I'm trying to come up with alternate causes for World War I that would not ignite with Franz Ferdinand getting shot, but I'm drawing a blank.
Specifically, given that:
1871 - Germany, Austria, Bohemia merged together into one Germany; Hungarian Empire exists as remnant of former Austria Hungary
1888 - Friedrich III does not develop cancer, and deepens British-German relationship, limits navy, still develops colonies, and has some intermarriage between royal families. Wilhelm II is not a breech birth, and is more inline with Friedrich III's temperament, and is a competent Kaiser (not sure how long Friedrich stays around).
1888-1908 - France develops ties to Russia in response to German-British relationship.
1870-1908 - Greece regains Constantinople and Smyrna (or as a result of WW1).
1912 - War starts?
I'm looking for an alternate to World War I to evolve, mostly from France's "smackdown" (for lack of a better term) from the Franco-Prussian War, and the resultant criss-cross of alliances and treaties that drag everyone in Europe into war. Ideally for this situation, the UK, Germany, Italy, and Greece fight on one side, while France, Spain, Russia, and the Ottomans fight on the other. The Ottomans would be tough considering the Turko-Russian War in the 1878 timeframe, but could be doable as a French ally, not technically a Russian ally.
What would be a plausible series of events be given the above? At the very least, Germany-UK would be allied, and France-Russia on the other side, with the US on the German-British side late in the war. I'm hoping to avoid Franz Ferdinand's OTL fate, and essentially stalemate the war until the Americans join in around 1916/7 or so. There would be a Versailles Treaty, but this would lay blame for the war on France.
I'd appreciate any help you could provide on this.