Europe's Last Summer Analysis

David Fromkin argues in his book Europe’s Last Summer that Germany would manipulate the events leading up to WW1 for a war to have Austria as an ally. A major component to this argument is the idea that WW1 started with a minor war in Serbia against Austria and Germany gaining Austrian assistance to help them in their war against Russia. (Fromkin, pg271-273)) If anyone could delay if not prevent WW1 it would be a diplomat from Germany. The events that if changed could prevent a world war and instead France and Germany by seceding more land from France, continuing the reinsurance treaty with Russia, and taking of Ottoman lands.
In the peace dealing with France after the Franco-Prussian war, a German diplomat could help create a long-term plan for war by taking more land from the eastern side of France. Land grabbed by Prussia at the time was in effort to put as much German people under one power in order to create a strong unified German nation. A major reason Fromkin gives for WW 1 is that most of the countries would live under peace under certain conditions while only Germany desired …show more content…
Based on Fromkin’s chapter of Germany explains that historically Kaiser Wilhelm is blamed for letting the reinsurance treaty to fall apart, but recent scholars show that the foreign policy advisors were against having the treaty renewed.(Fromkin, pg 59) The Reinsurance treaty of 1887 was a part of Chancellor Bismarck’s plan to keep the Russia in Germany’s sphere of influence. Rather than have to get Austria to side with Germany in the run up to WW1, the Russians would be neutral until France invades Germany. With Germany allied to Russia, the debacle with Archduke Ferdinand would have been a small issue that could be resolved diplomatically. Austria may even have the blessings of Russia and Germany to war with Serbia without needing to be secretive of its