2. Why did events between the years 1875-78 in the Balkans lead to a crisis between the Great Powers?
             A:  During the years of 1875-78 in the Balkans there was much social unrest, which in turn created crisis and uneasy feelings from the Great Powers. The question of who would have control in the Balkan reason raised much unrest between the Great Powers of Europe, especially challenging Otto Von Bismark, to see what kind of government man he was. Another problem stemming from the Balkans that was concerning to the Great Powers of Europe  was the inability to reach an agreement in what was to be done in that region. Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary could not seem to reach an agreement about what should happen to this region of the former Ottoman Empire. 

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