Plausibility check: A proto WW1?

With a PoD of 1850, would it be possible for a war in 1890s that involve most of the European powers, and unlike fighting Qing China, both side are on similar footing (example: Austria vs Ottoman) be possible? Could it be a war that make great powers test their new toys and update their R&D accordingly, so the ATL-WW1 would be fought with slightly better technology? Is it possible for the war to be so bloody that delays the ATL-WW1?
 
The Triple Entente only formed in 1907, so a war recognisable as WWI can't be much before that.

However if Bismarck stuffs up a little with the whole "fighting everyone while upsetting the balance of power to form Germany" thing, you could have a war (1866 or 1870) spiral out of control and become a general European conflict, although this would be more like the Napoleonic conflicts than WWI in that the alliances would likely just form out of one country having a grudge against one particular member of the opposing alliance, rather than a fear of all of them.

The only issue is that the only reason why peace was established as a kind of precedent for Europe on a long-term basis was the Congress of Vienna, which was based around the idea of "lets stop killing each other". An early world war could push that mentality out the window, leading to WWI and II being seen less as extreme cases and more the norm of Europe. If that becomes the case, a war in the 1870s isn't so much preparing for a greater war in the future as it is one in a sequence of many.

- BNC
 
The nineteenth century is actually rather unique in that no massive wars happened between the Napoleonic Wars and the First World War.

The easiest way to get such a conflict to occur is to avoid the rise of Bismarck, but that would result in a war of German unification in the 1860s, so that’s not what you’re looking for.

Perhaps if you have Boulanger take control of France in the 1880s and create a proto-fascist state, resulting in an incredibly tense diplomatic situation with Germany that blows up into war, this could occur.
 
The Triple Entente only formed in 1907, so a war recognisable as WWI can't be much before that.

However if Bismarck stuffs up a little with the whole "fighting everyone while upsetting the balance of power to form Germany" thing, you could have a war (1866 or 1870) spiral out of control and become a general European conflict, although this would be more like the Napoleonic conflicts than WWI in that the alliances would likely just form out of one country having a grudge against one particular member of the opposing alliance, rather than a fear of all of them.

The only issue is that the only reason why peace was established as a kind of precedent for Europe on a long-term basis was the Congress of Vienna, which was based around the idea of "lets stop killing each other". An early world war could push that mentality out the window, leading to WWI and II being seen less as extreme cases and more the norm of Europe. If that becomes the case, a war in the 1870s isn't so much preparing for a greater war in the future as it is one in a sequence of many.

- BNC

The Triple Entente came close to forming at other periods. The closest would be during the Armenian Crisis of 1894-96. While the Ottomans were busily slaughtering their Armenian subjects, Europe came very close to blows. The humanitarians gained control over British foreign policy and were pressing wild schemes such as sailing into the straits to depose the Sultan. France and Italy had a lot of sympathy for this as well

The Austrians and Germans were in total support of the Sultan and wanted the whole thing to go away.

The Russians sided with the Sultan and the Germans. He would do nothing to upset the apple cart. Nicholas and Salisbury met at Balmoral to discuss it. Salisbury came away with the impression that the Tsar would help only if the Russians got the straits. Salisbury recommended rejecting the proposal but others in the cabinet would have accepted it. IF the crisis was worst or the Russians or British more adventuresome, you would easily have had a war of France, Italy, Britain, Russia, Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria against the Ottomans, Austria and Germany- basically OTL WWI


https://www.jstor.org/stable/4205227?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (the entire article can be read with free registeration)

As for wars to "test the toys" The Europeans did nothing but study wars. They studied everything from the Chilean and Brazilian civil war through the Russo-Japanese war. There are dozens of them and they all offered lessons but the answers weren't always clear and people learned the wrong lessons and sometimes people were slow.

The British learned about modern uniforms during the Boer war while everyone but the French figured it out after the Manchurian war. The French paid a high price for this folly
 
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