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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Cachecoins, post: 4264809, member: 111237&quot;]Yes, He had a great point about the total failure of diplomacy. At any point in the lead up it could have been easily avoided, or if nothing else relegated to a localized conflict. However it wasn&#039;t the politicians at the root cause but the nature of Germany at the time, those who ruled and what they valued.</p><p><br /></p><p>Germany as a relatively unified entity was quite new at the time. Most German states had been loosely aligned by their membership in the Holy Roman Empire, ruled almost exclusively by the Habsburgs for a very long time. But the Holy Roman Empire was actually just a loose conglomeration of many autonomous German states ruled by hereditary princes who interacted with each other through an intricate system of alliances. After the fall of the HRE there was a new grouping called the German Confederation, the precursor to the German Empire. Here is a list of those monarchs close to the formation of the German Empire:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Frankfurter_F%C3%BCrstentag_1863_Abschlu%C3%9Fphoto.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>Austria, Kingdom of Prussia<u><span style="color: #000014">, </span></u>Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom of Hannover, Kingdom of Württemberg, Kingdom of Saxony, Grand Duchy of Baden, Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Principality of Liechtenstein, etc...at this time about 39 monarchs that ruled over their own domains. Each one hereditary, each one raised to be a ruler, each one wearing military uniforms, big medals, carrying swords and members of royal societies, knights, etc...They grew up as princes and they learned about their ancestors and how they led men into glorious war...Even under the Empire they demanded autonomy or semi-autonomy, the larger states holding on to more of it, the smaller ones giving away more autonomy but still keeping their right to rule their own domains.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is Wilhelm II, son of the first emperor who ruled during the war and, who as a child played war with his toy soldiers and dreamed of the day when he would lead his loyal men into battle:</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Wilhelm_II._1905.jpeg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Churchill_und_Wilhelm_II._%281906%29.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>The point I am making is that in Germany and Austria you had a dangerous mix of royalty who dreamt of the glories of war mixed with industrialization, greater technology and more deadly weapons. After the work of Otto von Bismarck (you have to respect the man) there was now a much more unified Germany who now had proof, after the Franco-Prussian war, that a unified Germany was unstoppable. You also had a very new and growing German nationalism. Now people were starting to see themselves as Germans more than Bavarian, Hessian or Prussian. It is my belief that these men were going to go to war no matter what. They had already planned their victory down to the slightest details (Schlieffen plan). France, already war weary, had already been building defenses in the hopes of slowing the inevitable attack by a unified, militarized and motivated Germany.</p><p><br /></p><p>These are the egos you speak of. Diplomacy could have stopped it at any point if there was any will to do so but Austria had a pact with Germany and Germany took the opportunity to take charge of the Balkan issue, lines were drawn and the war began. Anyone who reads the diplomatic letters and events leading up to the war can only conclude there was no will to on the part of the men who pranced around in their uniforms weighted down by numerous medals to come to terms. </p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Franz_von_Lenbach_-_Portrait_of_Otto_Eduard_Leopold_von_Bismarck_-_Walters_371007_-_View_B.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>Unfortunately old Chancellor Bismarck, the man behind the unification, master diplomat and manipulator could not control the younger Wilhelm as he did his old father. He had fought man battles, helped unify and empower Germany turning it into a technologically advanced, wealthy, powerful nation and attempted to make and keep peace through a complex web of treaties and alliances but in the end, he lost control. He opposed the sabre rattling and at every turn butted heads with Wilhelm who eventually forced his resignation. His stabilizing influence gone, war was inevitable. He predicted disaster, a little before his death he said:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;One day the great European War will come out of some foolish damned thing in the Balkans.&quot; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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