Most plausible alternatives to Bismarck

What's the most plausible alternative to Bismarck & his Reich?


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raharris1973

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What are the most plausible alternatives to Bismarck for Germany's path from the 1860s on?

Another person leads his conservative expansionist policies

A conservative non-expansionist Prussia

A liberal non-expansionist Prussia

A liberal expansionist Prussia

Socialist or Republican Revolution in Prussia more likely than OTL by 1918

Socialist or Republican Revolution in Prussia less likely than OTL by 1918

How likely are German Confederation states to be attacked?

Mike Stone's scenario of a loose, Austrian-led empire


A very important side effect for a TL w/ no Franco-Prussian war, or no French defeat in Franco-Prussian War, is the continuation of the Second Empire.


What if Second Empire survives, how will it evolve in 19th & 20th century? Will the Prince Imperial be a disturber of European peace? Would he be in power his whole life?

Note the poll options are not mutually exclusive, but I don't mind that.
 

OS fan

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A good question. Let me try to answer it.

- Prussia would stay rather conservative, for tradition, and because the anti-conservative block will be split into Socialists and non-Socialists.
- If history lacks a great man, the changes he brought to the world can be achieved by a generation of muddling-through instead. Many Germans wanted a unification after all, and the customs union (without Austria!) was almost completed.
- France would do anything to prevent a Greater German Empire. Which does not mean that they can prevent it.
- If the war against Denmark still happens, the enforced cooperation of Prussia and Austria over Schleswig-Holstein may help them over time to find an agreement.
- I wonder whether there might be a Hungarian uprising. In case it would split the Austrian Empire, one obstacle for the Greater German solution is removed.
- And once Germany is united, in whatever way, they may also wish to expand further, after centuries of being broken.
 
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A liberal non-expansionist Prussia

Why?
Because without Bismarck King William would abdicate and his liberal son Frederick would have become King of Prussia.
 
A liberal non-expansionist Prussia

Why?
Because without Bismarck King William would abdicate and his liberal son Frederick would have become King of Prussia.

The liberals where the more expansionist faction though, pan-germanism was seen as a very liberal idea pre-Bismarck.
 
A liberal non-expansionist Prussia

Why?
Because without Bismarck King William would abdicate and his liberal son Frederick would have become King of Prussia.

You mean the 1861 constitutional crisis? Because it was my understanding that von Roon was more involved in calming Wilhelm and preventing his abdication then Bismarck was.
 
You mean the 1861 constitutional crisis? Because it was my understanding that von Roon was more involved in calming Wilhelm and preventing his abdication then Bismarck was.


Also, Frederick himself was against it, believing that an abdication on such ground would undermine the Monarchy. He might have reconsidered had he known that Bismarck was to be appointed, but if there is no Bismarck he has even less reason to agree.
 
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