Been really interested in German unification and mid to late 19th century politics in general. It’s really cool seeing how diplomatic geniuses like Otto Von Bismark navigated diplomacy and politics to get what they wanted. German unification is basically the story of clever Prussian leadership provoking European powers into attacking and then, when they win a crushing victory, using that momentum to get more states to join them. It’s amazing in a way, how it all fits together. It’s also interesting how events up until then evolved. For instance the Crimean war ended with Russia, furious at Austria, breaking ties with them. This meant that when Austria went to war with Prussia, Austria didn’t have Russian support, which probably contributed to their failures and eventual defeat.
Anyway I just find the WW1 buildup is so intricate and interesting I could spend hours learning about it (and I do)
Thanks for reading
