I'm not one for thinking Bismarck was the best thing since sliced bread, actually. Great man theory of history is overrated, and you can't ascribe to much to him, rather than the circumstance, and much of his supposed genius grand stratregy were fictionalisations he himself created. He was clearly a man of genius and of diplomatic genius, and I think without him Prussia is more likely to end up in a World War (say if he resigned due to ill health in 1870 or resigned in 1866). And you must not underestimated Napoleon III's rashness- the 1859 war harmed France's interests by emaciating Austria because of the personal convictions of Napoleon III, he didn't always adopt the rational approach. In terms of why Russia would intervene, there have been multiple posts both by me and others explaining under what circumstances and why Russia would intervene- an opportunity against Austria probably would have been too tempting for Russia to pass up in 1870.
Last edited: