Essay: How alliances and treaties changed the distribution of power in Europe

In the time period from 1848-1914 the way that Europe looked changed drastically. Usually the original strong nations would still have a lot of power even when new nations came to life, but occasionally the balance of power would become unsteady. In the late 1800s the map of Central Europe had to be remade because two new nations emerged when both Germany and Italy became unified independently of each other. Tensions arose between Russia, Austria-Hungary , and the national ethnicities in Eastern Europe. These tensions were caused by the downfall of the Ottoman Empire which lasted up until WWI. In the end what ultimately reconfigured the balance of power during this time period were the secret alliances and treaties that were made between world nations which also determined who would win WWI.
Throughout history the German states were never unified for a long periods of time. This all changed when Prussia, after fighting and winning wars against France, Denmark, and Austria, united Germany under Prussia’s leadership. The unification of Germany introduced a new major power to Europe. After Germany won against France in war, they acquired and unified themselves with the southern German states. This in turn lead to Germany having the largest industry, population, and best army in all of Europe. When Central Europe became the most powerful section of Europe, the balance of power completely changed. Italy was declared as one of the world powers when it unified. The Italian city-states unified by following the guidance of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Camillo Benso, and Victor Emmanuel. The introduction of Germany and Italy as world powers caused a lot of confusion in the European power game. This newfound confusion brought along with it major consequences.
The Ottoman Empire in Europe lasted for a longer period of time than people thought it would. In the 19th century, after about 300 years since the height of the empire, the Ottomans still controlled most of Southwest Europe and the Balkans. When the Ottoman Empire began its downfall, Austria-Hungary and Russia began to debate on who would take control of the Ottoman territories. This dispute caused a lot of tension in Europe. The citizens of the Ottoman Empire were divided as some wanted to be Austro-Hungarian, some Russian, and some independent. Nowadays people know that Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and WWI happened because of this dispute. The tensions were so high that the European nations believed that a war was imminent so the nations formed secret alliances with each other. Austria-Hungary allied with Germany, and Russia allied with France. The European nations used the assassination as a good reason to start a war. The English government believed that there would be a lot of tension and then a war if the Ottoman Empire fell in a very short period of time. Because of this, England decided to keep the Ottoman Empire functioning for as long as they could (which wasn’t very long). Because the Ottoman Empire’s territory kept diminishing, the tensions kept growing.
The secret alliances and treaties that were made between nations were a significant problem in the period of time shortly before WWI. When Bismarck was the emperor of Germany, he allied his nation with Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia. This gave Germany a huge advantage if war was to break out against France, because France had no allies. When Wilhelm II became emperor of Germany, he broke off Germany’s alliances with Russia and Italy. Then France allied itself with Russia and England which gave France the ability to surround Germany (this gave France a huge advantage). The balance of power in Europe was completely disrupted because the treatise kept switching who would have the advantage in war between Germany and France. The distribution of power in Europe was completely changed because of the alliances and treaties, and if the treatise and alliances were never created then WWI probably wouldn’t have happened.
Balance of power has been a major idea in Europe since the fall of Rome. the game only became more difficult in the late 19th century with the addition of Germany and Italy, the slow decline of the Ottoman Empire, and the series of treatise that brought everyone into a war that didn’t concern the at all.